M49S Vol 1 Chapter 35. A Trap Within the Game

“What’s going on outside?” Voices of alarm rippled quickly through Lion Tower. Wang Ziling feared something had gone wrong and instinctively looked toward Meng Qiqi.

Meng Qiqi had already stood up. Their eyes met across the room, and Meng Qiqi gave him a slight shake of the head, signaling him to remain calm.

Wang Ziling’s heart settled a little. He continued moving among the tables, pouring wine for the seated cultivators, smiled and explained, “It was probably just fireworks. That happens often in Jinling. Beautiful, of course, but a bit noisy.”

It was only a single sound. The gathered cultivators were all highly skilled and not easily startled. After hearing Wang Ziling’s explanation, none of them gave it a second thought.

But Jiang Xie had been silently watching Meng Qiqi’s every move. The moment the sound had echoed out, Meng Qiqi had reacted. And now, he was already standing. Jiang Xie had not wanted to confront Meng Qiqi again so soon, but his master had reached yet another private arrangement with Wang Changlin, and had ordered him to cause trouble for Meng Qiqi at the critical moment.

After a brief hesitation, Jiang Xie picked up his wine cup and headed straight for Meng Qiqi. At that moment, Meng Qiqi was preparing to leave. Fearing he would miss his chance, Jiang Xie called out from afar, “Little Martial Uncle Meng! Please wait!”

Meng Qiqi stopped, turned and frowned at him.

Jiang Xie strode up with a forced smile. “I’ve come to offer an apology. Back at Chanhua Tower, I was out of line. I hope Senior won’t hold it against me.”

Jiang Xie had a brooding face, the kind that did not suit fake smiles. His words claimed sincerity, but Meng Qiqi found them infuriating. Still, this was not the time or place to strike someone. With a hint of impatience, he said, “I heard you.”

Then he turned to leave. But Jiang Xie stepped in his way again.

“Please wait, Senior. You may be generous enough to let it go, but I can’t rest easy about it. Why not drink this cup of wine from me, as an apology, so I can clear my conscience?”

Meng Qiqi gave a soft laugh. The brows slanting toward his temples were like sharpened blades, matching the gleam in his eyes. In that instant, he was all radiant clarity and edge. “And who said I was letting it go? Do I, Meng Xiu, look like someone who’s easy to get along with?”

Jiang Xie froze. “Senior…”

“You ran your mouth outside Chanhua Tower, demanding to know my whereabouts and provoking my junior. And now you want to settle it all with a single cup of wine? Who gave you the face to do that? Was it that Elder Yexin of yours, who was still hiding and refusing to show himself?”

The more Meng Qiqi spoke, the sharper his tone became. His words sliced toward Jiang Xie like a blade, drawing attention from both floors of the tower. Jiang Xie had never encountered this kind of verbal assault before. A prestigious sect like Gushan Sword was supposed to value dignity. How could someone like Meng Qiqi exist within it?

But Meng Qiqi gave him no chance to respond and went on, “If you want to apologize, send Yexin himself. The wine in Lion Tower is for the guests of the Wang family’s young master. You want to use his wine, on his territory, to offer me an apology? I’m not in a position to accept that.”

“Senior, why must you say such things?” Jiang Xie’s face was full of frustration, stunned and angry all at once. “I’m offering a sincere apology. If you won’t accept it, so be it. But why continue to insult me?”

He addressed Meng Qiqi as “Senior” again and again, but his voice trembled with resentment.

Around the room, reactions varied. Some were worried, others simply enjoying the spectacle. Yet no one from Tianlao or Futu Temple, who usually played peacemakers, made a move to intervene. It was instead an older rogue cultivator who stepped forward and said, “Gentlemen, this is meant to be a night for feasting. If there’s a grievance, why not settle it after the banquet?”

Meng Qiqi did not respond. He had already guessed that Jiang Xie’s true purpose was to delay him, not to make peace. There was no chance this would be settled cleanly.

Worried that Meng Qiqi might walk away before things escalated, Jiang Xie quickly spoke up to block his retreat. “Senior may not be aware, but Elder Yexin of our sect disappeared just yesterday. I admit that what I said before may have been wrong, but I fear Senior Meng is unwilling to forgive me…”

The entire room erupted.

Elder Yexin was missing? That was shocking enough, but what stunned everyone even more was that Jiang Xie’s words had clearly pointed the blame at Meng Qiqi.

Even Meng Qiqi had not expected Jiang Xie to bring that matter into the open. Whether it was a desperate ploy or a calculated risk, he couldn’t tell. But it no longer mattered. Whatever Xiao Xiao was dealing with outside, he needed to end this quickly.

Meng Qiqi narrowed his eyes. A dangerous glint flashed from within, and his pressure erupted like a wave crashing down on Jiang Xie. “What do you mean by that? Tell me. What exactly did you mean just now?”

“I meant nothing by it.” Jiang Xie withstood the pressure as best he could, managing to keep a composed face. But as Meng Qiqi took a single step forward, the pressure descended like a tangible weight, pressing down on his shoulders.

Meng Qiqi let out a cold laugh. “According to your Beidou logic, since my Uncle Zhou has been missing all this time, does that mean every person who challenged him must be the one responsible? Or has the cultivation world already become Beidou’s domain alone, where whoever you accuse is automatically guilty?”

His words drove Jiang Xie straight into a corner. He had only wanted to delay Meng Qiqi and force him to explain himself, but Meng Qiqi struck first and pinned the blame squarely on him, so directly that it nearly knocked him senseless.

Jiang Xie could feel the shift in the crowd. Everyone was beginning to look at him differently. He had wanted Meng Qiqi to be the one scrambling to explain, yet now he found himself in that very position. Just as he began to speak, Meng Qiqi interrupted again.

