Chapter Seven: Having Nothing, Ultimately Void

Across the waterway, from a distant teahouse, a pair of cold, clear eyes gazed out at the formation of Embroidered Uniform Guards.

It was early morning. The tea maid had served tea to the disciples of the Yin Sword Mountain, who sat with lowered heads, whispering among themselves.

"What is wrong with Senior Uncle Zhou today? Why did she just sit down in this teahouse without saying a word?"

"Could it be that she likes the tea here? But this tea is mediocre; how could it compare to the thousand-year-old tea trees on the mountain?"

"Have you noticed? Not only did Senior Uncle arrive in the capital early, but as soon as she went upstairs, she kept looking in that direction, as if she were waiting for someone."

"Could there be a genius with profound Daoist affinity here?"

...

The disciples of Yin Sword Mountain followed her gaze.

Those hushed discussions swirled seven feet behind the one-armed woman, yet she seemed not to hear them. Within that seven-foot radius, she sat alone, and no one dared to approach.

Had anyone been by her side, they would have noticed the complexity in her eyes.

...

"Brother Zunming, I trust you have been well."

Hearing the sound of hooves and seeing the imposing, official-clad Embroidered Uniform Guards, the guardian elder of the Bright-Dark Divine Cult felt a sense of unease.

However, the Western Depot Centurion beamed with a smile, swung down from his horse, and cupped his hands in a salute.

"Elder Li, I brought my brothers here specifically to see you off."

Elder Li was taken aback.

"Since you treated us to drinks, it is only natural that we ensure your safe departure," Chen Yi said in a low voice.

Elder Li was startled. Old fox that he was, he remained half-doubting. Was this Western Depot Centurion, Chen Zunming, truly a man of such honor and integrity?

"Isn't this... a bit too ostentatious?" Elder Li asked.

Chen Yi sneered. "With our Western Depot stepping in, would the Eastern Depot dare to act recklessly? Elder Li, the Eastern Depot is restless; there are rumors they intend to apprehend you."

Min Ning instinctively placed her hand on the hilt of her blade.

Hearing Chen Yi’s words, Elder Li frowned and cupped his hands. "Thank you for the warning. We are aware that the Eastern Depot is fickle and untrustworthy. Then... you should..."

Chen Yi laughed. "Naturally, one must see the Buddha all the way to the West. Come, let us have a cup of tea at the ferry teahouse. We shall wait until your boat arrives before you set off. Surely you don't mind picking up the tab for this tea?"

Upon hearing this, Elder Li couldn't help but grumble inwardly. After all this posturing, it turned out to be nothing more than a shakedown! A true "plucking the goose as it flies," this Chen Zunming!

Thinking this, Elder Li felt a sense of relief. At least it was just about money... and one does not strike a smiling face.

Entering the teahouse, Chen Yi scanned the room and spotted many members of the Demonic Cult disguised as merchants and laborers. They were busy discussing the "Immovable Wisdom King" and the "Four Heavenly Kings." To the uninitiated, it sounded like a conversation about Buddhist dharma.

In reality, the "Immovable Wisdom King" they spoke of referred to the Great Brightness Buddha worshipped by the Bright-Dark Divine Cult, and the "Four Heavenly Kings" referred to the four sacred maidens: Purity, Wisdom, Radiance, and Might—the four virtues of the Great Brightness.

Up in the second-floor tea room, a waiter brought tea. Chen Yi took the lead, lifted the lid, carefully inspected it, and nodded to Elder Li.

Elder Li couldn't help but laugh. "Brother Zunming is overly cautious; this tea is not poisoned."

Chen Yi replied, "One must always be careful. Let us drink."

Downstairs, the chatter about "Buddhist dharma" continued. Min Ning’s ears were growing weary, and sitting opposite the Demonic Cult guardian elder, she grew tense, her palms sweating. This guardian elder was a sixth-grade master. She considered herself barely an eighth-grade. A single guardian elder could defeat three of her. This was why she had sought Chen Yi’s help.

But now... Min Ning watched Chen Yi chatting happily with him; there was no sign of the man who punished evil and promoted good.

