In Pei Shengxin's memories, his father, Pei Han, seemed to have mentioned the Ten Thousand Blade Gate before. However, Pei Shengxin could not remember clearly whether Pei Han owed the Ten Thousand Blade Gate a favor or if the Ten Thousand Blade Gate had received Pei Han's favor. As for the location of the Ten Thousand Blade Gate, Pei Shengxin had no clue. The gambling monster said that the Ten Thousand Blade Gate was in the northeast, but he did not know the exact location. Pei Shengxin could only follow this direction and ask around.
"Lord Pei! Great Divine Constable Pei!"
Pei Shengxin, who was hurrying on the official road, heard the shouts behind him and pulled the reins. He turned around and saw a group of carriages leisurely catching up. The curtain of the most luxurious carriage was lifted, and a well-dressed lord stood in the carriage and laughed."My great Divine Constable Pei, your ears shouldn't be so bad.”
Pei Shengxin cupped his hands and said,"So it's Lord Zhao. I apologize for my disrespect."”
Lord Zhao cupped his hands and returned the greeting. May I know why the Divine Constable is here?"
"I'm handling a case." Why did Lord Zhao go?”
"Nothing, nothing," Lord Zhao replied vaguely.”
He then praised his subordinates beside him,"Look at how travel-worn Divine Constable Pei is. Iron-masked Divine Constable is indeed diligent in his duties.”
"Since you're investigating a case, do you have any clues, Supernatural Constable Pei?" Lord Zhao asked.”
"There are some clues."”
"There's no need to rush if there's a clue." Lord Zhao laughed. Last time, you helped me solve the case in Flying Flowers, and I haven't had the chance to thank you. Now that we're fated to meet on my territory, I have to treat you well. Last year, the Emperor bestowed me with the best wine in the Imperial Palace, but I have never been willing to drink it. Today, you, Great Divine Constable Pei, can come to my residence and get drunk with me.”
"I appreciate your good intentions, but you should know who I am." I never drink alcohol during my investigation, and I won't delay my investigation because of pleasure.”
"As expected of the Iron-masked Constable!" Lord Zhao praised. He was truly impartial. However, Constable Pei was being too serious. How could I dare to delay the case of Divine Inspector Pei? You just said that you already have a clue. Tell me the clue, and I'll ask my men to help you investigate. How can this be said to delay your investigation? Besides, I can't bear to see you in such a dusty state. I want to invite you to rest in my residence, take a hot bath, change into clean clothes, and drink a few cups of tea to express my gratitude. If this is called enjoyment, I think this kind of enjoyment will have a double the effect of solving the case. Pei Shenbu, you must know that sharpening a knife does not delay the work of chopping wood.”
Pei Shengxin shook his head." Forgive me for being unable to comply, but I will remember your gratitude."”
Seeing that Pei Shengxin was unmoved, Lord Zhao continued,"Detective Pei, I won't hide it from you. I've been troubled by an extremely difficult case recently. I couldn't sleep at night or eat. I want to ask you to put down the case at hand and help me solve this case first. How about it? Please don't refuse, Divine Constable Pei." Lord Zhao bowed to the end, his posture could not be any lower, so that Pei Shengxin could not refuse.
"I won't hide it from you, Lord Zhao. This case is the last one I'll be working on." After this case is settled, I will resign and go home.”
"Why are you here?" Lord Zhao asked with a puzzled expression. Pei…"
"I have an important case to deal with. Forgive me for not accompanying you anymore!”Pei Shengxin did not continue to argue with Lord Zhao. Before he could finish speaking, he had already left.
The sound of horse hooves gradually calmed down, but Pei Shengxin's heart was not calm. Pei Shengxin felt even more suspicious when he thought of Zhang Sen and Qin Qi telling him the good news. He had just entered Hebei when Zhang Sen and Qin Qi bumped into him. If not for his wife, Zhuo Weiwei, who was considerate and took the initiative to persuade him to leave, he did not know how long he would have been delayed at home.
