Chapter 631: Traitor!

Chapter 631: Traitor!

Chapter 631: Traitor!

The gloomy wind dissipated, but the sky over Black Swamp remained gloomy.

As soon as the ghost tide faded, the White Paper Fairy City no longer had its original brightness and splendor. The city walls were mottled, and the pale walls were either covered with cracks or potholes.

Tie Guzheng could not hide his fatigue, but he still gritted his teeth and dragged his injured body to command his subordinates to first repair the fortifications and then clean up the battlefield.

Not only the city walls were damaged, but many buildings near the walls were also damaged.

The massive attack brought by the ghost tide has already threatened the city. The ruins are filled with the smell of burning paper, the rusty smell of the monks' blood, and the breath of death among the corpses.

There are many camps for wounded soldiers in Baizhi Immortal City.

Every one of them is packed with people.

But being able to stay here is still a lucky thing, because many monks died on the spot, without even a chance to heal.

The monks in charge of medical care shuttled back and forth here.

Usually, Qingchi is also active here.

She is an expert at using her blue flame to heal the injuries of the living, and it often has miraculous effects and the results are rapid.

After each round of treatment, Qing Chi would gain a lot of prestige, and his reputation would rise steadily throughout the Immortal City.

But at this moment, she was still with Yang Sanyan.

The person presiding over the scene here is the old scholar Zheng Shoumo from Mochi.

"Master Zheng, come here quickly, someone is dying!" A monk called for help.

Zheng Shoumo rushed over and saw the wounded soldier dying. There was hardly a single intact armor plate on his body, and his left shoulder was in a horrible state. The shoulder blade and clavicle were completely broken, and the sharp bone fragments pierced through the flesh, exposing the hideous appearance in the dim light.

In a hole in the flesh and bones, there were sticky black blood clots and grayish-white bone residues.

Every time the wounded soldier took a breath with difficulty, dirty blood with bubbles gushed out from the depths of the hole, flowing down along the tattered lapels and soaking the stretcher beneath him.

His breath was as weak as a candle in the wind.

Zheng Shoumo looked carefully, and with his left hand, he pulled out a scroll of pale yellow jade that was neither silk nor satin, but had a warm luster.

He held the jade tablet in his palm, infused it with magic power, and emitted a light yellow glow.

The light shines above the wounded soldiers, revealing an article about self-cultivation and self-improvement.

Countless words mixed with warm yellow light penetrated into the wounded soldier's body.

The wounded soldier's body first stiffened suddenly, then relaxed. His tightly furrowed brows slowly relaxed, and the wound healed at a speed visible to the naked eye.

After a moment, his tightly closed eyelids loosened a little and he slowly opened his eyes. Although his vision was still unfocused, he had a glimmer of hope.

In order to save the wounded soldier's life, Zheng Shoumo immediately stopped treatment.

It's not that he doesn't want to, but he has to hold back. There are too many wounded soldiers, and from time to time there are wounded soldiers on the verge of death, requiring emergency treatment.

He and some monks with superb medical skills are mainly responsible for taking timely action to pull the wounded back from the abyss of death.

"Sir Zheng, Sir Wen is at the camp gate. Please come and have a chat." A monk came forward to report.

Zheng Shoumo's eyes narrowed slightly, his expression was indifferent, and he nodded: "I'll be back soon."

He left the group of wounded soldiers and came to the camp gate, where he saw Wen Runyu with his hands behind his back.

Wen Runyu turned around slowly, and as he did so, the other two monks revealed themselves.

It was Ning Zhuo and Yang Sanyan.

The three men surrounded Zheng Shoumo, looking overwhelming.

At the same time, the surrounding environment changed rapidly. After a few breaths, Zheng Shoumo was already in a grassland.

Grass head dojo!

Zheng Shoumo's face showed a slight change of color, staring at the source of Caotou Daochang - Yang Sanyan: "This must be Master Yang Sanyan of Wanxiang Sect."

"May I ask why you are here, sir?"

Yang Sanyan: "Someone has exposed your identity as a traitor, Zheng Shoumo."

Yang San looked at Ning Zhuo.

Zheng Shoumo glanced at Ning Zhuo, then turned to look at Wen Ruonyu: "This is slander. Does Lord Wen think so too?"

Wen Ruanyu had a complicated expression, and sighed, "Mr. Zheng, I just have a suspicion, and we need to confront each other now."

Zheng Shoumo then turned to Ning Zhuo and said, "My dear Jiao Ma, I didn't expect that our meeting would be like this. Please tell me what I did to cause such a huge misunderstanding in your mind."

Ning Zhuo said calmly, "The male concubines of Zhuangyangyuan were poisoned on a large scale, shocking the whole city. I investigated the scene and always felt something was strange."

"When I was alone, I realized where the weirdness came from."

"That's Yang Weida over there."

