The Return of Stars to the Jianghu

Chapter 51 The Secret Behind Shi Hao's Assassination of Qi Yuan

Qi Yuan followed Li Chao, the leader of the Tang Clan, through several courtyards and arrived at a room in the northwest corner of Huangjue Temple. This place was already on the edge of the vast Huangjue Temple complex on the outskirts of the Tang capital.

"Now that you understand the real Shi and Ding families, when you see Shi Hao again, you can ask him why he wanted to assassinate you."

Along the way, Li Chao told him about the true, or perhaps more accurately, another side of the Shi family, hidden beneath the rumors circulating in the martial arts world.

Qi Yuan listened quietly without offering his opinion on what the Shi and Ding families had done over the past decade.

“He’s inside. Go in and talk to him. After you’re done talking, you can stay at the temple. The young monk Huiming who brought you here will arrange your accommodations. Three days later, Song Han can travel north with you. As for whether you need him or not, that’s up to you.” After saying this, Li Chao left Huangjue Temple from the courtyard in the northwest corner. The carriage that was already waiting outside took him to the capital city.

Qi Yuan knocked on the door.

"Come in, the door's unlocked." It was Shi Hao's voice from inside.

Qi Yuan entered the house and saw the assassin who had come to the capital with them and was rumored to have died near Mount Emei, fiddling with some herbs.

"Wait a moment, it'll be ready in a bit." Shi Hao poured the green juice extracted from the herbs into a glass containing the red liquid, which then turned into a clear liquid.

"The river is cut off?" Qi Yuan asked.

“Yes, it’s colorless and odorless. You were poisoned by this in Mount Emei. According to my plan, that day, I shot you with an arrow and poisoned you. Your companions would have to take you to Mount Emei to find the Red-Clothed Sect for an antidote. The Red-Clothed Sect has enough herbs to make the antidote, and I would also negotiate with the Red-Clothed Sect leader, Lin Hai, to make the antidote and save your life. I could get what I wanted from Lin Hai, and at the same time, it would delay your arrival at An Island. But the appearance of that Luo Yifei disrupted all the plans. After that, I could only play along and wait for things to develop in a direction favorable to us.” Shi Hao said, handing the sealed poison called “Broken River” to Qi Yuan. Then he stopped talking and waited for Qi Yuan’s question.

"You call him Lin Hai, and the Shi family also knows that Lin Quan is Lin Hai?" Qi Yuan asked.

“Yes, we knew four years ago. Back then, people from another world went to Mount Emei and stole their missionary sword. It must have been Luo Yifei and that Shen Lixi. We know much more than you do. We know things Lin Hai didn't tell you, and even things Lin Hai didn't know. Of course, I personally don't know much about the other world; those things are all top secret.” Shi Hao's eloquence at this moment was a stark contrast to his silence on the way from Lin'an to the capital, which made Qi Yuan feel a little uncomfortable for a moment.

"What do you want from Lin Hai?" Qi Yuan asked.

“I can’t say that. Perhaps you can ask Mr. Ding directly when you have the chance. Let’s change the subject,” Shi Hao replied.

"You mean Ding Wenyuan, the de facto ruler of northern Wu?"

"Yes."

Qi Yuan already knew the complexities behind it all and didn't expect to learn Lin Hai's secret from Shi Hao. After all, he and Lin Hai had been through thick and thin together, and they hadn't discussed any secrets related to the other world. He just couldn't understand why Lin Hai's careful concealment of his true identity seemed to be no secret in the eyes of the Shi family.

"Why do you want us to arrive at An Island later?" Qi Yuan continued to ask.

"Because of Xu Xiaohong. You can't see Xu Xiaohong on An Island. At least you can't see him dueling with the Sword Immortal." Shi Hao didn't intend to hide this matter and continued to explain, "Before the duel, he went to the city gate to drink some wine. The wine he drank was bought from a stall at the city gate, but the wine he used to clean his sword was wine he brought himself. Do you remember how the Sword Saint died back then?"

“Xu Guan challenged the Sword Saint back then, and the Sword Saint died of illness a year later. Rumor has it that he was poisoned.” Qi Yuan was startled when he said this, “Could it be the Broken River?”

“That’s right, it’s the Broken River. But don’t worry, An Island has the Seven Sword Immortals. According to Mr. Ding’s calculations, the transition will be smooth and there won’t be any chaos. It’s just that the Sword Immortals may have already been poisoned and won’t survive.” Shi Hao’s tone was calm, as if the death of the Sword Immortals was not a big deal.

"Why? You all knew Xu Xiaohong was going to use poison, so why didn't you save the Sword Immortal? He's a hero who protects this region!" Qi Yuan said indignantly. After years of wandering the martial world, he had long since lost the sharpness of his youth, but he still felt somewhat resentful.

"What good would it do to save him? It would only prolong his life by a few more years. He's already old and will leave this world sooner or later. But his presence will prevent some people from leaving. Do you remember the battle between the Sword Saint and the Sword Demon more than ten years ago?" Shi Hao's words sounded cold and ruthless, as if reminding others that he was a cold-blooded killer.

"Back then, I was new to the martial world and heard that the battle between the Sword Saint and the Sword Demon had opened the Heavenly Gate. It was forcibly closed by the Sword Immortal." After Qi Yuan finished speaking, he seemed to understand what Shi Hao was about to say.

"That's right, the Heavenly Gate. What exactly is the Heavenly Gate? The Heavenly Gate is the path to immortality, the teleportation altar. With the Sword Immortal Duan Xiuzhang around, no one has the chance to go to the Immortal Realm. Mr. Ding calls our Floating Life Continent the Spirit Realm, and the world depicted in 'The Libationer' is called the Mortal Realm. 'The God of Vengeance' depicts the God Realm, and 'Agamemnon' depicts the Immortal Realm, which is the Immortal Realm that martial arts practitioners and royal nobles all yearn for."

"So you just stood by and watched as Sword Immortal Senior Duan was poisoned to death?"

Shi Hao did not answer the question, but said, "I heard that Xu Xiaohong said he would fight again in ten years. He probably didn't know that his wine was poisoned. Because he didn't know, he was open-minded and really went to challenge the Sword Immortal. Therefore, the Sword Immortal would not be on guard. But I also heard that Xu Xiaohong is far inferior to Xu Guanke back then. He didn't hit the Sword Immortal even once, so the Sword Immortal may be fine."

"You want to go to the Immortal Realm?" Qi Yuan asked directly.

"Go to the Immortal Realm? The path to immortality is too difficult. Why not try a different approach? Why not just go directly to the God Realm?"

"You're all crazy."