Chapter 367: Huangtian No More

Chapter 367 The Azure Sky Is No More

It had cleared for a bare three days before thick, goose-feather snow began to drift down over Edo once again.

Night descended, swallowing the myriad shapes of the world as they rose into the gloom.

The plowing stallion that used to gallop through the snow around the Arase Group skyscraper was nowhere to be seen, replaced by a brilliant yellow banner woven of light and shadow, fluttering atop the towering structure, its center branded with a crimson character for "Arase."

Snowflakes pierced the fabric of the banner, falling toward the brilliantly illuminated building, only to be swept away by the backdraft of a rapidly ascending lift.

The doors slid open, revealing Arase Retsu’s rugged, magnanimous face.

Gazing at the secret passage he had walked countless times before, Arase Retsu felt no melancholy or sentimentality, only a chest full of murderous intent boiling over.

After tonight, whether he lived or died, this place would cease to exist.

The Arase Group building was dead silent after hours, making his heavy footsteps exceptionally clear.

The swaying lights dragged the shadows beneath Arase Retsu's feet, extinguishing all light and shadow in his wake.

The heavy doors pushed open, revealing five figures perched upon high-backed chairs on an elevated dais.

"Huang Retsu, so you still know the way back?"

The only female Martial Sequence present, Huang Moyun, said with a sinister air, "You disappeared for days this time, it couldn't possibly be that old Japanese pirate Tokugawa Hiroshi summoning you for another meeting, could it?"

Arase Retsu nodded, "Martial Aunt, you truly foresee things like a god."

"You—"

Huang Moyun's face instantly flushed crimson.

"Alright, stop arguing over these useless matters."

Someone beside her spoke up, "Huang Retsu, we do not care what conspiracies you are plotting with the other three corporations, but you promised the sect last time that you would bring back that rogue Martial Sequence. You haven't forgotten this, have you?"

"Replying to Martial Uncle Fuyun, this disciple has not forgotten."

"Since you haven't forgotten, why did you return empty-handed again today?"

"I went to Inuyama Castle and found that Embroidered Uniform Guard Centurion named Yanjun."

Arase Retsu spoke calmly, "But I was not confident I could capture him alive."

"What?"

The speaker's voice carried utter astonishment, "A mere Sequence Six nobody, and you claim you weren't confident in capturing him alive?"

"He had two Bright Ghost Mohist Armors by his side, along with a Landscape Scholar from Mount Longhu and a Dream-Eating Baku of unknown origin. If it came to blows, I was only confident in killing him."

Mohist Sequence, Daoist Sequence, Yin-Yang...

Huang Fuyun looked stunned, "How could so many Sequence Sixes appear in the Embroidered Uniform Guard station of a small city?!"

"So..."

Coldness radiated from Huang Moyun's face, "You just retreated like that?"

"The Elders desired a living specimen with active genes, not a cold corpse, so this disciple did not act rashly."

Arase Retsu said candidly, "I was afraid I might accidentally beat him to death."

"A high-sounding excuse, but I see you fear Su Ce and simply do not wish to do your duty?!"

"Martial Aunt Moyun misunderstands."

"Huang Retsu, do you really think we are old and senile?"

Huang Moyun suddenly bellowed in fury, "If not for Su Ce, how could you fail to take down that Yanjun? Even if he had a Landscape Scholar and a Dream-Eating Baku helping him, they are at most three Sequence Sixes. You are a Grandmaster of Martial Sequence Four from our sect, a full two ranks above them. How could you fail to capture him alive?"

"Do you still regard yourself as a disciple of the Yellow Sky Gate?! Do you still respect us as your elders?!"

The furious reprimands echoed through the enclosed secret chamber, deafeningly loud.

Arase Retsu turned a deaf ear, his gaze piercing straight toward Huang Qinlong, who sat enthroned at the center of the circular dais.

"Master, do you doubt me as well?"

Huang Qinlong smiled faintly, "I do not doubt your loyalty, but your Martial Aunt Moyun makes a valid point. Some things are best cleared up."

"It is indeed time to clear things up."

Arase Retsu nodded, suddenly splitting his lips to reveal a mouthful of stark white teeth, "But unfortunately, I don't seem to be in the mood to explain myself today."

"Insolent!"

Huang Moyun surged to her feet, the washing tubes plugged into her spine instantly pulling taut.

"Before the sect elders, how dare you speak such arrogant words, Huang Retsu!"

"Sect?"

Arase Retsu laughed out loud, as if he had just heard the greatest joke in the world.

His laughter carried a resentment and mockery so thick it could barely be dissolved.

Arase Retsu’s face twisted into a hideous grimace, "Would a sect of the Great Ming Empire tamper with their disciples' bodies? Would they harvest their organs to prolong their own lives?"

The secret chamber fell into a deathly silence, and a moment later, furious cursing erupted violently from the dais.

