"Sect Master, we were unable to find the murderer," It was Duan Luoyang who stepped forward and spoke up first, confirming Jie Fu Lian's guess that the man was supposed to be the one in charge of the investigation.
Sect Master Quan poured himself a cup of herbal red tea and looked completely calm as if he had already expected to hear such a report.
"But we found something new," Duan Luoyang continued as he spoke, "The Xu clan owns a demon-summoning ground and it looks like it has been there for quite some time and had been used before."
Sect Master Quan quietly lifted the cup of herbal red tea and took a sip as he heard this.
"I request Sect Master to reconsider the dangers of this case."
"Hmm," Sect Master Quan slowly hummed as he closed his eyes and thought about something before asking, "Was there anything else?"
"No, there wasn't." Duan Luoyang shook his head as he responded after thinking about it for a few seconds.
"As per your recommendation, I'll reconsider the grade of the case," Sect Master Quan put the cup down as he spoke. He looked over towards Hua Tianshu and waited for a minute before he slowly asked, "Hua Tianshu, you seem oddly interested in this case. Would you want to lead the investigation?"
Hua Tianshu nodded his head but said nothing more.
"Then it's settled," Sect Master Quan spoke with a thin smile.
It looked like the Sect Master Quan was about to say something more but before any words could leave his mouth, he was interrupted by Jie Fu Lian.
"Wait!" Jie Fu Lian jumped down from his hiding place and raised his hand as he enthusiastically shouted out, "I have something to say!"
"Who are you?" Sect Master Quan asked with a small amused smile as he looked at Jie Fu Lian.
"You! Did you follow us here...?!" Duan Luoyang frowned as he pointed at Jie Fu Lian and questioned.
"You know him?" Sect Master Quan asked.
"Sect Master, he is from the Wei clan of the east," Duan Luoyang spoke as he replied, "We met him on the way. He accused my junior martial brother of stealing his turtle and kicked him."
Jie Fu Lian suddenly cleared his throat and smiled brightly as he waved his right hand in front of him and spoke, "No need to drag down an innocent sect's name. I'm not from the Wei clan."
Duan Luoyang, "Huh...?"
"My identity is not very important at the moment," Jie Fu Lian ignored everyone's confused reaction and continued, "What's important is the sword that you promised to give me."
Sect Master Quan looked to be a little amused as he heard these words and politely asked, "What sword is this young Daoist talking about?"
"The Changbo sword," Jie Fu Lian confidently answered without missing a beat and his lips curled up, forming a small smirk as he looked back at the sect master.
"The Changbo sword has been promised to the one who finds the murderer of the Xu clan case. Have you found the murderer?"
Jie Fu Lian's smirk deepened as he heard this and he nodded his head, "Of course, I have."
"Who is it?" The Sect Master tilted his head as he asked.
"The eldest son of the Xu clan, Xu Lingxin."
"Xu Lingxin...?!" Duan Luoyang reacted first, "He was also one of the victims so how could it be him?"
"It was him," Jie Fu Lian firmly spoke as if he really held some solid evidence to back up his words.
Sect Master Quan, "Is there proof?"
"There is a confession from a witness."
"Where's the witness?"
Jie Fu Lian smiled happily as he pointed at his face and replied, "It's me."
Everyone looked at him with utter shock and some even seemed to be in disbelief as they heard his confident claim.
"Xu Lingxin is the only one who had all the blood drained from his body, isn't that right?" Jie Fu Lian asked and the sect master looked over at Duan Luoyang who nodded his head, confirming it.
"His corpse was the only one different from the rest and he was the last one to be killed," Jie Fu Lian crossed his legs leisurely and sat down on the floor as he continued narrating the details of the case.
"A month before the murder of the Xu clan took place, Xu Lingxin had freshly broken up his engagement with the daughter of the Mo family. He had liked her a lot but in the end, they could not get married because the daughter of the Mo family ran away with her secret lover. In order to save their face, the Xu clan broke the engagement before the news got out and Xu Lingxin was left heartbroken."
