White-Robed Chief

Fa Yuan shook his head and said, “Brother Chu, I don’t think you can hide your relationship with Du Feng from the Emperor. If we can see it, can’t he see it too?”

“What do you Tempest Temple people want?” Chu Li frowned.

Fa Yuan smiled. “Of course, we regret the death of King An but we didn’t think of avenging his death. What’s dead is dead. However, we’re quite intrigued with Du Feng. We’re interested to find out more about his background and everything. He’s way too mysterious.”

Chu Li said, “He’s no longer in the Ji Dynasty. Otherwise, you would’ve found him already.”

“It seems that Brother Chu indeed has connections with Du Feng.” Fa Yuan laughed.

Annoyed, Chu Li said, “This is a no-brainer. If I was him, I would also flee the Ji Dynasty. No matter how powerful the Emperor is, he can’t reach the Li, Qiu, Fu, and Zheng Dynasties.”

“However, the Emperor can destroy Snow Lunar Pavilion.” Fa Yuan said, “With that, Du Feng would surely return to seek revenge. Du Feng has a close relationship with the Snow Lunar Pavilion and everyone knows that.”

Chu Li frowned.

Fa Yuan continued, “The strange thing is, the Emperor hasn’t touched Snow Lunar Pavilion yet. Though the Emperor hasn’t acted, it’s not guaranteed that the other factions wouldn’t act too. Whoever takes action first would be showing a good sign of loyalty to the royalty.”

Chu Li slowly shook his head.

If Snow Lunar Pavilion had gotten into trouble already, Li Hanyan would have sent a message.

This matter was precarious and the situation is getting more dangerous.

The relationship between Du Feng and Snow Lunar Pavilion was well known. If the Emperor wanted to hunt Du Feng down, there was a huge chance that the primary target would be Snow Lunar Pavilion. There were no fools in this world. Instead, they were all smart people. Seeing that Snow Lunar Pavilion was still untouched and that the imperial court had not acted, everyone remained a silent bystander and stayed out of it.

Over time, it was inevitable that certain opportunistic individuals would play their move and deal with Snow Lunar Pavilion.

Although Chu Li had set up formations outside Snow Lunar Pavilion and had prevented them from coming out, the unpredictable could always occur. Fate would not allow his wishful thinking to be fulfilled so easily.

“Fine, I know all about Du Feng’s background. He’s a disciple of the Heavenly Demonic Sect.” Chu Li said, “A rival of you Tempest Temple people.”

“Heavenly Demonic Sect?” Fa Yuan was astounded.

Chu Li said, “So, he should’ve escaped to the Fu Dynasty.”

“That’s impossible…” Fa Yuan pondered thoughtfully. “The disciples of Heavenly Demonic Sect are good at changing appearances but their martial arts are mediocre. On the contrary, Du Feng’s blade technique is top-notch and his cultivation is outworldly. These aren’t compatible with the traits of a Heavenly Demonic Sect disciple. ”

Chu Li smiled and said, “He’s a martial arts genius. Throw whatever martial arts at him and he’d master it if he wants to. Besides, he has the skills that allow him to change his appearance, so it’s easy for him to steal, and secretly learn various martial arts!”

“That’s true, too.” Fa Yuan sighed. “The martial arts of Heavenly Demonic Sect are bizarre. What’s deadlier is that after cultivating Heavenly Demonic Power, it would affect one’s temperament, shaping people into evil and cruel beings. Eventually, it becomes a great deal of harm.”

Chu Li asked, “Can your people deal with Heavenly Demon Sect?”

Fa Yuan would never talk through his hat. There were not any peculiarities when he cultivated Heavenly Demonic Power. The only issue was that when disguised as Zhao Dahe, he would feel uneasy to act out of character and he was already aware of that. Besides that, nothing else was out of the ordinary.

Could that problem be caused by his Maha-Vairocana’s Immobility Body?

Fa Yuan said, “They’re all in the Fu Dynasty. They can’t be of much help.”

“If you guys hate each other to the core, why wouldn’t they go?”

“The Fu Dynasty is the world of Taoism. It’s very troublesome for the disciples of Buddhism to go there.” Fa Yuan shook his head.

Chu Li smiled and said, “I see that there are very few Buddhism sects in the Fu Dynasty and the Buddhist sects were dispersed all over the borders. Is it because they were defeated by the Taoism sects?”

Fa Yuan smiled bitterly.

Shocked, Chu Li asked, “Is that the case?”

Fa Yuan sighed and said, “In the beginning, there was a war between Buddhism and Taoism. As a result, the Taoism sects have won, so the Buddhism sects were all exiled from the Fu Dynasty. They could only establish their temples around the border as they were not allowed to enter the Fu Dynasty.”

“You can’t go in even now?”

“We’re despised by the entire world by their evil intentions.”

“Ha ha… Interesting.” Chu Li burst into laughter as he shook his head.

