Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lu Zhou could see the remorse in Ye Tianxin’s eyes. Unfortunately, it was too late.
Ye Tianxin thought Lu Zhou had finally relented and came to see her so she was happy when she saw him.
However, Lu Zhou remained cold as he said, “I have questions for you. You only need to answer them.”
“Yes, mas… Understood.” Ye Tianxin was about to address Lu Zhou as master but she quickly swallowed the word.
“When did you investigate the Fish Dragon Village?”
Ye Tianxin was taken aback by this question. She thought that her master would give her a thorough scolding. She did not expect her master to be more interested in the Fish Dragon Village. Many emotions surged in her heart at this moment. After giving it some thought, she decided to answer honestly, “The 10th year after I left the Evil Sky Pavilion.”
“How did you access the local and palace’s archives?”
“Some of the sisters in the Derived Moon Palace were female guards in the palace. They’re familiar with the rules of the palace and the internal layout. They helped me get my hands on the archives, but it took five years,” Ye Tianxin said. She spoke lightly as though it was insignificant.
Lu Zhou was surprised that Ye Tianxin had spent five years just to access the records in the archives. Based on this, he could see how determined she was.
Ye Tianxin continued to say, “Perhaps, the annihilation of the Fish Dragon Village is only a small matter in the eyes of the nobles in the palace… However, the few hundred villagers…” She choked up with emotions at this point.
Lu Zhou asked nonchalantly, “Is that why you hate me?”
When Ye Tianxin heard this, her mind went blank. She had been slightly invigorated earlier, but she seemed to wither when she heard Lu Zhou’s question.
Lu Zhou did not wait for her to reply and continued to ask, “Did the Derived Moon Palace go to the Measure Heaven River before?”
Ye Tianxin replied, “The Derived Moon Palace did visit Measure Heaven River several times. The palace had said that there were many Other Tribes in the area, but the Derived Moon Palace found no members from the Other Tribes throughout their years of investigations.
It seemed like Ye Tianxin was unaware that she was a Bai. However, in Lu Zhou’s memories, the Bais did not seem to be a genuine Other Tribe. They were a unique ethnicity among Great Yan’s human race. Otherwise, the Bais would not dare to live around Measure Heaven River. Clearly, the palace was using the Other Tribes as a pretext and excuse.
When Ye Tianxin saw her master stroking his beard, deep in thoughts, she suddenly kowtowed. “I’m willing to accept any punishment, no matter how severe it is. Please punish me, master!”
“There’s no need to be impatient,” Lu Zhou shook his head as he spoke in a deep voice, “I’ll naturally punish you for deceiving and denouncing me. The truth behind the Fish Dragon Village incident remains unsolved. Fan Xiuwen might just be a pawn in this. If the culprit is me at the end of the investigation, what will you do?”
“…” Ye Tianxin was stunned. A sense of helplessness rose in her heart. At this point, she no longer knew who she could trust.
“Lock her up in the south pavilion. She’s not allowed to leave.” Lu Zhou waved his hand dismissively.
The two female cultivators from the Derived Moon Palace could only nod helplessly and bring Ye Tianxin back.
After that, Lu Zhou returned to the Evil Sky Pavilion.
…
On the second day, Lu Zhou attempted to comprehend Heavenly Writing as usual. As he spent more time trying to comprehend the scrolls, he noticed that the Human Scroll’s contents had increased. However, it was still difficult to understand the Human Scroll of the Heavenly Writing. After trying to comprehend it for some time, Lu Zhou thought to himself, ‘I’m feeling good today. Maybe I’ll have more luck with the lucky draw.’
“Lucky draw.”
“Ding! Spent 50 merit points on the lucky draw. Thank you for participating. Luck +1.”
“Lucky draw.”
“Ding! Spent 50 merit points on the lucky draw. Thank you for participating. Luck +1.”
Lu Zhou shook his head. Perhaps, he had used up his luck trying to comprehend the Heavenly Writing. He decided to try again at another time. He could not recklessly spend his remaining merit points after all. He only had one Deadly Strike Card left. He wanted to be able to buy one when the occasion arose.
