City Lord Duanmu hurried forward to support him. "You're too kind, young friend. As disciples of the Sacred Sect, we ought to support one another. By the way, my son, Duanmu Mingyan, is also at Ghost Willow Peak in the Sacred Sect's Outer Sect. After you return to the sect, you should make a point of spending time with him whenever you have some free time."
After exchanging a few more pleasantries, City Lord Duanmu brought up the matter again and urged Pei Ling to return to the sect. "It's not that I don't want you to stay and have a long chat with me, young friend. This is for your own good. After all, your group set out together, but now you're the only one returning safely. Under normal circumstances, how could people not suspect you of killing your companions?"
"City Lord, I..." Pei Ling had barely begun to protest when he was interrupted. City Lord Duanmu said amiably, "Of course I know you're not that kind of person, young friend! But public opinion can be terrifying! If too many people suspect you, the Deacon Hall will investigate you again and again. Wouldn't that just waste your time and delay your cultivation?"
"So you must hurry back and report this, young friend. That way, the deacons can investigate immediately, and I can testify on your behalf and clear you of suspicion!"
"Otherwise, someone might harbor doubts and bring this up to attack you at any time. Wouldn't that become a hidden danger?"
With things put that way, how could Pei Ling still dare to insist on staying?
If he made another excuse, what if the old bastard grew suspicious, contacted Li Siguan and the others' families, and arranged for him to be dealt with?
"City Lord, you're absolutely right!" Pei Ling nodded emphatically, offered a few words of heartfelt thanks, and said, "Then I'll pack my things and set off at once!"
City Lord Duanmu smiled faintly. "I'll escort you to the cloud platform."
The cloud platform?
Pei Ling immediately realized he meant the raised platform they had arrived on. He hurriedly said, "There's no need, City Lord. Yin Corpse Clouds are too expensive; I can't afford one. I'll walk back instead!"
"You're quite the joker, young friend. Walk back? How long would that take?" City Lord Duanmu laughed. Then he added, "Besides, you needn't worry. The Yin Corpse Cloud is included for the round trip. When you came, the cloud qi merely sank temporarily into the cloud platform. To return, all you have to do is summon it."
Damn it, did that mean he didn't even have a chance to sneak out of the city and make a run for it?!
Pei Ling's expression shifted repeatedly, but he had no choice but to force another smile and thank him.
As they left the City Lord's Mansion, he suddenly remembered something and said to City Lord Duanmu, "City Lord, I heard that the maid who served me the other day was punished because of me?"
City Lord Duanmu immediately understood his meaning and said, "I wasn't aware of this, but since you're willing to forgive her, young friend, I'll have someone release her later and give her a reward as well."
"Thank you, City Lord." Pei Ling breathed a sigh of relief. After all, that mortal maid had suffered an undeserved calamity because of him.
This outcome also meant he had kept his promise to her younger sister.
And so, City Lord Duanmu personally escorted Pei Ling to the cloud platform, summoned the Yin Corpse Cloud that would carry him back to the sect, and finally sent Pei Ling and the two mission beasts aboard before waving goodbye...
"City Lord, that brat is only at Qi Refining Layer 4. Why show him so much respect?" Once the Yin Corpse Cloud had risen high enough that Pei Ling could no longer hear them below, the steward came forward and said, "The Human-Faced Spider really did chase them, after all. Why not let him die along with the others? That would leave no loose ends."
City Lord Duanmu glanced at him and said coolly, "And then what? Chen Huan and his group were fairly well-known at Huaiyin Peak in the Outer Sect. Everyone knew why they had brought a newcomer to Luoshan City. But in the end, both the newcomer and the group themselves disappeared, while the Soul Summoning Banner fell into my hands. What would the Sacred Sect's Outer Sect think once the news got out?"
"They'd inevitably think I killed them and stole their treasures for Mingyan!"
"Killing a Qi Refining cultivator as someone at Foundation Establishment is bullying the weak. The fine would be so steep that those rabid hounds in the Deacon Hall would hound us to the ends of the earth!"
"If I hid the Soul Summoning Banner or sold it off, I might be able to keep the news under wraps. But wouldn't that delay Mingyan? After all, the path he follows is the one that best suits the Soul Summoning Banner."