The four old remnants of the Yellow Sky Gate stood up in unison, enraged, denouncing Arase Retsu for his insubordination and treason.

Huang Qinlong gently raised his right hand, and the clamor in his ears ceased instantly.

"Retsu, your master knows you have heard some foul rumors recently, causing doubts and suspicions to arise in your heart. But your master can tell you clearly that those are nothing but absurd fabrications."

"Is that so?"

Arase Retsu mocked, "Then can you tell me, Master, where all the disciples you took under your wing over the years have gone?"

"They have all secretly returned to the Empire's mainland, clearing obstacles for the resurgence of the Yellow Sky Gate."

"So, the Martial Sequence internal organs you used to stave off your injuries all these years were plundered by them from the Empire's mainland?"

Huang Qinlong nodded slightly, "You are correct."

"Master, do you think I am stupid?" Arase Retsu tilted his head slightly, crisp cracking sounds echoing from beneath his bulging scapular muscles.

"You are not stupid. On the contrary, you possess the best aptitude among my disciples, and you have the clearest mind."

"To receive such high praise from you, to be honest, I am quite pleased."

Arase Retsu smiled brilliantly, "Since you don't take me for a fool, now that things have reached this point, why must we continue this charade?"

"Precisely because you are not stupid, your master is still willing to play along with you, and can even give you one more chance to return to the position where you belong."

Huang Qinlong's expression was disdainful, his words carrying a chilling aura of absolute dominance.

"As long as you kneel down now, kowtow to your Martial Uncles and Aunts to admit your mistake, and continue to do what you must, we can pretend we never heard your words just now. After we leave, you may continue to use the surname 'Huang'."

"The surname Huang?"

Arase Retsu came to a sudden realization, "You mean you can spare my life, and let me lead the Arase Group to continue serving as your escape route in the Japanese District?"

"An escape route is always better than a dead end."

Huang Qinlong maintained his high-and-mighty posture, "Your master knows you have ambition and are unwilling to remain subservient forever. But I have taught you that in life and actions, one must not be too hasty, nor allow temporary anger to dictate one's judgment of the situation. One must plan before moving."

"Senior Brother, why bother saying all this to him? Since he dares to be a traitor, I will kill him right now!"

Huang Moyun's voice, sharp as a blade.

"You're this confident I didn't come to flip the table without making thorough preparations?" Huang Shihuo's gaze was complex.

"You are my disciple; I know your capabilities and your body better than you do."

Huang Qinlong's expression was confident, "To kill your master, you're still a bit green."

"Then, by your logic, what should I do?"

"You should continue to endure, wait until our injuries heal and we return to the imperial heartland before revealing your ambition. Then, whether you ally with the other three great companies or defect to the Embroidered Uniform Guard's Su Ce, slowly plotting step by step to reclaim the Huangshi Group—that is the surest path."

Huang Shihuo spoke sincerely, "But with your methods, these petty maneuvers would never escape your eyes. Once your injuries heal, wouldn't I be even less able to escape your palm?"

"So you must learn a single word: Endure!"

Huang Qinlong leaned forward, elbows on knees, like a lean tiger craning its neck to spy.

"Youth is your greatest capital. When you endure until we old folks have burned our oil dry, that will be your moment to turn the tables."

Atop the dais and below, one taught with care, the other listened with intent.

Yet the content made scalps tingle, sending chills down the spine—for it was a master teaching his disciple how to rebel.

"Turning on us now, you may have vented your spleen, but you've also backed yourself into a dead end. The loss outweighs the gain."

Huang Shihuo asked with a smile, "If I keep playing the fool, will you let me go?"

"This master does not kill useful people. As long as you hold value to the Huangtian Gate, you will always have a chance to live."

"What if I have no value left?"

"When that day comes, I won't even need to lift a finger. Do you understand this principle?"

"I see. The disciple has learned."

Huang Shihuo's figure suddenly dropped, kneeling on the floor below the dais.

A faint smile surfaced on Huang Qinlong's face, but before it could bloom, it suddenly stiffened and froze.

Only to see Huang Shihuo slowly remove the pale white haori from his body, fold it neatly, and place it at his side.

That towering physique, etched with gods and demons, crashed into Huang Qinlong's pupils; his pupils involuntarily dilated slightly outward.

"You—"

"Master, you calculated the human heart, and long anticipated my treachery. But you forgot one thing."

Huang Qinlong's face darkened, "What thing?"

"You've been sealed away here for so many years, you've fallen behind the times. The tricks you planted in my body, and the latent dangers left in the cultivation art—I've resolved them all."

Huang Shihuo raised a hand, gesturing around, finally pressing his thumb against his own chest, tattooed with dragons, tigers, and yakshas.

"Without those vile methods, what gives you the right to stand above me?"

"The Martial Sequence relies on this innate flesh and blood, not these feeble schemes. When you chose to hide here, relying on organ transplants and blood washing to cling to life, you betrayed the genes of the Martial Sequence; naturally, the genes would betray you."

