Chang'er's Two Paths, You Came Too Late

Chapter 37: Chang'er's Two Paths, You Came Too Late

Holy Mother Guiling was furious beyond measure.

"You still dare use the Outer Sect to bully others!"

Chang'er raised his head.

There was no ferocity on his face.

Only an indescribable weariness.

"Senior Disciple Brother."

"I accept the punishment."

"Destroy my cultivation."

"Expel me from the island."

"Send me to Clear Gate Hall for trial."

"I accept it all."

"But if you kill me over two letters I never agreed to."

"This disciple refuses to accept it."

He looked at those Outer Sect disciples.

"The Outer Sect may not accept it either."

The silence before the hall was suffocating.

Daoist Duobao's expression was ugly.

Killing intent surged in Holy Mother Jinling's eyes.

But at this moment, they could not act rashly.

Because Chang'er had once again hidden himself within the hearts of the people.

Killing him.

Would be like killing everyone who was afraid.

Zhao Xuan looked at him.

Then suddenly smiled.

It was faint.

And cold.

"Finished?"

Chang'er's throat tightened.

Zhao Xuan said, "Fearing death."

"Is not a crime."

"Leaving yourself a way out."

"Is not a crime either."

The immortals before the hall were stunned.

A glimmer of light abruptly surfaced in Chang'er's eyes.

But in the next instant.

Zhao Xuan's voice fell.

"Putting the Jie Sect up for sale."

"That is the crime."

The light on Chang'er's face shattered on the spot.

Zhao Xuan raised his hand.

The third Jade Slip descended.

There were no images within it.

Only Chang'er's voice.

"There are many Jie Sect disciples, and the Outer Sect's hearts are divided."

"If the Investiture of the Gods begins, chaos will come most easily."

"If I can steady the Outer Sect."

"Would the Jade Emptiness's Pure Body truly be guaranteed?"

The air before the hall turned cold at once.

The expressions of the few Outer Sect disciples who had just wanted to speak for Chang'er all changed.

Chang'er froze where he stood.

Zhao Xuan did not look at him.

The fourth Jade Slip lit up.

It was still his voice.

"The Seven Attendant Immortals are close to Master."

"There are some things I can learn earlier than others."

"If the Western Sect truly has a Lotus Throne position."

"I am willing to trade at equal value."

Equal value.

The moment those two words emerged.

Everything Chang'er had said just now became a joke.

Fear death?

Leave himself a way out?

Neither.

He was selling.

Selling the Outer Sect.

Selling his Master's trust.

Selling the Jie Sect's future.

The Outer Sect disciple who had spoken for Chang'er slowly lowered his head.

He did not speak again.

Nor could he.

At last, he understood why Chang'er remembered that his cave abode lacked spiritual materials.

It was not because Chang'er valued bonds.

It was because such favors could be used sooner or later.

Holy Mother Guiling stepped forward.

"Equal value?"

She grabbed Chang'er by the collar.

"What do you have to trade?"

Chang'er's lips trembled.

"I didn't—"

Gui Ling drove a fist into his face.

Chang'er crashed onto the stone steps.

No one stopped her.

Duobao did not move.

Wudang did not move.

Among the Seven Attendant Immortals, no one moved either.

Chang'er lay sprawled on the ground, his fingers digging into the cracks between the stones.

He knew it was over.

But he still wanted to live.

He suddenly raised his head and looked toward the depths of Biyou Palace.

"Master!"

"This disciple knows his mistake!"

"This disciple has served Master for many years. Even without merit, I have endured hardship!"

"If Master abandons this disciple today as well."

"What were all these years of this disciple's life for?"

When those words fell.

The hearts of the immortals before the hall all sank.

He was still using old ties to block the blade.

Holy Mother Guiling's gaze turned completely cold.

"You still dare force Master?"

Chang'er pressed his forehead to the ground.

"This disciple merely begs for a way to live."

Very soon, Master Tongtian's voice came from the depths of Biyou Palace.

"Zhao Xuan is in charge of the Clear Gate."

"He decides."

The last glimmer in Chang'er's eyes vanished.

Zhao Xuan walked before him.

"Your merits have been rewarded."

"Your sins will be cleared today."

