novelraw Chapter 18: The Inside Story!
Chapter 18: The Inside Story!
After a while.
Huo Tianjiao walked to the pavilion and bowed to Old Zhong, saying, "Godfather."
Old Zhong nodded slightly, gesturing for Huo Tianjiao to come and sit down.
When Zhong Yuan heard Huo Tianjiao call Old Zhong her godfather, he was even more taken aback.
Good guy!
It seems there's something really fishy going on between these two!
Zhong Yuan looked at Old Zhong and Huo Tianjiao with suspicion, tapping his fingers on the stone table, and said to the two of them, "I think you need to give me a reasonable explanation."
Old Zhong smiled and said, "Tianjiao, you talk to him."
Huo Tianjiao raised an eyebrow, sat down to the side, and recounted the whole story to Zhong Yuan.
Simply put, Huo Tianjiao and Lao Zhong staged a play together in order to purge the traitors from the cult.
In the past two years, more than a dozen branches of the Ming Cult have been raided and confiscated by the government.
As a result, the Ming Cult suffered heavy losses.
Even the Black-Robed Dharma King, one of the four Dharma Kings protecting the Dharma among the Red, White, Black, and Blue sects, was captured by the imperial court's henchmen and imprisoned at the Daxiangguo Temple in Tokyo. His fate remains unknown to this day.
More than two years ago, the Black-Robed Dharma King was originally summoning the heads of branch altars from various places at the Bright Summit of Huangshan Mountain to discuss important matters.
As a result, someone leaked the news, and the imperial court's henchmen laid an ambush at Bright Summit of Huangshan Mountain in advance.
This caused heavy losses to the Ming Cult. The Black-Robed Dharma King was captured, and of the twelve branch leaders who attended the conference, eight died, two were captured, and only two escaped.
The Ming Cult suffered a series of severe blows.
This made Lao Zhong realize the seriousness of the matter; there must be a traitor within the Ming Cult!
Moreover, this mole is of a high rank!
Back then, the reason why Lao Zhong left Zhenjie Village overnight was to stabilize the situation in the sect and investigate who had leaked the news of the Huangshan Bright Summit Conference.
"My godfather spent two years finally finding some clues."
"The final suspects fell on Vice Leader Zuo Qiankun and Left Envoy of Light Xuan Yin."
"To lure the snake out of its hole."
"Let the real traitor expose himself."
"My godfather secretly instructed me to show my ambition to become the next leader in front of everyone."
"And they wanted to take the Sacred Flame Token, the symbol of the Central Plains religion, back to the Persian headquarters."
"As time went on, the conflict between my godfather and me became increasingly clear in the eyes of the church members."
"So, my godfather and I decided to have a duel at Bangyuan Cave, to put on one last show in front of many high-ranking officials."
"We fought fiercely, and both of us were seriously injured. My godfather was knocked off a cliff and his whereabouts are currently unknown."
"I also fell halfway down the mountain."
"In fact, although we were both injured, it was all for the sake of creating a convincing illusion."
"Let that spy believe we've really fallen out."
"As expected, as soon as the leader and I disappeared, the vice leader Zuo Qiankun gave himself away."
"He pretended to go down the cliff to search for me and the cult leader."
"In reality, it was to take the opportunity to kill and silence witnesses."
"Zuo Qiankun found me first, and we got into a fight. Because I was injured, he took the opportunity to hurt me."
"I had no choice but to leave the Bangyuan Cave area first. I never expected that he would use the pretext of avenging the sect leader to send people from the sect to hunt me down."
"As I fled, I thought of the Zhong family's old house that my godfather had mentioned to me."
"So I decided to go to the Zhong family's old house to recuperate, which led to our meeting."
Huo Tianjiao recounted the whole story in detail.
Upon hearing this, Zhong Yuan raised his hand to rub his temples, then slowly said, "So, you knew all along that I was Old Zhong's son?"
Huo Tianjiao raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly.
"At first I was not so sure, but when you mentioned the Great Nine Heavens Hand, I was certain that you were indeed the bookish son that my godfather was talking about."
"After all, how could an ordinary villager who has never practiced martial arts and lives only in the mountains have ever heard of the Ming Cult's martial art, the 'Great Nine Heavens Hand'?"
"However, because you are not quite the bookworm that my godfather described, I did have some doubts at first that you were not my godfather's son."
Zhong Yuan took a deep breath and felt like a green recruit. He had really underestimated the cunning and shrewdness of the Holy Maiden of the Persian Church!
"So, the reason you were so generous in passing on the Tang Poetry Swordplay and the Great Nine Heavens Sword to me is because you've confirmed that Old Zhong and I are father and son?"
Huo Tianjiao said, "At first, I just wanted to test your martial arts talent."
"Of course, since you saved my life, it's nothing for me to teach you the Tang Poetry Sword Technique."
"But your performance really surprised me."
"Therefore, the reason I'm passing on the [Great Nine Heavens Sword] to you is to give you the ability to protect yourself."
"After all, at that time, I didn't know what Bangyuan Cave was all about."
"In case my godfather fails to control the situation and returns today, I will inevitably have to fight Zuo Qiankun."
"At that point, I definitely won't be able to protect you."
Zhong Yuan thought to himself, "This woman still has some conscience."
"So, you asked me to come with you to help Yuandong, actually so that I could meet Old Zhong?"
Huo Tianjiao nodded.
"That's right. Since you have extraordinary martial arts talent, it would be a waste for you to stay in Zhenjie Village."
"Returning to the leader's side is your best choice."
"With the leader's personal guidance, given time, you will surely become a top-tier figure in the martial arts world."
"The Ming Cult in the Central Plains is not incapable of accomplishing great things!"
Zhong Yuan deliberately shook his head and sighed, "No wonder, there's a saying that the more beautiful a woman is, the more likely she is to lie."
"You kept this from me so well!"
Huo Tianjiao, however, didn't seem to care and just pursed her lips.
"You've also kept a lot of things from me."
"You wrote about the 'Edict of the Venerable One,' but you never told me about it."
"Otherwise, why would I need to hide it from you?"
Zhong Yuan raised an eyebrow and immediately changed the subject.
"So, does that mean the situation within the church has stabilized?"
"That cult leader, Zuo Qiankun, has already been pinned to death?"
Old Zhong said calmly, "My suspicions were correct before, but besides Zuo Qiankun, Xuan Yin is also a traitor."
"These two men colluded with the imperial court's henchmen to wreak havoc on the Ming Cult, hoping to take the opportunity to eliminate dissidents, seize control of the Ming Cult, and present the imperial court with a pledge of allegiance."
"Yesterday."
"I have captured these two. Today, at the Gangyuan Cave Assembly, I will expose their crimes to the followers."
"Then, send them both on their way."
Old Zhong spoke casually, but inadvertently revealed the decisiveness and ruthlessness of the leader of the Ming Cult.
"However... before sending them on their way, there's one more thing we need to clarify!"
"Tianjiao, I'm leaving this matter to you."
Old Zhong spoke to Huo Tianjiao, who was standing beside him.
Huo Tianjiao nodded and said, "Please rest assured, godfather, I will definitely find out the whereabouts of the [Great Shift of Heaven and Earth] from Zuo Qiankun."
These words were spoken.
Zhong Yuan's heart skipped a beat.
Then, he spoke quietly.
"Um... I think I know where the [Great Shift of Heaven and Earth] is!"