Chapter 459: Secret Plot

Duan Rong and Zhu Zhengfu were in the Separate Courtyard, talking deeply for nearly an hour.

Afterward, Zhu Zhengfu picked out many details he deemed important and recounted them to Duan Rong one by one.

Duan Rong sat there listening, and whenever he encountered something he considered important, he would question Zhu Zhengfu repeatedly until he was satisfied with the answers.

After the two finished talking, although the sky outside the room was still pitch black, faint crowing of roosters could already be heard.

The first wave of rooster calls rang out, signaling that the sky would soon brighten.

The tea in the cup beside Zhu Zhengfu had long since been drunk dry, with a tea leaf stuck to the white porcelain rim. Seeing that Duan Rong was no longer asking questions and that everything that needed to be reported seemed to have been reported, he pulled a piece of paper from his sleeve, stepped forward to present it to Duan Rong, and said, "My Lord, this is a document I wrote to the Ancestor before I came. Please take a look, my Lord. If there are no oversights, I can send it to Yunfu Peak."

"The Ancestor?" Duan Rong glanced at the paper Zhu Zhengfu had presented. The Ancestor Zhu Zhengfu spoke of was naturally the Ancestor of their Zhu family, Zhu He.

Duan Rong said guardedly, "This is a secret letter you are sending to the Ancestor; I have no right to look at it. Just report it truthfully."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Zhengfu was visibly startled. After a thought rolled through his mind, he said, "Yes, my Lord!"

Zhu Zhengfu had originally thought that since this matter was led by Duan Rong, the document reporting to the Ancestor should naturally be reviewed by Duan Rong. But he understood Duan Rong's intention not to look; Duan Rong was doing this to avoid suspicion.

Then he put the paper away and said, "In that case, my Lord, I shall take my leave."

Duan Rong nodded, and he cupped his hands and retreated.

Duan Rong watched Zhu Zhengfu exit the room, his gaze flickering slightly. Facing a cunning old fox like Zhu He, he had to be cautious at every step.

Although Duan Rong had joined Yunfu Peak for over half a year, he did not know Zhu He well and had only met him a few times in total; he was, however, already quite familiar with Fan Hongjiao and Wu Shidao.

Although Duan Rong did not yet know Zhu He well, he understood one thing: all cunning old foxes usually have one flaw, which is that they are highly suspicious.

Given this point, he would rather not look at the document Zhu Zhengfu was sending to Zhu He. Because whether that document passed through his hands or not, Zhu He would be able to tell at a glance.

If he were to recount the same events, he would certainly explain the entire incident concisely, but because Zhu Zhengfu was unaware of many underlying factors, he could inevitably only describe the various phenomena he had witnessed.

Precisely because Zhu He could tell, he had to let Zhu Zhengfu send that document to Zhu He in its original form, so as not to arouse Zhu He's suspicion that he had already brought the Zhu family's secular power under his complete control shortly after arriving, to the point where even secret letters to Zhu He were first reviewed by him. This might seem like a small matter, but it was actually something that could not be overlooked!

After Zhu Zhengfu left, Ruyi walked in; her hair bun had not yet been combed, and it looked somewhat messy.

Duan Rong yawned, looked at Ruyi, and said, "Ruyi, close the door, extinguish the lamp! I'm going back to sleep!"

"Yes, my Lord!" Ruyi performed a curtsy, then followed Duan Rong inside to help him undress.

Duan Rong lay down again, but it was only after a while, when the sky was slightly bright, that he drifted off into a hazy sleep once more...

Back at his study, Zhu Zhengfu sent out that secret letter. And an hour before Zhu Zhengfu sent his secret letter, Ge Hengtai had already sent a secret letter to Ge Rusong.

The Changliu Mountain Range, deep within the Endless Great Mountains.

In the morning light, clusters of mist, ethereal as smoke, steamed and billowed between the valleys...

Countless mountains, large and small, appeared and disappeared within the ethereal mist.

Among them was a lush, verdant mountain, Qingling Peak, which was the location of the Taiyi Sect's Office of Transmission.

And the head of this Office of Transmission was the Sect Elder Ge Rusong.

At this moment, in a secluded room within a pavilion on Qingling Peak.

This room was not very large, but the furnishings and Artifacts were quite exquisite; even the carved sandalwood lantern hanging at the doorway was very delicate and elegant.

Four people were sitting on several yellow rosewood grandmaster chairs in the room, all of them looking grim with furrowed brows.

Ge Rusong sat in the head seat of the eastern row, and beside him sat two middle-aged men who appeared to be of similar age to him, though both were leaner and not as burly as Ge Rusong.

In the second seat of the western row opposite Ge Rusong sat an old man with gray hair and beard.

These three, like Ge Rusong, were Elders of the Taiyi Sect's Elder Council, but they were all silent at this moment, and a heavy atmosphere permeated the air.

On the small table beside Ge Rusong lay an opened secret letter.

Just then, the door to the room was gently pushed open, and a person wearing a green robe with hair tied by a jade hairpin walked in slowly.

