Chapter 16 The Four-Seas Banquet
"The antidote," demanded Jing Jiu.
Xiao He knew very well that she shouldn’t play any tricks with him.
Reluctantly, she took out a tablet from the belt around her waist with her left hand, handing it to Jing Jiu.
Jing Jiu took the tablet and gave it to Zhao Layue. "What is your position in the Old Ones?" he asked.
As Xiao He was a clever girl, she replied without hesitation. "Middle level, but I have an important position in the organization."
Jing Jiu was certain that she was the boss of that man in black, judging from her attitude toward the man, but his puzzlement was that her Cultivation state was not as high as that man’s.
"Why are you so important?"
"Because I can fool anybody…except the two of you."
"I really don’t understand – how you could see through my disguise?" Xiao He asked Jing Jiu sincerely.
"Xiao He of Ying City is a hateful and cruel female practitioner, which is one layer of the disguise; in fact, she is a seductive vixen demon, which is another layer of the disguise. After peeling off these two disguises, one discovers that you are actually a frail and naïve young girl. But who would have thought that this part is actually another layer of the disguise?!"
"If one resists external temptations, how can these disguises fool the transparent Sword Heart?!" declared Zhao Layue after having taken the antidote.
"Who the heck are you?" asked Xiao He, tears welling in her eyes.
"I want you to do me a favor," said Jing Jiu, not answering her question.
Her slightly shivering eyelashes indicated she was hesitating, but after a brief moment she lifted her head. "What favor?" she asked with a trembling voice.
"Next year or even later, you will meet a person, and you must help him with whatever he will ask you to do."
"If you can complete this task," added Jing Jiu, "I will help you leave the Old Ones."
Upon hearing this, Xiao He’ eyes brightened, but soon darkened.
She really wanted to leave the Old Ones, but it was such a horrifying place. How could she leave it?
Though she didn’t quite know the mysterious background of the Old Ones, she knew full well that a swordsman had no chance pitting himself against them.
"I can’t believe you have the ability to do that," Xiao He said sadly.
"You have no other choice but to believe me," said Jing Jiu.
"How can you make me believe you?" Xiao He asked.
"Of course, I have the ability to make you believe me," said Jing Jiu.
Having said that, Jing Jiu lifted her left hand.
The silver bracelet that was on Jing Jiu’s wrist transferred quietly to her wrist, which was impossible for her to take it off.
Zhao Layue fixed her gaze on the bracelet.
She had been curious about this bracelet on Jing Jiu’s wrist.
She herself had a similar bracelet that had been with her for many years.
Before coming to Shenmo Peak, she didn’t know that the bracelet was the Thoughtless Sword, left for her by Senior Grandmaster Jing Yang.
What about Jing Jiu’s bracelet? Was it also a famous sword?
Why did he put this bracelet on the wrist of this vixen demon who he had just met?
Feeling the chill from her wrist passing through her entire body, Xiao He grew extremely scared.
This bracelet was even more terrifying than the expression in Jing Jiu’s eyes, surpassing her fear of the Old Ones.
She didn’t know what this bracelet was, but she had the unmistakable feeling that if she had even the slightest intent to rescind the agreement, this bracelet would cut her in half—not only cutting her hand in half, but every part of her body, even her soul.
Xiao He was pale. "How can I find out…who is the person you spoke of?" she asked nervously.
"When you see him, you will know."
Jing Jiu took the jasmine flower tied to her temple and put into his sleeve.
The intimidating sword source in the night sky faded away after Xiao He had left.
The ocean wind made whistling sounds as it blew through the broken temple.
Jing Jiu ambled to the cliff edge, looking at the dark Western Ocean, and fell silent for a long time.
He didn’t think of anything, but simply looked at the ocean. They would leave this place behind in a few days, and as far as he could foresee, they wouldn’t come back for many years.
Zhao Layue walked up beside him. "We’ve been killing those evildoers in the last two years all because you wanted to attract the attention of the Old Ones?!" she asked.
"Yes, because I needed to find them."
Without turning his head around, Jing Jiu added, "Of course, the last two years were also spent cultivating."
"You suspect the Old Ones had something to do with the failure of Senior Grandmaster?" asked Zhao Layue.
"First of all, it might not be a failure. Second, it’s still hard to ascertain the relationship yet," said Jing Jiu.
"Who is the person you said would come and find her?" asked Zhao Layue.
"I hope she never meets him " said Jing Jiu.
"Are we done here?" asked Zhao Layue.
Looking at the Western Ocean under the night sky, Jing Jiu thought of the Old Ones, Liangwang Peak and Liu Shisui. "I still haven’t seen that person yet," said Jing Jiu.
Zhao Layue was surprised. "The person you wanted to see wasn’t her," she said, "but Xiwang Sun!"
Yes, the person Jing Jiu wanted to meet was the host of the Four-Seas Banquet, Xiwang Sun.
However, the problem was, to meet this person you had to participate in the Four-Seas Banquet and be a winner in any one of the four tournaments: zither, chess, calligraphy or painting.
Looking far out at the Western Ocean, Jing Jiu suddenly asked, "Is it hard to learn how to play chess?"
The day that the Four-Seas Banquet began, Haizhou hosted a variety of activities. High-class courtesans strolled the streets, there were performances from an acrobatic troupe from Yan County, and of course there was opera singing. The residents of Haizhou came out from their homes, filling the streets. The street vendors were quite pleased; the guards responsible for security, not so much.
The streets belonged to the mortals; the actual Four-Seas Banquet was held in the Lone Mountain outside Haizhou. Since the early hours of the morning, the sky had been illuminated from time to time by sword lights and the glow from precious treasures. The Cultivation practitioners were arriving, and most of them had to take carriages from Haizhou City to get there as their Cultivation states were not high enough to ride the swords.
The warm ocean breeze caressed the green trees on the Lone Mountain. If not for the white clouds in the empty blue sky, it would be unbearably hot today, but the incredible thing was that a patch of white cloud stayed in the same spot all the time. resisting the ocean wind, casting a shadow precisely on the Lone Mountain and bringing cool air to the participants on the mountain.
On the side of the Lone Mountain facing the ocean, a dozen buildings were neatly spread out in a perfect geometrical arrangement.
The practitioners strolled in the midst of the buildings, enjoying the ocean view, talking in low voices and looking up at the white cloud in the sky once in a while.
The patch of cloud was quite thick, looking like a dense white fog. The sword lights and green smoke could be seen vaguely in the cloud, and some flying eaves were visible intermittently.
This was a significant place for the Western Ocean Sword Sect—the Cloudy Platform.
The important figures of various sects had already been received on the platform. Later on, the guests of the Four-Seas Banquet would also be received there in the cloud. But those who could meet Xiwang Sun in person were only a select few.
Some of the decks on the buildings on the Lone Mountain were used for viewing the scenery, some for listening to the waves, and some for meditating. A few bigger decks were encircled by white screens fluttering with the ocean wind, where the gentle shouts, praising and cheers of the practitioners could be heard.
Here the main activities of the Four-Seas Banquet were underway—the tournaments for zither, chess, calligraphy and painting.
Though they stood far away from the buildings, Jing Jiu and Zhao Layue had still been discovered.
They didn’t wrap their heads and faces in gray clothing, but the conical hats on their heads were still very noticeable.
The people of the Pure Heaven Bureau rushed toward them.