Immortalis

Tong Xue Fourteen

Fifteen years ago.

The moment Dong Zhu discovered the Colorless Powder in Qingyu Pavilion had diminished, his world spun.

This place was usually accessible only to him and Dong Lu.

He had promised his wife to take good care of their son, but... he had ultimately allowed him to become what he was now—arrogant, bullying the weak, and now, committing such a grave mistake.

For several days, Dong Zhu remained in seclusion within the pavilion. He didn’t know how to face his son, nor how to face the disciples on the mountain.

A father’s failure to teach is his own fault; a master’s laxity in discipline is his error.

Even a three-year-old understands this principle. As both a master and a father, Dong Zhu could only blame himself for Dong Lu’s downfall.

A few days later, when Dong Zhu emerged from Qingyu Pavilion, he had grown noticeably thinner. Claiming he needed to descend the mountain, that evening he found his son and his three ever-present “friends,” took them to the emptied Northern Hill, and pressed them for answers. Finally, he heard the chilling truth from their lips.

It turned out that Dong Lu only knew the Colorless Powder could induce sleep and wanted to teach Yu Dongxue a lesson. But he accidentally overdosed, resulting in Yu Dongxue’s sudden death after Lu Wenxiu mixed the powder into his tea.

Dong Lu showed no remorse, even during the confession, shifting the blame onto Lu Wenxiu for miscalculating the dosage.

The more Dong Zhu listened, the colder his heart grew. In the end, as the four pleaded for mercy with tears and sobs, he fell silent for a long time, then drew his sword.

“If she knew I had raised our son like this, she would surely blame me. Dong Lu has committed a grave error. If this brings shame upon the Sword Manor, I would not only fail my wife but also my master. So, as if possessed, I resolved to conceal this matter.”

Closing his eyes, Dong Zhu unburdened the secret he had carried for years, and a look of relief washed over his face.

At this moment, even the Immeasurable Seven Swords were speechless, leaving only Yang Wujian still smiling.

She asked, “Elder, how did you dispose of the bodies after killing them?”

“I threw them into the ore veins in the back mountain, sprinkled beast-repelling powder over them, and then sealed the passage… Only this way would there be no flaws when using the Corpse Seeking Sable later.”

“And the Longevity Palace…”

“I told the Manor Lord. At that time, the Longevity Palace was causing chaos everywhere, so one more incident wouldn’t stand out. Using the complexity of the Northern Hill ore veins as an excuse, I falsely claimed the four sword attendants might have been taken down the mountain. Since the Boundless Sword Manor had previously eliminated many Longevity Palace members, and the Manor Lord abhors evil, he wouldn’t suspect a thing.”

“But you never expected that fifteen years later, your Manor Lord would suddenly reunite the Four Seas Alliance to hunt down the Longevity Palace. Precisely because he abhors evil, those old cases must be reinvestigated.”

Yang Wujian’s smile was icy.

“Not only that, but knowing the reinvestigation might expose the truth, you thought of Yu Dongxue’s sister, who has always lived at the foot of the mountain… She might make people suspicious of Yu Dongxue’s death. So, you found someone trustworthy to poison Yu Xiahe with the same substance that killed her brother.”

As she spoke, Yang Wujian stomped hard, making the waiter curl up in pain.Shen Qingshi said, "This person was handed over to the innkeeper by you. You had done him a favor, so he worked for you in return. Plus, he often went to Yu Xiahe to buy cakes for the inn—poisoning was just a convenient task... Earlier, we deliberately leaked the news that we were going to hand you over to the authorities, precisely to lure him up the mountain."

Dong Zhu sighed, "He was merely following my orders. The Colorless Powder was also given by me—he had no idea it was poison... I know the three of you have no intention of harming his life. Please, do not trouble him further and administer the antidote."

With this, the truth from fifteen years ago was fully revealed, and murmurs began to ripple through the crowd.

"What a ruthless person! For the sake of a false reputation, he not only killed his own son but also sought to eliminate innocent witnesses."

"And to think he once bore the name of the Green Rain Sword. All his past acts of false compassion were nothing but performances."

"That mute boy is truly pitiful, just like Lu Wenxiu back then—unwittingly used for dirty deeds... But if he didn’t even know it was poison, shouldn’t he be free of blame?"

On the high platform, the members of the Immeasurable Seven Swords wore grim expressions. Originally, if the Green Rain Sword had denied everything, there might have been room for maneuver, but now...

"Senior Brother, you truly..."

Fangqiong Sword could hardly believe it. For fifteen years, they had been investigating this old case, only to find it was a case of the thief crying "stop thief." The memory of the Green Rain Sword bringing the Colorless Powder to him back then was still vivid in his mind...

Shen Mian was in agony, "How could you make mistake after mistake... Senior Brother, you were the one who said that this Gray Stone Powder was ground from the Stone Cicada. You claimed it was precious, something you intended to treasure, but you couldn’t bear to see the people suffer, so you brought it out for use. Wasn’t that what you said?"

"Wait, the Stone Cicada?"

Hearing this familiar name, Zhou Huai couldn’t help but startle, "The Gray Stone Powder is really from the Stone Cicada? Isn’t that the ominous object that appeared after the insect plague?"

"Ominous object?"

Dong Zhu laughed bitterly.

Though he was no longer young now, in his earlier years, he had been the dashing young hero Dong, galloping through the martial world and traveling far and wide.

