As Fang Henshui spoke with smugness, a savage, almost beastly, glint flashed in his eyes. He slowly lowered his head to look at Mo Wanwu, asking earnestly, "I wasn't stupid at all; I actually discovered the purpose of wisdom at the very end."
Mo Wanwu naturally wouldn't answer, because he was already dead. Fang Henshui might have known, or perhaps he hadn't noticed. He only needed someone to talk to, someone he could speak freely. And such a person, of course, was better off dead. When he saw that Mo Wanwu was lifeless, he stood up, glanced at his tattered clothes, and frowned slightly.
Then, with a light step, his figure vanished instantly.
This was Half-Moon Mountain, dozens of miles from Chang'an City. The mountains were high and the forests dense; no one would ever come here. If Fang Henshui hadn't followed Mo Wanwu to Half-Moon Mountain, he wouldn't have decided to act. Qin Liuqi's display of strength that day made Fang Henshui realize that his cultivation was still a very, very long way from being able to act without restraint. Chang'an City is teeming with powerful figures; caution is always advised.
Even the most powerful cultivators in the world wouldn't be able to sense a battle seventy or eighty miles away. While great cultivators are extremely sensitive to changes in the energy of heaven and earth, someone capable of sensing such a distance might no longer be considered human.
Therefore, Mo Wanwu's death on Half-Moon Mountain went unnoticed by any of the many great cultivators in Chang'an City.
The Martial Arts Academy is located in the southern part of the eastern city, fifty or sixty miles from the northern city. From the academy to Half-Moon Mountain, it's at least eighty miles. Such a distance wouldn't even be detectable by Dean Zhou.
When people learned of Mo Wanwu's death, it was the day after Fang Henshui killed him. Woodcutters, while gathering firewood on the mountain, discovered the half-dead corpse and the remaining two legs, about six or seven meters away. The body was transported back to Chang'an Prefecture, where experienced officials deduced the deceased's identity based on the tattered academy robes found on Mo Wanwu.
Professors Qiu Yu and Yan Qing were the ones who brought Mo Wanwu back to the Martial Arts Academy.
Fang Jie came along.
Not only Fang Jie, but all the students in his class came. Nearly thirty students from the Martial Arts Academy, led by the two professors, entered Chang'an Prefecture, attracting the attention of passersby. Fang Jie had been discussing cultivation with Qiu Yu on the back mountain of the Martial Arts Academy when he learned of Mo Wanwu's murder. He shared his ideas with Qiu Yu. Even Qiu Yu wasn't sure if this method would work.
Cultivators borrow the primordial energy of heaven and earth, using breathing techniques to transform it into internal and external strength, storing it in their dantian (energy center). In combat, this internal strength is channeled through the meridians into various acupoints. Depending on each person's physique and cultivation method, the transformed internal strength takes on different forms. For example, Xie Fuyao's internal strength is more suited to swordsmanship. Even when using the Four Symbols Finger technique, his finger strength carries sword intent. For example, Mo Xidao's sword aura is so formidable because he transforms his internal strength into a sword.
Fang Jie's solution was to draw upon the primordial energy of heaven and earth externally.
Simply put, the normal cultivation method involves refining the primordial energy of heaven and earth within the body and transforming it for one's own use. After being modified through the Qi Sea, it becomes a power suitable for one's cultivation level. Even though the actual combat is ever-changing, it all relies on the internal energy stored in the cultivator's Qi Sea. Once excessively depleted, it must be replenished through breathing exercises. Fang Jie's idea, simply put, is remote control—transforming the primordial energy into internal energy without refining it, and directly drawing upon it in combat.
This idea could be described as utterly fanciful.
But Qiu Yu didn't dismiss his idea. In this vast world, how could the path of cultivation be uniform? Especially for Fang Jie, this young man had already created too many miracles. Even Dean Zhou had initially determined that he couldn't sense the primordial energy of heaven and earth, yet he could now. Since he could sense it, who dared to assert that he couldn't draw upon it?
Just as the two were discussing this, Yan Qing hurriedly arrived.
Although Mo Wanwu wasn't highly respected by his students—after all, the incident on Half-Moon Mountain had created a distance between them—they all followed him out when they learned of his possible death. Dean Zhou didn't stop them, nor did Qiu Yu and Yan Qing.
In the morgue of the Chang'an Prefecture government, Fang Jie and the others saw Mo Wanwu's body.
At that moment, everyone was overwhelmed with emotion. The only female student, Marilyn, screamed and collapsed, tears streaming down her face. Some vomited, but no one considered it disrespectful to the dead. Such a gruesome corpse was rare even on the battlefield.
It was hardly human anymore.
"Please take the professor home," Fang Jie said softly, then took off his cloak and wrapped it around the body. Holding the mutilated remains, he slowly turned and walked towards the door.
As he reached the door, he stopped the official standing to one side: "Excuse me, where was the gentleman's body found?"
Upon receiving the official's reply, Fang Jie nodded and said thank you, his expression calm.
After leaving the Chang'an Prefecture government office, someone ran to hire a carriage. Fang Jie carried Mo Wanwu's body onto it, suddenly noticing something unusual about one of Mo Wanwu's hands. He looked down closely, and then a thought struck him.
...
...
The crimson horse, which hadn't galloped freely for a long time, neighed excitedly, puffing white breath from its nostrils. Fang Jie rode the crimson horse northward at breakneck speed, the sound of its hooves rhythmic. Behind him, Professor Qiu Yu and Yan Qing rode close behind. If Fang Jie hadn't deliberately controlled the crimson horse's speed, Qiu Yu and Yan Qing's warhorses, though excellent, would have long been left far behind.
