Chapter 202 - Self Reflection
Zhong Yue paid close attention at their expressions and although they were shocked by the news, the little details in their expressions were very different. Jun Sixie’s expression clearly showed that she knew that someone had betrayed the Swords Gate and that someone was among the other three aces.
Lei Hong’s expression was the most normal, in line with how one would expect him to react at this new information. He was greatly shocked immediately erupted in a rage before asking who the spy was and for any possible suspects.
Feng Wuji seemed to be thinking of something else and his face faltered slightly as the information shook him greatly in his heart as well. However, he managed to promptly regain his calm, his tranquil frame of mind allowed him to finely control his emotions.
Fang Jiange was also the same before quickly returning to his usual state, remaining silent as well after.
Zhong Yue retracted his gaze thought to himself, I can’t see anything, not even a single thing. Judging from their expressions, the chances of Fang Jiange being the spy are very high. He was the one who arrived at the scene first during Tian Myriad Mother’s revival and had failed to kill her, instead allowing her to escape from the Demon Ruins to devour Shui Qingyan’s soul and possess her body. Therefore, he is the most suspicious one. However, Fang Jiange has been like that for a very long time, he did not show any extreme shock during the revival of Tian Myriad Mother and he went to fight her alone. Besides, there was someone else that revived Tian Myriad Mother and that someone even fought with Fang Jiange, with that, they are clearly not on the same side….
Senior Martial Sister Jun is fine as well. After all, she was the one who got ambushed and almost died. But then, there’s a possibility that she tried to play victim and accused someone else of setting her up so that she could cover up her identity as a spy even better. She also knows that I am Long Yue and because of Tian Myriad Mother, that spy hiding in the Swords Gate also knows that I am Long Yue. Thus, she could also be that spy. But then again, she could have figured out my identity as Long Yue through the traces I left behind back then….
I know little about Feng Wuji and since he is from the Feng Clan, the headmaster and Elder Shouzhu must have some understanding about him. Considering that, if he was a traitor or someone from the Xiao Mang Celestial Race, he would not be able to hide it from the headmaster and Elder Feng. With that being said, he is the least suspicious one.
Whereas for Lei Hong, his reactions appeared to be very normal – he seems to be the most unlikely to be the spy or the member of Xiao Mang Celestial Race. But….
Then, Zhong Yue thought of that time when he was set up by that Crocodile Dragon and fell into the Devil Soul Forbidden Land. After setting him up, the Crocodile Dragon was then immediately killed by the person pulling the strings. The Crocodile Dragon was the mount of Lei Hong and it said that it was trying to repay its debt to someone by setting up the trap for Zhong Yue.
With that, Lei Hong had become a suspect in Zhong Yue’s eyes and this suspicion could not be washed away simply by judging from the reactions he observed.
And he reacted way too normally, just like an average person, which is very odd. After all, we are Qi Practitioners, not some average humans. Our minds and wills are strong and especially for Qi Practitioners of Swords Gate, our hearts are forged like swords. When we encounter any difficulties, our hearts like swords would bestow us with wills as sharp as swords, allowing us to cut down our enemies and overcome our difficulties. Senior Martial Sister Jun, Feng Wuji and Fang Jiange have displayed their strong sword hearts and they managed to regain their calm quickly. But Senior Martial Brother Lei Hong was uncharacteristically agitated.
But … there’s another question, who killed the Crocodile dragon and how did this person kill it? After all, Senior Martial Brother Feng, Lei, Fang and Senior Martial Sister Jun was not around in Swords Gate when that incident occurred as they were busy hunting down the lord of Sulphur Island and Jinxiu Island.
Zhong Yue frowned frustratedly as there were just too many suspicious events going on and the clues were all entangled together, making it hard to discern the truth of the matter.
Fu Shan the old turtle continued walking just like a moving mountain towards the Swords Gate. Although the old turtle moved very slowly, their advancement speed was very fast as with that huge body of the old turtle, each step it moved would require ordinary Qi Practitioners to travel for quite some time.
