36: Chapter 36 Knowing Autumn Draws Clear Water

Outside Zhou Zhanpeng's quarters at Kongsang Academy.

The atmosphere was solemn, bordering on oppressive.

Jiang Qingshui wore a plain white long robe, his figure as upright as a pine tree. His features were seventy percent similar to Jiang Zhiqiu's, but his brow held a sharpness and gloom born from long years in a position of high authority.

He brought no attendants, standing alone at the entrance of the quarters, bowing deeply toward the tightly closed wooden door.

“Jiang Qingshui pays his respects to Instructor Zhou.”

His voice was clear, yet it carried a trace of indelible sorrow.

Inside the quarters, the white-haired and bearded Zhou Zhanpeng sat upright. The tea before him had already gone cold. Hearing the voice outside, his aged body trembled slightly.

It had come; in the end, it had come.

“Enter,” Zhou Zhanpeng's voice was somewhat raspy.

Jiang Qingshui pushed open the door and entered. The quarters were simply furnished and filled with the scent of books.

His gaze swept over an inkstone on the desk, and his pupils contracted slightly. That was the capping ceremony gift he had given to his younger brother.

“Instructor Zhou, during my brother's life, he was fortunate to have your meticulous guidance.” Jiang Qingshui bowed again, his posture beyond reproach.

Zhou Zhanpeng hurriedly rose to offer a supporting gesture and sighed. “Young Master Jiang, please accept my condolences. Zhiqiu... he was the student I thought most highly of—intelligent and studious. I never expected him to meet such a calamity. My heart aches, it truly aches!”

The old instructor beat his chest, his Face full of genuine grief and self-reproach.

Jiang Qingshui watched him quietly, not responding.

Only when Zhou Zhanpeng's emotions had slightly calmed did he slowly speak. Every word was like a nail being driven into Zhou Zhanpeng's heart.

“Instructor, the explanation given by the Guardians of Orthodoxy is that my brother accidentally entered a Yao Beast's territory in the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains and met with misfortune. I have seen the case file; it was written very... sloppily.”

He deliberately emphasized the word “sloppily.”

This was completely different from what he had seen on the Nine Songs Net.

Jiang Zhiqiu had been hung from the city gate, his death state incredibly wretched.

The Holy Court officially debunked the rumors, claiming the image of Inspector Jiang's death was created by illusions, and that people with ulterior motives were behind the scenes trying to add fuel to the fire.

Fine beads of sweat broke out on Zhou Zhanpeng's forehead. “This... when the Guardians of Orthodoxy handle a case, perhaps they have their own protocols.”

“Protocols?!”

The corner of Jiang Qingshui's mouth curled into a cold arc.

“A set of skeletal remains corroded beyond recognition and a few strands of Yao Beast fur, and it's characterized as the work of a Yao Beast. They are vague about what kind of beast it was or what its rank was. Are these the protocols of Kongsang Prefecture?”

“Even the soul lamp image sent before his death was defined as a fake illusion. How much truth is left in the affairs of this world?”

Zhou Zhanpeng was speechless.

Jiang Qingshui took a step closer, his gaze like a torch. “Instructor Zhou, you were my brother's most respected mentor. In the days before he went missing, he surely had contact with you.”

“When he finally departed, did he mention any strange people or strange events?”

Zhou Zhanpeng's eyes darted around as the scene of Jiang Zhiqiu's last visit flashed through his mind.

That diligent and studious young man had been holding a yellowed copy of the Prefecture Records, asking him about obscure questions regarding ancient sacrifices and the evolution of Formations in Kongsang Prefecture.

Jiang Zhiqiu had also told his teaching mentor about his recent experiences after joining the Holy Court—the Man-Faced Longevity Fruit, the inhuman practice of feeding on people... He had also mentioned an abnormality in the Kongsang Prefecture Four Seasons Grand Formation, saying he felt the city's water vapor was much denser than in previous years, which seemed related to a certain water-diversion Formation recorded in ancient texts.

At the time, Zhou Zhanpeng had merely treated it as a student's whimsical ideas and did not look into it further.

But this matter involved the fundamental Formation of Kongsang Prefecture. If he spoke nonsense, it might bring about immense trouble.

He was just an instructor who taught and educated people; he had no background, his cultivation was only at Mortal Transformation, and he lacked the resources to enter the Purple Mansion. He could not bear such consequences.

After the chat between master and disciple, Jiang Zhiqiu had received a mission and hurriedly piloted a flying boat toward the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, not even having time to change out of his scholar's robes.

“No,” Zhou Zhanpeng shook his head with difficulty.

“Zhiqiu did not mention any abnormalities before he left.”

Jiang Qingshui gave him a deep look, a gaze that seemed capable of piercing through a person's heart.

He did not press further, merely withdrawing his gaze silently. With a look of disappointment, he bowed again.

“I have disturbed the instructor. Regarding my brother's belongings left at the academy, I hope you will take the trouble to organize them. I, Qingshui, will come to collect them another day.”

