Questions Upon Questions

Li Fan never expected that the bottleneck of the Gui Xu Nascent Soul would be broken through so directly. He couldn't comprehend it no matter how hard he tried, but by sitting in front of the bubble and directly visualizing the Void Abyss, he quickly mastered the <Huashu> in a flash!

Moreover, it also absorbed a lot of the remaining evil energy at the bottom of the canal and extracted a massive amount of Returning to Emptiness True Essence. This progress instantly surpassed that of the Limitless Nascent Soul Stage, and it even suppressed the well-fed Qiongqi Dao Body!

It seems that these days you really still have to Moon Worship. The Tai Su Dao is absolutely unobstructed! When in doubt, just Moon Worship! Worship! Worship the damn moon!

"... But are you sure you don't want to wash it? It really stinks..." A Guang covered his nose as he looked at the mud figure in front of him.

Although the outer layer has dried up, the system shows that the mood is still slowly increasing. This means that the lamb's essence hasn't been completely absorbed yet.

Li Fan could only glare at A Guang with annoyance, "What the hell can I do? It's better to be a little smelly than to go berserk and eat everyone you see! What can't a cultivator do if it increases their cultivation? That's called having a firm Dao heart, you know?"

Okay, enough nonsense. What exactly is this mud monster? Are there many of these things in the sewers of Changsi City? Is this what you mean by danger in the city?

"Those people in the Imperial City also need water! Don't they care that there's this stuff in the sewers? Don't they find it disgusting?"

A Guang, with his nostrils plugged, said, "There are so many immortals in the north. This thing is smarter than a mouse. It doesn't dare to go north. It just wants to escape south out of the city to grow."

I don't know what this thing is either, but Yuan Houzi said that someone was hiding in Da'an Fang doing evil magic. To avoid being discovered by the guardian immortal, they casually threw the evil creatures they created into the waterway. But if this matter gets out of hand, the Imperial Guards will definitely come to suppress it, and everyone in the ward will be implicated and die. It will also affect Luo Sect's own plans.

However, that group of people had a powerful background, and Yuan Houzi dared not provoke them. So he arranged a magic array in the canal to suppress the evil spirit and help them finish things off.

Before, these things were small and few in number, and they didn't even dare to approach the outer perimeter of the Mother's magic array. But recently, those people have been performing their rituals more frequently, and the evil things they've been dumping into the ditch are becoming more and more numerous and ferocious. You've seen it too; they've even started directly attacking the Vacuum Home. I don't dare to leave without permission now.

So you can get rid of this evil thing so easily? Why not just do it directly...?

Then A Guang realized what was happening, looked at Li Fan covered in thick fluid, and said, "Oh... right, well, if it were me, I would have just thrown a magic array to suppress him and left it at that. No wonder Yuan Houzi didn't tell you directly, you jumped into the ditch so decisively, you are truly a chivalrous person who cares about the common people and slays demons!"

"..." Li Fan glanced at him sideways, "Who are these scumbags you're talking about who dump garbage into the water? Their evil magic is almost complete, so you want to rescue A Zhu and escape?"

A Guang nodded seriously, "Yes, on the surface they are the underworld that controls this slum, but in fact there are immortal forces involved behind the scenes. Yuan Monkey told me not to interfere too much. Anyway, since none of us can be in the light of day, those people won't bother Luo Sect."

But I recently heard they're recruiting assassins; it seems they're planning a rebellion. You said something happened at the Crown Prince's Palace? If we don't rescue A Zhu now, it'll be too late!

Li Fan remained silent. If it weren't for the fact that he had inexplicably acquired this eye that countered all Non-Thing, the excrement monster at the bottom of this channel wouldn't have been easily dealt with by just one or two Golden Core cultivators.

And these things of this caliber are just 'trash' that people casually throw away. They live parasitically in the waterways to the south and no one cares about them, yet they still know to keep trying to escape the city and actively attack the Luo Sect's magic array.

In other words, there is clearly something hidden in this Da'an Fang that is more terrifying to the Shit Monster than itself, or even to the bubbles of the Luo Sect.

