Chapter 61 Innocent People? Where are the innocent people? The cultivation world never tolerates them…
The young man scoffed, "What is the Weeping Dew Pavilion anyway? How dare it mention the ancestor's name? It's nothing but rumors."
After saying that, he raised his hand and bowed respectfully to Li Chenjin, saying, "This disciple comes from the Pure Realm. If you have any questions, I will answer them to the best of my knowledge."
Han Shannan glanced at the young man, then looked at Li Chenjin, leaned closer and whispered, "You've been to the Pure Realm? He seemed quite respectful to you. What was the identity of the person who kidnapped you before? Could he have been an imposter posing as a disciple of the Dharma Cultivation Realm?"
Li Chenjin leaned close to Han Shannan's ear and whispered, "Children shouldn't ask too many questions about adult matters."
Han Shannan: "..."
Han Shannan: "...?"
Ignoring the bewildered Han Shannan standing to the side, Li Chen asked the disciples of the Dharma Cultivation Realm about the Weeping Dew Pavilion.
The disciple from the Dharma cultivation world in front of me is named Shen Zi'an, and the "Chen" in his name is the same as Shen Zhengyuan's surname.
However, there are quite a few disciples in the cultivation world who share the same surname as Shen Zhengyuan. This is because when Shen Zhengyuan first rebuilt the cultivation world, he was the only person in the entire cultivation world. Therefore, the first thing he did after rebuilding was to recruit disciples.
It just so happened that the calamity had just passed, and there were many orphans in the world who had lost their parents. Shen Zhengyuan took some orphans with good potential under his wing and taught them. Naturally, those orphans took the surname Shen Zhengyuan.
As more and more people joined, those who had been brought back to the cultivation world by Shen Zhengyuan began to take on disciples, and they followed suit by giving the orphans without parents the surname Shen.
This tradition has been passed down through generations to this day. Even though Shen Zhengyuan no longer interferes much in the affairs of the cultivation world, eight out of ten disciples in the cultivation world still share the surname Shen. If she were to call out "Cultivator Shen" in the cultivation world, probably eight out of ten people would turn around to look at her.
The reason this cultivator Shen came to this place was naturally because he was ordered by Shen Zhengyuan. After all, apart from Shen Zhengyuan, there was probably no one else in the cultivation world who could command the disciples in the Pure Realm.
"Those dancers are indeed not human, but vessels used to hold spiritual energy. The cultivation world of magic and artifact did create some such objects at the beginning, but those puppets were basically destroyed. Moreover, because creating such objects requires a portion of one's primordial spirit to control them, they are extremely susceptible to backlash. The patriarch forbids his disciples from making puppets on their own."
Li Chen said, "So you mean that the puppets in the Weeping Dew Pavilion were not made by the Dharma Cultivation Realm or the Weapon Cultivation Realm? The Weeping Dew Pavilion was able to make those puppets because someone in those two realms leaked the technique, which happened to be known by the Pavilion Master of the Weeping Dew Pavilion, and those puppets were all made by the Pavilion Master of the Weeping Dew Pavilion himself?"
Shen Zian said, "The layman is wise. When the patriarch learned of this, he was furious and killed a hundred or so people. Some sect leaders were also implicated and lost their lives as a result."
Han Shannan was stunned and said incredulously, "How can this involve innocent people?"
Shen Zian said, "What innocent people are you talking about? Failing to manage the disciples in the sect is a dereliction of duty. According to the rules of the cultivation world, their cultivation should have been abolished and they should have been expelled from the cultivation world. It's just that they were unlucky and lost their lives as well."
“The Dharma practice community never retains useless people.”
Han Shannan gasped in shock. Seeing that he was about to speak, Li Chen stomped hard on his instep under the table and then shooed him upstairs with the sweet rice balls.
After Han Shannan left, Li Chen gave Shen Zian a dry laugh, "The child is still young and doesn't understand things, please don't take offense, Cultivator Shen."
Given the vengeful nature of people in the cultivation world, if Han Shannan had embarrassed him today, he would have taken advantage of any opportunity later, even if it meant sacrificing Han Shannan's life, he would have certainly skinned him alive.
Han Shannan is still too young. If it weren't for the sweet rice balls, she wouldn't be so willing to bring him along. Sometimes he's just a nuisance.
Fortunately, Shen Zian didn't seem to care much and continued talking about what he hadn't finished saying before.
When he arrived in Hezhang County after receiving orders, he was in a similar situation to Li Chenjin. In front of the Qilu Pavilion, he saw a man who had been beaten up and thrown out.
Logically speaking, if someone is beaten black and blue by a group of people and knows they are powerless to fight back, they should run away immediately.
What's strange is that the person not only didn't run away, but even after being beaten half to death, he still dragged his broken leg and crawled into the Weeping Dew Pavilion.
Fearing that the man would be beaten to death and he wouldn't be able to get anything out of him, he stopped the man, took him to this secluded inn, and bought the inn.
According to the man, he had come looking for his missing elder sister.
The reason I went to Qilu Pavilion was because I happened to meet a friend who was doing business abroad. By chance, I mentioned Qilu Pavilion to him, saying that when I went in to have fun, I saw a dancer who looked very much like my older sister.
What's even more coincidental is that his older sister is also an excellent dancer. He suspects that his older sister was pressured to get married so much that she couldn't help but run away from home. She then encountered some trouble on the road and ended up in a dance hall.
Therefore, upon receiving the news, he rushed to the Weeping Dew Pavilion without a moment's delay.
Coincidentally, the dancer on stage that day was the same dancer his friend had mentioned, who looked very much like his older sister.
