225 Mutual Deception

Having thought more about the matter, Meng Qi added in a low voice, "If I challenge the Wang family's disciples of the Enlighten the Apertures level, what will you do? It's not that Shan Xiumei had done anything bad or even stepped out of line. After all, being in her 'Nirmanakaya' is not a crime. So if I were to kill her, others would think that I had gone down the Devil Path and harmed a good person. No one would believe that I was exorcising demons."

He was too afraid of being cheated by Gu Xiaosang because after all, she was a foe. But this matter had to be solved quickly. Though a great aristocratic family or Six Fan School would gladly welcome Meng Qi with open arms based on the fact that he had the Thunder God's impartation and that he had the potential to be on the Ranking List of Young Masters. By then, he would easily take down that medicine scummer at the exterior level. But then the Sect of Plain Lady would find out the secret that he had the Thunder God's impartation without even using augur. After that, one of the Nine devil Paths would constantly keep an eye on him. And with his telpathic sense of the Thunder God and Extinctive Blade of Overlord, he would never be able to "step outside".

Of course, a similar result would happen if the "Thunder Blade Furious Monk" killed Shan Xiumei. And he would walk down the heterodox path.

Gu Xiaosang said with a chuckle, "My dear husband, since it's a 'Nirmanakaya', there has to be something special to that. So once Shan Xiumei dies, she'd turn into a flying light and head towards her Real Body. Anyone of the Exterior level with acumen would be able to sense the special breath of the Mystic Fairy lineage. You'll just have to worry about challenging her and creating an opportunity. At the end of the day, I'm still doing the fighting. Don't worry, the Sect of Plain Lady would not suspect anything. After all, everyone knows that it was I who killed the Seven Heavenly Fairies."

"As for other times, of course I'm still your maid Little Zi," she bowed, "Master, is there anything Little Zi can do for you?"

She instantly contained that mysterious aura. Apart from her beauty, which was still picturesque, she was just like an ordinary girl. Meng Qi almost couldn't believe that she was, in fact, Gu Xiaosang.

Meng Qi frowned slightly, "Aren't you afraid of being recognized?"

"I'm already changed my demeanor and hidden my skills. After I make myself up a little, I believe no one will recognize me." Gu Xiaosang smiled, "And those who have seen me, very few have lived to tell the tale."

"You are really a good actor, another trait people with mental disorders share..." Meng Qi thought.

Gu Xiaosang stepped out of the wing room to do something. And when she returned, her face was made up and she had turned into the girl next door. She bowed and said, "Master, are you pleased with Little Zi's appearance?"

"Women's make-up really is the best disguise..." Meng Qi's eyes froze and his mouth half opened. If Gu Xiaosang changed into plain clothes, she really would look like a pretty maid!

"Fine. Just don't expose your identity when you battle," Meng Qi reminded. "Otherwise you'd bring me, your Master, down with you..."

As long as they killed Shan Xiumei and forced her out of Nirmanakaya and returned her to her Real Body, then the Masters on site would killed that demon the Sect of the Plain Lady. By then even if Meng Qi was personally involved, no one would suspect him.

Like a sprightly maid, Gu Xiaosang pouted, "Master, don't you believe Little Zi? Based on my strength, how could I expose my identity just by killing her Nirmanakaya?"

"...young lady, If you keep up this act, you'd split your personality once more..." Meng Qi thought his "acting chops" was top notch. But compared with Gu Xiaosang's "natural performance", he still had a long way to go.

"Master, you can prepare and rest up today. Little Zi will come and pick you up tomorrow and we'll test our bladesmanship on the Yedu heroes," said Gu Xiaosang with a smile. Her eyes were turning and her aroma permeated the air.

Riding the carriage back, Meng Qi silently mulled over things in his mind.

He just didn't trust that Gu Xiaosang would help him without an agenda of her own. So he had to be ready for anything or he would be schemed by her.

The horse carriage dropped Meng Qi off and headed into the busy streets.