Moreover, the person who raised this monster, wanting to rebel under the suppression of a Divine Transformation cultivator like the Abbot, could their trump card be that lamb that gave birth to cubs?

This means these people not only hid one sheep in the Ten-thousand-mountains and the Daoist temples of Ink Bamboo Mountain, but also another sheep in the slums of Changsi City. And judging by the size of this lamb, that lamb was probably born even earlier, likely almost fully formed. It could at least give birth to a powerful Devil Embryo at the Divine Transformation stage, strong enough to restrain the Abbot, right?

Is this what these people are plotting behind the scenes? Using Mu Long, sword dueling, the struggle for the throne in the Eastern Palace, and various other events to confuse the public, just to hide this 'sheep' so they can take advantage of the chaos and completely overthrow Ink Bamboo Mountain's rule in Li Country?

You know what, right now the Northern Faction of Ink Bamboo Mountain are in complete chaos. There might actually be a chance that this stray sheep will ignite a major war. If that happens, the sects will be fighting to the death, and then the other forces' schemes will be realized.

Besides, what about Lu Qi, or Lu Chai? Is he related to all this? Isn't he in charge of the slums? How could the Four Young Masters, so powerful, not know that such a large and deadly sheep was being raised in the shack? Was he involved in raising it, or did he know the inside story, which led to the trouble for the Lu Family? And what is he doing hiding in Da'an Fang now? Is he seeking revenge? Or plotting a rebellion?

Which faction of immortals is hiding behind all this conspiracy and scheming? The Nangong Family? Or the Three Great Sects?

But at least it seems that the matter of the lamb has nothing to do with the Luo Sect members. They must genuinely be unaware of the sheep and their offspring. If they knew that the other party was raising lambs in the village, they probably wouldn't have had time to escape, let alone help seal off the river, suppress the rebellion, or cover it up.

Moreover, Luo Sect probably wasn't involved in the rebellion this time. Otherwise, wouldn't it have been better to just let that lamb escape the city and cause trouble outside the city, further diverting the attention of the Li Country?

If Luo Sect's goal this time wasn't to rebel, then what was the matter that Yuan Tianxiao sought out Zheng Mingzhu to handle six months ago?

Was it for Li Yi? But Zheng Mingzhu and Li Yi are both dead, so was the matter accomplished or not? Since Zheng Mingzhu is dead, what use is this A Guang? What's the point of leaving him here unattended? Are we really counting on him to sew clothes or to keep this little monster in the ditch in check?

Ultimately, did the Luo Sect truly know that 'Zheng Mingzhu' and 'Li Yi' were dead? Or did the Luo Sect also misunderstand and believe that 'Qingyue is Li Yi'?

Although the Rubik's Cube in his hand shone brightly, almost connecting all these things, Li Fan now had even more doubts. Many key points remained unresolved.

A Guang clearly had no answers to any of these questions. He was obviously implicated, simply because his older sister served as a maid to Consort Guo in the Eastern Palace, and was thus forcibly dragged into these affairs. He might not only be unaware that A Zhu was dead, but also that he had a nephew who had died without ever meeting him.

Li Fan thought for a moment, then said, "Tell me how to find those people. I've already dealt with the monster underwater; I'll handle the rest. You don't need to worry about it anymore. Just leave the city and seek safety. I'll contact you if I get any news about A Zhu."

Although he couldn't immediately untangle this mess, Li Fan knew that to cut through it quickly, he had to strike directly at the most crucial point, the one he could clearly see.

Since he's naturally invincible against all 'Non-Thing,' he might as well just go find that lamb and have it as a snack with his drinks.

Without this strange contraption restraining the abbot, who among these Chi Mei Wangliang would dare to challenge the orthodox Daoist Tradition of Ink Bamboo Mountain?

While he couldn't possibly solve so many conspiracies and schemes born from human nature, he was at least professional in investigating and handling matters that were 'Non-Thing'.

After all, even if you're facing the most powerful Dao Ancestor, at worst your 'mood will drop a little'.

But after looking at Li Fan for a while, A Guang suddenly said, "... Is A Zhu already dead?"

Li Fan froze, speechless for a moment.

