1502 The Real And Fake Celestial Master Zuo (1/2)

Celestial Master Zuo's men were mostly highly skilled, with a majority of them having spiritual power at level nine and above. They stood by firmly and were ready to take down anything.

Moreover, Celestial Master Zuo's Kung Fu was incredible. His level must be at least ten and above. Even though Fairy Queen Li had rarely shown her true ability, Gu Xietian knew clearly that her skills were extraordinary.

Some of Celestial Master Zuo's men were even hidden amongst the crowd to as a contingency. Quite a number of them were elites, with their spiritual power at level seven or even eight. There must be at least a hundred of them in the crowd.

Although Gu Canmo's followers all had their spiritual power at level nine, they were outnumbered. There were only 12 of them.

Even if they wanted to draw out prisoners forcefully, how could they possibly save them all while being overwhelmingly surrounded by a heavily armed troop?

After all, Celestial Master Zuo had been controlling the government for quite a while. Both military and political powers were in his hands. There must be at least a few thousand men from the royal army that were currently surrounding the ground. The army would crush them easily, so Gu Xietian was not very hopeful that his family's lives could all be rescued.

Although Gu Canmo's rescue plan might not be entirely fulfilled, Gu Xietian was very grateful for their unparalleled support. Just as what Gu Xietian had expected, the sight of Gu Canmo and his men did not cause any distress to Celestial Master Zuo and Fairy Queen Li.

Celestial Master Zuo responded smilingly, ”Principal Gu, it has been a while!” His voice was gentle but sarcastic. He signaled the servants behind him to spread out, closely surrounding Gu Canmo and his men in the middle.

Celestial Master Zuo was well prepared. The rescue plan might not work at all. Also, Gu Canmo and his men might not be able to retreat to safety as well.

Gu Canmo threw the guards a brief look. Then, he turned his icy gaze back to Celestial Master Zuo. ”You and I have never met. How dare you say anything like that!”

Indeed, it was the first time for him to meet the fake Celestial Master Zuo. In the past, the fake Celestial Master Zuo had been trying to attack Tianju Hall secretly. However, the presence of the wizardry barrier had forbidden all outsiders to enter. Only the men from the inside could leave the barrier from within. Therefore, Gu Canmo had never really met the fake Celestial Master Zuo.

Celestial Master Zuo squinted his eyes and gave him a shrewd look, ”What do you mean by that?”

”I meant it, literally.” There was a profound meaning in Gu Canmo's response.

The common people stood gazing at one another in blank dismay. Some of them knew that Celestial Master Zuo had been to Tianju Hall many times and that he was once a teacher. Eight years ago, Celestial Master Zuo and Gu Canmo had even worked together to destroy Long Fan and Mo Zhao's secret base.

Why did Gu Canmo say that they had never met? Was it because Gu Canmo had lost his memory? Was there some mystery that underlay the matter?

Most of the bystanders fixed their eyes on the men on stage. Celestial Master Zuo, who was somehow guilty, decided to play some tricks. ”Gu Canmo, wars have been going on for the past few years. People live on the edge of starvation. I have called upon all of you to try and turn the chaos around. You, however, have ignored my command many times and even refused to help. What is your true intention, now that you decided to show up here today to help these betrayers instead?”

Gu Canmo laughed. ”You are good at making false accusations. You started these discord times and wars, didn't you? You disregard the people's lives and kill the innocent as you please, creating demons from avenging spirits. You rule by the voice of your own and cruelly oppress anyone with an opinion that is against you. You coerce the king into submission, thus taking over the government. You befoul the lands of Feixing and Haoyue Kingdoms. Voices of grievances can be heard everywhere. They want to fight you back so badly, but they dare not stand up against your ruthless ruling. Your perverse policy leads to no good, so why should I help you? To be your accomplice?”

Gu Canmo made his stand very clearly and loudly by keeping up with a stream of furious abuse against the fake Celestial Master Zuo. His words echoed across the entire plaza.

