42: Chapter 42 If you drown, remember to pull a large piece of wood into the water.

Xie Feng sat on the threshold of the courtyard for less than the time it took to brew half a cup of tea before standing up. Xie Tianxiong's current state was a bit off, and he might not necessarily be able to kill him. Thinking of this, Xie Feng vaulted over the wall, left the Xie Residence, and headed straight for the Tu Family.

The Tu Family tavern in the south of the city had not yet opened. Xie Feng went around to the back courtyard, climbed over the low wall, and crept to the base of the window of the wing room where Tu Ziguan lived. He tapped the window lattice with his blind cane three times. Only then did a rustling sound of bedding being tossed about come from inside, and the window was pushed open a crack. Tu Ziguan's face poked out through the gap, his hair as messy as a bird's nest, and his eyes not yet fully open.

"Brother Feng, do you know what time it is right now?"

"It's dawn."

"I only went to sleep when it got dawn!" Tu Ziguan roared in a lowered voice, but still pushed the window open.

When Xie Feng climbed through the window, his blind cane bumped against the window frame, producing a muffled thud. Tu Ziguan hurriedly glanced back at the doorway, but fortunately, there was no movement for the moment.

"What happened?"

Xie Feng sat down by the table and recounted everything he had seen and heard in the Xie Residence from beginning to end.

The butler's visit, the book in Xie Tianxiong's hands, that dull and heavy chilling aura, and the sluggish state of Xie Tianxiong's spiritual power.

"That book isn't right."

Xie Feng said, "I haven't figured out what it is yet, but that chilling aura, along with how Xie Tianxiong's spiritual power became sluggish when he read it, suggests that the book is influencing him. It's not a normal influence; it's some kind of deeper transformation."

Tu Ziguan's sleepiness vanished halfway through the account. When Xie Feng finished speaking, Tu Ziguan sat on the edge of the bed, supporting his knees with both hands, and remained silent for quite a long time.

"You think that book has a Cthulhu-like feel to it?"

"Not entirely sure, but it's close enough. The butler coming on behalf of Meng Yi to borrow it shows that Meng Yi knows the value of that book."

Xie Tianxiong refused to give it, and the butler didn't force the issue, merely leaving behind a remark.

Xie Feng tapped his fingers against his blind cane. "Forty years. Meng Yi has been squatting in Cangyun City for forty years, and the thing he's looking for might have been in the Xie Family all along."

"Xie Tianxiong has been reading it constantly. I don't know how long he's been reading it, but his state is definitely about to blow. I feel like he's going to be transformed."

Tu Ziguan's brows furrowed.

"Transformed? Transformed into what?"

"That leaves quite a few possibilities. The races capable of transforming humans in Cthulhu lore are far from rare."

Xie Feng stood up and paced back and forth in the room two steps. "Xie Tianxiong is my father; I can't make a move myself."

"But if there is evidence proving that the book in his hands is related to Meng Yi and the Black Pine Forest Cult, the Sect can intervene, confiscate the book, and place Xie Tianxiong under control."

"Arresting your father is useless."

Tu Ziguan interrupted Xie Feng.

"Meng Yi has always known that the book in your father's hands was in the Xie Family. The butler coming to borrow it today shows that Meng Yi knows what the book is."

"Why didn't he just take it by force? Because Xie Tianxiong reading this book is useful to Meng Yi."

Tu Ziguan stood up. "A city defense Cultivator who has holed up in Cangyun City for forty years—if that book were what he was looking for, he would have ten thousand ways to take it from the Xie Family. The fact that he hasn't taken it means what he wants isn't the book itself."

Xie Feng fell silent for a few breaths.

"So if we make a move on Xie Tianxiong, Meng Yi will immediately know that I've set my sights on him."

"Correct! Besides, he is at the Ninth Heaven of the Fifth Realm, while you are at the Second Realm and I am at the Ninth Heaven of the Second Realm. Added together, we aren't enough for him to slap to death with a single palm."

"Therefore, we must move against Meng Yi first."

"The problem is that Meng Yi is far too clean."

"You went to the City Defense Mansion to see him, and that agent from Liushu Village also escaped, yet he still has the leisure to send a butler to the Xie Residence to borrow a book."

"Either he doesn't know that the agent got into trouble, or he knows and simply doesn't care."

"Regardless of which situation it is, he hasn't revealed any flaws."

"Then we'll make him reveal a flaw."

Tu Ziguan walked over to the table and sat down, picked up the cold cup of tea on the table, took a sip, frowned, and put it back down.