A Guang looked at Li Fan, "Yuan Houzi doesn't seem like a bad person who goes back on his word, which is why I agreed to help you and wrote a letter to A Zhu. But he hasn't come to see me for half a year. On the bright side, he might be dead; on the other hand... it means A Zhu is gone, isn't it?"

"Well, if it's gone, it's gone. I was prepared for this ten years ago... By the way, although you've gotten rid of that monster for now, they'll throw new ones into the river sooner or later. I'll take you to find the culprits and find a way to take the statue of the Old Mother out of the city. I've already notified the believers in the neighborhood to take refuge first. Afterwards, we'll go to the mountains to start a village and live under the Old Mother's protection. They don't need to worry about us."

Li Fan looked at him. "You still want to believe in the Luo Sect? Don't you know that the Luo Sect is a villain that everyone in the world hates?"

A Guang rolled his eyes. "Are you stupid? If you believe in the Luo Sect, people won't dare to hit you or rob you. Besides, everyone shares a single steamed bun. If that's considered being a bad person, then are there any good people left in the world? Besides, isn't this world just a place where good people get beaten up everywhere? What's so strange about that?"

Alright, let's get going. I'll take you to see what the real villains in this neighborhood are like."

What else can a truly evil person be? They're just two eyes and a mouth. If evil people were all born like lambs, we could just throw them into the river, wouldn't that be simple?

Unlike now, although Li Fan can kill everyone with a snap of his eyes, he still has to trace their origins one by one and is still unsure who he should kill.

For example, A Guang brought him to a noodle shop in Da'an Fang, "Hey, these are the ones."

Li Fan quickly rinsed off, but his face was still filthy and unrecognizable. He looked just like A Guang, a ragged beggar. The two of them didn't attract the attention of the people around them, but he walked straight to the entrance of the noodle shop, frowned, glanced around, and hesitated whether to conjure up four heads and eight arms and rush in to kill someone.

Although the road A Guang led was in the same direction as the Si Nan, this noodle shop didn't look like some kind of den of iniquity at all. Rather, it looked like a charity shop that gave alms to the poor, distributing porridge and medicine.

A bowl of scallion noodles costs only five coins, and you can keep eating until you're full. Large white steamed buns are also available, but they don't cost five or ten coins; you can get four or five for one coin. In the dead of night, there are hardly any customers left, but surprisingly, there are still many beggars queuing up, waiting to share the soup from the bottom of the pot, making it look like a late-night diner.

"This shop is run by the Lu Family, do you know Lu Chai? He's in charge of these neighborhoods in the southwest, and he's built a lot of noodle and porridge shops to help the poor people in the neighborhoods. The food in this shop only makes enough to cover the cost. If a beggar is really desperate, he can come here every night to get a free meal of scraps. It'll keep you from getting so hungry that you rebel."

"Those things in the ditch were dumped into the river by the noodle shop workers, who pretended they were swill. Ask them if you want to know."

A Guang said coldly, "By the way, don't be fooled by their current act of charity. Lu Chai is just using small favors to win people over. In reality, he keeps many assassins and bodyguards around, often helping the city's nobles with dirty work. Sometimes when the government wants to arrest a criminal, he picks up a beggar from the neighborhood to take the blame."

In fact, it wasn't just noodle shops, casinos, brothels, black markets—he had his hands on everything. To exaggerate a bit, in these dozen or so wards in the southwest of Changsi City, there were quite a few people who had offended the Li family, but those who dared to offend the Lu Family, hehe, not a single one survived."

Li Fan was a little unsure. "You mean the Lu Family is going to rebel? On what grounds? By a few assassins?"

A Guang said, "They're not just a few assassins, they're very skilled assassins! The rumors in the neighborhood are exaggerated. They say that those assassins can't be detected at all, not even by the neighborhood's ghost-suppressing mirror. Not to mention the guards, even the thugs can't catch them. Not only do they almost never fail in their assassinations, but they're also all suicide soldiers. If things go wrong, they might even self-destruct!"

