Catch them in the act
A bright moon hangs in the sky.
After Wen Zheng and Mu Qing comforted Elder Ye, they took her back to her residence. When they returned, they both sighed.
Mu Qing rubbed her temples, feeling exhausted: "Let's get some rest tonight, there's a competition tomorrow."
The thought of Shan Wuxiu causing trouble today gave me a headache.
According to their speculation, Shan Wuxiu and Shan Fengyu are very likely demons. There are too few records of demons in ancient books, and they cannot find a way to deal with demons in the short term.
"Hmm." Wen Zheng responded blankly, without moving her feet.
The two stood in the courtyard, bathed in moonlight, their shadows very close together.
Wen Zheng looked down for a while, then took her first step. Just as she did, a hand grabbed her. Mu Qing slipped a uniquely styled bracelet into her hand.
"Take this. It's a magic weapon for self-defense. Be careful tomorrow." Mu Qing's voice was particularly clear in the quiet environment.
Wen Zheng looked at the bracelet twice, then put it on her wrist. The wooden bracelet and the new bracelet made a crisp clinking sound, which made the two of them look down.
Mu Qing took two steps forward, took Wen Zheng's hand, and examined the wooden bracelet on her wrist: "This bracelet..."
Wen Zheng's heart tightened, and she quickly asked, "What's wrong with this bracelet?"
Mu Qing reached out and tapped the wooden bracelet, then put it down after a moment, frowning as she said, "The material of this wooden bracelet is very special; I've never seen it before."
It is truly rare for a wooden bracelet to produce a crisp sound when it collidees with a metal ritual implement.
"Really?" Wen Zheng subtly withdrew her hand and hid it in her sleeve, changing the subject: "It's not good to always let Shan Wuxiu cause trouble. Why don't you sneak into the crowd tomorrow and catch him red-handed?"
If the timing is right, we might be able to reveal the true identity of the evil demon Shan Wuxiu to everyone.
Mu Qing lowered her head and thought for a while before replying, "Okay, I'll go to the audience tomorrow with a different face. Be careful."
Wen Zheng hummed in agreement, and after saying goodnight to each other, they went back to their respective rooms to rest.
The next day.
It was another sunny day with the sun shining brightly. Wen Zheng was lost in thought at the sect's gathering place, while Elder Jianfeng sat not far from her, seemingly wanting to say something but holding back.
Why didn't Mu Qing come?
At this moment, Elder Jianfeng couldn't think of a reason for Mu Qing's absence.
"He has something to do, he'll be here soon." Wen Zheng glanced at the disciples gathered in front of the competition platform, her gaze lingering on one of them for a moment before moving away, and then she lowered her head to continue drawing talismans.
Elder Jianfeng followed her gaze, but the sight of people coming and going made his eyes hurt. He got up and sat down next to Wen Zheng.
The sudden approach of an unfamiliar presence made Wen Zheng shift uncomfortably to the side, and she asked, "Elder, is there something you need?"
Elder Jianfeng waved his hand and said, "You and Mu Qing are of the same generation. Calling me that makes me feel old."
Wen Zheng's lips twitched slightly. After calling Elder Jianfeng's name, she asked him why he had come over to sit down.
Elder Jianfeng glanced around sheepishly, and seeing that no one was approaching, he quickly leaned closer and whispered, "When do you plan to marry Mu Qing?"
The Qingling Brocade Brush left a glaring mark on the paper, splitting the half-finished yellow paper in two, revealing a very obvious vermilion color.
"Were you still half asleep last night?" Wen Zheng forced a smile, tore off the top yellow sheet of paper, and continued writing on the second sheet.
Elder Jianfeng was taken aback: "You think I'm joking?"
Wen Zheng glanced at him twice, the meaning of which was self-evident.
Seeing this, Elder Jianfeng spoke the truth: "The sect leader asked me to ask that question just now. At first, I didn't believe it, but later..."
As he continued, Elder Jianfeng's face beamed with joy.
The wide grin that stretched all the way to her ears gave Wen Zheng goosebumps. She rubbed her arms and said seriously, "Mu Qing and I are just ordinary senior and junior brothers and sisters. You and the sect leader shouldn't overthink it."
She spoke with conviction, and the expression on her face did not seem fake.
Elder Jianfeng lowered his head and thought for a moment with suspicion, then said, "But when I was cultivating, my relationship with my junior sister was not this good. She wanted to beat me to death."
Wen Zheng: "..."
After a moment of silence, Shui Mu announced Wen Zheng's name and told her to go to the arena. She put away the talisman-drawing tools on the table, got up, and walked towards the arena.
