“The situation is complicated now, and we have to consider all possibilities,” Yue Lin absentmindedly stroked the hilt of his sword and continued, “If we don’t stop them soon, more people will die.”

Chu Hanjin frowned. 

“What’s their goal? Is it just to frame the rebel cultivators and stir up public anger?”

Yue Lin lifted his eyebrows slightly, “Maybe.”

Maybe. He wasn’t certain either.

There had been similar incidents before. Back when Chu Hanjin was in the refuge, Rongku Sect cultivators had been unhappy with the presence of foreign cultivators invading their lives. They once deliberately took offerings from the incense hall and framed the foreign cultivators for stealing. The resulting uproar was immense. The wrongly accused had to pay with their lives to clear their names, but even after the truth came out, people still viewed foreign cultivators with suspicion, as if they were thieves.

The method didn’t matter; achieving the goal of smashing them was all that counted.

“We originally came here just to recuperate,” Chu Hanjin said as he set down his teacup. “It looks like we’ll need to stay a few more days and get to the bottom of this.”

New clues came quickly. Just after breakfast, there was a commotion next door. In the courtyard of the landlord’s house, separated from them by only a wall, there was the sound of people pulling at each other and things crashing to the ground.

Then came the distinct sound of someone kneeling with a thud.

“Mother, don’t stop me! Today, I must find out the truth. Was it really them who killed Father? Why did he die?”

In the landlord’s courtyard, a mourning hall had just been set up. It was filled with people paying their respects, and in the center, a young man, his head wrapped in mourning cloth, kneeled on the ground, bowing repeatedly.

“Mother, let me go.”

“Let me go! Even if it means I’m unfilial!”

“If Father’s death isn’t accounted for, I have no face to show our ancestors!”

The old woman secretly wiped her tears, trying desperately to cover his mouth, “Stop talking! I told you to stop talking!” She kept glancing towards the door, worried that rebel cultivators might overhear.

Recently, anyone who dared to speak out had been killed in rivers of blood. Now, fear gripped everyone.

But the young man wasn’t afraid. “Mother, I know you’re scared that the rebel cultivators will hear and that my life will be in danger, but I can’t accept this! Father did nothing wrong. He was killed for no reason, and now I can’t even seek justice.”

“Mother, let me ask them! If… if…” He choked, “If I die too, it’ll prove that these people are truly murderers, lawless monsters who have no regard for us common folk! They will face retribution!”

His forehead struck the stone slab hard, drawing blood.

He continued to bow, his blood and tears mixing together.

His father had died a brutal death, an injustice.

As his son, hearing rumors that the rebel cultivators were the murderers, he couldn’t just let fear keep him from seeking the truth. To do so would be unfilial.

It would also be cowardice!

But…

Ordinary people had no chance against cultivators. He was likely to follow in his father’s footsteps, becoming nothing more than another vengeful ghost on the road to the underworld.

The old woman, her voice hoarse from crying, could only plead, “Don’t go… Don’t go… Your father is already gone, you can’t be next.”

“Mother!” The young man’s expression was resolute: “So many people have already died in this city. If no one stands up to denounce these acts, they will only continue to kill more! I’ve made up my mind to seek the truth, even if it costs me my life.”

His words were as firm as iron.

The mourners around him looked at him with quiet admiration in their eyes.

The old woman wept bitterly, clutching her sleeves, her grief so overwhelming that those watching were moved from sorrow to anger.

After a while, an elderly man, respected by the community, hobbled forward with a cane. His voice was slow but powerful: “We are living, breathing people. Should we let them kill us for no reason?”

“You can go and ask, young Lu. If they so much as harm a hair on your head, we’ll know for sure they’re the murderers. Even if it costs us ten lives, a hundred lives, we will expose the crimes of these demons and drive them out of Fengliu City!”

Young Lu’s face showed his gratitude: “Thank you all.”

He stood up and straightened the mourning cloth on his head, which had become crooked from all the bowing.

It was clear now—the people of this city were not cowardly and resigned to die. When treated unjustly and pushed to their limits, they would unite like a tightly wound rope, ready to resist and make their voices heard.

Unconsciously, the son of the first victim had emerged as the spiritual leader of these aggrieved citizens.

He was prepared to die for justice. Before leaving, he kneeled and kowtowed heavily three times to his mother.

The atmosphere in the courtyard was filled with deep sorrow.

A complex mix of emotions surged in Chu Hanjin’s chest. At the same time, he felt a vague sense of loss, as if he was missing some key piece of information.

He returned to their courtyard, and Yue Lin closed the door behind them.

“Do you think Young Master Lu will die?” Chu Hanjin asked while picking up a chess piece.

After a moment of thought, Yue Lin replied, “If I were someone hoping to plunge Yushui City into chaos, I would kill him. Young Master Lu is at the center of this storm. If he’s destroyed, the situation will spiral out of control.”

“Killing him would solidify the framing of the rebel cultivators,” Chu Hanjin paused and asked, “What would happen next?”

Leaning on his hand, Yue Lin hesitated for a moment before replying, “I fear it will lead to an open conflict.”

The reasoning was simple. If Young Master Lu were killed, the charges of the rebel cultivators indiscriminately killing innocents would be confirmed. The citizens’ resentment would reach its peak, and they would inevitably turn to the city’s guardian cultivators for protection and help drive the rebels out.

