Chapter 1241: Demon Canon

"Good!" Yuan Cong nodded and immediately told Wei Duo to carry it out.

Wei Duo hurriedly wrote up the situation and released a messenger Goldenwing. After that, he immediately contacted Song's covert agents in the Qi capital.

There was a reason for contacting them: the group's flying mounts had been left in their care, and now they needed those agents to deliver the mounts to a designated location.

Once everything had been arranged, Wei Duo returned. They immediately loaded the unconscious coachman back into the carriage.

The group climbed aboard and left in haste, heading straight out of the capital. After reaching the agreed meeting point, they quickly mounted their flying mounts and departed. The carriage was left to the Song agents who met them there.

...

At Demon Ridge, Niu Youdao and Yun Ji had already taken rooms at Tiandu Inn. Now the two of them were wandering through the city.

The city had been carved into the mountain itself, its dominant color black. Its atmosphere was indeed completely different from places like Star-Plucking City. True to its name, most of those buying and selling here were demons, monsters, ghosts, and other strange beings, and such creatures from all across the realm tended to gather here.

Both Niu Youdao and Yun Ji had disguised themselves. Yun Ji had even dressed as a man.

As they came and went from the inn, they had been surrounded by a group of independent cultivators. The scene was so familiar that Niu Youdao drifted into a momentary daze.

He ignored those independent cultivators and continued walking. Yun Ji glanced at him. "Something on your mind?"

Niu Youdao sighed. "I just remembered... there's still something I haven't done."

"What?"

Niu Youdao shook his head. Yun Ji did not ask further. After spending some time around him, she had come to the same conclusion Guan Fangyi had: if he would not answer, there was no point asking again. Asking would not produce an answer anyway.

In truth, Guan Fangyi had wanted to come along this time, but Niu Youdao had refused, leaving her rather unhappy.

Naturally, he had his reasons. Guan Fangyi was now effectively the public-facing leader of Maolu Annex. If she suddenly vanished, it would draw too much attention. Yun Ji was different. She had always kept a low profile, and if no one saw her for a few days, it did not matter.

After wandering around Demon Ridge for a while, the two entered a shop belonging to Liuxian Sect.

Browsing was only a pretense. They had come to collect something. At the counter, they gave the agreed signal. The shopkeeper asked no questions and simply handed over a sealed wax pellet.

Niu Youdao took it and left. The shopkeeper himself did not know what the matter was, nor did he know their identities, and he did not inquire. He was simply following orders from above: someone had delivered an item, and now someone else had come to collect it.

After leaving the city, Niu Youdao and Yun Ji went to a secluded place and crushed the wax pellet. Inside was a sheet of paper. When they unfolded it, they found a simple map.

Using Demon Ridge as the reference point, they compared the map carefully for a while before changing direction and disappearing into the vast, rolling mountains beyond, where almost no vegetation grew.

Eventually, they reached a snowy mountain gorge. Midway along a roaring river, they found a narrow fissure in a cliff.

They landed outside the fissure. The scent of wine drifted from within.

Niu Youdao smiled faintly, signaled for Yun Ji to remain outside and keep watch, then flashed inside alone.

Yun Ji was already accustomed to such things. She knew this man had contacts everywhere behind the scenes and had no idea how many secrets he still concealed. At this point, there was nothing strange about whom he met or what he did.

Inside the fissure was a natural cavern. Meltwater dripped steadily through cracks overhead, drop after drop, as though it had been falling there forever.

Outside was bitterly cold, yet the cavern held a strange, almost constant warmth.

Deep inside, a Moon Butterfly fluttered through the darkness. Beneath its dim glow was a hollow in the rock wall. A drunk lay on his side inside it, hugging a wine jug and drinking freely.

It was Zhao Xiongge.

Niu Youdao first searched the cavern thoroughly. Only after confirming the surroundings did he flash down beside the rock hollow and look at the drunk before him.

