The wind chimes of the Star-picking Building were ringing softly.
The wind chimes of another building not far away were all cracked.
The Mountain Gate Formation of the Platanus Sect had been fully activated. The atmosphere was tense and oppressive. There were ripples on Morning Lake, as if a storm was brewing.
A dozen elders of the Platanus Sect stood in the building. They looked terrible, but not all of them were feeling the same way.
A dozen representatives of various sects had also come. They were all feeling heavy, but their expressions did not show any of it.
De Yuanquan's corpse was lying on the floor. No one moved it, and it looked the same as when he just died.
Blood flowed out from the back of his head, spreading to a radius of a few feet.
The most horrifying thing was the hole on his face, which extended from his nose to the back of his head. It looked extremely horrifying.
Neither the Nascent Soul Cultivator nor the Sword Ghost could escape from such a strange wound.
The Grandmaster stood beside De Yuanquan's corpse. Her body was bent, and she stared at it for a long time without any expression on her face. No one knew what she was thinking.
It was unusually quiet in the building.
After a long time, the Grandmaster finally straightened up. Her body emitted a crisp bell sound, which was a sign that her cultivation method had reached the state of perfection.
She slowly turned to look at He Bumu, and said in a calm and emotionless voice, "The Aoyama Sect has gone too far."
Upon hearing this, a few elders of the Platanus Sect looked at He Bumu, their eyes full of hatred and anger.
The leaders and elders of various sects also felt that the Aoyama Sect had gone too far.
After all, this was the internal affairs of the Platanus Sect. How could they interfere and even kill their own people?
The most unreasonable thing was, didn't the Aoyama Sect give the Grandmaster one day to make a decision? Why did they attack so suddenly?
"The Grandmaster is slandering us."
He Bumu said in a dull voice, "We have been talking with Zuo Yushi from Ōzawa. What does this have to do with us?"
Zuo Yushi from Ōzawa said with a bitter smile, "Yes, the Grandmaster. I guarantee that all my friends from Aoyama were present."
The Grandmaster was expressionless. She lifted her walking stick and knocked on the floor.
The floor trembled slightly.
De Yuanquan's head split open like a petal, and then turned into powder.
The Matriarch did not go crazy, and it was not her doing. It was the remnant sword will hidden in De Yuanquan's head.
The remnant sword intents disappeared in the air, but they still left traces.
"If I'm not mistaken, this should be the Sword Will of Aoyama, and this sword technique should be the Old Bird Sword Technique of Yunxing Peak."
The Grandmaster looked at He Bumu expressionlessly and said, "You didn't even bother to conceal your murder. Isn't your sect a bit too arrogant?"
The expression on He Bumu's face remained unchanged; it was as stiff as a stone. "Perhaps they are the remaining evildoers of Taiping, perhaps they are the assassins of Bulao Lin," he said.
The Old Lady stared into his eyes and said, "Who knows what relationship you have with Taiping?"
He Bumu said, "The Devil King Taiping, everybody has the right to punish him. What relation do we have with him? Matriarch, please be careful with your words. "
The wrinkles on the Matriarch's face deepened. It was as if she had aged a lot in just half a day.
"Now that someone has died, we have to find out who the murderer is. I'd like to ask my Cultivation friends to stay here for a few more days."
She said this expressionlessly while looking at the Cultivation practitioners of various sects in the building.
What she said was quite polite, and the scenery of Morning Lake was not bad; but everybody knew that this was a kind of house arrest in disguise.
The Cultivation practitioners of various sects were displeased, but they didn't say anything when they saw the headless corpse on the floor.
De Yuanquan was the new sect master chosen by the Grandmaster, but he died tragically as soon as he showed up in the Cultivation circle. No one would let the matter go so easily.
But, would the people of the Aoyama Sect stay here?
Dozens of gazes with different emotions fell on He Bumu.
According to the style of the Aoyama Sect, they would never accept the request of the Platanus Sect, not to mention that the Grandmaster had already pointed out that they had something to do with the death.
Unexpectedly, He Bumu accepted the request.
He led Lin Yingliang and the other two disciples of Shiyue Peak heading for the outside of the building, his voice echoing in the building.
"Why do I have to leave? I've watched the flowers and plants on the peak for so many years. What's wrong with staying here and watching the fun? "
…
…
The new sect master, De Yuanquan, was dead, so the Clean-Heart Meeting ended abruptly. But the representatives of various sects and those free-traveling practitioners all stayed behind.
The way the Platanus Sect employed was simple; they used the Great Formation hidden in the lake and the mountains.
