81 Chapter 80: Conspiracy (1/2)

We followed Elder Zhao into his office, the huge group of us crowding and barely being able to squeeze into the small space.

”I'm afraid I'll have to retract my words. Just consider this as me never having said anything.”

”What did you say?” Tong Xue asked, confused. After all, he wasn't present at the scene. He probably saw the commotion and heard about Hao Ying's death, but he wasn't around to hear Elder Zhao make all those bold declarations.

”Bringing Liang Shao Yang to justice,” Lian Rou informed him. She briefly filled in the gaps for Tong Xue, who nodded.

”That's not good.”

”Are you just going to let this pass?!” Tang Qi Hong demanded in disbelief. Elder Zhao could only look at her helplessly.

”…there's no other way.”

It wasn't as if Elder Zhao liked the situation any more than we did. He wore a dark expression, his scowl sinking deeply into his aged face. Apparently he was still suspended in disbelief, unable to digest the fact that Liang Shao Yang managed to attain enlightenment at the Spirit Engraved Pillars just before he was about to head out and arrest him.

Everyone glanced at each other uneasily. They were still trying to absorb what had just happened, about how Liang Shao Yang had evidently achieved enlightenment underneath the Spirit Engraved Pillar.

The sect leader and his wife had returned at the most inopportune timing – or the most opportune timing, if we were to look at it from Liang Shao Yang's point of view. I briefly wondered of Liang Shao Yang had actually managed to achieve enlightenment earlier, but he decided to hold off and postpone his triggering of the reaction of the Spirit Engraved Pillar and patiently waited until the sect leader and his wife returned to put on a good show.

If that was true, then it meant that bastard was calculating beyond belief, with nearly prophetic vision.

Lian Rou, shook her head and swallowed sharply.

”For everyone to come witness this…this reminds me of the time when Qi Hong triggered a reaction from two Spirit Engraved Pillars.”

”T…that time was nothing!” Tang Qi Hong hastily said, then she frowned and clenched her fists. ”That Liang Shao Yang…how did he do it?”

”Does it matter how he did it?” Zhao Shi crossed her arms as she sank into deep thought. ”This means he's virtually untouchable.”

I nodded in agreement. Judging from Zi Shou De's reaction, he obviously appraised Liang Shao Yang as the sect's newest treasure, and had promised to devote every resource available into nurturing and training him. Zi Shou De evidently viewed Liang Shao Yang as one of the brightest and most promising prospect for the future of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect.

The great elders too seemed over themselves with joy. Their greedy and delighted expressions indicated that they were willing to brave heaven and hell just to keep hold of this new gem they had unearthed. Except that they weren't the ones who unearthed it, but no doubt each of them would be trying to lay claim to being the elder who first spotted Liang Shao Yang's potential. I could just picture Ying Bi and Tong Pan clawing at each other to grab their scrummy claws on him.

Even if they learned that Liang Shao Yang had committed murder right in the middle of the sect, they would do nothing. In fact, if Elder Zhao and the Blood Blades attempted to arrest him, Zi Shou De, his wife Da Ji, and the six great elders might even be the first ones to stop them. They had been driven crazy over the delight of discovering this new prodigy for the sect. there would be no one who dared to cross Liang Shao Yang now.

In other words, even if they learned that Liang Shao Yang murdered Hao Ying and tried to kill me, the sect leader and the great elders would just turn a blind eye to his actions. His talent was worth more than the lives of a mere inner sect disciple and several outer sect disciples.

”I have underestimated Liang Shao Yang,” Elder Zhao admitted mournfully. ”That kid is really extraordinary. He is the most cunning person of your generation, and his operandi modus is impressive. I suspect that he only murdered Hao Ying when he had the confidence that he would be able to attain enlightenment from the Spirit Engraved Pillars. He probably calculated and timed everything precisely.”

Same as me, then. Looked like Elder Zhao had also realized just how scheming Liang Shao Yang was.

”Is there nothing we can do?” Lian Rou asked worriedly.

