Chapter 313: Brother Liang, persuasion
At dusk, the dim skylight dyed the houses and streets of Tianan City with a yellowish hue. At the top of the twelfth-story attic in the Eastern District, a middle-aged man stood with his hands behind his back, gazing solemnly at the mountains outside Tainan City.
This man was the deputy commander of the Heavenly Execution Court, known as “Yue Xuanming.” Currently in the middle stage of Nascent Soul cultivation, besides the head of the Heavenly Execution Pavilion, he could be considered the head of the Heavenly Execution Court.
Behind him, a disciple of the Heavenly Execution Court in a golden Daoist uniform held a jade slip, reporting to him, “Jianghe went to Yuan Quan Town on official business and was attacked by a person known as the ‘Thief Immortal.’ Unfortunately, he fell victim to the attack. Subsequently, the Heavenly Execution Court captured Liang Zhu and devised a plan to apprehend the Thief Immortal. Moreover, the Thief Immortal attacked the Young Master of the Xuanxing Sect in Yu Guan, seizing the Young Master’s spiritual sword and several talismans. The two cases have been closed and can be concluded together.”
“Thief Immortal…” Yue Xuanming murmured, turning around. “Didn’t she also steal from the Heavenly Sword Sect before?”
“Yes, the Thief Immortal has been brazenly active for decades without ever being caught. Now that she’s fallen into the hands of the Heavenly Execution Court and multiple cases have been closed, we may need personnel from the Southwest Crime Division to come before she can be sentenced.”
“Haha… A Core Formation cultivator who has been rampant for over thirty years was caught by someone in the late Foundation Establishment stage! This matter seems suspicious. There are too many doubts in this case.”
“What does Lord Yue mean? Did Liang Zhu lie?”
“Perhaps, but with the demon clan invading the Central Domain, we’re short-handed at the Heavenly Execution Court. I can’t spare any more manpower to investigate Yuan Quan Town thoroughly. For now, we’ll finalize the case based on the testimony submitted by Liang Zhu.”
“Understood.”
After hearing this, the Heavenly Execution Court disciple bowed and prepared to leave the attic. However, Yue Xuanming pondered for a moment and stopped him.
“Wait.”
“Yes, Master Yue, do you have any other instructions?”
“Bring Liang Zhu to me. I have some questions for him.”
“Yes.”
After watching the Heavenly Execution Court disciple leave, Yue Xuanming took a long breath. He turned his head and looked at the dusk outside the window. He felt as if there was an undercurrent surging, which made him extremely uneasy.
The Demon King led the demon clan and rashly crossed the border, breaking through Yu Guan.
The two young masters of the Xuanxing Sect suddenly appeared in Tainan City. The news of the death of Governor Jianghe and the arrest of the Thief Immortal.
At first glance, these three events seemed completely unrelated. However, the intuition gained from nearly a hundred years of investigative work in the Heavenly Execution Court told him that there might be something that could connect these three things.
“What could it be?”
Yue Xuanming pondered for a moment, then picked up the book left by Liang Zhu when he entered the Heavenly Execution Court. It detailed Liang Zhu’s background, previous sect affiliation, cultivation level, and reason for joining the Heavenly Execution Court.
“A late-stage foundation-building cultivator from the Hundred Lotus Sect! A few years ago, the Hundred Lotus Sect seemed to have obtained a spirit stone vein from the Xuanxing Sect. Instead of staying there, he came to the Central Domain!”
Just as he was pondering, two soft knocks came from outside,
Knock knock—
Yue Xuanming set down the book and looked towards the door.
“Come in.”
Liang Zhu pushed open the door from outside and entered the room, then bowed and greeted, “Greetings, Lord Yue.”
Yue Xuanming observed Liang Zhu’s gesture of respect and examined his face. He frowned slightly. He felt that the man before him was not from the Western Region, as stated in the book, but rather a cultivator from the Northern Border of the Central Domain.
After hesitating, he asked bluntly, “Your book says that you are from the Western Domain, but I want to ask, where are you from?”
