Chapter 1146: The Theft Succeeds

Driven to this point, the three men in Wuxu Tower had no choice but to obey. And so, without alerting the other eight contingents, they quietly left their post.

At the same time, Qin Guan took another deacon's trusted subordinate and headed from another direction toward a different guard tower.

Ke Dingjie brought the three men to the nearest interrogation site, which was being controlled by Qiyun Sect.

The moment he saw Taishu Shanhai, he cupped his hands. "Elder Taishu, these three are guards responsible for watching the Wuliang Fruit. They're also among the people under the greatest suspicion. Considering that their guard duty cannot be delayed for long, Elder Niu asked me to pass on a message: please question them first."

Taishu Shanhai frowned. "Wasn't Zijin Cave supposed to handle the questioning at the various guard posts?"

"We didn't consider the matter thoroughly enough at first. Only afterward did we realize their duty stations are special and they can't be kept away too long."

That was true enough. Taishu Shanhai grunted. "Leave them to me."

"Much obliged!" Ke Dingjie cupped his hands in thanks.

By the time Qin Guan returned to Elder Niu, he had brought the three guards from Dayuan Tower.

Inside the main hall, Niu Youdao was seated beside a desk, brush in hand, recording Ao Feng's testimony.

Qin Guan told the newcomers to wait, entered, and reported quietly beside the desk, "Elder, the men from Dayuan Tower are here."

Niu Youdao asked in a low voice, "What about the extra contingent?"

"Following Elder's instructions, the capable should do more work. I handed that group to Qiyun Sect as well."

Niu Youdao gave a soft acknowledgment and set down his brush. He told Ao Feng, who was being questioned, "That's enough. Return to your post for now and have the other man on guard duty come here." At the same time, he gave Ao Feng a meaningful look.

Ao Feng's heart began pounding again. He knew the time had come for him to act!

He said nothing more. He simply turned and left. As he passed the main hall entrance, he and the three Dayuan Tower guards looked each other over.

After leaving, Ao Feng went straight to the entrance of the great formation and found Wei Ye beneath the archway. He called out, "Go to the council hall. It's your turn to answer questions."

Wei Ye looked uneasy. "Sir, what did they ask?"

Ao Feng sighed. "They gave strict instructions. I can't say. Not one word of what I was asked may be revealed to anyone else, or I'll only be making trouble for myself. Go."

"Ah! Ever since that fire, Wuliang Garden has hardly known a peaceful day." Wei Ye sighed, cupped his hands in farewell, and left.

Ao Feng waited until the man's figure disappeared, then looked around. He could no longer control it. His heartbeat began to accelerate.

After confirming no one was watching, he remembered how little time he had. He clenched his teeth and, heart full of apprehension, hurried away. Abandoning his guard duty, he headed straight for his residence.

The moment he returned, he shut the door, shifted aside a cabinet in the corner, pried up the floor tiles, and dug out the things buried beneath them.

He checked everything rapidly. Once he confirmed nothing was wrong, he bundled it all into one large package and rushed back outside.

There was too much to conceal. No outsider could imagine what it felt like for him to walk openly through Wuliang Garden carrying that enormous bundle. The pressure truly weighed on him like a mountain. The thing in his hand felt as heavy as one.

He had lived in Wuliang Garden for years. Never in all that time had he imagined that one day he would become this bold. He could hear his own heart beating.

The closer he came to his destination, the less he could control his nerves. His eyes kept darting in every direction.

The Nine Sacred Lands were each assigned their own guard sector. Naturally, Ao Feng's quarters were closest to Wuxu Tower.

When he reached the side of Wuxu Tower, he suddenly stopped and looked around several times. Then he set the bundle down at the corner of the wall and flashed over it into the tower.

He had seen the Dayuan Tower guards earlier and was still uneasy. Had Niu Youdao truly managed to remove all nine contingents from their posts?

Ao Feng swept rapidly through Wuxu Tower several times and found no one. They truly had been moved away. Only then did he relax somewhat. He returned to where he had entered, picked up the bundle, and rushed straight toward the heavily guarded Wuliang Fruit tree.

Several points of red light snapped toward him.

The three Crow Generals perched in the tree were extremely vigilant. The instant he approached, their gazes locked onto him.

Ao Feng was nervous and frightened almost beyond description, but when it came time to act, he was decisive. If he was not moving, he was still; once he moved, there was no hesitation at all.

He lowered his body and skimmed close to the ground. As he came in, he yanked open the mouth of the bundle. Under the pull of his spiritual power, five skulls shot out with a series of swishes and floated in a horizontal line in midair.

The moment his feet touched down, the sight nearly frightened him out of his wits. The red light in the three Crow Generals' eyes flared sharply. Their wings started to spread, and black mist had already begun seeping from their bodies.

Fortunately, the reaction stopped there.

Ao Feng watched the three Crow Generals without blinking. After a brief standoff, the movement of their wings gradually subsided. The red glow in their eyes slowly dimmed, and the black mist withdrew back into their bodies.

He could feel that the five skulls had seized the full attention of the three Crow Generals.

Ao Feng slowly pressed one palm downward. The five skulls descended and settled in a row on the ground. The three Crow Generals remained as though frozen in place, motionless.

He cautiously took two steps left and right. The three Crow Generals still gave no response. They truly seemed to have fallen into a state where their souls had wandered away.

There was no time to waste. Ao Feng swept a quick glance around and saw nothing abnormal. In a flash, he shot into the crown of the fruit tree and grabbed one of the Wuliang Fruits glowing with a spiritual luster.

