351 A Promise with the Sword of Wrath
Yan Zhantian’s actions never distinguished between good and evil and he never asked right or wrong when he killed. In the martial world, he was one of the Great Evils whom both righteous and evil factions would avoid. But, only when he spoke to White Prince Xiao Chong, whether it was in his tone or mannerisms, he carried a hint of the kindness of a teacher.
"Is the current situation unfavorable to us?" Yan Zhantian asked.
Xiao Chong nodded. "Before this, most of the high-ranking officials in the court supported me, but Xiao Chuhe has returned to the capital, and the two regents of state as well as the State Preceptor have made their positions clear. Now, they’ve all closed their doors and are not receiving guests. They may not have changed sides immediately, but they are probably taking stock of the situation. As for the martial world, neither the Tang Clan nor Hidden River will support us again. We only have Unrivaled City left as our ally."
"I don't care about the affairs of the court. As for the martial world, although Unrivaled City has recently produced a consummate young disciple, there’s still a gap from being a match for Snow Moon City. Chong'er," Yan Zhantian suddenly called him.
Xiao Chong replied hurriedly, "Da-shifu, this disciple is here."
"I may not be able to help you reach the top, but I will protect your life. No matter how chaotic all under Heaven is about to become, no matter how strong your opponents will be, you will not die," Yan Zhantian said in a deep voice.
Xiao Chong bowed his head. "Thank you, shifu."
Yan Zhantian walked forward and gently brushed his fingers over the blindfold covering Xiao Chong's eyes. "I heard that Xin Baicao’s disciple is in Heavenly Revelations. Can she heal your eyes?"
Xiao Chong replied, "The genius doctor should be coming today. I'm waiting for her."
"Good. Maybe once your eyes are healed, you won’t be so overly obsessed with the throne," Yan Zhantian said slowly. "If you can see this great world for yourself, you wouldn’t want to live that solitary existence in a corner."
"Chong'er doesn't have shifu’s passion for grandeur." Xiao Chong shook his head.
Yan Zhantian chuckled, recalling when he first met this prince.
At the time, he was traveling amongst the Northern Barbarians and encountered several ambushes by his enemies. In the end, although he killed them all, he was also seriously injured and collapsed in the snow, unable to move. Later, he met this blind prince who had been travelling with his father on a mission. Xiao Chong sent someone to rescue him and while he was healing from his injuries, he told the prince, "Although you saved me, I will not be grateful to you. Once my injuries are healed, I may even kill you."
But, Xiao Chong returned a faint smile. "Hearing their descriptions of you, Mister seems to be a wanderer. You must have seen all sorts of scenery along the way. Can you talk to Xiao Chong about them?"
Yan Zhantian was taken aback. "You’re not afraid."
Xiao Chong nodded. "I can sense that Mister is a man with a lofty spirit."
"You can't see?" Yan Zhantian looked at the white cloth wrapped around Xiao Chong's eyes.
Xiao Chong nodded again. "I had sight once."
"Although I won't be grateful to you, I don't want to owe you a favor either. I’ll teach you swordsmanship," Yan Zhantian said.
Xiao Chong still nodded. "Thank you, Mister."
"Jin Yu Gonggong and the little genius doctor are here." The house steward walked in from the door and interrupted Yan Zhantian's memories. Yan Zhantian frowned slightly. "We’ll be right there."
A carriage had stopped at the front door of the princely residence. Jin Yu Gonggong pushed open the curtain and stepped down. He was dressed in a gray robe with a faint tinge of brown. At first glance, he looked like a middle-aged scholar in a private school. He turned around and reached out to help Hua Jin off the carriage. Following right behind her was, of course, Mu Chunfeng, the third young master of Qingzhou’s wealthiest Mu family.
"White Prince Residence," Mu Chunfeng murmured to himself as he raised his head and looked at the plaque above the door.
"This way, please." Jin Yu Gonggong led the way inside.