These days, there are so many opportunities to cultivate immortality, even someone like me has encountered one. How many cultivators are so ruthless and decisive, willing to risk their lives? Many of the gang leaders in the market were actually at the Golden Core Stage! They've all been eliminated! Who among their subordinates dares to rebel?

Lu Chai had a knife in his hand, money in his bag, and the Wang Family's soldiers behind him. Who in either the legitimate or underworld dared to oppose him? He only restrained himself a little when Captain Wei was around. Ah, what a pity. Never mind, let's not talk about it...

Moreover, it's not just assassins anymore. In the past six months, he's gathered many desperate criminals from the neighborhood and trained them like an army. I don't know what kind of quick-learning magic they've developed, but it's said that many of them have broken through their cultivation levels and become external martial arts masters comparable to the Golden Core stage in just six months!

Yuan Houzi said that those assassins and thugs couldn't be trained by ordinary people. The Lu Family has an even greater power protecting them. I also heard from the followers that many experts have recently entered the city and gathered in Da'an Fang. It seems they're about to make a move..."

Those assassins who killed and then self-destructed were probably Mechanical Puppet made by the Lu Family. I never imagined that their ingenious family heirlooms were used to make such things. However, four of them were enough to overwhelm a Golden Core cultivator like Liu Qing, so dealing with some underworld figures is indeed not a difficult task.

Lu Qi said the Lu Family belonged to the Northern Faction, so it seems that whether it's Guo or Wang, they are both backed by Ink Bamboo Mountain; it's just a power struggle within the Northern Faction. As for the rebellion, it's probably about the second and third sons vying for the throne?

Perhaps the Crown Prince wasn't frightened by the ghost of Imperial Censor Wen Jin, but rather it was a meticulously planned murder. Maybe he chose to rebel when the Guo Family couldn't find their nephew? Perhaps even the name Qingyue was used as a pretext for rebellion, arranged for him to join the uprising.

Thinking about it this way, perhaps the Grand Tutor Guo family has already lost the initiative, while the Wang Family has already conspired with Lu Chai, and everything is ready. Under Lu Chai's arrangement, they will start fighting in the next two days to help Prince of An seize the throne?

In truth, Yuan Tianxiao could kill four assassin puppets with a single strike, so he shouldn't even consider Lu Chai a threat. He probably didn't fight the Lu Family out of consideration for his fellow disciples from Ink Bamboo Mountain.

Li Fan sighed, "The helpers who came recently, are they the disciples of Ink Bamboo Mountain who came to cause trouble for the Censorate? Indeed, they are fellow disciples. With the protection of their fellow disciples from Ink Bamboo Mountain, they can't just do whatever they want..."

"It's not Ink Bamboo Mountain," but that's what A Guang said.

"Huh?" Li Fan turned his head and glared at him. "No?"

"It's not Ink Bamboo Mountain. Yuan Houzi said that there were people in the mountain pretending to be from the Luo Sect. They thought they were fellow members, but later they found out it was a different group, and they couldn't beat them, so they told us to avoid the Lu Family and not to provoke them," A Guang said.

Li Fan narrowed his eyes, "... Not another group from Ink Bamboo Mountain?"

A Guang thought he hadn't heard him clearly, so he emphasized again, "It's definitely not. A few days ago, a lot of people did come from Ink Bamboo Mountain and had a big fight with the people from the Censorate. Many people were killed or injured, and it's inevitable that some innocent people were caught in the crossfire."

Their abbot was furious. After entering the city, he released his divine form, which shook the heavens and the earth, and strictly ordered all disciples who had come from Ink Bamboo Mountain to fight on their own to immediately go to the Lou Guan Temple outside the East City to receive their punishment. Otherwise, they could continue fighting outside and would never be allowed to return to Bamboo Mountain again.

So everyone from Ink Bamboo Mountain went to be punished by kneeling, and now there's not a single mountain dweller in the city. Lu Chai's helpers only entered the city after the Ink Bamboo Mountain cultivators left."

Isn't the Lu Family backed by Ink Bamboo Mountain?

Or is it that Ink Bamboo Mountain isn't behind Lu Chai?

If it's not Ink Bamboo Mountain, then who is it?