Death… and me

Once Diwu Qing Rou woke up, there was already news awaiting him. The number on King level master of Golden Horse Riders Department had been waiting in his study for more than two hours just to speak to him. Besides him, Official Gao, Official Han, and Official Cheng had been waiting there for a much longer period of time.

Diwu Qing Rou gave a slight frown before he ate his breakfast leisurely. Thereafter, he went to his study. His behavior was a clear indication of his way of life. He firmly believed that one should never lose composure, no matter the gravity of ongoing events. In this way, he would casually do what he needed to do, whilst still carefully planning what he needed to plan. Ultimately, he would never make a hasty decision no matter the situation.

If things were done hastily, there would definitely be loopholes.

Needless to say, Diwu Qing Rou would never allow himself to make any mistake.

Upon seeing Diwu Qing Rou enter the study, the four people stood up and said in unison, "Minister!"

"Ah, sit down!" Diwu Qing Rou smiled and nodded his head. He walked towards his seat and sat down gracefully. He continued, "King level master Jing, what has happened? Have you lost your composure as well? This is the first time that I've seen you like this after so many years!"

The person facing him was an old person who was more than 60 years old. At first glance, he appeared extremely scholarly. His face was pale while his hair was gray. His eyes looked calm, giving him the look of a saintly and well-learned scholar. Just by looking at him, no one would think that this kind-looking old man was, in fact, the first leader of Golden Horse Riders Department, ninth grade King level master Jing Meng Hun.

Jing Meng Hun smiled in a grieve manner and said, "We have unexpected news! I was in such a rush to meet you that I did not have time to prepare. I'm so worried that I must have lost my composure!"

"Huh? So worried that you've lost your composure? Could it be news from King level master Yin?" Slowly, Diwu Qing Rou lifted the cup of tea that was in front of him and gently blew on the tea leaves that were floating on the surface. He continued softly, "What has happened to Yin Wu Fa?"

Instantly, a look of admiration appeared on the faces of Han Bu Chu and the others around him.

Even though Diwu Qing Rou did not know what had happened, he could tell that something had happened to Yin Wu Fa just by judging from the look on their faces. Such a keen sense of observation and sharp wit was rarely seen in people.

"According to the news that we've received, Yin Wu Fa is severely injured and his life is in grave danger." Jing Meng Hun took in a deep breath and said with a solemn face, "He battled with King of Hell Chu for a while and both of them lost!"

"King of Hell Chu? He battled with King level master Yin and both sides lost?" Diwu Qing Rou's face had finally changed. He ceased his action of blowing the tea and continued solemnly, "How could King of Hell Chu have such a great ability?"

Meanwhile, the other three displayed puzzled looks on their faces; even Jing Meng Hun's face had a troubled look.

King of Hell Chu might have been mysterious, but no one would have thought that he had the power to battle with Yin Wu Fa.

After all, Yin Wu Fa was a sixth grade King level master.

"This note was handwritten by Yin Wu Fa." Jing Meng Hun pulled out a piece of paper that was stained with blood. Just by looking at this piece of paper, one would be able to imagine just how serious Yin Wu Fa's injuries were.

Instead of taking the paper from Jing Meng Hun, Diwu Qing Rou instead frowned and said, "Why did Yin Wu Fa bother writing this on his own since he was already severely injured? Are his two Revered Martial Artists dead? Is there no one else by his side?"

"No! It's just that our intelligence on King of Hell Chu is just not aligned." Jing Meng Hun continued helplessly, "All of us have been fooled by King of Hell Chu. Every bit of information on him is false!"

"All of it is false?" Diwu Qing Rou nodded as he said. Han Bu Chu took the paper and handed it to Diwu Qing Rou.

'Eldest brother…' From these first words, it was clear that this note was written by Yin Wu Fa for Jing Meng Hun.

"I am in Iron Cloud living on my last dying breath, but… the enemy is cunning. His tactics are truly difficult to predict. It is simply too difficult to describe." These few words were more than enough to cause Diwu Qing Rou to become pensive.

"Official Chu is extremely cunning. Everyone believes that he is just a youth but no one truly knows what he really looks like." Subsequently, Yin Wu Fa carefully repeated everything that Chu Yang had told him about the appearance of the Hei Mo King level master that he had fought.

"I have found out that those rumors cannot be trusted at all. King of Hell Chu is a Sword King. I went to Cloud Gate Inn and fought him. Both of us lost the fight. I was stabbed by him nine times, while I threw 11 punches at him. All of his bones are now broken and he is in a critical condition. If you wish to eliminate him completely, now would be the best time!"

"There are more than ten Revered Martial Artists by Official Chu's side. This massive strength is not aligned with our intelligence as well."

"The spy network in Iron Cloud is almost completely broken. King of Hell Chu has already dealt with 17 people. Great misfortune will ensue if we don't eliminate him at once!"

The content of Yin Wu Fa's note made Diwu Qing Rou wrinkle his brows tightly together!

According to Yin Wu Fa's letter, all the information that they had obtained were as good as fantasies that could not be relied upon!

The information I have should not be false, yet this note contains information that Yin Wu Fa has traded for using his own life. What is going on?

King of Hell Chu is actually a King level master. What's worse is that he's a sixth grade King level master! This is absolutely absurd!

"This is too ridiculous!" Diwu Qing Rou snorted and continued, "Share with me your views on this!"