"We can't handle him, but someone else can."

"Meng Yi is the city defense Cultivator of Cangyun City. Nominally, he belongs to the jurisdiction of the Tianque Sect, but in reality, he is subject to the imperial court and the Qingyun Sect."

"For the Qingyun Sect to move against him, they need a plausible reason, and our weight alone isn't enough to provide that reason."

"Who are you planning to drag into the water?" Xie Feng heard the subtext in Tu Ziguan's words.

Tu Ziguan grinned.

"Wen Yushu."

Right.

Wen Yushu's weight was heavier than both of them tied together. If he 'accidentally' discovered that the Cangyun City city defense Cultivator was connected to the Black Goat Cult, and went back to tell his ancestor, and Elder Wen dropped a word to the Penal Hall...

Xie Feng thought for less than a second before the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.

"Call him."

Tu Ziguan fished the jade token out from under his pillow, infused it with spiritual power, and pressed down on the Spirit Stone.

The jade token lit up twice, and Wen Yushu's voice came out from within, carrying a hint of impatience at being interrupted: "What is it?"

"Brother Yushu," Tu Ziguan brought the jade token to his mouth, his tone deadpan, "Cangyun City has run into some trouble. The city defense Cultivator, Meng Yi, who is at the Ninth Heaven of the Fifth Realm, is suspected of having ties to the Black Pine Forest Cult."

"We have testimonies, residual samples of bizarre derivative entities, and the book in Xie Feng's father's possession that was targeted by Meng Yi's butler."

"The chain of evidence is basically complete, but Xie Feng and my cultivation are insufficient, so we can't touch him."

The other end of the jade token fell silent for two breaths.

"What do you want me to do?"

Wen Yushu was exceptionally clever and sensed something was amiss the moment he heard it.

"You don't really need to do much."

Xie Feng took over the conversation, a trace of unconcealed amusement in his voice: "It's just that if Elder Wen's grandson encounters harassment from the city defense Cultivator while investigating a case in Cangyun City, shouldn't Elder Wen step in and ask about it?"

The silence on the other end of the jade token lasted even longer.

Then Wen Yushu's voice came out. His tone didn't change at all, but his speaking speed was half a beat faster than usual: "You two scheming bastards planned this all out, didn't you?"

"No, no," Tu Ziguan quickly said, "purely a coincidence."

"A coincidence that just happens to require my ancestor's authority?"

"Brother Yushu," Xie Feng said, "with hundreds of thousands of residents in Cangyun City, the Black Goat Cult has infiltrated it for who knows how long. Meng Yi has squatted there for decades, and Liushu Village had another attempted blood sacrifice case last night. The two of us can keep investigating, but to what extent would an investigation ever end?"

"You are a smart man; you know that the scale of this matter is no longer something that a few Inner Sect Disciples can handle."

Wen Yushu did not respond.

"I will set off tomorrow."

The jade token went dim.

Xie Feng pulled the jade token away from his mouth and exchanged a glance with Tu Ziguan. Both of them burst out laughing simultaneously, looking like a pair of weasels that had successfully stolen a chicken.

"Alright."

Tu Ziguan shoved the jade token back under the pillow. "Wen Yushu is leaving tomorrow. From the Qingyun Sect to Cangyun City, even a flying boat would take a little over half a day to fly there. How should we meet and coordinate with him after he arrives?"

"There's no need to coordinate; once he arrives, he will naturally find us."

Xie Feng said, "What we need to do right now is withdraw from the Xie Residence. I cannot continue living in the courtyard."

"Meng Yi's butler came to the Xie Residence today, which means Meng Yi's eyes and ears have already entered the Xie Family's doors."

"If I keep staying there, every move I make will be right under his nose."

"Stay with me. There's an empty room in the back courtyard that my dad uses to pile up sundries. Clean it up a bit and it's livable. I'll tell him you're a fellow disciple from the Qingyun Sect, and he won't ask any more questions."

"Alright. I'll go back now to pack my things, and by the way..."

Xie Feng's words were interrupted by a muffled thud.

That sound came from further away, seemingly from the direction slightly east of the city center. The muffled thud itself wasn't loud, but it carried an extremely low-frequency tremor.

The floor of the Tu Family tavern shuddered slightly along with that muffled thud, and a circle of extremely fine ripples appeared on the surface of the cold tea on the table.

Xie Feng and Tu Ziguan turned toward that direction simultaneously.