With that, he turned and left, his back appearing resolute and lonely.

Zhou Zhanpeng watched the direction in which he departed and slumped into his chair, his entire body soaked in cold sweat.

He knew he had hidden some things.

He also knew that the other man had certainly perceived his concealment.

“Clone Three,” hiding among the crowd outside the academy, took in the entire scene.

Shen Moyan's original body clearly outlined Zhou Zhanpeng's guilty expression and Jiang Qingshui's cold gratitude that didn't reach his eyes.

“Interesting,” Shen Moyan thought. “Both are well aware, yet neither has exposed the other.”

Shen Moyan was somewhat surprised.

He hadn't expected that the Holy Court's Guardians of Orthodoxy wouldn't act because of public opinion, but instead found a way to twist the cause of Jiang Zhiqiu's death.

He, Shen Moyan, had clearly seen Jiang Zhiqiu hanging from the city gate that day. How could such an obvious truth be distorted?

“Who exactly is it? To have such great power to cover the sky with one hand and turn black into white?”

Shen Moyan fell into deep thought when he suddenly gave a start.

After the destruction of East Mountain City that day, the Mortals were all dead. Aside from the people of the Biyang Sword Sect, the only witnesses were those Loose Cultivators.

But Ni Gaoyuan and his group had already been killed by him.

In other words, there were no human witnesses to Jiang Zhiqiu's cause of death; the evidence was gone.

Only Shen Moyan knew that the public opinion on the Nine Songs Net was true... At the Cen Family residence, the clouds of gloom were thick.

“Clone Two,” currently disguised as Cen Zhiyuan, was hidden in a corner of the Cen Family's backyard, quietly listening to the voices in the main hall.

Ever since learning that the Cen Family had a Formation to monitor the entry and exit of clansmen, he had been searching in secret. After three days of effort, he finally found a monitoring blind spot near the Cen Family's Formation eye.

This position was excellent; he could use his Divine Sense to perceive the movements within the manor and observe those entering and leaving the Cen Family.

Currently, inside the Cen Family's main hall.

The crisp sound of shattering porcelain was accompanied by Cen Jing's exasperated roar.

“Don't think I don't know about those things you've been doing in private! Now the entire Family will be destroyed by your hands!”

Cen Jing's voice was full of thunderous rage. He was like an old rabbit pushed to the edge of a cliff, his fur standing on end.

Cen Gewu knelt in the main hall, prostrating himself on the ground.

He was not surprised that the Family Head had learned of his seizure of branch clansmen's property.

But a small matter like that would at most only affect himself. If compared to *that* matter, it was like comparing a small witch to a great wizard.

What enraged Cen Jing was not the embezzlement of clansmen's property, but a deal Cen Gewu had accepted four years ago out of greed.

If someone went to the Kongsang Chamber of Commerce to issue a commission to secretly transport goods to East Mountain City near the Hundred Thousand Great Mountains, the one who accepted would be given ten thousand Spirit Stones.

At the time, Cen Gewu thought it was a pie falling from the sky, so he sent the father and son pair, Cen Zhihong and Cen Zhiyuan, to do it.

Even if there was a problem, the money was in his own hands. In any case, he wasn't the one at risk, so he couldn't lose.

Although he had obtained a considerable commission fee, he never expected that the cargo would stir up such a storm.

“What is a True Monarch? An existence that can destroy heaven and earth with a wave of a hand!”

“Even if we are only peripherally involved, we will be discovered. Now that the Jiang Family people have truly come to our door, if they ever trace it back to us, the entire Cen Family will be buried with you!”

At the location where Cen Zhihong and his son delivered the goods, a city had fallen, and a City Lord with a True Monarch background and an Inspector with a Great Clan background had died.

The Cen Family was completely caught in the crossfire, becoming a pawn used by some behind-the-scenes existence to avoid Karma.

If those two parties investigated thoroughly and found the Cen Family, even if Cen Jing brought out the Old Ancestor, he wouldn't be able to settle this matter.

The thoughts of great figures could not be guessed. If that True Monarch wanted to kill the Cen Family to vent his anger, it would be disastrous.

“Family Head, are we... truly without any way to retreat?”

Cen Gewu knelt on the ground, his whole body trembling.

“That is why I told you to do your best to gather the items on the list provided by the Construction and Maintenance Department.”

“As long as we get involved with the Demon Suppression Department, even if we only help them a little, the Jiang Family might grant us a slim chance of survival for the sake of their Face.”

“Tomorrow, after ‘Cen Zhiyuan’ finishes the handover, take the clansmen and leave the city.” Cen Jing gave a long sigh and slumped into the Family Head's chair.

If it weren't for the fact that the Cen Family lacked talented successors, he wouldn't have let Cen Gewu handle such an important matter.

“If my Cen Family cannot survive this tribulation, the future will be left to you.”

Mistakes make a person grow profoundly. After today's tribulation that involved the entire clan, Cen Gewu would presumably learn this deep lesson and lead the Cen Family away from this place of trouble.