Chapter 408: Mahjong

Chapter 408: Mahjong

"This is the North Wind? The North Wind I've been searching for so long?" Looking at the man sprawled before him, barely clinging to life, Li Huowang felt as though he were trapped in a dream. His mind buzzed like it had consumed too much wine.

Ever since he learned that North Wind possessed a method to escape delusions and control the innate Qi within his body, Li Huowang had dreamed of the moment he would finally find him—countless nights spent imagining what that encounter might be like.

Yet he never imagined that when North Wind would appear before him, it would be under such circumstances.

" Him? Is he really North Wind?! Brother Zhuge, are you certain you haven't mistaken him?" Li Huowang looked at Zhuge Yuan in disbelief.

"Mm, yes, indeed. This is North Wind. He was hiding among those eunuchs. I saw him myself, but..."

Li Huowang's hands trembled as he suddenly bowed deeply toward Zhuge Yuan and said with great sincerity, "I owe you my life—I cannot thank you enough!"

After speaking, he immediately knelt down and carefully lifted North Wind up, pulling out a dagger to peel back his skin.

After lifting several layers, the bloodstained mahjong tile bearing North Wind’s face appeared before Li Huowang. He was so overwhelmed with emotion that tears nearly spilled from his eyes.

As his trembling fingers brushed across the flesh-and-blood tile, the character “North Wind” formed from blood and sinew began to writhe and speak.

"Heh heh heh, look at how delighted you are. What's wrong? Are you perhaps my long-lost son?" North Wind's voice was aged yet hoarse.

Li Huowang took a deep breath, suppressing his excitement, and spoke with a quivering voice, "North Wind… North Wind… I’ve searched for you so hard."

"Oh? You searched hard for me? Then it seems I won’t die until you’ve emptied everything I have inside you," North Wind replied.

Li Huowang acted as if he hadn’t heard, gripping the dagger with bloodied fingers tightly, leaning close to him and staring into his eyes as he spoke to himself.

"Brother North Wind, could you do me one last favor? Please tell me how you escaped those illusions. If you can share this method, even releasing you outright would be acceptable!"

Whether or not he agreed, Li Huowang had already made plans for the next step. But he was utterly unprepared for the response that came.

"Xinsu? Heh heh, who told you I’m Xinsu? I am North Wind, yes—but only pretending. Only the Fourth is truly Xinsu. I am not."

At that moment, Li Huowang’s pupils shrank to pinpoints. "The Fourth?"

That simple nickname, like a ghostly whisper, caused the heart that had been suspended in his chest to plummet into an unseen abyss.

Seeing Li Huowang’s expression, North Wind wore a smug smile. "What? Young man, have you never played mahjong? Isn’t it normal for a set of tiles to have four North Winds?"

"Four North Winds? That means four Dragons! Four... White Tiles? Four Red Zhongs?!" A thunderclap exploded in Li Huowang’s mind.

In the next instant, his face twisted in fury, he yanked North Wind into the air, plunging the dagger into his abdomen and slowly twisting it.

"Impossible! Even now, you still want to deceive me! Listen—you will give me that method, or death itself will be a luxury!"

Just as Li Huowang was about to recount everything he’d endured and demand answers once more, Zhuge Yuan spoke, his tone awkward.

"Um, Brother Li, this man isn’t lying. I wasn’t finished explaining just now. Yes, he is North Wind—but he is not Xinsu. Though he pretended to be Xinsu, I recognized the truth at a glance."

Zhuge Yuan’s words felt like a blow that severed Li Huowang’s spine, turning his face pale as ash.

He looked at Zhuge Yuan, unsure of what to say.

Li Huowang almost choked on his own breath. If there was anything worse than nothingness, it was seeing something within reach only to lose it again.

"You love storytelling so much. Why didn’t you tell me about the four North Winds being so important?"

Zhuge Yuan tapped his fan against his forehead regretfully. "Ah, I thought you knew. I didn’t realize you didn’t know. It’s not too late to tell you now."

"You see, you know how the Sect of Forgetting can change faces and disguise themselves. To outsiders, they only show one face. But behind the scenes, that face is shared by four people. So outsiders believe each suit in the Sect has only one person."

"By constantly shifting positions among identical suits, the Sect has fooled many."

Having finally caught North Wind, he had no value anymore. A surge of hot blood rushed to Li Huowang’s head, and he raised the dagger vertically, trembling as he stabbed it toward North Wind’s chest.

Blood trickled from North Wind’s mouth, his features twisted in pain, yet he paid no attention, instead sneering at Li Huowang.

"Heh heh… So you’re from the Aojing Sect, eh? Stupid fools, all of you."

"Brother Li, don’t kill him. I’m leaving him to you—he may know something."

Seeing North Wind’s arrogant grin, the fire burning in Li Huowang’s heart refused to die down. Yet he ultimately suppressed that fiery rage.

The *Fire-Aojing True Scripture* was picked up from the ground, and Li Huowang began tending to North Wind’s wounds.

North Wind’s laughter grew louder as he watched. "Oh? You’re not going to kill me now? You seek something from me, huh? Hahahaha."

Once the wound on North Wind’s abdomen was wrapped in a burn scar, Li Huowang looked again at the captive before him. North Wind now appeared as a common old man.

There was no use in being disappointed or angry anymore. Better to focus on mending what was broken.

"Since you are one of the North Winds, and all four share one face, where are the other three North Winds? Surely you know," Li Huowang asked.

"Heh heh, looks like I guessed right. Since you're looking for the Fourth, your identity must be Xinsu, correct? Want him to tell you how to escape the confusion of Xinsu?" This North Wind had already deduced Li Huowang’s purpose.

Seeing that the man wouldn’t speak, Li Huowang lined up the torture tools neatly before him.

"I despise you people from the Aojing Sect the most. You keep using the same trick over and over. You never think. Fine, I’ll answer your question—but..."

At that, North Wind’s lips curled slightly upward, his eyes slanting toward Li Huowang. "But I dare say… will you believe me, boy? Don’t forget—I am from the Sect of Forgetting. Heh~ heh~ heh~"