Chapter 100
"What are you dawdling for?"
Xi Xichang, who seemed to have already finished her preparations, urged Jiang Ziya.
"It was Miss Xi who held me back."
Since he could not shake off Xi Xichang in this situation, Jiang Ziya decided to move with Xi Xichang for now.
His calculation was that if he were to circle around the surroundings as if he were sightseeing the Tang Clan, looking at the unfamiliar places, the impatient Xi Xichang would eventually get tired and would drop out first.
Jiang Ziya, after thinking about this and that, left the chamber with Xi Xichang.
But contrary to Jiang Ziya's complicated calculations, the two could not move very far.
This was because they had seen two people approaching them from outside the chamber.
Two people in the attire of the Wudang Sect in the Sichuan Tang Clan.
The Wise Sword, Wu Guang, and his disciple, Shen Naye, found Jiang Ziya and Xi Xichang and moved their feet towards them without hesitation.
"Why are they here..."
Both Xi Xichang and Jiang Ziya, who had found them, had a faint tension pass over their faces.
Although both of them were burdened by meeting Wu Guang, their reasons were different.
Xi Xichang was bothered by Wu Guang's actions and words, which he had done with the name of the Martial Arts Alliance on his back.
And Jiang Ziya was bothered by the fact that Wu Guang had not completely withdrawn his suspicion of him, and that he was hiding about Nezha as he had suspected.
"Taoist Wu Guang."
Wu Guang and Shen Naye also exchanged greetings, seeing Xi Xichang and Jiang Ziya, who had taken a fist-and-palm salute first out of respect for their senior.
"Where are you going in such a hurry?"
"We were just about to leave for an investigation."
"Hmm... then you should follow us for now."
"Did you find something?"
"I can't be sure, but it seems that I have found a clue about the culprit."
"A clue... what is it?"
Although Jiang Ziya felt a pang of guilt, he asked, showing a calm expression as much as possible.
Wu Guang, after looking at Jiang Ziya with sharp eyes, stroked his beard nervously.
"Let's talk as we go."
Although Jiang Ziya was not pleased that an uncomfortable party was increasing, since he was curious about the clue that Wu Guang had found, he obediently moved his feet with them.
"You could have just called us there..."
Xi Xichang, who knew that Wu Guang's character had become erratic after losing his disciple, said carefully.
"Since we are going in the same direction anyway, what's so difficult about going together? As a matter of fact, I also had something to tell you."
"To me?"
"It's news about the Black Contemplation Fortress."
At the words of the Black Contemplation Fortress, Xi Xichang's expression hardened.
Whatever it was, unless it was the news that the Black Contemplation Fortress had collapsed, it could not be good news for her.
Jiang Ziya, who had a debt to the Black Contemplation Fortress, also listened to his words.
"They say that the Black Contemplation Fortress will be holding a grand coronation ceremony soon. They have already sent out all the invitations, and the various merchant guilds and masters are gathering at the Black Contemplation Fortress after receiving them."
"The coronation ceremony of the Black Contemplation Fortress..."
The changes in the Black Contemplation Fortress were proceeding at a much faster pace than she had expected.
Although she had thought that the Young Lord of Light, Jeshin, had been pushed out, she had thought that he would not give up the position of the master of the fortress so easily.
But it seemed that it was impossible to go against Mo Guangdi's will.
"If the succession issue is settled like this, won't the Black Contemplation Fortress be able to launch a provocation again to consolidate its power?"
As expected, the insight of Wu Guang, who had been in the Wudang Sect and the Martial Arts Alliance for decades, was not to be ignored.
Although Jeshin had been pushed out, since his power was not small, there was a high possibility that Jejeong would launch a new rise to show his authority as well as to reorganize the Black Contemplation Fortress.
If the Black Contemplation Fortress were to raise an army, it was natural that its target would be the Sichuan Alliance, which had not yet established its position.
Xi Xichang realized that she was not in a situation where she could be so relaxed and felt a sense of urgency.
If the Black Contemplation Fortress were to rise, the Qingcheng Sect on Mount Qingcheng, which had become the headquarters of the Sichuan Alliance, might also have to make a great sacrifice again.
