Chapter 393: Legend of the Moonshadow

Why would Zhang Xiaohua need to go out in person?

After returning the food box to the inn, he went back to his room, sat cross-legged, and released his divine sense. Although there was still a faint stabbing pain in his mind, simply using his divine sense to observe caused no real harm.

The city of Pingyang was truly lively at night, filled with all manner of sights and sounds. Zhang Xiaohua found himself both amused and exasperated by what he saw. His divine sense followed a few sneaky scoundrels and witnessed some sordid, shameful scenes, prompting him to hurriedly withdraw—some things were simply not meant to be seen. In other places, he stumbled upon tragedies of unspeakable cruelty. Though he knew intervening might alert the enemy and disrupt his own plans, Zhang Xiaohua simply could not stand by and watch innocent civilians lose their lives. Unable to remain indifferent, he summoned the small sword from within his robes and, just before disaster could strike, intervened in time to prevent harm.

Naturally, after the first time, there was a second, then a third. Throughout the entire first half of the night, Zhang Xiaohua did nothing else but uphold justice, punishing evil and aiding the weak. The sudden appearance of that streak of dark light saved countless lives, and thus, the legend of the “Moonshadow” was born in Pingyang City.

Having spent half the night as the “savior of the common folk”, Zhang Xiaohua was utterly exhausted. As midnight arrived, he immediately fell into a deep sleep. As he drifted into dreams, a mysterious aura radiated from his body, and starlight from the endless sky converged upon him as usual, gathering around him in a cocoon-like sphere of light.

After a long time, the aura around Zhang Xiaohua’s body suddenly fluctuated intensely. The cocoon of light enveloping him seemed to be drawn by something within his body, swelling outward for a moment before being absorbed into him like a whale swallowing water. At that very moment, Zhang Xiaohua’s already-refined, translucent bones became completely transparent, and then, within that transparency, faint threads of red began to appear!

At this moment, all traces of starlight had faded from around Zhang Xiaohua’s body. The mysterious fluctuations surrounding him surged a few more times, then gradually settled into another subtle and profound rhythm, slowly calming down. As the aura stabilized, starlight once again descended from the heavens, enveloping his entire form in an instant.

But was this starlight the same as before? Who could truly say?

The next morning, just as Zhang Xiaohua stepped into the courtyard to practice his fist forms, he heard Nie Qianyu dash out from her room in high spirits. She looked around eagerly, searching everywhere, but when she found nothing, a hint of disappointment crept into her voice. “Brother Ren, did you not find Little Orange last night?”

Zhang Xiaohua had to pause, replying apologetically: “Little Fish, I may have exaggerated last night. I searched all over Pingyang City, but found not a single clue.”

Nie Qianyu answered with quiet resignation: “It’s all right, Brother Ren. In this world, how often can words and deeds truly align? Little Orange has been missing for ten days now—starting the search now is bound to be difficult. Besides, I know you only said those things yesterday to comfort me, to help me rest easy.”

Zhang Xiaohua rubbed his nose and smiled: “You really are clever, Little Fish. I’ll head out again today—perhaps I’ll find something.”

Nie Qianyu’s eyes lit up. “I see! Brother Ren, are you going to look for that fortune-telling blind man today?”

Zhang Xiaohua shook his head helplessly. “That’s right.”

“That’s wonderful! Brother Ren, I know it’s not easy, but I hope you’ll endure a bit more hardship. Please—don’t give up, all right?”

By the end, Nie Qianyu’s voice had taken on a pleading tone.

In truth, it wasn’t Nie Qianyu’s fault for doubting Zhang Xiaohua. Before he left, he’d always seemed distant and indifferent, rarely involving himself in their affairs. Naturally, she feared he might simply let things go. In the past, Zhang Xiaohua might have hesitated, worrying that acting in Pingyang City would expose his secrets. But now, with his heart reborn and filled with chivalrous spirit, he had no such reservations. He laughed and said: “Listen to you, Little Fish. After all we’ve been through together, how could I possibly turn my back on you?”

As for that word “feelings”, it really wasn’t the most appropriate choice. Well, at least he could say he hadn’t wasted those three months studying the Three Character Classic. [TL_Note: In the last sentence, he used the characters for emotion/feelings]

He spoke without much thought, but Nie Qianyu took it to heart—a flush of red swept across her forehead.

Then Nie Qianyu smiled and said: “Brother Ren, I won’t keep you from your training any longer.”

With that, she hopped back to her room like a little swallow, her movements so lively it was as if her wrist had never been injured at all.

Watching Nie Qianyu’s cheerful retreating figure, Zhang Xiaohua smiled and resumed practicing the Big Dipper Divine Fist.

Over the past few days of training, Zhang Xiaohua felt his strength increasing by leaps and bounds, which only made him more devoted to mastering this fist technique.

By mid-morning, Zhang Xiaohua clasped his hands behind his back and left the inn. Truth be told, he could have just stayed inside, but with Nie Qianyu nearby, hiding away all day would only make her think he was slacking off. Besides, if he did discover any clues later, he’d have no reasonable explanation for how he found them.

Pingyang City was home to all sorts of people from every walk of life—even the fortune-telling blind men numbered several. Zhang Xiaohua found a teahouse, ordered a pot of fine tea, and, while sipping, used his divine sense to keep watch over those blind fortune-tellers.