This person walked with a steady gait and had a gentle countenance, possessing a somewhat otherworldly air.

The person who arrived was Lv Zhongtang, a descendant of the Sect Ancestor Lv Yinlin from the Elder Council, and also the person competing with Zhu He for the next Sect Master position.

He walked out into the room, his gaze sweeping over everyone, and immediately sensed that something was wrong in the air. He walked slowly to the head seat of the western row, sat down, looked at Ge Rusong, and asked, "What happened?"

Ge Rusong's expression was gloomy. He looked up at Lv Zhongtang, sighed, and said, "Zhongtang! Just received news: Li Shensi is dead!"

"What!?" The muscles on Lv Zhongtang's face twitched, and a flash of anger instantly crossed his eyes.

To help Li Shensi rise to power, they had expended a great deal of effort; for him to die only two months after taking office meant all the work they had done was in vain!

Ge Rusong picked up the secret letter from the table beside him and gave it a light flick; the letter seemed to be carried by something, floating like a fallen leaf to Lv Zhongtang's side.

Lv Zhongtang took the secret letter, his eyes flashing with cold light, and finished reading it in a few breaths.

"Rhinoceros Immortal?!" Lv Zhongtang said coldly, "Talk of ghost foxes and monsters is pure nonsense."

Ge Rusong said, "Ge Hengtai did not draw any conclusions in the secret letter; he merely stated the facts to us in detail. Everyone has already read it; what are your thoughts on the cause of Li Shensi's death?"

The Sect Elder sitting beside Ge Rusong, named Xu Qie, said upon hearing this, "Talk of ghost foxes and monsters is naturally not to be believed. In my opinion, Li Shensi must have been struck by a Divine Soul Illusion after becoming delirious, leading to him falling off the cliff to his death."

"Divine Soul Illusion?!" Lv Zhongtang's brow twitched. "Are you saying the one who killed Li Shensi is someone from the Sect?"

Zheng Yi's gaze sharpened, but he said, "It shouldn't be a Divine Soul Illusion."

Upon hearing this, Lv Zhongtang looked at Zheng Yi, who was sitting diagonally opposite him beside Xu Qie, his gaze encouraging him to continue.

Zheng Yi said, "According to the description in the secret letter, if it were a Divine Soul Illusion, both that rhinoceros and Li Shensi should have been struck by it. Taking a step back, even if only Li Shensi was struck by a Divine Soul Illusion, to be able to use a Divine Soul Illusion, one must at least have achieved the eleventh level of the Womb Treasury Sutra. Everyone knows how arduous the cultivation of the Womb Treasury Sutra is; before the eighth level, each level requires at least three or four years of hard cultivation. After the eighth level, the difficulty climbs layer by layer. To achieve the eleventh level of the Womb Treasury Sutra! How long did it take us to achieve the eleventh level? Don't you all know? If Li Shensi died from a Divine Soul Illusion, it could only be if that old fellow himself took action."

Everyone present knew that the "old fellow" Zheng Yi referred to was naturally Zhu He. But they all knew this was unlikely; Zhu He had not stooped so low as to personally kill a secular civil official. Besides, his whereabouts had always been monitored, and for the past half-month or so, he had been at Yunfu Peak.

Zheng Yi's words were quite convincing, and a brief silence fell over the hall.

"I have another secret letter here." Ge Rusong suddenly pulled a document from his sleeve.

"Another secret letter?!" Everyone in the hall was startled.

Ge Rusong said, "It is news regarding Duan Rong, the personal disciple Zhu He took in half a year ago. This kid moved into the Separate Courtyard of Zhu Zhengfu's residence six days before Li Shensi died. And according to the eyes lurking around him, the night before Li Shensi died, this kid went out and did not return for a day and a night. When he returned, there were grass clippings stuck to his clothes and hair. The timeline matches, and various details indicate that Li Shensi died at the hands of this kid!"

Ge Rusong's secret letter was passed around among those in the hall. Inside was also a portrait; although the person in the painting had a circle of whiskers, the face looked very much like Duan Rong.

When Duan Rong was apprenticed at Longyu Hall on Cuiwei Peak, everyone in the hall was present, and they had all seen what Duan Rong looked like.

Xu Qie said, "That's it! I was wondering, that old fellow Zhu He and his disciples—Fan Hongjiao, Wu Shidao, and Lu Geng—are all on Yunfu Peak. How did Li Shensi die? So it was that kid he recently took in who did it! It's just that the method of Li Shensi's death described in the secret letter is quite bizarre. Duan Rong has only been an Inner Sect Disciple for half a year, so it's naturally impossible for him to have achieved a Divine Soul Illusion. What means did he use to kill Li Shensi?"

Zheng Yi's gaze sharpened, and he said, "I suspect it's eight or nine parts likely that he used poison!"

"Using poison?" Xu Qie turned his head to glance at Zheng Yi and said, "The Poison Path is a heterodox, niche skill. As far as I know, among the Elders and veterans, very few delve into this path. Besides, Zhu He has no real involvement with this path, does he?"

