Desolate Devouring Art

Chapter 48 - Confrontation

Xue Chunyu interrupted, sneering, “Patriarch Xu, are you feeling guilty? Why not have your son-in-law come out and face us? If he is innocent, we’ll leave immediately. What are you hiding?” Bai Qiu and others nodded in agreement.

Gao Hao, representing the Imperial Academy, spoke up. “Patriarch Xu, while Official Xue’s words may be harsh, they do have some merit. Why not have your son-in-law come out and explain himself about what he did in the Sunset Mountain Range for the past eight days?”

Meanwhile, Deacon Qi and others waited outside the main hall to be questioned. They had prepared their answers but began to feel uneasy as an hour passed without being summoned.

“Patriarch Xu, what are you afraid of? Or are you trying to hide something?” Xue Chunyu sneered. Before Xue Chunyu came to Azure Billow City, Xue Yu had sought him out and asked him to make the Xu Clan pay for humiliating him. He had asked him to destroy the Xu Clan, especially their patriarch’s son-in-law. Xue Chunyu had no choice but to accept this request.

If the Xu Clan was destroyed and Liu Wuxie killed, Xu Lingxue would fall into Xue Yu’s hands, and only Xue Chunyu would know about it.

“My Xu Clan is righteous and fears no one,” Xu Yilin replied, his eyes flashing with anger. He could see that Xue Chunyu was deliberately targeting his clan. Everyone present knew it, but no one spoke up as they wanted a scapegoat. “Men, bring Wuxie here!” he ordered.

Deacon Lan ran out quickly and returned with Liu Wuxie fifteen minutes later, having already informed him of the situation in the main hall.

Upon entering the main hall, Liu Wuxie bowed and said, “Liu Wuxie pays his respects to all the seniors present.” His expression remained unchanged.

The Investigation Team’s gaze fell on Liu Wuxie. “You’re the Xu Clan’s son-in-law?” Xue Chunyu questioned coldly. The news of Liu Wuxie embarrassing Xue Yu and causing the Xue Clan to lose 100 spirit stones had reached Imperial City, damaging their reputation. The Xue Clan had wanted to destroy the Xu Clan but changed their minds when Baili Qing appeared in Azure Billow City and brought Xue Lingxue away.

“That’s me,” Liu Wuxie replied, cupping his fists.

“According to our investigation, you entered the Sunset Mountain Range eight days ago. Is that true?” Xue Chunyu continued his questioning.

“That’s right!” Liu Wuxie replied. Xue Chunyu followed up with more trickier questions that even went beyond the scope of the investigation.

“Eight days ago, your Xu Clan’s transportation team was attacked by a mysterious group but returned safely. Where were you during that time?” Xue Chunyu finally revealed his true intentions with a cold smile, even though his earlier questions had already proven that Liu Wuxie had nothing to do with the disappearance of the Terrabreak Army.

Liu Wuxie’s gaze turned cold as he looked at Xue Chunyu. “Is my location important?” he asked. Sparks flew from their gazes, and they could sense the murderous intent in each other’s eyes.

“Of course, it’s important,” Xue Chunyu replied. “If you can’t provide witnesses to prove your whereabouts at that time, you may be implicated in the disappearance of the Terrabreak Army.”

Xue Chunyu wanted Liu Wuxie to provide witnesses, but everyone knew that Liu Wuxie had left the city alone, and it was clear that Xue Chunyu was trying to make things difficult for him.

“Official Xue, this question has deviated from the investigation,” Xu Yilin interjected. “The Terrabreak Army is known to be invincible. How can an ordinary person like Liu Wuxie have anything to do with their disappearance?!” If he allowed Xue Chunyu to continue, it would be no different from falsely accusing Liu Wuxie.

“Patriarch Xu, since you mentioned it, I have a question for you,” Xu Chunyu said with a cold smirk. “According to the report, your son-in-law is unable to cultivate. Yet he killed over a dozen disciples of Wan and Tian Clans a few days ago and now has made a breakthrough to the Xiantian Realm. What is your Xu Clan trying to achieve by concealing his cultivation? This is enough to prove that you are planning something, and I suspect that your clan killed the Terrabreak Army!”

Everyone in Azure Billow City knew that Liu Wuxie was garbage. But after marriage, his personality changed greatly, and he made rapid progress in his cultivation. No one believed it and assumed he was deliberately hiding his cultivation. After all, no one was present when Liu Wuxie reached the Xiantian Realm half a month ago, and even Xu Yilin had no idea how he had made such rapid progress.

“What a joke,” Liu Wuxie retorted. If concealing my cultivation means I’m planning something, then I have a question for Official Xue. Is the Xue Clan planning to rebel by nurturing so many disciples and sending them into the Imperial Court as officials?” Liu Wuxie’s question was sharp because the Xue Clan had sent many disciples to the Imperial Court, occupying half of the court.

Liu Wuxie had read a lot about Imperial City in the past few days and grasped the Xue Clan’s information like the back of his hand.

