Chapter 41 Part 3

Li Wenxun naturally raised his palm to counter, and the two exchanged a light palm strike.

The fake Qi Yunke retreated several large steps back to his seat, coughed up a mouthful of blood, and leaned on the armrest, panting heavily. "Words can be faked, moves can be faked, but can our sect's internal art also be faked? Senior Brother Li, am I real or fake? Can't you tell?"

Li Wenxun stared blankly at his own palm—when their palms met just now, the other's internal energy was pure and gentle. Although it was somewhat weak, it was undoubtedly their sect's internal art.

With a solemn and indignant expression, the fake Qi Yunke struggled to his feet with Zeng Dalou's help, "If my martial brothers still have doubts, we can have a good sparring session after my injuries heal. In any case, we cannot let this impostor escape today! Men, seize him!"

At this point, Lei Xiuming had nothing more to say.

Ouyang Kexie and Chen Qiong didn't dare to make a move against the fake Qi Yunke—what if he was real? Li Wenxun also felt that it was safer to capture Chang Ning first.

Until this moment, Chang Ning still wore an expression of nonchalant ease, only glancing quickly at Cai Zhao.

Cai Zhao understood the meaning in his eyes and felt incredibly dejected—he had predicted it correctly. Even if she exposed him to his face, it would be useless.

The men in gray and the sect disciples formed a two-layered human wall, slowly closing in on Chang Ning.

Chang Ning would not be captured without a fight. His long laugh echoed through the hall, making everyone's ears buzz.

His wide sleeves floated like clouds. With a flash to the east and a swoop to the west, he broke through the encirclement and leaped onto the roof beams, gliding between the jade walls and beams like a bird. He laughed loudly in the air, "You silver-tongued hypocrite! I'm going to the dungeon to drag that person out and bring him before the heroes of the world. Guess how everyone will view your Qingque Sect's act of secretly harboring a disciple of the Thousand Faces Sect!"

A strong gust of wind swept by. A hole was broken in the west window, and Chang Ning had already escaped through it.

"Not good, quick, to the Shibi Dilao!" Now even the fake Qi Yunke was anxious. "If a disciple of the Thousand Faces Sect falls into the hands of the Demonic Cult villains, the consequences will be endless!"

Li Wenxun gritted his teeth and, along with Ouyang Kexie and Chen Qiong, led the disciples in pursuit towards the northern back mountain.

The men in gray also followed under the command of the man with the short aquiline nose.

The Yin Family guards protected Yin Sulian and her daughter as they quietly left through the back door.

The hall was in chaos, and no one noticed that Cai Zhao had disappeared.

...

The night was as black as spilled ink. Even the faint light of the stars and moon was obscured by a chilling, piercing, drizzling rain.

Cai Zhao gathered her qi and ran straight to Myriad Waters Thousand Mountains Cliff. She saw that the patrolling disciples and the cliff-guarding disciples were all lying on the ground. A tall, upright figure stood by the edge of the cliff.

He heard the sound and turned his head. Seeing the girl, he smiled, "I knew you would come here to find me. That bunch of fools all went to the northern back mountain, didn't they? Thanks to their grand mobilization, they didn't even leave many patrolling disciples behind—let's go quickly."

As he spoke, he went to activate the iron chain mechanism, but he heard Cai Zhao's cold voice, "I'm not going with you. You go down the mountain yourself."

Chang Ning's pale, jade-like fingertips paused on the pitch-black profound iron mechanism. He turned around, "You still haven't given up? You saw it just now. The Body Switching Grand Method of the Thousand Faces Sect is flawless. As long as you don't peel off his skin, you won't be able to convince everyone! Listen to me, let's go down the mountain. With my help, we'll definitely be able to find your father!"

Cai Zhao: "I have to thank you for testing a wrong path for me, making me give up hope on it. Since this path is blocked, I'll have to find another way. But I still can't go with you. You listen to me too, go down the mountain by yourself."

Chang Ning sensed something was wrong with the girl and forced a smile, "You knew long ago that I wasn't Chang Ning, but you also said you were willing to believe that Great Hero Chang wouldn't easily trust a villain, to believe that I wasn't a bad person..."

"Is the collection in the Nine Continents Treasure Scroll Pavilion truly as vast as the boundless sea?" Cai Zhao said.

The young man suddenly froze, like a cold jade mountain.

"I knew long ago you weren't Chang Ning, but I thought you were the descendant of a hermit with a hidden story, because Great Hero Chang detested the Demonic Cult. Yesterday, I finally learned that you are actually a member of the Demonic Cult."

"Nine heavens and nine layers of mountains, ten directions and a hundred thousand seas, none can compare to the Nine Continents Treasure Scroll Pavilion of the Demonic Cult's collection." The girl's voice was sweet and clear, but it carried an indescribable indifference.

"Not only are you a member of the Demonic Cult, you're someone with a significant background within it—the Nine Continents Treasure Scroll Pavilion is a vital repository of scriptures for successive cult masters. Even the Seven Stars Elder cannot enter without a token. Back then, when Nie Hengcheng died suddenly without being able to arrange his affairs, it's said that even the current Regent Dharma King Nie Chu doesn't know where the Nine Continents Treasure Scroll Pavilion is."

She stood gracefully in the wind and rain, "My aunt explored the Nether Bamboo Path at night many times back then, so she knows some secrets."