Lord Zhao's appearance was like making trouble out of nothing. It was strange enough that a high-ranking official was not on official business and was not staying in the yamen or his own residence. Instead, he was strolling on the official road with his carriage. What made Pei Sheng even more suspicious was Lord Zhao's own doubts. Last year, when Pei Shengxin solved the case of 'Flying Petals', Lord Zhao didn't even thank him so warmly. Instead, today, when he bumped into Pei Shengxin, he tried his best to stop him from visiting his residence. Lord Zhao's words after being rejected by Pei Shengxin were also full of loopholes. If there was really a case that made him unable to sleep and eat in peace, Lord Zhao would have sent a letter to Pei Shengxin a long time ago. However, he didn't. Instead, he coincidentally met Pei Shengxin here and asked him for help.
Pei Shengxin suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He realized that there seemed to be an invisible hand affecting his surroundings, preventing him from going to the Door of Ten Thousand Blades to crack this key clue. If Pei Shengxin could talk to him, he really wanted to persuade him not to do this because he did not know the location of the Thousand Blades Gate at all.
If he wanted to find the Ten Thousand Blade Gate, Pei Shengxin could only try his luck along the way.
A drop of water passed through the layers of leaves and fell on Pei Shengxin's face. It was not a morning dew, but a rare drizzle before dawn. Pei Shengxin opened his eyes. The horse tied to the tree was already enjoying its breakfast. He got up and patted the dust off his clothes. He had long been used to such days of living in the open.
Pei Shengxin led the horse and continued to walk north. He didn't ride a horse because he would be in another country's territory a dozen miles ahead.
The sun was high in the sky.
The warmth of the sun accompanied by a slight breeze drove away the rare moisture in the earth. The air in the north was filled with the familiar dryness.
An old man carrying firewood walked towards Pei Shengxin with his back hunched. He had gone into the mountain to cut firewood early in the morning.
"Uncle, is there a sect called Thousand Blades Gate nearby?" Pei Shengxin asked.”
"I don't know what a sect is." The old man shook his head.”
Pei Shengxin secretly laughed that he was a little muddleheaded. Along the way, he had asked everyone about the location of the Thousand Blades Gate, but he had no results. How could an old woodcutter tell him where the Door of Ten Thousand Blades was?
Just as he was about to express his gratitude, the old man pointed at the mountain path in front of him."Once, when I was chopping wood, I found a few houses in the mountains. I don't know if they are the places you are looking for, but there doesn't seem to be anyone there.”
"Thank you, uncle." Pei Shengxin thanked him.”
When he heard the old man say that there was no one there, Pei Sheng was confident that it was not the location of the Door of Ten Thousand Blades. However, he thought that since he had already walked this far, there was no harm in entering the mountain to explore.
Broken walls, flying sand and dust, this place was only dilapidated. There was no Myriad Blade Gate that Pei Shengxin was looking for. The Ten Thousand Blades Gate was not a famous sect, and the place it was located in could be called 'remote'. Such a sect seemed to be easy to silently disappear.
Perhaps he had found the wrong place? Pei Shengxin thought so. If he returned empty-handed this time, then the only hope of solving the case could only be entrusted to Yu Mu, who was far away.
Just as Pei Shengxin was about to turn around and leave, a middle-aged man who looked to be in his fifties slowly walked towards him.
The middle-aged man glanced at Pei Shengxin as if he was a little surprised that someone would come to such a remote place.
Pei Sheng's confidence changed as he stepped forward and asked,""Senior, do you know of a sect here?”
The middle-aged man walked to a half-intact stone tablet and squatted down. He used his hand to wipe the dust off the stone tablet. The word 'door' could be vaguely made out on the stone tablet.
"Yes, this sect is called the Ten Thousand Blades Sect.”The middle-aged man had a complicated expression.
The ruins that the wood-chopping uncle was pointing at were actually the location of the Door of Ten Thousand Blades!
"I wonder who Senior is?" Pei Shengxin asked in surprise.!”
