Last year's sorrow in autumn returns this year once more.
...
"Chengdu, a city born of the heavens, with countless households painting a picturesque scene. Its grass, trees, clouds, and mountains are like brocade—nowhere between Qin and here compares." Su Changhe strolled leisurely through the streets, arms crossed as he took in the surroundings. "This poem by your favorite Sword Immortal describes this very Brocade City. Now that we’ve set foot here, what are your thoughts?"
Su Muyu rode alongside him and shook his head. "I came to this Brocade City many years ago."
"Oh? For what purpose?" Su Changhe asked curiously.
Su Muyu gave a bitter smile. "Back then, as the Umbrella Ghost of Dark River, what else could it have been for?"
"I see." Su Changhe glanced to the side and noticed a teahouse filled with square tables, each occupied by people holding bamboo tiles, clacking them noisily as they played. Intrigued, he stepped inside and watched for a while. "What are they playing? Su Muyu, do you understand this?"
Su Muyu followed him in. "This is called Sparrow Tiles. It’s quite popular in Brocade City. Drinking tea while playing Sparrow Tiles or gathering in circles to 'set up the Dragon Gate Formation'—that’s the way of life here."
"What’s the 'Dragon Gate Formation'?" Su Changhe frowned. "Some kind of powerful battle array?"
"Well... you’re not entirely wrong. The way they arrange their chairs does resemble the encirclement tactics used by General Xue against the northern invaders in the previous dynasty," Su Muyu conceded.
"But Brocade City has been peaceful for years. With the Tang Sect guarding from within and Mount Qingcheng protecting from without, why would the locals need to practice battle formations?" Su Changhe asked, puzzled.
"It’s just the resemblance that earned it the name. In truth, they’re simply sitting together to chat about..." Su Muyu paused, thinking carefully, "the trivial matters they’ve encountered recently."
"Ah, so it’s just people gathering to boast." Su Changhe waved a hand dismissively. "Hey, Su Muyu, why is it that today I’m the one asking questions and you’re the one answering? Haven’t our roles suddenly reversed? Aren’t you supposed to be the one who knows nothing about daily life?"
Su Muyu remained unruffled. "Because when I came to kill that man, I stayed in Brocade City for three whole months. So I know this city rather well."
"Who was it that took so long to prepare for?" The two had been communicating through secret transmissions, so though they spoke of murder, no one around them heard a thing, engrossed as they were in their Sparrow Tiles.
Su Muyu replied, "Liu Yilong, the Sword King of the Southwest."
"Oh, that hypocrite." Su Changhe shrugged.
"Hu le!" The middle-aged man seated before Su Changhe suddenly slammed a tile onto the table.
The other three players leaned in, studying the tile with odd expressions.
"'Hu le' means he won?" Su Changhe asked curiously.
"Of course I won! One hundred and twenty-eight points!" The man stood up, his belly pressing against the table as he grinned broadly. "Pay up, pay up."
The other three reluctantly tossed down their silver, which the man collected with a satisfied chuckle."Still playing around?" Su Changhe asked again with an eerie tone.
"Who the hell are you? Why keep talking to me?" The middle-aged man frowned impatiently as he turned his head, only to see that unnervingly smiling face.
Su Changhe stroked his thin mustache: "Head of Mu House?"
"Ha ma pi!" The middle-aged man shuddered and blurted out these three words.
"I don't understand. Was that an insult?" Su Changhe turned to Su Muyu beside him.
The middle-aged man followed Su Changhe's gaze, then spat out the same words again: "Ha ma pi!"
"This is a Jin City dialect greeting meaning 'how are you'," Su Muyu bowed slightly with a kind tone, "Ha ma pi."
"Oh?" Su Changhe meaningfully patted the Head of Mu House's shoulder, "Is that so?"
Inside the teahouse's private chamber, elegantly decorated with an amber-carved incense burner holding a purple incense stick, the same middle-aged man sat on a rosewood official's chair, pouring tea for his two guests: "The Head and the Su Family Head visiting without prior notice?"
"Was it you who hosted my brother during his three-month stay in Jin City years ago?" Su Changhe asked.
The middle-aged man laughed awkwardly: "Yes, yes indeed."
"So that 'Ha ma pi' greeting was also what you taught him?" Su Changhe pressed.
Scratching his head, the man admitted: "I was just joking with the Su Family Head... never thought he'd take it seriously. Later, I was too embarrassed to explain."
Su Muyu's face darkened: "No wonder Liu Yilong looked so furious during our sword duel back then."
"Hahaha! Serves you right for insisting on being such a polite assassin. Greeting your targets before killing them. That 'Ha ma pi' probably made Liu Yilong too angry to even hold his sword properly!" Su Changhe couldn't contain his laughter, pounding his thigh in amusement.
"Enough," Su Muyu said leisurely.
"Alright, no more laughing." Like flipping a switch, Su Changhe instantly wiped the smile off his face, staring seriously at the middle-aged man. "Head of Mu House."
The Mu House Head startled: "The Head! Your humble servant is here!"
"You mentioned we arrived without notice?" Su Changhe narrowed his eyes.
The Mu House Head's eyes darted nervously as he immediately knelt in salute: "My mistake! What need have the Head and Su Family Head to notify someone like me? This lowly one spoke out of turn!"
"No. What I mean is..." Su Changhe frowned, "I should have sent people to inform you already. In fact, they should have been here waiting for us."
"Who are 'they'?" The Mu House Head frowned.
"One is Mu Xuewei," Su Changhe said slowly.
The Mu House Head froze: "Poison Flower?"
"And another, though you've been stationed in Jin City and never met him, is now your family head—Mu Qingyang." Su Changhe fixed an intense stare on the Mu House Head. "You haven't seen them?"
The Mu House Head raised his right hand: "I swear I haven't! If the Mu Family Head visited my humble teahouse, how could I possibly miss them?"
Su Changhe turned to Su Muyu, who whispered: "Something's wrong.""It can be said, things are very bad indeed." Su Changhe leaned back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling. "Really... damn it all!"
OpenNovel