The Quiet Before the Vengeance

Ji Ning’s words were spoken softly, but Mu Northson and Qingqing could both feel the boundless hatred and killing intent contained within them.

This grudge had long been etched into his soul.

This vengeance had long been rooted in his very bones.

Ji Ning could not forget. Back when he had first left the Yan Mountains, he had desperately wanted to take revenge. But at that time, he had known nothing. The outside world had been far too vast for him. So he had decided to first join a sect, first grow stronger, and bury the hatred deep in the depths of his heart. Only now, having left his master and become a member of the Yinglong Guard, had the time for revenge finally come.

“Father. Mother. Uncle.” Ji Ning said silently in his heart. “Those three people… I will not let a single one escape. Never.”

“Senior apprentice-brother.” Ji Ning turned his head to look at Mu Northson by his side. “I’m going to go take revenge. I can take Qingqing and Uncle White with me. There’s no need for you to—”

“What nonsense are you talking about, Senior Apprentice-Brother!” Mu Northson said angrily. “Ever since my mother died, I’ve had no family left in this world. I’ve long since had nothing to tie me down. There is no need for Senior Apprentice-Brother to worry about implicating me. The pain of a parent’s death… I know it well. Back then, I personally slew that vile thief to avenge my mother. This time, your junior apprentice-brother is absolutely coming with you.”

Ji Ning was startled.

His mother died? He avenged his mother?

So Junior Apprentice-Brother Mu Northson had lost his entire family long ago. He had never mentioned it before.

“Alright!” Ji Ning nodded, then lightly patted Mu Northson on the shoulder. “Good brother.”

Mu Northson looked back at Ji Ning.

“Let’s go. To Anchan City.” Ji Ning said.

Mu Northson quickly asked, “Anchan City? Senior Apprentice-Brother, I know you want revenge. But even though we’ve finished two missions already, we don’t need to return to the Crimson Dragon Mountains to report them right away. We can deal with your enemies under the pretext of capturing criminals. That way, we’ll have an excuse.”

Ji Ning nodded. That was exactly what Xue Hongyi had tried to do back then—use the suspicion of the Ji Clan harboring criminals as an excuse to interrogate him and the others. Fortunately, Beishan Baiwei had blocked it. Beishan Baiwei had been acting as the Marquis of Anchan’s envoy at the time; without that status, it would have been difficult to stop.

“I was thinking the same thing.” Ji Ning said. “But before I go to Anchan City, I need to make some preparations. First, I want to look up information on my enemies. Second, I need to purchase some treasures.”

“Purchase treasures?” Mu Northson grew puzzled. “Senior Apprentice-Brother, are your enemies very powerful?”

“Not very. They should be Zifu Disciples. Even if they’ve broken through, they’d just be ordinary Wanxiang Adepts.” Ji Ning said.

“Then why does Senior Apprentice-Brother need to purchase treasures?” Mu Northson asked.

Ji Ning said darkly, “Because I want them utterly annihilated, body and soul.”

The chill in his voice startled Mu Northson, Qingqing, and the Whitewater Hound.

Mu Northson recalled his own childhood, when he had killed his enemy in a frenzy. He could completely understand Ji Ning’s mindset at this moment.

“Let’s go.” Ji Ning said.

“Alright.”

The group immediately boarded the dragon-headed warship and departed swiftly.

Within Anchan City.

Ji Ning first went to visit his friend, Beishan Baiwei.

“I already heard that your name, Brother Ji Ning, is among the latest batch of Yinglong Guard members. And your junior apprentice-brother, Mu Northson, as well.” Beishan Baiwei sat down, looking at Ji Ning. He glanced at Mu Northson beside him as the maidservants came forward to serve wine.

Ji Ning looked at those maidservants.

“Withdraw.” Beishan Baiwei waved a hand, and the maidservants and servants all retreated.

“Brother Baiwei, I’ve come to ask a favor of you.” Ji Ning said solemnly.

“Speak freely.” Beishan Baiwei said.

“I need information on three people.” Ji Ning said. “The Snowdragon Mountain disciples: Dong Qi, Shui Yi, and Yu Tong. But I don’t want the Heavenly Treasures Mountain to know that I looked into this intelligence.”

Beishan Baiwei nodded slowly. “I understand. I’ll arrange for someone to visit the Heavenly Treasures Mountain immediately to check.”

“Troubling you.” Ji Ning said.

Killing these three wasn’t hard.

What was hard was the Snowdragon Mountain sect behind them. The status of Shui Yi and Yu Tong was somewhat lesser, but Dong Qi was the grandson of a Primal Daoist of Snowdragon Mountain. Once he made his move, even if he was careful, Snowdragon Mountain would likely investigate. If they discovered that someone had been checking on the information of those three in the Heavenly Treasures Mountain, they would definitely grow suspicious.

So he had to cut off the trail as much as possible.

“I’ll arrange it right now. It should take less than an hour to get the results.” Beishan Baiwei rose. “Rest here for a while. I’ll go make the arrangements.”

In less than an hour, a servant entered the hall and handed three thick booklets to Beishan Baiwei.

“Withdraw.” Beishan Baiwei ordered.

The servant left silently.

Beishan Baiwei handed the three booklets to Ji Ning. “These are the most detailed intelligence files the Heavenly Treasures Mountain has on them. They are the highest-tier reports, the most thorough available. They’ve dug up quite a few of their secrets. But the Heavenly Treasures Mountain is an intelligence organization, not an omniscient god. It can’t possibly find out everything. For instance, this time, Brother Ji Ning, you asked for the intelligence on these three people. They have no idea.”

Ji Ning nodded.

Man’s power had its limits. No matter how formidable the Heavenly Treasures Mountain was, it couldn’t know everything.

“Dong Qi.” Ji Ning opened the booklet and began reading.