But the rebels hadn’t killed anyone—they were being framed. They wouldn’t willingly accept such an injustice and allow themselves to be driven out without a fight.

Chu Hanjin mulled over the situation repeatedly, feeling that something wasn’t quite right.

“The guardian cultivators’ methods of killing aren’t exactly sophisticated. They are at a disadvantage in the city, which proves they can’t overpower the entrenched rebel cultivators through brute force… But here’s where things get tangled.” Chu Hanjin lifted his gaze, his dark eyes meeting Yue Lin’s. “As outsiders, we can see the tension between them. Are the rebel cultivators really just going to sit back and let the guardian cultivators smear their reputation?”

Sunlight fell on the chessboard, and Yue Lin placed another piece down.

“That’s the strange part. The rebel cultivators aren’t fools. They’re surely aware of the rising public resentment in Yushui City, yet they’ve done nothing to counter it.”

For instance, they hadn’t taken any action to quell the public’s anger.

They hadn’t tried to comfort the families of the innocent victims.

They hadn’t even sought to capture the real murderer.

They remained quietly dormant.

On one side, there was the furious public. On the other hand, the “suspected murderers” remained silent.

Chu Hanjin fiddled with a chess piece, switching it from his left hand to his right, and then back again. His pale and clean fingers peeked out from the wide sleeves of his robe.

With a light thud, the chess piece fell to the ground.

As Chu Hanjin bent down to pick it up, he suddenly said, “Is it possible that the rebel cultivators are waiting? They know the guardian cultivators are deliberately framing them, so they’re staying quiet, waiting for them to kill more, commit unforgivable crimes, and then reveal the evidence of their murders and false accusations, utterly destroying their reputation.”

“Exactly.” Yue Lin finally nodded.

“That would be the smart move.”

This was a classic example of turning the situation to their advantage.

And using the opponent’s strength against them.

Chu Hanjin felt a headache coming on.

The rebel cultivators’ strategy was ruthless. Yushui City might be a remote outpost, a wilderness where both righteous and demonic cultivators mingled in disarray, but technically, it was still under the jurisdiction of the Rongku Sect. The city’s guardian cultivators were its rightful rulers, charged with protecting its citizens.

But imagine—if the cultivators, whose very duty was to protect the people, had actually been killing them to frame their rivals for control of the city—how absurd and laughable would that be?

Hypocritical on the outside, rotten on the inside—completely contrary to the righteous principles they claimed to uphold. Just thinking about it was enough to make one feel sick.

Once such news spread, the Rongku Sect’s reputation would be ruined beyond repair.

“Fools, thinking they’re so clever.” Even someone as refined as Chu Hanjin couldn’t help but sigh at this point.

“Let the dogs fight. None of them are any good.” Yue Lin added, “In this power struggle between the rebel and guardian cultivators, the only innocent ones are the ordinary people being used as pawns. Everyone claims they’re protecting the people, but when trouble starts, the first thing they do is sacrifice them.”

When gods fight, it’s the mortals who suffer.

Chu Hanjin picked up his sword from the table, his expression dark. “Let’s go. We can at least save one if we can.”

The person they needed to protect now was Young Master Lu from the neighboring courtyard.

He was at the very center of this storm.

If he didn’t die, there was still a chance to turn things around.

Yue Lin picked up QQ. The little boy looked confused and stared blankly at Yue Lin, as if to ask, Dad, where are we going?

Yue Lin tapped his nose playfully and lazily replied, “To a feast.”

“…”

QQ nodded and gave a soft, “Oh.”

They arrived at the neighboring courtyard. Young Master Lu had returned and was now surrounded by mourners. His forehead was adorned with a white mourning cloth, on which he had written the words “Avenge Father’s Death.” His face was pale, and he kneeled in front of his father’s coffin.

“Damn it! They’re not seeing anyone! No matter how much we knocked and shouted outside, they didn’t respond. They’re pretending to be dead, waiting for the storm to pass!” Someone angrily slammed their fist on a table.

Just as Chu Hanjin had guessed.

The rebel cultivators were definitely lying low.

Yue Lin took a piece of fruit from the offering table and placed it in QQ’s small hand. Walking behind Chu Hanjin, he said, “The guardian cultivators aren’t being overly bold either. They haven’t killed anyone in broad daylight yet, and Young Master Lu has returned unharmed.”

Chu Hanjin looked down and saw that QQ was holding a fruit meant for the dead. He thought it wasn’t appropriate, but before he could say anything, QQ had already taken a bite. He seemed to like it, nibbling on it slowly, his pink lips dripping with juice.

“…” Oh well.

As long as the kid was happy.

Chu Hanjin patted his head and shot a reproachful glance at Yue Lin before scanning the mourning hall.

Wreaths were piled up in the hall, and paper effigies were neatly arranged on either side. The atmosphere was eerie.

Young Master Lu, dressed in mourning, remained kneeling on the ground.

There was no doubt that he would be killed.

“If the guardian cultivators want to escalate this and completely frame the rebel cultivators, they will definitely kill him.”

Chu Hanjin glanced up at the darkening sky. It was getting late.

“If it’s not during the day, then it’ll be at night.”