If someone wanted to fabricate such a lie, there would be more than one or two false witnesses involved.
Is it really possible that so many people lied together just to cover up the true cause of Ji Mofan's death?
What kind of person must the murderer be?
Li Jinchu even felt that with his own abilities, it would be difficult to tell such a colossal lie.
After all, although Ji Mofan's funeral was not as grand as it should have been due to the tension between the cultivation world and the demon world, the number of people who came to pay their respects was quite considerable because of his high profile.
Surprisingly, not a single person could spot the problem.
This is not a simple murder case like killing someone silently and then covering up the body.
“I later examined his body,” Xiao Wangyan continued. “His spiritual platform was destroyed, and the inner core inside was also missing.”
"So the murderer killed him to steal his inner core?" Li Jinchu muttered subconsciously.
Upon hearing this, Fang Xuan immediately realized the most suspicious suspect: "That sickly young sect leader of the Yun Cang Sword Sect?"
"But could such a useless little brat really hurt Ji Mo Fan? Even if he were injured and in a weakened state?"
“Afterwards, all the evidence was destroyed. Apart from barely finding out the cause of his death, I found nothing else.” Xiao Wangyan shook his head. “I can only deduce that maybe that useless sickly man poisoned the nuptial wine he would drink on his wedding day, which caused Ji Mofan to lose his last ability to resist in his already weak state.”
Li Jinchu also raised an eyebrow.
Indeed, if there were other accomplices besides that young sect leader, then even if we moved the timeline back to that time, let alone now, more than eighty years later, unless they had the means to foresee the future and catch the person in the act, this matter would be completely unverifiable.
“But the problem is, regardless of how Ji Mofan died…” Fang Xuan stroked his chin, “would digging out his inner core cause his soul to dissipate as well?”
“Logically speaking, no,” Li Jinchu said. “If handled properly, removing an inner core might not even be a fatal injury.”
The way you say that makes it sound like you've actually dissected it yourself.
Fang Xian had this thought running through his mind, but looking at Li Jinchu's face, he ultimately didn't utter a word of complaint.
"So now?" Fang Xuan shrugged. "Should we go to the Yun Cang Sword Sect to investigate the situation?"
"I've already been there. Going again would just be a waste of your time," Xiao Wangyan waved his hand.
Li Jinchu glanced at him again.
His expression didn't seem like he was lying.
Moreover, the Demon Lord has no reason to lie about such things.
The whole thing started because of him. Even people like Li Jinchu and Fang Xuan, who knew Ji Mofan before, never thought of questioning the cause of his death. Yet the Demon Lord made a trip to the underworld for him, who was not related to him at all.
There's no reason for them to spread false information now and mislead people.
Although Li Jinchu couldn't understand the reason, the Demon Lord was definitely the person here who most wanted to know the truth.
But... why would the people of the Yuncang Sword Sect lie?
"Do you know Sheng Xi?" Xiao Wangyan suddenly asked them again.
Li Jinchu was somewhat puzzled by his sudden mention of this name.
He glanced at Fang Xian, who turned his head and nodded. "I know. More than a hundred years ago, he was the chief of the Chaoming Palace, but he died in his twenties because he couldn't withstand the tribulation lightning during his breakthrough."
"You believe such an obvious lie?" Xiao Wangyan laughed twice. "Chaoming Palace is the second largest sect in your cultivation world. Sheng Xi is a super genius who has the opportunity to break through to the early stage of Nascent Soul at the age of twenty-five. If it were your own sect, wouldn't you prepare multiple insurances to ensure that his advancement would not have any problems?"
Li Jinchu frowned. "Nothing is absolute; there are always unexpected events."
"The unexpected thing is that Sheng Xi didn't actually die at all." Xiao Wangyan said in the next moment, "Not only did he not die, but he also suffered a qi deviation and fell into demonic cultivation."
"Don't believe me? If you don't believe me, you can come with me to the Demon Realm's main city when we get back."
"He now goes by the alias Xiao Wu and has been in the Demon Realm for decades."
Li Jinchu's furrowed brows did not relax.
It wasn't that he doubted the truthfulness of Xiao Wangyan's words; as he said before, as a Demon Lord, he had no need to tell such lies to two righteous cultivators who had already ascended to the Upper Realm.
They can no longer interfere in the affairs of the lower realms. Even if they know that the Chaoming Palace has been protecting demonic cultivators, they can no longer put them on trial.
But what was his purpose in bringing this up specifically?
"Why do you think the Emperor of Chaoming lied about Shengxi's matter back then?" Xiao Wangyan suddenly asked again.
"What else could it be? Of course, it's to save his life." Fang Xian put his hands behind his head and leaned back comfortably. "The cultivation world has always been very strict in its treatment of demonic cultivators, especially those who have fallen from the righteous path into the demonic path."
"Chao Ming Palace is unwilling to get rid of Sheng Xi, but someone like him can't just disappear without a trace. Of course, they need to find a good reason for him to legitimately stay out of the public eye..."
Fang Xian paused slightly at this point.
"So, could it be that Ji Mofan didn't die either? Is it just that he can't appear in public for some reason?" Li Jinchu rested her chin on her finger and spoke Fang Xian's thoughts.
"He's not dead, so where did he go?" Fang Xuan subconsciously straightened his posture. "Wait a minute, something's not right. Didn't the Demon Lord just say that he personally examined Ji Mo Fan's body?"
"Yes, I did examine it." Xiao Wangyan nodded. "But in order not to cause a commotion, I did not take the body with me at the time."
"So, was there a problem at any stage between the end of his funeral and the formal placement of his body in the coffin?" Li Jinchu squinted in thought.
"Was it done by the Yuncang Sword Sect?" Fang Xuan glanced at Xiao Wangyan.
“We cannot rule out this possibility.” Xiao Wangyan nodded, then shook his head. “I have more suspicious candidates.”
"Your Supreme Venerable One in the cultivation world—Qu Jin."
*
Li Jinchu remained dazed until she emerged from the Supreme Venerable Hall.
There's nothing else to it, except that ever since he joined the Xiaoling Sect, his impression of this venerable master, with his otherworldly demeanor, has always been one of pristine purity.
The truth came to him unexpectedly, without any warning. The child was a little stunned and needed some time to process it.
Compared to Li Jinchu, who had spent many years in the Xiaoling Sect, Fang Xuan was much more accepting.
However, he still couldn't hide the disgust in his eyes.
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