M49S Vol 1 Chapter 61. No Shame In Deceit

With thunderous means, Meng Qiqi crippled Wang Jing and executed Wuyan in the blink of an eye. The overwhelming might he unleashed struck deep into everyone’s hearts.

Once the shock passed, all that remained was awe.

This scene, this moment, would likely be burned into their memories for the rest of their lives.

At first, the younger cultivators had struggled to view Meng Qiqi, someone close to their own age, as a true elder or high-level cultivator. But now, they finally felt the truth of it. Even Zheng Cheng, who rarely showed emotion, revealed a trace of excitement in the hand gripping his sword. For someone like him, that was already a rare display.

The Little Martial Uncle of Gushan was bold in action and fearless in judgment, unmatched in both heaven and earth.

No young cultivator dared step forward to question him. On the one hand, Meng Qiqi’s sheer presence was enough to cow them into silence. No hot-headed fool would be stupid enough to provoke him now. On the other, no matter how ruthless his actions had seemed, Wuyan and Wang Jing’s crimes were undeniable.

“Amitabha. May peace follow.” The compassionate expression on Master Kongming’s face carried a trace of sorrow. Even Elder San from Ruizhu said nothing to defend the Wang clan. In fact, a touch of frost had settled over her brow.

Only the Wang clan members could not hold back their fury. One after another, they glared at Meng Qiqi with hatred in their eyes.

“Meng Qiqi! How could you act on Wuyan’s words alone and strike our Grand Elder so viciously?”

“You’re clearly abusing your power for personal revenge!”

One accusation after another, curses and shouts filled the air, grating and harsh. But Meng Qiqi paid them no mind. He simply turned to look at Wang Changlin, whose expression was grim and unreadable, and said calmly, “Does the clan leader think the same? Do you intend to stand up for him?”

That question was a naked threat.

Wang Changlin’s chest tightened.

Meng Qiqi had only crippled Wang Jing’s dantian rather than taking his life. That alone showed he was not acting without restraint. But if he chose to go head-to-head with Meng Qiqi now, the momentum Meng Qiqi carried could drag the entire Wang clan into ruin, even if it meant mutual destruction.

But if he pushed Wang Jing out as the scapegoat and let all the filth fall on his head, then perhaps…

That path, however, meant bowing to Meng Qiqi. And that, to Wang Changlin, was the most bitter pill of all.

He struggled inwardly for a long moment. As the shouting from the Wang clan grew louder and more frenzied, he finally barked, “Enough. All of you, shut your mouths.”

His long-standing authority still held weight. Silence fell at once.

Then he said in a low voice, “The Grand Elder colluded with Wuyan. The evidence is irrefutable. There is no need for further argument.”

“Clan Leader!” The Wang clan members cried out in shock. Even Wang Ziqian clenched his fists in silent frustration. Wang Zi’an, still dazed, suddenly looked up at the sound, but his throat was dry, and pain knotted in his chest.

He knew his grandfather was guilty, and deserved punishment. But the way Wang Changlin had cast him aside so quickly still chilled him to the bone. So this was what they called the greater good of the clan?

Wang Changlin met his gaze. The doubt and anguish in Wang Zi’an’s eyes struck like a blade. He could not help but harden his tone.

“Zi’an, do not abandon the clan for the sake of one man. Among your generation, you are the most sensible child. I trust that you understand right from wrong.”

Understand right from wrong?

Wang Zi’an could no longer tell. The grandfather who had always cherished him had turned into a villain overnight. And the man now speaking to him, how much of what he said was truly sincere?

The right and wrong he spoke of… whose right and whose wrong?

Wang Zi’an looked around at the familiar faces surrounding him. His cousins, his uncles, the men of his clan. In their eyes, he saw confusion, anger, and blame.

Who were they blaming?

Was it… me?

Wang Zi’an’s face grew a shade paler. His short nails dug into his palms, sharp pain biting into the flesh. He stepped forward to stand before Zhao Jue and the others, and solemnly kowtowed three times. Then, he lifted the unconscious Wang Jing onto his back and walked away.

From beginning to end, he did not speak a single word in his own defense. His silence carried a heavy weight.

Wang Changlin watched him go, suppressing the irritation in his chest. He said, “Wang Jing colluded with the rogue cultivator Wuyan, but the rest of the clan truly knew nothing of it. As the Grand Elder, he held authority over the Elders, and even I, as clan leader, had no right to interfere in certain matters. I ask all of you to judge this with clarity.”

In his final moments, Wuyan had only implicated Wang Jing. Now that Wang Changlin had pushed all the blame onto Wang Jing, the dead could not argue.

As Wang Changlin had expected, Meng Qiqi no longer pressed the matter once he backed down. He let out a quiet sigh of relief and turned to Jin Man.

“As for the matter of Jiang Xie’s death, it seems you may have been mistaken, Lord Jin.”

Jin Man had gone back on his word, then turned on Wang Changlin at the last moment, infuriating him to no end. But Jin Man showed no shame at all. He simply shrugged and said breezily, “Yes, perhaps I really did see it wrong.”

“You—!” Wang Changlin suddenly realized that Jin Man had been bluffing the entire time. That so-called vital force imprint exclusive to the Wang clan never existed. He and Meng Qiqi had schemed this together from the start.

Seeing Wang Changlin’s face abruptly change, Jin Man could not stop himself from laughing out loud. Xiao Xiao, meanwhile, quietly stood beside his senior brothers, keeping a low profile, his merit and contribution hidden from view.

If anyone asked Xiao Xiao what his master excelled at, he would say he could lie through his teeth with a perfectly straight face.

