At the heart of the numerous mountains occupied by the Crimson Snow Sect, there was one that looked too perfect to be real. Its slopes were absolutely symmetric, the angles were pleasing to the eyes, the spread of colors on its surface so intricate that it could give a painter heart demons. On top of this mountain sat one temple-like mansion, where the sect master resided and cultivated. Few members of the sect could enter this mansion without being summoned, and Elder Kong Ye was one of them.
At this moment, Elder Kong Ye sat in a chair across from the sect master, inside a room that had innumerable arrays to maintain the secrecy of a conversation. Still, sect master Xuan Zi kept looking at the small windows of the room with shifty eyes, as if worried about invisible eavesdroppers.
"It's rare to see you so nervous, sect master," Kong Ye said with a curious smile.
"You would be too if you could see and hear all the things that I see and hear," Xuan Zi responded grudgingly.
"Oh?" Kong Ye asked with a raised eyebrow, "Why don't you allow me to share the burden with you?"
Xuan Zi waved a hand dismissively. "You're not one to voluntarily bear the burden for others. What are you really here for? Get to the point."
Kong Ye cleared his throat awkwardly and said, "The contest between Han Xuhan and Chen Yan this morning....Was it all planned? Were you hiding there the whole time?"
Xuan Zi glared at the young Sect Elder. "Listen to yourself! Hiding? Should you be using such a word? Treat your seniors with some respect! Didn't your expulsion and exile teach you not to run your mouth so brazenly?"
Kong Ye thought about it for a moment before rephrasing the question. "Then were you watching the duel in secret the whole time?"
"Still far from courteous." Xuan Zi snorted. "Yes, I was watching. Yes, most of it, if not all, was according to disciple Han Xuhan's designs."
Kong Ye's face lit up. "So he trusted you enough to confide in you before the contest began! That means there's an opportunity for me as well!"
Sect Master Zi sneered. "Looks like you still have little clue what mess you're getting into. Between disciple Xuhan and me, it's not about trust or sincerity as master and disciple. It's all about giving and receiving benefits. If you're trying to hook him in any other way, you're wasting your time."
Sensing that the Sect Master wasn't opposed to sharing the secret, Kong Ye leaned forward eagerly. "Please guide this junior, Sect Master."
Xuan Zi's gaze became distant as he recalled that evening, just a few days ago, when Han Xuhan had dropped by to discuss the plan with him.
"Disciple Xuhan somehow figured out a few secrets related to the pill fog enveloping the sect, information that we tried to keep hidden from the disciples."
"How much does he know?" Kong Ye asked, eyes widening.
"That boy is paranoid beyond reason. I doubt he revealed everything that he knew to me that day. He just handed me a list of older disciples who had been admitted to the Infirmary to receive treatment for the poisonous effects of the pill fog.
Then he started listing their symptoms, focusing mostly on the hallucinations they've experienced from the poison. Those disciples have dreamed of some array formations at the borders of the sect territory, the 'people' working on those arrays, the soul prison formation in the sect's stables, traces of the spirit fuel extraction formation...
I guess the poison heightened their sensitivity to certain spiritual elements around them, giving them glimpses of a reality that they're not yet qualified to see."
Kong Ye sucked in a cold breath. "Knowing these things will do him more harm than good! What was he thinking?"
Xuan Zi gave him a disdainful look. "He simply listed the symptoms and asked me to issue an investigation task for the Task Administration Pavilion."
"So he only has some suspicions," Kong Ye concluded in relief. But the disdain in Xuan Zi's gaze grew more prominent at that.
"No, no, Little Ye. He's certain. He has probably deduced some of the truth. He just didn't admit it in front of me to express his willingness to protect this secret."
"What makes you think so?" Kong Ye was taken aback.
"Because he also proposed a 'brilliant' solution to deal with the pill fog." Xuan Zi rolled his eyes.
"There are so many devices in the sect's treasury that can absorb, filter, and store the fog. With a bit of modification, these devices can completely eliminate every bit of fog from the air and cleanse the entire sect for good. The stored fog can then be handed over to the Elder in charge of restoring the pill.