The middle-aged man said," I was the former Sect Leader of the Ten Thousand Blades Gate. Gong Bu Li, also the last Sect Leader of the Ten Thousand Blades Gate."”There was an indescribable bitterness in his words.
Pei Shengxin stepped forward and cupped his fists." Since Senior is a member of the Ten Thousand Blades Gate, Junior has something to ask Senior for help with."”
"You have something you need my help with?" Gong Bu Li asked. Who are you? Why did you come here?"
"I'm Pei Shengxin, a constable."”
"Constable?" Gong Bu Li asked. Why would a constable from the yamen want to find a sect that had long since disappeared? Could it be that someone had committed some crime under the banner of the Door of Ten Thousand Blades? No matter who you are, as you can see, the Door of Ten Thousand Blades has been destroyed. I won't help you.”
Pei Shengxin wanted to take out the fragment of Qilin's Fury but Gong Bu Li did not give him the chance as he turned around and left.
Seeing that Gong Bu Li was about to leave, Pei Sheng Xin hurriedly said,""I wonder if Senior has heard of Pei Han?”
This sentence seemed to change Gong Bu Li's mind as he looked at Pei Sheng Xin in confusion,""Pei Han died a long time ago. Who are you to Pei Han?”
"Pei Han is my late father."”
Gong Bu Li was slightly surprised,"You are actually Pei Han's son." Forget it, I received Pei Han's favor back then. Since I met you, I'll return this favor. If you have anything to say, just say it."
Pei Shengxin was not in a hurry to tell him about Qilin's anger. He asked,"I want to ask Senior first, how was the Ten Thousand Blades Gate destroyed?”
This sentence made Gong Bu Li instantly excited. He pounded his chest and stamped his feet,""Ten Thousand Blades Gate, the Ten Thousand Blades Gate was not destroyed by other sects at all. I destroyed the Ten Thousand Blades Gate with my own hands.”
Pei Shengxin didn't expect his question to make Gong Bu Li so agitated. He went forward to support Gong Bu Li who had almost fallen down. Then, he took out the fragment of Qilin's Fury and said,""I wonder if Senior recognizes this kind of hidden weapon?”
Gong Bu Li snatched the fragment from Pei Shengxin's hands and said excitedly,""This? This was the fragment of the Qilin's Fury! How could you have it!"
"This is the reason I'm here."”
After listening to Pei Shengxin's description of his encounter with the man in black, Gong Bu Li subconsciously denied,""Impossible, it's impossible for anyone to be as angry as the Qilin.”However, the fragment in his hand reminded him that everything was real. He then muttered to himself," Yeah, even if you're lying, this hidden weapon won't lie. This is indeed a fragment of Qilin's Fury."”
Pei Shengxin heard the abnormality in Gong Bu Li's words and asked,""Senior, why did you say that it's impossible for anyone to have the Qilin's Fury?”
Gong Bu Li said,"Because a long time ago, no one in the Door of Ten Thousand Blades was able to forge the Qilin Fury."”
Pei Shengxin asked,"Does the Gate of Ten Thousand Blades still have the Kylin's Fury that was previously forged?"”
Gong Bu Li was just about to shake his head when he thought of something and said,""In the ancestral hall of the clan, there are three hidden weapons that the ancestor was most proud of in his life. One of them is the Qilin's Fury.”
"Do you still have that Qilin Fury?" Pei Sheng asked.”
Gong Bu Li shook his head and said," I don't know. Ever since the Gate of Ten Thousand Blades perished, I have never entered the ancestral hall of my clan. I don't have the face to go in and face the ancestors of my Gate of Ten Thousand Blades. Every time I come, I only dare to take a look at the ruins.”
"Senior…" Pei Shengxin wanted to say something but stopped.
Gong Bu Li said," Alright, since there's a reason for this, it looks like I have no choice but to go in and take a look. Come with me."”
