Chapter 2320: I Don't Believe a Single Word

He Lingchuan thought to himself: "Keep our transaction confidential?"

He Xiao truly was exceptionally clever; Shuangye spoke solemnly: "Exactly."

"Good. Words not to be passed to six ears." The blood demon in He Lingchuan's bosom was not human and thus could not be counted.

"Thank you, Great Emperor."

The Nine Abyss Great Emperor's reputation for righteousness filled the world; even enemies, upon receiving his golden words and jade promises, felt equally reassured.

Then Shuangye proactively said: "I will now move Shanfeng, restoring the Luo River's flow."

He Lingchuan nodded: "Much obliged."

The two bowed and bade farewell; Shuangye smiled, turned, her wide sleeves flying, and indeed she charged straight into the shadow of the cliff.

A gust of wind passed, the tree shadows had not yet ceased swaying, and Shuangye's figure had already vanished into the darkness.

The blood demon deliberately flew out from behind He Lingchuan, darting among the cliff walls, first ramming in, then shortly after emerging again.

"Was he hiding in there before?"

"It seems so." He Lingchuan also confirmed his suspicion: "After Shuangye secretly schemed against Xu Qianqin and framed Bingyuan Si, he indeed sneaked into Feilai Peak, beginning to work on this gold core. Later, when Qixia Sect entered the mirror world, temporarily losing contact with the gold core, Yuan Xilin's control over it weakened, and Shuangye seized the opportunity."

Shuangye was like a wicked wolf descending from the mountain, circling the sheep pen several times, but not attacking; instead, he sought to lure the shepherd into provoking the tiger, bringing disaster upon himself, whereupon he would calmly enter the pen and devour the sheep heartily.

The yao of Cangyan could not enter the gold core, but that did not mean the necrophages could not. At present, all of Qixia Sect were in the mirror world, none able to control this gold core, so Shuangye had a fine chance to dig into the wall. No one knew what method he used; regarding the necrophage's brain core, people still know too little.

At this moment, the ground began to tremble. He Lingchuan rose to his feet and strode down the mountain.

The blood demon, having held back until now, could no longer restrain itself:

"Just now you could reach him with your hand—why didn't you seize him?"

"Seize him?" He Lingchuan countered, "Why?"

"He sowed discord among Qixia Sect, stirred trouble for your Weian City!" The blood demon's pent-up anger would not subside, leaving him somewhat displeased: "If not for him, would the Luo River have ceased flowing? Wasn't Weian City nearly wrecked by Qixia Sect?"

Shuangye first assumed the face of Tang Jingye, offering Qixia Sect the bad idea of using the gold core to blockade the Bing River's waters; then he assumed the face of Liao Han, causing the death of Elder Xu, directly leading Qixia Sect to descend the mountain and retaliate against Weian City. After stirring up storms, he could still come and go freely—does that not make Cangyan appear powerless, unable to rein him in?

He Lingchuan laughed: "How do you know it was him? Do you have evidence?"

"How could there be none?" The blood demon refused to yield, but as soon as the words left his mouth, he fell silent: "He clearly……uh……"

It was clearly Shuangye!

"Did Shuangye personally admit it just now?"

"……No." The blood demon carefully recalled: aside from the two of them exchanging veiled barbs, He Lingchuan had never mentioned Shuangye's face-changing havoc in Weian City, and Shuangye himself had never admitted from beginning to end that "I did it."

"But aren't those two people just him in disguise?"

"There are more than one kind of face-changing divine ability in the world; how can you be certain that those impersonating Tang Jingye and Liao Han are Shuangye?" Though face-changing abilities are not numerous, there are at least a few. For example, the child yang rescued by Dong Rui can assume the form of prey; the mirage horn of Qianhuan True Person and the Great Expansion Heaven Pearl on He Lingchuan's person can achieve similar effects.

"Didn't Shuangye say he wandered the Jinjin Plains, 'coincidentally' arriving here?" He Lingchuan paused, then said: "You claim he impersonated Qixia Sect members to incite war—do you have human evidence or material proof? Otherwise, how could you slander the National Preceptor of Bekka?"

The two characters "Bekka" are stressed.

He Lingchuan said to the blood demon: "In the past, you killed whom you wished, whenever you pleased, accustomed to acting without evidence—but this approach won't work with Shuangye."

In Cangyan, He Lingchuan can also cover the sky with one hand, declaring who is guilty and who is not, his words golden and jade-like; but facing another nation's National Preceptor, he cannot act so arbitrarily.

"Others enter privately for leisure, to your domain, playing—you seize them, what is that?" He Lingchuan again questioned the blood demon: "When Bekka inquires, what reason will you give?"

Still the same question: where is the evidence?

Without concrete proof, that is nothing but slander.

The blood demon was deeply resentful: "So he can stir up wind and rain, then escape safely?"

"Back then in Lingxu City, wasn't I doing just that?" Having done the first, don't blame others for doing the fifteenth: "It's best if Shuangye National Preceptor does not admit it; otherwise, I would find him even harder to deal with."

If Shuangye National Preceptor were to admit it, were to stiffen his neck and say, "Yes, this matter is my doing," He Lingchuan would also have to act, and that would be even more troublesome.

Regardless of whether Shuangye came for public or private reasons, his political identity stands there. If He Lingchuan were to seize him, it would easily cause a great uproar.

Not long ago, Shuangye met with the National Preceptor Wang Xingyi at the Mu State assembly. Mu State did not dare detain him; why is Cangyan stirring up this trouble? If the news reaches Mu State, will the Mu Emperor not grin with delight?

Furthermore, who says Shuangye National Preceptor truly came alone? He dared to appear directly before He Lingchuan—there must be reliance behind him.

Actually, He Lingchuan had just arisen with the thought of indeed wanting to detain Shuangye, for this idea was very tempting. Yet after a brief consideration, he still abandoned it.

The blood demon remained unwilling: "Ah, you truly gave the gold core to him—are you not afraid he will use it to do something?"

He Lingchuan patted the dust from his hands: "Even if Shuangye uses the gold core, for now it poses no threat to me or to Cangyan—that is sufficient. The information he provided about the Hidden God Sovereign is indeed crucial."

As the Lord of Cangyan, he clearly understands what it means to "focus on the principal contradiction."

Such secondary contradictions may be set aside for now.

"Shuangye said he needs the gold core only to learn from similar experiences. Do you believe that?"

"I do not." He Lingchuan said lightly: "Not a single word. A little experience, worth his crossing thousands of miles to infiltrate Cangyan, risking capture by me to act?"

"Uh……"

"This gold core must be of utmost importance to him." He Lingchuan reasoned soundly: "Yet he demands I keep it secret—this journey was undertaken in concealment from the Heavenly Demon. That is to say, he absolutely cannot let the Ferry Ghost Mother and other Heavenly Demons know he has obtained a second necrophage brain core."

The blood demon sneered: "Who is this fellow secretly scheming against?"

"I always feel that guarding this secret is of utmost importance to him." This feeling has no source, but He Lingchuan believes it firmly: "Had it not been for my sudden impulse to come here in person regarding the Weian City incident, Shuangye could have remained hidden behind the scenes the whole time, never showing his face, and stolen the gold core. Thus, no one would know he is connected to Qixia Sect, no one would know he is tied to Weian City's troubles, and no one would know he has had any dealings with the gold core."