The common people had been feeling the same way for a long while but dared not voice it out. Now that Gu Canmo finally said the truth out loud, their blood boiled immediately with righteous indignation. They could finally work off their anger.

Even the soldiers of Celestial Master Zuo could feel the same extent of anger. They clenched their fists tightly but showed no expression.

Celestial Master Zuo maintained his poker face while he listened on. He laughed then and again. ”How can a common fellow read the mind of a great man? A man of great ambition does not bother about the merest trifles. Haven't you heard about that? The continent has been scattered and disunited for far too long. The common people are too foolish. They only want temporary comfort and are content with the current sovereignty. What I want is to eliminate all wars, once and for all. The only way to do it is to unite all three kingdoms. My methods are a little harsh, but my intention is good for the sake of our future generation. The common people do not understand my intention and accuse me of it, thus creating chaos. I have to use these methods to keep these fools quiet. As the principal of Tianju Hall, you should be able to tell the good and the bad.”

Of all ages, whenever these evil politicians did something awful, they would always label themselves as people of high nobility, saying that they only wanted to achieve their noble goals, regardless of the methods they used. Like what Celestial Master did.

He was eloquent and vehemently expressed his words, like what he did was all for the general good, regardless of the criticism. His followers agreed with him. Some common people, who barely understood anything, agreed with him as well.

Gu Canmo answered icily, ”It turns out that all that you have done is for the people. I see. Let me ask you this. To build your residence, you recruited ten thousand men. Now that your residence is done, where are the men?”

Celestial Master Zuo hesitated before responding, ”They went home.”

”Ridiculous! None of the men went home! You killed them most brutally and accumulated the resentment of the avenging spirits so that these spirits will guard the walls for you! The walls appear otherworldly, for it is constantly wreathed with a layer of light mist, but in fact, it is all an illusion caused by Fairy Queen Li's unique way of concealing and beautifying the avenging spirits. ”

Celestial Master Zuo sounded ghastly. ”Where is the proof?”

None of the ten thousand men escaped. They were all killed. The avenging spirits were then refined and lost all knowledge of who they actually were. They became killers based on their instincts. Therefore, Celestial Master Zuo was confident that no one else was alive to tell the truth. He was not afraid of the accusation.

”The bones are now at the bottom of the pond in your residence. Those are the proof.” Gu Canmo punctured the fallacy within a single sentence. ”Do you dare to dry out the pond and prove your innocence?”

Celestial Master Zuo did not know what to answer. His expression changed, searching for the right words to answer. Fairy Queen Li interrupted, ”Gu Canmo, I am the wife of The Lord. Compassion is my principle. I only want to help the people from their misery. Why would I help a tyrant to do evil and cover up the avenging spirits for him? Your words have not only insulted me, but also The Lord himself.”

Gu Canmo threw her a glance. ”You keep addressing yourself as the wife of The Lord. Where is the proof?”

”I come from heaven. This is the proof of my celestial status. If I am not married to The Lord, I will not call myself his wife. If I am not the wife of the Lord, why didn't he clarify it and let this go on for so long? Do I still need any other proof?” Fairy Queen Li answered firmly.

Gu Canmo laughed. ”Is it true only because there is no denial? The Lord will not usually take part in these trivial affairs. If a lot of women claim that they are all his wives, should he attend to them and clarify the rumors one by one? Maybe he is meditating in isolation. Maybe he never really cared about you. A man like The Lord will make an official announcement to the world if he is married. He will honor his woman with an official status. He will give her an identity and provide her with close protection, unlike you, who has only made the declaration all by yourself. If you are his wife, how is it possible that he lets you live your life with Celestial Master Zuo? How can he accept the blurry lines in your relationship? How can he tolerate with all sorts of your evil doings?”

The crowd nodded in unison.