Elder Li glanced at Min Ning, detecting something off in her eyes. "Brother Zunming, your brother here seems..."

Chen Yi immediately realized what was happening. He quickly draped an arm over Min Ning’s shoulder and surreptitiously poked her side. Min Ning was thrown into disarray, but with the Cult elder present, she could only bite her lip and remain silent.

"He hasn't seen this kind of situation before; he's naturally nervous," Chen Yi said casually. "Drink, drink."

Seeing this, Elder Li’s guard dropped.

After tea, Elder Li pulled a stack of banknotes from his robes. "Let this serve as a farewell gift."

"This... you are being too formal! Let this be the only time." Chen Yi slowly gathered the banknotes. A rough glance suggested another thousand taels. "Giving this to me, Elder Li, you are hindering my path to Buddhahood."

Elder Li smiled enigmatically. "All phenomena are void, ultimately empty, and thus 'thusness'..."

Chen Yi looked out the window and asked, "Has it arrived?"

Elder Li looked as well. "It has. We should board the boat. Many thanks, Brother Zunming."

"It is time to set off," Chen Yi laughed.

Elder Li smiled in return, but then his expression froze. His eyes widened in disbelief. Black blood seeped from his pale lips.

The tea had been poisoned!

Chen Yi released Min Ning and caught the collapsing Elder Li. "You are too formal! Why show such grand respect? Don't kneel, please, don't!"

Black blood filled his throat, and Elder Li’s legs buckled, causing him to collapse to the floor.

"Too formal indeed!"

[Li Shengling: Contains sixty years of ordinary heterodox internal energy.]

After opening the box, the internal energy was entirely absorbed into Chen Yi’s meridians.

Elder Li had fallen suddenly; anyone could see something was wrong. But having just been chatting merrily, the other cult members were slow to react, staring blankly. The Western Depot men outside were equally bewildered, looking at one another.

Chen Yi stood up, his embroidery-spring blade sliding from its scabbard inch by inch, silver light scattering. "Western Depot! Beneath the Son of Heaven’s feet, shall we not purge the evil?!"

With that, Chen Yi decapitated Elder Li and tossed the head away like a wine pot.

Blood traced a circle in the air before crashing heavily onto the floor below. With a thunderous boom, the tea table shattered. The head rolled, its expression ghastly, eyes wide in death.

Min Ning stared at the scene, stunned... This man, how could he be so full of heroic spirit!

As the head fell, it ignited the powder keg. With the facade shattered, the Western Depot men finally reacted. Having already boarded Chen Yi’s pirate ship, they drew their blades with shouts and charged into the teahouse to slaughter.

Blade light and shadows filled the teahouse, and blood mist spread instantly. *Clang!* Everywhere, the sound of breaking teacups echoed. The waiter scurried to hide beneath the counter, only to find the shopkeeper already trembling there. A cult member casually took the head of the exposed waiter.

The cult members were caught off guard, but even so, many rushed toward Chen Yi on the second floor. A muscular cult member wielding a pestle roared and swung it, aiming to smash Chen Yi’s head to pieces.

Chen Yi laughed, raised his blade, and tilted the edge. Like a dragon coiling around the side of the pestle, he flicked it downward. The cult member felt a massive force, and the pestle smashed into the floor, creating a shallow pit.

Stepping forward, Chen Yi planted a foot on the pestle and pressed a hand onto the cult member’s head, like an immortal bestowing a blessing.

Alas, Chen Yi was no immortal; he could not grant eternal life.

The sixty years of heterodox internal energy raging in his body poured into the cult member. The man’s veins bulged instantly, and he spat blood. With a slight exertion from Chen Yi, the man’s skull was crushed into a grotesque shape.

The cult member collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

[Wang Gu: Contains twenty years of ordinary internal energy.]

[Li Shengling: Contains sixty years of ordinary heterodox internal energy.]

Chen Yi immediately withdrew the energy. Eighty years of internal power flooded his body, once again clashing and surging.

A piercing sound cut through the air. Several throwing knives arrived, aimed straight at Chen Yi’s face. Min Ning raised her blade and slashed vertically with the force of a dragon-slayer. With a ring of iron against iron, the knives were snapped in two.