"So," the young man's eyes were deep, "when you heard me talking about the rumors of the Thousand Faces Sect down the mountain, you already knew my origins."

Cai Zhao: "That's right."

The young man felt as if there was a thought he couldn't grasp. Suddenly, his eyelids trembled slightly, "You... you used me to find the dungeon?"

Cai Zhao slowly wiped the rain from her cheeks and murmured softly, "Mmm."

"A figure like Elder Kaiyang must have been heavily guarded. It's possible that pair of Soul-Locking Pipa Hook was even used on him. Therefore, it would have been impossible for him to escape prison on his own," she said.

"But I clearly heard you all say that Elder Kaiyang died during a failed prison break. In that case, someone must have helped him escape. It makes sense. He and Elder Yaoguang were Nie Hengcheng's confidants. One died, so the other would naturally have to be rescued. Therefore, someone in the Demonic Cult must know the location of that dungeon."

The young man said coldly, "Not every member of the Demonic Cult knows the location of that dungeon."

The girl tilted her head softly, as pure and beautiful as a peach blossom, "I could only give it a try. I didn't expect you to really know."

The young man was resentful, trying his best to maintain a cold expression, "If you had asked me directly, I would have told you just the same."

The girl: "It's better to be safe."

The warmth in the young man's heart gradually grew cold.

He remembered this afternoon. The girl's room was warm and soft. She had let him sit by her bed, revealing her fluffy head and cute pink cheeks, looking at him with gentleness and trust—so, it was all a trap?!

"You knew all along that this would happen today?" He felt waves of coldness wash over him.

The girl tilted her head up slightly, letting the fine rain brush against her face, "From yesterday until now, you're the only one who has been exposed. They don't know that I was also in that courtyard yesterday afternoon. The reason they dared to bring Young Master Qian up the mountain was, one, for their future plans, and two, they intend to get rid of you... You've already revealed many flaws. Of course, you don't care at all about being exposed as not being Chang Ning."

The young man was anxious and angry, "I don't care because I thought you didn't care either."

The girl nodded, "Before, when my father was fine, I truly didn't care who you were. I didn't care about the affairs of the Jianghu. But now my father's fate is unknown, and there are many things I care about."

"Tonight, in fact, both sides were caught off guard. I didn't expect them to find a way to eliminate you so quickly; they didn't expect us to find the dungeon and Young Master Qian so quickly."

The young man's mind was in turmoil. He stepped forward and grabbed the girl's arm, "We'll settle the score of you deceiving me later. This place is fraught with danger, you can't stay any longer. Come down the mountain with me first!"

The girl didn't move and said softly, "If I go down the mountain with you tonight, it will confirm the crime of me colluding with the Demonic Cult. If I rely on you to save my father, Falling Blossoms Valley will also not escape the accusation of colluding with the Demonic Cult."

The young man's jaw tightened, "Then your Falling Blossoms Valley might as well just come over to our side!"

"Like the Thousand Faces Sect?" The girl's gaze was calm.

The young man was caught off guard, struck where it hurt the most, and was speechless for a long moment.

The girl forcefully pried his large hand off her arm, "Even if the people of the righteous path had long disliked the Thousand Faces Sect, if the Thousand Faces Demonic Butcher hadn't had lard for brains and led the entire sect to defect to the Demonic Cult, the Thousand Faces Sect might not have been annihilated."

"Falling Blossoms Valley doesn't belong to me alone. It belongs to my aunt, my father, my mother, and many, many valley residents—they have all suffered at the hands of the Demonic Cult, and they harbor deep-seated hatred, hating it to the bone."

"With more than ten generations of Falling Blossoms Valley's ancestors watching over me, I cannot lead Falling Blossoms Valley down a path of no return for my own selfish reasons, even if it concerns my father's life."

The young man's heart grew colder. He looked at the girl's determined eyes and couldn't help but say, "If you stay here, aren't you afraid they'll kill you to silence you?"

The girl smiled faintly, "Furong and Feicui should have left Qingque Town by now. First thing tomorrow morning, they will send out letters far and wide, informing Venerable Fakong, Uncle Zhou, Sect Leader Song, and Daoist Master Yunzhuan, and other heroes of the Jianghu that a disciple of the Thousand Faces Sect still lives and that Master may have been replaced—everyone will soon rush to the Qingque Sect."

"When a secret is no longer a secret, there's no need to kill me."

A sneer tugged at the corner of the young man's mouth, "You've thought of everything. I really underestimated you."

Cai Zhao nodded, "You're not wrong at all. So you should leave quickly. They should have realized you didn't go to the Shibi Dilao and should be rushing here now."

The young man grabbed the links of the iron chain a few sections from the end with one hand and turned back to sneer, "If that's the case, why did you even come here tonight? Hurry up and leave, be careful not to be seen entangled with a member of the Demonic Cult like me!"

Cai Zhao heard shouts and the sound of many running footsteps from far behind her. She reached out, and with a 'pa!', activated the profound iron mechanism. The iron chain's housing instantly let out a huge roar.

She shouted at the young man hanging from the iron chain, "—I was afraid you would keep waiting for me!" After speaking, she turned and ran in another direction, disappearing into the night.

The iron chain shot out like a sharp sword piercing the clouds. The young man hanging from it was like someone riding the clouds and mist, his wide robes and long sleeves fluttering, like a bird gliding over a bottomless abyss.

—If only she hadn't shouted that last sentence.

He thought in a daze.