"What?" Mu Rongsa jumped in astonishment. "The Zuo Qi who was beaten by Brother Hua?"

"Who else could it be?" Hua Che lowered his gaze for a moment, feeling more annoyed than flustered.

He had intended to live a carefree life of eating, drinking, and playing until death, but trouble kept coming his way.

Zuo Qi died inexplicably, and the Shangqing Immortal Sect came to the Lingxiao Palace to demand answers.

Did they suspect that he had killed Zuo Qi?

What a joke!

"Don't worry, Senior Brother," Hua Che looked nonchalantly at the sweating Wen Yuan. “Clear water will always stay clear.” (NT: metaphor meaning that, just as clear water remains uncontaminated, people with pure intentions or strong moral character are unlikely to be swayed or corrupted by negative influences or circumstances)

After all, since the Shang Qing Immortal came knocking, they couldn't let their master face them alone.

Hua Che immediately went to the Lingxiao Pavilion; as expected, it was bustling there.

Zhuang Tian was arguing, "You accuse my eighth disciple of killing your sect's top disciple. Do you have any witnesses, any evidence? For days, my eighth disciple has been within the sect, and everyone here can attest to that. Just because you say so, you want to falsely accuse someone. The Shangqing Sect is indeed prestigious, but it must adhere to reason, right?"

The long-nosed swordsman sneered, "Let's not talk about how you're all in this together, and your testimony is unreliable. Let's just focus on him always being within the sect. Zhuang Zhandian, are you sure he never left the sect? Junior sect Brother was found dead on the fifteenth of the seventh month. Can you swear that Hua Che was within the sect that day?"

Zhuang Tian was speechless.

"Where did Zuo Qi die?" Hua Che stepped into the room, approaching.

His companion, Lu Yao, hesitated to speak, looking nervously at the long-nosed swordsman.

The long-nosed swordsman chuckled disdainfully, "Oh, here he comes! I thought you'd remain hidden like a turtle!"

"I didn't kill anyone, why wouldn't I show my face?" Hua Che thought sarcastically. Even if he had killed someone, he would still show his face!

Lu Yao said, "Senior Brother Zuo Qi died in the Bright Moon Valley."

Hua Che smiled knowingly, "I won't hide it. I indeed wasn't in the sect during the middle of July. That day, our master gave us a break, and I went to Hangzhou to visit family."

The long-nosed swordsman asked, "Witnesses?"

Hua Che confidently replied, "Everyone at the Drunken Mansion and many others in Hangzhou, including Young Master Qian."

"The Drunken Mansion!?" The long-nosed swordsman was stunned, then his face filled with disgust and mockery. "Well, well! The Lingxiao Palace, a heritage of a hundred years, cultivators of immortality, instead of focusing on cultivation, they go to such filthy places, listen to worthless music! This is the rule of the Lingxiao Palace, this is the moral education of Sect Leader Zhuang!"

"Hey!" Hua Che frowned. "My visit to the Drunken Tower is my own business. What does it have to do with my master? Furthermore, what business is it of the Shangqing Immortal Sect? Just because you hold the title of 'the first sect of the immortal path' doesn't mean you can meddle in everything!"

"You!" the long-nosed swordsman started.

"Just so!" Mu Rongsa shouted, "Watch your language! Do you know who I am? Do you know who my father is?"

"Hehe," the long-nosed swordsman sneered, looking Hua Che up and down, "Indeed, no wonder! I know you, Hua Che, Qinglou's son, born of a courtesan. You don't even know who your real father is. Growing up in such a filthy place, it's no wonder you're dirty. Low-born, arrogant, it's no surprise if you've done something like murder and arson."

This statement shocked everyone in the hall.

They only knew Hua Che had an extraordinary background, with mysterious cultivation, and presumed he came from a distinguished family. But who would have thought...

Hua Che himself didn't get angry. More than being criticized himself, the injustice suffered by his loved ones could trigger his anger. From childhood to adulthood, the four words he heard the most were "son of a courtesan." Initially, it made him angry, but now he was indifferent.

Unexpectedly, Zhuang Tian erupted, "You little bastard! How dare you insult my disciple? Beware of your tongue!"

Chu Binghuan grabbed Hua Che's wrist, leading him to the long-nosed swordsman. His icy eyes were like an ancient abyss, bottomless and devoid of warmth. Though his voice wasn't loud, it carried a suppressed sharpness, "Apologize."

The long-nosed swordsman seemed to hear a huge joke, "Apologize? I should apologize to him?"

"Either apologize immediately now, or..." Chu Binghuan held a silver needle between his fingers, "you won't need to apologize ever again."

Chu Binghuan had a hundred ways to silence him permanently.

The long-nosed swordsman shivered all over, his mind calculating countless possibilities.

Would he really dare to kill him?

He was a senior disciple of the Shangqing Immortal Sect, the eldest disciple under Elder Qianyang! If there's any wrongdoing, Elder Qianyang won't ignore it, and the sect leader won't let it go!

