Ch118 - Clue

Most of the people were shocked by Xie Zhiwei. The Qingping Sword was also one of the Five Treasures and Xie Zhiwei had been undefeated in his life. If he wanted to save Mu He, there was probably no one who could stop him.

Yan Zhifei gave a heavy sigh and tossed his sleeves without another word. He returned to the walkway with Xia Zhiqi to treat Chu Zhishi. Xie Zhiwei felt he had to compensate Yan Zhifei well after this mess was over. The daoist sect was a big backer, so he couldn’t affect their mutual feelings.

However, saving the hero right now was equal to saving the world.

Xie Zhiwei instructed Mu He, “Don’t move.”

Then his sword fell and multiple rays of light emitted from the blade to pierced the dark red spiritual energy surrounding Mu He. One the two forces struck, they seemed to burst into flames, surging up and down like waves with a sharp whistling sound akin to lonely souls and wild ghosts wailing across millions of miles.

Xie Zhiwei had never seen this scene before, much less anyone else. For a while, everyone just gaped as the strange sounds echoed in the air. Mu He observed the changes and slowly narrowed his eyes. Very soon the noise died down, but more dark red spiritual energy amassed from all directions to suffocate Qingping Sword’s light as if swallowing them up to a separate realm. They vanished in an instant.

Xie Zhiwei muttered, “This is…”

Too horrifying. Qingping Sword is strong enough to pierce Red Lotus. What the hell is this? It absorbed it so quickly.

In front of Mahavira Hall, the King of Nine Provinces cried, “Xie Zhiwei, what kind of crooked tricks are you playing now? Cangshan, this king will leave matters to you. The sight irritates me.”

His voice broke the dead silence as everyone recovered from their jaw-dropped states. A few gave searching looks at Xie Zhiwei and really thought he’d used some sort of profound technique. Meanwhile, the king strode into Mahavira Hall with his head held high. Qiu Chongyun faltered before following him with small steps, muttering as she well, “Royal King, what do you mean by this? Even if the Demonic Sect doesn’t enter your eyes, are you going to recognize relations or not, ah… Wait up, you have to clarify yourself today!”

Xie Zhiwei thought it was better if they left instead of poking Mu He’s heart with their racket. Who would expect his only two relatives to add stones down the well at his lowest point?

Mu He didn’t look at the king either, but was completely unruffled and eerily calm in this moment. “Shizun, I can conclude that the explosion just then…originated from youngest martial uncle’s arm.”

“His arm?” Xie Zhiwei echoed and came to his senses. “Wasn’t your youngest martial uncle’s arm cured by Yin—”

“Shizun, be careful.”

At the same time, Xie Zhiwei sensed a massively strong spiritual energy enroaching upon them. He quickly turned and watched in shocked suspicion as a smiling Yin Cangshan strode their way. He had met with the man before beneath Mu He’s bed, but never sensed his cultivation base at such proximity. Why did it suddenly make leaps and bounds?

Or had he been concealing his cultivation base the entire time to let everyone lower their guards?

That was even more frightening. After all, the settings of this world decreed that only those of higher cultivation bases could hide themselves from lower ones…

Yin Cangshan’s smile remained fixed even as his voice dropped to barely a whisper. “Both of you are smart men. You wouldn’t keep trying to do pointless things, right? Nephew Mu He has suffered a rare loss at my hands, so how could I release him easily?”

Xie Zhiwei thought back to his attempts with Qingping Sword. Combined with Yin Cangshan’s profound cultivation, he would never gain an advantage from a straight-on fight. Instead, prolonged entanglement would only cause more people to lose confidence in Mu He and damage the shining image of Xie Zhiwei in this world.

He couldn’t help muttering back, “Who exactly is Your Excellency?”

Yin Cangshan remained calm and orderly. “The Yin Clan has been loyal retainers to the nation for generations. I, Yin Cangshan, am a ninth generation direct descendant. Xie zhenren is indeed a man beyond the mundane world to not take people like us to heart.”

That’s not right. If he’s been born and raised natively, how could he have such a big cheat? Xie Zhiwei looked at Mu He, who didn’t answer as he lost himself in thought. Yin Cangshan saw them speechless and deepened his grin.

“Xie zhenren is kindhearted, so you would never stand by while your disciple was in trouble. But there are so many miscellaneous people here as well as over a hundred just from the daoist sect. You wouldn’t just stand by and watch them suffer either, right?”

