Chapter 359: One Person Dies (Part 2)
The forest fell silent. Countless eyes fixed on Zheshou, their emotions varied. Zhu Luo narrowed his eyes slightly, lost in thought. Meilisha was not present at all; before the vanished green mountain, he stared at the now-gone Zhou Garden, his aged face etched with an indescribable expression.
"So that's how it is," the Lishan elder said, looking at Zheshou with a blank expression.
Footsteps and the sound of wind breaking echoed through the forest. Cultivators from the Southern Changsheng Sect and the Holy Maiden Peak scattered without waiting for orders, vaguely blocking all possible escape routes for Zheshou. It seemed they would act at any moment. Logically, there was no reason to believe Zhuang Huanyu's accusation that Zheshou was a spy for the demon race without question. The problem was that Liang Xiaoxiao on the stretcher kept staring at Zheshou, his eyes filled with undisguised hatred and vigilance, and he did not object.
Liang Xiaoxiao was one of the Divine Kingdom's Seven Laws, and Zhuang Huanyu was a proud disciple of the Heavenly Academy. Their testimony carried great weight. Most crucially, Liang Xiaoxiao was gravely wounded, his true essence dissipating, on the verge of death. No one would doubt his words—who would lie in their final moments?
Zheshou was not a human cultivator and had no dealings with the various cultivation sects of the Central Plains. But he had hunted demons on the snowy plains, cooperating with the Zhou army, earning many military merits. Many nobles in the capital admired him. At its core, this was a matter of mutual benefit and calculation, but that didn't mean no one wanted to help him.
The position of the Li Palace was relatively detached. The Red-robed Cardinal who had just treated Liang Xiaoxiao frowned slightly, thinking that the sword wounds on Liang Xiaoxiao didn't resemble Zheshou's usual killing methods. Hesitantly, he said, "The most fatal wounds... appear to be from a sword."
An instructor from the Star Picking Academy looked coldly at Zhuang Huanyu and said, "Exactly. How do you explain this? Zheshou has repeatedly earned military merits and killed countless demons on the snowy plains. You claim he colluded with the demon race to kill people in Zhou Garden—how can that be convincing?"
Indeed, especially since the sword wounds on Liang Xiaoxiao were clearly not made by Zheshou. This doubt was even more damning. Many turned to Zhuang Huanyu again, wanting to hear his explanation. After a moment's hesitation, Zhuang Huanyu said, "Perhaps he was hiding his true nature all these years, using those military merits to gain our trust."
"Accusations of colluding with the demon race cannot be made with the word 'perhaps,'" the Star Picking Academy instructor said bluntly, disregarding Zhuang Huanyu's background.
Zhuang Huanyu's eyes were slightly red, whether from anxiety or anger. He opened his mouth as if to say something but ultimately didn't speak, seemingly glancing subconsciously at the stretcher.
Liang Xiaoxiao shook his head with difficulty and said, "Don't say anything."
Watching this scene, the Lishan elder vaguely realized his suspicions had become reality. His face turned extremely pale, and a chill ran through him. Hearing Liang Xiaoxiao's weak voice, Zhuang Huanyu tightly shut his mouth, his face pale, his body cold. But his coldness was not the same as the Lishan elder's.
Looking at Liang Xiaoxiao, covered in blood on the stretcher, recalling the conversation in Zhou Garden and the dozens of harsh sword lights, he couldn't help but feel a chill.
Back then, outside the Panshan Forest Inn, Liang Xiaoxiao had seen Zheshou carrying Qijian out of Zhou Garden. He calmly explained some things to Zhuang Huanyu, then, without warning or hesitation, drew his sword from its sheath and executed a sword technique of immense power.
That technique was the final form of the Lishan Dharma Sword, the most tragic and resolute. Using it would inflict maximum damage on the enemy, but the user would inevitably die from it. During the Grand Examination, Gou Hanshi had withdrawn from the match because he realized Chen Changsheng was determined to use this technique.
Liang Xiaoxiao used this cold, tragic sword technique on himself.
Zhuang Huanyu was stunned. He had never seen anyone so ruthless, so cruel to themselves—so what about others?
Yes, this was a scheme Liang Xiaoxiao had improvised on the spot. Using his own death and those sword wounds, he accused Zheshou and Qijian of colluding with the demon race and harming their fellow disciples.
He didn't mention Qijian's name in front of everyone because he was a Lishan disciple who valued his fellow disciples and the sect's reputation above his own life. Even on the brink of death, he didn't want to tarnish Lishan's honor and still felt pity for his junior brother.
And precisely because he was such a person, his words were all the more credible. Using his own death to gain an advantage—Liang Xiaoxiao was truly terrifying. The most terrifying part was that he made this decision without any hesitation and seemed completely unconcerned about whether Zhuang Huanyu would follow his plan.
The conspiracy Liang Xiaoxiao wove with his own death filled Zhuang Huanyu with terror. He wanted to flee, but he knew he couldn't. From the moment by the lake, when Chen Changsheng and the other two were ambushed by Liang Xiaoxiao and the demon strongman, and he didn't show up, he had set foot on a wrong path.
At many moments in the past, he had the chance to correct his course, including now—he could tell the truth. But then... he would be a coward. So he didn't, and he had to continue down this path, unable to turn back.
