102: Chapter 102 I don't have that kind of hobby!

Xie Feng squatted down there for a whole day and night, reading most of the stone tablets that had churned up on the edge of the bone swamp.

The contents of those stone tablets made him certain of two things.

First, before his Transmigration, Liu Yanqing was probably a gag writer; "One, two, three, wooden man" was just the appetizer, followed by a warning stele inscribed with "Construction ahead, please detour" and a revised doggerel poem.

Second, this ancestor's actual attainment in the art of Seal was far more solid than he had boasted; every single stone tablet he carved was a node of the entire Seal system.

While cursing in his heart that this person was too unserious, Xie Feng still scanned all the rune nodes with his Qi perception, then walked back along the trail.

After returning to the ground, he did not return to the post house to catch up on sleep, but went straight to the warm chamber on the west side of the Hall of Supreme Harmony.

As expected, Emperor Zhou Weixi was still sitting on the low couch.

Xie Feng sat down and briefly reported the contents of the stone tablets found at the bottom of Shituolin Swamp.

After listening, Emperor Zhou Weixi was silent for a moment, then put down the memorial and said with a trace of faint amusement in his tone: "You mean, that ancestor carved the numbers one, two, and three in the core of the Shituolin Swamp Seal, and also drew a wooden man?"

"Pretty much, and that guy is definitely a ruthless person. After all this time, Shituolin Swamp still can't break free."

Emperor Zhou Weixi pointed to the official historian's records on the table for Xie Feng.

"Your family's ancestor can probably rank in the top five in the history of the Seal arts of the Nine Provinces. The Ministry of Works' Sealing crew spent the energy of how many generations just to maintain the Seal framework of Shituolin Swamp, yet the rune nodes he left on the stone tablets back then are still operating to this day.

Why do you think he hid his identity and sneaked into the expeditionary force back then?"

Xie Feng had indeed thought about it.

Liu Yanqing had buried too many foreshadowing elements on the timeline of the Ranhuo City incident. From the Xie Family Bloodline markers to the imperial family's sealed items and then to the Shituolin Swamp Seal system, this person left backup plans everywhere after his Transmigration.

But Xie Feng didn't want to admit it right now; at a glance, this was clearly trouble.

Emperor Zhou Weixi picked up the topmost memorial from the stack at his side and shook it.

Xie Feng's Qi perception swept over it. The cover of the memorial was stamped with the cabinet's vermilion wax Seal, and the text inside read:

"Respectfully submitted by the Junior Vice Minister of Works: Petitioning to behead the capital's underlying threat"

"Are you kidding me, brother? I just advised your parents to get a divorce; how deep is your hatred? Why are you petitioning to behead me?"

Xie Feng stared with his three eyes to show his displeasure.

"This is the memorial submitted today. It is reasoned with evidence, and several grand secretaries in the hall seconded it on the spot. Duke Yong hopes to persuade a separation, and a portion of powerful aristocrats also supports it."

Xie Feng had known this day would come. Ever since he was at the Qingzhou Governors Mansion, he knew that Lv Xu wanted to kill him, Grand Cultivator Helan Yan wanted to Seal him, and the Ministry of War wanted to incorporate him. Every faction had its own set of plans.

Duke Yong's plan was already the most courteous one: no killing, no injury, just making him stay further away from the imperial city.

If Xie Feng were Duke Yong, he would probably submit the exact same memorial.

"So is it still not too late for me to go out and lie low to avoid the limelight? It won't be for long; once Third Princess's matter is settled, I will return to Qingyun Sect. Anyway, for someone like me who is so afraid of death, it's quite nice not to stay in a place crowded with high officials and nobles."

"You can't leave for now. You haven't helped the Third Princess clearly identify that thing inside her yet. If I let you leave, she will chase you all the way from the imperial capital to Qingyun Sect.

Besides, it's too late to leave now. If you retreat without helping the Third Princess figure out a clear reason, Duke Yong will be able to intercept you halfway and escort you personally."

Emperor Zhou Weixi turned the memorial to the next page.

