"Something major happened in the city last night. Three families, the Ye, Xiao, and Wang, were all massacred. The authorities tried to keep it quiet, but word has already spread through all of Yun City."
"And not only that. Apparently even Yuming Mountain may have had some kind of incident. All the different factions in the city are in a panic right now. It clearly is not a small matter."
"I heard the Martial Saint was attacked..."
"Hush, quiet..."
Some guests in the tavern were quietly exchanging information in hushed voices. Cao Gaoshan and Shen Anran instinctively stopped where they were, and even the big black cat's ears perked straight up.
Seeing both people and cat unable to move forward once they caught wind of gossip, Li Musheng raised an eyebrow, crossed his arms, and simply stood in place. He would wait for them to finish listening before they went on.
Cao Gaoshan was the first to come back to himself, and he cleared his throat, "I will go and bring the carriage around."
With that, he slipped away somewhat sheepishly.
Shen Anran and the big black cat had not heard the rest of the conversation and wore various expressions of dissatisfaction. The big black cat's curiosity clawed at it like a pawing at an itch, and it was practically desperate to go and demand the details from whoever had been speaking.
Li Musheng glanced at the big black cat, then stepped out of the inn and into the carriage that Cao Gaoshan had pulled up.
At the sight, both the big black cat and Shen Anran were startled into motion and immediately followed.
Once the two of them were in the carriage, the wheels began to roll toward the city gate.
As the carriage passed out through Yun City's gate, Shen Anran furrowed her brow slightly, and finally could not help looking at Li Musheng with a puzzled expression, "Your Highness, you seem entirely uncurious about the attack on the Martial Saint."
At those words, the big black cat turned its head immediately.
Throughout the journey it had repeatedly stretched its head out of the carriage window to look back, still quietly brooding over not having heard how the Martial Saint story ended.
Li Musheng looked at the cat and said, "Be careful. Curiosity kills the cat."
The big black cat tilted its head, unsure whether Li Musheng meant that literally or was speaking in a more particular sense.
At that, Li Musheng turned to Shen Anran and said, "I am not the one who ambushed the Martial Saint. What reason do I have to be curious? And besides, the news will come out eventually. Even if you want to know, there is no urgency."
At those words, Shen Anran's eyes shifted slightly, and something became clearer to her.
Having grown up in a martial world family, she had heard stories about the Yuming Mountain Martial Saint from childhood. He was an existence she had aspired toward and could never hope to reach, someone she held in deep reverence.
And so naturally, hearing anything to do with the Martial Saint filled her with concern.
But for Li Musheng, the situation was different. That Martial Saint was, in all likelihood, nothing more than an ordinary unremarkable figure in Li Musheng's eyes.
And so even knowing that Yuming Mountain's Martial Saint Mu Tianxing had been fatally ambushed, the matter simply could not stir any real interest in him.
At that moment, Cao Gaoshan's voice came from outside the carriage, "Miss Shen, do not worry. I will pay close attention to the cities we pass through on the way. If I hear anything about the Yuming Mountain Martial Saint, I will be sure to tell you at the first opportunity."
At those words, the big black cat stuck its head out of the carriage and immediately let out a meow at Cao Gaoshan, clearly indicating that when news came, it was not to be left out either.
Cao Gaoshan, this time having correctly interpreted the gesture, gave a nod and continued driving the horses forward.
Two days after Li Musheng's group left Yun City, right as they were about to enter the capital province, Cao Gaoshan did in fact manage to pick up a piece of news that had been spread by Yuming Mountain to the martial world at large.
"The Martial Saint of Yuming Mountain passed away from his grievous injuries two days ago. The news has been spreading through the martial world."
Cao Gaoshan immediately shared this with Shen Anran and the big black cat.
At those words, both the person and the cat showed expressions of shock. Shen Anran found it somewhat hard to accept. One of only two Martial Saints in the Great Li martial world had actually fallen?
"Do they know who did it? Someone with the ability to assassinate a Martial Saint should not be an unknown figure."
Shen Anran asked out loud. But Cao Gaoshan only shook his head, "That is not known yet. According to what Yuming Mountain released, only that the person who acted possessed extremely high martial cultivation, and was exceptionally skilled in a finger-strike killing technique. The three disciples of the Martial Saint who had their families wiped out also fell to the same person."
"Every person in all three families was killed through a single finger-hole to the skull, one strike to kill, the method devastating and leaving no survivors."
"Apparently the Martial Saint was also unprepared when he was ambushed while in closed-door cultivation. The attacker used this technique to strike, and though the Martial Saint managed to force them back with great difficulty, his injuries were too severe to be treated, and he died that very night."
Listening to Cao Gaoshan's account, Shen Anran furrowed her brow lightly. The big black cat also sensed something was not quite right, and its green eyes held a vague look of puzzlement.
At that, Li Musheng, not far away and patting a large horse that was eating grass and resting, turned and looked at Cao Gaoshan, "Hearing you describe it like this, I am actually starting to feel a little interested. It sounds like the technique used to ambush Martial Saint Mu Tianxing is similar to a technique I happen to favor."
He extended one finger slowly and said, "This self-created technique of mine is called the Six Meridians Divine Sword. It is quite powerful, and the key advantage is how efficiently it can be used. I wonder whether that person's finger-strike killing technique has even one tenth of the power of mine."
At those words, Cao Gaoshan and Shen Anran both looked at Li Musheng, and neither of them thought he was speaking in exaggeration.
Li Musheng's martial cultivation was beyond fathom, and he was unquestionably a once-in-eternity genius of the martial path. Though creating one's own martial technique was extraordinarily difficult, for Li Musheng it seemed entirely within the range of the believable.
What struck both of them right now was a sudden sense that something about the Yuming Mountain situation felt odd.
"I recall that when His Highness acted at Falling God Peak, you also used a finger-strike technique. And now the one who attacked the Martial Saint also used something similar. Both events happened within just a few days of each other. Could there be some connection?"
Shen Anran spoke with a pensive expression. Cao Gaoshan gave a small nod as well, "I too feel as though there is something in this that I cannot quite put words to."
Li Musheng glanced at the two of them and narrowed his eyes, "Has it occurred to you that perhaps some martial world expert who has come to greatly admire my name in recent days decided to imitate me? That would not be unusual."
At those words, Shen Anran and Cao Gaoshan said nothing, though they clearly had not ruled out the possibility Li Musheng was raising.
The big black cat beside them, meanwhile, kept darting quiet and somewhat suspicious glances at Li Musheng, its thoughts unreadable.
The road from there was smooth and untroubled. Being in the capital province, in the domain of the emperor, all martial world forces were kept firmly in check.
Li Musheng's group arrived at the imperial capital, Shangyang City, without incident or excitement. They entered the city without any cavalry escort, blending unremarkably into the many people coming and going at the capital's gates, and passed through without causing the slightest stir.