Silence reigned in the hall. Everyone present, including the lieutenant governor, Marquis Yao, and the palace lords from the Administration Palace and Justice Palace, were all privy to various war reports. But none of them had a comprehensive understanding of the situation like the Swordsage Palace did. After all, the palace lord from the Swordsage Palace was temporarily serving as the governor. Therefore, it was only natural that the Swordsage Palace would have the most complete information during this period of conflict.

“Did you all hear that?” the palace lord said, his face expressionless. “Lieutenant Governor, it’s not that I don’t want to use less severe methods to get cooperation from the nonhuman experts. It’s just that we don’t have time.”

The lieutenant governor didn’t say anything in response.

“Marquis Yao, why has a full seventy percent of the allied army not even budged? They’re demanding compensation? What outrageous gall!” The palace lord’s voice was as cold as a winter wind. “Over four hundred groups have refused to dispatch their experts. If a rebellion breaks out in Sea-Sealing County right now, what do you think will happen as a result? Have you put any thought into that, Marquis Yao?

“Both fronts are facing impending crises. Given the current state of Sea-Sealing County, I’m shocked the lot of you are sitting around moaning and whining about things. If I don’t kill a few nonhumans to stabilize things, then my surname isn’t Kong!”

The palace lord’s voice was so icy the entire hall seemed to get colder.

“And what happens if the nonhumans join forces to resist?” Marquis Yao said, his expression steely as he looked at the palace lord.

“Then,” the palace lord replied, enunciating each word one at a time, “we kill them.”

“What if they betray us on the battlefield? You’re just going to kill them all?”

Ignoring Marquis Yao, the palace lord said, “Xu Qing, notify the four honor guards to continue slaughtering any species that defies us. I’m curious to see who refuses to comply when they see that.”

Xu Qing nodded and made a notation.

“You’re as obstinate and self-opinionated as ever, Kong Liangxiu,” Marquis Yao said. “If you do things like this, but don’t keep absolute control over Sea-Sealing County, then when the time comes, those nonhumans….” He trailed off. 1

The palace lord looked at him coldly. “If Sea-Sealing County ends up being destroyed, then why would I possibly care about what the nonhumans get up to?”

Marquis Yao gave the palace lord a hard look, then flicked his sleeve and stalked off.

“When will the allied nonhumans mobilize, Yao Tianyan?” the palace lord called after him.

“In a day,” came the reply from outside the hall. It was followed by a cold harrumph.

The lieutenant governor sighed. Standing, he clasped hands to the palace lord of the Swordsage Palace, then left. The other two palace lords did the same, showing no facial expression the entire time.

After that, the hall was quiet. Only Xu Qing and the palace lord were there.

Seeing that no more orders were forthcoming, Xu Qing clasped hands and said, “I’ll take my leave now, Palace Lord.”

***

Once the palace lord was alone, he took out a jade slip and slowly rubbed its surface. Looking in the direction of Yao Mansion, he frowned.

Was it him?

***

Marquis Yao looked increasingly furious as he returned to his mansion. Once inside, he made his way to a secret chamber. At that point, the fury evaporated, and was replaced by a deeply somber expression.

It probably wasn’t Kong Liangxiu. But then… who assassinated the governor…?

***

Ten days passed.

During that time, Xu Qing essentially had no opportunities to rest. His days were spent dealing with more and more reports. That was especially true after the main armies reached the western and northern fronts, and actually began fighting the Holytide forces.

Reports came in nonstop.

Marquis Yao followed through on his words. It was impossible to say how he did it, but in only a single day, he mobilized the allied nonhumans. Then he left for the northern front, taking virtually all the Yao Clan cultivators with him. The marquis never made a public appearance before leaving.

However, Xu Qing noticed the palace lord staring off in the direction of Yao Mansion on more than one occasion.

The forceful actions of the four honor guards, joined by the two deputy palace lords, intimidated the majority of the nonhumans. Their top experts basically had no choice but to comply with the Swordsage Palace’s dharmic decree, and were assigned to armies in the various prefectures. Because of that, there were no Spirit Trove or Void Returning experts in Sea-Sealing County, save for in the armies.