Fang Jiange suddenly said, “Senior Martial Brother Feng and Junior Martial Brother Lei, the two of you are too heavy, please get down.”
Lei Hong pretended to be angry and he said, “Why are you so stingy, I am not that fat and I would not be able to crush your mount at all.”
Fu Shan then said with a loud voice, “Master Lei and Master Feng, you both are not heavy but your soul weapons are very heavy, which is causing some difficulties for me. With just Master Fang’s soul weapon, I am already struggling to walk, not to mention the addition of your soul weapons.”
Feng Wuji and Lei Hong were both speechless and they flew away from the back of the old turtle. With that, the old turtle’s speed increased slightly but he said again, “Still too heavy for me, one more has to get down from my back.”
Jun Sixie’s guqin was not that heavy but then she flew down regardless and the old turtle immediately said, “Not Sister Jun.”
Fang Jiange looked at Zhong Yue and Zhong Yue immediately got down from the old turtle and the old turtle felt much more easier immediately. It let out a relieved breath and said, “Now it's much more easier. Little Brother Zhong, there’s something about the weight of two thousand pounds on you. Usually, such weight would be trivial for me but with the sword of Master Fang, I am unable to carry them together for long. I was crawling out of the Lian Yun Ridges with my life back then.”
The other four felt confused and they looked at Zhong Yue immediately.
Zhong Yue then recalled that god’s phalanx bone he hid in his own secret realm and he thought, It must be because of this phalanx bone. But it was not the weight of this phalanx bone that was intolerable, it was the weight of Fang Jiange’s sword. Just how heavy is his sword?
The other four felt surprised but they did not ask Zhong Yue anything as to people like them, everyone had their very own fortuitous encounters. Thus, it was natural that Zhong Yue would have his own lucky chance as well.
However, unlike Zhong Yue’s encounter that was not surprising at all, Shui Zian’s death caused a huge earthquake throughout all the Wilderness and Barrens.
When the five of them along with the old turtle returned to the Swords Gate and informed the Elder Councils about the death of Shui Zian, it incited an uproar among the elders. Then, the entire Swords Gate held a grand funeral for Shui Zian. White banners were hung down every mountain of Swords Gate and the golden ray on the Golden Summit was also dimmed.
In a incredibly short period of time, this news spread to all corners and various factions from the Wilderness and Barrens sent envoy as representatives of their factions to attend the funeral.
Due to the fact that Shui Zian’s body was not found, without his body and soul, Swords Gate could only use his clothes as a replacement and they placed his grave in the Grand Spirit Palace so that it could be paid its respects.
The Grand Spirit Palace was designated for heroes and heroines who sacrificed their lives for Swords Gate, it was a place for the descendants of Swords Gate to worship and pray for these fallen heroes and heroines. In this palace, most of the graves were just empty graves with clothes and no spirits. This was because these heroes and heroines often died fighting for the Swords Gate in the battlefield and many of their spirits shattered in the battles.
Those who were placed in the Grand Spirit Palace had left behind their own legends which words couldn’t begin to describe!
During the funeral, as someone who was saved by Shui Zian, tears flowed freely from Zhong Yue’s eyes that he fainted quite a few times while the headmaster of Swords Gate coughed out blood from sorrow. Fortunately, the Elder Councils managed to calm him down and helped him treat this wounds.
However, those who paid attention to the Swords Gate knew that the death of Shui Zian had struck the headmaster particularly hard. There was very little time left for the headmaster and after Shui Zian’s death, the headmaster had even less time as he was greatly impacted by the tragic news, which weakened him even more.
After the envoys from other races met with this old man, they could all see that this old man was nearing his death very soon – his body reeked of frailty and his pale face caused many to think that he was going to drop dead at any moment.
Then, after reporting back to their own leaders, the various factions once again diverted their attentions to Swords Gate.
With that, the situation of Swords Gate became even worse.
At the same time, Zhong Yue also drew quite a considerable amount of heat to himself. Information regarding the battle of Xiao Mang Celestial Temple and the battle of Lian Yun Mountain Ridges had leaked out and shook the various factions greatly!
