Chapter 87 The Truth Revealed
—Two years later.
"That woman was cunning and treacherous, and her martial arts were extremely strong! She was about to harm innocent people. In the blink of an eye, I took a step forward and blocked her sword!"
"Wow……"
The children in the audience were so shocked they couldn't close their mouths. They hadn't even finished chewing their candy when they leaned on their chairs and looked up to ask, "So...and then? Did the bad guy get killed?"
"To find out what happens next... stay tuned for the next chapter!" Bai Qianfan propped one leg on the bench, fanning himself with his fan, looking quite like a storyteller.
A snotty-nosed child in the audience looked at him with a disappointed expression and teary eyes, saying, "I just got here, Uncle Bai, please talk a little longer..."
"Tsk," Bai Qianfan smacked him on the head with a fan, "Who are you calling 'uncle'? Do I look that old? Call me 'brother'!"
"Brother! Dear brother, please talk a little longer."
“Calling me brother won’t help,” Bai Qianfan patted his butt and stood up. “Your mother told me that if I keep causing trouble with you guys and not coming home for dinner, she’ll beat me to death today. Now hurry up and go home!”
"Go away, go away..." Bai Qianfan chased away a group of children like chicks.
Just as he was about to turn around, he bumped into someone who looked familiar. He immediately turned to run away, but the person on the other side was already waiting for him.
"Heh." Bai Qianfan gave a wry smile, knowing he couldn't escape, so he simply opened his fan and fanned himself.
The man walked over slowly, bowed before him, and said, "Young Master Bai, our sect leader invites you."
"Please, please, please! You've invited me so many times! Can't I refuse?"
The man remained amiable, smiling as he said, "No."
Bai Qianfan rolled his eyes at him and pointed at the two of them with his fan: "Pedantic, pedantic!"
He stormed off, then turned back and shouted, "Weren't you inviting me? Lead the way!"
Bai Qianfan hadn't been in a good mood the whole way. He wanted to catch the two of them and vent his anger, but they were like wooden blocks, not saying a word or even changing their expressions. This left him with no choice but to keep his anger inside.
So much so that he sat in Shao Xuanzong's chair, closed his eyes to rest, and didn't even glance at anyone who came.
"Brother Bai, what great injustice have you suffered? Why do you look like you've lost your parents?"
The sound that Bai Qianfan least wanted to hear came from the doorway, but the footsteps were getting closer and closer.
Bai Qianfan opened his eyes and saw the smiling person in front of him. He said calmly, "Thank you for your kind words. My parents did indeed die a long time ago."
The man didn't realize there was anything wrong with what he said. Seeing that Bai Qianfan didn't get up to greet him, he sat down next to Bai Qianfan on his own.
"Brother Bai, you're really angry. Do you really not want to see me?"
Bai Qianfan said, "What kind of relationship do I have with you? Meng Yufeng, don't think too highly of yourself."
“How could that be?” Meng Yufeng smiled and took a sip of tea. “I’ve always been a humble person.”
"Oh, really?" Bai Qianfan turned to look at him: "You've risen from a small side branch to where you are now in just two years. I don't believe you don't have some tricks up your sleeve."
Meng Yufeng's expression remained unchanged as he gently put down his teacup. "Everyone has methods; it's just a matter of how they're used."
Bai Qianfan said, "Do you dare to tell me with your hand on your heart that your hands are completely clean?"
"Then Brother Bai dares to say that he is clean?"
Bai Qianfan looked at him and said, "At least I have a clear conscience."
"Brother Bai, how do you know I'm not innocent?" Meng Yufeng looked up and poured him another cup of tea.
Bai Qianfan snorted coldly and said, "You forced the old sect leader to his death and imprisoned the young master. Is this how you show your conscience?"
Meng Yufeng's eyes closed slightly, his eyebrows raised: "It's truly a miscarriage of justice. Go and ask around. When the old sect leader died, I cried so hard it was heart-wrenching and earth-shattering!"
Bai Qianfan watched him perform quietly. Meng Yufeng remained silent for a while before finally giving in.
He said calmly, "You must know Dong Huai Ren's health better than I do back then. How many years could he last? With a mediocre and useless young master, Shao Xuan Sect would have been on the verge of collapse long ago. After Immortal Chu died, the resurgence of Lin Yi Sect has intensified. If this continues, I'm afraid no one will survive."
"You admitted it quickly, didn't know whether to praise or scold you, so he could only angrily look up and finish the tea in his cup."
Meng Yufeng smiled and continued for him, saying, "Brother Bai, I'm just being pragmatic."
"So," Bai Qianfan looked up and blocked the kettle from pouring water, "you're not telling me you came here today just to pour out your hearts to me?"
