After saying this, Li Wenxun closed his eyes and feigned sleep in the corner as usual—as the chief disciplinarian of the foremost sect in the martial world, his primary concern was whether there truly was a traitor among the six sects.
Song Shijun was taken aback. "...Right, Wang Yuanjing had someone behind him."
Cai Zhao quickly added, "Yes, yes! The leader of the Heavenly Dipper Earthly Fiend Camp said that while they were the ones who acted against the Chang family, someone else led the way. Because that person hid themselves well, even they didn’t know who it was."
Qi Yunke suddenly asked, "Was this told to you by that Mu fellow?"
Cai Zhao blinked. "Yes."
Song Yuzhi stepped forward and added, "That person had secretly conspired with Nie Zhe for years. Meanwhile, Senior Qiu Yuanfeng was deeply wary of Head Wang, so many of the six sects' movements were kept from him. Therefore, the one colluding with Nie Zhe likely wasn’t Head Wang."
Cai Zhao supplemented, "Also, when we were searching for the Shi twins, we were ambushed downstream of the Su River. Those black-clad men must have trained for years. Head Wang had been constrained for so long—he wouldn’t have his own forces."
Qi Yunke frowned. "Did that Mu fellow tell you this too?"
Cai Zhao hesitated. "Uh, yes."
Cai Pingchun pondered. "If that’s the case, someone must have seen Wang Yuanjing near the Eight-Claw Sky Prison back then. Then, through Nie Zhe, they learned that Wu Yuanying had once been imprisoned there, and used this as leverage to blackmail Wang Yuanjing."
Cai Zhao praised, "Father is absolutely right! That’s exactly what we suspected. Then Mu Qingyan suggested that he confront Wang Yuanjing directly to lure out the identity of the mastermind. After all, he’s from the Demonic Cult—Wang Yuanjing might stubbornly deny everything to a disciple of the six sects, but he might spill the truth to a demonic fiend."
Qi Yunke gave Cai Zhao a worried glance.
Cai Pingchun looked around. "Who among us attacked the Nether Bamboo Path back then? I wasn’t there, nor was Elder Brother Yunke. What about the rest?"
Zhou Zhizhen frowned. "Many went, but we were at the front while the disciples of Grand Beginning Temple held the rear. How could we have seen Wang Yuanjing’s movements?"
"Someone must have seen him," Song Shijun said coldly. "No need to rush—we’ll investigate slowly. We’ll eventually find the one who lingered behind."
Zhou Zhizhen turned to Cai Zhao. "Zhao Zhao, that shadowy figure who killed Wang Yuanjing just now—could you not recognize their movement technique?"
At the mention of Wang Yuanjing’s killer, Li Yuanmin raised his head.
Cai Zhao had been waiting for this topic. "Uncle Zhou asks well. That person’s martial arts were extraordinarily high, and their movements were bizarre—I couldn’t discern their origins at all. I chased them briefly, but they vanished near the rockery. However..."
She carefully weighed her words. "I think, within Grand Beginning Temple tonight, there couldn’t be many who could outpace me in speed—and who also know the temple’s layout well."
The girl widened her eyes at the group, her gaze brimming with implication.
Yang Heying was slow to catch on and said irritably, "Are you suspecting us?!"
Cai Zhao replied, "I truly wasn’t suspecting you."
Zhou Zhizhen chuckled first. "You little rascal!"
Song Shijun pressed Yang Heying’s shoulder. "Now, now, the child has a point. Old Yang, don’t glare so fiercely—you’ll scare her. Yuzhi has told me about Zhao Zhao’s lightness skill. Not to boast, but in this entire Grand Beginning Temple..."
Qi Yunke finally couldn’t hold back. "What right do you have to boast? You’re neither her master nor her uncle or parents. What does her lightness skill have to do with you?""Brother Yunke, don't interrupt," Song Shijun said with shameless audacity. "From Brother Yuanjing's residence to the rockery is quite a distance. Zhao Zhao couldn't have chased that far. How many people in Grand Beginning Temple tonight could have done this! As elders, with the important task of uncovering spies at hand, we shouldn't cling to formalities. I'll go first—after dinner tonight, I was in my room lecturing Yuzhi."