Now, everyone knew that Zhong Yue was the one who managed to open the five great secret realms in reverse and through these two fierce battles, everyone was now aware of the ungodly pace at which his strength continued to grow. With this, it was hard for him to remain unnoticed.
As time passed, the ruckus caused by Shui Zian’s death eventually calmed down and under the order of the headmaster, Zhong Yue was sent to reflect on his mistake in the Heart Questioning Palace, not being able to step of there for two years. It was clear to see that the headmaster had channeled his anger on Zhong Yue for Shui Zian’s death and thus.
The nine elders of Elder Councils were worried as they felt that the punishment was too heavy. It felt like the headmaster had became foolish after Shui Zian’s death and they tried to appeal to him but to no avail.
The Heart Questioning Palace where Zhong Yue was locked in was the place where Swords Gate punished its disciples. Those who were locked in here were usually disciples that had committed serious offenses. By placing a seal on the door of the palace, no one would be able to get out from there.
Then, after the order was given and before Zhong Yue was locked in the Heart Questioning Palace, Jun Sixie, Feng Wuji, Lei Hong and the others came to the palace to comfort Zhong Yue. Other than that, Qiu Jin’er, Ting Lanyue, Yu Feiyan, Li Xiuniang and the others too came to comfort him. Not long later, the Elder Councils’ leader, Elder Yu also came to calm Zhong Yue down along with the other elders.
Zhong Yue thanked the visitors and then, he walked into the palace while Elder Pu closed the doors and took out a paper seal given by the headmaster and stuck it to the door, thus, locking Zhong Yue in the Heart Questioning Palace.
Then, Swords Gate returned to its usual self. The Lawless Battle between the upper hall disciples was organized as usual and in fact, it was much more lively than the previous years. After all, everyone in the Swords Gate understood the dire situation of Swords Gate and they had been trying their best to cultivate as geniuses continued to emerge from the outer disciples.
However, there never appeared anyone as talented as Zhong Yue and ‘Shui Qingyan’, something that was expected. The two of them were now legendary figures that were on par with the other legendary figures like Zuo Xiangsheng and the like.
The headmaster announced that I am to be locked in the palace but he secretly let me out. What a cunning old fox he is.
Somewhere in the Savanna Wasteland, Zhong Yue was walking on a plain towards Gu Xia City. Now, he had transformed back into Long Yue and as he traveled back to Gu Xia City, he cultivated his Fang Blade and the god’s phalanx bone at the same time, trying his best to merge them together to become his own soul weapon. He then thought, But headmaster doesn't know that Elder Shui might be alive. Judging from how much he was grieving during the funeral, he seems to be unaware. But why do I feel that something is wrong? If Elder Shui lied to him as well, then Elder Shui must be plotting something sinister but if he was plotting something with the headmaster, the both of them are probably digging a huge grave, just waiting for someone to fall in….
As the saying goes, “Older gingers are spicier*”, Zhong Yue couldn't help but admire the elder generation for their cunning and slyness after his trip to Western Barren.
Zhong Yue sneakily returned to his territory in the monster land and he summoned the four girls, Chun, Xia, Qiu, Dong. After quite some time of cultivation, these four girls had become much stronger and they now had the confidence to advance into Qi Practitioners, something that made Zhong Yue quite satisfied.
“Master, nothing of note had happened during your absence, it's just that there was this girl that the dragon race sent here to be the lord of the territory you had relinquished to the dragon race.”
Said Xia’er quickly when Zhong Yue asked the four girls about the situation of the territory. Then, Xia’er said again, “This dragon girl requested to meet you quite a few times already but Master had not come out from your cultivation so we turned her down for you. Now, she is extremely discontent with you.”
Zhong Yue was speechless and he said with a laugh, “Chun’er, bring her to me. After seeing her, I will take the four of you out and look for a high-quality spirit so that you could all become Qi Practitioners.”
As Chun’er walked out, Xia’er wanted to follow but Zhong Yue stopped her and said, “Xia’er, stay here. It is better if you stay back because of your straightforward behaviour.”
Xia’er then murmured, “That’s not right! I’m just following her style of talking.”