The escaped prisoners were also handled.

The Swordsage Palace employed a dragnet that initially focused on the prisoners with the highest cultivation base. Although some of the weaker prisoners managed to escape, the majority were captured or killed.

Soon enough, the swordsages that had been dispatched started returning. On the tenth day, they were all back.

Around that time, the situation on the two main fronts grew critical. The reports coming through Xu Qing became increasingly desperate. Casualties were shocking, and they only mounted as the days went by. By the evening of the tenth day, both the western front and the northern front sent messages saying they needed emergency assistance.

Sea-Sealing County’s taboo treasure was fully activated. It was already on the verge of collapse, and couldn’t be used for very much longer. Once it fell, the Holytides would sweep through Sea-Sealing County like a flash flood.

Sadly, no backup army from the imperial capital ever showed up. What was more, Xu Qing knew through the war reports that the distant imperial capital, as well as other counties, were in similar circumstances. The Nightshades… were on the warpath. All of their subordinate species were also on the attack. Every single territory controlled by humankind was being threatened.

When Xu Qing delivered those reports to the palace lord, it was obvious that he was already aware of the situation. When Xu Qing found him, he was putting on a suit of armor. It was pitch black and contained over a hundred sections, each of which emanated terrifying might. When the palace lord spotted Xu Qing, his face remained as somber as ever as he waved him over.

“Come, help me with my armor.”

Xu Qing approached and started helping the palace lord strap the armor on. The palace lord looked off at the sunset, and he suddenly smiled.

“The last time I put on my armor, it was my oldest son who helped me. That was many years ago.” 𝑙𝘪𝓇𝑎𝒹.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Xu Qing looked at the palace lord, who suddenly seemed a lot older than he had before, and thought back to what Ghost Hand had mentioned about him having two sons that died in service. 2

“My oldest son killed himself,” the palace lord said quietly. “I sent him on an infiltration mission into Holytide territory. He accomplished the mission, but was discovered in the process. Rather than putting me in the position of deciding his fate, he took his own life.”

Xu Qing strapped another section of armor onto the palace lord.

“My second son was very outgoing. Perhaps too outgoing. He was sentimental and honorable, but at the same time, was a bit of a ladies’ man. Those two sides to his personality made it easy for people to plot against him. Eventually, he fell victim to such plots, and died. There’s something that no one knows, though. I actually have a grandson. And my grandson… is amazing.”

The palace lord smiled again. Today was the first day Xu Qing ever saw him smile.

It was only a few days before that Xu Qing came to realize that the palace lord’s surname was Kong. After learning that, he’d started to speculate about the grandson that had just been mentioned.3

After Xu Qing put the last piece of armor onto the palace lord, the smile disappeared from his face. His expression was somber once again, making him seem like his usual rigid and inflexible self. Taking his helmet, he said, “Xu Qing, send orders to the Administration Palace and the Justice Palace. Tell the two palace lords to go to the northern front. They absolutely must hold the line! As for me, I’m going to take all 100,000 swordsages to the western front. I want to see how strong those Holytide codgers have gotten.”

“Yes, sir,” Xu Qing said somberly. “When do we leave, Palace Lord? I need to prepare a few things.”

“You’re not going to battle. I’ve already arranged for a body double to replace you.” Palace Lord Kong turned around and looked at Xu Qing.

Xu Qing was stunned as he looked back. The palace lord’s black armor emitted a strong baleful aura, as well as the faint sound of countless wild beasts howling. What was more, countless vicious souls were visible on the armor.

“I have a different assignment for you,” Palace Lord Kong continued. “I’m sending you on a top secret mission. You’ll leave immediately for Daybreak Prefecture. There’s something I need you to investigate. You’ll start in the local Swordsage Court, and then follow any leads as necessary!”

He handed a jade slip to Xu Qing. It was the very same jade slip he had been fiddling with a few days before in the grand hall.