There was no time to examine it closely. He caught hold and pulled.

Only then did he discover just how tough the fruit branch was. He could not tear it free by brute force. He immediately forced spiritual power through his hand, cut the fruit loose, and stuffed it straight inside his robe.

He was indescribably tense and afraid. An outsider could never have imagined his state of mind at that moment. His face had gone red, and his breathing was rapid.

He pulled one counterfeit fruit from the bundle, aligned it with the prepared connector, and pushed it into place.

Click.

The internal catch locked onto the broken end of the branch.

Ao Feng tugged it experimentally. It held fast, as though it had grown there naturally. Nothing looked wrong.

He quickly checked the surroundings again, flashed away, and went for the next fruit.

Strangely, after taking the first one, he became much calmer. Stealing one was theft. Stealing two was theft. What difference did it make if he stole all of them?

Once everything had reached the proper position, the actual removal and replacement were simple. Often, all the real complication and effort lay in the preparations before the act and in dealing with what came after.

For a cultivator, plucking twelve fruits was no difficult matter. Before long, all twelve real Wuliang Fruits were bulging beneath Ao Feng's robe.

Once he had every one of them, he swept another rapid glance around and flashed out of the tree.

As he skimmed over the ground, one arm swept sideways. The five skulls, which he absolutely could not leave behind, instantly flew back into the bundle.

His toe touched the earth and he shot away like an arrow, not even daring to look back.

Only after he slipped behind the corner of Wuxu Tower did he cautiously poke his head out and activate his Dharma Eye to watch what happened.

The three Crow Generals in the tree seemed only now to recover. One after another, they shook their heads and looked around. They remained where they were and made no other move.

Ao Feng turned around and leaned against the wall.

"Whew..."

He closed his eyes and let out a long breath.

Then he opened them, turned, and left at once. He hurried all the way back to his residence.

After shutting the door, he rushed to the pit in the corner and shook the five skulls from the bag into it. He pressed down with one palm.

Crack!

All five skulls shattered into powder.

He quickly covered the powder with earth and buried it, completely destroying the evidence. From now on, he would no longer have to live every day in fear that the five skulls hidden in his quarters might be discovered.

He restored the floor tiles, pushed the cabinet back into place, then hurried to the couch and pulled the twelve bulging fruits from inside his robe.

Looking at the twelve objects before him, each radiating spiritual red light, he felt an almost surreal sense of unreality. It still seemed as though the twelve counterfeit fruits were the ones hidden in his quarters.

Even he found it hard to believe. Not long ago there had been twelve fakes. In the blink of an eye, they had become real? He had obtained them this easily?

His own experience told him there was no mistake. These were genuine. He had personally plucked them from the tree moments ago. They could not be false.

He picked one up and smelled it. The Wuliang Fruit's distinctive fragrance was there.

Real!

At that instant, wild joy surged through him. Countless people beneath Heaven dreamed of possessing such a thing, yet now they were in his hands. Every last one of them had fallen into his hands!

But the excitement and ecstasy lasted only a moment. Fear followed close behind, reminding him that some treasures were useless if one did not live long enough to enjoy them.

This was not something where taking one bite would immediately solve everything.

Endless delayed fear washed over him. Anxious and unsettled, he quickly opened a black bag and packed all twelve fruits inside. Then he lifted the lower hem of his robe and secured the bag between his legs beneath his clothes.

He turned and quickly left his residence once more...

Niu Youdao was in the main hall questioning the guards from Dayuan Tower.

Ke Dingjie suddenly entered, came close to Niu Youdao, and murmured, "Elder, he's surfaced."

Niu Youdao showed no reaction. He calmly asked the man being questioned several more questions, wrote down a few final words with his brush, then rose. He had the three guards who had been questioned separately called together.

"That will be all. Your guard posts are special, so it would be inappropriate to keep you away for too long. Return for now."

He continued, "But remember one thing. Until the truth has been established, you are still considered isolated and may not make contact with other people for the time being. We are only refraining from confining you elsewhere because of the special nature of your guard duty. You may not disclose anything you were asked during questioning. If we discover that you have, we will have no choice but to suspect your motives. Understood?"

"Understood." The three men sighed helplessly. They knew perfectly well they were innocent, but there were too many things in this world one had no power to choose.

Niu Youdao said, "Return by the same route you used to come. Do not make contact with anyone on the way, and do not give anyone any hint or signal. Our inspection manpower is limited, so we cannot follow you constantly, and your duty posts are too sensitive for inspectors to linger nearby. Once you return, the three of you are to supervise one another. Everything remains in place until the Sacred Venerables issue their final decision. All right. Go."

The three reluctantly cupped their hands and departed.

Niu Youdao watched them for a moment, then turned and strolled to the entrance of a side hall next door. Inside, Qin Guan was questioning Wei Ye.

Niu Youdao turned back and crooked a finger. When Ke Dingjie leaned close, he instructed in a low voice, "Go help Qin Guan with the questioning. Keep finding things to ask him. Until I return, you are not to stop without my instruction."

"Yes!" Ke Dingjie accepted the order and entered the side hall.

Niu Youdao left the main hall and headed straight for a nearby building.

Inside, Ao Feng was pacing anxiously. The sudden sound of approaching footsteps nearly frightened him out of his skin. At this point he was a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring.

When he saw that the visitor was Niu Youdao, he pressed a hand to his chest and visibly relaxed.

Niu Youdao stepped close and immediately asked, "Did you get them?"

Ao Feng glanced around, lifted the hem of his robe, and pulled a black bag from between his legs.

[End of Chapter 1146]