Chapter 49: The Truth is Hard to Speak

  In the early morning, outside the window was still a dark and gloomy blackness, without a single ray of sunlight shining into the room. On the stone table, a candle had almost burned out, and in the candle holder, a pool of wax tears seemed to be gasping for breath, as if it were a dying person, struggling to emit its last wisp of smoke.

  In the upper floor of Qingyu Hall, Xuan Zhen sat cross-legged on a stone bed in his room, slowly opening his eyes. Although the room was dim, those narrow and long eyes were shining like stars, as if without the light, his heart became even brighter.

  He had been pondering for almost a whole night, and he had already pieced together many details in his mind. However, the truth that finally lay before him was something he couldn't bring himself to say out loud.

  In my mind, there are only a few questions swirling around. Why do the villagers in other places live well, but the villages at the foot of Mount Hengshan, especially those closer to Zhu Rong Peak, are more prone to disaster? Why did Su Xiang and Su Yao see that the souls of those villagers were flying towards Zhu Rong Peak? Why did Shang Guan Yanhua, as a righteous disciple, hear about this tragic event but didn't take it seriously at all, and even deliberately delayed sending someone to investigate? And why was it in the arms of that young disciple outside the Yi You Dan Pavilion that the medicine jar sealed with the living soul was found?

  These doubts are all linked together, and it just proves that what he thought about for a whole night is very likely to be true. The incident of the villagers at the foot of Mount Heng being deprived of their lives for no reason... must be related to the Qingyu Altar, no, it should be said that it must be related to Shangguan Yanhua!

  I thought Qing Yu was being manipulated by the demon, but it turned out that Qing Yun itself is the evil and wicked path! And as the head disciple, Shang Guan Yanhua actually took advantage of his position to allow his fellow disciples to collect human souls, this move is truly despicable.

  He recalled the medicine jar that young man was holding in broad daylight. If it weren't for that gray rabbit rushing over and causing the black jar to break, another talisman paper sealing the black jar would have fallen off. No matter how suspicious he was, he wouldn't have linked the mastermind behind the crime with the Qingyu altar. And afterwards, Shangguan Xianhua's various actions only made that thread of doubt in his heart thicker and more intense.

  A once renowned and respected family has now become a den of iniquity. The more Xuan Zhen thought about it, the tighter his brows furrowed. Since childhood, he had been taught by his elders that apart from demons and monsters, evil people were the most detestable. But only today did he realize that even reputable families could be malevolent, their actions far more sinister and despicable than those of demons and monsters. His heart was filled with a mix of contempt, hatred, and incredulity, a true jumble of emotions.

  It seems that staying in the Qing Yu Hall is also useless. Shang Guan Yanhua is clearly delaying, trying to erase the traces of evil one by one. He has great power in the Qing Yu Hall, and all his disciples listen to his orders. With myself and two fellow sisters, there are only three people, wanting to bring him to justice, first, there is no evidence, second, we can't defeat him.

  There are only two ways to do this, one is to wait for the Qingyu Hall master to come out of his retreat and report all his doubts to him, and let the master punish the evil disciples in the school. But after thinking about it, Xuan Zhen felt that it was extremely inappropriate. Not to mention when the master would be able to come out of his retreat, as the personal teacher of Shangguan Yanhua, whether he could take action or not is another matter, if Shangguan Yanhua and those evil disciples were all taught by him, then it would be really bad.

  In this way, there is only one road in front of us that can be walked, which is back to Kunlun Mountain.

  Qionghua's weight was naturally unmatched by the three disciples, and Master Taiching and several elders were not as humble as himself. Although it was a bit overbearing to use the sect's power to pressure Qingyutang to investigate this matter, thinking of the desolation he saw in the village below the mountain, Xuanzhen gritted his teeth and made up his mind.

  With a determined mind, the fatigue of a sleepless night gradually emerged. Xuan Zhen slowly operated his internal energy to nourish his spirit, when suddenly a warm lump leaned against his leg. Opening his eyes and looking down, he found that the grey rabbit had somehow rolled to his side, its round eyes tightly closed, revealing a patch of fluffy fur on its belly. During the day, this little creature would avoid him in fear, but now it was leaning against his thigh, deeply asleep and sleeping extremely soundly.

  "Hmm..." Xuan Zhen looked at it for a while, his eyes gradually softening, and a faint smile appeared on the corners of his mouth. He stretched out two fingers to gently stroke the gray rabbit's head, saying in a low voice: "Thanks to you, if not for your cleverness, today would have been difficult to make such a big discovery..."

  Before he could finish speaking, his eyebrows furrowed again as he stared at the empty space in front of him, lost in thought. It wasn't until after a while that he continued, "But... what do they want with living people's souls?" This idea became clearer and more persistent in his mind, making it harder to shake off. The Qingyu Altar was known for its expertise in alchemy and medicine, so the most likely answer would be... but thinking of the hundreds and thousands of innocent civilians, he found it too cruel to even consider for a moment.

  But then another question arose, according to Su Xiang and Su Yao, several nearby villages were all wiped out, so how could the numerous souls be driven to make them all float to the Qing Yu Altar?

