roccoschili Chapter 226 Secret
Chapter 226 Secret
Do you think that wandering Taoist priest... could be the same person from the palace back then?
"Hard to say."
The market was bustling with activity and teeming with people. The two walked side by side through the crowd, seemingly with ease, but both wore serious expressions.
Chu Ling shook his head slightly. He was about to habitually tap his folding fan when he remembered that Xie Yan had taken it away long ago, claiming it was to fit his persona, and replaced it with a cane.
So he could only gracefully tap the ground with his cane and say, "Without a name or surname, and without any portrait or image left behind, it is difficult to determine if it is him based solely on his identity as a Taoist priest."
Xie Yan watched with amusement as Chu Ling tried to look cool with his wrinkled old face, and nodded in agreement, saying, "That makes sense."
"But regardless of whether he is the Imperial Advisor or not, this person must have ulterior motives."
At first glance, within five steps of the two men, and in every direction they could see, were rows of grotesque statues of gods.
The smile in Xie Yan's eyes slowly faded. "Hmph, playing tricks. What earth god? I think it's more like an evil spirit."
Chu Ling smiled noncommittally, "Let's go back."
As the two figures gradually disappeared into the noisy crowd, a gaze that had been secretly watching them finally withdrew silently.
The purple clay teapot was lifted high, and warm water slowly poured down the rim of the cup.
The water murmurs gently, and the aroma of tea fills the air.
Xie Yan sat by the table, resting her chin on her hand as she watched Chu Ling brewing tea.
With a "click," the first cup of freshly brewed tea was placed in front of him.
At the same time, the crisp sound suddenly broke the silence of the room, startling everyone who was deep in thought.
"I think……"
Suddenly, Meng Lan spoke up with a serious expression: "There must be something wrong with this Prefect Jinlin!"
All eyes turned to him.
Meng Lan continued in a serious tone, "According to my investigation today, the prefect here is surnamed Fu, and is a native of Jinlin."
"Since he took office, the people have praised him highly. It is said that he is honest and upright, loves the people like his own children, not only lives a simple life, but also often uses his own money to help those who have suffered losses due to the earthquake."
Xuanfeng stroked his chin. "...Doesn't this sound like a good official?"
"That's precisely why there's a problem!"
Meng Lan slammed her hand on the table and stood up excitedly, "In my experience, the more perfect a person seems, the more problematic they are!"
"Moreover, as the prefect of this place, he not only fails to focus on the people's livelihood, but also colludes with sorcerers to spread these supernatural tales. He must have ulterior motives!"
"In my opinion, he might be in cahoots with that charlatan! Maybe they're even members of the Holy Sun Cult!"
Meng Lan's impassioned words drew silent nods from the crowd, who felt that what he said made a lot of sense.
Then all eyes turned to Chu Ling, "Your Highness, what do you think?"
Chu Ling gently swirled the teacup in his hand. "What Meng Lan said does make some sense."
His ambiguous smile was reflected in the tea.
“Even if this person is not a member of the Holy Sun Church, he must have ulterior motives.”
"He said that he had repeatedly petitioned the court for help due to the earthquake, but the court ignored him, so he had no choice but to seek other solutions."
Chu Ling gave a cold laugh, "That's a lie."
"If he has truly repeatedly submitted memorials to the emperor to no avail, why has he never mentioned it when he went to the capital to report on his duties? Why has this prince never heard of it either?"
Everyone understood the unspoken meaning in Chu Ling's words—
"There is only one possibility: that Prefect Jinlin never submitted a memorial to the emperor from beginning to end."
"He's hiding something."
Chu Ling's gaze swept across everyone's faces, and without much thought, he quickly made arrangements.
"From now on, we will split into two groups. One group will continue to search for traces of the Holy Sun Church, while the other group will investigate Prefect Jinlin."
"Yes!"
The full moon hangs high in the sky, and the night is deep.
The chirping of insects filled the air, interspersed with the occasional bark of a wild dog.
Rapid, heavy breathing echoed through the quiet thicket as a haggard-looking man frantically fled along the mountain path.
His clothes were tattered, and he looked like a beggar with disheveled hair.
Not only were his two feet, which had lost their shoes, bleeding profusely from the sharp rocks, but several bloody whip marks were also faintly visible on his body, which was exposed by his tattered clothes.
Despite being covered in wounds, the man dared not stop for a moment, constantly glancing back as he ran, as if some ferocious beast was following him.
A moment later, several torches suddenly lit up the dimly lit mountain path.
Immediately afterwards, a cacophony of footsteps surged in like a tide, accompanied by sharp howls, shattering the original silence of the mountain forest—
"Hurry! He's over there! Don't let him get away!"
The footsteps that followed grew more and more urgent, carried by the mountain wind from all directions, as if they had completely surrounded people.
But the commotion didn't last long; after all the traces were gone, it gradually faded away, and the forest finally returned to silence.
After a long while, and only after confirming that there was no further movement, the man who had been hiding behind the tree with his mouth tightly covered finally let out a long sigh of relief and collapsed to the ground.
"I...I actually escaped?!"
As if incredulous, he laughed and then began to cry softly.
But before he could recover from the joy of escaping, a sinister voice suddenly came from above—
"It's too early to be happy now."
Upon hearing this sound, the man's face instantly turned deathly pale.
He was startled and looked up in terror, only to see a strangely dressed boy sitting on the treetop.
The boy appeared like a ghost, and it was unclear when he had appeared or how long he had been secretly watching him.
In the darkness of the night, the silver ornaments he wore reflected a faint, cold light under the moonlight.
His appearance was young and handsome, with a slight upturn at the corners of his mouth, giving him a smiling look that made people feel happy at first glance.
But the man felt no joy whatsoever.
After half a stick of incense.
Another figure slowly emerged from the darkness.
"Sigh, why bother? Why not just take him back?"
Song Yunzheng looked at the mutilated corpse on the ground and shook her head with a regretful expression.
Wu Li withdrew the Gu worm and sneered at him disdainfully, "Hmph, hypocrite."
Upon hearing this, Song Yunzheng immediately sighed lightly, feigning nonchalance, and said, "Times have changed. We can no longer recruit so many people."
Wu Li turned and left without a word, saying, "It doesn't matter, it'll be finished soon anyway."