Chapter 1078: Mr. Yucang Killed Shang Jianbo with His Own Hands!

Sha Rulai said, "You've already left Shangqing Sect. Why do you still care so much about it?"

Niu Youdao replied, "I don't care about Shangqing Sect itself. Dong Guo Haoran recognized my worth and gave me my opportunity. I want to know who dealt him the fatal hand. If possible, naturally I'd also like to give the dead an accounting."

"But more than that, I want to know what really happened back then."

Sha Rulai considered the matter briefly. "I noticed the affair before, but never paid much attention to it. To Sacred Realm, even when Shangqing Sect was once the number one sect in Yan, it was never worth taking seriously."

"Much less after it was deliberately broken down and reduced to a declining household. A fallen Shangqing Sect was even less worthy of attention..."

"Broken down?" Niu Youdao abruptly interrupted him. "You mean Shangqing Sect declined because Sacred Realm deliberately broke it down?"

Sha Rulai nodded. "What's so strange about that? Shangqing Sect was hardly the only one."

"In the early years, the cultivation sects within the various States followed the principle that the strong ruled. When the Wu Dynasty collapsed into hundreds of smaller States, there was nothing unusual about the strongest cultivation sect inside each State standing above the others."

"But as the various States swallowed one another and the political landscape gradually became what it is today, that also meant that a dominant sect capable of commanding an entire State could obtain extraordinary resources."

"Sacred Realm gradually realized that allowing one sect's influence and rallying power to become too great was not a good thing. A balance had to be imposed before the situation escaped control."

"So the structure of cultivation forces within the various States was deliberately reshaped. That is the origin of the present model of three major sects in each State."

"Under this structure, the three major sects restrain one another. No matter which one becomes dominant, if Sacred Realm thinks intervention is necessary, it need only step in slightly and use the other two to suppress the one that has grown too strong."

"Shangqing Sect declined under exactly those circumstances."

"And forget the Shangqing Sect of those early years. Later, even the Demonic Sect, when its momentum was at its peak, was spoken of as the number one sect beneath Heaven. It eventually alarmed Luo Qiu enough that he personally intervened."

"For reasons I don't know, Luo Qiu ultimately spared the Demonic Sect. I seem to recall hearing that Wu Chang, who was then Right Envoy of the Demonic Sect, had sworn sibling ties with my master's wife, and that she spoke for Wu Chang."

"Even so, after Wu Chang became one of the Nine Saints, various pressures still forced him to all but dismantle the Demonic Sect himself. Once he stood at the level of the Nine Saints, naturally he had to protect the interests of that stratum."

"After Shangqing Sect fell, it mattered even less to Sacred Realm than an ordinary minor sect. Why would Sacred Realm care about it? A few deaths inside a sect like that weren't worth much attention."

Niu Youdao's gaze flickered.

As for the true reason Luo Qiu had spared the Demonic Sect, he had heard something from the Demon Fox race and knew a little of the inside story.

But that was not what concerned him now.

He probed again. "I've heard that Shangqing Sect was tied up with Prince Ning, Shang Jianbo, and that their actions drew Misty Pavilion's displeasure. Wasn't Shang Jianbo's death connected to that?"

Sha Rulai asked, "You suspect Dong Guo Haoran's death had something to do with Misty Pavilion?"

"In the atmosphere created by those rumors, Prince Ning was being suppressed throughout the cultivation world. Then Dong Guo Haoran, Tang Mu, and Prince Ning all met disaster at almost the same time."

Sha Rulai shook his head. "You're thinking too much. Those rumors didn't suddenly appear right before Prince Ning's death. They had already been circulating for a long time. If Misty Pavilion had truly meant to target them, the moment the signs appeared it would have strangled the matter immediately. It wouldn't have waited until the time they met disaster."

"Of course, when the rumors first began, Misty Pavilion did become vigilant. There's no smoke without fire. If something appears, there is usually a cause. Naturally an investigation had to be conducted."

"The result showed that Yan Emperor Shang Jianxiong and Grand Minister of Works Tong Mo had joined hands to create the whole affair for the purpose of suppressing Shang Jianbo."

