Ch108 - Interrogation

There was an uproar downstairs. Many eyes stared at Yan Zhifei, but even more were on Xie Zhiwei, whose brain couldn’t begin to process it all. Before he could react, Yan Zhifei fully unsheathed Taisu Sword and pointed its blade at him.

“What are you waiting for?” he demanded severely. “Leave!”

As a sect leader for many years, his majesty was already established. His face was so stern that he didn’t even need to speak to intimidate disciples, to say nothing of his hollering now. The clamorous room seemed shocked by his words and quieted down briefly.

Xie Zhiwei, however, keenly caught onto something unusual. Yan Zhifei had twitched his brows while he spoke, a touch of imperceptible anxiety on his face. Glancing downstairs, Xie Zhiwei saw a foolish-looking young man. He wasn’t part of the daoist sect but dressed in rich robes and accompanied by a few familiar attendants. Everyone was focused on the scene upstairs except for this youth, who was playing with his fingers and giggling at them like an idiot.

Xie Zhiwei stepped back as he guessed the crowd’s intentions. But how could anything be so coincidental?

Why did he and Mu He enter the inn just in time to stumble on a murder and then get caught on the scene? In reality, it didn’t matter whether those grave robbers lived or died. These people just wanted an excuse to cause Xie Zhiwei trouble.

Abruptly, someone jeered from below, “Sect Leader Yan, your sect claims that Xie zhenren has been dead for years. This is an indisputable fact. Now he’s standing there alive and well with the Shizi calling him shizun. Is he a sham just because you say so? Are you questioning the Shizi? Or trying to cover up for him on purpose?”

Yan Zhifei only glanced at him, but Xia Zhiqi cooly replied, “Manor Lord Lu, nothing’s been verified yet. Won’t people laugh at you for making false accusations?”

Mu He suppressed the murder in his eyes and was about to walk towards Xie Zhiwei when the King of Nine Provinces reached out to stop him. His steps paused as he asked, “Royal Father, just what is going on here?”

The king revealed an inexplicable smile before pointing at the people below them. “Royal Son, that is the Manor Lord Lu Wen (陆温) of Immeasurable Manor. Behind him is his youngest son Lu Zhanyun. You must have met him in the past when you went with Xie Zhiwei to Ashen Cloud Mountain.”

Immeasurable Manor’s young lord Lu Zhanyun had represented his father at Ashen Cloud Sword Sect four years ago, but went insane afterwards. From then on, he became a fool who couldn’t look after himself.

Mu He’s gaze shifted as he looked towards Xie Zhiwei, but the latter only looked back and shook his head imperceptibly.

After the introductions were done, Lu Wen flew upstairs as well and bowed to the King of Nine Provinces. Then Lu Zhanyun gave a frightened cry and pointed upstairs, before falling to his knees and rambling, “Grandpa….grandpa spare me!”

This extraordinarily comical scene at such a tense time almost made a few people burst into laughter. Humiliated, Lu Wen yelled at the attendants, “Hurry and pull up the young master!” Then he glared at Xie Zhiwei. “They all say Xie zhenren has high morals and is upright. You wouldn’t be afraid to deny your own identity, right?”

Xie Zhiwei moved his lips. “I…”

Yan Zhifei creased his brows and opened his mouth, but the King of Nine Provinces snapped, “Guilty conscience, Sect Leader Yan?”

Yan Zhifei looked at him before averting his gaze, but his grip secretly tightened around his sword. The atmosphere was as stifling as a cloudy summer day, as if storms would break out at any moment. For a moment, Xie Zhiwei really thought of denying his identity and leaving. But System just happened to sound in his head.

“Friendly reminder, if you deny your status as Xie Zhiwei, your Presence Points might go to zero again. Please do not repeat the same mistakes and tread cautiously.”

Xie Zhiwei couldn’t help protesting. Can’t a real man bend and stretch with the circumstances?

System’s reply was ice. “Apologies. These are the rules, please comply with them.”

Xie Zhiwei gave the System a mental middle finger.

Mu He circled around the King of Nine Provinces to approached Xie Zhiwei. He wanted to remind him to avoid the present calamity first before clearing things up. But before he could stand still, Xie Zhiwei slowly turned and said calmly to the crowd, “Correct, I am indeed that surnamed Xie.”

Once again, pandemonium broke out downstairs. Everyone started babbling and staring at Xie Zhiwei in amazement, as if he was some rare animal. Xia Zhiqi’s unusual unperturbed face finally changed, but she quickly realized what was coming next and whispered a few words to her disciples before flying upstairs.

