Chapter 4153 — The Stratagem of Borrowing a Knife

"But what if we don't strike ourselves—what if we borrow a knife and let someone else do the killing of Wei Zhao?" asked Ancestor Xuanchen. He was a thoroughly vicious man; when it came to dirty tricks he was a match for Kang Jingming—otherwise the two of them could never have been master and disciple.

"Borrow a knife to kill? Now that is a fine idea!" Nantian Jiguang's eyes lit up at once, and he turned to Si Haitao. "Shopkeeper Si, didn't you say you run the intelligence network? See whether there's anyone we can make use of!"

"I only run the intelligence network of the North Island, and I haven't yet sunk my fingers into Middle Island—I've merely skimmed some of the reports," Si Haitao said with a smile. Then: "But speaking of making use of someone—lately, apart from the Heavenly Execution Way, what's the biggest piece of news on Middle Island? Isn't it that core disciple of the Snow Sword Sect who was beaten into a cripple? The Snow Sword Sect is frantic for revenge. Could we not find a way to pin the blame on Wei Zhao?"

"Oh? What's this about? Tell us at once," Nantian Jiguang urged.

Until now he had been wholly fixated on contending for the post of Deputy Island Lord of Middle Island and had had no mind for gossip; as for Ancestor Xuanchen, he too had been in secluded cultivation until recently, emerging only on the very day Nantian Jiguang took office to lend him support—and after that a whole string of events had followed, leaving him even less chance to hear such street-corner tidings.

"Wei Shenjin, a core disciple of the Snow Sword Sect, had his meridians shattered some time ago and was reduced to a useless cripple. The one who crippled him was a martial brute by the name of Ling Yi. Where this fellow sprang from, no one knows, but he had already kicked up one storm before that: they say this brute Ling Yi eloped with a Snow Sword Sect serving girl named Xueli after carrying on an affair with her. The scandal set the whole city abuzz, and the Snow Sword Sect has already hunted him twice under citywide warrant. By now he's become a personage of no small renown here on Middle Island," Si Haitao explained to the two of them.

"So that's how it is." Nantian Jiguang nodded, but then frowned. "Yet what has that to do with Wei Zhao? The Snow Sword Sect is after the brute Ling Yi—surely we can't dump this on Wei Zhao just because the names sound somewhat alike. The Snow Sword Sect is not so foolish; they won't be used by us so easily."

"That may be so, but apart from this, there seems to be nothing else we can make use of—" Si Haitao had gotten only halfway through when Ancestor Xuanchen suddenly slapped his thigh, his eyes blazing, and cried out: "Aiyo, aiyo! This is a gift dropped from Heaven!"

"Oh? How so?" Nantian Jiguang and Si Haitao were both taken aback.

"That brute Shopkeeper Si just mentioned—his name is Ling Yi, correct? Do you know what alias Wei Zhao liked to use back when he was in the mortal world?" Ancestor Xuanchen said, his face alight with excitement.

"Could it be Ling Yi?" Si Haitao was startled. It suddenly came back to him that Wei Zhao had done exactly this sort of thing on the North Island—only then his alias had been Lin Er. Now that he had come to Middle Island, there was no telling but that he might be up to his old tricks.

"The very same—Ling Yi!" Ancestor Xuanchen nodded emphatically.

"Is such a thing possible?" Nantian Jiguang's eyes gleamed, but then he said: "Yet how are we to prove that Wei Zhao is Ling Yi? Even if he used that alias in the mortal world before, he could simply plead coincidence. On that point alone, it won't be near enough to persuade the Snow Sword Sect to serve as our hired blades."

"Heh heh, as it happens, no proof is needed at all. With anyone else, there might indeed be the chance of a shared name—but that Xueli, I happen to know, was Wei Zhao's woman back in the mortal world!" Ancestor Xuanchen declared with absolute certainty. "Dean Nantian, have you forgotten? When the Cloud Terrace Island was opened in the mortal world, Wei Zhao's whole harem of women included this very Xueli!"

"Ha! Of course!" Nantian Jiguang's face cleared in sudden understanding. A man of his station would never trouble himself over such trifles, but with Ancestor Xuanchen's reminder it all came back to him—vaguely, to be sure, yet there did seem to have been such a business.

"So that means this Ling Yi must certainly be Wei Zhao in disguise?" Si Haitao pressed.

"Beyond all doubt—the brute Ling Yi and Wei Zhao are one and the same, one hundred percent. On that I stake my head!" Ancestor Xuanchen vowed.

"Splendid, splendid! This being so, the Snow Sword Sect cannot refuse to serve as our free blades even if it wishes to. Come, let us go to the Snow Sword Sect at once!" Nantian Jiguang slapped the table in his excitement.

Once this stratagem of borrowing a knife succeeded, then even if the Heavenly Execution Way came investigating afterward, the hatred would fall solely upon the Snow Sword Sect—and the three of them would bear not the slightest risk. It was simply perfect.

Nantian Jiguang at once took Si Haitao and Ancestor Xuanchen with him and hurried to the Snow Sword Sect. With his rank and standing as Vice Dean of the Cultivators' Academy, the high command of the Snow Sword Sect turned out in person to welcome him before he had even crossed the threshold.

Though he had lost the contest for Deputy Island Lord of Middle Island and been publicly humiliated to his face by the Heavenly Execution Way, Nantian Jiguang was, after all, one of the few early Mystic Ascension experts on Middle Island, and his connections were vast. Wherever he went, among any power at all, he was a sought-after guest of honor.

"It has been some days, Elder Situ. I trust you have been well." Nantian Jiguang greeted him with a genial smile. As it happened, the high elder of the Snow Sword Sect who came out to welcome them was none other than Situ Qian's own grandfather, Situ Guangzong.

"Dean Nantian is a guest one could not summon even if one wished. Your coming from afar today brings great honor to our humble Snow Sword Sect. Do come in, quickly!" Situ Guangzong said, cupping his hands in salute with a face full of smiles.

Yet inwardly, Situ Guangzong could not help but wonder and be alarmed: on the day Nantian Jiguang was struck down from Mount Zhongding by the Heavenly Execution Way, he had been present and witnessed it with his own eyes.

Like the vast majority of people, Situ Guangzong had assumed that even if Nantian Jiguang survived, he would be a cripple ever after. To think that after only a few days he should be restored to such high spirits—how very strange! After all, a top-grade fourth-tier Great Returning Pill had already lost much of its efficacy for an expert of the Mystic Ascension stage!

Amid banter and pleasantries, Nantian Jiguang and his two companions were presently invited to the seats of honor in the reception hall, where Situ Guangzong had specially ordered the finest spirit tea prepared for their attentive entertainment.

"One does not call at the Three Treasures Hall for nothing. My visit to your esteemed sect today is because there is an important piece of news which I felt it necessary to relay to you," Nantian Jiguang said, coming straight to the point.

"Important news?" Situ Guangzong was slightly taken aback. Then: "Pray speak, Dean Nantian. This old man is all ears."

"I hear that your sect's gifted disciple Wei Shenjin was beaten into a cripple by a certain martial brute some time ago?" Nantian Jiguang asked, sipping his tea.