He had a lingering doubt, wondering if it was just a resemblance, but after seeing it with his own eyes, he was absolutely certain that the dancer was his elder sister.
His older sister had a beauty mark under her eye and a red birthmark shaped like a willow leaf on the back of her neck. The dancer had both of these features, so how could he believe that the dancer on stage wasn't his older sister?
But just as he was about to take the person away, a group of thugs suddenly appeared, ignoring his explanations, pinned him to the ground and beat him up, then threw him out of the Weeping Dew Pavilion.
Only then did he realize that the dancers in the Weeping Dew Pavilion were not living people, but puppets controlled by spiritual power, created jointly by the Dharma Cultivation Realm and the Artifact Cultivation Realm.
Upon hearing this, Li Chenjin nodded and asked, "Then where is that person now?"
Before Shen Zian could speak, someone gave a bitter laugh and said, "He went back for his mother's funeral. His parents were so worried that they fell ill because they couldn't find his older sister. He had been sick for about half a year. A month ago, a letter came saying that his mother had passed away and his father was so ill that he couldn't recognize people. They asked him to go back and take charge of the situation."
“My older sister is also missing. About three months ago, my family sent me a message saying that my mother was ill. The doctor back home said that my mother would at most live to the end of this year. My family wanted me to bring my older sister back so that my mother could see her one last time and die in peace. But now… I'm afraid it will be difficult…”
While Li Chen was deep in thought, another person said, "That Weeping Dew Pavilion must have some kind of evil magic that can control living people. What puppets? That's just nonsense and a lie! Those are clearly living people!"
"Don't I know what my wife looks like and what birthmarks she has? Even if we look alike, it's impossible for our birthmarks to be exactly the same, right?!"
Another person said, "Those dancers are definitely alive, kidnapped by the master of the Weeping Dew Pavilion! Haven't you all noticed yet? The people who went missing from our families are all skilled dancers. My aunt even received an invitation to a dance competition because of her outstanding performance, and she was even admitted to the Azure Cloud Record..."
As soon as this person spoke, more than a dozen people chimed in, "What? Your aunt also received an invitation?"
"My wife also received an invitation..."
"My sister is too..."
Hearing so many people agreeing, Li Chen asked, "What is the Azure Cloud Record?"
Shen Zian explained, "The Biyun Record records the dances of the ten thousand people in the world who have the best dance skills. The first place winner is named Fairy Hanyan. She is an elder of a sect in the world of weapon crafting. She wanted to exchange her ranking for money to refine magical artifacts, but she unexpectedly won first place by chance."
Li Chenjin nodded again, indicating that he had a general understanding.
"Then how should I receive this invitation?" Li Chenjin asked again.
Shen Zian said, "The invitation was issued by Biyun Pavilion, and it is issued every two years. The owner of Biyun Pavilion, Fairy Biyun, was the person who won first place in the Biyun Record for ten consecutive years. Currently, the top five in the Biyun Record, except for Fairy Hanyan, are all her disciples, and the Pavilion Master of Qilu Pavilion is also her disciple."
Li Chen exclaimed, "Then isn't this... Fairy Biyun highly suspicious?"
Shen Zian shook his head, "The title 'Fairy Biyun' is just an honorific. She is not a cultivator, but a mortal. Now she is old and no longer cares about worldly affairs. It is only because of her outstanding dance skills when she was young, and the extraordinary skills of the disciples she taught, that people still believe in her and continue to respectfully call her 'Fairy'."
Li Chen nodded, feeling that this matter seemed somewhat troublesome.
Just as she was thinking about what to do next, someone suddenly said, "However, this Biyun Competition will not be by invitation, but will be held in public at the Qilu Pavilion. It will take about seven days, and people from all over will arrive one after another. I heard that many princes and nobles will also come to watch the competition."
Li Chenjin's gaze fell on the person who spoke, and he asked, "How many people will come to the Biyun Competition?"
The man seemed surprised that Li Chen would ask such a question. After thinking for a long time, he said, "I don't know, but... there should be at least ten thousand people."
"I heard that the Biyun Competition was proposed by the Pavilion Master of Qilu Pavilion to Fairy Biyun, in order to find someone to succeed Fairy Biyun. Therefore, even commoners who have never had any reputation before can volunteer to participate."
Li Chen asked, "More than ten thousand people? Qilu Pavilion doesn't look very big, and most of the inns here are full. How can there be more than ten thousand people staying here?"
Upon hearing this, the man shook his head repeatedly, saying, "I don't know either; I heard all this information from my own inquiries. But what's certain is that the Biyun Competition will definitely be held at the Qilu Pavilion. I've heard that the Biyun Fairy is very fond of the Qilu Pavilion Master, and can be said to grant any request..."
Li Chenjin: "..."
That's quite a coincidence. So many people looking for their missing relatives have all come to the Weeping Dew Pavilion. Just looking at the puppets in the Weeping Dew Pavilion, you know something's not right.
If it were just a similar appearance, that would be one thing, but why are the birthmarks on their bodies exactly the same? It's clear from this that something unusual is going on.
And then there's this so-called "Baoyun Controversy," which sounds like it's going to be a big, big event.
The Pavilion Master of the Weeping Dew Pavilion not only seemed indifferent to those who frequently came to demand people, but also appeared to want to attract even more of them. She absolutely did not believe that the Pavilion Master of the Weeping Dew Pavilion had no ulterior motives.
No wonder that old monk Mingcun sent her here, while he went off to travel and preach. It turns out that he dumped all the time-consuming and laborious work of investigating on her.
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