Elder Jianfeng watched Wen Zheng's hurried figure rushing away and sensed that she was fleeing in panic.
On the competition stage.
When Wen Zheng arrived, her opponent had just arrived as well. Upon seeing Wen Zheng, the opponent nodded in greeting, and Wen Zheng returned the nod.
Unlike yesterday's arrogant opponent, today's opponent is very normal, so normal that Wen Zheng becomes suspicious.
As the elder below finished speaking, the person on the stage began to introduce herself: "Shu Mo, disciple of Feng Gui of Bai Ku Peak. Golden Core stage."
Wen Zheng paused, about to speak, and looked at the woman opposite her in disbelief.
Shumo, this name was mentioned in Li Ruyue's letters, and the relationship between the two seems to be unusual.
Recalling Li Ruyue's tragic death in the demon race, Wen Zheng had to become wary: "Zhu Xian Sect, Wen Zheng."
After exchanging names, Wen Zheng made the first move, throwing out a Fiery Talisman, but her opponent was faster and easily dodged it.
Wen Zheng frowned, flipped her wrist, and threw out several more talismans. At the same time, she took out the Azure Spirit Brocade Brush with her other hand and began to draw talismans.
With three or five talismans attacking from all sides, the people below the stage were so tense that their hearts almost jumped out of their chests. They clenched their fists tightly and stared at the stage without blinking.
Faced with the talisman blocking her way, Shu Mo remained calm. Her long whip, like a snake, rushed towards the talisman, and with a single lash, the talisman was destroyed before it even got close.
The half-burnt talisman landed between the two, and Wen Zheng looked up to face her opponent.
Very strong, not at all like someone at the Golden Core stage.
He wielded the whip with great skill and his dodging technique was also very impressive.
Is this person really at the Golden Core stage?
Some people in the audience raised the same question, and people on other competition stages also looked over, thinking that the cultivation level of the Golden Core stage was not that powerful.
The surrounding voices of doubt were too loud, so the elders below the stage had to step forward to explain: "The authenticity of each challenger's cultivation level is verified before they go on stage. Shu Mo is definitely at the Golden Core stage."
With the elder speaking, no one dared to question it anymore, whether they believed it or not.
The contest continued. Wen Zheng threw out talismans several times, but her opponent only dodged and never fought back. As the fight went on, Wen Zheng noticed that Shu Mo would wink at her from time to time, as if she was hinting at something.
Remembering that the other party came from Baiku Peak, Wen Zheng's eyes flickered, and she slowed down the throwing of the talisman, her eyes scanning the audience below.
Suddenly, a person appeared in the crowd, but no one around noticed, their eyes still fixed on the stage.
Dan Wuxiu's pupils were black, his body was stiff, and he stared at the stage with his head tilted back, his eyes wide open, with no whites visible.
Dodging the long whip that swung towards her but couldn't reach her, Wen Zheng looked away and met Shu Mo's gaze. She smiled, her lips slightly moving:
Pick me.
Shu Mo's hand trembled as she wielded the whip, her brows furrowed with confusion and bewilderment.
Wen Zheng didn't have time to explain, her voice so low that Shu Mo almost couldn't hear her: "Hit me, quick."
When she looked at Shan Wuxiu just now, he was emanating black energy again. If there were no surprises, that black energy was demonic.
Shumo kept Feng Gui's teachings in mind when she left home. After facing Wen Zheng, she only wanted to put on a show and then lose.
Her spiritual root was dug out, and her cultivation level kept regressing. Winning the competition would be useless; it would be better to let Wen Zheng win.
However, seeing the other person keep telling her to hit her, Shu Mo's eyelids twitched, and she didn't know whether she should do it or not.
Wen Zheng waited for a while, but seeing no movement from the other party, she had no choice but to pretend to dodge and slipped, falling down in the direction from which the whip was coming.
Shu Mo was startled and, before she could stop the whip, kicked Wen Zheng, sending her flying three meters away.
When she fell to the ground, there was a gasp from the audience, and some people secretly cheered.
Wen Zheng, lying on the ground, suddenly looked up at the audience while listening to the cheers. She almost laughed in anger, and then stared intently at Shu Mo.
The two locked eyes, and Shu Mo seemed to see the seriousness in the other's eyes. After thinking for a moment, she swung her whip again.
This whip was different. When she swung it, the people below the stage could clearly see that the whip was aimed at Wen Zheng. If it landed, it would cause swelling at best, and blood at worst.
Wen Zheng dodged by rolling to the side on the stage, and quickly glanced at Shan Wuxiu below the stage... He was covered in black energy, and it seemed that he was going to make a move.