"Speaking of this Poison Path, we must hear Elder Sun's opinion." Ge Rusong nodded and looked at the white-haired old man sitting across from him, beside Lv Zhongtang, and smiled faintly: "Elder Sun has been in charge of the Medicine Pavilion for many years; his understanding of the way of medicine and poison naturally far exceeds our own."

Sun Fuga, who had been silent, saw Ge Rusong looking at him with a smile and spoke: "Li Shensi is, after all, a Martial Artist at the True Qi Realm Fourth Layer; ordinary worldly poisons are already useless against him. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless it is a poison from within the Dark Forest. But for these poisons to be made into a Medicine Powder that causes hallucinations and madness, and to be preserved, they must undergo complex refining processes. Only the Pharmacists of the Medicine Pavilion have this ability. But these people are all my subordinates, and I can be certain they would absolutely not help Zhu He refine poisons. As for Zhu He himself, as far as I know, he has never cared for using poison."

The hall fell into silence once again.

Duan Rong had only been an Inner Sect Disciple for half a year; it was impossible for him to use Divine Soul Illusion, nor could he possibly refine poisons from the Dark Forest. So, what method did he use to make Li Shensi die in such a bizarre way?

Could it be a magic trick?

Ge Rusong suddenly cleared his throat and said, "Does Elder Sun know whose subordinate this Duan Rong was when he was a Registered Disciple in the Sect?"

Upon hearing this, Sun Fuga gave Ge Rusong a strange look; he did not understand why Ge Rusong was suddenly bringing up these irrelevant matters.

The others had the same thought and all looked at Ge Rusong for a moment.

Ge Rusong said, "Does Elder Sun still remember Shang Xiangyu?"

"Shang Xiangyu?!" Sun Fuga's eyelids twitched slightly.

Shang Xiangyu was his disciple, so he naturally remembered him. After taking this boy into his tutelage, he had guided him for two years, but this person was quite obsessed with the way of medicine and poison, to the point that he neglected his cultivation and failed to break through to the Qi Cyclone Realm twice in a row. Later, Sun Fuga gave up on him.

In the eyes of the Sect Elders, a disciple who could not advance to the Qi Cyclone Realm was no different from waste.

However, this guy later went missing, and he was even implicated with the Filthy Blood Sect; the Ruling Sect Justice Division had come to bother him quite a bit when they were investigating the case back then.

Sun Fuga asked, "Why? Was this kid Duan Rong following Shang Xiangyu when he was a Registered Disciple back then?"

"Exactly!" Ge Rusong said, "Could the poison that caused Li Shensi's hallucinations and madness have come from Shang Xiangyu?"

Sun Fuga pondered for a moment and said, "With Shang Xiangyu's attainments in poison refining, he could naturally obtain similar poisons, but..."

Ge Rusong said, "After Shang Xiangyu went missing, Duan Rong lived alone on that mountain peak for three years."

"Is that so?" Sun Fuga said, "Then it is no surprise that this kid has the poison that caused Li Shensi's hallucinations and madness."

Xu Qie smiled and said, "Elder Ge certainly has a clear grasp of that kid Duan Rong!"

Ge Rusong smiled: "I am the Department Head of the Office of Transmission; my job is intelligence work. If I were not diligent, wouldn't you all be deaf and blind?"

"Well said!" Xu Qie praised.

Zheng Yi said, "Since we already know it is Duan Rong who is playing tricks, and we have also deduced his methods, we must hold onto this point firmly. As long as we can pin this on Duan Rong, we can also drag out the Zhu He behind him."

Lv Zhongtang looked at Zheng Yi with an appreciative gaze; he had the same intention.

Ge Rusong, however, said with a grave expression: "Everyone, do you remember the description in the secret letter? The Dali Temple's old Coroner has already examined Li Shensi's corpse, and there were no traces of poisoning."

That's right!

In the hearts of everyone in the hall, this piece of information, which had been glossed over in the secret letter, flashed through their minds.

Ge Rusong looked at Sun Fuga and said, "Elder Sun, is it possible that a worldly Coroner simply cannot detect poisons from the Dark Forest?"

Sun Fuga said, "It is very possible. If a poison is handled well, it is very difficult to detect with ordinary methods, but if it were an experienced Pharmacist, they would certainly be able to detect it."

Ge Rusong said, "Very well, we shall make our move in the Elder Council today! We must pin this case on Duan Rong! At that time, we will need Elder Sun to send a capable Pharmacist from your subordinates to go along. We must make this matter stick!"

Sun Fuga said, "That is easy to arrange! Everyone, rest assured."

Only then did Ge Rusong look at Lv Zhongtang and say with a hint of respect in his tone, "Zhongtang, do you think handling the matter this way is appropriate?"

Lv Zhongtang nodded and said, "With everyone working together like this, why worry that the great task will not be accomplished!"

(End of this chapter)