“Did you really have to announce us like that?”
Shen Yi glanced sideways at Lin Qingyang, faintly exasperated.
If that fox got scared off, the Implement Sect had better be prepared to have itself emptied out as compensation.
“Commander Shen, he wanted to let the Qingqiu Perfected Master know this represents the court’s position. Please don’t hold it against him.” Madam Lin explained quietly.
The fox demon was powerful, with substantial backing.
Without invoking Great Qian’s authority, there was genuinely no standing to hold an equal conversation with it.
Whatever scheme it was running.
The fact that Commander Shen had come representing the court would make clear to it that the War Temple already knew — it would be wise to rein things in.
“…”
Shen Yi shook his head, and a golden light rose in his eyes.
He pushed the Mountain-Seeking Qi-Gazing Method to its full extent.
All across the Implement Sect’s mountain, white mist and golden light alternated — but not a trace of demon qi showed itself anywhere.
His gaze settled on the middle-aged man at the mountaintop, dressed in his pale blue-green robes.
No presence came off the man whatsoever.
Like an ordinary mortal.
That had to be the one — what kind of upstanding person would refine their qi-concealment technique to this level? If not out of a guilty conscience, what else?
Perfected Master Hu held Shen Yi’s gaze without the slightest concern, even managing a smile and a small nod. “Hu Jin of Qingqiu.”
He hadn’t removed his robe — so for now, he remained a cultivator.
“Mm.”
Shen Yi nodded in acknowledgment and descended slowly onto the mountain.
He hadn’t actually planned on invoking Great Qian’s name at all. The original plan was to locate the fox, deal with it, and leave.
If anyone asked, he’d say he didn’t know anything.
Moving on it openly right now was a touch inconvenient, though — the War Temple had treated him well, and he couldn’t go around creating unnecessary trouble for them.
With that in mind, Shen Yi’s expression remained composed. “Shall we find somewhere to talk?”
“…”
Perfected Master Hu paused. It had still been working out what pretext to use to lure this Inspector away.
And now the man himself had suggested it first.
Did this young one genuinely think Qingqiu was some charitable institution?
“Wait — everyone — !”
Lin Jingyi came scrambling up to the mountain top with a crowd of disciples, and had barely arrived when he caught the Inspector’s words.
His expression changed slightly.
Clearing the Implement Sect of suspicion was one thing — but if the Inspector came to harm, the trouble that would follow would be far greater.
He’d had a nagging sense all along that this fox had something bad hidden up its sleeve.
Whatever needed to be said, it was better discussed here, on Great Qian’s own ground.
He’d already quietly dispatched someone to notify the General.
The ideal outcome today was getting this fox out of Great Qian altogether — otherwise it was going to cause the Implement Sect serious grief sooner or later.
“I’ve already had my disciples prepare refreshments. Let’s welcome the Inspector properly — we can talk over food and drink.”
Neither Shen Yi nor Perfected Master Hu responded.
It was the young fox demon who stepped forward, unable to hold back. “You’re Shen Yi of Qingzhou, aren’t you? I’m asking you directly — did you kill my junior brother? He looked about my age, carried a pale jade sword, cultivated the external pill method…”
The fox demon described its junior brother’s characteristics in careful detail.
At that, Lin Jingyi and his son and daughter-in-law, who’d just landed from above, both froze for a moment.
There was a personal grudge involved as well?
And by the looks of things, they’d been expecting the Inspector’s arrival — as though they knew he would come.
“Father!”
Lin Qingyang shot Lin Jingyi a furious look. He could read the situation perfectly well — the Implement Sect had been used as a tool again.
Most likely that Perfected Master Hu had deliberately engineered his father sending word to the capital.
Except…
A Qingqiu fox demon that had a feud with the Inspector, going to the trouble of luring Commander Shen out here — what exactly were they planning?!
“I just forge metal. I haven’t got that many schemes in my head.”
And then he’d been pressured into playing chess on top of it, and had nearly had his brain broken by the whole business.
Lin Jingyi looked away with a resigned expression and stepped forward to smooth things over. “Perfected Master Hu, this is the Demon Suppression Division’s Inspector. Please ask your junior to hold their tongue a moment — no need to sour the atmosphere.”