"Are you saying he killed his entire family just because he didn't agree with their decision?" Duan Luoyang interrupted as he asked.
"That's not it," Jie Fu Lian shook his head as he continued to narrate the story that he had heard from the demon king's subordinate.
"He liked her and he could not get married to her so it was only natural that he felt extremely unhappy with not just his family, but also with the Mo family's daughter, Mo Xiulan. However, the one he hated the most wasn't Mo Xiulan nor was it his family," Jie Fu Lian revealed a small mischevious smile as he asked, "When another man steals away the one you love, whom do you think you will come to hate?"
Duan Luoyang frowned as he heard this question and thought about it for a few seconds before he spoke, "The man who stole her away...?"
"That's right," Jie Fu Lian nodded his head as he added, "Xu Lingxin hated the man that she ran off with but he had no idea who that man was nor did he know where the two had run off to. In the end, because of his lack of information, he couldn't do anything to satisfy his anger."
"So in a fit of rage, he killed his entire family?" Duan Luoyang enthusiastically asked.
Jie Fu Lian clicked his tongue as he shook his head, "Killing his family would not satiate his anger. The one he wanted to kill was the unknown man who had stolen his fiance. So he decided to summon a demon in order to kill the one whom he hated."
"Eh?"
"But a demon would never do anything for free. In order to make the demon work, he needed to offer a blood sacrifice, something that demons enjoy the most."
"So he sacrificed his entire family?" Duan Luoyang asked with a frown.
This time, Jie Fu Lian nodded his head as he confirmed it, "He slaughtered his own family in order to satisfy the demon, but in the end, the demon claimed his life as well. As for Mo Xiulan and her lover, they are still alive and living happily together."
"Huh? Didn't the demon already make a deal? Did he let them go?"
"He did make a deal but..." Jie Fu Lian replied with a smile, "The one Xu Lingxin wanted to kill was the man whom she had run away with, but in the first place itself, there was no such man. Mo Xiulan had run away with her lover who was a woman."
"..."
Nobody knew whether they were supposed to laugh or not.
This story was just... A bit too unbelievable!
"And what makes you the witness?" Sect Master Quan asked.
"I'll tell you if you show me the Changbo sword," Jie Fu Lian beamed, "After all, what would happen if I give you all the information and you don't give me the sword?"
The Sect Master Quan looked a bit offended as he heard this.
He cleared his throat and summoned the sword from his spatial ring as he spoke, "We do not cheat. If you can really prove your story and find the killer then this sword would be yours."
Jie Fu Lian looked at the sword with great interest and gulped.
He immediately felt a connection to the sword, the moment it was taken out.
There was no doubt about it... This sword was definitely the original Changbo!
"Now speak," Sect Master Quan pressed.
"The one who killed the whole family was Xu Lingxin and the one who killed Xu Lingxin was the great supreme demon lord, Shen Fang, himself."
Sect Master Quan's eyes widened in shock and he was certainly not the only one who had been stunned by this answer.
"H-How can you be sure?" Duan Luoyang questioned, still finding the whole story a bit too unreal.
"Because it's me," Jie Fu Lian replied with a light-hearted chuckle.
"Huh?"
"I'm Shen Fang."
"!!!"
Before anyone could even digest his words, Jie Fu Lian had already sprung forward and grabbed Changbo.
The Sect Master Quan glared at him with hostility but did not bother stopping him.
Jie Fu Lian jumped back and unsheathed the sword, further shocking everyone present in the hall.
Nobody knew what was shocking anymore, this man's identity or the fact that he was able to unsheath Changbo.
Some disciples looked over at Hua Tianshu, expecting the man to do something but contrary to their expectations, Hua Tianshu also looked to be just as shocked as everyone else.
"Old Quan, since I gave you the name of the murderers, I'll be taking this sword with me," Jie Fu Lian beamed, almost sounding as if he was teasing the man, "It was great working with you."