The martial artist jabbed a finger at his own crown, "This is the real reason your injuries have never healed all these years!"

"Insolence! What qualifications do you have to speak of the Martial Sequence? You're nothing but a dog I force-ripened!"

The ancient man, humiliated into rage, violently threw off his robes and rose, white hair bristling, eyes savage as if wanting to devour someone.

But at that very moment, Huang Moyun, standing at his side, suddenly choked out a large mouthful of pitch-black blood, her body limp as she fell back, collapsing in the chair gasping heavily.

At some unknown time, the fluid flowing in the tubes along her spine had turned from a tender pale green to a deep, gloomy blue-black.

"Poison?!"

The others reacted too, faces turning ashen simultaneously, hurriedly tearing free the tubes behind them.

But the toxin had long since entered their bodies, mingling with their blood, inseparable.

"This isn't just poison; it's the lingering resentment of my Huangshi clan disciples, whose bones you gnawed and marrow you sucked dry all these years."

"Huang Lie, you think this lets you win?"

Huang Qinlong's spine remained straight as ever; the toxins infused into him seemed to have no effect whatsoever.

But the twitching corners of his eyes beneath those snow-white brows betrayed the panic in his heart without reserve.

"Master, when you speak words like these."

Huang Shihuo's eyes burned hot, that undisguised killing intent surging forth, "You're already afraid."

The moment the words fell, Huang Shihuo's legs suddenly tensed, rubble flying beneath him; his massive frame dragged up a cloud of dust, and in a flash, he had slammed into the dais.

Bang!

Huang Fuyun, blocking the path, was instantly smashed into a pulp of flesh; amid the spraying blood, a fist of knobby bones stabbed forward.

"Huang Qinlong, after all these years as a turtle hiding in its shell, do you still know how to throw a punch?!"

Five fingers spread wide, clenching into a tight fist. Bone crashing against flesh let out a dull, heavy thud.

Huang Shihuo's face was a savage grin; he pressed down with his palm, directly crushing the other's wrist bones, swung the twisted arm, and casually tossed it behind him.

Thud!

The tightly shut gates were blasted open; Huang Qinlong's body tumbled and rolled through the corridor.

By the time he steadied himself clutching his severed arm and looked back up at the dais, glaring blood had already crawled down the steps to the side of that neatly folded haori.

Without the slightest hesitation, Huang Qinlong resolutely turned and fled in a mad sprint.

The next instant, an irresistible massive force crushed down on him, flipping Huang Qinlong onto the ground.

Huang Shihuo pinned his head with one hand, plowing a scarlet furrow across the cold, hard corridor floor.

Gods and demons stained with blood, seeming like living things.

The yaksha riding dragons and tigers grinned with eyes wide; the tengu spreading its wings to soar seemed unsatisfied still.

Huang Shihuo lifted that wrecked body in his palm to eye level, staring at that ruined face mere inches away.

"Master, remember this: I am Huang Shihuo, not Huang Lie."

"Trai—traitor!"

Blood foam mixed with curses sprayed from his lips; dimming eyes filled with bone-deep hatred.

"A traitor is still better than a waste like you."

Huang Shihuo's gaze was icy; his five fingers suddenly clenched, and turbid blood exploded in his palm.

The headless corpse fell to the ground, twitching incessantly amid the chaotic rubble.

"From today on, there is no more Huangtian Gate in this world."

Huang Shihuo raised his foot and stomped down, grinding the corpse piece by piece into fragments, his face awash with ultimate ecstasy.

Ding-ling!

"Qian Hexagram, Fifth Line, Nine in the Fifth Place."

Beside the palanquin stairs strung with wind chimes, Mingzhi Qingxiu gazed at that figure brimming with malevolence, slowly revealing an incomparably ugly, satisfied smile.

"The dragon flies in the heavens; it is favorable to see the great man."

In Quanshan City, an izakaya.

What? You want me to disguise him? What empire jest is this?

Zou Siqiu's eyes widened, his face a mask of astonishment as he looked at Xie Bi'an, “I am the Yin‑Yang Order, not the Agricultural Order; how could I change my face at will?”

Moreover, look at my stature and my looks—though I am undeniably striking, I am also a picture of effortless grace, an aura that rises above the mundane. Surely, one could not have discerned the truth at first sight?

Jun Ge has spoken: if you agree, I can grant you this quota of the Ministry of Works.

Xie Bi'an lifted his hand, extending three fingers, “Three.”

Three million?

Zou Siqiu pressed his hands against his temples, brushing his slicked‑back hair, “Money or not, I care not; after all, we are all part of the same unit. How could I refuse to help with such a trivial matter?”

Hmm.

Xie Bi'an swallowed slowly the word “thousand” that had already reached his lips, and nodded silently.

I owe a chapter today; tomorrow I shall make amends.