"Of course not." Meng Yufeng dropped his smug look and said solemnly, "I want Brother Bai to join the Shao Xuan Sect."
Bai Qianfan frowned: "Don't you know I'm from Changjin Mountain?"
"I know, but..." Meng Yufeng's words were loaded with meaning: "Brother Bai hasn't gone back for a long time, has he?"
Bai Qianfan sneered: "Whether I go back or not doesn't change the fact that I'm a member of Changjin Mountain."
Meng Yufeng said, "I should say something, but the sect leader of Changjin Mountain has never cared about your life or death, so why are you so eager to get involved? Besides, I don't believe you didn't have any doubts about the death of Immortal Chu back then."
Bai Qianfan turned to look at him: "What do you mean?"
Meng Yufeng laughed and said, "That's exactly what Brother Bai is thinking. Brother Bai is a smart man, so I don't need to say more. Back then, during the chaos at the Temple of the Sun, who left and who went away? Who can say for sure?"
Bai Qianfan wanted nothing more than to throw a cup of tea in his face, and said in a low voice, "Explain yourself!"
Meng Yufeng took a deep breath and asked him, "Do you believe it was Master Chu's disciple who did this?"
Bai Qianfan: "I don't believe it."
“I don’t believe it either,” Meng Yufeng said, moving closer to him. “Back then, their relationship was… cough cough, master-disciple relationship!”
Meng Yufeng almost blurted it out, but quickly corrected himself: "The bond between master and disciple is so touching. I don't believe Cheng Yuan would kill him for the sake of Linyi Sect. Even someone like me spared Dong Qi's life."
Bai Qianfan raised an eyebrow: "Are you very proud?"
Meng Yufeng raised his hand: "You flatter me, you flatter me!"
Bai Qianfan asked, "So who do you suspect?"
Meng Yufeng deliberately left some suspense, saying, "It was too chaotic that day. I was busy saving my life. I only saw Immortal Venerable Chu heading towards East Mountain. I don't know if his disciple went or not, but... Jiang Yan did go."
Bai Qianfan couldn't help but admire his audacity. "You even dare to doubt our sect leader, Meng Yufeng. Do you know that if this gets out, your head will be in serious trouble?"
“Of course I know, but…” He looked around, “it’s just the two of us here, isn’t it? I believe that even if Brother Bai remembers the kindness of giving you the medicine back then, he won’t go around spreading rumors, right?”
Bai Qianfan remained silent.
He went straight to the end and said, "As for the murderer of Immortal Chu, I suspect Jiang Yan is even more likely to be the one to kill him than Cheng Yuan. This will not change. It all depends on what Brother Bai thinks."
Bai Qianfan said, "You've told me so much just to get me to join the Shaoxuan Sect? What is it about me that attracts you?"
Meng Yufeng smiled obsequiously: "I have personally witnessed Brother Bai's talent. Only someone like you can join my Shaoxuan Sect. It would be worth any price to exchange you for him."
Years ago, Bai Qianfan would have been overjoyed to hear such flattering words, regardless of their veracity. But for some reason, he couldn't manage a smile now, facing Meng Yufeng.
He got up from his chair, left the lobby without looking back, and shouted, "I'll think about it!"
Meng Yufeng also shouted to him, "We're just waiting for Brother Bai's good news!"
—
Linyi Gate.
Qiao Yi carefully considered the piece in his hand, but before he could make a decision, he heard someone next to him say calmly, "Three to the left, two to the bottom."
Qiao Yi's lips curled up as he made his move, and he said softly, "You always have ideas I can't think of."
The man remained silent, so Qiao Yi asked, "How's the new drug I found for you? No adverse reactions, right?"
He remained silent.
Qiao Yi added, "The original owners of these bodies were all people with high spiritual power, which allowed them to maintain their forms for a longer period of time. Their appearances are also very similar to yours, but since you are missing a soul, it is impossible for you to return to your previous state."
After another period of silence, Qiao Yi finally lost her patience, raised her eyes to look at him, and said, word by word, "Chu Jianshan."
Chu Jianshan glared back and called out to him, "Zhao Yi."
Qiao Yi was stunned for once, his hand holding the chess piece hesitant to place.
After a long pause, he put down the chess piece, lowered his head, and sighed, "It's been so many years since anyone called me that."
Chu Jianshan continued, "Five hundred years?"
“Yes,” Zhao Yi placed another piece and said, “Don’t you also think that I’m not human?”
Chu Jianshan raised an eyebrow: "Which aspect? If you mean the disgusting things you've done, then you're definitely not human."
Zhao Yi chuckled softly, then slowly withdrew his smile, carefully considering the two words: "Disgusting? Didn't you all call me a hero before?"
