Heavenly Dao Formula - Chapter 21
Chapter 21: Azure Sword Master
“What are you going to do?” Wei Wushuang asked Xia Fan beside the broken bridge.
“To be honest, I don’t know.” Xia Fan squatted in front of the rift valley and surveyed the opposite cliff. The visual distance between the two sides was about fifteen meters. It wasn’t exactly an uncrossable rift. When everyone found out that what Luo Qingqing said was true and that there was really a wooden kite in the cavern, they felt much at ease, or at least, they were not as manic as before.
After all, it was most important to save one’s life. Although it was a pity that they failed this time, many people failed the imperial examination. The mystic examination also did not force one to pass, one could always retake the examination three years later.
For Xia Fan, three years meant that he had much more time to understand this world. Moreover, he managed to obtain a bottle of the source of the spirit fire and could pass if he lasted for two more days. Unless it was the last resort, he didn’t want to give up like that. However, the problem was that he couldn’t tell whether it was a “last resort”.
What was the manifestation of the Night of Great Desolation? What was danger and how to overcome that? He knew too little information to make an effective analysis and judgment.
One thing for sure was that the mystic examination was set up to select the best talents and not a “death game” where people barely survived. This meant that there must be a method to survive the Night of Great Desolation. However, did that require several people to work together or could one accomplish it alone? What was the requirement for one’s talent and skills? If he insisted on staying without knowing all of these, he would undoubtedly be handing his life over to fate.
He never forgot that the Privy Council was a high-risk department, and it was reasonable for deaths and injuries during the examination. Even his cheap master had repeatedly told him that dealing with evil was a serious matter, and the Night of Great Desolation was the evilest of the evil. If one wasn’t careful, one would most probably die.
“Brother Xia… why don’t you quit with me,” Wei Wushuang said after hesitating. “I know your skills are much more superior than mine and it would only be a matter of time before you pass the examination and enter the Privy Council. Since that’s the case, it’s alright if it’s three years later. Look at the disciples of the wealthy families, not all of them are planning to hold out.”
About 200 candidates amongst Luo Qingqing’s followers wanted to give up. Counting the hundred or so who had been eliminated previously, this was more than three-quarters of the participants. Many of which were disciples of the wealthy families. Meanwhile, many people must be hesitant amongst the remaining quarter. This meant that most of the people chose to avoid the situation when faced with the possible Night of Great Desolation.
Needless to say, that was the common thinking of ordinary people. It wasn’t worth risking one’s life for an examination.
At the same time, this hinted at the possibility that not only was the last day of the mystic examination risky, but the risk involved was pretty big, making it impossible for the three families to protect all the participating disciples. Or else, they wouldn’t have arranged to leave. After all, when it came to the understanding of the Night of Great Desolation, the Luo family should know it the best. Their decision could already explain a lot.
However, on the other hand, less than half of the candidates were planning to remain in Qing Shan Town. Based on the passing rate of nearly fifty percent in the past, this meant that as long as he remained, the possibility of passing would increase tremendously.
This was really a dilemma for Xia Fan.
“Let me think about it.” He exhaled after thinking for a long time. “It will take at least half a day to build a flying platform, so it’s not too late to wait until then to make a decision. You can line up first and get back earlier.”
Seeing that, Wei Wushuang didn’t continue to persuade him. He could only nod silently.
Xia Fan was certain that even if he left, he had to wait until there was nobody left before leaving quietly. After all, apart from him, there was an unconscious fox demon in his room. If he left with the fox demon in front of everyone else, he would probably be greeted by the Privy Council’s prison.
After bidding farewell to Wei Wushuang, Xia Fan returned to the inn.
When he opened the door, he was shocked.
The candle was lit, and there was an extra figure sitting against the bed.
Li had woken up.
…
“If I was you, I wouldn’t move around until my injuries have healed.”
Xia Fan walked to the bed and saw the fox demon’s face flushed with sweat emerging from the corners of her forehead. Evidently, the simple act of propping herself and sitting up took up a lot of her energy.
“I’m a demon, not a human. I’m not as weak as you…”
Her tone was as mean as before, but the weak tone showed how weak her body was.
Xia Fan curled his lips in annoyance before climbing the table and opening the window. The bright sunlight immediately filled the room.
The fox demon subconsciously covered her head and asked, “What are you doing?” There was a rare hint of panic in her voice.
“Let the air circulate. A ventilated room is more suitable for patients to recover.” He looked at the fox demon amusedly. Li blocked her erect ears. Considering that he had long known her identity, that was undoubtedly a reflex action. “It’s not the first time I saw those, there’s nothing to cover up. Moreover, I think they’re quite interesting. At least, they’re not ugly.”
Li regained her senses and put down her hands slowly, frowning in dissatisfaction. “What nonsense are you talking about?”
“It’s the truth, believe it or not,” Xia Fan said.
He then lifted the blankets to check Li’s injuries. This time, she didn’t show any signs of resistance. A compared to the close contact, she seemed more bothered with her appearance.