Perhaps in her absence, her younger brother, Xibal, might lead the literary figures and to go to the battlefield.
'I can never let that happen!'
Xibal was still too young and his character was too weak to hold a sword and to fight.
Although Xi Xichang herself had excellently performed the duties of a sect leader at Xibal's age, in her eyes, Xibal was still just the young younger brother she had taken care of in the old days.
"It is natural that you, who have visited the Sichuan Tang Clan from a distance, are trying to borrow the power of the Tang Clan. In my opinion, the Blue Sharp Sword should hurry a little more."
The Blue Sharp Sword was Xi Xichang's nickname.
Wu Guang was slowly watching as Xi Xichang's face turned black with anxiety.
Meanwhile, Jiang Ziya, who was watching Wu Guang, who was examining Xi Xichang's reaction, from a step behind, realized that he was intentionally conveying the news to make Xi Xichang anxious.
Contrary to Jiang Ziya's expectation, Wu Guang had not yet withdrawn his suspicion of Xi Xichang.
Moreover, the stinging gaze that was felt on the back of Jiang Ziya's head was surely that of his disciple, Shen Naye.
'Both the master and the disciple have a great obsession.'
Since his beloved disciple and the senior he had followed had died, it was not that he could not understand his anger and obsession, but for Jiang Ziya, their appearance could not be welcomed.
Perhaps Wu Guang, if he had his way, would want to turn the Sichuan Tang Clan upside down and to even investigate Yang Jian, who was recuperating in the Tang Clan.
Xi Xichang seemed to have a complicated mind.
Perhaps she would ask Jiang Ziya again to hand over the plaque of the Butterfly Scholar that he had to Tang Yizheng.
'Actually, I have already handed it over...'
If she were to find out that Jiang Ziya had already handed over the ultimate martial art of the Butterfly Scholar to Tang Yizheng's child, Nezha, she might try to make a deal with Tang Yizheng.
But how convenient would it be if things could go so easily?
The biggest problem was the fact that Tang Yizheng's child was the very enemy of the disciple that Wu Guang was so desperately looking for.
Moreover, the Sichuan Tang Clan had been hiding Nezha's existence for more than ten years.
It was clear that Wu Guang's meticulous investigation was not yielding results because the hand of the Tang Clan had secretly reached it.
If such an existence were to be discovered by Jiang Ziya or Xi Xichang, it was impossible to predict how Tang Yizheng would act.
If he were to see the heartlessness of sacrificing even his only child for the sake of the family, in the worst case, he might even try to kill them to shut their mouths.
The best way was to let Tang Yizheng release his child from seclusion on his own, and to speak when he kept his promise to let him meet Jiang Ziya.
To first announce the fact that Nezha and Jiang Ziya had come into contact was too risky.
And the prerequisite for all that was for Wu Guang, who was now hell-bent on finding the culprit, to conclude his investigation and to give up.
'It's a dirty mess.'
Jiang Ziya felt a growing sense of anxiety.
This was because the place where Wu Guang was moving with them was a path that was also familiar to Jiang Ziya's eyes.
Although he had been moving under the cover of night until now, as he looked around, his anxiety was gradually turning into a conviction.
Wu Guang was now moving his feet to one of the forbidden zones of the Tang Clan, where Nezha was hiding.
"This is it."
There, dozens of martial artists of the Tang Clan were already examining the surroundings.
From a distance, a rock with the words 'No Entry' engraved on it came into view at a glance.
Looking at it in broad daylight, the entrance to the forbidden zone was a dense forest, and since there was a swamp, a fog had formed.
Thanks to that, it was not easy to look inside.
The martial artists of the Tang Clan also, as if they were gathered outside the rock with the words 'No Entry' engraved on it, did not seem to have any intention of daring to enter the forbidden zone.
"Where is this place?"
"There are many forbidden zones in the Sichuan Tang Clan. This is one of them."
Xi Xichang nodded her head slightly.
If the culprit had not left the Tang Clan, it would not have been easy to hide his traces, avoiding the investigation until now.
