Chapter 75: No One Is Innocent

Lu Wei realized he had been tricked again, and yet, he had to act delighted about it. After all, Yang Wennan's promotion meant his own survival chances had increased once more.

Wen Jinge was simply too fond of reckless actions; it was impossible for him to be the only one cleaning up the mess.

"Where do you get all these arguments from?" he asked.

"Read more, sleep less, and you can do it too," Wen Jinge replied.

Lu Wei fell silent. Was Wen Jinge indirectly calling him illiterate?

"Don't be upset!" Wen Jinge poured him another glass of water, then slipped a string of beads from her wrist and fastened it around Yang Wennan's.

When advancing to the sixth rank, the commotion could be as great or as small as one wished, and Wen Jinge had no desire to make herself an easy target. The prayer beads were her weapon for staying at the ninth rank—without them, she was just an ordinary person. Yet, for Yang Wennan, who was just a regular practitioner, the beads could serve their usual purpose: concealing a portion of one's strength.

"Keep an eye on my precious disciple for me. I'm going to watch the show," she said.

Though Lu Wei was indignant, he understood the importance of the matter. After all, he was nothing more than a tool under Wen Jinge's command! Still, if Wen Jinge truly had to look after Yang Wennan herself, he wouldn't dare step in—he feared producing another Yuan Qingling. Whenever Wen Jinge got serious, fate seemed to play cruel tricks.

"Is it possible those causing trouble are your old enemies?" he asked.

Currently, Wen Jinge seemed harmless, almost vulgar in her cunning, but Lu Wei had no idea what she had been like before. Judging by the reactions of the other peak masters, she must have once been utterly wild. Even if she had withdrawn from the world and not left the mountain for nearly a hundred years, Lu Wei believed there were many among their descendants who liked her—such as Wang Xi—but even more who hated her, like those now lurking in the murderous shadows of the small town.

"Perhaps," Wen Jinge replied without much emotion, her full attention focused as she crouched by the bedside, watching the scene outside.

The street emptied amid people's screams. Peddlers scattered in panic, beans and fruits spilled everywhere, while her disciples darted about.

Wang Xi stood beside the pastry shop, this time wielding not a bow, but a crossbow. From her elevated vantage, Wen Jinge, with her cultivator's keen eyesight, could see the emblem of the Kingdom of Qianyan etched onto the weapon. She remarked casually, "Ten thousand years ago, among the White Deer clan's children, mastery of the bow was mandatory—what about the crossbow?"

"The crossbow..." Lu Wei murmured. "There was one, a woman, adept with the crossbow. I didn't know her well."

"She must have been formidable, at least on par with you in status," Wen Jinge surmised.

"I can't say," Lu Wei shook his head. "I only saw her once, and never again."

"Was she from the Sheyue clan?"

"Probably not. The next I heard of her, she'd already been exiled."

Wen Jinge pondered this, muttering, "Only someone familiar could rouse you. Rather than saying you're familiar with the bow itself, it's the bloodline you recognize. When I caused havoc in the Faceless Illusion, you didn't react when she drew her bow."

"Did I?" Lu Wei asked.

"Of course. At the time, you were more worried the disturbance I'd caused would be blamed on you for inciting me to enter the illusion," Wen Jinge replied, clicking her tongue twice. Out on the street, Liang Si flitted through the crowd, swiftly claiming lives—he was being surrounded.

"What happened?" Lu Wei, already sensitive to bloodshed and perceiving Wen Jinge's impatience, sensed deeper meaning in her tone. "Is something wrong?"

"No, just surrounded."

"By two?"

"One. One attacking with hidden weapons while fleeing."

"Aren't you going down there?"

Yang Wennan had mostly recovered, though he looked parched—like a fish stranded on the shore, gasping for air.

Wen Jinge glanced over, not quite at ease. "No, I'm thinking about something," she said.

"Hmm?"

"I've been reading a lot lately and discovered a few things."

"I'll start reading too," Lu Wei cut in, eager to reassure her. "Even if your disciples aren't fond of books, I'll force myself to study."

Wen Jinge was thrown for a moment, wondering if Lu Wei had lost his mind. Why bring up diligent study now?

Lu Wei noticed her confusion but couldn't help asking, "You haven't considered this angle? Fine, what are you thinking?"

Though he hardly relished playing Wen Jinge's stooge.

"No. I was going to say that when I first woke, I felt restrained, but as we approached the foot of the mountain, I realized the Xuan Yun Sect had imposed almost no restrictions on me," Wen Jinge replied, pursing her lips, equally puzzled. "The peak masters have many rules, but none that bind me, as if someone on the mountain had been planning for me all along."

"Hmm?"

"And because of that," she fixed her gaze on Lu Wei, "I can see many things others cannot."

"Such as?"

"For instance, I didn't know the girl used a crossbow before."

"And now?"

"Now, I'm thinking of making improvements—reviving some techniques from the artificer path and making a gun."

"A gun?" Lu Wei was baffled.

"The crossbow is too cumbersome, though easier to use than a bow. Its flaw is awkwardness when moving—if it weren't for these alley skirmishes, do you think the girl would have survived?"

"What is a gun?" Lu Wei pressed, leaning toward the window.

The scene below was clear as day: Liang Si, like an inexhaustible blood-drenched specter, stood amid heaps of corpses. In his eyes there was only coldness, only the urge to kill. His blade rose and fell with ruthless precision, each swing claiming a living soul.

Perhaps, in the past, others had viewed him as they now saw Liang Si.

Lu Wei suddenly recalled Wen Jinge mentioning that Liang Si had endured more repression than anyone else. "Are you hoping this slaughter will ignite his life force? From what I know, he’s deliberately lingering at the seventh rank to temper his soul."

"Have you ever considered," Wen Jinge rested her elbow on his shoulder, tugging at his sleeve, "kids this age really do grow fast. I just got you new clothes, and they're almost too small again."

"Stick to the point!" Lu Wei shook her hand off. Why couldn't Wen Jinge be a bit more ladylike?

"That old fox is so calculating—he predicted I'd get into trouble at the Gate of Burning Heaven, surely knew I'd lose my memory. If my disciple had been truly obedient, who would have protected him after my amnesia?"

"Wasn't he assigned to Ai Fengling? Right..."

The two exchanged a look, and Lu Wei suddenly understood.

If Wen Jinge was an oddity, then Ai Fengling—having been hurt by demons—would only accept someone like her. Liang Si was just along for the ride; Ai Fengling’s bond with him was incidental.

"If Liang Si, as my disciple, had already crossed the threshold into the sixth rank, would he still be my disciple?"

"No," Lu Wei replied.

A disciple unacknowledged by their master, with such high cultivation, could only become an inner court elder teaching new disciples—Lu Wei could think of no other path. And someone who had once served Wen Jinge closely would inevitably be ostracized.

"I don't recall any restrictions on him."

"That's why I want to test something. I've suspected—" she pointed to her own head, "hypnosis. You, too, back when your clan was destroyed. Even Liang Si—it's possible."

"What do you mean?"

"Every person here is not innocent. Each, in their way, has lived through things."