“Ding! Mingshi Yin has completed the Measure Heaven River’s investigation. Rewarded with 100 merit points.” Lu Zhou was not at all surprised by this notification. After all, compared to the others, Mingshi Yin was the most reliable in carrying out missions. He speculated that he would be receiving a letter from Mingshi Yin soon about his investigation.
Strangely, after waiting for six hours, Lu Zhou did not receive any letter. The Evil Sky Pavilion had always employed messenger birds to relay their messages. Messenger birds moved as swiftly as legendary mounts. There was no way the letter would not arrive after six hours.
“Yuan’er.”
“Yes, master.”
“Send word to Jiang Aijian. Tell him to assist in the investigation of the truth behind the Fish Dragon Village from within the palace. Tell him that he’ll be rewarded with a nice sword if he discovers the truth,” Lu Zhou said.
Lu Zhou had a feeling that Mingshi Yin was in big trouble.
A short while later, Little Yuan’er returned and said with a smile, “I’ve sent word to him, master.”
Coincidentally, Zhou Jifeng hurried into the great hall. “M-mister Fourth is hurt!”
Little Yuan’er exclaimed in surprise. “What happened to Fourth Senior Brother?”
Lu Zhou had his suspicions. Mingshi Yin was not hurt when he went to relay the message to the Black Knights. If Mingshi Yin was hurt while investigating the Fish Dragon Village incident, things were clearly more complicated than they seemed. He remained calm as he stroked his beard and said, “Where is he now?”
“He’s at the base of the mountain. Pan Zhong is bringing him here now.”
Soon after, Pan Zhong brought Mingshi Yin into the great hall.
Mingshi Yin’s current condition was similar to when he fought fiercely against the Dark Knight, Chen Zhonghe. He fell to his knees and said, “I’m glad I didn’t let you down, master. I found some clues in the Measure Heaven River.”
“Continue.”
“There are officers patrolling around the Measure Heaven River’s Fish Dragon Village. This has been the case in the past decade. I snooped around the area during the night and made a huge discovery,” Mingshi Yin gulped before he said, “They seem to be fishing out corpses from the river!”
“…”
Everyone present in the great hall was shocked by these words. Put the matter of the Other Tribes being around Measure Heaven River aside, there was no need for those people to fish out their corpses from the river. Moreover, they had been doing this for a decade.
“What’s the reason for fishing out the corpses?” Lu Zhou asked.
“I wanted to investigate further, but I accidentally triggered a strange trap and had to hurry back overnight!” Mingshi Yin seemed slightly out of breath at this point.
Lu Zhou stood up slowly. He descended the stairs to where Mingshi Yin was.
Mingshi Yin prostrated himself. “This disciple is useless!”
“Lift your head.” Lu Zhou’s voice was stern and commanding.
Mingshi Yin slowly did as he was told.
As expected, Lu Zhou saw a black lotus between his glabella!
“Witchcraft…”
Pan Zhong was the nearest. He did not notice the mark when he brought Mingshi Yin up the mountain. Fear filled his heart when he saw the sign of witchcraft on Mingshi Yin’s glabella.
“No wonder Mister Fourth was affected. It’s a witchcraft trap. There aren’t many witchcraft cultivators under Great Yan’s skies! Who did this to Mister Fourth?” Pan Zhong exclaimed in surprise.
Lu Zhou did not answer Pan Zhong’s question. He looked at Mingshi Yin and asked, “It’s near the Measure Heaven River?”
“There might be traps all along the river bank… Master, I’m alright. I’m just feeling a little tired. This witchcraft has only restricted 60 percent of my cultivation base. It’s not that serious…” He managed to hurry back from Measure Heaven River overnight with 60 percent of his cultivation base restricted. It had to be said that his tenacity and will to survive were exceptionally shocking.
Sometimes, Lu Zhou wondered if Ji Tiandao merely picked his disciples to fulfill the words of the poem. ‘They’re all exceptionally talented, and their names fit with the poem. I think there’s too much of a coincidence here.’
Pan Zhong bowed and said, “It’s witchcraft indeed… We must undo this quickly. Otherwise, it might spread until Mister Fourth completely loses access to his cultivation base. At that time, it might be even more difficult to undo the witchcraft.”