“Every disciple of Gushan Sword has always stood upright and acted with integrity. If Yexin wanted a duel, then we would answer. Even if it were a promise made centuries ago, we would still honor it, no matter life or death. If I, Meng Xiu, had ever once tried to run from this, I would give you my head to use as a wine jug. But now you dare slander us, smear a name that has remained untarnished for hundreds of years. Senior Nephew, what do you think we should do?”

Chen Boyan answered, expression calm, voice firm. “Fight to the death.”

Fight to the death. No turning back, no compromise.

Jiang Xie was stunned into silence. So was everyone else in the room. Meng Qiqi truly was that intense. In that moment, it was as if they were looking at the legendary Zhou Ziheng, alive again.

Once, Gushan Sword had been known for its restraint and balance. But it had also wielded a single sword that tore through all obstacles, and that sword was Zhou Ziheng.

Now, Gushan appeared more subdued than ever. Just when people had begun to think it was fading into obscurity, it had produced another sword.

This new sword had a name. Meng Xiu.

That was Gushan Sword. Balance and extremity living side by side. And now, as this Meng Xiu pointed forward, not one disciple stepped in to stop him. One after another, they stood behind Meng Qiqi, their eyes solemn and ready, as if they could draw their swords at any moment.

No one thought they were joking.

Everyone could feel it. Not a single one of them was joking.

Jiang Xie felt his heart sink like a stone. He could not understand how everything had turned out this way. None of it made sense. It shouldn’t have happened like this. Was Meng Qiqi completely insane?

Shen Qingya was somewhat surprised as well. Meng Qiqi was pushing things quite far, but the effect was immediate. Jiang Xie had been thoroughly intimidated by the words “fight to the death” and would not dare interfere with Meng Qiqi’s departure again. A death duel declared by Gushan Sword was never just talk. As a sect that had once led the righteous path of the immortal world, they would never kill lightly.

Before taking a life, they would first send an official notice: “I intend to kill you.”

As for the task of delivering the death challenge, that was naturally left to a junior like Chen Boyan. Meng Qiqi flung his sleeve and turned to leave. Wherever he passed, the crowd instinctively moved aside. Not a single person dared block his way.

Yin Wuhua stroked his bald head in wonder. That Meng Qiqi really was fierce, stronger than his liquor.

As he neared the door, Meng Qiqi’s steps quickened. Xiao Yu’er silently followed. But just as they were about to step out of Lion Tower, a loud crash rang out. A dark figure smashed through a window and landed in the main hall, collapsing an entire banquet table.

Wine and dishes scattered. Meng Qiqi pulled Xiao Yu’er back just in time to avoid getting splashed all over.

“Who goes there!” someone shouted.

Everyone turned to look. The man stumbled to his feet, panic etched across his face. “Help! Someone is trying to kill me!”

He had an ordinary, unremarkable face, probably around forty years old. He wore dark robes, not quite the garb of a nightwalker, but still somber in color.

A bad feeling struck Meng Qiqi. In a flash, he strode forward, aiming to silence the man. But the moment the man in dark robes saw him, he immediately backed away and shouted at the top of his lungs, “I am a member of the Wang clan! Jin Man of the Wuhou Manor is chasing me down with armed men! I ask all of you to bear witness. This is outrageous abuse of power!”

“What did you say?!” Wang Ziling’s face drained of color. What was this now? He instinctively looked again toward Meng Qiqi, who had halted the moment the man spoke. Now, he stood there, his gaze clouded and impossible to read.

They had walked right into it.

And what worse, Meng Qiqi had no way of stopping what was about to unfold.

Just then, two more men charged in, one through the broken window, the other through the main doors of Lion Tower. Both had pursued the man all the way here, burning with frustration. They had no idea what they were walking into. The moment they saw the man in dark robes standing there, they raised their swords and lunged.

The man in black had no intention of sitting still. He immediately ducked into the crowd.

“Where do you think you’re going!” the two pursuers shouted as they chased after him.

The hall erupted into chaos. Judging by their attire, no one could tell which sect the two men belonged to, but that black-robed man had clearly just shouted that the Wuhou Manor was out to kill him.

And Wang Ziling wasn’t the only Wang family disciple in the room. Someone immediately stepped forward to intervene. “Stop!”

But to their surprise, the first to bring the two down was Meng Qiqi.

He picked up two broken table legs from the floor, struck once to the left, once to the right, and knocked them both down. Just then, Jin Man arrived.

His red robes swept in through the carved window lattices, bringing gusts of the night wind in his wake.

Jin Man was a razor-sharp man. A single glance at the room was all it took to tell that something had gone wrong. He met Meng Qiqi’s eyes. In that brief exchange, everything was understood. He raised his voice, “Meng Qiqi, why are you stopping my men? Are you planning to make an enemy of me?”

Meng Qiqi casually tossed the table legs aside. “It was your men who interrupted everyone’s evening.”

“What evening?” Jin Man said coldly. “I’m pursuing that bastard Wuyan. Now get out of my way.”

Their quick back-and-forth laid the groundwork fast. In the crowd, several Wang disciples had been trying to cut in for a while. Now, finally, one of them managed to speak up. “Jin Man, quit spouting lies! That man is clearly my uncle, Wang Mu. Look again. He’s no Wuyan!”

“Exactly! First, you framed our Third Elder as Wuyan, leading to his disappearance. Then you stormed our manor and accused us of attacking you. And now you’re openly hunting down a Wang family member. What the hell are you trying to do?”

But Jin Man knew what he had seen. The man he had chased was Wuyan. He would never mistake him, even if he turned to dust. Unless… unless he had been wearing a human-skin mask that looked exactly like Wuyan’s. And now, that mask was gone.

This was a trap. Wang family’s revenge had finally begun.