Sure enough, the whip seemed to suddenly come to life, twisting in the air before striking Wen Zheng's face.
Shu Mo was shocked and rushed over to stop her.
Wen Zheng gave the other party a reassuring look, dodged with a speed talisman, and then grabbed the whip. The whip, which should have been hanging down, seemed to come alive and twisted in the air like a snake.
"What's this?!"
"The whip has gained sentience?"
"It looks like they're being controlled!"
The audience below was abuzz with discussion, which prompted the elder to go up on stage to check the whip. There, he discovered a trace of aura that did not belong to either of them.
Wen Zheng released the whip and stood beside Shu Mo, waiting for the elder to speak.
Below the stage, Mu Qing suddenly struck, kicking Shan Wuxiu in the knee. Staring at the whip on the stage, Shan Wuxiu staggered and fell to his knees, the darkness still lingering in his eyes.
The commotion caused by the noise caused people to back away, clearing a space for everyone to see Shan Wuxiu's abnormally dark eyes.
"Evil magic!"
"This must be evil magic!"
The elder on the platform stepped down with a whip, snorted coldly, and threw the whip next to Shan Wuxiu.
"I have witnessed the style of the young master of Qian Sheng Palace."
The implication is that the person behind this is Shan Wuxiu.
The elder in charge of this competition platform was sent by another sect to help. He was intolerant of any dissent, and Dan Wuxiu's previous rude and arrogant behavior had already disgusted him.
Today, Shan Wuxiu was caught using evil magic to harm others in public again. The elder didn't get angry because he is Shan Fengyu's only son.
The black mist in Shan Wuxiu's eyes dissipated, and he looked at the crowd blankly. Feeling someone pressing down on him, he turned his head and said, "Who are you? Let me go!"
Mu Qing's disguise hadn't faded yet, and she said calmly, "Young Palace Master is using evil magic to harm people, and you're still pretending to be confused?"
Dan Wuxiu's eyes widened in shock, and he roared, "Nonsense! Who sent you to frame me?"
Mu Qing tore off her disguise, revealing her true colors.
Dan Wuxiu became even angrier, struggling and roaring, "You and Wen Zheng are in cahoots, deliberately framing me."
The Thousand Saints Palace has a good reputation, and many people have a good impression of it. Those who agree with it speak well of Dan Wuxiu.
"Exactly, maybe it's a frame-up."
"Everyone knows about Wen Zheng and Shan Wuxiu's affair."
"They deliberately pretended to be here, just to frame the young master."
The sounds rose and fell, reaching the ears of the person involved. Wen Zheng slowly walked off the stage and said, "I framed you? Someone was hiding in the audience yesterday and playing dirty tricks. I specifically asked my senior brother to come and help catch the person and see who was behind it."
"Besides, would I stage a scene to frame you while I'm competing on stage? The dark aura in your eyes just now didn't seem fake."
Upon hearing the mention of the black aura in Shan Wuxiu's eyes again, the elder's expression changed. He walked up to Shan Wuxiu and asked sternly, "What kind of evil magic did the young palace master use?"
He had never seen it before.
Dan Wuxiu stubbornly refused to admit it: "Nonsense, I was just half asleep when I opened my eyes and someone was pressing down on me. You must have used some trick."
Since the other party refused to admit it, Wen Zheng was too lazy to argue with him. After publicly making a vow to prove herself, she looked at Shan Wuxiu and said, "I dare to make a vow, do you dare?"
After thinking for a moment with his eyes down, Shan Wuxiu confirmed that he had not done anything to harm Wen Zheng. He raised his hand and was about to swear an oath when a voice came from behind him.
"You bastard, admit your mistake!"
Shan Fengyu appeared, his expression unchanged, and admitted that Shan Wuxiu had framed Wen Zheng. Shan Wuxiu knelt on the ground, trying to argue, but Shan Fengyu gagged him and dragged him away.
Wen Zheng's lips, which had been curled up because Shan Wuxiu was about to make his vow, smoothed out, and she looked at Shan Fengyu with no emotion in her eyes.
The former master has become a stranger. The surrounding audience is silent, waiting for one of them to speak first.
"Wen Zheng, you're still the same as before, you haven't changed at all."
Dan Fengyu toyed with a silver apricot blossom hairpin in his hand, looking at Wen Zheng with a half-smile.
All eyes turned to Wen Zheng, waiting to see her reaction.
Mu Qing walked to Wen Zheng's side, blocking most of her view, and whispered, "If he makes a move, just run away."
Wen Zheng nodded, then looked at Shan Fengyu and spoke in a deep voice:
"Who are you?"
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