"Merit does not offset betrayal."

"Sentiment does not offset the account."

Chang'er trembled all over.

"Senior Disciple Brother—"

Zhao Xuan did not let him finish.

"You asked just now, who would it be tomorrow."

He looked at the immortals before the hall.

"Whoever trades the Jie Sect for a way out."

"That is who."

No one before the hall spoke again.

Zhao Xuan turned around.

"Jin Ling."

Holy Mother Jinling stepped forward with her sword.

"Here."

"Sever his body."

"Yes."

"Erase his name."

The Clear Gate Register opened by itself.

The five characters Chang'er Dingguang Xian appeared.

The vermilion brush descended.

With one stroke, it crossed them out.

Chang'er screamed. The Shangqing aura on his body was forcibly stripped away.

From this moment on.

He was no longer a Jie Sect disciple.

Nor was he one of the Seven Attendant Immortals.

Jin Ling's sword-light fell.

Chang'er's physical body shattered.

A wisp of true spirit fled out in panic.

The instant it emerged, that true spirit instinctively fled toward the Western Sect.

Holy Mother Guiling sneered.

"What loyalty."

The true spirit struggled madly.

"I am willing to enter the Investiture of the Gods List!"

"I am still useful!"

"I know many things about the Jie Sect's Outer Sect!"

"I can give the Western Sect—"

The voice cut off.

Investiture of the Gods Accountability Ledger opened.

A page of black words pressed down.

Zhao Xuan closed his hand.

The true spirit shattered inch by inch.

Chang'er's last trace of sound vanished before Golden Turtle Island.

He had found two paths for himself.

Zhao Xuan left him neither.

Silence reigned before the hall for a long while.

On the Clear Gate Register,

Chang'er Dingguang Xian's name was completely crossed out.

The Yuqing Talisman Letter was sealed away.

The Western Sect golden missive was sealed away.

Daoist Duobao looked at those two items and said nothing for a long time.

Holy Mother Wudang closed her eyes.

The remaining Seven Attendant Immortals silently took out their personal Jade Slips and placed them before the Clear Gate Register.

The Outer Sect disciples lowered their heads one after another as well.

No one called it chilling anymore.

No one asked who would be next tomorrow.

Zhao Xuan said, "Continue the investigation."

"If the Clear Gate Register does not match,"

"Golden Turtle Island will not open."

The moment his words fell,

A bell rang beyond the mountain gate.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Bi Xiao's voice carried over.

"Senior Disciple Brother."

"Heavenly Court immortals have arrived."

"Jade Emptiness disciples have arrived as well."

Holy Mother Guiling raised her eyes.

"They came quickly enough."

Zhao Xuan said, "Bring them in."

Very soon,

Several Heavenly Court immortals stepped onto Golden Turtle Island.

Two Jade Emptiness disciples followed behind them.

The leading Heavenly Court immortal had barely reached the front of the hall when he unfolded a jade register.

He did not immediately inspect the things behind the desk.

Nor did he hurry to look at Zhao Xuan.

His gaze first swept over Duobao, Jin Ling, and Wudang.

At last, it fell upon the Clear Gate Register.

As though he had come bearing the laws of the Heavenly Court.

"By Your Majesty's decree."

"To investigate the crimes committed beyond the sect by Jie Sect disciples Ma Yuan and Chang'er Dingguang Xian."

No one before the hall responded.

The Heavenly Court immortal continued reading.

"Ma Yuan, an Outer Sect disciple of the Jie Sect."

"Using the Jie Sect's name to commit violence abroad."

"Seizing the spiritual possessions of independent cultivators."

"Slaughtering innocent living beings."

"Cultivating on blood offerings."

"6"

"Damaging the Jie Sect's reputation."

"6"

"Disrupting the order of the East Sea."

He paused.

Seeing no one refute him, his voice became steadier.

"Such vile deeds were not the sins of a single day."

"The Heavenly Court has received reports more than once."

"It merely refrained from acting rashly out of consideration for the Jie Sect's gates."

"Today, by decree, we have come to ask Golden Turtle Island one question."

"Of this man's crimes,"

"Did the Jie Sect know, or did it not?"

As those words fell,

The eyes of some Outer Sect disciples darkened.