The cold cavalry of the Northern Liao region were even more outstanding than the warhorses of the Mongol Yuan dynasty. And Fang Jie's crimson horse was the finest among the cold cavalry. The Sui people knew very little about the Northern Liao people, and in some aspects, they knew absolutely nothing. This was because the Northern Liao people lived in the harshest environment of the Ten Thousand Mountains, and few dared to approach and explore their way of life. For this reason, His Majesty the Emperor hesitated on whether to accept the Northern Liao people.
Accepting the Northern Liao people might bring a powerful cavalry force. But undoubtedly, the entire Northern Liao population would have to be relocated to the Sui Dynasty. After one or two generations, they would become completely Sui people. Without the Han cavalry, what significance would the Northern Liao people hold for the Sui Dynasty?
The Northern Liao people's condition for surrender was leaving the Ten Thousand Mountains, but the Emperor needed them to remain there.
The three men and three horses traveled north, and by the time they exited the north city gate, it was nearly noon. The woodcutter who had discovered Mo Wanwu's corpse was notified by officials from Chang'an Prefecture to wait at the city gate. After Fang Jie ascertained who it was, he picked up the man and placed him behind him; the crimson horse carrying two people showed no sign of strain.
With the woodcutter's guidance, Fang Jie and his companions easily located the spot where Mo Wanwu's body had been found.
Fang Jie had the woodcutter guard the warhorses nearby while he, Qiu Yu, and Yan Qing went to investigate. Undoubtedly, it had been a fierce battle. The traces were still clear: broken trees, craters in the ground, and withered grass within a dozen meters, as if plowed by an iron plough.
Fang Jie searched carefully and finally pinpointed Mo Wanwu's last known location.
On the withered grass, traces of blood, now grayish-black, were still visible, along with some pieces of flesh and clothing not yet buried by the dust. At the edge of a patch of grayish-black withered grass, Fang Jie crouched down to examine it closely. This was where Mo Wanwu had finally lay; the bloodstains on the ground were from a wound on his back.
Fang Jie imagined the position Mo Wanwu had been in, then looked towards the side where the bloodstains were. While examining Mo Wanwu's body, Fang Jie noticed something unusual about his crippled arm. The hand was covered in blood, but the index fingertip was bloodless, clearly rubbed off, and there was some powder between the fingers.
So, Fang Jie and Qiu Yu immediately set off.
"Here."
Fang Jie beckoned, and Qiu Yu, Yan Qing, and the others rushed over.
Fang Jie pointed to a large tree beside him: "The murderer must have lingered under this tree for a long time, sitting down. Mr. Mo is here, lying down, face up… His left arm's pressure points exploded, rendering it powerless, but in his final moments, it's likely that Mr. Mo, on the verge of death, waved his still-movable arm to conceal the subtle movements of his other hand."
"How can you be so sure?"
Yan Qing asked instinctively.
Fang Jie glanced at him and replied calmly: "Sir, have you forgotten that I'm a scout by trade, especially a border scout? In pursuing details, I'm even better than the experienced constables of the government office."
Fang Jie parted the dry grass, revealing a stone. The stone was buried deep underground, with only a small portion, about the size of a plate, protruding.
On this small patch, four characters were faintly visible.
They were carved by Mo Wanwu with his last ounce of strength before his death; very faint, but very clear. It's hard to imagine what kind of willpower he used to persevere in writing those four characters before dying, and how he managed to deceive his murderer.
Fang, Zhi Si, Kou
...
...
"What do these four characters mean?"
In the shop on East Twenty-Three Street, Shen Qingshan asked Fang Jie, her brow slightly furrowed.
Fang Jie said softly, "Fang, I'm not referring to Fang Jie as in Fang Jie, but to Fang Henshui as in Fang Henshui. That guy finally couldn't hold back and started killing again, and he even dared to attack a professor from the Martial Arts Academy. Judging from the traces at the scene, Mr. Mo didn't seem to have injured Fang Henshui. How could this person have become so powerful?"
"Wisdom died... Mr. Mo wrote those two words, definitely trying to tell us that Fang Henshui's cultivation was related to wisdom, and that his wisdom was dead. We've thought about that last character, 'mouth,' for a long time but haven't figured out the answer."
Shen Qingshan pondered for a while but still couldn't think of anything. After hesitating for a moment, she asked, "After such an incident, what did you plan before?" "Should we still do this good deed?"
"Yes!"
Fang Jie nodded: "It wasn't easy getting Zhuang Die to take my things out, and I reckon those people are starting to get restless. The Imperial Guards and the Intelligence Bureau are handling Fang Henshui's capture; I can't help much now. Besides, no one has seen him, and it'll be difficult to catch him without a portrait before the people from Jiangnan return. But I can help with Wu Yidao's matter."
He paused: "Those people will definitely make a move tomorrow. With you, me, Hei Xiaozi, and the three of us, plus the Qilin Great Dog providing covert support, there shouldn't be any problems."
"Too risky."
Shen Qingshan shook her head.
"Often, methods that seem dangerous and impossible to people are more likely to succeed. Because people won't even consider that possibility, the initiative is on my side."
Fang Jie smiled: "But the information obtained through this method would probably make the emperor furious."
Shen Qingshan hummed in agreement, her tone soft: "Tomorrow is February 11th, and the army sets off the day after."