Who wants to bet that Hua Tianshu has already recognized our MC?
(^~^)/
I do.
Thank you for reading and don't forget to vote, comment and support the author by adding this book to your library!~
Take care and have a great day <3
Jie Fu Lian took out a transportation talisman and got ready to use it but suddenly, he heard the voice of Hua Tianshu.
"Wait!"
Since he had revealed his identity as the demon king, it was only natural that Hua Tianshu would try to stop him, but for some reason, hearing the man calling out to him like that still made Jie Fu Lian instinctively stop.
"Are you really him...?" Hua Tianshu didn't move and simply looked at Jie Fu Lian with an indecipherable expression plastered on his face as he asked.
Jie Fu Lian softly laughed as he heard this question but instead of answering it, he replied with a simple, "I have a feeling that we'd meet again, TianTian."
And just like that, he burned the talisman and disappeared into thin air.
"It's really you..." Hua Tianshu slowly muttered as he kept staring at the spot where Jie Fu Lian had been standing at, "Jie Ming..."
Jie Fu Lian was in quite a good mood now that he had been reunited with his sword.
The sword, Changbo, also vibrated with excitement and let out a soft warm glow, glad to know that its original owner was still alive.
Jie Fu Lian didn't return to the demon realm, instead he went straight to the sect where he had been born and raised at.
The Yan sect.
It was his home and even his death couldn't change that fact. Now that he had been reunited with Changbo, his next step was to go back to the Yan Sect.
He had been away from home for so long so it was naturally time for him to go back.
He couldn't wait to meet his parents again and he looked forward to seeing how well his brothers and sisters had grown up.
There was so much about that place that he missed and just the thought of going back there, made his eyes twinkle with excitement.
However, when he reached there, the only thing that greeted him was a small shrine.
"Huh?" His smile faded away and for a second there, he felt his heart stop.
His eyebrows creased together in confusion and he looked around in a daze.
There was no way he had come to the wrong place so where exactly did the Yan Sect go...?
The shrine looked as if it had been built just a few years ago and as long as Jie Fu Lian remembered, there had been no such shrine here.
His mind suddenly went blank and he gulped. His body froze and it took a whole minute for him to snap out of the shock.
Inside the shrine, there was a stone tablet placed in the centre but it was covered with a thick layer of dust and because of the dust, one couldn't read anything written on it.
Jie Fu Lian's feet moved first and he instinctually raised his hand up. His fingertips touched the stone tablet and he hesitantly started wiping away the dust.
The engravings started becoming a little clear and as soon as he read the first word, he faltered a few steps back and fell down.
His eyes widened in horror and his heart dropped.
He kept staring at the stone tablet without blinking and slowly, his vision started getting blurry.
Before he knew it, he was already crying.
'This must not be real....' He tried to fool himself by believing that it was all a bad dream.
'It can't be real...'
'I refuse to accept this!'
He wanted to cry out in anger and pain, but no words left his mouth and it was as if he had suddenly turned mute.
His every memory related to the Yan sect started to flash by before his eyes. He wasn't just merely seeing them, he was feeling and living them.
He remembered the warm scoldings of his father and the pleasant laughter of his mother. He remembered how he trained together with his brothers and sisters. He remembered how they ate together everyday and joked around.
The love he received, the admiration he received and the connections he made here, he remembered it all.
By the time his mind started working again, he was already gasping for air and clutching tightly onto his chest in pain.
The name of his father was still engraved on the top of the stone tablet and his own name was just below it.
Reality slowly started to sink in and he realized that perhaps, he had been dead for longer than he had expected.
Time had passed and with time, his family had also passed away and the Yan Sect had been completely erased.
He didn't know what had happened nor did he know whom to blame.
All he knew was that everything had already been done and nothing could be changed anymore.
He was already too late.
With tears still hanging down on his eyelashes, he looked up at the sky with hatred.