“… …”
Upon hearing this, Liang Zhu sighed softly, raised his sword finger slightly, and took out four talismans from his storage bag, throwing them directly to the four corners of the room. This action made Yue Xuanming slightly alert. He immediately put his hand on the hilt of his saber, but upon seeing that they were sound barrier talismans, he released the hilt.
“Sound barrier talismans!”
Liang Zhu didn’t say much. He raised his head and stared into Yue Xuanming’s eyes. Taking a deep breath, he said, “Lord Yue, do you remember more than ten years ago when there was a spiritual disturbance in the Central Domain, and the Emperor of the Central Domain used the second princess as a sacrifice to calm it down?”
“Of course, I remember.” Yue Xuanming felt slightly puzzled and furrowed his brows. “Why bring this up? The Emperor of the Central Domain sacrificed his own daughter to ensure the stability of the Central Domain. Every cultivator in the Central Domain knows about it.”
“Hmm… But what if I say that the chaos of the spirits was actually directed and performed by the Emperor of the Central Domain?”
“What?”
“Back then, there were chaotic spirits in the Central Domain, demonic beasts were transformed, and more than half of the cultivators in the territory were killed or injured. The Emperor of the Central Domain originally caused this incident, and it was caused after he failed to refine the Reverse-Star Pill.”
“Reverse-Star Pill!”
Liang Zhu nodded slightly and took out the “Reverse-Star Pill” he had obtained in Yuan Quan Town from his storage bag, handing it to Yue Xuanming.
“This is the Reverse-Star Pill, made from the spiritual roots of monks. Over the past few decades, the Emperor of the Central Domain has ordered the Heavenly Execution Court to send countless children to the alchemy room just to refine this thing.”
Yue Xuanming pinched the pill between his fingers, squinting slightly as he scanned it with his spiritual consciousness, detecting traces of spiritual roots. He then looked at Liang Zhu, indicating with his eyes to continue.
“This thing was obtained from the Alchemy Room when I followed Jianghe to Yuan Quan Town. You should be the only one in the Heavenly Execution Court who doesn’t know about this,” Liang Zhu explained.
“Nonsense! Are you implying that the king ordered the Heavenly Execution Court to arrest ordinary cultivators to refine this magic pill?” Yue Xuanming’s voice hardened.
“Yes, the Emperor of the Central Domain is not what you think. For the sake of his own cultivation, he even sacrificed his own daughter to refine this elixir,” Liang Zhu replied firmly.
Swish—
Yue Xuanming unsheathed his spiritual sword, a white light flashing.
In a swift motion, Yue Xuanming stood beside Liang Zhu, sword at his neck.
“Recently, the demon clan suddenly crossed the border. I was still wondering why there are no demon spies in Tainan City. Did the demon clan send you here? Are you trying to incite rebellion against me by telling me this?” Yue Xuanming demanded.
Liang Zhu looked at the spiritual sword at his neck, contemplating his response. “Master Yue, you are only half right. I have nothing to do with the demon clan, but someone did send me to tell you these things.”
“Who?” Yue Xuanming pressed.
After silence, Liang Zhu took a broken and ancient jade token from his storage bag and presented it. “Master Yue, do you recognize this?”
Yue Xuanming’s eyes widened in recognition. “This is the second princess’s jade pendant!”
“Yes, it belongs to the second princess. I was the guard who escorted her to the altar outside Tainan City. Entrusted by the empress, I rescued the second princess from the heavenly sacrifice ceremony,” Liang Zhu revealed.
“…”
Honestly, Yue Xuanming still harbored doubts about what Liang Zhu had just said, but the jade pendant he presented was undeniably the second princess’s cherished pendant. He hesitated for a moment, then glanced at Liang Zhu’s expression and speculated,
“If your words hold, then surely the Emperor and Empress must be acquainted with you.”
Liang Zhu hesitated briefly, then nodded and responded,
“I have never personally met the Emperor and Empress, only the maid named Hongyu who serves by the Empress’s side.”
Upon hearing this, Yue Xuanming paused momentarily, the spiritual sword in his grasp swiftly returning to its sheath. He then gestured to remove the soundproof talismans affixed to the room’s four corners, opened the door, and stepped outside.
“Accompany me to meet the Emperor and Empress.”
…