When the White Prince Xiao Chong was young, he loved reading poetry and books, often spending his days and nights in the imperial library. Back then, Jin Yu Gonggong was still the disciple of the Eunuch of Records and he was responsible for organising the books in the imperial library. The two of them developed a mutual understanding, one reading the books, the other organising them. Sometimes, they didn't even exchange words for days. One day, Xiao Chong accidentally knocked over a bookshelf when he was looking for a book. Just as the shelf of books was about to tip over, Jun Yu Gonggong, who was walking past, waved a hand gently and righted the shelf. That day, Xiao Chong asked Jin Yu Gonggong to be his teacher but Jin Yu turned him down with two words, "Dare not".
Until that fateful day when Xiao Chong accepted a cup of water, lost his eyes forever and could no longer go to the imperial library. Then, Jin Yu suddenly visited Xiao Chong. That was also the time that Xiao Chong followed his father to many countries and sought treatment from many famous doctors all over the world but could not cure his eyes. Jin Yu came to his Residence and told him that he was willing to teach him martial arts so that he could protect himself. By then, Xiao Chong already had Yan Zhantian by his side, so Jin Yu Gonggong became his second master.
Jin Yu Gonggong walked into the residence and was taken aback by Yan Zhantian’s presence. "Yan-xiong is here too?"
Yan Zhantian frowned slightly, ignored him, and looked at the person behind him. "This must be the genius doctor, Hua Jin?"
Mu Chunfeng also frowned deeply and hurriedly pressed his hand on the long sword at his waist, his murderous aura rising abruptly. The sword he practiced was a non-killing sword so his sword aura had no murderous intent. But, at this moment, he flared with a murderous intent that he’d never had before as he glared at Yan Zhantian. "Wrath Sword Immortal!"
Yan Zhantian swept his gaze across, glanced at Mu Chunfeng, and looked at the sword at his waist. "Moving Mountains? You’re Non-Killing Sword’s disciple?"
"Yes." Mu Chunfeng pressed down on his sword, his eyes shining like a wolf as he stared closely at Yan Zhantian.
"How’s he now?" Yan Zhantian asked indifferently.
"He’s lost all his martial arts, all his meridians are broken, and he has difficulty just walking." Mu Chunfeng gritted his teeth. "It was all your doing."
"Do you want to avenge him?" Yan Zhantian slowly moved his hand to his Army Destroyer sword. "With your swordsmanship, don’t you think that’s a joke?"
"Chunfeng," Hua Jin said suddenly.
Mu Chunfeng's murderous spirit abated slightly and he lowered his head. "Hua Jin shifu."
"We are guests. Do not be rash," Hua Jin said slowly.
"Yes." Mu Chunfeng released the hilt of his sword and exhaled heavily.
"Da-shifu," Xiao Chong also called out softly.
Yan Zhantian snorted coldly, turned his back and walked into the residence. Ling Shaohan and Xiao Jingxia came out at this moment. Ling Shaohan walked forward and stopped between Xiao Chong and Hua Jin. "Ninth prince, please bring His Highness into the hall to wait. I will discuss His Highness’s condition with genius doctor Hua Jin first, so that we can make appropriate preparations."
Hua Jin was taken aback for a moment. "Jin Yu Gonggong has already told me what I need to know."
"Although Jin Yu Gonggong is His Highness’s shifu, he’s not like Shaohan who accompanies His Highness every day. When it comes to understanding His Highness’s condition, naturally, I would know better," Ling Shaohan said respectfully.
Jin Yu Gonggong nodded. "Indeed."
"Huang-xiong, let’s go inside and wait." Xiao Jingxia guided Xiao Chong to walk inside.
After Xiao Chong had left, Hua Jin asked again, "This mister, do you have something to tell me?"
"Genius doctor, I only have one request?"
"What request?"
"In a while, when the genius doctor begins treating His Highness, you need only say whether you can cure him or you can’t. The rest of it, how and what you need to cure him, you only need to tell me."