Nearly twenty years ago, he had learned from ancient texts that during the late Crimson Gold era, a type of Stone Cicada had emerged. It was rumored to help one achieve ascension through corpse liberation, a truly rare treasure of the time.

Back then, Dong Zhu was deeply curious and searched everywhere until he finally found this Stone Cicada from a wandering merchant.

The merchant, speaking in mystical terms, claimed it could indeed aid in ascension—shedding the flesh within and glimpsing the heavenly way without.

In the end, Dong Zhu bought three or four Stone Cicadas from the merchant. When he chiseled them open, he discovered they were stone on the outside and insect on the inside. Remembering the merchant’s words, he separately ground the two parts into powder: the inner organs into Gray Stone Powder and the outer shell into Black Stone Powder.

Uncertain of its origins, Dong Zhu naturally dared not rashly use it as medicine. He conducted tests on field mice and quickly found that the Black Stone Powder drove them mad, while the Gray Stone Powder made them lethargic. Dong Zhu speculated that the Stone Cicada’s innards had a paralyzing effect and tried it on an injured person, who indeed fell unconscious immediately and did not wake for two or three days.

Dong Zhu sighed, "If I had known back then that the Stone Cicada was such an ominous object, I would have destroyed it long ago... It’s a pity that by the time I realized, it was too late."

"I actually think you studied the Stone Cicada’s effects quite thoroughly, Senior. Otherwise, Lu Wenxiu wouldn’t have gone so mad, would he?"

Yang Wujian sneered."Lu Wenxiu was a witness to the incident fifteen years ago. You couldn't let him reveal the truth, but killing him would also easily arouse suspicion. I believe, senior, that was when you recalled the black stone powder that drives people mad."

"......"

In that instant, Dong Zhu's face turned several shades paler.

After a long silence, Dong Zhu smiled bitterly: "Correct. I did poison Lu Wenxiu into madness. After all the grievances he had suffered, I couldn't bring myself to kill him. But... I never expected his illness would become so severe... After that, aside from the remaining Colorless Powder, I destroyed all the powder ground from the Stone Cicada as well."

"It seems the truth has come to light."

Upon hearing this, Yang Wujian burst into laughter.

Though she was usually frivolous and unreliable with her words, this time she laughed because if she didn't, she feared she would be so enraged that she'd kill Dong Zhu on the spot.

For fifteen years, because of this false accusation pinned on Longevity Palace, how much suffering had they endured? How many innocent palace members who had never participated in the Flesh Conduit alchemy had been slaughtered?

Unfortunately, with so many eyes watching her now, she couldn't smash Green Rain Sword's head right then and there.

Yang Wujian tightened her grip on the Golden Rings beneath her wide sleeves and laughed: "To think we wanted to join the Four Seas Alliance - who would have thought the first lesson would be the thief crying 'stop thief'? Making us run errands is one thing, but for the sake of your vain reputation, Lu Wenxiu and Yu Xiahe - one poisoned into madness, the other poisoned to death - leaving behind a child alone in the world, losing both parents at such a young age... Boundless Sword Manor may not owe the martial world an explanation, but I believe you at least owe this child an explanation."

As she spoke, she beckoned Yu Qiao, who had been frightened stiff, to come over.

Yang Wujian thought to herself that although Longevity Palace wasn't exactly a good place either, it was still much better than this jianghu that had killed the child's parents.

"Miss Yang, what are you planning to do?"

Zhou Huai, being from White Rainbow Tower, had refrained from speaking much earlier for the sake of his father's business with Boundless Sword Manor. But now, seeing the expression on Yang Wujian's face, even he sensed something was wrong.

Was she angry?

Yang Wujian placed both hands on Yu Qiao's shoulders, bent down and said softly: "We won't hide it from you. Both your father and mother were killed by him. Since that's the case, would you like to make him kneel and kowtow to you?"

"What? Miss Yang, you..."

Shen Mian's face changed dramatically.

He never expected Yang Wujian to be so formidable. Despite her youth, she could push things to the extreme right in front of the Seven Swords.

Yang Wujian sneered: "Is kneeling in apology too light a punishment for killing someone's parents? I suspect Boundless Sword Manor will certainly handle this family disgrace behind closed doors afterward - that's not for us to comment on. But this child is still young, and we're the only ones who can seek justice for him now. This is actually good for you too, isn't it?"

Hearing this, Shen Mian was momentarily speechless, because he knew Yang Wujian spoke the truth.

After all, the incident had occurred suddenly and involved the Seven Swords. They would have to wait for the Manor Lord to emerge from seclusion before this matter could be decided.

However, if they couldn't give the martial world an explanation in front of everyone now, Boundless Sword Manor's reputation would likely be completely destroyed.

"This..."

Fangqiong Sword found herself in a dilemma. Looking toward her senior and junior brothers on the platform, before any of them could speak, Dong Zhu instead smiled with relief."It all started because of me. Originally, I had already made a grave mistake fifteen years ago, yet I failed to repent and even poisoned Yu Xiahe. For this, I truly deserve to die ten thousand deaths, and it is only right that I apologize to this child... I should kneel."

As he spoke, he stepped forward, lifting the hem of his robe as if to kneel before them. But just then, the waiter who had been curled up on the ground suddenly sprang up. Ignoring Dong Zhu's startled cry of "Stop!" he snatched a sword from a nearby Sword-Wielding Disciple and viciously thrust it toward Yang Wujian!