He had died and now he was alive.
He thought the heaven's had taken pity on his soul but it seemed that the only reason why he was still alive was because the heavens wanted to torment him even more.
Perhaps his sufferings hadn't been enough.
This was probably karma.
This was the will of the heavens and for that, he hated the heavens.
He should have never lived again... If he hadn't been trapped inside the body of this demon king, he would have passed away just like everybody else and he would have remained oblivious to the shocking truth he had learnt today.
He wouldn't need to be in pain and he wouldn't need to feel so helpless.
He should've just died.
His soul should've just... Disappeared.
.
.
.
.
.
[Thirteen years ago,
In a small city called 'Xiujiang']
The warm rays of the sun peeked through the clouds that decorated the sky. The cold breeze gently danced in the air, carrying with it, a hint of the lovely osmanthus flower fragrance.
The atmosphere was not too hot nor too cold.
It was the season of Spring in Xiujiang.
At this time of the year, the small city was always bustling with life. The city gate was decorated with vibrant flowers that were replaced each day with fresh ones and the poor vendors of the city finally had the chance to make some profit. There were a lot of cultivators and distinguished guests coming from afar just to enjoy the famous osmanthus wine and distinct osmanthus cakes that were only sold in this small city during spring.
Spring in Xiujiang was always peaceful like this
"Jie Ming, are you sure you should be sitting here like this?" A woman asked with a small smile that made it hard to guess whether she was asking out of courtesy or if she was scolding the boy.
"Senior sister Yin, once spring passes, we won't be able to buy these osmanthus cakes and wine. It's not like we travel this far everyday so how can I not take my time to enjoy today's visit."
Yin Ru rolled her eyes as she heard this excuse, "That's not what I'm talking about and you know it as well."
Jie Fu Lian frowned as he heard this but said nothing as a response.
"Jie Ming, Shizun said you were forging a new sword. A sword that can gather spiritual Qi from the surrounding without the need of its master. I was looking forward to seeing it. Have you finished working on it?"
Jie Fu Lian pursed his lips into a thin line and gulped as he shook his head.
"Then shouldn't you be working right now? If Shizun finds out that you are here, he would get angry at me."
"Don't worry about it, the sword is almost done. I just need to work on it a little bit more. I can get it done before our next mission," Jie Fu Lian beamed, "And father doesn't have to know that I was here."
Yin Ru sighed as she heard this but didn't bother continuing the topic as she felt that this boy was going to be stubborn till the end.
"Senior Sister Yin, leaving the sword aside, I had something else to ask you."
"What is it?"
Jie Fu Lian looked around and made sure that nobody was looking at them before he leaned in a little closer and asked, "Is the HuiXue sect entrance test really as hard as they say it is?"
Yin Ru suddenly laughed as she heard this question and replied, "Why don't you go take it if you want to know?"
Jie Fu Lian pouted, feeling dissatisfied with such a response. If he had wanted to take the test for himself, he wouldn't have asked this question in the first place itself.
"By the way, why are you asking? Do you plan to abandon our Yan sect?" Yin Ru asked with a small amused smirk.
Jie Fu Lian immediately looked away as he spoke, "I was just casually asking."
"Are you sure about that?" Yin Ru chuckled as she leaned in a bit closer and rested her chin on the palm of her hand, "Is it not because you're looking forward to meeting a certain disciple of the HuiXue sect."
"What are you trying to say," Jie Fu Lian lightly glared at the woman as he asked.
"I'm talking about Hua Tianshu, of course," Yin Ru laughed, teasing Jie Fu Lian.
Senior sister Yin Ru clearly knows what's up XD
Thank you for reading and don't forget to vote, comment and support the author by adding this book to your library!~
Take care and have a wonderful day <3
Paragraph comment
Paragraph comment feature is now on the Web! Move mouse over any paragraph and click the icon to add your comment.
Also, you can always turn it off/on in Settings.
GOT IT