Beishan Baiwei slowly sipped his wine. Mu Northson did the same. Neither of them disturbed Ji Ning.

Ji Ning read quickly.

The records in the booklet were quite detailed, covering a great many events from childhood to the present. There were records of trouble he had caused within Snowdragon Mountain, and even accounts of his seducing and raping female disciples. A great many things were recorded… but among them was no mention of the ambush and murder of Uncle Yu Weishan or his parents.

“The Heavenly Treasures Mountain is not divine. When cultivators go out and commit an occasional murder, if no one talks about it, it is indeed difficult to investigate.” Ji Ning shook his head.

“This Dong Qi… a true scourge.”

After reading through, Ji Ning discovered that Dong Qi was a thoroughly spoiled child. He was currently only a Zifu Disciple at perfection.

Dong Qi was born into the major tribe, the ‘Dong Clan’.

Because the Dong Clan had a Primal Daoist clansman, the ‘Cold Sun Daoist’, the Dong Clan was naturally powerful. The Dong Clan had many talented members. For example, Dong Yi had been the eldest of Dong Qi’s generation. He had been exceptionally brilliant. Of course, that Dong Yi had already been slain by the Dragon Whale King in the Mount Yujue Wasteland.

The Cold Sun Daoist only had a single son. His son had traveled outside and died. That son had left behind only one bloodline: Dong Qi.

And so, Dong Qi was the sole biological grandson of the Cold Sun Daoist. Naturally, he was spoiled beyond measure.

Although some other disciples of the same generation, such as Dong Yi, could obtain some benefits, they could never compare to Dong Qi. Thus, within the Dong Clan, many people fawned over him, nurturing his arrogant personality. His greatest hobby was raping beautiful women; they had to be women of exceptional temperament and quality.

He had harmed a great number of people. But because of his background, his powerful backing, and his retinue of servants, he had never run into trouble.

“What?” Ji Ning frowned. “He lives within Snowdragon Mountain, right beside the Cold Sun Daoist?”

Dong Qi was too favored.

Ordinary disciples rarely got to see a Primal Daoist, but Dong Qi stayed by his side at all times.

“If he’s at Snowdragon Mountain, I really have no way to deal with him.” Ji Ning shook his head. Confident as he was, he was not so mad as to storm the mountain gates of an ancient, long-established sect. Even a Loose Immortal would have to think twice. This was a sect’s foundation; even just the great formations and back-up methods would be enough to make a Loose Immortal’s face change color.

“Next.”

Ji Ning then flipped open the intelligence file on Yu Tong.

Yu Tong was a very ambitious cultivator, with a highly calculating mind. In order to obtain enough resources, he had been willing to act as Dong Qi’s fang and claw. Later, after he had used Dong Qi up, he left quietly. Now he was a Wanxiang Adept at the early stage, living together with his master (another Wanxiang Adept at perfection) at ‘Crippled Moon Peak’. In truth, Yu Tong himself had committed very few atrocities; at least, the Heavenly Treasures Mountain’s records indicated he had done very few evil deeds, only two. Of course, the incident with Ji Ning’s parents had not been recorded at all.

His master, the ‘Crippled Moon Realperson’, on the other hand, had committed many evils. He was a cold, petty person who had been cultivating at the Wanxiang perfection stage for over two hundred years. He was extremely powerful.

“He has a master, but he’s at Crippled Moon Peak?” Ji Ning’s heart relaxed. “A desolate wilderness like that… it will be easy to deal with him.”

“Next.”

Ji Ning opened the file on Shui Yi.

Shui Yi…

He came from a background as a household servant of the Dong Clan. He was one of the more outstanding household servants, and he had received the patronage of the Dong Clan. Now, he was also a Zifu Disciple at perfection. Because his potential was limited, he had long since returned from Snowdragon Mountain and was now living within the Dong Clan’s territory.

“Within the Dong clan’s territory?” Ji Ning’s head ached. “This one will be troublesome. But… to kill him, it can still be done.”

The Dong Clan was the clan of the Cold Sun Daoist.

But the Cold Sun Daoist was stationed at Snowdragon Mountain. Thus, within the Dong Clan’s territory, there was no Primal Daoist guarding it. There were, however, a group of Wanxiang Adepts. But clearly, the defenses of the Dong Clan’s territory were far inferior to those of Snowdragon Mountain. Ji Ning was still confident. After all, what he needed to do was to kill Shui Yi, not destroy the entire Dong Clan.

“First kill Yu Tong. Then kill Shui Yi. These two were the ones who directly attacked my uncle and my parents.” Ji Ning mused to himself.

Beishan Baiwei, sensing the dense killing intent radiating from Ji Ning’s body and the ferocious glint flashing in his eyes again and again, mused silently: “For someone as good-natured as my brother Ji Ning to fall into such a state of obsession… this must be a great enmity, and no ordinary one at that.”

“Brother Baiwei.”

Ji Ning rose. Beishan Baiwei quickly stood up as well.

“Troubling you again this time, Brother Baiwei. You have helped me many times. A great favor requires no words of thanks. I, Ji Ning, will remember it all in my heart.” Ji Ning clasped his hands. “I will not linger. I take my leave.”

“Brother Ji Ning, whatever you need to do, just speak up.” Beishan Baiwei said.

“I have a plan already.” Ji Ning clasped his hands once more, then left with his junior apprentice-brother.

More than an hour later, as the sun was setting in the west.

Ji Ning and his companions boarded the dragon-headed warship and rose into the air, leaving Anchan City.

“With this treasure, I will make sure that not even reincarnation will be possible for you bastards.” Ji Ning held a censer-like magic treasure in his hand, then looked up. “Junior Apprentice-Brother, head south. Towards Crippled Moon Peak.”