Chapter 381: A Secret Escape
Old Mi’s entire body shook when he heard this voice. His smile remained frozen on his face. He turned to look outside the window.
An old man was already standing by the side of his bed. He coughed into his handkerchief, and then smiled at Old Mi.
If Zu An or Pei Mianman had been there, they would surely have recognized the Wei clan’s mysterious expert, Wei Dan.
Old Mi’s expression slipped the moment his gaze landed on this man. He sighed deeply. “I’ve always dreaded this day. Yet, now that it’s come, I find that I’m not as anxious as I imagined I would be.”
Wei Dan smiled. “That’s how the world works. The most painful part isn’t the actual event. It’s the endless waiting.”
Old Mi chuckled. “I didn’t expect you to still be so fond of preaching after so many years.”
Wei Dan didn’t seem to mind. “I haven’t seen you in so many years. We’ve all grown so old. You’ve led me on a wild goose chase all this while. The royal palace has spent countless resources and invested so much manpower to track you down, and yet they never picked up any trace of you. It was only recently that we discovered a clue.”
“How did you all find me?” Old Mi asked curiously.
“During the recent Clans Tournament in Brightmoon City, we received a report that Zu An had employed a movement technique extremely similar to your Sunflower Phantasm. That made us suspect that you were most likely here,” Wei Dan replied.
Old Mi scoffed. “So, that good-for-nothing leaked my identity after all. I warned him again and again never to show it to anyone, but he just refused to listen. I wouldn’t have passed on that technique to him if I had known things would turn out this way!”
You have successfully trolled Old Mi for 760 Rage points!
Zu An was stunned when he saw these Rage points. What was going on?
He decided to check in on Old Mi. He could never figure out what that old man wanted. He’d sensed a growing danger recently, and he resolved himself to get to the bottom of it as soon as possible.
Of course, he wasn’t going to run straight in. He would scout out the situation first.
He used Mirror Mirage to hide his aura, as a precaution against the old man’s cultivation.
As he arrived, he noticed that there was another person in the residence. It was none other than Wei Dan! Zu An was shocked, and didn’t dare go nearer. He hid in the shadows and secretly observed what was happening.
Inside Old Mi’s residence, Wei Dan continued his interrogation. “To be honest, there is something that even I find strange,” he said with a puzzled expression. Why would you teach your secret art to a wastrel who has absolutely nothing to do with you? This isn’t like you at all!”
“There’s no reason. He seemed like a good kid, so I taught it to him on a whim. I guess I was just too careless.” Old Mi obviously didn’t want to reveal that Zu An was his future vessel, and that he was going to possess him.
“So that’s the reason.” Wei Dan smiled. “Thank goodness for that. It would’ve really been hard for me to find you otherwise.”
Zu An felt a flash of embarrassment. It had been because of him that Old Mi was discovered by his enemy! No wonder he was so angry just now.
“You were able to find me so quickly with just this piece of information alone. That in itself is quite admirable,” Old Mi said with a sigh.
The two of them chatted as though they were old friends. However, neither of them had lost sight of the reality of the situation. The air was filled with a hidden killing intent.
“It wasn’t all that quick,” replied Wei Dan. “I didn’t dare ask Zu An directly since I was afraid of scaring you away. I’ve had to resort to a secret investigation. I started with those in the academy who were in contact with him, but I didn’t find any sign of you there.”
Zu An remembered how the academy’s teachers had been beaten up one by one. Apparently, it was the work of this person.
I have to thank my lucky stars that I wasn’t caught by this fellow. I surely wouldn’t have been able to escape.
Old Mi couldn’t hide his admiration. “There are so many experts in the academy, and yet you played them all so easily. It seems like Eunuch Wei’s cultivation has improved considerably over the years.”
“Other than Jiang Luofu, none of the others are worth mentioning,” Wei Dan declared with a snort. The woman—and her stunning legs—came straight to his mind. If he wasn’t a eunuch, he might just have fancied her.
“That’s true.” Old Mi nodded, clearly agreeing with his assessment. “Why didn’t you start your investigation in the Chu clan?”
Wei Dan casually answered his question. “I thought that Zu An had been able to marry into the clan and become a son-in-law because of your teachings. That made me believe subconsciously that you were hiding outside the Chu clan. The academy seemed like the best place to start.”
Zu An grew upset. Why would someone as handsome as me need any other skills to become the Chu clan’s son-in-law?
This dude’s so ugly, there’s no way he can understand how girls will willingly throw themselves at someone as handsome as me!
“So that’s why.” Old Mi nodded in understanding. He continued, “So, has the emperor been well in recent years?”
Zu An’s eyes widened. This Old Mi was affiliated with the emperor after all! After all the time he’d spent in this world, he already knew that, even though there were innumerable experts in the world, the undisputed number one expert was the emperor.
Old Mi himself worked directly for the emperor! No wonder his cultivation was so high.
“Little Ying, I’m surprised you’re still thinking about the emperor.” Wei Dan sneered. “Thanks to you, his majesty’s condition is extremely poor.”
Old Mi was stunned. “How could that be? His majesty’s cultivation is so great! Why would he be in poor health?”
Wei Dan snorted. “Why ask a question you already know the answer to? No matter how powerful his cultivation is, he cannot escape the fate of old age. That was why the emperor sent you out in search of that ‘Phoenix Nirvana Sutra’, which can grant eternal life. Who would’ve expected all of you to vanish without a trace?”
Zu An was shocked. You can obtain eternal life by cultivating the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra?
Another thing he’d learned from his time in this world was that, the higher one’s cultivation, the more they feared the merciless guillotine of time. Even the most stunning geniuses would have to return to the earth. No one had yet attained immortality.
Does this Phoenix Nirvana Sutra truly have such power?
No wonder cultivating it is so difficult! Reaching every single step requires so many Ki Fruits!
“The emperor thought that all of you had died without obtaining the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra. For a long time, the whole court grieved for your passing.” Wei Dan’s tone changed. “Later on, however, those tasked with investigating this matter discovered something fishy.
“Your plan was truly meticulous. You made sure that every single corpse was missing a part, to make it look as if you all were attacked by a vicious beast, and then you used these pieces to create a corpse to take your place.” Wei Dan had a look of admiration on his face. “However, your corpse lacked a head, which was sure to arouse suspicion. Our investigation went nowhere, until we learned from one of your attendants that you had a hidden mark on your back. WIth that final piece, we could determine that the corpse wasn’t yours.”
Old Mi sighed. “So that was what happened. I thought I had taken every precaution, but even I cannot see clearly what’s on my back. That’s why I overlooked this little detail.”
“Heaven is fair; the guilty will not escape.” Wei Dan smiled. All the years he’d spent investigating this, and it had finally borne fruit.
Zu An finally grasped the entire situation. Old Mi had probably led a party in search of the legendary ‘Phoenix Nirvana Sutra’, but greed had possessed him in the end. He’d killed everyone else and made it look as if the whole party had been annihilated. However, he was still discovered in the end.
He couldn’t help but feel some level of admiration. This Old Mi really had some balls—metaphorically speaking. He had dared to covet the thing which the emperor desired most!
Old Mi sighed. “I only did that because our search for the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra was fruitless. I was afraid that the imperial court would chastise me for my failure. I was also already fed up with the two-faced nature of the palace, and I needed a secret means to escape it. Eunuch Wei, there was no need for you to go to such lengths.”
“You didn’t find the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra?” Wei Dan sneered. “Do you take me for a child? Hand it over, and I might still be able to convince the emperor to spare your life.”