Qin Yu is very frustrated in his heart.
An expert could look at the marks left on the battlefield where Cha Hong and Di Tong fought and figure out something. Qin Yu originally wanted to slightly alter those marks to lead the Nine Demons Hall’s members into making erroneous judgments favorable to him.
However, the underground rubble was tamped and flattened and new secret rooms were built during the reconstruction so now there is absolutely none of those marks left.
“Forget it. You can go now.”
Qin Yu says with a wave of his hand in frustration.
“I take my leave.”
Those guards hurriedly leave in a respectful manner. Qin Yu feels that the situation is fairly bad because the marks of the battle are all gone. If the Nine Demons Hall’s members come here to investigate, they will definitely get angry upon seeing no marks on the battlefield, which will make it more difficult for him to deal with them.
Without the marks of the fighting, those Nine Demons Hall’s members will surely interrogate the guardians and guards of the Blood-red Cave and they may find out something disadvantageous to him.
“Those guardians and guards should know what to say and what not to, right?” Qin Yu has no choice but to hope for the best because he does not dare to tell those guardians and guards directly what they should say. After all, doing so would be the same as leaving behind a piece of evidence.
He suddenly gives a smile.
“It’s no use thinking too much. Let’s hope that the Nine Demons Hall won’t be too unreasonable. If they really cause me trouble, we 3 brothers will have no choice but to go on a killing spree.” He turns around and leaves the artificial mountain to go back to his Lei Mountain House.
When there is nothing to do, it is not bad to read books in Lei Mountain House.
……
In the Great Shell Cave,
Fu Hao, who is fat and has smooth white skin, bows and says with a pleasant smile: “My 3 majesties, I have already prepared the rooms for you. May I ask if you want to stay the night here or keep going? The Blood-red Cave is very close to my Great Shell Cave.”
Di Luan frowns.
Di Qing immediately says smilingly to Fu Hao: “Fu Hao, we’re very satisfied with your answers. All right, we acknowledge your good intentions but we’ve got something to do so we won’t take a rest here.”
Right after saying this, he leaves the Great Shell Cave together with Di Luan and Di Jian.
As Fu Hao watches those 3 majesties leaving, a transmitter appears in his hand. After arranging in his mind a bit, he sends the contents of the talk between him and the 3 majesties into his transmitter using his holy sense then messages them to both Lord Teng and Lord Lou.
“Ha, it’s pretty good to benefit twice from one job. But … who’s that Liu Xing fella actually? His appearance is so mysterious. Plus, both 8th majesty and Cha Hong are already dead. If their deaths have something to do with him then he’s dangerous. I mustn’t provoke him. I definitely mustn’t provoke him.”
Fu Hao sighs quietly then strolls back to his dwelling place.
Since the 3 majesties are not in his cave anymore, he can now enjoy himself at will without restraint.
……
At the Blood-red Cave,
3 men who are all dressed in purple robes appear outside the main entrance. They are none other than Di Jian, Di Qing and Di Luan. They have suddenly arrived at the Blood-red Cave’s entrance without any notice.
As the 3 of them look at the entrance of the cave, faint cold smiles appear on the corners of their mouths and their killing intent rises to a frightening level.
“Who are you?”
The guards at the entrance are no longer lordly as they usually are because they have been terrified by the killing intent these 3 men are giving off. The way they talk shows obviously that they fear the 3 men.
“Call your cave master Liu Xing out to see me.” Di Qing shouts coldly.
The faces of those guards change color. One of them says: “Sirs, the 3 of you should be experts but our Blood-red Cave’s master isn’t someone who you can meet with just a word. Moreover, you even want our cave master to personally come out to meet you, which is a bit much.”
Di Luan looks at that guard. If this had been said in the past, he would have secretly praised the guard for being loyal to the cave master. But now, after arriving at the Blood-red Cave, the 3 majesties have only pain and hatred in their hearts because they believe that there is a connection between their brother’s death and this place.
“Sod off!”
Di Luan gives a cold shout and throws a kick.
That guard wants to dodge but he immediately sees stars and is sent flying.
“Ha-ha … this 8 million li radius area is the territory of my Blood-red Cave but the 3 of you even dare to behave so arrogantly at the entrance of my place. You’re really a bit much!” Black-robed Qin Yu appears outside the entrance of the Blood-red Cave.
As soon as those guards see him, they hurriedly bow and say: “Cave master.”
Di Luan and his brothers immediately look at Qin Yu with glittering eyes.
“You’re the cave master?” Di Luan asks.
Qin Yu says with a nod: “Correct. I’m the Blood-red Cave’s master. Sirs, the 3 of you look distinguished and are very powerful but you’re a bit much to be so arrogant at the entrance of the Blood-red Cave. You should know that the Blood-red Cave is subordinate to the Nine Demons Hall. You may bully the Blood-red Cave easily but the Nine Demons Hall is a different matter.”
Hearing this, even Di Jian has a faint smile on his face.