Jing Meng Hun was the first to share. He let out a dry cough and said, "At first, I thought exactly the same as you. However, this letter full of blood that's right in front of us is obviously not a ploy from King of Hell Chu. Besides, King of Hell Chu did not know Third Brother's strength at all."

As these words were spoken, everyone around nodded in agreement. If this letter was forged, it would mean that the enemies must have captured Yin Wu Fa to send such a letter since it had his seal on it. Given Yin Wu Fa's strength, he would at least be able to escape, even if he was not able to fight. Furthermore, when faced with hopelessness, masters at such a level would easily choose death over being captured.

Even an Emperor level master who could kill a King level master with ease would have a very slim chance of capturing one alive.

"I believe…" Gao Sheng coughed and said, "This letter full of blood… There are many things here that we need to analyze…"

"For example, here! We know that King of Hell Chu has created a web of confusion, but some things that we know still hold true. Chu Yang did, in fact, join Du Shi Qing's group after leaving Beyond the Heavens Sect. Moreover, he met Tie Bu Tian outside Iron Cloud Citadel. After Tie Bu Tian had returned, he immediately sent people to search for Chu Yang."

"These information have been investigated thoroughly and were verified by more than 30 people. All of them have verified this information; even Fire Saber Great Master Gao Wei Cheng has verified this."

"After Chu Yang entered Iron Cloud Citadel, Tie Bu Tian sent Wu Qian Qian of Beyond the Heavens Sect to be his assistant. Thereafter, Chu Yang disappeared from Iron Cloud Citadel, while Bu Tian Pavilion has a new minister, Minister Chu. Based on this, there is clear proof that King of Hell Chu is actually Chu Yang! This fact should not be wrong at all!"

When Jing Meng Hun heard this fact, his face turned crestfallen. He thought, "Are you saying that my martial brother risked his life just to give false information?"

Just as he had this thought, Gao Sheng's discussion met a pivotal point as he continued, "However, the information sent by King level master Yin is not false. This information was obtained by him risking his own life; there is no doubt about this!"

"Therefore, I would suggest that perhaps Bu Tian Pavilion has two ministers?" Gao Sheng said as he thought, "Perhaps Chu Yang could be Tie Bu Tian's decoy? And… the real King of Hell Chu has the same surname as Chu Yang?"

"You mean… When Tie Bu Tian selected a minister, Chu Yang happened to appear at the same time? Hence, Tie Bu Tian must have used that opportunity to set up his own trap?" Cheng Yun He frowned.

"He might not have intentionally set up a web of confusion. This Chu Yang probably had some sort of ability… such as resourcefulness, intelligence, or ancestry… In short, Tie Bu Tian might have this other Minister to supplement the flaws in the other person…" Gao Sheng continued slowly, "Perhaps with such an explanation, we can make sense of this contradiction in information."

"That Tie Bu Tian is most likely not that thorough!" Han Bu Chu smirked, "If there is indeed two ministers, we cannot trust any of the information any further."

"I think so too." Cheng Yun He nodded and said, "Currently… Bu Tian Pavilion has just one minister, and it's not Chu Yang. I'm sure that this is true!"

The three shared their own opinions and debated continuously.

Meanwhile, Diwu Qing Rou and Jing Meng Hun sat quietly as they listened to the debate. Jing Meng Hun felt as if his head was becoming unraveled by this noisy group of scholars.

Diwu Qing Rou was also frowning as well. His initial trap for King of Hell Chu had become slightly wavered. Irrevocably, Yin Wu Fa was injured in a public fight. This information was true! How could this have happened?

For the first time in his life, Diwu Qing Rou felt that there was a slight disarray in his mind. As he listened to his three subordinates argue in front of his very eyes, he wondered how he would go about sorting out this mess.

"Minister, no matter who that King of Hell Chu is, Third Brother is in desperate need of support. We must send people to rescue him at once. With his serious injuries, I am afraid that if we don't rescue him in time…" Jing Meng Hun said solemnly.

Jing Meng Hun's words made Diwu Qing Rou's eyes light up, "Yes, what we've heard could be fake, for seeing is believing!"

Words might not be true but seeing was believing! Gao Sheng and the others were so preoccupied with their own thoughts and debate that they were unreceptive to anything else in their surroundings.

"Are the three of you done with your plans?" Diwu Qing Rou had finally recovered his calm countenance.

"Yes!" Gao Sheng had already prepared several solid plans and handed them to Diwu Qing Rou readily.

"Ah, let's proceed with plan number two!" Diwu Qing Rou took a quick glance before making a hasty decision, "These people must be extremely careful! First, we have to save Number One. Next, we have to save King level master Yin and bring him back to Great Zhao safely. Last and not the least, we have to verify the information on King of Hell Chu!"

"The first and second agendas are not difficult; the last one is!" Diwu Qing Rou continued, "As for now, it does not matter whether or not that King level master is indeed King of Hell Chu since he is ultimately still seriously injured. We can safely assume that there are no other high-level masters in Iron Cloud. With considerable care, these tasks can be achieved without much difficulty."

Subsequently, Diwu Qing Rou looked up to the heavens and said, "No matter who he is, the most important thing to do now is to rescue our people. As for King of Hell Chu, there is no need for us to make a move yet, even if we are unable to verify the information." He grunted coldly and continued, "If King of Hell Chu or Tie Bu Tian manages to continually take advantage of the situation and you people keep doing things so simply in this way, there is a great chance that our Golden Horse Riders Department will meet an extraordinarily powerful opponent!"