”What can we do?” Elder Zhao glanced at her helplessly. ”You've all seen how Sect Leader and the great elders react toward Liang Shao Yang. Never mind that he had only assassinated Hao Ying and failed in his attempt on Fei Wu's life. Even if he did kill Fei Wu and a few other outer sect disciples, Sect Leader will most likely pretend nothing had happened, just so he can continue to preserve Liang Shao Yang's extraordinary talent for the sect.”

”Father is not that corrupted!” Zi Xiao Ji blurted out.

”That's right,” Tang Qi Hong agreed. Then she sighed reluctantly. ”But even if Godfather tries to make a move against Liang Shao Yang, the six great elders will surely move against them. Those old men value the future of the sect more strongly than anything else in the world. Godfather is similar to an extent, but even he will not move if pressured too much by the elders. They will most likely not do anything even if they find out that Liang Shao Yang killed Hao Ying.”

”Huh? Then what's going to happen to Fei Wu?” Tong Xue demanded. ”There's nothing stopping Liang Shao Yang from killing Fei Wu in broad daylight and getting away with it!”

”I'll talk to Father,” Zi Xiao Ji promised. ”Even if he's now the number two inner sect disciple in Nine-Tailed Fox Sect, there's a limit to Father's patience. Liang Shao Yang will not be bold enough to test the limits of his tolerance by killing anyone freely, especially if he doesn't have a good reason to do so. The sect doesn't just revolve around one person after all.”

Tang Qi Hong nodded. ”We should also talk to Godmother. She's more…discreet in handling these kind of affairs. She'll know what to do and have some sort of countermeasure in place to prevent Liang Shao Yang from doing anything too…violent.”

”Worst case scenario, you still have us!” Da Ge assured me cheerfully, his grin as broad as ever. I couldn't help but grin back. It was a relief to have this guy watch my back.

”In the meantime, it's best that you avoid Liang Shao Yang as much as possible and try not to get into any conflict with him. If anything happens, it doesn't matter if Liang Shao Yang is the one who provoked you. The elders in the sect will definitely blame you instead.”

”See?” I snorted coldly. ”I told you there will be people who are exceptions to the rules.”

Elder Zhao's face was full of regret. ”I'm very sorry, Fei Wu. I'll also do my best.” He glanced at Zhao Shi and Da Ge. ”Da Ge is right. You'll be safest if you stick with them.”

”Or if you just stay in Wu Ling Academy altogether and don't return to Tushan City,” Tong Xue suggested. Tang Qi Hong looked a little upset at that.

”Wu is my assistant! Who's going to help me out if he doesn't return to the sect?!”

”I'm sure you'll be able to find a lot more competent assistants. It's not as if you'll be short on volunteers.”

Lian Rou sounded cheeky, but Tang Qi Hong was not amused. Not paying much attention to their bickering, Zi Xiao Ji bounced up.

”Don't worry! You'll be safe as long as you stick with me! No matter how high his status, even Liang Shao Yang would not dare to attack or provoke me!”

”That's right.” Tong Xue smiled. ”While it is true that whether you're an outer sect disciple or inner sect disciple, you will be forced to defer to Liang Shao Yang, having the sect leader and sect mistress's daughter on your side will prove to be a great boon. The elders might be able to pressure them if it's just you, but even they wouldn't be able to stop Sect Leader and Sect Mistress's rage if Liang Shao Yang were to harm Zi Xiao Ji.”

”Yeah! So you're safest by my side!”

Tang Qi Hong scowled, looking very unhappy about that, but was unable to refute that. ”Just make sure you escort him safely to my workshop everyday.”

”Roger that, Sister Qi Hong!”

They really reminded me of siblings…sort of like how my relationship with my own brother was. Tang Qi Hong really was adopted into the Zi family, huh…

”Should we still report to the sect leader about Liang Shao Yang's murder of Hao Ying, and his attempt against Fei Wu?”

The voice surprised everyone. Turning around, we caught sight of the hooded Blood Blade from earlier, the one who had reported to Elder Zhao about Liang Shao Yang's successful attempt to trigger a response from the Spirit Engraved Pillar.

Elder Zhao considered for a moment, and then nodded.