Spots of blood could be seen on the bandage, probably caused by her own movements. However, as compared to the wound across her abdomen, this amount of blood was nothing. It was good news as long as it was not the kind of heavy bleeding that could soak through clothes.
She managed to regain consciousness in a day and a half’s time and stopped the expansion and deterioration of the injury. Whatever Li said earlier on wasn’t a bluff.
If she was a human, she would have probably died.
“Don’t move around, just lie down and rest.” Xia Fan covered her with the blankets and said, “I will reapply the medicine at night and change the bandage. Of course, the pain is inevitable, but since you could hold in when I did the suture, changing the bandage shouldn’t be a problem…”
“Why?” Li interrupted him with a low voice.
“What?” Xia Fan raised his eyebrows.
“Why… did you save me?” She repeated after a long time of silence.
“What kind of strange question is that? I don’t need any special reason to save a working partner, right?”
He said a “working partner”?
Li was stunned for a moment. It was her first time hearing a human call her that.
“You… What exactly do you want from me?”
No, no, she couldn’t be confused because of a term. All human actions were driven by ultimate motives and interests. This had nothing to do with the nature of the heart, but the nature of humans.
“Too many things.” Xia Fan shrugged his shoulders.
This answer also surprised Li. She originally thought Xia Fan would continue to pretend, so she didn’t expect him to say it outright.
Li endured the pain and gasped. “Tell me about it?”
“Pretty much the same as before, mostly chatting. However, I want to continue the collaboration, preferably for a long time. After all, there are too many things I want to know, one or two days are simply not enough.”
Li was stunned. She doubted her ears for a moment. Was Xia Fan sane? If she had understood correctly, a person who aspired to become a mystic wanted to establish a long term relationship with a demon. Did he even know that he would be serving in the Privy Council in the future?
Considering that he dared to say the absurd words of “eliminating prejudice by understanding and then spreading it to the mystics”, perhaps he was really not sane.
“No,” she refused.
“Why?”
“I want to take revenge on the Privy Council. Since you’re a mystic of the Privy Council, we will soon or later become enemies.”
“Revenge for what?”
“My master…” Li’s voice lowered. “She was taken by the Privy Council.”
“But you said that you don’t have a master,” Xia Fan said curiously.
“That’s because she never took disciples and didn’t allow me to call her Master. In fact, I don’t even know her real name, but…” she paused, “Since I became enlightened, I have always treated her as my master.”
“She’s a human?”
Li nodded.
“Is it because she was with a demon? No…” Xia Fan quickly refuted this speculation. “If that’s the case, they should have caught you first. However, from what you said, the Privy Council didn’t seem to be targeting you.”
“Indeed, they weren’t. They didn’t know my existence.”
“My condolences… After all, a dead person can’t come back to life. I understand your desire for revenge, but what would your master think? Does she really want you to take revenge?” Xia Fan decided to use his many years of experience to enlighten her. “After all, your enemy is the Privy Council, it’s a difficult target. As compared to dying in your enemy’s hands, I think your master would prefer you to live a good life. Even if you successfully take revenge, you will only get emptiness. For a living person, the most important thing is to be happy. Do you want me to make some… Forget it, there are no noodles here.”
“What are you talking about?” Li looked at him strangely. “Who told you that my master is dead?”
“Cough cough…” Xia Fan nearly choked. “She’s not?”
“Master has long predicted this and told me to forget her and pretend that I have never seen her. The Privy Council won’t kill her, but they will never let her see the light of the day again. As for letting me live well… Master said the same thing.” She bit her lips. “However, how could I possibly forget what happened? If I threw away this memory, it would be no different from being dead. Therefore, I want to take revenge on the Privy Council and save my master from their hands!”
Because she got emotional, Li began to cough violently after speaking, and a trace of blood trickled down the corner of her mouth.
Xia Fan gently patted her back and asked after she calmed down, “When was your master captured?”
“… Eight years ago.”
Indeed, she went to the mystic examination more than once.
“Have you ever thought that those might just be your master’s words of comfort?” Xia Fan tried to persuade her in a calm tone. “After all, so much time has passed. Even if she didn’t die then, she might not be safe and sound now. The Privy Council wanted to capture her, this shows that they were at odds. Since she was in her enemy’s hands, she couldn’t possibly be treated well. Do you know the government’s prison? Once ordinary prisoners are thrown in, they will end up in a non-human form after a few months.”
“My master is not an ordinary prisoner.”
“A tricky prisoner would probably end up worse…”
“Before she met me, she was an Azure Sword of the Privy Council.”
“Then, I guess it’s hard to be spared… Hold on.” Xia Fan froze. “What did you say? Your master used to be from the Privy Council? What’s an Azure Sword?”
“Azure Sword is the second-highest rank after Feather Mantle, equivalent to a second pin official of the Six Ministries[1],” said Li slowly. “Master didn’t commit any crime, she just defected from the Privy Council.”
[1] main central government structure in imperial China