Gong Bu Li walked very slowly. When he saw the ruins of the Ten Thousand Blades Gate again, the regret in his heart did not diminish at all. The sect that had been passed down for hundreds of years was destroyed in his hands. The regret in his heart could be imagined. The scene of the prosperity of the Ten Thousand Blades Sect appeared in front of his eyes. In his memories, the younger generation and the elders discussed the manufacture of hidden weapons. Everyone wanted to work together to fulfill the last wish of the ancestor and create a hidden weapon comparable to the legendary one. However, in reality, the Ten Thousand Blades Sect had long been destroyed, leaving behind broken walls and ruins, and weeds everywhere.
The grand occasion of the past always made people reminisce, Gong Bu Li quietly wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes.
"Ten years, ten years." Like a fallen monarch returning to his old home, Gong Bu Li had just calmed down when he started choking again.
Gong Bu Li brought Pei Shengxin through the complicated path to the back mountain of the Door of Blades. Actually, it was more accurate to say that Gong Bu Li had relied on his memories to find this place.
The stone door was entangled with intertwined vines, and behind it was the ancestral hall of the Door of Ten Thousand Blades.
Gong Bu Li pulled away the vines. He tapped the stone door with both hands and it made a series of sounds as if it had triggered some mechanism. The dust settled and the stone door opened.
Gong Bu Li knelt down. As a sinner of the sect, he could only kneel and enter the ancestral hall. Gong Bu Li knelt and kowtowed as he came to the front of the memorial tablet. He shouted,""The 14th generation sect leader of the Ten Thousand Blade Sect, unfilial descendant Gong Bu Li greets all ancestors.”
Hearing this, Pei Shengxin was slightly surprised. He did not understand why Gong Bu Li called himself an unfilial descendant. What surprised him even more was that there were three boxes placed on the platform that was used to worship the ranking. It was obvious that they contained the three hidden weapons that Gong Bu Li mentioned. Pei Shengxin rushed to the front of the table and took a closer look. The box was empty!
When Gong Bu Li saw the empty box, he was scared out of his wits. He staggered backward and finally fell to the ground.："How could that be? How could this be? Could it really be him? He was here? He came?" Gong Bu Li spoke without thinking, as though he had seen a ghost.
Pei Shengxin grabbed Gong Bu Li's trembling hand and asked,""Who exactly is he?”
Gong Bu Li looked around at the generations of elders of the Ten Thousand Blade Sect and started talking about the unknown past of the Ten Thousand Blade Sect.
The founder of the Ten Thousand Blades Gate was a clan leader of the Gong Clan. The Gong Family had been forging for generations, but they had never forged swords or hidden weapons. Until one day, the ancestor who founded the Ten Thousand Blades Gate personally witnessed the legendary hidden weapon. He was shocked by the beauty displayed by the hidden weapon. It was a kind of detached beauty, even though this kind of beauty would mercilessly take away lives when it was displayed. Since then, he had led the Gong Family to establish the Ten Thousand Blades Sect in the mountains. He was determined to forge a weapon that could rival it. Even if he couldn't do it himself, his descendants would definitely forge it. Before that, the Ten Thousand Blades Gate was not allowed to get involved in the Jianghu. Any hidden weapons forged by the Ten Thousand Blades Gate were also not allowed to flow into the Jianghu.
This rule continued until the demise of the Door of Blades, but unfortunately, the wish of that ancestor had never been realized. The descendants of the Ten Thousand Blades Gate could not even compare to him, let alone forge the legendary hidden weapons. Therefore, rather than saying that the Ten Thousand Blade Sect was a martial arts sect, it was better to say that it was a family. The sect leader was also the clan leader.
"When it came to my previous generation, which is the generation of my father's generation. In that generation, no one in the Ten Thousand Blades Gate had the ability to forge the three hidden weapons that their ancestors were proud of. The sect leader was ashamed and angry, and he actually let go. Thus, the Ten Thousand Blade Gate had to choose a new sect leader, which was also a new clan leader. At that time, there were two candidates. One was me, and the other was my biological brother, Gong Buqi. My younger brother's attainment in concealed weapons far surpasses mine. His talent is the best in the Ten Thousand Blades Gate in recent decades, and his personality is also more suitable than mine to be the sect leader.”