Zhao Xiongge's bleary eyes flickered. He glanced at the visitor, failed to recognize him, and went right on drinking.

"Long time no see," Niu Youdao said with a soft laugh.

The wine jug froze halfway to Zhao Xiongge's mouth.

His drunken eyes seemed to clear in an instant, and he stared at the man before him in startled uncertainty.

Niu Youdao reached behind his neck, pinched up an edge of skin, and peeled away the disguise covering his face. His true features emerged, and he smiled at Zhao Xiongge.

Zhao Xiongge's expression became wonderfully strange. He looked like an ordinary man who had seen a ghost. His eyes nearly popped from their sockets. Then he scrambled to his feet and pointed at Niu Youdao.

"You... you... you..."

For once, he could not even form a complete sentence.

Niu Youdao chuckled. "What's wrong with me? Are you drunk, or have you forgotten me that quickly?"

He was just about to step closer when Zhao Xiongge suddenly pointed at him and barked, "Don't move!"

Niu Youdao stopped in surprise.

Zhao Xiongge circled him twice. Then he stopped directly in front, tied his wine jug at his waist, and actually reached out with both hands to knead and rub Niu Youdao's face.

Being handled like that by another grown man was more than Niu Youdao could tolerate. He slapped both hands away. "What kind of habit is this? Fine, I'll say it plainly. I wasn't planning to show myself to you, but there are certain things you probably wouldn't tell Yuan Gang honestly unless I did. So answer me this: how did you know Chuan Ying belongs to Wu Chang?"

Hearing that, Zhao Xiongge finally confirmed the truth and understood.

He had already felt that Yuan Gang's methods earlier were unusual. He had also wondered why, after leaving Zijin Cave, the people of Maolu Annex had not followed Niu Youdao's supposed dying arrangement and come to Demon Ridge, but had instead settled in Nanzhou's prefectural capital.

So this bastard had still been alive behind the scenes, manipulating the situation all along.

Every lingering doubt was suddenly resolved.

No wonder someone had even found a way to arrange a future road for Shangqing Sect!

"You're actually still alive?" Zhao Xiongge stared at him in disbelief, genuine delight showing in his eyes.

Niu Youdao said, "Why does that sound like you were hoping I'd die early? What good would my death do you?"

Zhao Xiongge seized his jug again and drank several hearty mouthfuls before waving a hand. "That's not what I meant. It's just... the information I received confirmed you had died in the Sacred Realm. The Nine Saints personally verified your corpse. How could that have been false?"

"You don't need to worry about that. I had my own way of dealing with it. Answer my question first. How did you know Chuan Ying belongs to Wu Chang?"

The delight in Zhao Xiongge's face faded quickly. "That has nothing to do with you. Just remember to be careful of Chuan Ying."

"What do you mean, it has nothing to do with me? Do you know Chuan Ying approached me inside the Sacred Realm? He acted extremely friendly. His intention to get close to me was obvious. Now he's gone after Tang Yi as well. There has to be some purpose behind it. I don't know what it is, but you clearly know something."

Zhao Xiongge fell silent for a while before slowly saying, "What I know has nothing to do with you. Don't ask too much. Getting involved won't benefit you. This is between Wu Chang and me."

Niu Youdao laughed. "Uncle Zhao, after everything that's happened, you still think Wu Chang has nothing to do with me? I faked my death and escaped the Sacred Realm. I'm already openly working against the Nine Saints. Forget Wu Chang—if any of the Nine Saints learned I was still alive, not one of them would let me go."

He continued, his tone turning serious. "I'll say it again. Listen carefully. I am already fighting the Nine Saints. In that struggle, I am at an absolute disadvantage. That's precisely why I don't dare show myself publicly. Now Wu Chang's hand has already reached people around me. If I don't understand the situation, if I don't know why he's doing this, what happens if I rashly help Shangqing Sect and make the wrong decision? A wrong judgment could get many people killed."