The two of them were talking when Su Ru hurriedly came over and interrupted their conversation. She was wearing an apricot gown and her beautiful face was solemn. She came to Chu Li and said, “Head Chief, classified intel!”

Su Ru swept a quick glance at Fa Yuan as she spoke.

Chu Li continued. “Just say it, Fa Yuan isn’t a quick-talker.”

“Senior Sister Su of Snow Lunar Pavilion is dead,” Su Ru said.

Chu Li was taken aback for a moment and his expression sank. “Didn’t she have a spirit pill?”

All of Snow Lunar Pavilion’s important disciples had Spirit Blessing Pills, so it was okay even if they died. They could live as long as they consumed the Spirit Blessing Pill in time. For such a skilled master like Shu Qingdie, by right she would not be killed.

Shu Qingdie’s beautiful face emerged from Chu Li’s mind. The thought that a pretty woman like her vanished in permanence like a languishing perfume and a fragmenting jade, leaving the world forever, was difficult for Chu Li to accept.

Su Ru said coldly, “She was beheaded. It’s useless even if she had the Spirit Blessing Pill.”

Chu Li asked, “Who did it?”

“I don’t know.” Su Ru sighed. “She was ambushed.”

Chu Li said, “Didn’t I forbid them from exiting the valley?”

“It’s impossible to stay in the valley all the time. Certain things needed them to get out of the place,” Su Ru said.

Chu Li slowly said, “I’ll head back immediately!”

Chu Li turned to Fa Yuan, and looked at him from head to toe.

Fa Yuan quickly waved his hand and said, “Brother Chu, don’t tell me you suspect that we did it. I assure you we didn’t do anything!”

“Not you guys?” Chu Li said coldly, “Not many masters can kill Miss Shu.”

Shu Qingdie was a Heavenly Master too, which was why she had dared to leave the valley.

Chu Li’s anger surged upward like a fountain and kept rushing to the top of his head with no way of suppressing it.

Fa Yuan said, “It can’t be us. I’ll go back to the Temple and help you find out.”

Chu Li stiffened his face and clenched his fists.

Knowingly, Fa Yuan bode farewell and left the place. He fluttered across the wall, disappearing without a trace.

Chu Li and Su Ru came to Tianshu Courtyard. Xiao Shi and Xiao Qi were both there, so was Shen Yinghu, who he had not seen for a long time.

The atmosphere in Tianshu Courtyard was solemn. The girls could not bring themselves to speak. When they saw Chu Li coming in, Xiao Shi asked, “Chu Li, what should we do?”

Chu Li answered, “I’ll find the killer and avenge Miss Shu!”

Shen Yinghu was donned in a green gown. She sat quietly at the stone table with a somber expression. Melancholy shrouded her eyebrows but her movements were still enchanting and graceful.

Chu Li gave her a fist salute and said, “Senior, please stay here and help me protect the second lady.”

“The two of us should go back. Xiao Qi and Xiao Ru, don’t go back, lest you lose your identity.” Shen Yinghu sighed. “Our dear girl Qingdie had suffered an underserved ill fate!”

Shu Qingdie was the brightest among the second generation of disciples. She was already a Heavenly Master at a young age and had a promising future. She would eventually succeed as the Pavilion Leader of Snow Lunar Pavilion. Nobody had expected her untimely demise so early.

Xiao Qi said, “Chu Li, please tell us when you have any news.”

Chu Li nodded.

Chu Li reached out his hand and grabbed Shen Yinghu’s wrist through her gown, then disappeared in a flash.

The two of them reappeared in Shen Yinghu’s waterside pavilion.

Shen Yinghu pushed open the door and walked out of the upper corridor. Chu Li followed closely behind. His Omniscient Mirror had already been activated and soon, he found Shu Qingdie’s corpse.

Shu Qingdie’s beautiful face had lost all vitality and became livid. Though her eyes were closed, they could still see her bewildered expression.

Seeing the circle of stitches on her neck, vengeful murderous intent boiled in Chu Li’s heart. He found it difficult to restrain himself.

Shen Yinghu was walking ahead of him. Sensing the murderous intent, she turned her head and gave him a deep look in the eye.

Chu Li understood her cue and nodded. “I’ll calm down.”

People said that one should not act when in anger as anger could only worsen things. With a disturbed mind and clouded judgment, one would easily fall prey to deception instead.

Whoever this was, Chu Li would not take the person lightly. He must capture the murderer but he must not be impatient. He could not risk getting killed before killing his enemy. This could very well be a trap, so he must be vigilant.

All those thoughts flashed in Chu Li’s mind. Soon, they were all extinguished as Chu Li forced himself to calm down.

“Senior Shen, you should go and see the Pavilion Leader and the others. I’ll go and see Miss Shu,” Chu Li said.

“Yeah, that’s fine.” Shen Yinghu said. “Dead people cannot come back to life. Such a day would arrive for everyone sooner or later. Don’t mess yourself up.”