Chu Jianshan sat opposite him, looking up at him: "Have you already fooled yourself into this self-directed scam?"
Zhao Yi continued playing his game of chess, saying, "The important thing isn't me, it's that those fools all believed it."
Without a sound, Chu Jianshan picked up a white piece and placed it on the chessboard. To anyone else, it seemed like a dead end, but Zhao Yi sensed something different.
He stared at the chess piece and asked, "Is this you?"
Chu Jianshan slowly spoke: "Her name is Qiao Azhao."
Zhao Yi raised his head and looked at him coldly, his face gloomy, like a venomous snake ready to bite at any moment.
Chu Jianshan remained completely calm and asked him, "What, can't I call him that name?"
"If she knew that she had saved such a person back then, would she still risk everything if she had the chance to do it all over again?"
Zhao Yi's face grew increasingly pale, and his words were almost squeezed out from between his teeth: "There will never be another chance in this world, and no one understands this better than me."
Chu Jianshan: "So what are you waiting for? Five hundred years have passed, what is there for you to miss?"
Suppressing the turmoil surging in his heart, Zhao Yiqiang changed the subject: "Speaking of which, I'd like to know more about when you saw through all of this."
Chu Jianshan stood up, leaned his back against the pillar, and said calmly, "From the moment you trapped me."
"With such extraordinary abilities, you can lock a person's soul in the mortal realm, severing their path to reincarnation. Such a heaven-defying and fate-altering technique must have undergone countless trials. But who would research such a thing for no reason? Unless, a close relative dies before your eyes, and you simply cannot bear it, then you would frantically try to keep her here!"
Chu Jianshan's voice grew increasingly agitated, but Zhao Yi grew more and more silent as he listened, his fingertips unconsciously clenching in his sleeve.
“But you couldn’t keep her.” Chu Jianshan’s gaze suddenly sharpened. “I saw that tomb in Shuicheng. The people inside must have been your test subjects. It’s a pity you couldn’t keep her; instead, you trapped me here.”
He looked up at a corner of the eaves. The heavy rain had just stopped, but water droplets were still dripping intermittently from the rain chains, the pattering sound making his heart clench.
"Qiao Azhao, daughter of the last patriarch of the Qiao family. In her youth, she saved a boy with a damaged heart meridian; the two fell in love, but ultimately, the Linyi Sect leader caused their family's destruction. The Qiao family, the last family with a Wood Spirit Core—if I'm not mistaken, her spirit core is now within you. It seems the rumors are true; a Wood Spirit Core can grant immortality. However, the price is probably too high for you to calculate. How many people would you have to kill to satisfy this thing? And so…"
Chu Jianshan suddenly leaned down, close to Zhao Yi, his eyes bloodshot and terrifying: "You've killed one person after another, using their lives to nourish this spirit core. But it's still not enough, it can never satisfy its appetite... What can we do? What should we do?!"
"I've got it!" He suddenly slammed his hand on the table, his face contorted with rage and madness, as if he were Zhao Yi himself. "It's just about taking lives, isn't it? That's easy! Let them kill each other! Yes! That way, we'll have a continuous supply!"
"I...I have to create chaos, the more chaos the better!"
As if he had thought of something, he suddenly stopped what he was doing: "Why not use the demon race as an excuse? Who has ever seen this thing? I can just say it is. I can use puppetry to control some people and make them work for me, pretending to be demons. People under the influence of puppetry are unaware of their five senses and are not afraid of pain. They will definitely believe it! At that time... at that time they will all be terrified. Once enough lives have been collected, I will step forward, put on a show of sacrificing myself, and then disappear from this world without a trace."
"Isn't this a great idea?" Chu Jianshan asked, his breathing rapid, as he braced himself against the sides of the stone table and stared intently at him.
Zhao Yi didn't react much, but simply threw down a chess piece, scattering it across the board, and asked, "How do you know those demon soldiers were under puppetry?"
Chu Jianshan straightened up, calmed his mind, and said, "I fought against the demon army in the battle of the Sun God Temple."
Zhao Yi raised an eyebrow: "Just because of this?"
Chu Jianshan said, "During the fight, I saw a man with a black birthmark on his forearm."
Zhao Yi asked, "Is it someone you know?"
Chu Jianshan replied, "His name is Ashui, the son of the Lady Wang of the West City."
Zhao Yi couldn't help but admire him, "You can remember such a small person."
Chu Jianshan frowned slightly: "He's not some nobody. He has a name and a family."
"Say what you will." Zhao Yi didn't want to waste time arguing about these meaningless topics, but then he realized that he had been defeated by something so trivial.
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