The threat in his words were clear. Shocked, Xie Zhiwei asked, “What does Your Excellency intend to do?”

“King Yin,” Mu He added coldly, “Just come at me. Don’t make things difficult for shizun.”

Yin Cangshan gave him a meaningful look before his gaze grew sharp. “Good, I was waiting for nephew to say these words.”

The crowd watched them mutter back and forth. Xie Zhiwei and Mu He’s expressions grew worse as time went on, while Yin Cangshan looked surprisingly pleasant. They had no idea what they were saying.

Abruptly, Yin Cangshan went back to a normal tone of voice and declared, “This surnamed Yin has an idea. His Royal Majesty is merciful, so it’s only natural to preserve Nephew Mu He’s life. But…as Nephew Mu He has the three treasures on his body and Xie zhenren is determined to protect him, he will definitely give him Qingping Sword in the future. Oh yes, he’s already done that once. Will everyone feel relieved to let him go?”

The crowd exchanged looks. It was true, Mu He was part of the Demonic Sect and only needed Golden Lotus to collect all the Five Treasures of the world. Perhaps he’d caused those explosions just to collect the last lotus. If they let him go today, he could come back on his own and easily snatch the flower…would there be any peace in the world after that?

Xie Zhiwei saw everyone’s reactions and felt his heart hanging in the air. When it was a matter of life and death, the protagonist had no advantages at all.

Yin Cangshan laughed lightly before adding on naturally, “Nephew Mu He can hand over Golden Lotus to avoid such suspicions.”

That was the main point. Xie Zhiwei seemed to understand something after that. But Mu He was already opening his mouth.

“I was wondering why His Imperial Majesty was looking for the grave robbers. As it turned out, there were others involved.”

His cryptic words allowed Xie Zhiwei to connect the intricate threads in his head. The mysterious sponsor…was Yin Cangshan! He was the one who killed Maozi and Old Du. No wonder he appeared so timely at the inn that day.

Yin Cangshan simply looked sinisterly at Mu He while maintaining his smile. “Nephew Mu He is already a prisoner, so it’s better to watch your words. If there’s any mistake, I can’t guarantee your shizun won’t run into trouble again… Today, only the daoist sect’s Chu Zhishi was injured. That’s quite unfair to the Buddhist sect, ah.”

Xie Zhiwei gave a start. This was using the daoist sect to threaten both him and then Mu He in conjunction.

Seriously, this man…I’d rather experience the fanfiction of Ashen Cloud Sword Sect 100 times than run through this. It’s too painful for the hero.

Yin Cangshan not only had a shocking mind and cultivation base, but also coveted the various treasures. Mu He would never take the initiative to give them up, so Yin Cangshan’s provoking words must mean he had a way to wrest them away from him. Xie Zhiwei shared his thoughts with Mu He in a low voice and drew an approving look from their opponent.

Mu He only replied, “King Yin can use whatever methods he wants, but I’ll never hand over the three lotuses.”

“Aren’t you afraid of causing trouble for Xie zhenren?” Yin Cangshan asked curiously.

Yeah right. It was just a delay tactic then, but handing over the treasures to you means an even faster death, okay? Xie Zhiwei’s voice dropped. “The daoist sect would never agree to taking advantage of others in danger to offer flowers to the Buddha!“

At this point, it seemed like the plot was headed for a dead end. Mu Hecouldn’t hand over the three lotuses, but Yin Cangshan refused to let him go. He even used the daoist sect to threaten Xie Zhiwei into hiding the truth. At this moment, Mu He as the suspect lacked enough evidence to prove his innocence and didn’t have enough spiritual power to beat the other into submission.

Xie Zhiwei couldn’t afford to wait for the plot to reach its conclusion. He simply opened up the System to summon Gallant Outlaw. The latter was in a good mood and said briskly, “Hey Idol, you’re here!”

Xie Zhiwei was the complete opposite and looked half-dead. “Mhm, what’s the deal with Yin Cangshan?”

“Idol, you’re so stern ah…why are you suddenly asking about him?” Gallant Outlaw couldn’t even feel happy anymore and coughed twice as he mused, “Yin Cangshan, this character…is very similar to Shen You.”

Xie Zhiwei was shocked. “What, he’s gay too?”