Two years ago, the Great Formation of the mountain gate of the Western Sea Sword School was easily broken through by the Aoyama Sect; it was because Taiping Zhenren snuck into Shaoming Island and destroyed the center of the formation.
If the Cultivation practitioners wanted to leave, they had to find the center of the formation under the surveillance of the Platanus Sect and destroy it.
Though the Platanus Sect didn't allow people to leave, they didn't forbid the Cultivation practitioners from coming and going as they pleased. It was obvious that they weren't worried about this.
A young monk of the Guocheng Temple went to inquire about the news and came back to the small courtyard, shaking his head, saying, "It's said that he died tragically."
The old monk looked at Jing Jiu and sighed.
The young monk didn't know why his master sighed, saying, "It's said that Elder He of the Aoyama Sect and the Grandmaster are arguing again."
The old monk glanced at him and thought for a while, but he didn't ask him to shut up.
The young monk looked at Jing Jiu and said, "The Grandmaster said that the Aoyama Sect had gone too far, and Elder He said that the Platanus Sect was slandering us. Look, what a neat couplet …"
Jing Jiu thought that these two sentences were indeed similar to the couplets he had read in the books before. He didn't expect that He Bumu had this kind of ability, so he admired him a little.
The young monk continued, "I don't know when we can find the murderer … Don't look at me like that. I know it's not the Immortal Master of the Aoyama Sect who did it. I'm just curious who could do it so quietly. By the way, do you think people will die again? I don't think so. "
The old monk couldn't help but sigh, thinking that he should really shut up.
The young monk touched his head and thought, What's wrong with master today? Why is master sighing again and again?
Sometimes it's a prophecy, and sometimes it's a jinx.
In short, there was another murder at the Dawn Lake that night.
A senior Elder of the Platanus Sect died in the night. His corpse fell into the lake, scaring away a few white geese.
The young monk hurried out and came back after a short while. He said regretfully, "He's too dead. There's no way to save him. That assassin is really powerful."
The death of the Platanus Sect Elder was almost the same as De Yuanquan's, with a hole on his face.
The old monk looked at Jing Jiu again and sighed again.
…
…
In the following days, the atmosphere at the Dawn Lake became even more tense. The disciples of the Platanus Sect were even more vigilant, but they still couldn't stop the murders from happening.
No matter in the abode of immortals or on the island in the middle of the lake, there were people dying everywhere, and they were all important figures of the Platanus Sect.
The old monk looked at Jing Jiu and sighed again and again.
No matter how naive the young monk was, he understood by now. But he didn't understand how Jing Jiu could do it since he hadn't left the small courtyard for a few days.
Jing Jiu's face was a little pale. He went back to his room to meditate and rest.
Ada knew that he had used up too much of his Sword Energy, so he didn't climb onto his head to sleep.
The young monk looked at the tightly shut door and said with a frown, "Master, are we considered accomplices?"
…
…
The Mountain Gate Formation had been opened, and Dawn Lake had been sealed. Everyone knew that the terrifying assassin couldn't have come from the outside world, but was hiding among the guests.
The problem was that the assassin was too powerful. Not only did no one see his figure, but he didn't even leave a trace.
The bells hanging all over the mountains and on the eaves didn't ring even once, and those elders and swordsmen of the Hanging-Bell Sect had died soundlessly.
The strangest thing was that the night before yesterday, the two elders of the Gate Hall died at the same time even though they were at the east and west ends of Dawn Lake.
People were extremely shocked. Could it be that there was more than one assassin? Or could it be that the assassin's movements were so strange and unpredictable?
The increasingly bizarre conjectures and the constant deaths made many disciples feel terrified. But for some people in the Platanus Sect, this was the best thing.
There had always been many people who supported Sect Leader Chen in the Platanus Sect, but they didn't dare to stand out because of the Matriarch's authority and the elders' forceful methods. Now that the elders were all dead, who else could stop the undercurrent of the Platanus Sect from breaking through the surface?
One night, a very senior elder came to the Zhai Xing Lou and asked to see the Matriarch.
"We are well aware of the cause of the current situation. Please dismantle the Great Formation and release the Sect Leader as soon as possible."
The voice of the Matriarch was still emotionless. "The Platanus Sect has been bullied by outsiders, and you still want to speak up for those outsiders?"
The elder said in a deep and unflinching voice, "The Sect Leader has been married to Dawn Lake for many years; how can she be an outsider?"
…
…
As the elders were killed, the power balance between the two sects of the Platanus Sect had finally reversed.
But everybody knew that the Matriarch wouldn't accept the defeat so easily.