This was not a question about Ma Yuan.

It was a question about the Jie Sect.

If they knew,

Then they had condoned it.

If they did not know,

Then they had failed in oversight.

Zhao Xuan said nothing.

Daoist Duobao said nothing.

Holy Mother Jinling said nothing either.

The Heavenly Court immortal assumed the Jie Sect had been suppressed.

He turned to the second page of the jade register.

"Chang'er Dingguang Xian."

"One of the Seven Attendant Immortals."

"Long attended Saint Tongtian at his side."

"Conveyed the Jie Sect's orders to the Outer Sect."

"Mediated the affairs of disciples."

"Held great prestige."

"Yet this man privately cultivated ties within the Outer Sect, using favors and obligations to win hearts."

"Using the Jie Sect's prestige to shield his own private interests."

"Those implicated by him were more than merely one or two."

Having read this far,

The Heavenly Court immortal looked up.

"If Ma Yuan alone committed evil, he could still be called an unworthy disciple."

"But Chang'er Dingguang Xian was one of the Seven Attendant Immortals."

"If even the Seven Attendant Immortals were like this,"

"Then the Jie Sect today could hardly explain itself with only the words 'unworthy disciples.'"

The air before the hall turned another degree colder.

The Jade Emptiness disciples spoke at that moment.

Their voices were not loud.

Yet they cut deeper than the Heavenly Court immortal's.

"Martial Uncle Shangqing taught without distinction."

"That is the great Dao of a Saint."

"But if teaching without distinction only accepts and never cleanses,"

"Then it is not a great Dao."

"It is a hiding place for filth."

Holy Mother Guiling's gaze turned abruptly cold.

Several Outer Sect disciples suddenly lifted their heads.

But Zhao Xuan did not move.

Nor did Holy Mother Jinling allow anyone to speak.

The hall remained silent.

Seeing this, the Heavenly Court immortal continued.

"The Heavenly Court did not come to humiliate the Jie Sect."

"We seek only an explanation."

"Ma Yuan's crimes must be made clear."

"Chang'er's crimes must be investigated."

"If the Jie Sect cleanses itself, the Heavenly Court will naturally report back to Your Majesty."

"If the Jie Sect finds it inconvenient to investigate itself,"

"The Heavenly Court can act in its stead—"

"Have you finished reading?"

Holy Mother Jinling suddenly spoke.

The Heavenly Court immortal's voice halted.

The Jade Emptiness disciples looked toward her as well.

Holy Mother Jinling raised a hand.

From behind the hall, two Jie Sect disciples emerged.

A corpse was carried to the front of the hall.

Its blood aura had already been sealed.

A sin plaque hung above the corpse.

Ma Yuan.

The Heavenly Court immortal's pupils contracted.

Holy Mother Jinling said, "Ma Yuan."

"Has been executed."

She raised her hand again.

The Clear Gate Register flipped open on its own.

The five characters Chang'er Dingguang Xian had already been crossed out in vermilion ink.

Two Jade Slips hung beside them.

And beside those,

Were the Yuqing Talisman Letter,

And the Western Sect golden missive.

The Jade Emptiness disciples' expressions finally changed.

Holy Mother Jinling looked at them.

"Chang'er."

"Has had his name erased."

Her voice was icy.

"The evidence of his crimes."

"Has been sealed."

The Heavenly Court immortal froze where he stood.

The jade register in his hand still hung in midair.

All those words from moments ago suddenly had nowhere to land.

They had come to condemn.

But the Jie Sect had already executed the guilty first.

They had come to offer a blade.

But its edge now hung over empty air.

Ma Yuan was dead.

Chang'er was dead as well.

Holy Mother Jinling lifted her eyes to look at them.

"You came too late."

Silence fell before the hall for a moment.

The Jade Emptiness disciples looked at the Yuqing Talisman Letter.

His expression could no longer remain steady.

Only then did Zhao Xuan look at him.

"Chang'er's crime."

"The Jie Sect has purged it."

He raised his hand.

That Yuqing Talisman Letter floated up.

It descended before the disciples of Jade Emptiness.

Zhao Xuan said, "This letter."

"Will Jade Emptiness purge it or not?"