”I'll personally inform him of the matter. Leave it to me.” he sighed. ”But honestly, I don't think Sect Leader will do anything. He'll find out eventually, but he'll focus on nurturing Liang Shao Yang along with the other elders.”

”I'll tell Father about it!” Zi Xiao Ji repeated. ”If I'm the one telling him about it, Father won't ignore it!”

”No, he and Sect Mistress will probably help keep an eye on Fei Wu for you, but they won't punish Liang Shao Yang. He'll still be allowed to run about freely.” Elder Zhao growled and clenched his fists. ”That's what irks me the most. Such a dangerous man given free rein in the sect. even if Fei Wu is protected, the same won't be same for the other sect disciples. I'm afraid he might end up killing a few outer sect disciples who are unlucky enough to get in his way.”

”You guys are overthinking this.”

Everyone turned to stare at me in surprise.

”What do you mean?” Tong Xue asked, baffled.

”Well, think about it…” I scratched my head and frowned. ”Everything Liang Shao Yang has done is absolutely pointless.”

”Huh?!”

”…I see.” Elder Zhao was musing to himself as he stroked his chin, nodding. ”The reason why Liang Shao Yang tried to kill Fei Wu was because he was too close to Tang Qi Hong.”

”W…who…who is too close to me!?” Tang Qi Hong stammered, reddening. Elder Zhao ignored her and pushed on. This was no time to entertain her tsundere behavior. I could almost picture her folding her arms, puffing her cheeks and turning away with a ”hmph!”

”That's why he also killed Hao Ying, to erase all traces of evidence that would lead back to him. The reason he came to Nine-Tailed Fox Sect in the first place is probably because he was aiming for Qi Hong. And Qi Hong is the most talented disciple that both Sect Leader and Elder Hai have placed their hopes on to revitalize the sect, and to succeed as the next sect leader of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect. Now that Liang Shao Yang has successfully triggered a response from the Spirit Engraved Pillars and achieved enlightenment, he's also in line to be the next sect leader. In other words, there is no longer any need for him to woo Qi Hong.”

”Woo me?!” Tang Qi Hong cried out in disgust. Girl, that wasn't the point here…

”Well, from this, we know a few things.” I held up a finger and began counting off. ”Firstly, Liang Shao Yang murdered anyone who could trace him back to his attempted murder of me. Secondly, Liang Shao Yang possessed some confidence that he would be able to attain enlightenment at the Spirit Engraved Pillars, and use it as a get-out-of-jail card in case he got into trouble. Thirdly, he actually succeeded in attaining enlightenment from the Spirit Engraved Pillar, which means that everything he had done prior was utterly meaningless. Even if they find out that he had killed an inner sect disciple, they would not care at all.”

I lowered my hand and shook my head in exasperation.

”In other words, everything that Liang Shao Yang had done was completely pointless. All he needed to do was to gain enlightenment from the Spirit Engraved Pillar, get promoted to an inner sect disciple, and nobody can touch him. Nobody had to die. Why did he even bother to kill Senior Hao Ying? That made no sense. He could have left Senior Hao Ying or Long He alive, gain enlightenment from the Spirit Engraved Pillar, become an inner sect disciple, and even if the Blood Blades trace everything back to him, there's nothing he can do because Sect Leader and the great elders will protect him zealously with their lives.”

”…”

Everyone stared at me. I shrugged to emphasize my point.

”So…what was the whole point of all that killing? That single action of gaining enlightenment made all his attempts to wipe clean any trace of his crime by killing completely redundant, foolish, impulsive and needlessly destructive. Senior Hao Ying and Long He would be more useful to him alive than dead. He had no reason to kill him at all if he knew he was going to get promoted to the inner sect while gaining enlightenment, but he did it anyway.” I then turned to narrow my eyes at Elder Zhao. ”And this is the guy that they want as the potential future leader of the Nine-Tailed Fox Sect? Are you serious?”

Elder Zhao could only shrug helplessly, unable to refute my completely logical sense of reasoning. Judging from everyone else's silence, they couldn't find anything to object to at all, and Tong Xue was nodding in complete agreement.