"Let Pei Ling go back, and the whole team will be dead except for him. He'll even have completed the Purple-Eyed Sable mission that should have been impossible... By then, with just a little guidance—no, we won't even need to do anything. People will suspect that Chen Huan and his group, after hunting geese all their lives, finally got pecked in the eye by one."
"That Pei Ling brat didn't just turn the tables and scheme against Chen Huan's group; he even used the Soul Summoning Banner to curry favor with me, getting me to turn a blind eye!"
"We get the lion's share of the benefits, while Pei Ling takes the blame... So what if we give him a few spirit stones and two beasts?"
The steward listened solemnly and hurriedly said, "City Lord, you've seen far ahead. This subordinate was trying to be clever."
"Now, we just wait," City Lord Duanmu said, stroking his short beard. "We wait for that brat to return and notify the Deacon Hall to come investigate... Then we can hand the Soul Summoning Banner over to Mingyan with a clear conscience."
He raised an eyebrow. "Pei Ling is young, but he has some wit. Look into his background later. If he seems suitable, have Mingyan spend more time with him. There'd be no harm in that."
"For this young man to catch the City Lord's eye is truly a blessing earned over three lifetimes!" The steward nodded. "I'll have someone look into him later."
At that moment, Pei Ling, aboard the Yin Corpse Cloud, had no idea he had already been penciled in as the companion of Luoshan City's Young Master. Instead, he was anxiously wondering what would happen if Li Siguan and the other two's families caught sight of him after he returned to the sect.
No, there was no "if" about it. All three had powerful backers. He had escaped quickly before, which might have been all right, but now that he was going back, there was no way they wouldn't come after him!
"Luckily, I made sure to destroy the bodies before I left. The Outer Sect is so vast; maybe they're still looking for them...?" Pei Ling reassured himself. "Maybe I can still bluff my way through..."
At about the same time, at Chongming Sect, Outer Sect, Huaiyin Peak.
At the residence of Li Ping, an Outer Sect Elder, a middle-aged woman dressed in colorful robes knelt at his feet, tears streaming down her face as she begged, "Master! Si Guang is your own grandson! Our son has already fallen, and now he's the only bloodline we have left. You can't abandon him! You have to avenge him!!!"
The woman burst into loud sobs. "Poor Si Guang was so young, yet he met such a cruel end! You're an elder of Huaiyin Peak. How could that little beast Pei Ling... How could he?! This wasn't just the height of depravity; it was as if he didn't care about you at all, Master... Waaaah..."
Li Ping frowned slightly as he looked at the beloved concubine who had consumed considerable resources but, limited by her aptitude and will, had only reached Qi Refining Layer 2. "Are you sure it was Pei Ling?"
"Absolutely!" The woman wiped her face carelessly, not even minding that her makeup was smudged. Choking back sobs, she said, "That little beast had only just entered the sect. The disciple in charge of assigning lodgings tried to extort him, failed, and deliberately put him in the same room as Si Guang and the others. Then, the very next day, Logistics Peak sent word that the Life Soul Lamps of Si Guang and the other two had gone out the previous night, at their lodgings on Huaiyin Peak! After that, the Deacon Hall sent people to investigate. They said... they said all three children had been... reduced to ashes!!!"
Thinking of how her grandson had met such a fate at such a young age, her heart ached, and she could barely continue. But Li Ping's expression remained unchanged as he listened carefully, so she could only restrain her grief and go on. "That little beast had just joined the sect and didn't understand the Sacred Sect's methods at all. The tricks he used were those of a mortal. The Deacon Hall's reconstruction of what happened is that the little beast cultivated an extremely powerful saber technique and a movement art of incredible speed. But after a clash, he pretended to be weak and deliberately fled to a secluded part of the Mountain Forest."
"Once the three children had let down their guard, he suddenly doubled back and attacked! He killed our Si Guang by ambushing him first, then killed the children from the Miao and Zhou families..."
"That little beast is utterly vile!!!"
"Whatever their quarrel was, why couldn't they have talked it out? How could he scheme so carefully to kill three fellow disciples his own age?!"
"I heard he's only eighteen. If he's this vicious now, what will he be like in the future?"
"What about the disciple who arranged for him to share a room with Si Guang and the others?" At this point, Li Ping suddenly asked.
Before you continue