"There is one more thing. I had people review the old archives over the past two days and discovered that your family's ancestor forged the identity of a staff adjutant back then. At that time, he belonged to those who sneaked into the official expeditionary sequence by fraudulent means. According to the Great Zhou Code, this is the capital crime of deceiving the monarch."

Xie Feng suddenly felt a bad premonition!

"Tell me, should I settle this account with you or with the Xie Family? There aren't many people left in the Xie Family, right?"

Xie Feng's fingers holding the teacup hovered mid-air.

"Your Majesty, I don't even know this person at all. I am merely a junior who copied his notes, not his Personal Disciple. The one he deceived back then was the imperial family of the late emperor's dynasty, not you."

"The late emperor was also a member of the Zhou family."

"Your Majesty! You just said he could rank in the top five in the history of Seal arts."

"Being able to rank in the top five is two different matters from committing the capital crime of deceiving the monarch." Emperor Zhou Weixi closed the memorial, but Xie Feng noticed that when he put the memorial down, the corners of his lips curved upward slightly.

"Forget it, this account will be logged for now. Once you finish identifying the Third Princess's matter and stabilize the Seal of Shituolin Swamp, I will consider it as your meritorious service making up for your faults. If it's not enough to offset it, we'll talk then."

Holy crap! This is too sinister! What is wrong with you, Your Majesty?! Playing mind games?!

Xie Feng picked up the teacup and finished the last sip of tea, cursing inwardly that he should have known better than to run his mouth.

When reporting to Third Princess, he shouldn't have said that Liu Yanqing was the Xie Family's ancestor; he should have only said "It seems that Sealing Great Master is also a transmigrator."

Now, because of one extra sentence, the Xie Family had inexplicably acquired a messy debt of the capital crime of deceiving the monarch.

Yet this debt wasn't entirely unjust; back then, if Liu Yanqing hadn't forged his identity to sneak into the expeditionary force and return from the Northern Continent, Shituolin Swamp could never have been sealed to this day.

This bastard transmigrator left a technological legacy for the imperial family and a crime of deceiving the monarch for his own family.

Oh well, when you have too many lice, you don't feel the bites; when you have too many debts, you stop worrying.

He was used to it, he was numb.

Anyway, the entire Xie Family had already disappeared into who knows what deep mountains and old forests, so this debt couldn't be collected from anyone anyway.

Xie Feng put the teacup down on the low table, bowed to Emperor Zhou Weixi, turned around, and pushed open the door of the warm chamber while cursing under his breath.

As expected, the Centurion was leaning in the shadows at the end of the corridor. Xie Feng walked past him and patted his shoulder.

"Centurion, bring me some breakfast tomorrow. Don't always bring tea and pastries; I want to eat flatbread."

After finishing, Xie Feng walked back. By the time he returned to the residence arranged by the royal family, the sky had turned pitch black.

Pushing open the door, he leaned the cold crystal blind staff against the wall, took off his black cloak and draped it over the back of the chair, and as he was walking towards the bed, his knee happened to bump into the corner of the rosewood table.

"Damn it!"

It hurt.

His kneecap struck the right-angled edge, causing Xie Feng to hiss in pain.

"Hiss..."

Then it felt great.

It was real!

Xie Feng stood still without moving, slowly reaching out to press the kneecap that had been bumped. His fingertips exerted force to press down, and then the reaction appeared once more.

"Wait a minute!?"

First, a Fourth Realm Cultivator communicates with heaven and earth, and their Qi perception is spread around their body at all times. Not to mention a table placed in a fixed position, even if an ant crawled across the floor, he would be able to sense how many legs it was moving.

As for bumping into the corner of a table, let alone reaching the Fourth Realm, even when he was in the Second Realm eating flatbread at the Tu Family inn, he wouldn't have made such a low-level mistake.

Second, it was true that Xie Feng was still somewhat unsatisfied with his body—dark green was a bit too conspicuous, and the hole on his chest hadn't healed yet—but that didn't mean he liked this kind of thing, hey!

Yet just now, that flash of pleasure response was frighteningly real.

"I don't have this kind of hobby!"