The Cultivation practitioners who came to the Clean-Heart Meeting were both nervous and curious, waiting for the ending of the story.
He Bumu and the other three disciples of Shiyue Peak sat in the grand hall every day, chatting with the acquaintances of the Ōzawa and the Mirror Sect, as if they were watching the show.
Zuo Yushi of Ōzawa and the Chief Emissary of the Mirror Sect thought that he was using this method to prove that Aoyama had nothing to do with the event; but he himself knew what he was preparing.
In the early morning of the fourth day, the event finally took place.
The bells by Dawn Lake rang loudly, and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth danced along with it, forming countless shapeless whirlpools.
Some free-traveling practitioners with lower Cultivation states couldn't withstand the change of the spiritual energy, and their faces turned pale as they rushed to the lakeside to vomit incessantly.
Along with the ringing of the bells, the formation enshrouded a small courtyard.
Dozens of disciples of the Platanus Sect surrounded the small courtyard tightly, making sure that nobody could leave.
The Matriarch walked slowly to the front of the small courtyard with the help of her walking stick.
The Cultivation practitioners of various sects who had heard the news also came over. The Platanus Sect didn't intend to conceal it from them, letting them stand around the courtyard.
The door of the small courtyard was pushed open. Seeing the situation outside, the young monk couldn't help but feel startled. "Senior master, what are you …" he said.
The Matriarch didn't pay any attention to him. She walked into the small courtyard and came to the front of the monk wearing the conical hat without taking a look at the old monk.
"You are indeed as rumored. Both your sword and your body are very fast, and even my life bell can't detect you in advance."
She looked at the monk and said, "But you underestimate the Platanus Sect."
The flying sword that had been killing people by the lakeside of Morning Lake these past few days was indeed strange and fast, but after killing so many people, there would always be some traces left behind.
The Platanus Sect's formation kept shrinking according to those traces. Finally, when the flying sword killed again last night, it alerted the Matriarch's life bell.
The monk wearing the conical hat lowered his head and didn't speak.
The cultivators of various sects outside the courtyard were very nervous. They wondered what would happen if the conical hat was taken off.
The Ōzawa Zuo Yushi and the Mirror Sect Elder glanced at He Bumu and saw that his expression was somewhat serious. Their hearts couldn't help but skip a beat. They knew that the Aoyama Sect was behind this.
The Matriarch looked at the monk wearing the conical hat and thought of his strange movements and the rumors in the cultivation world over the past two years. She took a deep breath.
"Friend Jing Jiu, instead of meditating in Aoyama, you disguised yourself as a monk from the Guocheng Temple and hid here. What is your purpose?"
Hearing this, the cultivators of various sects couldn't help but be in an uproar!
The monk wearing the conical hat was actually Jing Jiu of Aoyama!
Why did he come to the Platanus Sect to kill people?
The people thought of what He Bumu had said a few days ago and realized that it was a very natural thing to do.
There had only been three guests at the Shenmo Peak in recent years: Tong Yan, Bai Zao, and the young master of the Platanus Sect, Sensei De.
When Tong Yan visited the Shenmo Peak, Jing Jiu was still trapped in the snowland. In other words, the guests he received in person were only Bai Zao and Sensei De.
The whole cultivation world was aware of the relationship between Jing Jiu and Bai Zao, and the relationship between Jing Jiu and Sensei De was unimaginable. Now that De Sensei De was in trouble, how could he not come?
…
…
Hearing what the Matriarch said, He Bumu narrowed his eyes slightly, his hands behind his back trembling slightly.
He wasn't nervous, nor was he afraid. He had already formed the sword instruction and informed Lin Yingliang and the other two disciples of Shiyue Peak to get ready for the fight.
These three disciples didn't have a high Cultivation state, and Lin Yingliang, the strongest among them, was only in the middle state of the Undefeated. They knew that something bad would happen once the fight started, but they couldn't care less about it.
Under everyone's gaze, the monk lifted his right hand and took off the conical hat, revealing his face.
Seeing the face, He Bumu felt a bit surprised, but he felt much more relaxed, and his right hand released the sword instruction.
It was quiet in the small courtyard.
The atmosphere was a bit awkward.
The monk had a handsome face, but it wasn't perfect.
In that case, he wasn't Jing Jiu De.
He Zhan looked at the Matriarch and asked earnestly, "I'm a monk of the Guocheng Temple; why can't I be here?"
…
…
"Well, according to everybody's opinion, the name Ada will be used in the future, one character less than Ada Liu …"
(End of this chapter)
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