Chapter 994

Zhu Wushi heard this and immediately clapped his hands.

Sure enough, two coroners in official garb stepped out from behind him.

After exchanging greetings with the crowd, they stepped forward at Zhu Wushi's direction to examine the wounds.

At the same time, Zhu Wushi pointed at a monk behind him and said to the crowd,

"This is Master Liaowu, junior brother of Masters Liaokong and Liaojie.

He traveled a thousand li to find me, saying that before Master Liaokong passed away, he had spoken some words to him.

Master Liaowu, if you please."

The moment Liaofan saw Liaowu, his face changed drastically.

"Liaowu, how did you come back?"

Liaowu merely bowed to Liaofan, then said to the crowd,

"Before senior brother Liaokong passed into Nirvana, he told me—

Back then, he, Jian Jingfeng, Fire Qilin, and Benefactor Guihai were four close sworn brothers.

Unexpectedly, Benefactor Guihai cultivated the demonic blade Dominating the World in pursuit of martial arts progress, and ended up suffering a qi deviation.

The others tried to save him, but in the end Benefactor Guihai met a sudden, violent death.

All three of them felt deeply guilty.

Later, Guihai Yidao came to the Zhaoshang Sect to avenge his father.

The three knew there was another cause behind it, and did not want Guihai Yidao to learn of it.

So they had long agreed: if Guihai Yidao ever came seeking them, they would all take their own lives, to conceal the events of that year."

"Ah? Master Liaowu, you mean to say Masters Liaokong and the other two all took their own lives?"

The heroes present were all utterly stunned upon hearing this.

"Exactly!"

Liaowu nodded in assent, then continued,

"Moreover, not only did they take their own lives, senior brother Liaokong had even calculated that Guihai Yidao, to exact his revenge, would surely cultivate Dominating the World.

Thus he hoped that his own death would temporarily dispel the malice in Guihai Yidao's heart.

Afterwards, he counted on senior brothers Liaofan and Liaojie to help redeem Guihai Yidao, and prevent him from falling into demonic cultivation."

"Bullshit!"

Hearing this, Liaofan actually cast aside the demeanor of a Gao Seng and burst out cursing in fury,

"Liaowu, what nonsense are you spouting? When did Liaokong ever say such a thing to me?"

"But he truly did say it to this little monk."

Liaowu's face was full of awkwardness, yet he still braced himself and replied.

Liaofan never expected that this Tudao Assembly would be thrown into chaos by his own junior brother.

Yet Liaowu's words did seem to carry some logic.

Coupled with Zhu Wushi's overbearing pressure, the situation on site was about to turn.

Cao Zhengchun, seeing this, smiled even more broadly and said,

"If we follow what Master Liaowu says, then all this commotion stirred up by the Wu Lin comrades has been a wrongful accusation against Guihai Yidao, hasn't it?"

"I did not say that."

Liaowu naturally did not dare accept that statement, and could only deny it.

"Eunuch Cao, you needn't put it that way either."

Seeing the situation reversed, Zhu Wushi put on a righteous, imposing air,

"Whether Yidao broke the law or not is for the court to judge according to the law—how could we lightly overstep the law to pass judgment?"

The so-called law, naturally, demands both the criminal and the stolen goods caught together.

But now, on the witness side, Liaofan says Guihai Yidao is guilty, while Liaowu, also of the Shaolin Sect, clears him.

On the evidence side, apart from this bloodstained blade, there is no other direct proof.

Moreover, under Zhu Wushi's maneuvering, since the coroners have not confirmed it, this blade cannot truly be counted as the murder weapon.

Cao Zhengchun's smile grew all the more radiant at this.

He had long anticipated how Zhu Wushi might counterattack, yet never imagined it would be this simple.

Finding a Shaolin Monk of unknown origin, and just like that neutralizing Liaofan, the greatest assist.

Truly worthy of being the man Cao Zhengchun regarded as his greatest rival!

Only, Zhu Tie Dan, if you think this is all the skill I, Cao Duzhu, possess, then you are underestimating me.

A cold glint flashed in Cao Zhengchun's eyes; he was just about to direct his subordinates to launch a new round of accusations.

"Boom boom boom…"

Suddenly, an earth-shaking rumble came from afar.

Everyone looked toward the sound and saw that one corner of Yunzhou Shaolin had already burst into flames.

"Eh? Isn't that the direction of the Damo Hall? What treacherous villain dares commit violence in the Damo Hall?"

The Shaolin abbot identified the location of the incident at a glance; how could he still bother with the Tudao Assembly? He gave a sharp cry, called together the seventy-two Luo Han, and prepared to rush toward the Damo Hall.

Zhou Zhiruo's stratagem was nothing more than a feint.

Originally, the plan was to use Guihai Yidao walking into the trap as a pretext, luring Shaolin to convene the Tudao Assembly, and once most of the attention was drawn away—

She would disguise herself, slip into Yunzhou Shaolin, enter the Damo Hall, and steal that Sky-Sweet Cardamom.

However, after Shangguan Haitang learned of her plan, she pointed out that at the Tudao Assembly, Cao Zhengchun would surely be present.

Given Cao Zhengchun's temperament of being bested by Zhou Zhiruo, he absolutely would not let Zhou Zhiruo off easily, nor let her simply enter Yunzhou Shaolin.

After Zhou Zhiruo showed her approval,

Shangguan Haitang then revised the plan on the basis of this one.

Still a feint.

Only this time, Shangguan Haitang enlisted the world's number one disguise expert within the world's number one manor.

She ordered this person to disguise Shangguan Haitang herself as Zhou Zhiruo.

Strutting openly into public view, she deliberately drew the attention of Master Yeyu.

In the open, she drew the gaze of everyone watching Zhou Zhiruo.

As for the real Zhou Zhiruo, she was disguised and accompanied Master Jueyin, Seeing Gu Hongzi, and the three of them together.

They slipped stealthily into Yunzhou Shaolin.

Then, taking advantage of the moment when Shangguan Haitang used the strand of Nine Yang true essence Zhou Zhiruo had left behind to create a spectacle right in front of Le Fan,

Zhou Zhiruo and the other two seized the chance to slip near the Damo Hall.

Yunzhou Shaolin's thousand-year fame has endured through the ages.

Even with occasional setbacks, it still stands unshaken.

Within it, this Damo Hall can be said to have contributed no small share.

Damo Hall does not cover a large area, yet it is one of Yunzhou Shaolin's important grounds.

Not only do patrolling Wu Sengs keep watch all around, but within the hall three Gao Sengs of the "Le" generation sit in permanent residence.

Shangguan Haitang had long ago informed Zhou Zhiruo and the other two of all this intelligence, one item at a time.

Therefore, once they reached the vicinity of Damo Hall, Gu Hongzi took the lead.

Dressed as a Daoist Priest, he deliberately used the pretext of looking for a latrine to barge into the area near Damo Hall.

He evaded the first wave of patrolling Wu Sengs, but just as he was entering Damo Hall, he happened to run into a receiving monk.

This receiving monk, seeing this Daoist Priest barging in rashly, could not help being startled, and immediately stretched out a hand to block him, saying,

"Esteemed Daoist Priest, have you come to the wrong place?

This is the important grounds of Damo Hall, it is not open to the public. Please leave."

Gu Hongzi had come precisely to rustle the grass and startle the snake.

He promptly pretended to be startled, stepped forward slowly, and said,

"Damo Hall? Isn't this the latrine? This poor Daoist is bursting — could you let me relieve myself first?"

Saying so, Gu Hongzi deliberately stirred his true essence, forcing his face to flush crimson.

Then he clamped his thighs together, his whole body trembling.