Mu He’s gaze skimmed over Lu Wen’s body as if he was looking at a dead man. He said softly to Xie Zhiwei, “Shizun doesn’t need to fear, these people are no match for you or me.”

Xie Zhiwei gave him a noncommittal look.

Yan Zhifei sighed and strode over, his cold aura all but gone. “Zhiwei, why did you…” Under the current circumstances, he couldn’t finish his sentence, but Xie Zhiwei knew what he wanted to ask.

Why did you die and come back to life? Why did you admit your identity? Why didn’t you leave?

Eyes hooded, Xie Zhiwei replied, “Eldest senior brother, I’ve let the daoist sect down… I can’t…” Man, it’s all the System’s fault. Without that bastard I could definitely live a carefree life in this world with my skills alone!

Lu Wen and the King of Nine Provinces exchanged another look before the former interjected. “You two, this is no time for pleasantries. You can catch up later, but we need to make some things clear while everyone’s present.”

Xia Zhiqi cut him off. “Even so, it’ll be our daoist sect asking them. You have no right to speak.”

“Hmph. The daoist clan has a big family and an even bigger mouth.” Lu Wen’s expression darkened before he stepped forward to point furiously downstairs. “Did your Bixu zhenren have the right to reduce my son to that? Your daoist sect did whatever it took to kill my brother-in-law Bai Jianzhu and nephew Bai Yu. Yujing Sect…is truly a model for cultivators around the world!”

Xie Zhiwei remained outwardly calm even as his heart thumped. This is bad, his questions are all on point. It’s hard to give him an answer.

Mu He was beside him but surprisingly didn’t speak, seemingly deep in thought as his gaze grew more determined.

Yin Cangshan only gaped at the scene before he tried to defuse the situation. “Everyone should calm down. Manor Lord Lu, leaving all that aside, the Bai father and son died because of their evil deeds. The evidence was all solid, which is why the daoist sect…”

“Evil deeds? All they did was cause Xie Zhiwei’s death!” Lu Wen was emotional. “But you can all see that Xie Zhiwei is standing right here! I refuse to believe the daoist sect would mix up a live man for a dead one before confusedly putting others to death. The Bai Clan were the founders of the daoist sect, yet their descendants were reduced to this!”

So it turned out Mu He had turned in all the evidence on the day he dealt with Bai Jianzhu. But his methods were a touch too cruel. Family scandals shouldn’t be aired in public, but Yan Zhifei had chosen to disclose it to the masses because Mu He was Xie Zhiwei’s disciple and Bai Jianzhu had a special status in the sect.

Who knew that his intentions would be misunderstood instead?

Now that Xie Zhiwei was back to life, it was even harder to explain things.

Yin Cangshan coughed. “But…but that Xie zhenren had no cause to hurt your son, ah.”

Xie Zhiwei gave him a slight nod of acknowledgment. Even a sinister old fox like Yin Cangshan could say something humane once in a while. Still, it was a fact of life for villainous supporting characters to persist until the very end.

Lu Wen laughed coldly and declared, “It was Black Lotus.”

Everyone gave a start before those who knew of Black Lotus grew dazed.

The King of Nine Provinces went on, “Great Master Du Sheng told this king that Black Lotus can bring the dead to life. That year at One Step Cliff, Xie Zhiwei said before his death that he destroyed Black and White Lotus in his divine consciousness. Now it seems he planned to resurrect with Black Lotus and feared people would rob him, so he made up an excuse.”

Everyone’s faces changed at the words. If the king’s words were true, then that meant Black and White Lotus still existed. Four years ago, Xie Zhiwei had admitted he had both lotuses and gotten the same reaction. Their prying intentions were clear as day, as if they still had a chance to obtain such treasures while it still existed in this world.

The waves of the cultivation world were surging up again.

Yan Zhifei and Xia Zhiqi exchanged looks but had no words to refute—after all, it sounded like the truth. As the commotion rose in volume, Lu Wen openly laughed twice. “Back then I heard the attendants say my son Lu Zhanyun offended you at Ashen Cloud Sword Sect by defending Bai Yu. Later on, someone told me Black Lotus could cause mental damage. This time I personally found Great Master Du Sheng for an examination and determined that the symptoms matched. Xie Zhiwei, what else do you have to say!”