This brat had the nerve to put on an innocent face and repeatedly asked me why I hadn't thought of this 'brilliant' and 'simple' plan for so many months while the outer court has been suffering. He even asked me if I could reward him for coming up with this strategy..."
"..." Kong Ye was speechless for a moment.
Naturally, the reason why the sect master hadn't implemented this strategy was because he didn't really intend to eliminate the fog from the air of the sect.
The current state of the fog was exactly what the sect master required. Anyone privy to the truth of the matter would understand this. So, bringing it up in front of the sect master and proposing the strategy was no different from discussing theft prevention tactics with a thief.
And this thief just happened to be a cultivator at the Dao Integration realm...
Who'd do such a thing intentionally? Courting death!
But taking into consideration Han Xuhan's character, he realized that Xuan Zi's conclusion was probably correct.
No wonder Han Xuhan didn't dare to address the truth directly! He had no choice but to approach the matter in a roundabout way!
"Then why did he ask you to issue an investigation task for this matter?" Kong Ye asked. ''Was he trying to blackmail you?'
Xuan Zi laughed dryly. "That's right. Just because he's willing to keep it a secret doesn't mean he's willing to do it for free. The request for an investigation was just his way of asking me for a favor, a reward to keep his mouth sealed."
"I see." Kong Ye nodded slowly. "That's why he was so confident in executing those deadly plans. He knew that you'd come to his rescue if things went south. Even I'd have stepped in if you didn't."
Then, his face growing dark, he asked again, "Did you also warn him about the Elders? Judging by the way they used Chen Yan, I keep getting a feeling that those Elders have some sinister motives targeting you. Especially that Elder Shen, what was he doing, trying to trick everyone into thinking Chen Yan was dead?"
Xuan Zi shrugged. "Cheap tricks. He thought he could get away with it since I wasn't there. It's hardly the first time something like this has happened.
Back when I took the seat of the sect master for the first time, such conspiracies happened every other month. After I made those troublemakers disappear, the rest of these rebellious Elders have been hiding like a bunch of turtles."
Kong Ye whispered in a conspiring tone, "Did you kill them all? The troublemakers?"
"What's the point of killing? All of them were cultivators with decent strength, even including some who had stepped into the Dao Genesis realm. It would be a pity to just kill them and let this world's resources that they've consumed go to waste."
Xuan Zi saw the burning curiosity in Kong Ye's eyes, realizing that the young man wouldn't let go of the matter without an explanation.
"I just sealed away their bodies and gave their spiritual forms a few tasks to redeem themselves.
Who do you think have been toiling tirelessly, building new arrays at the borders of our sect? Who has been controlling the spirit beasts raised by the Sect? How do you think I'm keeping track of everything that goes on in this sect?
Many of these silent, invisible workers of our sect used to be venerated Elders in the past, heh!"
As Xuan Zi laughed, Kong Ye recalled many inexplicable details he had noticed since he had become an Elder of this Sect.
No wonder he always kept feeling that the spirit slaves imprisoned inside this sect were unusually dedicated!
No wonder the sect's beast pen had such docile spirit beasts! And these beasts were in heat every day, incredibly focused on producing as many new spirit beasts as possible, flooding the kitchens with top-tier food ingredients...
Such dedication to the sect really brings tears to the eyes!
Kong Ye took a deep breath, lighting some incense sticks in his mind for these poor Elders imprisoned by Xuan Zi.
"Are you going to punish that Elder Shen the same way?" he couldn't help but ask.
But this time, Xuan Zi shook his head. "Both Elder Shen and Disciple Chen Yan have chosen to walk some unique roads. I can only be a benevolent sect leader and spare them both harsh punishments. Their fates look difficult enough already."
A stiff smile appeared on Kong Ye's face. "You know, I really don't like it when you deliberately try to sound all mysterious and vague. You're not one of those decrepit old clan heads. Stop trying to copy them and speak normally!"
