Chapter 165: Choice
Shi Meng began to recall everything that had transpired in the estate.
“She was too anxious to show off. When I asked her about Lin Lang, she talked non-stop, giving out every detail, but actually, a normal person would have to look through their memories and think a little while talking. The fact that she could say so much so smoothly clearly means that she memorized all of that. But the moment I asked her questions that she hadn’t prepared for, her original self was exposed!” Tang Jie sneered.
“You’re talking about…” Shi Meng began to get it.
Tang Jie replied, “Correct. During dinner, I tested her. Yueyang redfruits don’t dispel alcohol at all. Rather, they’re for nourishing the skin. Linchuan white lotuses also have a beautifying effect, and Sanjiang honey lotuses are a sweet adored by women. It’s not strange that Master Xu didn’t know, but for the young lady of the Xu Clan to not know? That doesn’t make any sense. As for Jade Pine, don’t even talk about it. Jade Pine stone is a famous tea of Horizon Ocean Pavilion, and female cultivators love its refreshing taste. As it comes in tea stones and not tea leaves, it doesn’t require rinsing and just needs to be steeped to be enjoyed. Thus, while it is a good tea for drinking on the road, it’s not a tea for the dinner table. But as a young lady of a noble clan, she knew nothing about it!”
He had only learned about these things from spending time with Xu Miaoran. Xu Miaoran had traveled all over the place and enjoyed much of what Sageheart had to offer. As for Jade Pine tea, Tang Jie had drunk it together with Xu Miaoran, and the topic had been brought up during their conversation.
It was normal for Xu Mujun to not know about one or two of these things, but to not know any of them was rather suspicious.
“Could it be that she just doesn’t like these things?” Wei Tianchong asked.
“Correct,” Tang Jie nodded. “Thus, I finally asked her which had better embroidery, Fenglin Park or Meijian Workshop, and she actually said Fenglin Park… hah!”
Tang Jie began to eerily chuckle.
Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng were still rather confused. Wei Tianchong replied, “What’s wrong with saying that Fenglin Park is better? Everyone has their preferences, so even if Meijian Workshop is better, you can’t really conclude anything from that.”
“The problem is that Meijian Workshop is a brothel, not an embroidery workshop!”
“What?” The two were shocked once more.
Tang Jie laughed. “That was an official brothel in Wanquan City’s pleasure district. I passed through there when we were sightseeing around the city after the exam. If she were really a young lady of the Xu Clan, she should have simply said that she had never heard of Meijian Workshop. She clearly didn’t know, but she insisted on pretending to know, earnestly saying that Fenglin Park had better embroidery. There’s clearly something fishy about her!”
“I get it now!” The other two finally understood.
“This person pretending to be Miss Xu should be Xu Mujun’s servant student. This Xu Clan has become very bold, actually harboring a criminal. Where did they get the guts!?” Shi Meng angrily snorted.
He had originally thought that Xu Mujun had been the only person harboring Lin Lang, but it now appeared that the entire estate was in on it. This made the incident much more serious.
Even Tang Jie shook his head. “Yes, even I didn’t dare to believe that they would actually do such a thing. Regardless, they still did it.”
“What are we waiting for, then? Let’s go in there and drag Lin Lang out,” Wei Tianchong shouted.
Tang Jie chuckled. “Young Master, are you sure you want to do that?”
“Mm? What do you mean?” Wei Tianchong asked.
Hadn’t they come to capture Lin Lang? Since Tang Jie had already confirmed it, why was he still saying such things?
Tang Jie casually said, “In truth, while that girl pretending to be Xu Mujun didn’t act very well, even if she had been an incredible actor, she would have found it difficult to keep a perfect disguise against a cultivator, even if they were only a student. Although the Xu Clan is a big clan, it is still a mortal clan. Trying to deceive the eyes of a cultivator is simply absurd… Young Master, don’t you find it strange? How did they manage to fool that Esteemed Master Chang Yuping?”
Wei Tianchong and Wei Tianchong glanced at each other, but it was Shi Meng who said, “It was probably the spirit coins, right?”
Tang Jie nodded. “The Xu Clan never hoped to fool anybody, so they used money.”
Shi Meng seemed to understand. “You’re saying that since Esteemed Master Chang already confirmed that there was nothing wrong with the Xu Estate, if we drag out Lin Lang now, Esteemed Master Chang will appear negligent?”
Tang Jie nodded. “For some things, the more you do them, the worse things get! Some achievements are established upon the failure and humiliation of others, making it so that if you want to achieve something, you’ll have to offend someone.”
Shi Meng and Wei Tianchong both shivered.
Wei Tianchong said in a panic, “That Chang Yuping is still an Esteemed Master, so there’s no need for us to offend him. Completing the mission doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll become a True Inheritor, but offending a Basking Moon Master will make life difficult for me in the future.”
“Why else do you think True Person Changfeng would give this mission?” Tang Jie casually asked.
“Huh?” The two of them were thoroughly stupefied. “You’re saying…”
Tang Jie firmly said, “Chang Yuping is an Esteemed Master of the Law Hall. Among the eight inner halls of the Basking Moon Sect, the Law Hall is primarily responsible for internal punishment and law enforcement. As Lin Yuanming’s case involves external affairs, it isn’t actually under the Law Hall’s purview. It should be the responsibility of the Search Hall, which is responsible for seeking out fugitives. It’s already a problem that the Law Hall’s people have come over. Do you recall what I told you about factional struggles?”
Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng looked at each other, and then Wei Tianchong cautiously said, “You’re saying… this matter concerns a struggle among the higher-ups?”
Tang Jie chuckled. “I’m sure that the Search Hall has already noticed Chang Yuping’s corruption and taking of bribes. The Law Hall is primarily controlled by the conservatives, so if they can raise a fuss over this matter, they might be able to strike at the Law Hall’s authority. They intentionally didn’t cause a stir and instead made it into a True Inheritor mission, having everyone go after Lin Lang and leaving behind a trail of clues, precisely so that we would expose Chang Yuping’s deeds…”
“I get it,” Shi Meng shouted. “By having the students expose Chang Yuping, they’re actually pushing the academy to True Person Changfeng’s side!”
“Correct!” Tang Jie firmly nodded. “As for Lin Lang, he’s just the bait, a dog with no home that can’t escape. How could he affect the Basking Moon Sect in any way?”
After this incident, whether or not Lin Lang was captured, Chang Yuping was doomed. And the students who had sought to become Yan Changfeng’s True Inheritor would inadvertently end up damaging the conservatives. Even if they didn’t complete the mission, because they had participated in it, they wouldn’t be particularly welcome, so they would be forced to rely on Yan Changfeng.
With this one move from Yan Changfeng, he would force the conservatives to suffer in silence while gathering numerous talents to his side.
Of course, the conservatives could have one of their own True Persons come out to recruit their own True Inheritor, but this was a very low-class move, and it was too brazen and obvious. The most important part about internal struggles were that they could never be out in the open. Once the quarrels came into the public eye, they were no longer so easy to resolve.
And it was Chang Yuping who was corrupt. Others could not be blamed for being unforgiving of his conduct.
If he couldn’t stand what had happened to him, then he could slowly seek out an opportunity to regain his standing. Regardless of the world, anti-graft measures were always excellent weapons in internal struggles!
Now that they understood the real meaning of the True Inheritor mission, Wei Tianchong and Shi Meng felt like they were seeing a whole new world. Although Wei Tianchong was rather wet behind the ears, when everything was hand-fed to him like this, he was able to understand what was going on.
This was his first real experience with the treacheries of the Immortal path. Not only did he have to face innumerable savage fiend beasts, he also had to deal with countless backstabbers hidden in the shadows. For a moment, he hesitated. He had once innocently muddled his way through the deceit-ridden Immortal path, but his mind was finally beginning to clear.
He said, “In other words, True Person Changfeng is forcing us to take a stand?”
“Yes!” Tang Jie confirmed. “To become a True Inheritor, you must pick a side. No matter how talented a disciple you are, it doesn’t matter if you’re not loyal. While displays of loyalty seem rather repulsive, they are still necessary and valuable. Young Master, this mission might be the most important of the three missions. If you can succeed, then even with your form and temperament… ahem, even if other outstanding people complete the other missions, so long as the gap between you and them isn’t too great, you still have an extremely high chance of being chosen.”
“So you want me to choose going in there?”
“I don’t have a habit of giving up halfway,” Tang Jie coolly said.
Tang Jie had told Wei Tianchong the truth not so that he could back down, but so that he would understand what he would face after he made this choice.
He didn’t want Wei Tianchong to resent him in the future because he had concealed the truth from him.
“But if I do that, I’ll offend…” Wei Tianchong was still indecisive.
“How can anyone live in this world without offending somebody? The only fear is that you offend someone meaninglessly, forming a grudge to no benefit! The struggles of the Immortal path mean that if you don’t advance, you retreat. Young Master, has anyone who reached the Great Dao not done so on a pile of bones? Stop hesitating!”
Surprisingly, it was Shi Meng who said these words.
At that moment, Tang Jie and Shi Meng shared a glance, and both could see the smile in each other’s eyes.
To advance along the Great Dao, one needed to bravely press forward and cut down all obstacles.
Fiends, sprites, ghosts, and monsters were obstacles, and so were dangerous people.
Wei Tianchong looked around and finally clenched his teeth. “Alright, then let’s charge in there and get him!”
He spoke with a vigorous tone and had clearly made up his mind.
Just as he was about to charge in, Tang Jie stopped him. “Hold on.”
“What else is there?” Wei Tianchong asked.
“It’s nothing. I would just like to take some precautions in case they escape,” Tang Jie said, pressing down his finger. He formed several hand signs, and winds began to stir!
“This is…” Wei Tianchong was startled.
“A minor illusion formation, used to hold enemies!” Tang Jie explained. “Since the Xu Clan dares to harbor a fugitive and deceive an Immortal sect, it has broken the law, so all of them must be arrested! Shi Meng, release the Detection Spirit Eye to make sure that outsiders don’t disturb us.”
“Understood!”
Tang Jie no longer hid his ability to draw formations from Wei Tianchong, using a low-level imprisoning formation to place the entire Xu Estate under his control.
The Alarm Gate Banner reappeared, flying into the Xu Estate. The banner erupted with light as it took its place as the core of the formation, creating a befuddling maze. Cries of alarm came from within the estate.
Once this was done, Tang Jie called out, “Let’s go!”
With one punch, he blasted the gate into smithereens.
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