"But in the end, the sect leader of the Ten Thousand Blade Sect is you, not him."”
Gong Bu Li sighed." Yes, he is stronger than me in many aspects. However, he is extremely rebellious. He especially disrespects the ancestral teachings passed down from generation to generation in our Ten Thousand Blade Gate. Not only did he want the Thousand Blades Sect to occupy a place in the Jianghu, he also wanted to forge a large number of hidden weapons to sell. He even wanted to use the forging methods of the three hidden weapons to exchange for martial arts manuals and money to strengthen the sect. His ambition runs counter to the traditions of our Ten Thousand Blades Gate. He might destroy the sect and the family. Originally, this point was enough to make my brother lose the qualification to inherit the position of sect master, but after hundreds of years of studying hidden weapons in the mountains, there were many people in the sect who stood on his side. The Ten Thousand Blades Gate was in chaos. No one knew where the future of the sect lay. As a descendant of the Gong family, I can't just watch this happen. So I tricked my brother into coming out alone and crippled the ring finger of his left hand. Without the ring finger, he could no longer forge hidden weapons, and of course, he could no longer be the sect leader of the Ten Thousand Blades Sect. After that day, he disappeared.”
"You harmed him." Pei Shengxin's words were merciless.
Gong Bu Li's guilt was evident in his words,"Yes, I harmed him." The Door of Ten Thousand Blades is declining day by day in my hands. In addition, rumors have spread in the martial world that there are many powerful hidden weapons hidden in the door. Originally, we were hidden in the mountains and were often visited by people from the Jianghu to ask for the forging method of the hidden weapons in the sect.”
"The rumor was spread by your brother?"”
"It can only be him." I destroyed him, and he wanted to destroy the entire sect. Ever since the rumors spread, the pressure from the martial world has increased. I know that if this continues, it's hard to say if the Gong family can survive, let alone complete the ancestor's will. I had no choice but to make an even more treacherous decision-to destroy the Door of Ten Thousand Blades. I personally burned the blood of my ancestors and the forging blueprints of those hidden weapons. I then forged all the hidden weapons in the sect into an iron ball, and then turned the Door of Ten Thousand Blades into ruins. I brought my clansmen to a faraway place to find a village to make a living by farming, completely ending the history of the Ten Thousand Blades Gate.”After he finished speaking, Gong Bu Li's face was covered in tears. To him, making such a difficult decision required a lot of courage!
As the clan leader, he had to do this for the survival of his clansmen. As the inheritor and supporter of the ancestral teachings, he said that in order to protect the ancestral teachings, he had no choice but to harm his younger brother. Now, the Door of Ten Thousand Blades was buried by him. This was also filled with sarcasm.
"Your brother, he knows how to open the ancestral hall?" Pei Shengxin asked again.”
"He knows." Gong Bu Li replied.
"You haven't seen him for so many years?" Pei Sheng asked.”
"No." Gong Bu Li replied.
Pei Shengxin bowed respectfully and said,"Thank you for telling me, Senior."
Gong Bu Li said," You don't have to thank me. Back then, when my Gong family moved, it was your father who helped us greatly." If it was someone else, I wouldn't tell him a single word.”
Pei Shengxin also did not expect that he would say Pei Han's name out of desperation. He did not expect that Gong Bu Li would really receive Pei Han's favor, allowing him to personally tell the whole story.
From Gong Bu Li's words, Pei Shengxin could already conclude that the black-robed man who assassinated Liu Changting was Gong Bu Li's younger brother, Gong Bu Qi. But why did Gong Buqi want to kill Liu Changting? Where was he now? The answers to these questions might have to be found by Yu Mu, who was far away in the Snow Region.
"I hope he has a smooth journey." Pei Shengxin looked at the horizon.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。