Radiant Blade of the Wilderness

Chapter 173: The True Purpose

When the dim ghost answered ”yes,” the conjectures that had just arisen in Ding Songyan’s mind rapidly settled into a conclusion.

A Two-Faced transformed by a Demon Seed can conceal their abnormalities. In that state, even the Candle-Star Pupils will not readily detect it. Only a Grandmaster near the perfected Dharma Realm can see through them with the Candle-Star Pupils, and in the whole Brightnight Sect, Tao Wenshu had been the only one known to have reached that level!

No wonder the Accumulated Evil Way, no, the Demon Sovereign, went to such lengths to eliminate Master. If even Master can’t detect the Demon Seed art, Tan Guanchan would have no reason to arrange for Bai Zhaolin. All he would need to do would be to secretly convert the sect’s disciples to Demon Seed Two-Faced.

In his eyes, without Tao Wenshu, the Brightnight Sect would be undefended. His Demon Seed Two-Faced could infiltrate it with relative ease, corrupt key people, and eliminate future trouble forever...

That is why he sent a Two-Faced with a clean identity, no martial arts, and no experience. Only then is there hope for him to pass the year-end recruitment...

Besides this boy, we must watch disciples who were outside the sect as well. Once news of Master’s death spreads, the Demon Sovereign or subordinates who also wield the Demon Seed art will surely convert several people in secret, making preparations on multiple fronts. Such a thing could never be conducted through a single thread alone...

Thinking about it now, it is only natural that the Demon Seed is hard to detect. It does not truly count as a converted Two-Faced. It comes directly from the Demon Sovereign, a Heaven-Man Realm Supreme Master or someone like him. It is an extension of that realm. That the Candle-Star Pupils can expose it when their user nears the perfected Dharma Realm is the clearest possible example of a natural counter...

What I did not expect was that a second face grown through a Demon Seed could be hidden back inside that Demon Seed...

By that reasoning, the Demon Sovereign likely planned Master’s death himself. As one of the leaders who besieged the Brightnight Sect years ago, he killed masters of the sect and seized countless useful scriptures. He has also reached the Heaven-Man Realm. His understanding and command of the Celestial Stars Scripture and Candlelight Shines Through the Long Night Scripture likely surpass our own.

But why did he have to do this? Would it not have been enough to keep Demon Seed Two-Faced away from Dingjiang Prefecture?

The Brightnight Sect has only one Grandmaster openly near the perfected Dharma Realm. Apart from guarding our own little territory, we cannot influence other prefectures at all. We are already nearly unable to keep watch over our own disciples. Does the Demon Sovereign really think so highly of the Brightnight Sect that he began laying such a roundabout plan years ago?

Four years ago, the sect’s martial arts were still generations away from being complete. We posed no threat at all...

Then again, this also suggests that the Demon Seed art was created less than ten years ago. Otherwise, the Demon Sovereign would have corrupted the sect long ago, before it had a Grandmaster near the perfected Dharma Realm.

This also proves that the Demon Sovereign has not discovered that I am a transmigrator. He does not know I consumed Chaos’s remains. Even with Tao Wenshu killed, there’s still Ding Songyan who can likewise see through Demon Seed Two-Faced.

Has he never read the original Legend of the White Snake? Given the dynasty he transmigrated from, the tale should already have existed in rough form. Does he simply dislike idle reading? Or was my version so wildly altered that he did not recognize it? Or did someone secretly spread false information and mislead him? Jiang Weichen?

Ding Songyan steadied himself and looked at the increasingly faint ghost.

”Then why did you not hide the face on the back of your head when the constables caught you?”

The ghost spoke with fervor, though a trace of struggle showed on his face.

”The Holy Sovereign said that once one’s identity is exposed and one is believed to be Two-Faced, one must not hide one’s true face again!”

Just as I thought... To the Demon Sovereign, the discovery of a single Two-Faced is only a minor loss. If the peculiar nature of the Demon Seed art were exposed, who knows how much effort would be wasted... It was the same with He Luo. Even I overlooked the possibility that the face at the back of the head could be hidden inside the Demon Seed again... Ding Songyan slowly exhaled, then asked the ghost how he had intended to infiltrate the Brightnight Sect.

The ghost was very frank. He said he would first try to gain admission through martial talent. If that failed, he would use accomplices developed by Fu Yangquan to find work as a clerk at the Hongxin Trading Company. By performing well, he hoped to enter the Brightnight Sect indirectly within a year, then use the Demon Seed’s power to corrupt whichever one or two Grandmasters showed hope of approaching the perfected Dharma Realm.