Then it was easy to deduce that the place where the culprit was hiding was a place that was not touched by human hands.
"Did you find something here?"
At Jiang Ziya's question, Wu Guang carefully nodded his head.
"The culprit is surely a very insidious person. And it might be natural that we have not found his traces until now."
"What do you mean?"
"The culprit... is presumed to be the Shadowless Divine Thief... who has been hiding his appearance until now."
"The Shadowless Divine Thief?"
Jiang Ziya, who had been frozen, was greatly surprised at Wu Guang's sudden declaration.
The Shadowless Divine Thief was the cook of the Mountain Sea Tavern who had remained in the Hermit's Valley.
It was Li Hachan's nickname.
"The Shadowless Divine Thief... hasn't he already disappeared from the martial world? I heard a rumor that he was either dead or had gone into seclusion."
Xi Xichang had also heard of the name of the Shadowless Divine Thief.
The number one great thief of the world.
A master of the divine footwork whose divine footwork was like that of a ghost, leaving not even a shadow.
"Immeasurable Buddha... that person, the Shadowless Divine Thief, dared to invade the Martial Arts Alliance and to commit the great crime of defiling the plaque of the alliance. After that, he could not endure the pursuit of this alliance and disappeared."
"But how can he be the culprit?"
"Because he foolishly left the traces that he had left in the Martial Arts Alliance in the past here."
Wu Guang slowly moved to the vicinity of the forbidden zone and pointed to the dirt floor where a golden rope was stretched.
"The Nine Palaces Divine Steps of the Shadowless Divine Thief is characterized by the fact that traces are left in the nine directions when the divine footwork is displayed. If you look closely here, you will see that mark. Although it is slightly transformed, this is surely the trace of the Nine Palaces Divine Steps."
As Wu Guang had said, there were traces the size of a thumb on the dirt.
Although Xi Xichang was surprised at how Wu Guang had found such a trace, she was not easily convinced by his words that he was sure that it was the Shadowless Divine Thief.
"How can you be so sure of that?"
"Because I was one of the extermination squad that was sent from the Martial Arts Alliance to exterminate the Shadowless Divine Thief."
The Martial Arts Alliance had issued an extermination order to the Shadowless Divine Thief, who had dared to present them with a disgrace, and had selected the people to pursue him.
They had closely investigated the divine footwork of the Shadowless Divine Thief that had been left in the Martial Arts Alliance and had begun to chase after him, and coincidentally, Wu Guang was one of them.
"But... I have never heard that the Shadowless Divine Thief has killed someone."
"We have been pursuing him for several years to catch him and to lock him up in a prison. He has enough motive to hold a grudge against me and to harm my disciple."
"But... didn't the Taoist disciple die from poison?"
"Although his divine footwork is as elusive as a ghost, in the end, he is a thief. How can he handle the sword art of the Wudang Sect? He cowardly inflicted a fatal wound on my disciple with poison. Moreover, wasn't that place the Tang Clan? Since it could cause a confusion, it was a case of killing two birds with one stone."
Anger and contempt flowed from Wu Guang's voice.
Since he thought that a mere thief had even used poison, in his head, the Shadowless Divine Thief had already become a petty person who could not even be associated with.
Xi Xichang also, after listening to Wu Guang's explanation, thought that his words seemed to be right.
In any case, if they were to find the culprit, it would be a welcome thing for her.
Jiang Ziya stroked his chin without realizing it and blamed himself for his mistake.
The Nine Palaces Divine Steps and the Heavenly Demon Reigning Steps had been mixed and had become a single martial art.
The Heavenly Demon Reigning Steps was a divine footwork that was displayed to subdue the enemy, and it was itself a single attack.
The foundation of the divine footwork was the footwork of the Nine Palaces Divine Steps.
Although it was an unexpected thing, Wu Guang's endless obsession and effort had led him here, chasing the fine traces that Jiang Ziya had left.
"Then the culprit... the Shadowless Divine Thief is..."
"He is surely hiding here, in the forbidden zone of the Tang Clan."
Wu Guang was looking at the forbidden zone of the Tang Clan, which was a dense forest, with his eyes shining.
(End of Chapter)