Human hearts changed rapidly. Beneath Lu Wen’s accusations, many people beyond the daoist sect showed expressions of contempt and suspicion towards Xie zhiwei. Lu Wen also came prepared by dragging multiple sects to the scene ahead of time. Now they were all siding with him. Xie Zhiwei simply stood there in silence as if tacitly admitting it all.

Yan Zhifei suddenly spoke up. “Zhiwei, we’ll talk when we go back. There’s no need to explain anything to outsiders.”

Xia Zhiqi followed, “Yes, the daoist sect will take care of our own affairs.”

“This is the capital city. You cannot be so lawless,” the King of Nine Provinces pointed to the rooms. “The coroner is currently examining the corpses. This king doesn’t care how you act in the wilderness, but now that Xie Zhiwei’s committed murder, this king must take charge.”

“Innocence naturally speaks for itself,” Xie Zhiwei intoned simply.

Yan Zhifei nodded. “Correct. Let’s go.”

Lu Wen unsheathed his sword. “The daoist sect is rude and unreasonable. If you don’t explain yourselves, my Immeasurable Manor will fight you to the death today!”

Xia Zhiqi’s expression chilled as she took out Frostverse Sword. The daoist disciples all unsheathed their blades to face off against Immeasurable Manor while a fight seemed imminent. Yin Cangshan seemed rather panicked and pushed the frightened Yin Wushuang into the rooms to hide.

“Let’s not be hasty, everyone,” he coaxed, “This is the capital. Can’t we have a proper chat? What kind of explanation does Immeasurable Manor want?”

No one in the mundane realm had ever seen such a scene. The inn guests and their owner and staff had already fled out of the building, leaving the scene chaotic before the battle even began.

The King of Nine Provinces faced the still-silent Mu He and said, “Royal Son, look at what kind of people these daoists are. See what kind of person Xie Zhiwei is. He dares to do but doesn’t dare to admit it, speaking nothing but lies. It wasn’t worth it for you to miss him for four years, right?”

Mu He didn’t answer, still lost in thought. The king assumed he was wavering and felt pleased. He looked at Xie Zhiwei and said, “Xie Zhiwei, nothing to say?”

Xie Zhiwei met his gaze frankly. “Indeed, this surnamed Xie has nothing to say.”

Feeling smug, the King of Nine Provinces was about to sneer further when he suddenly saw Mu He look up with a slight smile. Then he walked to the railing, quiet and indifferent, his robes like a touch of winter snow.

He said, “After four years, shizun has once again stood up for this disciple. Disciple cannot thank him enough.”

Yan Zhifei was about to pull Xie Zhiwei away, but the latter stood firm to stare at Mu He without moving.

The King of Nine Provinces was puzzled. “Royal Son, what are you saying?”

But Mu He only had eyes for Xie Zhiwei. “Shizun, disciple has long grown up. It’s time for disciple to protect shizun instead. Disciple doesn’t care for reputation, cultivation, or even life. The only thing disciple cares about is…”

“Royal Son!” the king’s voice sank.

Mu He said out loud to downstairs, “Black and White Lotus are with me.”

As he finished the sentence, light bloomed behind him. There was a flash of white that transformed into the shape of a lotus flower that suddenly bloomed and faded away. Following that was a black and red lotus. In the end, all three flowers bloomed in unison as one, lingering behind Mu He for a long time before it vanished. All the hustle and bustle in the inn seemed to freeze with their appearance.

This was the first time Mu He had revealed his three treasures in public without hesitation.

He said in a light voice, “I killed Bai Yu and Bai Jianzhu and caused Lu Zhanyun’s insanity. Everything in the past was done by me and shizun has nothing to do with it.”

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The author has something to say: I like eldest senior brother so much ahhh *rolls on floor* After this I’ll be progressing the plot with hidden clues and revelations simultaneously~

Translator’s Note: Yesssss! Had a feeling Mu He was gonna do this anyways, but it’s still good to read him doing it right here right now…let’s celebrate with another piece of fanart by -怀倥偬- (same artist as Ch. 106).

This one was done earlier than those sketches and features Xie Zhiwei in color! Personally I think this is the first person to get his “crow-gray” hued robes right—black like crow feathers, but with hints of green or purple in the light. The artist has since changed their Weibo username, which is why it doesn’t match the watermark on the pic.

I really like how all the fanartists agree that Xie Zhiwei has this kinda delicate, fancy, tall jade hair-crown. It’s thin and elegantly firm like shizun himself, don’t you think?

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