  On that day, Xuan Zhen bid farewell to Shangguan Jianhua with Su Xiang and Su Yao, and returned to Kunlun Mountain with his sword. As there was no evidence, Xuan Zhen did not tell the two female disciples about his speculation in his heart, but kept urging them to hurry up and return to Qionghua as soon as possible. Su Yao and Su Xiang felt inexplicable about his decision, but didn't say much.

  In such a hurry, in just three or four days, they had already left the Central Plains behind. As they looked around, the grass and trees grew sparse, revealing the orange-yellow brown earth beneath, which gradually expanded into vast expanses of desert and gobi. By the time they had traveled another half day on horseback, even a hint of green was hard to find.

  From the Spring Water Sword upwards, looking down, all that can be seen is a vast expanse of yellow sand, stretching out endlessly. A red sun was half-submerged in the horizon. As dusk approached, strong winds and sand filled the air, cutting like knives on their faces. However, a sense of excitement gradually rose up in the hearts of Xuanyuan and his companions, for in the distance, beyond the swirling dust and sand, they could vaguely make out a shallow, wavy black shadow - the Kunlun Mountains.

  It had been nearly a year since the three of them, Xuan Zhen and the others, had left Qionghua. They were eager to return home, and now that they saw Mount Kunlun in front of them, they urged their flying swords to go even faster. The yellow sand filled the sky, but it couldn't block the eager gazes of the three people. After about an hour or so, a medium-sized circular town finally appeared in the vast desert. The small town was built at the foot of Mount Kunlun, and a clear stream flowed down from the top of the mountain, passing through the entire town.

  Su Xuan was the weakest among the three, her true strength was not enough, and she had already put away her immortal sword. Su Yao took her with him as they flew, she had excellent eyesight, one hand holding onto Su Yao's waist while the other peeked over her master sister's shoulder to look ahead, and in an instant, she saw that small town, and her face lit up with joy: "Master brother, Master sister, we're arriving at Bao Xian Town!"

  Qionghua Sect was on the mountain peak behind Baoxian Town, and Xuanshen and others did not stay. They rode their swords up the mountain and slowly fell down when they saw the mountain gate.

  The gatekeeper's disciples saw the three sword lights flying from the horizon and had already gone to welcome them. When the three of them walked out from the light, they smiled and said: "Elder brother Xuān Zhèn, as well as elder sisters Xǐu Yáo and Xǐu Shēn, you've returned after traveling down the mountain for so long!"

  Su Xun was lively and cheerful, and as soon as he came down, he couldn't help but laugh and chat with them. Even Su Yao, who was normally calm and composed, had a hint of joy on her face when she saw her long-separated junior brothers. However, Xuān Zhèn didn't have time to catch up with his junior brothers, and after instructing Su Yao for a few sentences, he hastily rushed towards the Qiong Hua Palace.

  At this time, Taichu was in the inner chamber of Qionghua Palace handling official duties. When he heard the report from his disciples at the gate, he ordered Xuanzhen to come in.

  As soon as Xuan Zhen entered the inner chamber, he heard his master's voice coming from the other end of the room. The Taichang True Man was still wearing the same Daoist robe that was untouched by worldly dust, sitting upright in a chair and carefully examining a scroll. Upon hearing Xuan Zhen's footsteps, he didn't lift his head, but instead stroked his long beard under his chin and said calmly: "Xuan Zhen, you've been gone for so long, now that you're back, you should focus on your cultivation."

  "Yes, I will follow the Master's words." Xuan Zhen bowed down to the ground and replied in a low voice, "But at this moment, I have another matter to report to the Master."

  "Ah?" Tao Qing raised his head, his gaze swept over like lightning, after a while, he put the scroll on the table with a wave of his hand and said, "Speak."

  Xuan Zhen slowly got up along the power transmitted from Tai Qing, thought for a moment, and then sorted out the words in his heart and told them to his master. Finally, he said: "The move of Qing Yu Tan is really hateful. Please ask Master to send someone to investigate this matter, which can also be used to uphold justice for those innocent people who died miserably."

  "If it's really as you say, then this matter can't be ignored." Tai Qing Zhen Ren still had that cold and indifferent expression, as if nothing could stir his emotions except for the Qiong Hua Sect. He glanced at Xuan Zhen with a hint of satisfaction in his eyes: "You've been traveling down the mountain for these days, and your actions have become even more mature than before."

  "Disciple is ashamed." Xuan Zhen hastily bowed and humbly said, his heart still preoccupied with the matter of Qing Yu's altar. He immediately asked again, "How will Master handle this matter?"

  "After all, the truth cannot be determined by just one person's words. Moreover, this is a matter of the Qing Yu Hall, and it wouldn't be good to rashly send someone over. I'll first write a letter to the head of the Qing Yu Hall to ask about it, and then we can make plans."

  Xuan Zhen's face fell silent as soon as he heard it, and his eyebrows slightly furrowed.

  P.S. Looking back at Master Brother's attitude towards Face Sliding Gentleman, I suddenly realized that Master Brother seems to be more sinister towards men than women...