Zhou Zhizhen asked curiously, "Lecturing about what?"
Song Shijun declared righteously, "A man's responsibilities!"—though in truth, it was 'Several Steps to Please Young Ladies.'
Ning Xiaofeng let out a derisive snort.
Qi Yunke turned to Song Yuzhi. "Is that so?"
Song Yuzhi coughed lightly, lowering his head to hide the faint blush on his jade-like face. "...Yes."
Qi Yunke said, "After dinner tonight, I was discussing some matters with Zhao Zhao's parents... um..."
Song Shijun also grew curious. "Discussing what?"
"That's none of your concern," Ning Xiaofeng retorted, shooting Qi Yunke a sidelong glare. "In any case, the three of us were talking until the alarm sounded just now."
Cai Pingchun suddenly heaved a long sigh.
In truth, the three had been discussing Cai Zhao's future marriage prospects. Qi Yunke's newly proposed candidate for a son-in-law was decent enough, but he had a mother with whom they'd been feuding for years and a rather unreliable father. The thought of their daughter someday bowing to Yin Qinglian's memorial tablet and addressing a renowned patron of brothels as 'Father' made the Cai couple feel as if they were on the verge of qi deviation.
—Song Shijun seemed to have guessed something and withdrew, rubbing his nose.
As for the remaining three: Yang Heying had gone to bed early, Zhou Zhizhen had been reading alone by candlelight, and Li Wenxun had been polishing his sword—none had witnesses.
Li Yuanmin suddenly looked up and reminded them, "Li Shibo was making rounds earlier and questioned me."
Fan Xingjia immediately shrank his neck—ever since the annulment of her engagement to Song Yuzhi, Qi Lingbo had taken to weeping in some corner every night. Unsurprisingly, Dai Fengchi had gone to console her, Song Yuzhi had been summoned by his father, Ding Zhuo had dragged a few Grand Beginning Temple disciples aside to discuss martial techniques, and Fan Xingjia, seeing his senior brothers absent, had slipped out to sell roast chicken.
In short, not a single one had stayed properly in their rooms to sleep. At first, Li Wenxun thought he'd come to the wrong place, but after questioning Li Yuanmin, he was thoroughly incensed.
"Shibo, I..." Fan Xingjia desperately wanted to explain that he hadn't even gotten to eat the roast chicken.
"Silence," Li Wenxun shot him a glance, incidentally including Cai Zhao in his glare, then half-closed his eyes. "We'll talk later."
—Those four words carried immense weight, sending chills down both Fan Xingjia and Cai Zhao's spines.
"What now?" Yang Heying, ever alert to danger, was the first to defend himself. "Are you suggesting Brother Zhou and I could be suspects in Head Wang's murder?"
Cai Zhao was also at a loss.
At that moment, Qi Yunke suddenly spoke.
"Zhao Zhao, come here." He beckoned to Cai Zhao, just as he had countless times during her childhood when offering her snacks. "Sit by your master."
Cai Zhao obediently sat on the small stool before Qi Yunke, placing her hands neatly on her knees.
"Zhao Zhao, what I'm about to say may be hard for you to hear," Qi Yunke said, his eyes growing increasingly troubled. "But you must listen—and take it to heart."
Cai Zhao, bewildered, nodded vigorously.
The usually lenient Qi Yunke was uncharacteristically solemn, and the hall fell silent as everyone listened.
Qi Yunke sighed. "Zhao Zhao, have you ever considered that there might not be any shadowy mastermind behind all this?"
Cai Zhao: "??"Qi Yunke said, "Who massacred the Chang Family Fort? The Demonic Cult's Heavenly Dipper Earthly Fiend Camp."
"Who told you there was a guide? The Demonic Cult's leader, Mu Qingyan."
"Who told you someone had been colluding with Nie Zhe for years? It was Mu Qingyan."
"But how do you know he's telling the truth? What if everything he said was lies? What if he's trying to sow discord among the six sects, making us suspicious and causing internal strife first?"
With each word he spoke, Cai Zhao's heart sank further.