In life, this ghost had been no more than an Initial Realm martial artist. He was extremely weak after death. Having said only this much, he wailed and dissipated into nothing.

Yi Qincang and Wang Zhou, standing nearby, both felt their scalps prickle.

They had not inferred as much as Ding Songyan, but the mere facts that a Demon Seed could hide the second face and that Demon Seed Two-Faced could regard the Brightnight Sect’s Candle-Star Pupils as nothing were enough to send their thoughts racing and chill them to the bone.

Ding Songyan let out a silent breath and turned to Wang Zhou and Yi Qincang.

”Let us go see Seniors Yu and Mu, and Magistrate Lin.”

Yi Qincang nodded gravely and headed toward the upper levels of the prison.

Fifteen minutes later, the three entered a flower hall in the prefectural office’s rear courtyard.

Outside, early osmanthus filled the air with fragrance amid green trees and ornamental rockeries. Inside, an aqueous feeling flowed through the room, fresh but never damp; it was brimming with life.

At a glance, Ding Songyan saw the familiar Magistrate Lin, Lin Hansheng, as well as a man and a woman.

The man stood to one side of the flower hall. He looked only around forty, with ordinary features and a refined air. He wore a cyan brocade robe. At his left hip hung a longsword in a pale gold leather scabbard, while a green bamboo flute was tucked on his right. Nothing about him appeared unusual.

The woman wore a dark red cross-collar jacket over a pleated skirt of an even brighter red. Seated behind a table, she was tuning a plain zither. A smile rested on her lips, and her gentle features were not breathtaking but became more pleasing the longer one looked. She too showed no outward anomaly and appeared only thirty-four or thirty-five at first glance.

”Greetings Senior Yu, Senior Mu, and Magistrate Lin, I’m Wang Zhou of the Brightnight Sect.” Wang Zhou stepped forward and saluted with cupped hands.

Though the Golden Que Sword and Silver Rainbow Sword looked young, they had been famous for more than four decades and were each likely around seventy.

For those at the Heaven-Man Realm, that truly counted as young.

After Ding Songyan and Yi Qincang paid their respects, Golden Que Sword Yu Qiu spoke in a gentle, even voice, ”This matter is grave, and we can not spare ourselves to go up the mountain and pay respects to Sect Master Tao. Please forgive us.”

While tuning the zither, Silver Rainbow Sword Mu Ying stopped smiling and sighed as well.

”Life is unpredictable. I saw Sect Master Tao only last year. Who would have thought that would be our last meeting?”

Once the two Supreme Masters had offered their condolences, Wang Zhou and Ding Songyan replied in kind. Lin Hansheng, Dingjiang Prefecture’s magistrate, whose complexion was dark and whose palms were covered in blue-black scales, asked, ”Did the spirit channeling just now yield anything?”

Ding Songyan answered solemnly, ”It did.

”A second face grown through a Demon Seed can also be hidden with that Demon Seed. I suspect that in such a state, the Candle-Star Pupils would struggle to see through it unless their user was near the perfected Dharma Realm. My master likely met disaster because of this.”

Wh... Wang Zhou had not expected Ding Songyan’s conjecture to be so bold.

Yet it explained the Accumulated Evil Way’s purpose in doing this, as well as why they had no fear of the Candle-Star Pupils when sending a Demon Seed Two-Faced to attempt infiltration.

At first, Wang Zhou had suspected a traitor on the inside, capable of concealing the truth. After the spirit channeling, he began to think the Demon Seed itself possessed a means of concealment. But he had not dared consider the terrifying possibility that ordinary Dharma Realm Grandmasters like himself might be unable to see through it.

Yi Qincang was equally shocked. For a moment, he could not even be sure whether a Demon Seed Two-Faced stood somewhere inside the flower hall.

”Even a Supreme Master cannot see through it?” Lin Hansheng’s expression became exceptionally grave.

Ding Songyan chose his words carefully.

”That Two-Faced did not know. He was merely a lackey.

”I believe only a Supreme Master, equipped with an art that counters it, can see through it. If the counter is especially strong, a Grandmaster at, or near, the perfected Dharma Realm may be able to do the same.”

Golden Que Sword Yu Qiu nodded thoughtfully. After exchanging a glance with his wife, Mu Ying, he asked, ”When did Bai Zhaolin begin colluding with the Accumulated Evil Way?”

”Four years ago.” Ding Songyan gave the answer first, then described how Grand Elder Wang Zhou had pursued and killed Bai Zhaolin. Once it was over, he had returned to the mountain, brought Ding Songyan along, and performed a preliminary spirit channeling.