When Meng Qi got home, he sad one the stone stool under the plum tree and started recalling Gu Xiaosang's every word.

Suddenly, he squinted his eyes and repeated,

"'This is the unique feature of the Mystic Fairy lineage's fundamentals and no one on the outside world knows about it. If it weren't for the fact that I found some ancient books and records by chance and tried it with her, I wouldn't be able to understand the truth either...'"

"...no one on the outside world knows about it...found some ancient books and records by chance..."

"I found some ancient books and records by chance and tried it with her..."

"This means that she got the ancient books and records before fighting with the Successor of Mystic Fairy."

"And even the Wang family from Zhou County, who is one of the fourteen great aristocratic families, didn't know about the Successor of Mystic Fairy's secret. It seems that the Luo Denomination didn't know either. Therefore Gu Xiaosang only found out from the ancient books and records."

"What kind of ancient books and records was it? And how did she get her hands on them?"

Meng Qi mused over those seemingly normal words and tried putting the pieces together,

"She had known about Successor of Mystic Fairy from the ancient books and records. And therefore knew the secret of her 'Nirmanakaya', so talks of being careless doesn't hold true."

"She was in Three Mountains and Four Waters, yet she did not take the Outsky Strange Stone and cut off all traces. Instead, she went after the Successor of Mystic Fairy to help me, so she says."

"She also said she sent men to snatch the Outsky Strange Stone for me as well."

Like a spark igniting in his mind, Meng Qi suddenly saw the light and stood up,

"Demoness, I got it! your ultimate target is the Successor of Mystic Fairy!"

"You did snatch the Outsky Strange Stone for me. On reason might be that the ruins of the Ninth Heaven needs the Thunder God successor. Another is that you want to use my thunderbolt mark to trigger the impartation, spark unusual reactions from the Extinctive Blade of Overlord and lure the Successor of Mystic Fairy to come out!"

"So that's why you didn't take the Outsky Strange Stone and let the Sect of the Plain Lady 's men grab it. And that's why later you committed yourself and killed the Seven Heavenly Fairies. But it's a pity that the Successor of Mystic Fairy's Nirmanakaya had managed to escape."

"The ancient records you attained had reavealed more than just the secret of Mystic Fairy's 'Nirmanakaya'. Perhaps there were other secrets that's more appealing to you!"

"What do you want from the Successor of Mystic Fairy?"

Meng Qi silently asked one question after another as if Gu Xiaosang was just in front of him. But after these questions, he was totally clear in his line of thought. And for the first time, he had grabbed the demoness Gu Xiaosang by the tail!

Meng Qi paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, "We had a similar objective on this matter, but I must be ready for the 'divergence' in the end."

"Though she never actually fooled me and usually just watched, she is still evil. I'll try and make sure she doesn't get her way this time..."

He figured out her schemes, and now he just had to think of a way to deal with them. Meng Qi wanted to discuss it with Qi Zhengyan. However, He Mu just fought in the tournament today, which meant many would come looking for the master behid He Mu. So Qi Zhengyan was out of the question, but there just wasn't anyone else he could think of to discuss the matter.

Just as it was getting dark, Meng Qi suddenly heard a knocking sound.

When he opened the gates, Meng Qi saw an average looking, middle-aged man. He looked like a man who had been tired from the long walk.

"Friend, I've come to watch the tournament between Martial Clubs but I got lost and now I'm extremely thirsty. I was wondering if you could spare some water..." The middle-aged man asked with a smile.

Meng Qi had always been willing to help others in need, so he pointed towards the well and said, "the well is right there, go and help yourself. The water is extremely cold though."

"It's fine, thank you." The middle-aged man got a bucket of water from the well and drank. Satisfied, he smiled and added, "Much appreciated friend, how do I address you?"

"I'm Su Meng," answered Meng Qi, casually making up a name.

The middle-aged man smiled and added, "I'm Cheng from Yong An Fang, south of Yedu. I've come here especially for the martial club tournament. Is that the Green Peak Martial Club opposite us?"

