Chapter 101: An Unexpected Discovery

In the rear courtyard of Dangkang Temple, before a row of residential quarters.

The disciples had all withdrawn, leaving only a few Elders and those resting in the quarters.

Zheng Zhuxi wasted no time and went straight for He Luo’s quarters, Ding Songyan close behind her. Xie Fengchao and Xing Chang took the flanks, while Liang Qian fell a step back and walked alongside Caretaker Zhu.

With a creak, the door to the quarters swung open on its own, and a figure in the brown ceremonial robe of Dangkang Temple stepped out.

He was about twenty-seven-years-old, with a sharply pointed face like the head of a venomous snake, and patches of dark blue-black fish scales covered the exposed parts of his body—his neck, the backs of his hands, and similar areas. Based on Caretaker Zhu and Steward Hu’s descriptions, this had to be He Luo, the fourth-rank Mortal Surpassed associate member of Dangkang Temple.

"Father, Steward Hu, what is this?" He Luo’s gaze swept over Zheng Zhuxi’s face as he called back to Caretaker Zhu and Steward Hu with a look of surprise.

Zheng Zhuxi didn’t break her stride until the distance between them had closed to within four meters.

Ding Songyan stood shoulder to shoulder with her. He caught a faint citrus scent and called out to the target with a stern expression, "He Luo, it’s over for you!"

He had been wanting to try that line for a long time.

He Luo blinked, then roared back.

"Under the clear sky and shining sun, how dare you make such baseless accusations!"

At that moment, Liang Qian leaned in close behind Ding Songyan’s head and whispered in a voice only the two of them and Zheng Zhuxi could hear.

"He Luo’s thinking: ’They must be bluffing. Even if they suspect me, they have no proof.’"

Zheng Zhuxi’s eyes shifted slightly. She raised her chin and smiled.

"If we had no proof, would the Brightnight Sect be saying this?"

A moment ago we genuinely had no proof, only suspicion. But now that Elder Liang has heard his thoughts, it’s no longer just suspicion!

Though Junior Brother Ding really does love putting on a bluff. He doesn’t seem anything like Mother’s personal disciple.

He Luo’s expression changed slightly, and his tone softened without him noticing.

"I don’t even know what you’re talking about."

The words had barely left his mouth when Liang Qian whispered again in Ding Songyan’s ear.

"He’s thinking: ’I absolutely cannot confess. The item’s already been handed to the Three Fiends of Xiao City. Who could have proof of what happened in a dream?’"

Zheng Zhuxi, having heard this, quickly adapted. Her expression darkened and she answered He Luo, "Don’t try to wriggle out of it. The Three Fiends of Xiao City are already in custody. They’ve spilled the beans and named you!"

The words "Three Fiends of Xiao City" made He Luo’s face go rigid. He spun around and bolted back into the quarters.

He didn’t dare go to the roof as that would make him a live target for the Yi clan members at the watchtowers.

Suddenly, three blue-green throwing darts grazed his body and buried themselves in the doorframe of the quarters.

Xie Fengchao blinked, puzzled. He hadn’t expected his projectiles to miss when the target hadn’t even moved to dodge.

The 2.1-meter-tall Xing Chang crossed the distance to He Luo in a few strides, drew a broad axe from behind his waist, and swung it ferociously at He Luo’s shoulder.

He Luo twisted his body and broke diagonally along the corridor. Xing Chang had anticipated this. He wrenched the descending axe sideways and sent it sweeping out with ferocious force, raising a howling gust of wind.

Yet somehow it fell just short, doing no more than rippling He Luo’s brown robe.

At the same time, Xie Fengchao produced a fistful of iron pellets from somewhere and flung them at He Luo with the scattering technique of the Celestial Maiden’s Flower Scatter.

With a hail of swooshing sounds, the iron pellets either sank into pillars or sparked against the stone walls, none of them finding their mark.

Watching this, Ding Songyan and Zheng Zhuxi both thought of the same phrase at the same time: misfortune warding.

Among those with the misfortune warding trait who could also influence dreams, the Secret Classic of Mountains and Seas listed only a handful. Combined with He Luo’s physical anomalies, the answer was almost self-evident.

"Ranyifish: fish-bodied, snake-headed, six-legged, with eyes like horse-ears. The result of consuming it? May ward off misfortune and evil, embody nightmares in physical form, and kill within dreams."

