Chapter 1164: Heart-Stopping

No matter how completely directionless the investigation seemed, the members of the seven sects still had to rack their brains over it. Again and again they pored through the testimony, hoping to find some tiny trace or clue.

Even if they were only putting on a show, they still had to put on a convincing one. The Nine Saints were personally watching this affair. Who would dare appear negligent? If laziness were noticed, they might not even know how they died.

The sky was only beginning to brighten.

Yuan Se lay naked on a couch amid several equally naked women, snoring thunderously.

The door opened.

A woman entered with light gauze draped around her body, her curves faintly visible beneath the translucent fabric. Half a veil covered her face, concealing her true features.

She was the commander of Yuan Se's closest female attendants, known as Consort Yuan.

Every successive commander of Yuan Se's personal female attendants was called Consort Yuan.

Consort Yuan walked to the couch and spoke directly to the snoring Yuan Se. "Young Master, of the five men Ding Wei met last night, secret investigation has confirmed that during the period of the incident, they requisitioned five flying mounts."

Though Yuan Se was hardly young and was grotesquely fat, the women around him had always addressed him as "Young Master." Throughout Dayuan Sacred Land, that form of address belonged exclusively to this group of women.

The snoring stopped.

Still seeming half asleep, Yuan Se mumbled, "Handle it."

He rolled over and dropped one hand onto the full breast of the woman beside him.

Consort Yuan turned and left. She shut the door from outside...

Dozens of li outside Wentian City, several men stood guard at the mouth of a mountain cave.

More than ten figures descended from the sky.

All were women in revealing clothing, led by Consort Yuan.

The moment the guards saw them, they became visibly flustered. Everyone in Dayuan Sacred Land knew these women were Yuan Se's personal attendants.

Consort Yuan displayed a command token.

The guards hurriedly bowed in alarm.

Without slowing, Consort Yuan walked straight past them and entered the cave.

Inside, five men sat wearing miserable expressions.

They were the same five men Ding Wei had met the previous night.

Hearing footsteps, they looked up. The moment they saw who had come, all five froze.

Consort Yuan swept them with a glance and said mildly, "All of you, come with me."

The group left the cave.

Outside, Consort Yuan gave the guards another glance. "Take them too!"

...

Dawn had broken.

After washing and dressing, Ding Wei stepped out of his residence as usual to go pay his respects to his master, Yuan Se. Beyond the customary formalities, he also needed to ask whether Yuan Se had any instructions.

Yet almost the moment Ding Wei left through the front, Consort Yuan led several women in through the back.

Their identities gave them unobstructed passage. No one dared disturb them.

Huang Ban and Xuan Yao, having just seen Ding Wei off, had shut themselves inside a room and were quietly discussing how to handle the aftermath properly.

Creak.

The door suddenly opened.

Both men turned.

The moment they saw who had entered, they froze, then immediately rose and saluted together. "Greetings, Consort Yuan."

Consort Yuan approached with a smiling expression and lightly raised one hand.

The women behind her immediately stepped forward and surrounded the two men.

Huang Ban and Xuan Yao were badly startled.

Huang Ban asked in alarm, "Consort Yuan, what is the meaning of this?"

"Shh." Consort Yuan raised a finger before the veil covering her lips, signaling silence.

Thrown into panic, Huang Ban and Xuan Yao did not dare resist. Several women swarmed forward and restrained them on the spot.

Before long, everyone inside the central administration was staring in shock and uncertainty as Huang Ban and Xuan Yao were escorted away.

No one knew what had happened, and no one dared stop Consort Yuan and her party.

Someone wanted to notify Ding Wei, but Ding Wei had already gone to Sacred Venerable Yuan Se's residence. No one had the authority to force his way in and report.

Ding Wei had already entered Yuan Se's courtyard.

Inside the pavilion, after paying his respects to his master, he began reporting the various affairs of Misty Pavilion.

Lü Wushuang was there as well, seated beside Yuan Se. From time to time, she lifted her eyes and glanced at Ding Wei.

Ding Wei could not understand why Lü Wushuang had come so early in the morning to sit here and chat with his master.

In any case, Ding Wei continued reporting the status of one matter after another, while Yuan Se listened with his usual cheerful smile.

No one ever knew whether he was genuinely happy or merely pretending. He always looked cheerful, making it impossible to tell what he was truly thinking.

Only when Consort Yuan arrived and entered the pavilion to stand beside Yuan Se did the fat man finally interrupt Ding Wei with a chuckle.

"Ding Wei, where did you go last night?"

Ding Wei paused.

Alarm and uncertainty flickered inside him, but he was no novice. His answer contained nothing false. "This disciple went to investigate the case."

Yuan Se chuckled. "Did you find anything?"

Ding Wei replied calmly, "We are pressing the investigation as quickly as possible. There is no progress to report yet."

Yuan Se sighed. "It's been several days. How can there still be no progress at all? Ding Wei, your master has always thought highly of you. That is why I let you preside over Misty Pavilion. Don't disappoint me!"

Ding Wei said self-reproachfully, "This disciple is incompetent. I will certainly do everything possible to investigate and strive to give Master an explanation as soon as possible."

Yuan Se gave an agreeable sound and continued smiling. "You've seen those old fellows squatting here and watching. Great Beauty Lü came over first thing this morning to keep me company too. Of course she isn't actually that kindhearted. All of them are watching the progress of this case."

"Ding Wei, how about this? I'll send someone to help you so things move faster. What do you think?"

Ding Wei immediately cupped his hands. "If Master sends someone to assist, progress will naturally be faster. This disciple could not ask for more!"

"Good!" Yuan Se clapped his hands and turned his head. "Consort Yuan, help him. Get a result as soon as possible so those old fellows stop nagging without end."

"Yes!" Consort Yuan answered with a smiling half-curtsy.

Straightening, she lifted one hand and beckoned.

Ding Wei did not understand.

He turned toward the direction of her gesture and saw several scantily dressed women escorting five men inside.

Every one of the five looked terrified and uneasy.

The instant he saw them, Ding Wei's pupils contracted sharply. Every string in his heart drew taut.

They were the five men he had met the previous night.

Slowly, Ding Wei looked back at Yuan Se.

Yuan Se was cheerfully eating and drinking, revealing not the slightest abnormality.

The five men arrived. None dared look directly at Ding Wei.

Several women pressed down on their shoulders, forcing all five to kneel obediently in a row before Yuan Se.

"Master..." Ding Wei immediately turned and cupped his hands.

But Yuan Se raised a hand and interrupted him with a smile. "No rush. Let Consort Yuan investigate first. If there are any questions afterward, you can supplement."

"Master..." Ding Wei tried to speak again.

Yuan Se, still smiling, suddenly fixed him with an icy stare.

Ding Wei had no choice but to close his mouth. His lips pressed tight as tremendous panic opened inside him.

He had begun to realize that every move he made might already be under comprehensive surveillance.

Otherwise, how could these five men have appeared here so quickly?

He was not an idiot, nor some inexperienced newcomer.

When handling a secret matter, how could he fail to guard against being followed? Naturally he had taken precautions.

Yet even with those precautions, something had still gone wrong, and he had noticed nothing unusual at all.

What did that mean?

It meant the surveillance had been specifically prepared in advance.

He could not understand it.

Why would his master have been watching him like this?

Had Master known something from the very beginning?

That should have been impossible. Ding Wei himself had only learned the truth last night.

What exactly was happening?

Consort Yuan looked at the five kneeling men and asked with a smile, "Before the Sacred Venerable, you may conceal nothing. Whatever I ask, answer honestly. Let me ask you: where did you go last night, and whom did you meet?"

The five men were miserable inside.

They had already been questioned once after being seized earlier.

They had been warned beforehand and knew how serious the matter was, so naturally they had refused to tell the truth. They had tried to bluff their captors with the false story prepared for them.

The result had frightened the souls out of them.

Where they had gone the previous night, whom they had met, how many people had been present, even where each person had been standing—the other side had recited everything with perfect clarity.

Clearly, every moment of the previous night's meeting had been watched with absolute attention.

The evidence was conclusive. There was no possibility of hiding anything.

Their fabricated story and their psychological defenses had both collapsed.

There was no hope left to cling to.

No torture had even been required. They confessed everything in full, answering whatever they were asked.

When Ding Wei had met them the previous night, the five had not known the true reason behind his questions. Ding Wei had revealed nothing.

Now, seeing Ding Wei and the situation before them, they realized the investigation was probably targeting him.

But what should not have been said had already been said.

Could spoken words be taken back?

Seeing their terrified unease, Consort Yuan pointed at one man. "You speak."

The man could only brace himself. "We went to the mountains thirty li southeast of Wentian City and met Presiding Administrator Ding!"

Ding Wei's cheeks tightened.

Consort Yuan asked, "Why did Presiding Administrator Ding meet you?"

"He asked why we had requisitioned five flying mounts. We said we did not know the reason. We told him Xuan Yao had instructed us and that the five mounts were handed over to Xuan Yao. We knew nothing else."

"Where did you go after the questioning?"

"We were placed under house arrest by men sent by Steward Huang."

"Did he instruct you about anything?"

The man raised his eyes and glanced at Ding Wei.

Ding Wei was staring at him.

The man immediately avoided that heavy gaze.

His heart was full of bitterness, but there was no choice. He had already confessed everything. Now he was merely repeating it.

Gritting his teeth, he answered, "Yes. We were instructed not to reveal to anyone that the five flying mounts had been handed over to Xuan Yao."

"We were also given an explanation for how those five flying mounts had supposedly been used during the relevant period and ordered to memorize it. If anyone asked about the mounts, we were to answer according to that story."

Ding Wei immediately cupped his hands toward Yuan Se. "Master, this disciple—"

Yuan Se interrupted him again with a cheerful smile. "When I asked earlier, you said there was nothing to report. Now keep quiet and let Consort Yuan finish asking."

"Be obedient. Stand there nicely and listen. Don't make me angry!"

Bitterness covered Ding Wei's face.

The hands he had cupped together slowly lowered, heavy as stone.

Lü Wushuang watched his reaction and gave a faint, indifferent snort.

Consort Yuan beckoned again.

Ding Wei turned his head.

The moment he saw who was being brought in, his heart jolted even harder.

Huang Ban was being escorted over.

He had only just parted from Huang Ban, and in the blink of an eye Huang Ban had been arrested without Ding Wei noticing the slightest disturbance.

Clearly, his master's side had prepared an entire chain of meticulous arrangements.

Before the secret meeting last night there had not been the faintest sign of anything unusual. Yet the moment the meeting occurred, trouble followed immediately.

Ding Wei now realized that his master had woven the net long ago and had simply been waiting for him to walk into it.

But why?

When Huang Ban was brought in and saw the scene before him—especially the five men kneeling there—his heart and soul trembled.

He knew something had gone terribly wrong.

The woman escorting him pressed one hand onto his shoulder.

Huang Ban could not resist.

With a thud, he dropped to his knees before Yuan Se and Lü Wushuang.

Consort Yuan smiled. "Huang Ban, before the Sacred Venerable, I have questions for you. You must answer honestly and conceal nothing."

"Let me ask you: where did you go last night?"

"..."

Huang Ban had no answer.

His heart pounded violently. His Adam's apple kept bobbing.

Quietly, he raised his eyes toward Ding Wei, plainly intending to take his cue from Ding Wei's reaction.

Ding Wei immediately spoke. "The Sacred Venerable is here. Answer whatever you are asked. You may not conceal anything!"

It sounded like an open rebuke.

In truth, it was a warning.

[End of Chapter 1164]