Xuan Zi sighed and shook his sleeves. From each sleeve, a blood red marble slid out and fell into his upturned palms.
"That day, when disciple Xuhan visited me, he didn't come alone. Chen Yan wanted to talk to me as well."
Xuan Zi pinched one of the marbles between his fingertips, waving it in front of Kong Ye's face.
"Disciple Chen Yan is a greedy little fellow, but his caution and wit are sufficiently high. Although he avoided admitting it, I could tell that he had intentionally riled up the rebellious faction of the Sect Elders, knowing that they'd use him to launch an attack on me."
Kong Ye's pupils shrank. If Chen Yan was aware that Elder Shen had such plans...
"That's why he appeared very apologetic that day, talking in circles just like disciple Xuhan to give me a hint. He wanted me to save his life if the worst-case scenario came to pass. Unfortunately for him, that's exactly what ended up happening."
After a long stretch of silence, Kong Ye asked, "So you agreed? Did he offer anything substantial in return?"
Xuan Zi's eyes gleamed. "That's a secret. I locked down its cause and effect and all of its karmic traces inside this little prison. Don't endanger yourself by digging into it anymore. The backlash from my Yuanfang Lock is very heavy."
Kong Ye's excitement cooled down. He truly didn't dare to deduce a secret protected by the ancestral master's spirit treasure. That thing was too fearsome...
So he could only switch his focus. "What about Elder Shen, then? Why are you really letting him off the hook? You can't fool me with these vague excuses like reading fates and seeing future trials. I know for a fact that you're not that capable, sect master!"
"Still disrespectful!" Xuan Zi muttered resignedly. "Believe it or not, that matter has also been sealed by the Yuanfang Lock. If I let any traces of it leak, it will doom our sect."
Kong Ye stared at the second red marble in Xuan Zi's palm for a long time, debating internally whether he could trust that statement.
It was hard to believe that Elder Shen's fate could have anything to do with the destruction of Crimson Snow Sect. But not believing so could lead him towards attempting to investigate the truth. And that would inevitably involve the deduction of fate and karmic traces. If the Yuanfang Lock truly protected that secret, he'd suffer a big loss.
"Is there anything else you want to ask?" Xuan Zi said.
Kong Ye nodded. "About Disciple Qing Hua-"
Xuan Zi loudly coughed midway, and Kong Ye watched in stunned silence as a third red marble rolled out of Xuan Zi's mouth, covered in shiny spit.
"What the hell is that?"
"Why are you so surprised?" Xuan Zi nonchalantly wiped it clean and offered it to Kong Ye. "This little prison contains disciple Qing Hua's karmic involvement in this matter. Try to wrestle the truth out of the Yuanfang Lock you don't trust this old man."
"...." Kong Ye was now truly skeptical. But he still didn't dare to touch it.
"Just say that you don't want to talk about these matters. Is there a need to make your refusal so disgusting and roundabout?"
Xuan Zi chuckled. "See? This was exactly what I felt when I was coerced by disciple Xuhan, disciple Chen Yan, and disciple Qing Hua, all in one evening! You cannot fathom how frustrating it was for me!"
Kong Ye's heart lurched. What did the sect master say just now?
Not only Han Xuhan and Chen Yan, but also Qing Hua had come to visit him that day?!
His heart was filled with questions, but seeing Xuan Zi subtly shaking his head, Kong Ye could only relent.
Some time later, Kong Ye took his leave, but Xuan Zi remained seated with all three red marbles in his hands. He toyed with them one by one, gaze vacant.
"Two disciples nurturing hatred towards the outer court and me, and between them a mortal enmity... Once that gambler Xuan Shé finds himself facing such a scene, he won't be able to help himself.
He'll snatch up one of them into the Inner Court of the sect to turn them into a weapon. I wonder who he'll end up choosing... Qing Hua or Chen Yan?"
Chapter 277: 277: Volume 2 Side Story: Sect Master Xuan Zi Has Some Bad Habits
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