But, this person was Chu Binghuan, the eldest young lord of Yuntian Shuijing.

One was the future successor of Yuntian Shuijing, the other was just a disciple of the Shangqing Immortal Sect.

The long-nosed swordsman broke out in a cold sweat behind his back. He struggled to raise his hands and bowed slightly, "Master Hua, I misspoke. I apologize."

Hua Che looked at Chu Binghuan, feeling slightly stunned.

Lu Yao's heart trembled with fear.

The long-nosed swordsman composed himself and said, "It's possible that even though Master Hua was in Hangzhou, the Bright Moon Valley is less than a hundred miles away. You could have killed someone there and returned without anyone knowing. It's widely known that you had a conflict with Zuo Qi at the Qingcheng Peak, so, you..."

"I am a suspect," Hua Che interjected for him. "So, I'll cooperate with the investigation, alright?"

Lu Yao rushed to speak before the long-nosed swordsman, "Qingkong, I believe in you. If you can help investigate who killed Zuo Qi, it would be even better."

He bowed respectfully, "On behalf of the deceased Zuo Qi, thank you, Master Hua."

The matter needed to be resolved. Hua Che went down the mountain with them, Chu Binghuan insisted on accompanying them, and Mu Rongsa and Lin Yan didn't want to be left behind. Zhuang Tian thought for a moment and ordered his senior disciple, Wen Yuan, to follow along. Wen Yuan was already worried about them, so naturally, he agreed.

The group followed Lu Yao and the long-nosed swordsman to the Bright Moon Valley.

According to the brothers who were with Zuo Qi, they split up and didn't see who killed him. They only heard Zuo Qi's cries for help, some vague words like "it's you," "don't come near," "help," and chilling screams.

"Someone familiar, someone with a grudge against Zuo Qi," the long-nosed swordsman said, glancing at Hua Che.

Mu Rongsa muttered, "With Zuo Qi's nasty temper, he probably made enemies with many people, right?"

There was a pool of blood where Zuo Qi died, with broken bones and rotten flesh on top. As soon as Hua Che glanced at it, Lu Yao reminded, "His heart was taken out."

Chu Binghuan: "A demon cultivator?"

Immortal cultivators usually kill with sword techniques, focusing on the golden elixir, crushing or draining the true essence.

On the other hand, demon cultivators prefer the soul, extracting the soul from the body for cultivation.

Only demon cultivators have an excessive obsession with the heart, often resorting to heart removal and lung extraction, leaving the flesh and blood blurred.

Hua Che, with a pensive expression, muttered to himself while looking at the bloody scene on the ground, "Digging out the heart alive must be very painful."

Lu Yao didn't understand what Hua Che meant. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "I can take you to see Zuo Qi's body."

Off they went.

Zuo Qi's corpse was several times more gruesome than Hua Che and the others had imagined.

Not to mention the gaping hole in his chest, all his internal organs were emptied, accurately described as "gutted and rotting."

Lin Yan, being young, had never seen such a bloody scene before. He covered his mouth and retched violently, taking quite a while to recover. "Could it be caused by some wild beast...?" It indeed looked like it was gnawed by a wild animal.

As a healer, Chu Binghuan was accustomed to examining corpses. He probed with his True essence and said, "His golden core shattered, his soul left the body, and his spiritual consciousness dried up."

He couldn't be more dead.

"From the wounds, it wasn't caused by scavenging beasts like wolves or wild dogs. It seems to have been dug out by a sharp object," Chu Binghuan noted, gesturing with his hand.

It was like someone digging out a heart with their five fingers.

"This is not just a simple case of murder and soul snatching," Hua Che looked at the long-nosed swordsman and said, "The culprit must have had an intense hatred for him. I only had a brief encounter with him, although there was a bit of conflict, it wasn't to this extent."

The long-nosed swordsman had nothing to say.

Lu Yao asked, "Qingkong, Master Chu, any leads?"

In terms of methods, Hua Che indeed had one.

There was a ghost curse that could make the dead move again. As long as the death was within three days, residual consciousness could be invoked to find the real murderer based on the corpse's memories.

However, in front of so many people, Hua Che couldn't use it.

"Demonic beasts cultivators consume hearts and golden cores. His soul was taken away, indicating the culprit is from the demonic path. Demon cultivators are usually arrogant, proud of their killings, and leave without a trace. He might be a wandering cultivator without a sect's backing, excluding the Burning Emotion Pavilion from the demonic realm."

Hua Che paused, subconsciously looking at the solitary full moon outside. "Two days ago, was it the fifteenth of the seventh month?" (NT: lunar month)

Chu Binghuan added in a low voice, "The Ghost Festival."

(NT: On the fifteenth day of the hungry ghost month, ghosts of Chinese ancestors are let out of hell and roam around looking for fun. Chinese have certain traditions and rituals to follow so to manage the situation).

 

Translator : DarNan