Chapter 1015: Chao Jing May Be in Danger

Ding Wei shook his head. "I'm not doubting the result. What bothers me is that Taishu Shancheng only fell out with Chao Jing after Niu Youdao returned, and Chao Shenghuai was killed after that as well."

The newcomer said, "Sir, judging from the information sent by our source beside Niu Youdao, we can conclude that the arrangements were made after Niu Youdao returned to Zijin Cave. Chao Shenghuai's death wasn't caused by anyone inside Sacred Realm leaking information. This was purely a private grudge between Niu Youdao and Myriad Beasts Sect. Strictly speaking, Misty Pavilion shouldn't continue interfering. Their private feud isn't our concern."

Ding Wei looked up. "Then how do you explain Tu Yuanpei's disappearance? Why would it happen at such a convenient time?"

"But the facts prove that Niu Youdao's killing of Chao Shenghuai truly had nothing to do with Tu Yuanpei's disappearance, unless the source Misty Pavilion planted beside Niu Youdao is compromised and fed us false intelligence."

"That's not what I'm doubting. If the source beside Niu Youdao were compromised, and the matter involved the death of Misty Pavilion personnel, that would be no small thing. If the source chose to conceal it, they would conceal it to the end. They wouldn't admit that Chao Shenghuai had been killed; they could simply pretend to know nothing. And by the time Chao Shenghuai died, Niu Youdao was already back inside Sacred Realm. He couldn't have anticipated that Misty Pavilion would become involved afterward, so he couldn't have arranged matters around that. There's another point: Niu Youdao didn't know Tu Yuanpei's Misty Pavilion identity. If he did know, wouldn't that still point to the same problem?"

The newcomer asked, "Sir still suspects there's a problem inside Misty Pavilion?"

Hands clasped behind his back, Ding Wei paced slowly to and fro. After pondering for a while, he said, "Tu Yuanpei met with trouble at precisely this juncture. It's difficult not to be suspicious. Judging from the timing, these may very well be two incidents caused by the same matter."

The newcomer was surprised. "What makes you say that?"

"The key is still Tu Yuanpei's identity. If Niu Youdao knew who Tu Yuanpei really was, he wouldn't have dealt with Chao Shenghuai and Tu Yuanpei together at a moment like this. Doing so would only be creating trouble for himself. And Tu Yuanpei didn't know beforehand that we were going to investigate Chao Shenghuai. Whoever moved against Tu Yuanpei shouldn't have known beforehand that I was going to contact him either. If they had known, they wouldn't have dared approach Tu Yuanpei at such a time, much less silence him!"

The newcomer was visibly startled. "Sir believes he was silenced?"

Ding Wei said, "Outsiders may not understand certain matters inside Sacred Realm, but how could I not? Taishu Shancheng and Chao Jing tore all pretense apart. I became interested in what lay behind that, and someone else may have become interested in Niu Youdao as well. Whoever is behind this probably didn't expect me to send someone to investigate immediately and likewise sent someone of their own. That person must have known Tu Yuanpei's identity. Otherwise, they could never have gone to him."

Realization dawned on the newcomer. "The moment that person contacted Tu Yuanpei, Tu Yuanpei was doomed to be silenced! They clearly weren't on the same side. Otherwise, there would have been no need to kill Tu Yuanpei—Tu Yuanpei would naturally have helped conceal the matter. Whoever approached him couldn't allow anyone to learn that they had done so."

"Exactly. Especially after learning that Chao Shenghuai had disappeared, Tu Yuanpei had no chance of surviving." Ding Wei nodded, then turned back. "Judging from the timing, whoever is behind this must also have become interested in the inside story only after Taishu Shancheng and Chao Jing fell out, then sent someone to investigate. That makes the route of the leak clear: someone who was present when Taishu Shancheng and Chao Jing tore into each other, and who had the ability to promptly pass the news to whoever stood behind them. Investigate along that line. Also check who entered or left Sacred Realm during that period, and whether anyone used Misty Pavilion's channels to send messages outside."

The newcomer frowned in thought. "Sir, anyone capable of knowing Tu Yuanpei's identity wields considerable influence. I'm afraid this may be impossible to trace. Misty Pavilion is made up of people from all nine sides, and every key position is jointly guarded by personnel from the different factions. If someone used their own people to slip a person out or pass a message outside, it would be far too easy. If they didn't want to leave traces, there would basically be nothing to investigate. Especially after learning of Chao Shenghuai's death, they would certainly have cleaned up every trace immediately."

Ding Wei fell silent. Only after a long while did he slowly ask, "Who exactly is behind this?"

The newcomer said, "Sir, any of the nine sides is possible. There are too many suspects."

Ding Wei resumed pacing. Suddenly, he stopped again. "Why was Niu Youdao in such a hurry to kill Chao Shenghuai at this particular time? He had only been back for a short while, yet he couldn't wait to arrange something like this?"

The newcomer said, "Taishu Shancheng exposed everything. None of it could stand the light of day, so it's understandable that Niu Youdao would want him silenced... No, that's not right. That happened afterward. Niu Youdao couldn't have known beforehand that Taishu Shancheng would expose the matter."

Ding Wei stood still and slowly said, "He didn't kill Chao Shenghuai earlier, and he didn't kill him later. He chose precisely this time. What happened in between? There's only one thing that seems likely. It appears the statements I forced them to write at Shouque Villa gave Niu Youdao the intention to kill. He simply never expected Taishu Shancheng to expose everything afterward, making all that effort pointless."