"When other male concubines died, their faces were hideous and filled with pain. But Yang Weida was not like that. He looked calm, as if he didn't feel any pain from the loss of life."

"Why is this so?"

Zheng Shoumo: "Perhaps the murderer acted too quickly, so Yang Weida did not suffer and died too quickly."

Ning Zhuo shook his head: "There is a key hidden here - how did the male concubines die? The real cause of death of Yang Weida and others was ultimately attributed to the poisonous spiritual food."

"As a result, an innocent elderly man voluntarily confessed his guilt."

"We all know that he is not the murderer, so who is the murderer, and how did he manage to poison and kill so many male concubines?"

Zheng Shoumo had a blank expression on his face: "My dear Jiao Ma, if you haven't even figured out this issue, it's a bit too hasty to come to confront me, isn't it?"

Ning Zhuo smiled bitterly: "I am indeed not as good as some people. I am not good at solving cases."

"I guess the murderer has been hiding his plotting methods."

"Whether it's the recent mass killing of male concubines or the previous deaths of Shen Bing and Chen Sui, the causes of their deaths are hidden beneath the surface."

"At first I thought the murderer faked the death in order to frame each other, sow discord and disrupt order in the city."

“Maybe it does have this purpose, but it’s not the main purpose.”

"The murderer's main purpose is to disguise himself and cover up his real means of assassinating others. And this method will be very distinctive. Once discovered, it is likely to implicate the murderer!"

"If the means of assassinating others came from Confucianism, then it would be difficult for us to distinguish it. Confucianism is rare here. And in the whole city, only Wen Ruanyu and Lord Zheng are Confucianists."

Zheng Shoumo: "That makes sense, but it's just a guess. How can you prove that I'm the murderer?"

"And according to what friend Jiao Ma said, this confrontation is not only against me, but also against Master Wen Ruanyu?"

Wen Ruanyu's eyes moved slightly, but she remained silent.

Ning Zhuo stared at Zheng Shoumo with a sharp look: "Yang Weida's death is a flaw."

"If he and the other monks were poisoned, their expressions would surely be painful and distorted."

"But he didn't!"

"The murderer's assassination method was ineffective against him, forcing the murderer to find other methods to kill him. Or perhaps his assassination method was not as effective against Yang Weida." "This makes me wonder what the difference is between Yang Weida and the other male concubines."

"Obviously, the most obvious difference is that he is an outsider!"

Zheng Shoumo remained expressionless.

Ning Zhuo continued, "So, is there any huge difference between outsiders and the locals of Baizhi Xiancheng?"

"Yes, there is one."

"That's Mochi!"

When Zheng Shoumo heard this, he finally raised his eyebrows.

Ning Zhuo said again: "It was only after listening to Senior Wen's teachings that I realized the contribution of Mo Chi to the enlightenment of the entire Baizhi Immortal City!"

"The ink pond is a treasure for Confucianism, and is derived from the inkstone, one of the four treasures of the study: pen, ink, paper, and inkstone. The water in the ink pond can educate people, wash away their barbaric and violent spirits, and bring them back to the path of literature."

"Since its construction, the ink pond has been the main source of drinking water for the entire White Paper Fairy City and even the surrounding villages and towns."

"And the ink pool is under your care, Mr. Zheng. In order to maintain the daily operation of the ink pool, you also go around to understand the people's sentiments, serve in various positions in the fairy city, visit alleys, and participate in many aspects of the city life."

"You are a Confucian cultivator. It would be very easy for you to tamper with the ink."

"The drinking water in the Immortal City is all ink. Even when making spiritual food, you can't escape the use of water. This is like a poison. The whole city has been calculated by you."

"You used ink as a guide and some Confucian cultivation method to accurately assassinate the target..."

Zheng Shoumo snorted coldly: "Enough, Jiao Ma, these are all your conjectures. If you have any evidence, please throw it out directly. I have an important task and I don't have time to listen to your long-winded words. You know, you have delayed me for so long, and it is very likely that the wounded will die because of this!"

Yang Sanyan and Wen Runyu both looked at Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo spread his hands: "I have no evidence."

Yang Sanyan and Wen Runyu both glared at Ning Zhuo.

Ning Zhuo held his head high and chest puffed out, not showing any stage fright: "I told you before, I'm not some great detective."

Yang Sanyan snorted coldly: "Boy, I'm not here to play with you."

Wen Ruanyu said: "Perhaps we can ask the city lord to help and use the Su Wen Heart-breaking Scroll."

Ning Zhuo shook his head: "It's useless."

"I think the Lord City Lord should have used the Su Wen Heart-breaking Scroll on all the high-ranking officials when he was investigating the traitors."

"The traitor has not been found. There are only two possibilities. One is that the traitor is not among the top leaders, and the other is that the Su Wen Pan Xin Juan is ineffective."

"The Suwen Penetration Volume is a Confucian method. Perhaps it was precisely because of this that Mr. Zheng was able to safely pass every review."