“How dare you talk back to the Investigation Team?” Xue Chunyu roared coldly. Kong Yi was the crown prince’s mentor and belonged to the Royal Family’s faction. If what Liu Wuxie said reached the crown prince’s ears, it would be unfavorable to the Xue Clan.

Bai Qiu and others looked at Liu Wuxie intently as he refuted Xue Chunyu’s claims.

“I dare not!” Liu Wuxie hurried to bow, pretending to be humble.

With that, the confrontation fell into a stalemate, and everyone could smell the gunpowder in the atmosphere. Xu Yilin’s fists tightened in shock as Liu Wuxie spoke. His timely refutation had unknowingly disrupted the unity of the Investigation Team.

Qi Enshi was reading a book in the City Lord Mansion when he heard a knock on his door.

“Master, there’s a letter for you, including a package. The person who delivered it even said to hand it to you personally,” the butler of the City Lord Mansion said.

“Who sent it over?” Qi Enshi asked.

“A child. That child said someone gave him three gold coins and asked him to send them to the City Lord Mansion,” the butler continued.

“Bring it in!” Qi Enshi commanded, sitting up and stretching his waist. With Azure Billow City soon to be at peace and his position secure, he was in high spirits.

The butler came in with a package and a letter, which he placed on the table before leaving the room with a bow.

Qi Enshi picked up the letter and ripped the wax seal open. When he unfolded the letter with a flip, there weren’t many words on it. But the first word made him dizzy, and he nearly fell to the ground.

“H-How is this possible...” Beads of sweat began to roll down Qi Enshi’s forehead as he spoke incoherently. Before he knew it, his back was already soaked in cold sweat.

Qi Enshi set the letter aside and quickly opened the package. Inside was an old book, its pages filled with names. As he flipped through it, memories of events from twenty-five years ago flooded his mind, all recorded in detail within the book.

“Zhou Hu, you really left a trump card behind,” Qi Enshi muttered, collapsing in the chair with murderous intent blazing in his eyes.

“Very good. I can be sure that Zhou Hu contacted the Xu Clan, or this letter was delivered from the Xu Clan. Threatening me, Qi Enshi? You guys are courting death!” Unbeknownst to him, the Terrabreak Army had been annihilated. The book was a record of his actions in a small town twenty-five years prior, including the slaughter of its inhabitants to silence them.

“Prepare a carriage!” Qi Enshi was on pins and needles. The butler hurried out and returned fifteen minutes later with the carriage ready.

“Master, where are we going?” the butler asked. He noticed that Qi Enshi’s facial expression was ugly, making him wonder what had happened.

“To the Xu Clan, quick!”

The carriage swiftly bolted from the City Lord Mansion, crossing the cable bridge and heading straight for the Xu Clan.

......

After a heated argument, Xu Clan’s situation became even more unfavorable.

Bai Qiu picked up the investigation report. “Our investigation shows that your Xu Clan’s transportation team was repeatedly attacked and robbed. Yet, eight days ago, you managed to transport your goods, and the robbers vanished. How do you explain that?” he asked Xu Yilin.

“You guys should ask the bandits about that, not my Xu Clan.” Xu Yilin answered cleverly, perfectly deflecting Bai Qiu’s question.

Just then, two soldiers entered the main hall. “My lords, our investigation is complete. A great battle took place in Phoenix Roost Gorge,” they reported. The soldiers had accompanied the Investigation Team to Sunset Mountain to investigate the previous day.

From the indications, there was a high possibility that the bandits were the Terrabreak Army, and they went straight to the Phoenix Roost Gorge to collect evidence.

There were no other bandits in the Sunset Mountain Range, and according to reports from Azure Billow City’s mercenary groups, three teams had left the city in the past fifteen days and could confirm that they hadn’t encountered the Terrabreak Army.

Ordinary bandits couldn't threaten Xu Clan’s transportation team, and the three clans didn’t dispatch anyone either. So there was only one possibility: the Terrabreak Army was robbing Xu Clan’s goods.

Everyone present was cunning and could deduce this with little effort. With Azure Billow City being so small and the other three clans eliminated as suspects, only the Xu Clan remained.

“Patriarch Xu, what do you have to say now? Your son-in-law said he didn’t go to the Phoenix Roost Gorge or experience battles. So how are you going to explain it now? There are traces of battles in the Phoenix Roost Gorge. So what is your Xu Clan trying to hide?” Xue Chunyu sneered, sensing that things weren’t looking good for the Xu Clan.

Though some traces may have been erased, it hadn’t been done thoroughly. Deacon Qi and his guards were only ordinary cultivators and couldn’t cover all the details perfectly, such as arrow marks on cliffs that couldn’t be erased and could easily be found with a few clues.

But the strange thing was that there wasn’t any anxiety on Liu Wuxie’s face, and he was even wearing a mocking smile.

The Terrabreak Army was dead, and they couldn’t find any evidence even if they searched the entire Sunset Mountain Range. Not to mention that Liu Wuxie wasn’t the type who would just sit and wait to die.