Furiously, Fairy Queen Li was triggered. ”What a lame argument! If I am a fake wife, Celestial Master Zuo will never accept me! He is a follower of The Lord. Both of them are close. If I am a fake, even if I can fool the world, I can never fool him. He will point me out.”

The fake Celestial Master Zuo agreed immediately. ”I can testify that she is the wife of The Lord. I have personally verified it with The Lord.”

Gu Canmo gave them a sarcastic look and smirked. ”Of course he will testify for you. Both of you are birds of a feather. It is not only that your self-proclaimed title as The Lord's wife is untrue, but this Celestial Master Zuo is also a fake as well! He is not the real Celestial Master Zuo!”

What a startling realization! The crowd was awestruck. Gu Canmo's words were extraordinarily surprising. Every single person was stunned.

The fake Celestial Master Zuo froze momentarily. Then, he hid his guilty conscience with a smirk. ”Are you mad? How can you randomly accuse me of such guilt! In your opinion, I have, too, become a fake.”

Gu Canmo answered, ”You have always been a fake! The real Celestial Master Zuo went to visit the forbidden place eight years ago, as he had some affairs to attend to. He has not left the place yet! That gives you just the perfect window to impersonate him and commit all sorts of evil doings in the name of Celestial Master Zuo.”

Then, he turned to face the crowd. ”Think about it, how Celestial Master Zuo was like and how he behaved eight years ago, as compared to this fake Celestial Master Zuo and how he has been for the past two years. In which way do they resemble one another, except for their appearance?”

It was not hard to tell. Celestial Master Zuo had become a completely different man. Everyone agreed. Some shouted out loud, ”Totally different! The man right now is different from the real Celestial Master Zuo from eight years ago!”

”Yes! Right! That is right!”

”Is it possible that he is a fake?”

The discussion continued.

The people started to raise a babble of criticism. They began to look at the fake Celestial Master Zuo with eyes full of doubt.

The fake Celestial Master Zuo suddenly looked up and laughed. ”Gu Canmo, I never knew that you are so great at manipulating people's emotions, but you have forgotten something. If I am just an impersonator, the four messengers will be able to tell! If I am a fake, the rest of the heaven's gift disciples must be able to tell! Others may have never actually met me, but these people spend most of their time with me on a daily basis. If there is something wrong, they should have noticed it by now! Why should they continue serving me so loyally?”

He turned his attention to the four messengers, who had been standing quietly aside. ”Are you going to say that the four messengers are fake as well? Four of you! Come now, step up and tell everyone, am I a fake?” His voice filled with confidence.

Mu Feng responded, ”Yes!”

He took a step forward and stood close behind the fake Celestial Master Zuo. With each word loud and clear, he repeated, ”The Celestial Master Zuo we see right now is a fake!”

After the clarification, four beams of light could be seen gleaming from the four messengers. All of a sudden, they were pointing their directly at the fake Celestial Master Zuo.

The attack was completely unexpected and the fake Celestial Master Zuo did not see it coming, neither did Fairy Queen Li nor the rest of their guards.

They were standing in very close proximity, so the fake Celestial Master Zuo was could not defend himself. Two strikes cut deeply into his ribs and the other two into the flesh on his shoulders. They held and nailed him still in his seat.

He acted heroically. In times of such a great danger, he disregarded the nail and decided to push his body forward to break free. The sudden change happened too quickly. Everything happened merely in the blink of an eye. When the people finally realized what had just happened, the fake Celestial Master Zuo was already losing gushes of blood from the wounds on his ribs and shoulders.

The strikes from the four messengers were executed with a unique technique. After the fake Celestial Master Zuo was hit, the strikes would not only bring him great pain; he would also lose his spiritual power gradually through every drop of blood.

The death army finally realized the danger and rushed forward to protect him. The fake Celestial Master Zuo looked at the four messengers in great disdain. ”You…”

Mu Feng smirked. ”What about us? Did you think you can control us forever with your venomous spell?”