"It is." Meng Qi twitched his mouth thinking, "it's written right there on the horizontal board."

"Ah, so this is the Green Peak Martial Club. Their disciple He Mu did really well today in the tournament. Not to mention his immaculate sword art! Though only reaching the primary level of Qi-cultivation, he actually embarrassed the Sun-scorching Martial Club Disciple, who almost lost despite having already opened his Eye Apertures."

Upon hearing the name He Mu, Meng Qi lifted his eyebrows and looked over the middle-aged man once again. Meng Qi saw that there was a hint of shrewdness hidden behind his humble appearance. And Meng Qi could tell that he had been practising Kung Fu for many years from the marks on his wrist and fingers.

Meng Qi wondered who was doing all this scoping, the aristocratic families, sects or the Six Fan School? Meng Qi wanted to clarify his identity, so he went along with his words and replied, "Yeah I know, I was there watching too."

The middle aged man then added with a laugh, "For He Mu's age, that he can use his sword art to embarrass an Enlightened Master Pro means either that he's extremely gifted or that he's met with some marvellous adventure. But I've heard he had always been just an average disciple, and only began making huge strides with his skills recently."

From their conversation, Meng Qi was able to figure out his identity---He was a nark from the Six Fan School. Meng Qi did not expose his identity though, and just pretended to be none the wiser and waiting for him to ask Meng Qi about the skilled master behind He Mu.

"Mr Su, I'm assuming that you've been living here for a while now. Did you realize that He Mu was such a gifted swordsman?" the middle-aged man turned the conversation back to He Mu.

"So nark of the Six Fan School, you've done your homework on me too huh..." Meng Qi replied with a smile, "He Mu has always been diligent, asking me about words and terminology. But apart from that, nothing special."

The middle-aged man clapped his hands together and said, "I knew it!"

He squinted his eyes and like a gossipy old lady trying to dig for news, he asked, "Mr Su, have you ever seen anyone giving He Mu a few pointers? He must have met someone special!"

Meng Qi was just trying to conjure someone up in his mind when a thought had struck him, he laughed and replied, "Why of course I have."

"Really? Who?" the middle aged man asked with excitement.

Meng Qi smiled while pointing to himself, "you're looking at him."

The middle aged man suddenly looked confused, as if it were looking at a mad man. He forced a smile and asked, "You're kidding me, Mr Su."

Who would admit to such things!

"It really is me! I'm the master who gave He Mu a few pointers!" Meng Qi said matter-of-factly.

"I've never seen a master that would boast about himself like that..." The middle aged man covered his face and sighed, realizing that he had met a mad man.

"You're a nark from the Six Fan School right?" Meng Qi asked in a serious tone. And just like a skilled master, he put his hands behind his back.

The middle-aged man's face fell, "Mr S..Su, what did you say?"

"I've been hiding for for half to year to escape from being killed by the demoness. But it seems that I will have to face her anyway. So I wanted to pass on my skills to He Mu so that at least some could impart my sword art. Please pass on this information to the six fan school, and you be the witness." Meng Qi knew that Gu Xiaosang would not have guessed that the six fan school would come knocking at this moment.

His tone sounded heavy and solemn.

The middle-aged man then asked, "And your name sir?"

"I'm an abandoned Shaolin Disciple, formerly known by the name, Zhen Ding. Now, I go by the name Su Meng," answered Meng Qi in a calm but heavy manner.

Abandoned Shaolin Disciple Zhen Ding? This name was well-known within Jianghu circles, especially those below the the Exterior level. The middle-aged man added almost silently,

"You're the Thunder Blade Furious Monk?"

Meng Qi sighed, "Go back now and don't bother me anymore tonight, for I need to rest up and get ready. Tomorrow, I'll be meeting the heroes of Yedu with my blade."

The middle-aged man was perplexed, not understanding the connection between the words. But it was clear that Meng Qi wanted to see him off, so he turned to leave shutting the gates on his way out.