"At the very least, you have to let me know what I'm dealing with. If I have no grasp of the situation at all, how can I dare help Shangqing Sect?"

Zhao Xiongge said nothing. He drank in silence.

Niu Youdao did not rush him. He simply watched and waited.

After quite some time, Zhao Xiongge exhaled. "Wu Chang is looking for something."

Niu Youdao immediately asked, "What?"

"The secret canon of the Demonic Sect."

Niu Youdao frowned. "With Wu Chang's present strength and cultivation, he already stands above the entire Demonic Sect. Is some sect canon really worth this much trouble and all these roundabout methods?"

Zhao Xiongge said, "There is a secret legend within the Demonic Sect. The Demon Canon was actually written by Li Ge, the empress of Shang Song, founding emperor of the Wu Dynasty. The Demon Canon contains certain secret arts recorded by Li Ge herself. Before Li Ge disappeared, she entrusted it to one of her most trusted maids."

"That maid later became the founder of the Demonic Sect and its first Saintess. From then on, the Demon Canon was kept by each successive Saintess."

"After Wu Chang's power came to stand above the entire Demonic Sect, he wanted to break the rule that the Demon Canon could only be kept by the Saintess. He wanted to take it into his own hands and study its secrets."

"But after the previous Saintess died, the Demon Canon disappeared. Because of my relationship with the Saintess, Wu Chang has always suspected I know where it is."

"Because of that, he has tried everything on me. He has tortured me in every possible way, yet still failed to discover the Demon Canon's whereabouts. Perhaps he feared that if he killed me, he would lose the trail forever. He never dared go quite far enough to finish me, and eventually let me go."

"Over the years, Wu Chang has tried too many methods on me and played every kind of trick. When Chuan Ying contacted Tang Yi, your side suddenly sent word asking about the details of their conversation. Later, you said you had never entrusted anything to Chuan Ying at all. Add in his identity and his ability to enter and leave the Sacred Realm, and I immediately guessed this was one of Wu Chang's schemes."

"What you just told me about Chuan Ying approaching you inside the Sacred Realm confirms it even further. Whether he approached you then or Tang Yi now, I fear the reason is the same: Wu Chang saw that I care about Shangqing Sect and wants to use the sect as a breakthrough point against me."

Zhao Xiongge sighed. "Back then, when Shangqing Sect nearly met with disaster, perhaps I should never have stepped forward to protect them. If I had continued keeping my distance, Wu Chang might not have fixed his eyes on them. Whether what I did then was fortune or disaster for Shangqing Sect, I still don't know. All I can do is protect them for as long as I can."

"So that's how it is..." Niu Youdao nodded thoughtfully and rubbed his chin. "A secret work left behind by Li Ge herself. If word of that gets out, the Nine Saints might fight until their heads crack open trying to seize it."

Zhao Xiongge shot him a sidelong look. "If you want to get me killed, go ahead and leak it. But don't forget that I know you're still alive."

Niu Youdao chuckled. "All right, enough. Let's stop threatening each other. One more thing. Is the Demon Canon in your hands?"

"No! I'm not even a member of the Demonic Sect. How could the Demon Canon be in my hands?"

Niu Youdao snorted. "Save it. Other people may not know, but I know enough. The Demon Canon is in your hands."

"If you enjoy making blind guesses, suit yourself."

"Blind guesses? Then answer me this. What's the story behind the Ghost Face on the Commandery Princess?"

"It was caused by a secret art of the Demonic Sect."

"The hell it was! I think it was a secret art from the Demon Canon. If it were some ordinary Demonic Sect art, then with Shang Shuqing's reputation for ugliness, the moment anyone in the Demonic Sect heard about her face, wouldn't they know what it was? Could it have stayed hidden from the Demonic Sect? Could it have stayed hidden from Wu Chang?"

"And what about the method for refining Crow Generals? How is it that even Wu Chang doesn't know the flaw in it, yet you know exactly how to break it? Who the hell are you trying to fool?"

[End of Chapter 1241]