Chapter 7: Who is Yuan Wuxing?
“I have a major case to report.” Jiang Li placed Jiang Yixing on the ground and cupped his hands toward City Lord Zeng.
“Speak.”
“My name is Zhang Li, a native of Qing City, a Nascent Soul rogue cultivator. This here is my companion, Yuan Wuxing, a Golden Core rogue cultivator. The two of us heard that Qing City has had frequent cases of missing infants in recent years, but with the city officials lacking manpower, we decided to investigate privately. At last, we have captured the true culprit.”
Jiang Li paused and pointed at the injured Jiang Yixing on the ground.
“The culprit is none other than the Jiang Family’s ancestor—Jiang Yixing!”
A huge uproar erupted outside the main hall.
The dozen or so parents who had lost their children wailed even louder. If not for the guards restraining them, they would have charged into the hall to demand Jiang Yixing’s life. Yuan Wuxing had already informed them that their children had been sacrificed in a blood ritual.
“Zhang Li, you must not make baseless accusations. The Jiang Family has upheld righteousness for generations, even producing a figure as great as the Human Sovereign. If you have no evidence and are merely making wild claims, I will charge you with slander,” City Lord Zeng said in an even tone, though there was an unmistakable hint of warning in his voice.
“Of course, I have evidence.” Jiang Li was unfazed. “The reason the Jiang Family has been stealing infants repeatedly is because Jiang Yixing has mediocre talent. Even reaching the Golden Core Stage was a struggle for him. So, he resorted to demonic cultivation—using a blood sacrifice of infants to refine his own Nascent Soul. By absorbing their vitality, he managed to break through and extend his lifespan.”
Jiang Li ignored City Lord Zeng’s warning and explained unhurriedly.
“Tell me, Jiang Yixing, am I right?” He crouched down, looking at the old yet oddly flushed Jiang Yixing—a clear sign of absorbing infant blood essence.
Jiang Yixing, heavily injured and unable to move, was utterly shocked. Other than his peers who grew up with him in Qing City, who else could possibly know about his poor aptitude? Who would know that he had been stuck at the Foundation Establishment Stage for years, struggling to form a Golden Core?
Jiang Li used sound transmission: “You’re using my name as a shield, yet you don’t recognize me, cousin?”
Jiang Yixing’s eyes widened in horror. In the shifting features of Jiang Li’s face, he finally saw the resemblance to the person who had left home years ago.
An overwhelming fear engulfed Jiang Yixing. If Jiang Li had personally come to destroy the Jiang Family, then there was no chance for him to survive. Even if City Lord Zeng wanted to protect him, even if the Great Zhou Emperor himself came, it would be useless!
He wanted to scream out Jiang Li’s name, but before he could make a sound, Jiang Li discreetly cast a spell, knocking him unconscious. Who knew how many days it would be before he woke up?
Hearing that Jiang Yixing had cultivated demonic techniques, the gathered crowd murmured amongst themselves.
The Jiang Family’s ancestor—the Human Sovereign’s cousin—had actually resorted to demonic cultivation? This was an enormous scandal. If word spread, other imperial dynasties would surely mock them. They prided themselves on ruling through law and order, yet within their own land, demonic practices ran rampant.
The Jiang Family’s clan leader slowly walked forward, leaning on his cane. The crowd instinctively parted to let him through. When he saw the unconscious ancestor, he hurriedly checked on him. Only after confirming that his foundation remained intact did he breathe a sigh of relief. Then, he glared at Jiang Li in anger.
“You’re saying our ancestor used infants for cultivation and that his body must be filled with their resentment? Fine, go ahead and check! But remember—if you find no trace of infant resentment, you will pay the price for slandering the Jiang Family and Qing City!”
The clan leader referred to the Nine Provinces Continent’s standard method of detecting demonic cultivators. Those who practiced such methods always carried lingering resentful energy. And someone like Jiang Yixing, who had sacrificed hundreds of infants, would surely be overflowing with resentment.
Jiang Li chuckled. “Clan Leader, you must be getting senile. Have you forgotten? You used the Power of Faith to erase the resentment within Jiang Yixing.”
The clan leader’s face darkened instantly.
The Power of Faith could indeed cleanse resentment, but very few people knew this. How did Jiang Li find out?
Regardless, it was too late to dwell on that now. Covering up this incident was the top priority.
“Even if the resentment is gone, the infants’ remains must still exist. I happened to discover a spatial node filled with their bones. Why don’t you take some men to check it out?”
“My lord, you must not believe his nonsense!” The clan leader’s voice was urgent. “This man only entered the city today—how could he have coincidentally found a spatial node within a single day? And how can he be so certain it belongs to my Jiang Family? He must have been sent by another faction to slander us. My lord, please see the truth!”
The reason the clan leader had arrived late was because he had sent people to investigate Jiang Li’s identity and destroy evidence. Unfortunately, in their haste, they only managed to confirm that Jiang Li had just arrived in Qing City, and the spatial node hadn’t been cleaned up yet.
City Lord Zeng’s gaze flickered between the unconscious Jiang Yixing and the troublesome Jiang Li. He hesitated for a moment before saying, “It’s already late. This case is complicated, and we cannot reach a verdict immediately. To get to the truth, we will conduct the trial on another day.”
He paused, then added, “For now, Jiang Yixing will be imprisoned in the city jail.”
“Court is adjourned!”
After court was dismissed, City Lord Zeng dropped his usual composed demeanor and hurried into a secret chamber with the Jiang clan leader to discuss the crisis.
“I warned you long ago to stop this, but you wouldn’t listen! Now look what’s happened!” City Lord Zeng grumbled.
“What could I do? The ancestor insisted on doing it—who could stop him?” The clan leader weakly defended himself.
City Lord Zeng shot him a look. “You told me before that the Human Sovereign himself secretly approved this.”
“The ancestor insisted, and the Human Sovereign reluctantly agreed,” the clan leader quickly corrected.
“Can’t we have the Human Sovereign personally intervene and suppress this matter? With his influence, even the emperor would give some leeway.”
The clan leader shook his head. “That’s difficult. The Human Sovereign acts on his own whims—he comes and goes as he pleases. The Jiang Family has no way to contact him.”
What he really wanted to say was: What Human Sovereign? If we could really contact him, we wouldn’t have to trick every city lord into covering for us!
But of course, that was something he couldn’t say out loud.
City Lord Zeng frowned. “So what do we do now?”
“We prepare for both possibilities. Our ancestor was always meticulous—aside from the blood sacrifice site, there’s no other solid evidence. I’ve already sent people to clean it up. But we can’t rule out that those two may still have tricks up their sleeves. Yuan Wuxing is easy to handle—he’s timid and weak-willed. But that Zhang Li is troublesome. No one has ever heard of him before, yet he possesses incredible combat power. From the way he subdued the ancestor, he might be the strongest fighter in Qing City.”
City Lord Zeng sighed. “Using force won’t work. I’ll visit him personally tonight and try to persuade him to drop the case. This concerns the Human Sovereign’s reputation—surely he wouldn’t go against that, right?”
“That would be best.” The clan leader nodded in agreement.
City Lord Zeng stroked his beard and frowned.
“But there’s still one problem.”
“What is it?”
“Who the hell is Yuan Wuxing?”