“Nononono…” Gallant Outlaw quickly waved a hand. “That orientation was made up by the fanfiction author. When I say they’re the same I mean that I gave him a lot of settings when outlining his character. But unlike Shen You, who only had settings and no plot to go with it, Yin Cangshan had a detailed biography. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to use it in the end because I felt the imperial court arc was too complicated and would go off-track. After all, this is a cultivation novel. So Idol, you didn’t care about the imperial court story arc when reading either, right? We just vaguely brushed through it. Even Yin Wushuang isn’t a likable harem member. This novel is still mainly about cultivation.”

“But why did the difficulty of the imperial court plot increase after I got involved with the plot?”

“Oh, did it?”

Xie Zhiwei looked at his dumb, innocent face and lost his temper. “I’ll give you authorization. Get lost and see for yourself!”

Gallant Outlaw got lost as soon as he heard the words. Xie Zhiwei couldn’t help thinking wild thoughts while staring at the System. Mu He had just started to whiten slightly to release Cheese and Mengmeng as requested and give up Golden Lotus. These were the terrible consequences as a result. He wondered whether Mu He would re-blacken again. The only thing he could do now was treat him twice as well and appease the damage inflicted by others.

It was a laughable thought. He was a high and mighty actor in his last life. When had he ever cared so much about someone else? But towards a story character, he actually gave…

Gallant Outlaw suddenly popped up and rattled off, “Idol Idol Idol Idol!”

The nerves in Xie Zhiwei’s brain nearly snapped. “Speak!” he said irritably.

“Idol, important discovery!” Gallant Outlaw was so excited he was panting for breath. “But I have to tell you about Yin Cangshan’s character settings first. Right now the King of Nine Provinces is a waste, right? He guessed it was the emperor who crippled him and even suspected His Imperial Majesty of getting rid of the other bloodline heirs, right?”

“Are you saying it wasn’t the emperor’s fault? Why are you suddenly bringing up the King of Nine Provinces?”

“That’s the problem, ah. My settings had the Yin Clan being the founding fathers of the country, which is how they got the title of king while being a different surname from the imperial family. But that surnamed Yin is shrewd and secretly left an ace in his sleeve regarding the secret of the other world. The good thing is that previous generations of King Yin were all pretty loyal, but Yin Cangshan is different. He got sick of catering to other people’s moods and wants to be the master of the world himself.”

“Dammit, it really is a boss setting…what kind of secret does he hold about the other world?”

“The Yin Clan can briefly connect to that other world and extract its hostile energy for their own use. Yin Cangshan broke the ancestral rules to cultivate with that hostile qi for many years. He only has one daughter at his knee, a silly loli who can’t do anything, so he has to act on his own as soon as possible. But in the original novel he submitted to the hero and gave him those secrets, causing the protagonist to explore the separate realm by the end of the book.”

Hearing Gallant Outlaw’s narrative, Yin Cangshan’s actions sounded logical, but Xie Zhiwei was still puzzled. “Yes, he did submit to the protagonist in the original novel, but why the hell is he pushing us now?”

Gallant Outlaw’s voice turned meaningful. “Because the hero did something. And it was related to you ah, Idol.”

“What did he do?”

“Don’t be impatient, let me show you how it was written in the original novel first.” Gallant Outlaw opened the contents of the book and Xie Zhiwei saw a few sentences appear in front of him. He had devoured the novel whole in his last life, so he didn’t pay much attention to details. Only by reviewing and rereading did he get a few impressions here and there.

Time passed, and five years swept by leisurely. There were many changes in the daoist sect while Mu He laid siege and seized territory in the imperial court. All of the courtiers submitted before his banner. Those who were stubborn or resisted were easily taken down with Heart Sway Arts. In just a few years, the massive imperial court was under his sole control.

At first glance Xie Zhiwei saw nothing, but careful pondering finally netted him a clue. Gallant Outlaw didn’t waste time explaining either. “Heart Sway Arts is one of the hero’s big gold fingers. An old fox like Yin Cangshan isn’t easy to deal with, so Heart Sway Arts must have come in handy by the end.”

Xie Zhiwei didn’t even think back as he froze like a wooden chicken.

Gallant Outlaw went on to expostulate, “When you and the hero had a disagreement, he destroyed Heart Sway Arts…destroyed it, ah… But right now we’re stuck in this complicated and tortuous plot without any source of satisfaction ahhh!”

—

The Chinese commenters: