Chapter 1167: No Way for a Human to Live

Ding Wei had not named Lü Wushuang outright, but after taking the argument this far, it was obvious whom he meant.

For Ding Wei to dare turn his words against Lü Wushuang so openly today, she had truly driven him into desperation. Since she was trying to destroy him, and the matter had become a struggle for life and death, failing to counterattack would leave him only a dead end. He could only stake everything. What room was left for hesitation?

Nor was his counterattack baseless, some pure act of retaliation. He genuinely could not understand why Lü Wushuang wanted to frame him. No matter how he looked at the affair, it seemed she wanted him to carry the blame. Why should he be the one forced to carry it?

It was difficult not to suspect that Lü Wushuang was the thief crying "Stop thief!"

Yuan Se held his teacup and slowly sipped, looking as though he were enjoying an excellent cup of tea.

Lü Wushuang had truly been angered now. She laughed coldly again and again. "If I wanted to kill Niu Youdao and the others, would I need to go to all this trouble?"

Ding Wei refused to yield a step. "Niu Youdao went to investigate an inside traitor in Wuliang Garden. Naturally, someone could not openly make a move against him in front of everyone there. I'm afraid someone never expected Niu Youdao to be so cunning. He did not obey the order to return, his movements became erratic and difficult to track, and that was why killing him took so much trouble!"

He then turned and cupped his hands toward Yuan Se. "Master, I beg you to judge clearly!"

Huang Ban and Xuan Yao, still kneeling, exchanged uncertain looks. Ding Wei's argument had also shaken them. The more they thought about the affair, the more suspicious details they found. Niu Youdao's behavior truly had been too abnormal, and both men began to wonder about Lü Wushuang's intentions as well.

At the very least, as far as the two of them knew, Ding Wei had never arranged anything against Wuliang Garden.

Of course, whether Ding Wei had secretly arranged for someone else to do something behind their backs was another matter. That, they did not know.

"Impudent!" Lü Wushuang, now accused to the point that the matter had become almost impossible to untangle, gave a furious shout and struck with one palm.

Ding Wei was badly startled.

At such close range, with Lü Wushuang's cultivation, speed, and power, the attack caught him completely unprepared. He also knew perfectly well that he could not withstand a blow from Lü Wushuang. Even if it did not kill him outright, it would probably leave him gravely injured.

But Yuan Se's body blurred into a phantom.

He moved in an instant, intercepted the force of the attack, and swept out one sleeve.

Boom!

The two forces collided.

A ferocious astral wind burst through the pavilion like a force that could sweep away rotten wood. Tables, chairs, and everything else were sent flying like dead branches.

Although Yuan Se had already neutralized most of the attack's power, the remaining force was still more than enough to make Huang Ban and the others suffer. Their cultivation had been sealed, leaving them unable to protect themselves. The seven kneeling men were swept out of the pavilion by the blast and hurled to the ground outside, rolling and tumbling until every one of them was dizzy and battered.

As the astral wind died away, the entire pavilion creaked ominously, as though it had nearly been blown apart.

Yuan Se and Lü Wushuang stared at one another.

The former wore his usual cheerful smile.

The latter's eyes were cold and sharp.

"Great Beauty Lü, attacking my disciple right in front of me—aren't you looking down on me a little too much?" Yuan Se asked with a smile.

Lü Wushuang snapped, "You truly taught yourself a fine disciple with a sharp tongue! Fatty Yuan, don't tell me you actually believe his nonsense."

As far as she was concerned, Ding Wei was simply arguing sophistry.

She knew perfectly well that she had not lied. Niu Youdao had told her clearly and unmistakably that the person coveting the Wuliang Fruit was Ding Wei.

Ding Wei was twisting the facts and trying to talk his way free.

She truly had not expected a matter with such seemingly conclusive evidence to become this tangled. Yet Niu Youdao's behavior before his death really was full of strange points. Once Ding Wei laid them all out, even Lü Wushuang herself found it difficult to explain everything cleanly.

Yuan Se said, "The clear will prove clear, and the turbid turbid. We were reasoning things out nicely. Just make the matter clear. Why start fighting?"

"What's going on?"

A figure dropped into the courtyard.

Half his upper body bare, his hair hanging loose, Wu Chang strode over with tiger-like eyes full of authority.

Immediately afterward, Granny Xue, Luo Qiu, and the others arrived one after another. All the Sacred Venerables temporarily staying in Wentian City had been alarmed by the muffled-thunder power hidden in the clash.

Yuan Se looked over the gathering crowd and chuckled. "Nothing. Great Beauty has a temper. One of my people accidentally offended her."

Then he turned back to Lü Wushuang. "Great Beauty Lü, if my people don't understand proper behavior, I'll discipline them myself. It isn't your place to discipline my people!"

Lü Wushuang's expression was ugly.

But when she met the meaningful look in Yuan Se's eyes, she ultimately gave a cold snort, flicked her sleeve, and turned her head aside. She did not expose anything further.

The nine factions had rules governing the Wuliang Fruits in Wuliang Garden.

If any party dared harbor ulterior motives and tamper with the fruits, thereby breaking those rules, that party would have to withdraw from the rotation guarding the Garden. In effect, it would surrender its share of control over the Wuliang Fruits.

That was precisely why Lü Wushuang had privately informed Yuan Se rather than telling the others. She had intended to use the matter to pressure him and trade it for benefits she wanted.

Who could have known Ding Wei would turn around and bite back at her, muddying the matter until even she could no longer completely clear herself?

Now the affair could no longer be opened up in public.

Once it was, the other seven factions would not care which of the two sides was innocent. As long as they found an excuse, they would inevitably join forces and pressure both Yuan Se and Lü Wushuang to withdraw from Wuliang Garden.

Against seven factions acting together, the two of them could not resist.

They therefore had no choice but to suppress the matter. Otherwise, neither side would gain anything.

And so the disturbance was smoothed over by the two of them.

After everyone else had dispersed, Yuan Se moved close to Lü Wushuang, whose anger had yet to fade, and asked quietly, "Can you really get your hands on the things in Wuliang Garden?"

With all Nine Saints jointly guarding them, forget outsiders. Even the Nine Saints themselves found it nearly impossible to obtain a Wuliang Fruit.

Lü Wushuang flared again. "What are you implying?"

Yuan Se said, "You know perfectly well what I mean. If you truly can obtain them, then you and I can join hands. Sooner or later, everything beneath Heaven will belong to the two of us. We won't have to suffer all this chaotic restraint anymore."

He gestured between the two of them, indicating an even division.

It was not only outsiders who coveted the Wuliang Fruits.

With only a limited number available, the Nine Saints themselves wanted them too.

If they truly obtained those things and secretly raised twelve Nascent Soul Realm experts of their own, then with the right arrangements, those experts could become enormously useful at a critical moment.

"You really are easy to fool. A few words from your disciple and he has you dancing in his palm." Lü Wushuang tossed out the words with a cold laugh and left.

Whether he truly had been fooled by his own disciple, Yuan Se could no longer be certain.

But Ding Wei's argument genuinely made sense.

Lü Wushuang could not clear away the suspicion surrounding herself.

By the same token, after such an unclear affair had occurred, Yuan Se no longer trusted Ding Wei either.

Ding Wei was stripped of his authority as Presiding Administrator of Misty Pavilion.

Yuan Se's stated reason was that he would not rest until Niu Youdao's assassination had been fully investigated, and Ding Wei was therefore to devote himself exclusively to the case. It also appeared to be punishment for his dissatisfaction with Ding Wei's slow progress.

Dayuan Sacred Land sent someone else to preside over Misty Pavilion.

The new Presiding Administrator was Huo Kong, Ding Wei's senior brother.

Ding Wei knew he would soon be completely stripped of real authority, then placed under house arrest. What his final fate would be was impossible to predict.

For the moment, no harsher measures were being taken against him only because Yuan Se did not want the other seven factions to become suspicious.

Even so, to survive such an affair at all already counted as fortune amid disaster.

...

Inside a dim dungeon, the battered and bloodied Xuan Yao was thrown back into his cell.

Barely clinging to life, he crawled to the wall and slowly propped himself upright against it.

He had failed to escape the calamity.

He himself had confessed to assassinating Niu Youdao. How could he possibly avoid punishment?

He had no idea what was happening to Ding Wei outside.

He only knew that the people here were torturing him without mercy, trying to force him to admit whether Ding Wei had ordered the assassination and to reveal what other shameful matters he had handled for Ding Wei.

There was a reason Xuan Yao had been able to become Ding Wei's trusted man.

And because of that reason, no matter what they did to him, he refused to reveal anything harmful to Ding Wei.

Slowly, he worked a small paper ball out of his palm.

When they had carried him back earlier, one of the men supporting him had secretly slipped it into his hand.

He opened the paper.

Only seven characters were written on it:

Don't worry about matters outside!

Until now, he had still held on to one faint hope of survival.

He had seen that Yuan Se seemed intent on suppressing the affair. Perhaps that might somehow allow him to live.

But the moment he saw the handwriting on the note, he knew he would not survive.

The people outside no longer had the strength to protect him.

And they did not want him left alive to become a future liability.

A miserable smile gradually spread across his face.

He crumpled the note, placed it in his mouth, and slowly swallowed it.

"Heh... heh..."

Laughing miserably, he began to cry.

Tears streamed down his face.

He regretted it so much.

Only now did he understand how wrong he had been.

For the sake of one mere Niu Youdao, he had implicated so many people and was about to throw away his own life as well.

Had it been worth it?

With great effort, he pushed himself away from the wall.

Then he suddenly gathered the last of his strength.

Bang!

He smashed his head violently into the stone wall...

...

Inside the Central Hall, Ding Wei finished the complete handover with his senior brother Huo Kong, then bowed and took his leave.

Huo Kong gave a slight, expressionless nod.

Ding Wei turned and walked away.

The moment he stepped out through the doors, Huang Ban came forward and quietly told him, "Xuan Yao is gone."

Ding Wei drew a deep breath.

His expression became complicated.

He said nothing.

Then he strode away.

...

At Wuliang Garden, Ao Feng walked slowly out of Wuxu Hall with heavy steps.

He had just paid his respects to his master, Ye Nian, and asked for permission to leave. He wanted to take the opportunity to disappear for good.

No matter what had happened after Niu Youdao's death, the goods had already fallen into the Fox Clan's hands.

Ao Feng had remained uneasy for days, uncertain whether Niu Youdao's promise still counted.

Recently, however, he had finally thought things through.

Whether the promise remained valid or not, he had to try.

If it had become void, then at worst he could return. Or perhaps he would simply go into hiding and survive for as long as he could.

Continuing to stay here was simply too frightening.

Every day left him on edge.

The moment the counterfeit fruits on the tree were exposed, if no one could determine who had taken the real ones, then everyone inside Wuliang Garden might be doomed.

Niu Youdao had once told him that even if Ao Feng were caught, Niu Youdao could use the temptation of the Wuliang Fruit to find someone capable of rescuing him.

But the problem was that Niu Youdao was dead now!

And yesterday, while on duty, Ao Feng had received another message from the Fox Clan.

The message had stated clearly that it would be the final communication. They would no longer contact him afterward.

Now that the goods were already in hand, naturally they had to eliminate every possible source of exposure.

That last message had told him to leave as quickly as possible.

The Fox Clan also said they would follow Niu Youdao's arrangements.

That gave Ao Feng a little confidence and finally hardened his resolve to go.

Thus, after turning over his shift this morning, he had immediately come to ask his master for leave.

Yet Ye Nian had refused.

Ye Nian's meaning was perfectly clear.

Until the matter of the inside traitor was resolved, the entire Wuliang Garden would remain under lockdown. No one was allowed to leave.

Even as Ao Feng's master, Ye Nian could not show favoritism to his own disciple.

He told Ao Feng to wait until the storm had passed.

There was nothing Ao Feng could do.

His heart twisted tightly and would not loosen.

He had no idea how much longer he would have to endure these days of constant fear.

Outsiders could not possibly understand his terror.

The slightest disturbance near the Wuliang Fruit tree was enough to frighten him half to death.

This was simply no way for a human being to live!

Yet he did not dare confess.

From the moment he had plucked those twelve fruits, he knew there had been no road back for him...

...

Inside the gorge, at the old meeting place, Niu Youdao and Sha Rulai met once again.

Barring any accident, this would be the final time the two met here.

Sha Rulai had arranged everything.

This time, he had come to take Niu Youdao out of the Sacred Realm.

[End of Chapter 1167]