The newcomer said, "Which means he probably intended to kill Chao Jing as well. If he wanted to silence witnesses, he'd want to do it cleanly. Before leaving Sacred Realm, he may already have made preparations to move against Chao Jing."

The mention of Niu Youdao leaving Sacred Realm reminded Ding Wei of something. He pondered aloud, "When Luo Fangfei sent Niu Youdao out at that time, could it have been connected to Chao Shenghuai's death? If so, then there must be some relationship between the two that no one knows about."

The newcomer smiled wryly. "Surely not. If Luo Fangfei wanted to help kill Chao Shenghuai, why go to all that trouble? She even got herself confined by Luo Qiu over the matter. She could simply have sent a word outside and someone would naturally have made Chao Shenghuai disappear without a sound."

"True." Ding Wei nodded and paced again, yet suspicion remained in his voice. "Niu Youdao returned to Zijin Cave and immediately became embroiled in internal conflict there. Even under those circumstances, he still hurried to dispose of Chao Shenghuai. Something about that feels wrong to me. Wasn't he a little too anxious? Could that grandfather and grandson know something else—something Niu Youdao absolutely cannot allow to come out? That's bad..." He suddenly turned.

The newcomer stared at him. "What is it?"

"If there really is another secret, and Niu Youdao was this eager to act, then Chao Jing may be in danger! Niu Youdao has gathered a whole group around him now, and nearly all of them have sworn-brother ties with him. Killing Chao Jing would be far too easy. Xuan Yao, notify Huang Ban immediately. Have him find a way to locate Chao Jing."

So the newcomer's name was Xuan Yao. He said, "The tempering is underway right now. It was ordered by the Sacred Venerables. Wouldn't it be inappropriate to interfere rashly?"

Ding Wei said, "There's no need to interfere with anything. I only want confirmation. Niu Youdao killed Chao Shenghuai, and Taishu Shancheng has already exposed the secret. Logically, Niu Youdao no longer has any reason to kill Chao Jing; otherwise, silencing him would be far too obvious. If Chao Jing has still been killed, then it confirms my suspicion. That grandfather and grandson must know some major secret of Niu Youdao's. If I'm interested in that secret, others may be interested as well. The only advantage we have right now is that other people can't conveniently interfere with the tempering or gather large numbers to search the Desolate Marsh Deadlands. Doing so would expose themselves. We have to get ahead of whatever hidden hand may appear."

Xuan Yao asked, "And if we confirm Chao Jing really is dead?"

Ding Wei sneered. "Then find Niu Youdao. Whether he wants to confess or not, make him confess. Use whatever means necessary. Pry his mouth open for me!"

"Very well. I'll go personally."

...

"Sixth Uncle, look!" While three men were traveling through the marsh, a Qiyun Sect disciple suddenly pointed toward one side.

Taishu Shancheng turned to look. Someone seemed to be lying on a grassy rise.

With a wave of his hand, he led the other two swiftly over. A blood-covered man lay facedown on the ground, all four limbs mutilated. One severed hand hung beside a rock. On the stone were what appeared to be three crooked characters the injured man had written with his bloody stump before losing consciousness:

Misty Pavilion!

One of the Qiyun Sect disciples turned the wounded man over. The moment Taishu Shancheng recognized his face, he exclaimed, "Chao Jing!"

All three were badly shocked. They examined his injuries. His limbs had been severed, and his condition was grievous.

Taishu Shancheng crouched and checked his pulse. Frowning, he said, "He's still alive. Who did this to him..." His gaze slid toward the words "Misty Pavilion" on the stone, and his heart tightened.

One disciple said, "Chao Jing seems to have been trying to warn us that Misty Pavilion did it."

The other disciple also examined Chao Jing's condition. "Sixth Uncle, he can still be saved." As he spoke, he reached for the medicine on his person.

Taishu Shancheng's eyes widened. "What are you doing?"

The disciple stammered, "He's crippled, but we can still save his life. Aren't we going to ask him what happened?"

"Ask him what?" Taishu Shancheng rebuked him. "And after he tells us, are we supposed to report it to Misty Pavilion?"

The disciple hesitated. "Then... we pretend we never saw him?"

Taishu Shancheng did not know whether the unconscious Chao Jing could still hear their conversation. He frowned for a while, then abruptly searched Chao Jing's body and found more than a dozen Demon Fox vertical eyes.

He looked around again. After making certain no one was nearby, he put all the Demon Fox eyes into his own pouch. Then, without warning, he seized Chao Jing by the neck.

Crack!

He twisted hard and finally ended Chao Jing's life.

Taishu Shancheng immediately threw the corpse into the swamp, then kicked the stone bearing the words "Misty Pavilion" in after it.

Only after the body had sunk beneath the mire did he look around once more and breathe out. "Remember this. Forget the words 'Misty Pavilion' on that stone. Forget everything you just saw. We saw nothing and know nothing. Understand?"

"Yes!" both disciples answered together.

One of them could not help asking, "Sixth Uncle, why would Misty Pavilion kill Chao Jing?"

"Someone injured that badly still managed to escape, so whether Misty Pavilion really did it is uncertain. If it was them, then nine times out of ten it was over the competition results—they may have wanted to steal his Demon Fox eyes. Anything is possible. In any case, from this moment on, whenever you encounter people from Misty Pavilion, stay on your guard."

"Yes!" the two disciples answered in unison again.

The three swiftly flew away.

[End of Chapter 1015]