Xu Qing took it, his expression grave.

Palace Lord Kong turned to look once again at the sunset. A long moment passed.

“Only half a month ago, it was underneath this very same sky… that the governor perished. Xu Qing, if I die, I want you to give that jade slip to the new governor, whoever it is. It contains all the clues I’ve gathered so far regarding the governor’s death. In the meantime, feel free to study it yourself….”

Xu Qing hid his surprise as he looked at Palace Lord Kong.

The palace lord’s eyes were still focused on the sunset. “There are too many things about the governor’s death that don’t add up. It’s not as simple as a mere Holytide assassination. The governor was half a step into the Smoldering God level. How could he perish, just like that? He didn’t even fight back! If I didn’t know the governor so well, I would think he died that way on purpose!

“But in the end, the governor is indeed dead. And the circumstances around his death… are very suspicious. Unfortunately, time and tide wait for no man, and I have no time to continue the investigation.

“I don’t know who the emperor dispatched to Sea-Sealing County to replace the old governor, but whoever it is, deliver the jade slip to them. The reason I’m entrusting you with this is that I don’t trust anyone else. My grandson is too impulsive, so this kind of responsibility doesn’t suit him.

“Yao Tianyan, the lieutenant governor, and palace lords of the Justice Palace and Administration Palace… are all potential suspects. The death of the governor and the collapse of the Corrections Division were definitely the work of an insider. In fact, I’m sure some people consider me to be the biggest suspect!

“Whoever the traitor is, their cover is perfect. If we can’t uncover their true identity, Sea-Sealing County is going to be completely destabilized…. Xu Qing, the reason I’m confident you’re not a traitor is that 30,000-meter pillar of light.”

Xu Qing struggled to breathe steadily as the ramifications of the palace lord’s words hit him.

“I’m also giving you a command medallion that will give you access to any Swordsage Palace facility in Sea-Sealing County, even restricted facilities. Normally you’d need to spend battle credits to get something like that, but not now. The medallion will ensure that the spell formations don’t react to you. That will let you conduct your investigation secretly.

“What’s more, the command medallion contains the authority to call on the full killing power of the county’s taboo treasure. That should keep you safe while you carry out the investigation.”

Palace Lord Kong handed a blue command medallion to Xu Qing. Then he turned to leave. Stopping at the door with his back to Xu Qing, he said, “Xu Qing, do you remember what I said to you when we met for the first time in the Corrections Division, a year ago?”

“I remember!”

“Repeat it for me.”

Raising his voice, Xu Qing said, “Every swordsage is a sharp sword wielded for humankind as a whole. They should be ready to sacrifice their lives at any moment, all for humanity’s sake.”

Hearing that, Palace Lord Kong laughed heartily and put on his helmet. As he walked away, he said, “I am a swordsage too!”

1. Kong Liangxiu: Kong is listed #99 on the top 100 surnames list. Liang means “bright, clear, resonant” and Xiu means “decorate, embellish, repair” as well as “cultivate, cultivation.” Kong has a long O sound, so it does NOT sound like ‘kong’ from King Kong. Liang sort of rhymes with the English word “song”, except it starts with a sort of Y sound after the L. Xiu starts out with a sound between SH and S, and sort of rhymes with “no.” Long also has a long O sound. It rhymes with the first syllable “kong” but does not sound like the English word “long.” To hear it pronounced by google, go here and click the “listen” button. When I asked Madam Deathblade about his name, she gave me a long analysis of the meaning of the two different characters, which basically encompasses the information I gave above. Then she ended by saying, “he sounds like a nerd.” ?

2. Ghost Hand mentioned the palace lord’s sons in chapter 436. ?

3. It’s interesting to go back and read some of the interactions between Kong Liangxiu and his grandson, now that we know the details of their relationship. There’s nothing mind-blowing there. I just thought it was more touching now that we know why he always went so hard on his grandson. Such chapters include chapter 411, 421, 427. There is also a very interesting comment toward the end of chapter 417 that relates to their relationship. ?

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