The First Face-to-Face Encounter

Early the next morning.

The sky was still dark when Ning Ye had just risen. He saw Luo Qiuzhen standing outside his cottage.

At the sight of Luo Qiuzhen, shock appeared on Ning Ye's face. "Deacon Luo? I thought you..."

He didn't finish. Luo Qiuzhen smiled faintly. "Junior Brother, don't be alarmed. I'm not dead."

Ning Ye let out a long breath. "Heaven has eyes. Deacon Luo is a pillar of the Inspection Hall. The Inspection Hall can't do without you."

Luo Qiuzhen's lips curved into a smile, his eyes narrowing slightly. "Oh? Is that truly what you think, Junior Brother Ning?"

Ning Ye paused. "What do you mean by that, Deacon?"

Luo Qiuzhen glanced inside the cottage. "Won't you invite me in to sit?"

Ning Ye looked as if he'd just realized. "Please, Deacon."

After entering, Luo Qiuzhen looked around. "Your place is rather simple."

Ning Ye poured tea for him. "My master often says that to achieve the Great Dao, one must harden one's resolve. If one indulges in comfort, one will suffer for it."

"No wonder you've advanced so quickly, Junior Brother Ning," Luo Qiuzhen said.

Ning Ye shook his head. "I wouldn't call it quick. It's been nearly a year, and I still haven't reached the fourth level."

Luo Qiuzhen gave him a knowing smile. "That's already quite good. Most people need four or five years to reach the peak. From the looks of it, you may manage it in two and a half. With your aptitude and so few outside resources, that's well above average. Besides, I hear your Killing Heart Blade is progressing even faster, and you've already begun cultivating the Body Killing Blade."

Ning Ye looked at Luo Qiuzhen in puzzlement. "Are you probing me, Senior Brother?"

"Not exactly. I'm just asking. After all, you happened to be there on the day of the incident. Come to think of it, the Black and White Divine Palace has had a rough year. One thing after another has happened."

"That's right. There are so many troublemakers about that even a deacon like you fell victim to a villain's ambush. Have you found any clues?"

"That's why I came to ask you, Junior Brother."

"You came to ask me? About the Green Wood Hall?"

"Not only that. You were also at Huaiyin Mountain and Ancient Spring Town," Luo Qiuzhen said meaningfully.

Ning Ye smiled. "So that's why you came, Deacon. I understand what you mean. I did see Junior Sister Yue in Ancient Spring Town, but she was killed by a strange mechanism. It had nothing to do with me. In fact, I was later ambushed by that same oddity. Everyone knows about it."

Luo Qiuzhen looked at Ning Ye and continued, "I know all that. I also know that during the first explosion at Xuanyu Pavilion, you were all at Ningxin Cottage. The hidden culprit used a delayed detonation, but the delay could only have been so long. You couldn't have done it."

"Your judgment is sound, Deacon."

"But the second explosion in Senior Brother Xuan Mulang's bedroom is harder to explain."

"What do you mean, Deacon?"

Ning Ye met Luo Qiuzhen's gaze without a hint of unease. Just then, the teapot began to whistle.

Ning Ye picked up the teapot and poured Luo Qiuzhen some tea.

Luo Qiuzhen took a small sip and watched the tea leaves float in his cup. "There's something that's been bothering me. Why did the explosion in Xuan Mulang's bedroom use a Flame Burst Bead instead of a mechanism box?"

"Is there a difference?" Ning Ye asked.

"There is," Luo Qiuzhen replied evenly. "A Flame Burst Bead can be set to detonate after a delay, but the effect depends mainly on how much magical energy is poured into it. The biggest problem is that it's difficult to time precisely, making it far inferior to that ingenious mechanism box. And that raises a question."

Ning Ye listened attentively.

Luo Qiuzhen said, "When the first explosion happened, no one was paying attention to Xuanyu Pavilion, so the culprit had the most time to prepare. The second explosion was different. After the first one, everyone was on alert, and the time between the two blasts was extremely short. To target the bedroom under those circumstances, the timing had to be much more precise. So if it were me, I'd use a Flame Burst Bead for the first explosion and a mechanism box for the second. That would make more sense, wouldn't it?"

Ning Ye's heart jolted. He knew Luo Qiuzhen had hit the mark.

The mechanism box had been used for the first explosion to control the timing precisely and give Tianji a chance to prepare. The Flame Burst Bead had been used for the second because it could be detonated immediately—there was no help for it; Tianji hadn't found the fragments in time.

That was the problem with carrying out a plan: so many things could happen that no one could foresee them all.

It was the second explosion, and the reversal in the order of the devices, that had alerted Luo Qiuzhen.

And that wasn't all he'd noticed.

Luo Qiuzhen continued, "What's hardest to understand is what the second explosion was even for. If it was meant to kill someone, it was too weak. If it was meant to steal treasure, why go to all that trouble? The thief had already taken what they wanted. So what was the point?"

Ning Ye's heart sank.

Luo Qiuzhen had found the crux of the matter: the purpose of the second explosion.

Given what had happened, the second explosion seemed to have so little purpose that no explanation quite made sense.

Fu Dongliu would have ignored something like this, but Luo Qiuzhen was different. He didn't have many spells or techniques to rely on; his strength lay in his wits and deductions. So he'd immediately realized that the purpose of the second explosion might be the key to the whole matter.

"Then what do you mean, Deacon...?"

"I think the real culprit may have been at the scene. The second explosion was just cover for them to make their move. Xuanyu Pavilion burned and collapsed, leaving the place in chaos. Xuan Mulang hasn't even finished sorting out his losses, but I believe that among the things that went missing, there may be something the culprit truly wanted."