Zheng Shoumo sneered: "I understand what you have said. All in all, this is just your guess. You are wrongly accusing the innocent!"

Ning Zhuo was about to speak when Wen Ruanyu suggested, "If Mr. Zheng has tampered with the ink pool, perhaps I can go and investigate. With my Confucian skills, I can check if there are any suspicious clues."

Ning Zhuo waved his hand: "How could Mr. Zheng not be on guard against this?"

"I still remember, Lord Wen, you once told me that the ink pool had been destroyed repeatedly over a long period of time."

"You told me that the ghosts are inherently gloomy and unwilling to be changed by external forces, so they try every possible means to destroy us."

"I understand that, but what I don't understand is why their sabotage was successful so many times?"

"The ink pool is so important to Baizhi Immortal City. According to common sense, shouldn't it be heavily protected?"

Wen Ruanyu smiled bitterly: "It has been heavily protected for a long time, but every time the ghosts destroy it, they are very tricky. Sometimes internal members are instigated to rebel, and sometimes they are just whimsical. You can never imagine how magical their methods of destruction are..."

Having said this, Wen Runyu's face showed strange color and she paused.

His pupils narrowed slightly and he stared at Zheng Shoumo.

In the past, he didn't think so. But now, reflecting on it, he suddenly realized that it was really strange that such an important facility as the ink pool could be destroyed repeatedly.

As for Zheng Shoumo, who was in charge of defending the ink pool, he was either incompetent or involved.

So, is Zheng Shoumo incompetent?
Wen Runyu didn't even think about this question and just shook her head to deny it.

Zheng Shoumo was better than him as a Jindan cultivator in many aspects. For example, his understanding of the "Summary of Amnesty". So much so that Wen Ruanyu took the initiative to give up his position in recruiting the ghost generals, as Zheng Shoumo was better at it than him.

This is the golden age of cultivation!

In such a prosperous era, all kinds of cultivation techniques flourished and a hundred schools of thought contended.

Just as Wen Ruanyu introduced to Ning Zhuo before, Confucianism is a school that came later and gained the upper hand. The reason why it was able to occupy a certain position in the world is that it mixed a lot of cultivation techniques into its cultivation methods.

For example, the four traditional arts of scholars are playing the piano, chess, calligraphy and painting, and the six arts of a gentleman are etiquette, music, archery, charioteering, calligraphy and mathematics.

Cultivation is only one aspect of measuring a cultivator's strength.

Mastering advanced skills can often allow a cultivator with lower cultivation to defeat an opponent with higher cultivation.

Confucian practitioners have a deep knowledge of music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and various works, and can do things that Confucian practitioners of higher levels cannot do.

Since Zheng Shoumo could surpass Wen Runyu in the "Contract Outline for Recruiting Amnesty", why couldn't he surpass the latter in other aspects?
This is a very possible thing.

Thinking of this, Wen Runyu's gaze towards Zheng Shoumo changed drastically.

Zheng Shoumo snorted coldly and questioned Ning Zhuo again: "Jiao Ma, do you have any evidence? From the beginning to the end, you have been guessing. If you have evidence, show it. If not, get out! Stop delaying my work."

Ning Zhuo had a blank expression on his face: "I've already said it, I have no evidence."

Zheng Shoumo raised his eyebrows and was about to scold him, but Ning Zhuo continued to speak to himself: "I am not a master detective."

"But I'm the deputy city lord!"

"I don't care about evidence when I do things."

Zheng Shoumo's expression suddenly froze.

Wen Runyu frowned and looked hesitant.

On the contrary, Yang Sanyan raised his head, laughed loudly, and clapped his hands, saying: "This is exactly what I think! Zheng Shoumo, you just surrender, anyway, without you in the city, it will only cost a few more cultivators. Such a huge White Paper Immortal City can afford such a loss. You think too highly of yourself, it doesn't matter if you are gone!"

Zheng Shoumo's lips moved as he stared at Ning Zhuo, as if he wanted to curse, but due to his manners, he did not utter the curse out loud.

Ning Zhuo's gaze seemed to be able to penetrate people's hearts. He said slowly: "Mr. Zheng, if you are innocent, you can tie your hands and let us seal you and detain you for a period of time. But I think, hehe, you may not be willing to do so."

At the end, Ning Zhuo smiled meaningfully.

"What do you mean?" Wen Runyu frowned, expressing confusion.

The anger on Zheng Shoumo's face suddenly disappeared, and he became expressionless: "Yes, I don't want to."

Wen Runyu and Yang Sanyan glanced sideways and stared at Zheng Shoumo closely.

Zheng Shoumo's words were very problematic, as they were tantamount to indirectly admitting Ning Zhuo's accusations against him.

However, the next moment, Zheng Shoumo said bluntly: "Yes, I am the traitor you have been looking for."

(End of this chapter)