“Sour the atmosphere?”
Perfected Master Hu gave a mild smile. “We’re only asking a question. It isn’t necessarily the case that this is actually the Inspector…”
“It is me.”
Shen Yi gave a small nod. His blue-green robe shifted lightly around him in the breeze. He looked the picture of composed and cultured as he looked over calmly. “What of it?”
“…”
In an instant, everyone went quiet.
Lin Jingyi opened his mouth, feeling his head grow more muddled by the second.
He just admitted it — just like that?
The young fox demon, still in the middle of listing its junior brother’s identifying features, found itself completely cut off. It hadn’t even finished the description yet.
And then an unnamed ghost-fire ignited in its chest.
Qingqiu never looked for trouble — but it had never been afraid of it, either!
Killing a Qingqiu disciple and then standing there without so much as an attempt to deny it — too arrogant even to bother with a cover story!
“Elder!”
“…”
Perfected Master Hu raised a hand and stopped its junior, looking over at the young man with an indifferent gaze.
Shen Yi’s hand settled quietly onto his blade hilt.
A personal grievance was a perfectly sound justification.
It also neatly separated the War Temple from the whole affair.
Dinner was just about ready.
“Inspector, your visit must concern the Silver Moon Cold Lotus. I did use the Implement Sect’s name — but the treasure is real enough. Unfortunately there’s a powerful demon guarding it. Does the Inspector happen to have any interest?”
Perfected Master Hu’s lips curved upward, and — remarkably — it didn’t lose its temper on the spot.
Then it added one more line. “I understand the Commander is from Qingzhou. I wonder how well he knows the Grandmaster there? Should I know whether you’d like to go lend her some assistance?”
At that, Shen Yi’s hand released the hilt.
An unexpected bonus — genuinely not what he’d anticipated.
“A Grandmaster?”
Lin Qingyang and the others nearly thought their ears had failed them.
Since when had Qingzhou produced a Grandmaster? How had no one heard of this at all?!
Before they’d even had a chance to process it—
Madam Lin abruptly raised her longsword. “Activate the Sect’s defensive formation! Contain this fox demon!”
Using a good friend as a threat to force Commander Shen to leave Great Qian — that single act was enough to confirm its wolfish intentions.
If they didn’t act now, the Implement Sect really would end up branded as colluders with demons!
“Wh—!” Lin Jingyi and his son looked back in startled disbelief, only to see their disciples already moving across the mountain, and the formation they’d paid handsomely to have built unfurling in an instant into a spread of pale light.
From every direction, that pale light converged on Perfected Master Hu.
“Oh?”
A flicker of surprise crossed Perfected Master Hu’s eyes, swiftly replaced by fury.
Great Qian was one thing — but a minor Implement Sect daring to lay hands on a Qingqiu elder?
And when it hadn’t even done anything yet, no less.
Utterly outrageous!
As if this crude formation could contain it…
“Let it go.”
Someone finally spoke up for Perfected Master Hu.
Shen Yi glanced around at everyone, looking mildly exasperated.
Madam Lin stood sword raised, blinking, and lowered her hand in bewildered surprise.
The pale light across the mountain faded swiftly away.
Perfected Master Hu frowned and smoothed down its robes, and then heard Shen Yi give a nod. “Would the Perfected Master be so kind as to lead the way?”
The tone was noticeably more courteous than before.
“…”
The Implement Sect members had gone slightly adrift, unable to tell at all what Commander Shen was thinking.
The fox’s behavior had been obviously off from the start — just based on those last words of its, if they waited for Lizhou’s General to arrive, combined with the Inspector’s authority, they could have expelled it without much trouble.
“Wonderful! Wonderful!”
Perfected Master Hu swept its sleeve, forcing down the fury still smoldering in its chest. The Implement Sect’s bill could be settled later, when it returned.
These Great Qian cultivators — the thing they treasured most was their sense of comradeship with their fellows.
And yet here was one willingly walking into a trap this obvious.
With this person’s help, its chances of obtaining the precious treasure improved by several more degrees — and it could handle its junior’s revenge on the side as well.
Heaven truly favored Qingqiu!
“This way, Commander Shen.”
(End of Chapter 241)