Chapter 325 Sneak In
Fang Xingjian scanned the exterior of the house briefly, and with a flash, he appeared instantly at the back door.
At the same time, on the third story of the building, three youths were laying in their sick beds. They were the three apprentices whose internal organs had deteriorated, and their lives were at risks.
One of the youths was a ghastly pale faced young girl lying down on the bed, with her eyes tightly shut. She wore a pained expression, and big droplets of perspiration were dripping down from her forehead.
Two Conferred Knights dressed in Knight attire stood next to one corner of the bed. One of them, a Conferred Knight with a moustache, looked at the young girl who was gasping for air and crying out in agony. Then he shook his head and said, “The three of them probably won’t be able to hang on till the next month.”
Next to him, a blue-haired Conferred Knight said, “Their internal organs have completely broken down and are starting to slowly decompose. This method of dying is too painful. Let’s go, don’t disturb their rest.”
The two Conferred Knights both had Heaven’s Perception, so it did not matter whether they were in the room or not. They walked out of the room and sat down. The moustached man asked, “Where’s Madam Sally? She isn’t back yet?”
The blue-haired guy said, “Not yet. She went to investigate the situation of the One Intention Style Dojo.”
One Intention Style Dojo was the sword arts faction which was the victim of this case. The Head of the Dojo had gotten three of their more outstanding students to try and pick up the Rebirth Sword Technique after having seen it on the Knight’s handbook.
“One Intention Style… They used to be considered as one of the more formidable factions in the Great Western City over ten years ago, right? For the past ten years or so, they have been on the decline,” the moustached man said. “But it feels a bit weird that they let three of their most outstanding students to pick up the Rebirth Sword Technique at one go.”
“What’s so strange about it?” The blue-haired man said, “The state of their decline is too serious, and if they still haven’t produced a Knight by next year, even their rights to have access to the Knight’s handbook will be cancelled.
“The Head of the Dojo must have believed in the effects of the Rebirth Sword Technique and let their three most outstanding students learn it. They must have been planning to use the excuse that they were putting it on trial and thus wouldn’t have to pay any royalties. Then they would let the three students achieve good results in the Prefectural Selection next year.”
“But it ended up with all three of them being crippled?” The moustache man’s mouth twitched, “They are really unlucky.”
The two of them were second-in-command to Sally and had also been sent by the Knight Association. They were tasked with the job of assisting Sally in this arbitration.
However, compared to young Sally who was not even 30 years old, both the moustached man and the blue-haired man had exceeded 40 years of age and were level 24 Conferred Knights. They belong to the group that formed the core strength of the Conferred Knights.
Just as they were talking, a middle-aged lady walked over. The lady’s face was covered in wrinkles, and she was wearing clothes made from coarse cloth. Under the light, she appeared very uneasy as she spoke timidly and nervously, “I… I think we should let it go this time around. Can we stop the arbitration?”
This married commoner lady was clearly the mother of one of the three apprentices. After hearing her question, the two Conferred Knights exchanged a glance. In the end, the moustached man was the one who said, “Don’t worry. We represent the Knight Association. No one would dare to take revenge on you.”
“But… but I heard that Fang Xingjian is a once-in-a-thousand-years genius in the Great Western Region. I’ve even read his book before. Someone like this… How can we afford to go against someone like this?” The lady clenched her fists tightly, appearing increasingly nervous and hesitant.
When the moustached man saw the lady behaving like this, he explained patiently, “Don’t worry about Fang Xingjian. We’re all level 24 Conferred Knights who have skipped through the Regional Academy and gone through tough training at the Knight Association in the central.
“You might have heard of our names before. I am Heaven-Shaking Sword, Potter.” He pat his back, and a huge sword over two meters long let out a clanking sound.
Then he pointed to the blue-haired man next to him and said, “This is Baroque Sword, Marcus. Fang Xingjian is but a Conferred Knight who has just completed his job transition recently. With us around, he won’t be able to lay his hands on you. Don’t worry.”
Since the arbitration was for the Rebirth Sword Technique, the three arbitrators were naturally people who cultivated sword arts.
Heaven-Shaking Sword Potter and Baroque Sword Marcus were Conferred Knights who both had quite a reputation even in the central.
Heaven-Shaking Sword Potter, had slashed through the clouds with his huge sword and stopped a storm, placing the flood disaster under control.
Baroque Sword, Marcus, had once thrust with his sword for ten minutes and blocked off a horde of ferocious beasts which had surrounded the city, saving several tens of thousands of lives in the process.
The two of them had even become the best partners and worked together to settle various cases involving Knights. Three years ago, they had even worked together and headed to the northern country to arrest a level 24 Conferred Knight who had defected and escaped to the north. They had successfully brought the convict back to the Imperial Capital even though they had been chased all the way by the assassins from the north.
Although the woman was a commoner, she had also heard of their achievements before. After hearing these, she finally felt a bit more assured. However, she still spoke with a slightly frightened tone, “But rumor has it that there is a great person like the Second Prince backing up Fang Xingjian. What if the prince is angered by our actions? What would we do then?”
Seeing that the woman seemed as if she was about to cry, the blue-haired Marcus said impatiently, “Alright, don’t think too much into these things. We, the Knight Association, will enforce the law fairly. Even if the prince himself has committed a crime, he would be dealt in the same way as a commoner.
“If it’s really proven that Fang Xingjian’s Rebirth Sword Technique has caused the deterioration of the practitioners’ internal organs, then even the Second Prince won’t be able to save him.”
As he said that, he waved his hand to signal for the woman to return home quickly.
After the woman left, the moustached man, Potter, said, “Why did you have to be so harsh? This lady is now very nervous and frightened. You should have explained it to her properly.”
The blue-haired Marcus replied, “She’s just a commoner. Frankly speaking, no matter whether she’s infuriated, nervous, worried, or feeling any other emotions, it would be useless.”
“Your mind is in a mess right now?” Heaven-Shaking Sword Potter asked.
“Isn’t it the same for you?” Baroque Sword Marcus let out a sigh and said, “Although Fang Xingjian is talented, he hasn’t been able to turn that into his battle prowess. What’s scary are the people behind him. Have you felt it in the time we’ve been in the Great Western City?”
“It’s hard to take even a single step.” Heaven-Shaking Sword Potter frowned and said, “It’s as if every place we go to and everything that we do are being under surveillance. Even this house was something which took us so much effort to get, let alone the various attitudes we’ve been receiving on the way. Moreover, we haven’t even met James and Governor Devitt.”
“Additionally, don’t you think that the implications of this case are very deep? We’re both sword arts cultivators, and at the very least, in terms of the sword theories, the Rebirth Sword Technique will definitely not result in one suffering from the deterioration of the internal organs. By right, a case like this should have its news shut off before we investigate the case carefully. However, with the publicity it has been given, it’s to the extent that we’re almost fighting against the Great Western Region Regional Academy. It’s obvious that someone wants to end this swiftly and ruthlessly, preventing all organizations from studying the Rebirth Sword Technique.”
Saying that, the Heaven-Shaking Sword let out a sigh and continued, “Right now, the case with the Rebirth Sword Technique has already gained the attention of all the Empire’s upper echelons. For such a case, only the three of us have been sent here. Especially Sally… Although she is quite talented, she is too young and too inexperienced.”