It sounded easy enough, but in practice, it was anything but. Zhang Xiaohua had to keep an eye on this one and that one, afraid of missing the true culprit. What’s more, he could only see them—he couldn’t actually hear their conversations with others. So, much of the time, he had to split his attention, reading their lips and watching for changes in their expressions, trying to deduce their intentions and judge if anything seemed amiss.

As a result, drinking tea became an exhausting ordeal for Zhang Xiaohua. The teahouse staff couldn’t help but mutter among themselves, “Is there something wrong with this fellow’s head? Why does he seem so jumpy just drinking tea?”

By nightfall, all the blind men had packed up their stalls and gone their separate ways. Zhang Xiaohua followed closely, but still, he found nothing.

His only gain was a belly full of tea!

Nie Qianyu, ever considerate, saw Zhang Xiaohua return empty-handed and did not press him with questions. Instead, she brought up the inn’s meal and gently comforted him, saying: “Don’t worry. Heaven looks after the virtuous—perhaps news will come tomorrow.”

Zhang Xiaohua ate a few mouthfuls absentmindedly before returning to his room to ponder. Though his divine sense was powerful enough to monitor several blind fortune-tellers across Pingyang City at once, he was, after all, just waiting for the prey to come to him. He had no way of knowing which blind man was the true culprit. What if the villain no longer disguised himself as a blind man—what then?

For a while, his mind was clouded with worry.

The direct result of his frustration was to send out his small sword, wielding thunderous might to enact the will of the heavens, punishing many who committed evil under cover of night in Pingyang City. Only when the night grew deep did his worries begin to ease.

The next day, Zhang Xiaohua left the inn early. This time, instead of sitting in a teahouse, he rode his Sibu Xiang out of Pingyang City. After two nights of “sweeping out vice and evil”, the city was already showing signs of improvement—acts of honesty and kindness were becoming more common, and villains who kidnapped young women were certainly not really blind; they would have become wary by now. The best plan was to search the outskirts of Pingyang City and see if any clues could be found.

However, as he exited the west gate, Zhang Xiaohua noticed something different.

Since his first visit to Pingyang City six years ago, and on every subsequent trip, he had rarely seen any soldiers at the city gates. But today, at the west gate, several guards were stationed, questioning every traveler, especially those in carriages, whom they inspected with particular care. Even Zhang Xiaohua, traveling alone, was thoroughly questioned, and his unusual mount drew curious scrutiny from every angle. Only after they were satisfied did they let him pass. Strangely, those entering the city faced no such interrogation.

Zhang Xiaohua found this odd, but he had never cared much for official matters and couldn’t be bothered to ask. Even if he wanted to investigate, he doubted he would learn anything useful.

Just looking at those soldiers treating passersby like wolves and tigers was enough to tell the story.

Following his own plan, Zhang Xiaohua spent several days thoroughly searching the eastern, western, and northern outskirts of Pingyang City, traveling more than ten li from the city in each direction, but found nothing. He even carefully examined the area around the Piaomiao Manor, but now that the manor was occupied by the Heaven’s Way Alliance, Zhang Xiaohua did not venture further in. Given the Heaven’s Way Alliance’s reputation in the martial world, it was unlikely they would commit such heinous acts.

Even if the Heaven’s Way Alliance wanted to act, they would never choose Pingyang City, so Zhang Xiaohua merely glanced around the area and let it be.

As Qiu Ju had said, Huanxi Villa seemed largely unchanged. Everyone had their own livelihoods, but these matters no longer had anything to do with Zhang Xiaohua, not even half a copper coin’s worth of connection. Thus, he did not rashly go and renew old ties with Tian Chongxi or Ma Jing.

Dusk was already falling when Zhang Xiaohua returned from the eastern side of Pingyang City. That day, he had again left the city, traveling dozens of li, searching through many villages and forests. Even in places rarely visited by people, he had used his divine sense to investigate, yet still found nothing. Now, only the southern part of Pingyang City remained unchecked. But he had entered through the south gate himself and had seen nothing unusual along the way. It seemed that, unless some extraordinary miracle occurred, he would have no choice but to apologize to Nie Qianyu.

Yet, when he thought of Little Orange’s smiling face and lively voice, the pain in his heart grew. In these ten-some days of separation, it seemed he might never see her again in this lifetime. Zhang Xiaohua was filled with sorrow. If only he had not left the two of them alone in Pingyang City, but instead brought them to Guo Village—or even to Lu Town—could they have avoided this calamity?

The more he thought about it, the heavier Zhang Xiaohua’s guilt became. He felt he truly should not have been so cautious and distant with those two girls.

Just then, a large manure cart labeled “Farmer’s Treasure” came lumbering toward him from the direction of Pingyang City’s east gate, bringing with it a pungent stench. Many people on the roadside pinched their noses and hurried away. Having grown up on a farm, Zhang Xiaohua was no stranger to such smells and paid them no mind.

Zhang Xiaohua was riding atop his Sibu Xiang, Huanhuan, which always preferred to walk right down the center of the road. This time was no exception, and they were about to collide with the manure cart. Quickly, Zhang Xiaohua patted Huanhuan’s head, signaling it to make way. Although he didn’t mind the smell, it would be troublesome to get covered in “Farmer’s Treasure”.

However, just as Huanhuan brushed past the manure cart, Zhang Xiaohua’s brow furrowed involuntarily.