Wang Zhou only needed to say ”Mm,” ”Yes,” and ”Correct” throughout, which greatly lightened his burden.

”The planning began four years ago...” Yu Qiu paced back to the center of the flower hall and said gravely, ”That was the fifth year of Jianwu.”

”One event from that year stands out,” Mu Ying continued. ”His Majesty’s consort selection.”

Yu Qiu’s gaze swept across Lin Hansheng and Yi Qincang.

”At the time, people at both the Heaven-Man Realm and Dharma Realm were responsible for vetting the prospective consorts and preventing heretics from infiltrating the palace. Sect Master Tao was one of them.

”And in the tenth year of Jianwu, which is next year, there will likely be another selection of consorts.”

Ding Songyan’s gaze sharpened. In an instant, everything connected.

That makes sense. The small Brightnight Sect was not worth such an elaborate effort from the Demon Sovereign. But if the target was the Jianwu Emperor, Hong Jingchu, then it all fits!

The Jianwu Emperor, Hong Jingchu, was very close to Prince Kang, Hong Jingyuan. They had even traveled the jianghu together in their youth. After Hong Jingchu ascended the throne, he entrusted many important matters to his younger half-brother. As Hong Jingyuan’s maternal aunt, Tao Wenshu was a fully trusted Grandmaster, so she would naturally be invited to help the emperor distinguish truth from illusion and prevent heretics from infiltrating the inner palace.

Four years ago, the selection of consorts was the first of its kind. The heretics were likely unprepared, and the Demon Seed art could not deceive Tao Wenshu. Tan Guanchan had no choice but to abandon the attempt and arrange to remove the obstructing figure first.

That was why he had not acted personally and did not even want the Accumulated Evil Way visibly involved!

If the Demon Sovereign had specifically targeted Tao Wenshu, the Brightnight Sect’s leader with no hope of reaching the Heaven-Man Realm, that would be strange regardless of angle. It could easily lead people to connect it with next year’s selection of consorts.

Ding Songyan pressed in a low voice, ”Other than the Candle-Star Pupils, are there no other martial arts that can expose a Demon Seed?”

”There certainly are. Among the righteous path alone, the Shennong Hall’s Imperial Eye, the Lizhu House’s Li Fire Golden Pupils, and the Shangshen School’s Surveying Heaven and Earth are all similar to the Candle-Star Pupils. As for whether other arts would work, or whether sheer realm suppression could expose one, I cannot yet say. I have never truly seen a Demon Seed Two-Faced who has hidden its face.” Yu Qiu spoke after some thought. ”But the Lizhu House is in New Yu, and the Shangshen School is in the Gan Kingdom. With Sect Master Tao gone, we can only invite fellow cultivators from Shennong Hall, who do not usually involve themselves in worldly affairs.”

Wh... If we had not uncovered this, removing Master alone might truly have let Demon Seed Two-Faced infiltrate the forbidden palace... Ding Songyan forced down the faint tremor in his body.

He now began to suspect that the Demon Sovereign had come to Dingjiang Prefecture every year recently not only to wait for him, the transmigrator, but also to seek an opportunity to kill Tao Wenshu without exposing himself. He had simply never found one.

And if he cared this much, Bai Zhaolin could not have been his only move. Tan Guanchan likely had further arrangements. But once Bai Zhaolin succeeded, there was no need to activate them and risk exposing the true purpose!

At the time, everyone’s attention was on the lake island. The disciples guarding the mountain gate were distracted, and there were far fewer hidden sentries as well. A formidable figure may already have slipped in...

Had I taken the more aggressive approach, exposing things on the spot first, and then flown to the island in the lake, fresh changes might have erupted at once. To guard against them, it was better that I first slipped onto the island, then spoke out. That gave me a better chance of stopping the accidents that followed. So long as the Demon Sovereign or another Supreme Master of the Accumulated Evil Way did not act personally, there was hope... If only Master had used Wandering Star Overhead ten or twenty moves later...

If I had warned her not to use Wandering Star Overhead ahead of time, that would surely have changed things as well and brought fresh accidents.

Why the hell is the fucking Jianwu Emperor selecting consorts?

As Ding Songyan’s thoughts churned, Silver Rainbow Sword Mu Ying shook her head from behind the zither and said, ”One selection of consorts was enough. Why do it again and create trouble for everyone?”

Magistrate Lin and Marshal Yi immediately dared not speak.

There were things a Supreme Master could say that people like them would not even dare hear spoken aloud.