Big Fish! Demonic Cult! Truth! Sword Theft!

An ancient road through barren mountains.

The forest wind swept dry grass across the rugged mountain path.

For a moment, the surroundings fell silent.

At Zhang Chu's words, Ma Wuji's body suddenly stiffened. His face was full of astonishment, his eyes wide and round.

As though he had heard some fantastical absurdity.

"Daoist Priest Zhang, you must be mistaken, right? That's the Divine Sword Embryo. How could it possibly be in my hands?"

Ma Wuji waved his hands again and again, looking innocent to the extreme, utterly like a man who had been wronged.

"I may have earned the title of Flying Immortal on Land, but doesn't Daoist Priest Zhang know my circumstances?"

"I was born deficient in qi and blood. I only barely stepped into the Dark Strength Realm. Though my Lightness Skill is passable, what kind of place is Sword Forging Manor? Heroes of the Jianghu from every corner gathered there, with masters as numerous as clouds. With my meager skills, how could I possibly have the ability to take the Divine Sword Embryo?"

As Ma Wuji spoke, the astonishment on his face gradually turned to grievance. He even sighed. Anyone who saw him would think Zhang Chu had wronged a good man.

After listening, Zhang Chu slowly nodded.

"You're right. With Ma Wuji's strength, it would indeed be impossible for him to steal the Divine Sword Embryo from the manor."

The moment those words were spoken, Ma Wuji seemed to receive a pardon. He nodded repeatedly, and the grievance on his face vanished in an instant.

"Exactly, exactly. Daoist Priest Zhang knows he made a mistake, doesn't he? With my paltry cultivation, how could I steal the sword embryo? Since it's a misunderstanding, I'll take my leave first and won't delay Daoist Priest Zhang's journey."

With that, Ma Wuji turned to leave.

But just as he was about to mount his horse, Zhang Chu's faint laughter came from behind him. It was not loud, yet it struck beside Ma Wuji's ear like a thunderclap.

"Zhang did say that Ma Wuji could not have stolen the Divine Sword Embryo. But I never said that you could not!"

Ma Wuji's movements abruptly froze. His entire body stiffened in place, and his back instantly tensed.

He slowly turned around. The expression on his face had changed completely. "What does Daoist Priest Zhang mean by this? Do you think I'm an impostor?"

Zhang Chu did not answer. Instead, he loosened the reins, leaned back, and lay leisurely across the horse's back.

His gaze rested on the layers of mountain peaks in the distance as Zhang Chu continued, "You actually hid yourself very well. At least for a time, I never suspected you."

The secluded mountains instantly fell into deathly silence.

Only the howl of the forest wind passing through the leaves and the sound of horses lowering their heads to graze on grass echoed through the air.

Ma Wuji stood where he was and did not continue arguing. He merely stared fixedly at Zhang Chu.

"Whether it was your disguising yourself as Ma Wuji to meet me, or using your congenital deficiency in qi and blood to try to steal Golden Cicada, or even after entering Jinguang Temple, pretending to be bewitched by the Buddha Incense and speaking those seemingly heartfelt truths—all of it was flawless."

At this point, Zhang Chu's tone shifted. He suddenly turned to look at Ma Wuji, whose expression was guarded.

"But you should never, ever have relied on your peerless Lightness Skill to secretly spy on Zhang's cultivation!"

A smile appeared on Zhang Chu's face. It held a trace of understanding and an extra measure of teasing.

"So you discovered me then?"

Ma Wuji's expression shifted. There was no longer the slightest trace of that insignificant nobody from before!

Zhang Chu shook his head. "No. Just as you thought, I could not detect your Lightness Skill or movement technique at all. But you underestimated Zhang's martial arts!"

"When Zhang's divine art had just taken shape, the mental distortion power it accidentally emitted briefly affected you, exposing a fatal flaw!"

"What flaw?" Ma Wuji frowned tightly.

"A sound!" Zhang Chu uttered those two words.

Back then, after gathering thirty thousand merit points, he had rushed to the temple's back mountain to fuse his martial arts. At the moment Northern Cold Flame True Hand was born, that twisted force of the mind had happened to affect Ma Wuji, who was concealed in the darkness.