Ding Songyan turned his head toward Zheng Zhuxi and asked, puzzled, "Why aren’t you doing anything, Senior Sister?"

By then, Caretaker Zhu had scattered his plant seeds and activated his ritual arts, sending bright green vines shooting up to block off He Luo’s escape routes.

Zheng Zhuxi glanced at Liang Qian, who read the situation quickly and withdrew about ten meters. Then she said quietly to Ding Songyan, "I was worried they’d see that my reputation outstrips my abilities."

Senior Sister, you’re worrying too much about your image... Ding Songyan said with amusement, "Senior Sister, don’t be weighed down by your reputation."

Zheng Zhuxi was at once annoyed and flustered, glaring fiercely at Ding Songyan as if to say, "What do you mean, ’don’t be weighed down’? Do you not know where my reputation comes from?"

She pressed her lips together.

"If it were only my own embarrassment, that would be one thing. But the last few times, it was just you and me. If not me, people will suspect you."

Ding Songyan paused, his smile softening.

"Don’t worry. I’ll support you from the shadows. Besides, your swordsmanship has come a long way, and we’re not inside a dream. You seriously think you can’t take down one He Luo?"

While the two of them exchanged words, He Luo—able only to ward off direct attacks, not the encroaching vines—found himself trapped in the area in front of the quarters.

He turned to face them and thrust out both palms. A dim light flashed through his eyes, which had not yet transformed.

Suddenly, before Xing Chang’s eyes, a great river appeared. Countless Headless lay slain in the water, their blood dyeing the current red.

In the distance, an immense and terrifying figure was slowly approaching, carrying a mountain-cleaving axe.

A crushing sense of dread, almost physical, pressed down on Xing Chang and made him shudder.

But the Headless bowed to no one, not even a Celestial Thearch. Xing Chang’s navel opened wide with a roar of fury. He raised his broad axe with great effort and charged toward the mountain-tall deity.

Xie Fengchao, meanwhile, saw a direct-line scion of the Fang clan. The young man wore a mocking smile as he picked up a throwing dart and tossed it casually in his direction.

The dart became a streak of light, impossibly fast.

Embodying nightmares in physical form!

At that moment, a warm, slightly golden sword light kindled—gentle but resolute. The Fang clan scion, the meteor-like dart, the terrifying deity, the battlefield choked with fallen bodies—all of it melted swiftly away into that light.

Candlelight Sword Intent.

Compared to what it had been in June, Zheng Zhuxi’s sword intent had undergone a transformation.

The strike still couldn’t land on the misfortune-warding He Luo, but Zheng Zhuxi was undeterred. Her feet moved in the Southern Dipper Calamity-Averting Steps as her Autumnwater flashed in rapid succession, delivering strike after strike of swift sword work.

The blade was like a startled swan—light and swift, leaving traces of faint radiance. While she couldn’t break through the misfortune-warding ability of He Luo’s Great Dream of Three Thousand Years, she cut off his room to dodge and maneuver, gradually pinning him in place.

He Luo was frantic with anxiety, but there was nowhere to run.

He was weighing whether to rely on his misfortune warding and force his way through at the cost of serious injury when a sudden blaze of light erupted before him.

Zheng Zhuxi’s Autumnwater came on like a meteor, like a jade rainbow, sweeping forward with a vast and mighty momentum. It gathered up every scattered candleflame that had drifted through the air, lighting up the darkness with a grandeur and righteousness that nothing could oppose.

It was like generation upon generation of the human race passing the torch, struggling to survive, until after dozens upon hundreds of generations the momentum had gathered into an unstoppable tide.

This was Kindling Passes to Candle, one of the Seven Swords of Candlelit Night—building momentum with swift strikes, then breaking the enemy with that same momentum.

He Luo watched that magnificent, luminous sword light sweep across his vision. Then he felt a sudden pain in his chest.

He looked down and saw Autumnwater lodged between his chest and abdomen, pinning him to the outer wall of the quarters.

The misfortune warding has been dispelled... The thought had barely formed in He Luo’s mind when a blur flashed before his eyes and struck his wrist.

It was one of the blue-green throwing darts.

Almost simultaneously, Xing Chang stepped forward, forced his left hand into He Luo’s mouth, and wrenched out a tooth containing a lethal poison, to prevent him from killing himself to keep the secret.

As Xie Fengchao’s poison dart found its mark, He Luo’s body grew steadily weaker.