3 majesties of the Nine Demons Hall are in front of this Liu Xing fellow but he does not recognize them so how can they not find this funny?
“How can’t I know that you’re 3 majesties from the Nine Demons Hall? These purple robes are a distinguishing characteristic of you.” Qin Yu says inwardly. He is only pretending that he does not know who they are. He then shouts loudly: “Sirs, if you’ve got something to say then say it, I don’t have time to waste on you.”
Di Luan takes out from his bosom an authority card.
A Nine Demons black card!
Qin Yu’s face changes color. He slightly stammers: “You, you are …”
Di Qing says with a cold expression: “That’s right! We’re 3 majesties from the Nine Demons Hall. You want to make the Nine Demons Hall cause us trouble, don’t you?” Di Qing, Di Luan and Di Jian all look at Qin Yu, wanting to see his embarrassment.
Qin Yu says with an awkward expression: “My 3 majesties, I am Qin Yu, also known as Liu Xing. I’ve been holding this cave master position for just a short time so I’m still unfamiliar with the 9 majesties. I earnestly hope that you would forgive me.”
For the moment, he does not want to fight the Nine Demons Hall’s members head-on so naturally he is being slightly respectful to them.
Seeing his terrified and embarrassed manner, Di Luan says with a cold laugh: “Alright, don’t talk nonsense. Gather all your guardians, squad leaders and vice masters into the main hall. I’ve got something to ask you all.”
Qin Yu’s heart skips a beat.
These 3 majesties from the Nine Demons Hall unexpectedly want to gather everyone right after their arrival. It looks like they do not have friendly intentions.
“Please wait in the main hall for a while, my 3 majesties. All guardians, squad leaders and my 2nd and 3rd brothers will come immediately.” After saying this, Qin Yu shouts an order to the guards around him: “Listen up, my guards. Inform the guardians, squad leaders, 2nd master and 3rd master that they have to quickly gather in the main hall.”
“Yes!” The several hundred guards around get down on one knee and take the order in unison.
Afterwards, they immediately run away to spread the order.
“2nd master? 3rd master?” Di Luan frowns.
Qin Yu explains smilingly: “Majesty, they are my 2nd and 3rd brother. There’s a very good brotherh
ood between us so we consider ourselves equal. We followed the example of the Nine Demons Hall’s 9 majesties and established the 2nd master and 3rd master positions instead of the vice master ones.”
Hearing what Qin Yu just said, Di Jian and his brothers secretly change their attitudes towards him a bit.
They and their brothers have a very deep affection for each other so after knowing that Qin Yu also values brotherhood, they think a little better of him. But as soon as they remember that their 8thbrother’s death is very likely to have something to do with the guy before them, this newly formed tinge of good impression vanishes.
Di Luan says casually: “Cave master Qin Yu, what techniques have you practiced? Why aren’t you giving off any energy and why are you absorbing all of the energies around you instead? Why don’t you stop your technique and let us see what level you’ve reached?”
Qin Yu says in a powerless manner: “My 3 majesties, once this technique of mine is practiced, it will be planted deeply into the dantian and never stop working. Unless I’m killed, it won’t ever stop.”
His meaning is very clear, that is, there is no way he will stop this Northern Darkness technique to let them see his power level!
Di Luan says with a nod: “Oh, is that so? Right, I heard you killed that old turtle Qing Xuan with just a sword move, didn’t you, cave master Qin Yu? Qing Xuan was at the early Dongxu stage and was approaching Cha Hong in power. Looks like you surpassed Cha Hong long ago, but why were you willing to be a guardian under him before?”
Di Luan looks Qin Yu in the eye and waits for his answer.
Qin Yu is stupefied.
Di Luan’s eyes flash with coldness. The air between the 3 majesties and Qin Yu seems to have solidified.
Chapter 10: Silent Interrogation
Qin Yu had surpassed Cha Hong in power but he was willing to become a guardian and a subordinate to Cha Hong. This hard-to-explain matter naturally has made the 3 majesties suspect Qin Yu. They even suspect that he is a member of either the Azure Dragon Palace or the Blue Water Mansion who came here only because of the top treasure 9 Swords!
“Why are you speechless, cave master Qin Yu?” Di Luan looks at Qin Yu with a cold laugh. Di Qing and Di Jian also look at him. It appears that if his answer is unsatisfactory, they will immediately capture him.
Qin Yu lets out a sigh: “My 3 majesties, does such a simple question still need to be asked? With your wisdom, you still can’t see the answer?”
His words make Di Luan, Di Qing and Di Jian dumbfounded.
“My 3 majesties, I wasn’t well-known in this area of water. If someone like me seizes the cave master position directly, perhaps not many Xiuyaoists will accept him as cave master.” Qin Yu says in a frustrated manner to the 3 majesties.
Di Luan however says: “Strong individuals enjoy supremacy. Who would have dared to oppose you if you had killed Cha Hong?”