Struck by that sudden mental shock, the other party had unconsciously made a sound!

A sound that should never have appeared!

"What sound?" Ma Wuji pressed.

"A woman's voice!" After saying that, a meaningful smile suddenly appeared on Zhang Chu's face.

His words fell like thunder exploding.

The confusion in Ma Wuji's eyes vanished completely, replaced by an icy Sha Qi.

That Sha Qi was not intense, yet it was deep as an abyss, as though even the surrounding air had frozen solid.

Zhang Chu did not care in the slightest.

He even shifted into a more comfortable position.

Then he continued in a faint voice, "It was precisely because I heard that sound that Zhang realized you should be like Yuan Hui in the temple—one of the Demonic Cult."

"So after entering the temple, you were able to pretend that the Buddha Incense had bewitched you, babbling out the thoughts in your heart, making Zhang lower his guard against you."

As he spoke, Zhang Chu suddenly took a marble-sized object from his robes. It was the last remaining Golden Cicada.

Sunlight fell upon Golden Cicada and reflected a dazzling radiance, making Ma Wuji narrow his eyes slightly.

At that moment, the Sha Qi on Ma Wuji's face faded somewhat, replaced by a trace of curiosity.

"Since you had already seen through me, why didn't you strike on the spot? Why did you instead keep me by your side all this time?"

"Naturally, because I was curious. Zhang truly could not understand what was so special about me that a Demonic Cult expert would painstakingly lurk at my side."

After speaking, Zhang Chu tucked Golden Cicada back into his robes and scrutinized Ma Wuji, as though waiting for an answer.

But Ma Wuji did not answer.

"So you pretended not to know anything all the way here, even deliberately making me lead your horse and serve as your attendant?"

"Just a little amusement in life. Don't take it so seriously." Zhang Chu smiled and brushed the matter aside.

"Hmph!" Ma Wuji snorted coldly.

Then he asked in confusion, "But even so, how could you be certain that I was the one who stole the Divine Sword Embryo?"

Zhang Chu did not rush to answer. Instead, he stretched lazily atop the horse, extending his body.

"Of course, because of that Red Dust Envoy."

"The Red Dust Envoy?" Ma Wuji was stunned, unable to understand what this had to do with the Red Dust Envoy.

Zhang Chu did not keep him in suspense.

"When I killed the first Red Dust Envoy Clone, I had already guessed that the other party was merely a supporting character in this play, a chess piece meant to deceive the eye."

"And the reason he appeared at Sword Forging Manor was not to seize the Divine Sword Embryo at all."

"On the contrary, he was actually protecting the Divine Sword Embryo—or rather, covering for someone, so that the Divine Sword Embryo could truly disappear from this world!"

Zhang Chu paused. "Am I right?"

Ma Wuji remained silent.

As one of the twelve Red Dust Envoys under the Dao Master of Emotion, his status was supremely lofty. Even if he had only sent several clones, their strength would have been enough to sweep through Sword Forging Manor.

Yet the other party had not simply seized the sword and left.

Instead, he had gone to great lengths to fight Zhang Chu.

Then, borrowing Zhang Chu's hand, he had withdrawn after accomplishing his goal, making the Divine Sword Embryo disappear completely without leaving the slightest trace.

This performance had truly been painstaking.

When every mystery was laid bare, all traces of luck vanished from Ma Wuji's face. He gave Zhang Chu a deep look.

There was a measure of admiration in his eyes.

"Zhang Chu, you really are very clever. No wonder it thinks so highly of you," Ma Wuji praised sincerely.

Zhang Chu raised an eyebrow. "It?"

Ma Wuji did not answer, instead asking, "But I don't understand. Since you knew everything, why didn't you expose me at the manor? Why choose this desolate wilderness instead?"

At that, Zhang Chu suddenly laughed. It was not mockery, but something more like heartfelt delight.

Ma Wuji's brows furrowed tightly.

He had no idea what medicine Zhang Chu was selling in his gourd.

"Hahaha... Of course Zhang didn't expose you in public because I wanted to cast a wide net and catch more fish!"

Having said that, Zhang Chu suddenly looked toward a certain direction in the mountain forest, a playful smile on his face.

"Since you're already here."

"Brother Bai, why not show yourself?!"