Not only was the so-called vital force imprint on Jiang Xie’s body completely fabricated, even that story Meng Qiqi told Wuyan, about his son being killed by Wang Jing, was a lie. That mother and child were still being held in the Holy Sovereign’s residence. The baby was plump and rosy from eating well, smiling at anyone who approached.

His master had once said, deception is a soldier’s weapon. Blow those bastards sky-high.

A wave of dizziness swept over Wang Changlin. He was so furious he could barely see straight. He had actually been played in circles by these dirty little tricks, tricks not even worth mentioning in high society. It was utterly, completely…

As the others present began to register what had just happened, their expressions turned strange. No one knew what to say. Meng Qiqi, on the other hand, had remained silent ever since Wang Zi’an left carrying Wang Jing. His face was stern, his bearing dignified, truly the image of a lofty cultivator.

Tang Li glanced at his junior brother and understood that it was time for him to step in. He straightened his collar, dusted off his sleeves, and stepped forward with solemn composure.

“Everyone, what happened today within the Wang clan truly saddens me,” he began with great sincerity. “But no matter. A mistake recognized and corrected is a mistake half redeemed. I hope Clan Leader Wang will be stricter with his people in the future and prevent such errors from happening again. As for the matter with Wuyan, though he is dead and Wang Jing has already been punished, we do not yet know whether any of Wang Jing’s associates remain involved. I trust that Clan Leader Wang will cooperate fully with the investigation. And I ask Master Kongming to bear witness to this matter.”

Master Kongming nodded in agreement.

Wang Changlin had no choice but to suppress his anger and respond through gritted teeth. “Brother Tang is too kind. If not for the Gushan Sword’s intervention, Wuyan might have continued to harm the Wang clan. Regarding the investigation to come, I will offer my full cooperation.”

“Not at all, not at all. Our Little Martial Uncle may have acted a bit impulsively. I hope everyone here won’t take offense.” Tang Li remained humble, doing his best to smooth things over with polite words and a calm tone.

While Tang Li handled the aftermath on one side, Meng Qiqi turned to Chen Boyan. “Let’s go.”

He swept his sleeve and soared into the sky on his sword.

The cultivators all looked up at his departing figure. Admiration, awe, resentment, envy, each emotion stirred differently in their hearts. But regardless of what they felt, after today, not a single person in the cultivation world would dare say that Gushan Sword was in decline.

The Wang clan had fallen. Gushan had risen. That was now an undeniable fact.

Only Chen Wujie, who had watched the entire scene silently from start to finish, narrowed his eyes. As he stared at Meng Qiqi’s receding figure, something unreadable flickered in his gaze.

At the same time, a figure appeared from the reeds along the lakeshore. It was Yin Wuhua, who had quietly slipped away from the dueling grounds in the center of the lake. He had been trailing Yu Yao all along. When Yu Yao first sank beneath the surface, everyone else had been too distracted by the Holy Sovereign to notice, but Yin Wuhua had never taken his eyes off him.

Yu Yao still had not resurfaced, which struck Yin Wuhua as odd. So he dove into the water to search for him.

He found him.

Yu Yao seemed to know some kind of breath-holding technique and was trying to slip away underwater. Yin Wuhua, who cared little for cultivation or conspiracies but could never resist a bit of chaos, quietly followed out of sheer curiosity and amusement.

But Yu Yao had not gotten far when three more figures suddenly appeared in the water.

They appeared so strangely that even Yin Wuhua failed to see where they had come from. In the blink of an eye, Yu Yao was knocked unconscious and dragged away. Fortunately, Yin Wuhua had kept enough distance that they did not notice him.

By now, the three had already pulled Yu Yao onto shore, where a carriage stood waiting. Hidden in the reeds, Yin Wuhua watched cautiously, but made no move to help.

First of all, he and Yu Yao were not close. In fact, he found the guy vaguely punchable. Second, those three clearly outnumbered him, and if he lost the fight, then what?

Before long, the carriage rolled away into the distance. After some thought, Yin Wuhua walked out from hiding and decided to follow.

The sun dipped westward. In the space of a breath, the light over Mochou Lake had turned to golden dusk.

Inside Chanhua Tower, the red plum blossoms were still in full bloom, paying no mind to the spring wind beyond its walls. As Meng Qiqi walked past, a red plum petal fell and lightly touched his shoulder.

He did not pause. He continued walking, straight up to the fifth floor.

The door slammed open with a bang.

Chen Boyan sensed something was wrong. He followed Meng Qiqi inside and quickly reached back to shut the door behind them. Just as it closed, Meng Qiqi leaned against the table and suddenly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Chen Boyan rushed forward to steady him, but Meng Qiqi coldly pushed him away.

Meng Qiqi poured himself a cup of tea and rinsed out the taste of blood, his back to Chen Boyan. After taking a deep breath, he said flatly, “Get out.”

“What happened to you?” Chen Boyan frowned tightly. The moment he saw Meng Qiqi cough up blood, it felt like something inside his chest had been wrenched apart. He could not help reaching out, seizing Meng Qiqi’s arm and forcing him to face him directly.

Meng Qiqi’s lips were pale, his eyes tinged with anger, and a streak of blood diluted by tea still clung to the corner of his mouth.

He stared directly at Chen Boyan and said, “Senior Nephew, you’re overstepping.”

But Chen Boyan ignored him. His expression darkened.

“Did you just use some kind of forbidden technique?”

“If you’ve already figured that out, why are you still asking? Can’t you see I’m in pain? Let go.” Meng Qiqi kicked him hard in the shin, but Chen Boyan did not even flinch. He did not move, did not even furrow his brow. Instead, he looked him over from head to toe, hands still gripping his arms tightly, his presence growing colder and more oppressive.

Meng Qiqi suddenly remembered something from the past, and for a moment, he felt a flicker of fear.