Chapter Sixty-Six: Ji Youyun Has Arrived

When Hong Jian heard the message her eldest senior brother brought back from their grandmaster, she was equally at a loss. She also had another pressing worry: the abnormality of her spiritual sense and the fact that she had cultivated martial techniques—these matters would not stay hidden for long.

But before Hong Jian had a chance to present herself and let the grandmaster thoroughly investigate why she had been unable to form her foundation, an esteemed guest unexpectedly arrived at Dan Cliff Sect, and Sun Yougong had no time to give his young disciple any guidance.

Ji Youyun had arrived.

He had originally been residing temporarily at the Talisman Sect, where Dai Mingchi treated him as an honored guest. His solitary visit to Dan Cliff Sect was due to an invitation from the sect leader, Ling Xuzi.

Mu Fengshan was determined to find the murderer who had killed Pan Cong. Unfortunately, all ninety-nine suspects were disciples of their own sect, and he could not bring himself to act too harshly. As time dragged on, hope grew fainter, and with the next opening of the sect’s secret realm approaching, he persuaded Ling Xuzi to invite Ji Youyun, in the hope that his famed water-based insight technique could reconstruct the truth.

Within two days of his arrival, Ji Youyun moved to Mu Fengshan’s Fragrant Summit. The secret technique he employed could not be used for long periods, especially as all the subjects this time were foundation-building disciples, making the process even more taxing. Mu Fengshan arranged for the ninety-nine disciples who had entered the secret realm last time to be divided into over twenty groups, for Ji Youyun to examine one group every other day. In just a few days, he had seen all the wood-root disciples of Fragrant Summit.

None of the senior or junior brothers who frequently interacted with Pan Cong had any issues, and this did not surprise Mu Fengshan in the least. Next, he began to check disciples from the outer peaks, which alarmed the various peak lords.

At first, Sun Yougong did not pay much attention, but as the investigation of Winterpeak concluded with no results, and as Late Tide Peak followed, he grew uneasy. After only a handful of disciples from Late Tide Peak had been examined, Ji Youyun halted, dismissing the uninvolved disciples to continue their cultivation. The one left behind was, astonishingly, Qin Baoxian.

How could this be? Not only did Qin Baoxian himself protest his innocence, but those who lived and practiced with him at Late Tide Peak also found the accusation incredible. Yan Changqing could not remain composed; he knelt for a long time outside his master’s cave, vouching for his junior’s innocence. Sun Yougong’s head was pounding as he hastily took Yan Changqing to Fragrant Summit.

Sect Leader Ling Xuzi had received word even earlier. This was no ordinary case of fratricide; the repeated incidents in the sect’s secret realm threatened the very foundation of Dan Cliff Sect. The perpetrator must be severely punished, yet Ling Xuzi also feared this would worsen the already strained relations between the water and wood branches of the sect. So, he came in person to see the situation.

Qin Baoxian, beside himself with rage, his round face quivering with fat, stood under the cold gazes of the Nascent Soul and Golden Core elders of Fragrant Summit, repeating over and over, “It wasn’t me! I had nothing to do with it! I never even saw Pan Cong in there!”

In such a state, not only did his familiar masters, Sun Yougong and Yan Changqing, begin to doubt, but even Ling Xuzi cast his gaze toward Ji Youyun, waiting to see what he would say.

Ji Youyun regarded Qin Baoxian calmly and spoke at an unhurried pace: “You and I are strangers, with no enmity between us. If you are innocent, what reason would I have to single out a mere foundation-building disciple? Since you were selected, there is naturally evidence. Your sect leader and elders are all present; you would do better to confess everything honestly. If you persist in denial, your guilt will only be compounded.”

Mu Fengshan snorted, “Master Ji’s golden words are wasted on the likes of him! This villain won’t shed tears until he sees the gallows!”

Sun Yougong frowned slightly. He knew Qin Baoxian to be clever and smooth-tongued; only extreme distress could make him lose his composure like this. Yet Ji Youyun’s tranquil demeanor made him uneasy. He interjected, “Since Master Ji has evidence, let him make it plain so there can be no dispute.”

Ji Youyun glanced at Sun Yougong and smiled, “Very well. There’s no need to waste everyone’s valuable time on his account. What was your name again?”

A vein throbbed on Qin Baoxian’s forehead. Mu Fengshan, already convinced by Ji Youyun’s words, spat out, “Qin Baoxian!”

Ji Youyun, composed, continued, “Qin Baoxian, can you explain to your elders why your spiritual sense is so abnormal?”

Qin Baoxian’s body jolted violently. He stared at Ji Youyun as if seeing a ghost.

He had always been exceedingly careful. Not even his master, Yan Changqing, knew this secret. He had heard rumors of Ji Youyun’s technique being demonstrated publicly in the Hall of Splendor, and now, experiencing it firsthand, he had tried his hardest to keep his mind blank when Ji Youyun placed a palm atop his head, not even thinking about his spiritual sense. How had Ji Youyun detected it? Yet, if he truly possessed such extraordinary skill, why was he so intent on pinning the murder on him? Could it be deliberate?

A chill spread through Qin Baoxian’s heart, sweat breaking out across his back. He could not fathom it, and stared wide-eyed at Ji Youyun, his voice hoarse: “I had my own encounters. I’d been practicing that spiritual sense technique for years before entering the secret realm. But what does that have to do with this investigation?”

Sun Yougong’s heart sank. He did not need to look back to know what expression Yan Changqing must be wearing. If Yan Changqing had known of such a grave matter, he would never have hidden it from his master. This fool!

Ji Youyun laughed softly. “An encounter, you say? You might deceive others, but you’re naive to think you’ll fool me. Enough, I have no interest in your excuses. I’ll lay it bare for Sect Leader Ling and Peak Lord Sun: the secret art you used to temper your spiritual sense comes from the Demonic Heaven Sect. It is a section of the ‘Three-Eyed Disembodied Soul Scripture of the Great Demonic Heaven.’ Knowing its illicit origin, you hid it at every turn. But when you entered the sect’s secret realm, believing you would not be discovered, you couldn’t help but use it—only to be inadvertently caught by Pan Cong.”

“You... utter nonsense! Slander!” Qin Baoxian shouted. To his terror, after Ji Youyun finished speaking, not a single one of the assembled masters made a sound; all wore grave, shocked expressions, even Sun Yougong himself.

What was this “Demonic Heaven Sect”? And that bizarrely named technique—clearly not something a Daoist cultivator should learn. Qin Baoxian watched as this demon surnamed Ji forced such a grave crime as Pan Cong’s murder onto him, fabricating the charges with convincing detail, and now even accused him of colluding with demon cultivators.

At the thought of the Demon Refinement Prison, panic overtook him. He dropped to his knees with a thud, kowtowing repeatedly to Ling Xuzi and Sun Yougong, his voice trembling: “Sect Leader, Grandmaster, please don’t believe his nonsense! I truly had nothing to do with Senior Pan’s death—I can swear an oath! Grandmaster, I admit I was wrong not to tell my master about practicing a spiritual sense technique, and I’ll accept any punishment without complaint, but the origins of that technique are clean! It was given to me by Junior Jian Hui, not at all as he claims!”

Ling Xuzi frowned deeply. Now Jian Hui was being dragged into this as well?

Mu Fengshan sneered from the side. “Ha! Ha! How convenient—to pin everything on a dead man!”