Ning Ye said, "After the incident, the Inspection Hall sealed off the entire palace. When I left, I was searched. And Lord Xuan Mulang already said that his bedroom had been robbed before the Flame Burst Bead detonated."

"But that's exactly the problem! If the culprit had already gotten what they wanted, why set off another explosion? It makes no sense!"

"How would I know? Maybe they were trying to assassinate Lord Xuan Mulang. Deacon Luo, although everyone thinks a Flame Burst Bead couldn't kill him, you can't deny someone's intent just because they failed. Maybe the culprit wanted to injure Lord Xuan Mulang and prepare for another attempt later. Or perhaps the person behind it had some other plan, like wounding him to gain an advantage in a future rivalry. There are too many possibilities. Neither of us is the one behind it, so we can't know everything they had in mind."

"As you say, there are too many possibilities. Injuring Xuan Mulang could have been one purpose, but there may have been others."

Ning Ye nodded. "So you suspect me, Deacon?"

"Huaiyin Mountain, Ancient Spring Town, Green Wood Hall—you were at all of them. Isn't that a bit too much to call coincidence?" Luo Qiuzhen countered.

Ning Ye replied, "Why couldn't it be? Over the past year, there have been dozens of incidents at the Black and White Divine Palace, if not a hundred. I wasn't involved in every one, was I? And I'm not the only person who's appeared in several cases, am I?"

That was true. Aside from Ning Ye stirring up trouble, all sorts of things had happened at the Black and White Divine Palace itself: disciples killing one another, outside enemies infiltrating, rogue immortals attacking, and internal agents causing chaos. One incident after another had cropped up.

Some people were simply unlucky enough to be caught up in several incidents at once.

Wang Sen, for example. If someone combed through all the case files, they'd find him mentioned in several of them. They might even find Chi Wanning, Xu Yanwen, Yang Ziqiu, or Zhong Rihan.

Ning Ye had openly appeared in these three incidents—not too many, not too few. Enough to arouse suspicion, but not enough to prove anything.

Hearing this, Luo Qiuzhen smiled. "Junior Brother Ning, your answers are flawless. You make it seem as if you came prepared."

Ning Ye replied, "So I speak with reason, calm and collected, and that proves I have a guilty conscience? If that's the case, Deacon Luo, suppose you went and questioned any disciple right now. They panicked, gave evasive answers, and knew nothing when you asked them anything. Would you believe they were innocent?"

Luo Qiuzhen froze, then thought it over. "Actually, no. I'd only suspect them more."

Ning Ye spread his hands. "So you see? That's like suspecting your neighbor of stealing an axe. Whether I stay calm or panic, whether I'm composed or flustered, you can always find a reason to suspect me, can't you?"

Luo Qiuzhen nodded. "That's true. I'm starting to believe you weren't prepared in advance—you're just naturally quick-tongued. Interesting. When you were charging freely across the Trial Battlefield, you didn't seem like this."

Ning Ye smiled. "So Deacon Luo has seen me fight on the Trial Battlefield. But you're mistaken. Who says a brave warrior has to be a brainless one? On a battlefield, danger lurks on every side, so you must keep your wits about you. Even with your blood running hot and the battle raging around you, you have to stay calm and analyze the situation. Otherwise, I'd have been dead long ago. Since you were watching, you must know I could identify every Illusion Skeleton precisely. How could I have done that without keeping a clear head?"

"I doubt your master would agree with you."

"My master's school is all about horse racing: the ones who survive are the best. But I'm afraid of dying. I don't want to be culled by the strong; I just want to live in peace."

"No wonder you chose the Yang Talisman Scripture, too."

Ning Ye raised his cup. "My master was very displeased."

Luo Qiuzhen burst out laughing. "You're an interesting fellow. Not many people can chatter away in front of me like this. You're one of them. What a shame. If not for all the complications surrounding the Xuanyu Pavilion incident, I'd be quite happy to make friends with you."

"So you've decided I was behind what happened at Xuanyu Pavilion?"

"Not at all. I was just asking."

Ning Ye countered, "Would you casually ask Fairy Niaohua or Senior Brother Zhong the same questions?"

"That's impossible. They're heaven's favored children. I can't afford to offend them."

"So I'm fair game?"

"Yes!" Luo Qiuzhen actually admitted it outright.

Ning Ye smiled. "At least you're honest. I'm afraid I'll have to disappoint you, though. I know even less than you do."

"Well, you are Zhang Qisha's disciple, after all. Even if you're lower in standing than they are, I can't accuse you without evidence." Luo Qiuzhen spoke casually. "Like I said, I was just asking. By the way, did you get that scar on your face a year ago?"

"Yes. An enemy did it to me. If you want to know more, you can check the records. It's all documented."

"Can it still be healed?" Luo Qiuzhen didn't ask about Ning Ye's past. True or not, he was sure that looking into it wouldn't turn up anything suspicious.

"It can, but good medicine is hard to come by."

"What if I found that medicine for you, Junior Brother?" Luo Qiuzhen drawled.

Ning Ye rose to his full height and bowed deeply. "I'd be grateful beyond words!"

At the sight of him, Luo Qiuzhen's eyes narrowed slightly.

He couldn't be certain about Ning Ye, but at least the young man had made a deep impression on him.

As Ning Ye had said, if he truly wasn't the culprit, Luo Qiuzhen wouldn't mind befriending this sharp-tongued, witty young man.

Just then, an Inspection Hall disciple came in from outside to report. "Deacon."

"What is it?"

The Inspection Hall disciple whispered a few words in Luo Qiuzhen's ear. Luo Qiuzhen was greatly startled. "What did you say? They found the real culprit?"