"As for why they managed to drag the entire cultivation world into suppressing Shang Jianbo, that was because Shang Jianbo commanded fierce and battle-hardened troops, was skilled in warfare, and was nearly unstoppable on campaign. With such an opening available, why would the forces of the other States not take advantage of it?"

"In the eyes of Sacred Realm, factions fighting and scheming against one another is normal. If everyone lived in complete harmony, that would make Sacred Realm nervous instead."

"Dogs biting dogs? Sacred Realm simply watched coldly from the side and ignored it."

So that was how it had been.

Niu Youdao nodded faintly, yet the doubt remained. "Still the same question. Dong Guo Haoran and the others met disaster at almost exactly the same time as Prince Ning. Don't you find that strange?"

"They were people of the same side. What's strange about them running into trouble together?"

"Wait." Niu Youdao raised a hand to stop him. "You've managed to confuse me a little. The question I'm asking and the way you understand it don't seem to match."

"Mr. Sha, are you deliberately hiding something from me?"

"We've already spoken this far. Do you think there's any need for me to hide something from you?"

"Then just now you said they were on the same side, so there was nothing strange about them meeting disaster together."

"Even if Misty Pavilion didn't care about Shangqing Sect and didn't care whether its people lived or died, would it really have no interest whatsoever in the death of Prince Ning, a man who held Yan's military authority?"

The implication was clear.

If Prince Ning and the Shangqing Sect people had truly met disaster together, then if Misty Pavilion investigated Prince Ning's death, how could it not know what happened to Dong Guo Haoran?

Sha Rulai finally understood what he meant and explained, "Misty Pavilion does know the cause of Prince Ning's death. But I truly don't know the cause of Dong Guo Haoran's death."

"The classified Misty Pavilion file never mentioned Shangqing Sect being present when the incident occurred. But Shangqing Sect and Prince Ning were aligned, and they met disaster at nearly the same time. What's wrong with understanding the matters together? Dong Guo Haoran and the others may well have been present."

"In a mutiny and encirclement, people meeting disaster would be perfectly normal."

Niu Youdao still felt that the two of them were talking past one another. He reorganized the discussion. "Fine. Set Shangqing Sect aside for the moment."

"What you're saying is that you know what happened in the mutiny that killed Prince Ning?"

"It's not that I personally knew. Misty Pavilion investigated it. I only learned the truth later when I read the classified records."

"Naturally, there are far too many classified files stored in Misty Pavilion's secret archives. I could never review every confidential record from the past several hundred years. I only noticed this one because I came across it while combing through the circumstances surrounding you..."

"I don't care about that." Niu Youdao interrupted. "I only want to know what happened in that inexplicable mutiny."

"Everyone suspects Yan Emperor Shang Jianxiong was behind it. Was he?"

"He was." Sha Rulai said, "It was a premeditated surprise attack. I remember the classified file saying that Prince Ning was traveling with a little over two thousand men when thirty thousand troops surrounded and attacked them. Prince Ning's entire party was annihilated."

"That's exactly the point that troubled me after I learned the circumstances."

"Others may not understand the combat strength of the Yingyang and Wulie Guards, but I know a little. Prince Ning's escorts were elite troops from those two Guards."

"And Prince Ning was close friends with Xin Wuzhen, the expert ranked third on the Golden Core Ranking. With Xin Wuzhen protecting him, and with Prince Ning's own power and status attracting cultivators seeking a future who had entered his service as guards, combined with Prince Ning's own skill in warfare..."

"Even if he couldn't win, thirty thousand troops encircling them should not necessarily have been able to stop two thousand elite cavalry from breaking out."

"At the very least, complete annihilation should have been impossible. Yet not a single survivor remained. Not one of the cultivators at Prince Ning's side escaped. Even Xin Wuzhen died."

"And the rebel troops who carried out the attack all died afterward as well. No one knew what truly happened at the scene. Everyone who could testify was dead. That is far too abnormal."

"There's nothing abnormal about it. It was a carefully arranged attack."

"The man who secretly went to command the rebel troops was Wang Heng, one of the four Grand Commanders responsible for the capital region around Yanjing."