"Well said!" Yang Heying cheered loudly. "Actually, I had thought of this too, but since no one mentioned it, it made me seem petty. Those Demonic Cult fiends—though they may appear human on the surface—are the most cunning and despicable!"
Song Yuzhi disagreed and stepped forward to speak, but Song Shijun pulled him back. Turning his head, he saw his father shaking his head slightly, signaling him to stay silent.
"But, but..." Cai Zhao was flustered. "Head Wang, he..."
"The hardest lies to discern aren't those that are entirely false, but those that are half-truths—or even nine parts truth and one part falsehood," Qi Yunke said gravely. "It's true that Wang Yuanjing didn't save Wu Yuanying, but who said it had to be a disciple from the six sects who witnessed it and then blackmailed Wang Yuanjing?"
"Exactly, why must it have been our people who saw it?" Song Shijun added. "It could have been a hidden prison guard. Nie Zhe was just a useless coward who never bothered to investigate. But that Mu kid is different. He emerged over four years ago to seize power from Nie Zhe—perhaps that's when he uncovered something to threaten Wang Yuanjing!"
"Right, right!" Yang Heying gritted his teeth. "He took advantage of Great Hero Chang's kindness, hiding in the Chang Family Fort to recuperate for a full year. Maybe Great Hero Chang noticed something amiss. That villain then decided to go all the way and led the Heavenly Dipper Earthly Fiend Camp to slaughter the Chang family!"
"There's more..." Zhou Zhizhen also spoke up. "The black-clad men who ambushed us downstream in the Su River, and the shadow that killed Head Wang—they could have been disguised Demonic Cult members."
"True, the Demonic Cult has no shortage of experts. They could easily spare such manpower." Even Cai Pingchun agreed this time.
Li Yuanmin suddenly stood up, as if he had found an outlet for his fury. "Even if my senior brother made mistakes, it was the Demonic Cult that harmed him! If I don't avenge this, I swear I'm not human!"
Qi Yunke ignored the others, fixing his gaze solely on Cai Zhao. "Mu Qingyan didn't even need to act personally. He could have sent someone close to him to threaten Wang Yuanjing, then pretended to interrogate him to clear his own name and make you believe there was a traitor among the six sects. But in reality, all the talk about a 'mastermind behind the scenes' is just Mu Qingyan's one-sided account."
Cai Zhao had never considered this angle before, but following her master's reasoning, everything fell into place seamlessly.
—She hadn't personally heard Nie Zhe's confession about colluding with others, nor had she witnessed the night the Chang family was destroyed. She had no idea who had actually seen Wang Yuanjing mistakenly enter the Eight-Claw Sky Prison back then. As for the black-clad ambushers and the shadow that killed Wang Yuanjing, there was no way to trace them.
Her entire understanding of the events was built on her trust in Mu Qingyan."The master does not deny that there are righteous individuals in the Demonic Cult—Lu Chengnan was one," Qi Yunke's voice was unusually stern. "Lu Chengnan proved the truth of his words with his own life. But what about Mu Qingyan? This ambitious new leader of the Demonic Cult, who is determined to strengthen and revitalize it—should we let his words alone sow discord among our six sects and allow the Demonic Cult to reap the benefits?!"
His words caused everyone present to grow solemn.
Zhou Zhizhen sighed. "The world has been at peace for over a decade. Not only the younger generation but even the older generation has nearly forgotten the bloody conflicts with the Demonic Cult in the past. Whether surnamed Nie or Mu, the Demonic Cult remains the same Demonic Cult."
Song Shijun added with emotion, "Brother Qi, your words today finally show the responsibility befitting the leader of the foremost sect in the land."
Qi Yunke gripped the young girl's arm and repeated his warning earnestly: "Zhao Zhao, remember the story of the 'Painted-Skin Demon' I told you? Before being exposed, it can laugh, scold, and even appear more likable and trustworthy than a real person—but in the end, it is not human! It will deceive you, harm you, and by the time you realize it, it will be too late."
"Zhao Zhao, remember my words—do not trust the Painted-Skin Demon! Do not trust him!"
Qi Yunke's eyes were filled with hidden pain from the past. Cai Zhao felt as though he was speaking to someone else through her.
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