It seemed the other party had calculated his choice from the very beginning.
Looking at Liang Xiaoxiao, covered in blood and barely breathing on the stretcher, Zhuang Huanyu felt he was looking at a demon.
Liang Xiaoxiao looked back at him, his eyes dim but calm.
In that moment their gazes met, everything was settled.
Zhuang Huanyu remained silent, slowly lowering his head, his voice trembling slightly as he said, "I'm sorry, I can't say anything."
To the onlookers, Zhuang Huanyu seemed sad, or perhaps unwilling.
Saying nothing actually said a lot—more terrifying than saying it outright.
Zhu Luo raised an eyebrow slightly, looking past the crowd at Qijian, still unconscious.
Qijian had no idea what was happening.
"Do you have anything to say?"
The new instructor of the Heavenly Academy arrived on the scene. Hearing the situation, his expression turned cold as he looked at Zheshou under the locust tree.
Zheshou said expressionlessly, "Liang Xiaoxiao is a spy for the demon race... but I didn't kill him."
The scene erupted in commotion again. The Lishan elder said coldly, "What did you say?"
Zheshou recounted what had happened by the lake. He wasn't good with words, speaking slowly, but that made it somewhat credible.
The Star Picking Academy instructor asked, "Do you have any witnesses for what you said?"
Zheshou and Liang Xiaoxiao were accusing each other of being demon spies. Naturally, there was no evidence; they could only seek witnesses.
At this moment, few believed Zheshou. The Star Picking Academy instructor's question was undoubtedly an opportunity Zheshou had to seize.
After a moment of silence, Zheshou said, "I know you won't believe me. When Qijian wakes up, you'll know the truth."
The Red-robed Cardinal, meeting the gazes of the crowd, shook his head and said, "His injuries are too severe, and there are serious problems with his meridians. It's unclear when he'll wake up, or even..."
Zhuang Huanyu sneered, his voice filled with grief and anger, "If he never wakes up, that would be..."
Neither finished their sentence, but everyone understood their meaning.
Qijian might never wake up.
If so, Zhuang Huanyu would find it gratifying.
Again, sometimes not speaking, or not speaking fully, was more damaging than saying everything.
These details, combined with the sword wounds on Liang Xiaoxiao, led many to believe they had guessed the truth of the conspiracy in Zhou Garden. Why Zhuang Huanyu was so grief-stricken and hesitant, why Liang Xiaoxiao was dying but refused to say more.
"According to Zheshou's account, you weren't present at the time," the Star Picking Academy instructor said, looking at Zhuang Huanyu.
Zhuang Huanyu was silent for a long time. Finally, he raised his head, having made his choice, and appeared calm.
Choosing between being a coward for life and a hero for a moment was easy.
He had already been a coward once, so in the story he told, he would naturally be the hero.
Though he knew full well that this was the act of a coward.
...
...
After hearing Zhuang Huanyu's story, the forest fell silent again.
Under the locust tree, Zheshou sensed the strange gazes around him and the pressure that was gradually becoming tangible. He lowered his head slightly, puzzled.
He couldn't see now, so he understood even less how humans could so easily lie through their teeth.
To cover one lie, more lies were needed, and loopholes were inevitable. Zhuang Huanyu's story, entirely fabricated by Liang Xiaoxiao in a short time, couldn't possibly be flawless in every detail. Zhu Luo, who had been silent, suddenly spoke: "Was Chen Changsheng present?"
In Zheshou's story, Chen Changsheng played an important role. In Zhuang Huanyu's story, Chen Changsheng appeared but was glossed over. Zheshou didn't understand and said, "Yes, Chen Changsheng can testify."
The Heavenly Academy instructor frowned at him and said, "Chen Changsheng didn't make it out of Zhou Garden. He should be dead... You know this, so you deliberately said that?"
Hearing that Chen Changsheng had died in Zhou Garden, Zheshou fell silent and said no more.
Liang Xiaoxiao's voice grew weaker: "So he didn't leave Zhou Garden... That's fine."
With that, he sighed—a sigh tinged with regret, satisfaction, and a hint of confusion. In short, it was complex.
The forest fell silent again. The crowd was stunned into speechlessness.
Could it be that Chen Changsheng was also involved in Zheshou's collusion with the demon race?
How do you weave a perfect lie? Not by constantly patching it with new lies, but like painting—knowing when to leave blank space, giving people room to think.
That's what Liang Xiaoxiao did, and he did it successfully.
Of course, at this point, the lie was still far from perfect, because the words of the living were never as trustworthy as those of the dead. Life is the most precious thing in the world, and an accusation made with one's life is the most powerful—often more weighty than the truth itself.
If Liang Xiaoxiao died at this moment, his framing of Zheshou, Qijian, and Chen Changsheng would be perfect.
He closed his eyes and smiled wearily.
A complex emotion flickered across his face—regret, grief, relief, and... forgiveness.
Then, he died.
...
...
(Yesterday I said if I felt okay, I'd try to write more, but I really couldn't. I was too sick to write much. Fortunately, I'm quite satisfied with what I wrote. Liang Xiaoxiao is truly something. I like him. Also, I dreamed of Taeyeon last night too. And another thing—was Fatty's Korean Entertainment really written by Han Cuo?)