"For this operation, Shang Jianxiong even had Tong Mo secretly invite Xiaoyue Pavilion to take action. Xiaoyue Pavilion secretly mobilized a large number of experts..."

Niu Youdao was shocked. "You're saying Xiaoyue Pavilion participated in the assassination of Prince Ning?"

Sha Rulai nodded. "For that operation, almost every notable expert inside Xiaoyue Pavilion came out in force. Even Mr. Yucang personally took the field."

"At the critical moment, Xin Wuzhen protected Shang Jianbo as they tried to escape, but Mr. Yucang intercepted them. Mr. Yucang joined forces with several Xiaoyue Pavilion experts and killed Xin Wuzhen."

"Mr. Yucang killed Shang Jianbo with his own hands!"

"Two thousand cavalry, facing several hundred Xiaoyue Pavilion experts together with thirty thousand surrounding troops, had no chance to survive."

"After the attack succeeded, the thirty thousand soldiers used in the encirclement had also suffered heavy losses."

"Afterward, Wang Heng conspired with Xiaoyue Pavilion again and drugged the surviving soldiers' food. Then Xiaoyue Pavilion's people massacred the remaining force of more than ten thousand men."

"At the time, every Xiaoyue Pavilion cultivator had covered his face. In truth, even Wang Heng did not know the identities of the people helping him assassinate Prince Ning."

"On the Yan court's side, only Shang Jianxiong and Tong Mo knew the truth."

"But knowing was useless. Shang Jianxiong and Tong Mo did not dare reveal that they had arranged the affair. If the truth became public, it would have created an enormous shock inside Yan."

"Xiaoyue Pavilion likewise did not dare admit responsibility for the bloodbath. A killer organization daring to attack a major minister of a State in such a way would provoke universal outrage. No State could tolerate it."

"Now that Xiaoyue Pavilion has founded its own State and stands in the same position as the other States, it naturally has even less reason to admit what happened."

Niu Youdao's pupils contracted slightly, his heart heavy. "Wang Heng is dead. Tong Mo is dead. Meaning that on the Yan court's side, Shang Jianxiong is the only person left who knows the truth."

"But how could Misty Pavilion know what happened at the scene in such detail? Were Misty Pavilion's people present?"

Sha Rulai nodded. "Xiaoyue Pavilion mobilized too many people that time. Several of those who participated were Misty Pavilion agents. How could Misty Pavilion not know what happened?"

"That's not right." Niu Youdao suddenly said. "Didn't you say no one survived? Even Xin Wuzhen died. If Tang Mu and Dong Guo Haoran had been present, how could they have escaped?"

Sha Rulai froze.

As he himself had said, he had never regarded Shangqing Sect as important. But once Niu Youdao placed the matters side by side and asked directly, he too saw that something did not fit.

He hesitated. "Could the two sides have been separate when the attack happened?"

Suspicion entered Niu Youdao's eyes.

He could not tell whether Sha Rulai was deliberately deceiving him.

So he continued pressing on the inconsistencies. "There's another problem. Xiaoyue Pavilion does accept work for money, but participating in something like this would carry enormous consequences."

"Xiaoyue Pavilion had ambitions of its own. It wouldn't throw caution away merely for money. How much money could possibly have persuaded it to take this risk?"

"It wasn't money," Sha Rulai said. "It was the Shang Mirror. The very Shang Mirror Xiaoyue Pavilion later used when it founded its State."

"The Shang Mirror?" Niu Youdao's eyes widened. "You're saying Tong Mo persuaded Xiaoyue Pavilion to act by offering the Shang Mirror as payment?"

Sha Rulai nodded. "Exactly."

Niu Youdao's face sank.

"Sha Rulai, are you joking with me, or are you playing me for a fool?"

"I'm telling you now: if you push me toward death, neither you nor your daughter will leave here alive today!"

They had been speaking perfectly well only a moment earlier, and yet Niu Youdao seemed to turn hostile in an instant.

Sha Rulai narrowed his eyes slightly. "Niu Youdao, what do you mean?"

[End of Chapter 1078]