Seeing this, Ding Songyan signaled Liang Qian to move closer and said quietly to the fence chief, "Listen carefully to his thoughts."

Liang Qian nodded, then murmured with feeling, "Heroine Zheng’s great reputation is entirely deserved..."

Zheng Zhuxi withdrew her sword and stepped back to Ding Songyan’s side, and at that moment He Luo’s face suddenly turned a dark blue-black. His body began to convulse, foam flecking his lips.

In the blink of an eye, this "thief" slid slowly down, collapsing forward, and died on the spot.

What... how was he poisoned? Didn’t we already pull out his poison tooth? The substance on my darts was only muscle-softening powder... Xie Fengchao stared in shock.

Thud!

He Luo fell face-first onto the stone tiles.

Zheng Zhuxi and Ding Songyan only needed a glance to both notice that something seemed to be concealed at the back of He Luo’s head.

Ding Songyan walked over, crouched beside the body, undid He Luo’s topknot, and parted his long hair.

The next moment, he saw a face.

There was a face growing on the back of He Luo’s skull!

It was identical to He Luo’s own face, eyes now closed and all life gone from it, yet even so, the cruel and sinister impression it conveyed was unmistakable.

"The Two-Faced race? Impossible! He Luo cannot be a Two-Faced!" Caretaker Zhu saw it from a distance and came barreling over like a charging boar.

The Two-Faced race? Ding Songyan looked to Zheng Zhuxi beside him.

Knowing that her junior brother had spent these past months reading up on jianghu rumors and sect affairs, Zheng Zhuxi explained quietly.

"One of the Hundred Species. One face is kind and honest, the other cruel, treacherous, and selfish, and the first is merely the second’s disguise. If a normal person spends too long with a Two-Faced, they too will grow a second face on the back of their head.

"He Luo must have used the second face to take the poison and kill himself."

Hearing this, Caretaker Zhu slapped his forehead.

"Yes, yes, yes, when I took He Luo in as my adopted son, I specifically checked the back of his head. There was nothing there at the time. He must have come into contact with some Two-Faced afterward!"

Zheng Zhuxi took the opportunity to explain further to Ding Songyan, "Checking the back of the head is something every sect and faction does when taking in new members. Our Brightnight Sect has the Candle-Star Pupils, so one look is enough to spot it. It’s no great trouble."

The Brightnight Sect’s techniques really do counter a lot of things. No wonder they’re resented... Ding Songyan gave a slight nod.

Seeing both Xie Fengchao and Xing Chang looking regretful, Ding Songyan stepped forward with a smile.

"I was born with the yin eyes and can spirit channel. Let me question He Luo’s soul."

Behind him, Liang Qian was dumbfounded.

Wh— Y-Young Hero Ding can actually spirit channel?

Some of what he said earlier to frighten me was actually true... Apart from this, is there more that is true...

Xie Fengchao glanced at Ding Songyan with surprise. He hadn’t expected that this Brightnight Sect disciple—already remarkable for his martial insight and solid foundations—was also born with the yin eyes.

Shortly after, Ding Songyan spoke in a cold, hollow voice, addressing He Luo’s ghost, "Are you a Two-Faced?"

"No." He Luo’s ghost trembled.

"Have you been in contact with a Two-Faced?" Ding Songyan pressed.

He already knew where the luan tree flowers had gone, so that wasn’t his most pressing question.

He Luo’s soul shook its head again.

"No!"

"Then where did the face on the back of your head come from?" Ding Songyan asked, puzzled.

What puzzled him most was how a Two-Faced, who were described as selfish and self-serving, had taken poison to guard a secret.

He Luo’s soul suddenly showed fervent emotion.

"It was the Immortal Seed. My lord gave me the Immortal Seed, and it let me find my true self—the self that the world had buried and shackled!"

Immortal Seed? An artificial creation of Two-Faced? Ding Songyan frowned. Everyone present did the same.

Ding Songyan asked in a grave voice,"Who is your lord?"

"The Holy Sovereign!" He Luo’s soul shouted.

At those words, the same name surfaced in everyone’s mind.

Among the orthodox sects, the heretics’ "Holy Sovereign" was known by a different title.

Demon Sovereign Tan Guanchan!

Author’s Note: The Two-Faced race is drawn from the Two-Faced Kingdom in Flowers in the Mirror.

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