The Western Depot had the numbers, and the cult members, caught unprepared and having lost their leader, fell into chaos. Before long, the cult members were routed. The room was filled with corpses. Several panicked, jumped through the windows into the water, and were immediately shot down by the guards.

Chen Yi sheathed his blade and walked slowly down the stairs to the last remaining cult member.

"The Wisdom King is born, he shall restore... the world of ignorance..." The cult member was covered in blood, his speech slurred.

"All phenomena are void, ultimately empty," Chen Yi laughed.

A blade pierced through the skull, and with a flick to the left, half the head shattered onto the floor.

Min Ning watched this cruel scene; her face did not turn pale, but rather flushed with excitement. She had misjudged him before! She had mistaken him for a hypocrite! This was clearly... thunderous methods with a bodhisattva’s heart!

Min Ning’s hands trembled slightly as she wiped the blood from her blade. She breathed heavily, not from fatigue, but from exhilaration. As a servant of the imperial house, where was there ever a time for the freedom of the martial world? It was usually nothing but petty schemes and sycophancy. Where else could one find the thrill of purging evil like this?

[Negative Emotion: 5]

Chen Yi turned his head and glanced somewhere.

[Heterodox internal energy in the body: 210 years.]

He panted heavily. Beneath his blood-stained black official robes, veins bulged, and his eyes were turning red. The heterodox energy in his meridians was rampaging, and numbness began to creep into his limbs. During the slaughter, Chen Yi had continuously channeled the heterodox energy into others, causing their meridians to snap and their bodies to explode, which was how he had lasted this long.

But now, there was no one left to transfer the energy to.

Blood seeped from Chen Yi’s lips. With no other choice, he silently recited the *Yin-Yang Grudge Scripture*. As the scripture circulated, the clash of the heterodox energies eased, but it was replaced by an indescribable impulse.

"Let’s go," Chen Yi said hoarsely, turning around. He had to get home immediately.

Min Ning hurried to follow. She saw Chen Yi swaying as he mounted his horse and reached out to steady him. Chen Yi gritted his teeth, then grabbed her hand and pulled her up.

"Ride with me. If I fall, you take me back."

Chen Yi sat behind, with Min Ning gripping the reins. Min Ning sensed something was wrong, so she didn't delay and spurred the horse forward.

As the hooves thundered against the stone bricks, they began their journey home under the gaze of the Western Depot men. Chen Yi’s breath came in ragged gasps from behind. Sensing a critical situation, Min Ning put aside all distractions and said, "Hold on tight!"

A tightening sensation wrapped around her waist.

The horse galloped through the streets. Min Ning shouted while keeping an eye on Chen Yi. Soon, they would reach his manor. Min Ning felt the person behind her holding on tighter and tighter.

"Returning this to you... Min Ning." Chen Yi gasped, pulling a manual from his robes.

Min Ning glanced at it and was stunned to see it was the *Dragon-Slaying Saber Technique* he had taken. This man had truly changed! Min Ning felt she could no longer understand him. The "hypocrite" was merely his disguise; he was clearly a man of chivalry!

Thinking this, she couldn't help but feel a surge of admiration.

[Negative Emotion: 0]

She did not see the corner of Chen Yi’s mouth curl upward.

Arriving at the courtyard gate, Min Ning told him to get down, but he continued to hold on tightly. Min Ning was puzzled, then overcome with worry. Just as she was about to turn her head, the man rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Min Ning..." Chen Yi’s voice was weak.

"What is it?" Min Ning asked anxiously.

Tortured by the *Yin-Yang Scripture*, Chen Yi could barely hold back. He said slowly, "Centurion Min, has anyone ever told you that your subordinate, Western Depot Centurion Chen Zunming, has... a romantic interest in you?"

The heroic woman’s face turned deathly pale. The reins dropped from her hands, and she shuddered, trembling uncontrollably.

He reached out his hand to where it should not have gone.

The favorable impression she had just formed reversed instantly. Negative emotions surged, climbing rapidly toward their peak!

[Negative Emotion: 92]