Qin Yu immediately says: “Majesty, you said I could’ve killed Cha Hong, but he wasn’t alone. There were so many guardians under him, if I had killed him, naturally I’d have had to kill quite a few expert guardians. So, when I become cave master, wouldn’t I have already killed a number of my subordinates? Moreover … at that time I was much weaker than I am now.”
“Oh?” Di Luan looks at Qin Yu with suspicion.
Qin Yu says smilingly: “Just by asking around a bit, you’ll know that I underwent closed-door training a few times in the Blood-red Cave. Moreover, I improved greatly thanks to these training sessions. Previously I didn’t have enough power to beat Cha Hong at all. Only after those closed-door training sessions did I begin to be capable of this.”
Di Luan’s eyes flash with coldness.
“You did closed-door training before or after Cha Hong’s death?” He asks in a very serious voice.
Di Luan, Di Jian and Di Qing have all noticed the problem in Qin Yu’s answer. If his power improved before Cha Hong’s death then there is nothing wrong. But if it improved after Cha Hong’s death then there is a possibility that he killed Cha Hong.
“It was before his death!”
Qin Yu says firmly.
“Can you confirm this?” Di Luan says with a cold laugh. “Lying is no good. We can ask whoever we want. Anyone can be a witness.”
Qin Yu says with a smile: “You can ask anyone about this. It seems Cha Hong spent most of the last 100 years doing closed-door training. That day, after everybody discovered that he was dead, we began to discuss who would become the new cave master. We then had some sparring matches and I defeated Teng Bi.”
“My 3 majesties, I know that you’re suspecting that I killed Cha Hong and absorbed his yuanying. But if I had killed him, it would have taken me at least several days to absorb his yuanying whereas I fought Teng Bi on the same day as his death. Even if I had killed Cha Hong, I wouldn’t have had enough time to consume his yuanying.”
Qin Yu looks smilingly at the 3 majesties: “I believe you understand what I mean.”
Di Luan, Di Jian and Di Qing exchange a look and say nothing.
It generally takes several days to absorb an early Dongxu stage yuanying but the place where the soul jade slips are kept is checked every day. Therefore, they must have discovered Cha Hong’s death within 24 hours of it or even soon after it happened.
Even if Qin Yu had spent that entire short period of time to absorb, theoretically he would not have been able to improve much.
Suddenly, Di Qing says: “Just now you said Cha Hong often did closed-door training in the past 100 years, right?”
Qin Yu is secretly happy. He thinks that even though the death of the Nine Demons Hall’s 8th majesty is important, one of the 9 Swords is also very attractive and if he can shift these 3 majesties’ attention onto that jade sword, the situation will be much better for him.
“That’s right. Many Xiuyaoists here know about this. Moreover, Cha Hong even strictly ordered that nobody disturb him during his training.” Qin Yu answers truthfully.
Di Qing and Di Jian exchange a look.
“7th brother, looks like Cha Hong did so to break a black jade case’s Dust Removing restrictive spell. An early Dongxu stage blood-red aquatic python indeed has to spend 100 years to break a Dust Removing restrictive spell set up by an immortal. That Cha Hong fella is really pitiful to have spent so much time breaking one.” Di Qing says through holy sense communication.
Di Qing and his brothers remember very well that when the 9 of them obtained a black jade case before, they had to join forces and spend several months to open it.
“2nd brother, 6th brother, there’s a high probability that 8th brother came to rob Cha Hong right after he had opened that restrictive spell. The 2 of them then had a fierce battle and could even die from this. It’s also possible that a third party interfered with them.” Di Luan says to Di Qing and Di Jian through his holy sense.
Both of them agree with him.
“However, now we don’t know if 8th brother died in the Blood-red Cave or got killed on the way back from the Blood-red Cave after taking that black jade case.” Di Luan has become suspicious. He is sure that an unknown third party was involved in this.
When did this third party actually get into action?
“Qin Yu, how did Cha Hong die?” Di Luan shouts coldly at Qin Yu.
The latter says with a shake of his head: “Majesty, I don’t know how Cha Hong died either. That fight took place on the underground secret floor, but when the guardians arrived, there weren’t any corpses there.”
“There wasn’t anyone there?” Di Luan asks frowningly.
“Yes, there wasn’t anyone there.” Qin Yu says firmly.
Why there were no corpses? The reason for this is that Qin Yu sucked the corpses into his spatial ring at that time to get rid of the evidence, and later he burnt them up with his internal flame.
Di Luan and his brothers become even more suspicious.
Now it can be confirmed that the underground secret floor is the battlefield, but why there were no
corpses?
Destroying the evidence!
The 3 brothers can only think of this explanation.
“Take us to the underground secret floor and show us the marks of the fighting.” Di Jian suddenly shouts. Given their power, they can definitely have a rough idea of what happened during that fight based on those marks.
Qin Yu says with a somewhat unpleasant expression: “This is impossible because that fight happened a year ago. Nearly half of the underground secret floor was destroyed so it has already been rebuilt and those marks of the fighting are now all gone.”
Stellar Transformations Page 116
