Monarch Night

"Even if we praise the Starlight Master to the skies, the family might only offer a bit of gratitude, but if our own abilities are recognized, it affects our future prospects for the rest of our lives."

Zhou Mei'er said, "So, in terms of order, you have to understand first."

"Right, right, right!"

Zheng Yunqi immediately realized, and then rewrote everything.

"The key is to write about our growth. How much we've grown since coming here, what we've learned, the progress in our cultivation, our experiences in sparring, life-and-death battles, and witnessing the vastness of Jianghu while escorting..."

"And learning how to conduct ourselves according to different places and identities, sometimes needing to show certain things and sometimes needing to be honest... For example, how we've memorized Baiyun State's Law Codes to perfection, etc..."

"These are our assets. Don't underestimate the memorization of law codes; in the eyes of those old hands at home, this is the model for surviving anywhere, as the Starlight Master said, it's more formidable than our sect's Protective Treasure Clothes!"

"..."

Zheng Yunqi explained as he wrote, while Zhou Mei'er continuously added her input.

Others provided supplements for things they couldn't think of.

Then they wrote an entire page bragging about their achievements.

Only then did they begin to write about the bad news.

"... Niu Xiaohong, Hong Laohu... and others were killed. Here's the detailed account of what happened... We were in the middle of an exam when suddenly..."

"Analyzing afterwards..."

Another complete recounting of the facts.

"It was finally determined that it was... done by the sect."

There was a three-word gap in this sentence; if the investigation revealed specifics, they'd fill in the names, if not, they'd just remove the sentence.

Thus, the letter to their own family was completed.

Then they started writing the letter to the elders of the dead's family. This letter was even harder to write and had to be passed to them through their own family's elders.

"... As soon as Niu Xiaohong arrived at the branch, we processed formal identification for him and started escort duties; everything was normal. During this period, Xiaohong's mood... progressed... cultivation... knowledge... experiences, etc... improved significantly."

"Just last night, while we were in the middle of the exam..."

Yet again, the complete true story and subsequent handling.

"... Xiaohong was tragically murdered, and we were all seriously injured. The Starlight Master desperately protected us but couldn't fend off heavy wounds; as hope seemed lost, the Guardian Hall timely came to aid... Upon inspecting the bodies, it was discovered that the deceased had gaps in their heart veins, confirming it was someone from our sect, so the Starlight Master began an investigation, finally confirming it in this way... it was the sect's doing."

As usual, leaving a few words as placeholders.

"Currently, the remains of Xiaohong and the other brothers are at the branch; how to proceed, please... make a decision quickly to prevent delays..."

"Additionally... the recent murder of the Shi family's son, we also suspect it's related to these people, but as of now, there's no concrete evidence..."

Then they wrote about their grief, their deep feelings, how well they got along, how they absolutely must avenge the blood debt, etc...

Everyone then reviewed it, offering their opinions.

Modified it word by word.

The goal was singular: clear themselves of any involvement and ardently place the blame on others.

After dozens had read and finalized it, dawn had broken.

Then everyone started drafting copies based on these two letters... Changing the tone a bit, making slight alterations, striving to include some unimportant personal details...

Finally, it was almost ready.

"Let's get some sleep, rest, and heal... wait until the master returns tonight to see if there's any other discovery. Did we find the murderer?"

"The master is never around during the day; who knows where he goes, didn't he say he quit?"

"Haha... do you believe that? Even if there were ten fake identities of the master in Baiyun State, I'd believe it. Naturally, he's managing those identities during the day..."

"That's really impressive!"

In the dead of night, the Starlight Master arrived.

"It was someone from the Yemo Sect, without a doubt!"

"This was personally confirmed by the Sect Hierarch of Yin Shen Palace of the Yixin Sect!"

"Report it."

"Understood!"

...

On the other side.

Scholar Residence.

Ye Meng was also swiftly compiling information.

Everything Fang Che did was meticulously reported to Ye Meng by the Shadow.

Detailed to an appalling extent.

Even how Zhao Wushang and others wrote their letters was clearly conveyed.

Then it was immediately sent out.

And there was some worry. Worried that the Shadow knew everything? Would Fang Che notice?

Yet, on one hand, worried for Fang Che.

Do you know there's such a person around you?

...

Guardian Headquarters.

Dongfang Sansan meticulously went through tens of pages of intelligence.

His brow slightly furrowed, but his eyes revealed a look of delight.

He paced slowly, thinking intently, calculating.

He aimed higher: "Is it possible to use this technique this time, to leverage this incident, to directly eradicate the Yemo Sect with the help of the Weiwo Sect Headquarters?"

After pondering, he felt something was lacking.

But the situation had reached a point where everyone was ready to push the falling wall; without a little extra force, something still felt lacking.

Musing, he walked to the doorway, opened the door, and called out, "Someone come!"

His room was naturally soundproof; once the door was closed, nothing could be heard from outside.

So he could only shout at the doorway, as in the pursuit of complete secrecy, he hadn't installed a communication bell on the table.

Swish.

A shadow immediately appeared.

"Ninth lord."

"Hmm, pass my order; at the Weiwo Sect Headquarters, push this matter a bit more in this way..."

"Ninth lord, they are running a shop and doing business there, already having a hard time, and without the Five Spirits Gu, they're easily discovered, if they do this this time..."

"No need to show themselves, just do some covert communication, or discuss it in the taverns in Xin Chu Country, that's enough, there's no danger this time, because, probably within a day, everyone at the Weiwo Sect Headquarters will be talking about this... then the rumors here and the rumors there will connect. As for success... leave it to fate."

"Understood."

"Second thing, let Yang Luoyu go to the Southeast, take a few experts, and closely monitor the Night Demon Sect Headquarters. If you find anything unusual, you can act on your own, no need to report."

"Yes."

"Notify Zhao Shanhe to pay close attention to the Southeast Night Demon Sect movements, and be ready to cooperate with Yang Luoyu at all times."

"Yes."

"Notify Zhao Shanhe not to allow any Emperor Level or above experts from the Demon Sect to enter Baiyun State!"

"...Ninth lord, that might be a bit difficult."

"I know it'll be difficult; let Zhao Shanhe come up with a solution."

"Yes."

"Go, pass this on as quickly as possible."

Dongfang Sansan turned back into the room.

Furrowing his brows and contemplating, he went over his decisions repeatedly. After a while, he sighed slightly and said, "This matter hinges on the Weiwo Sect side, where grief is intense and people's hearts can be used. If someone could push a bit more, that would be just fine. Maybe the Yemo Sect could be completely uprooted... What a pity, what a pity."

...

Of course, no matter how intelligent Dongfang Sansan was, he could never have imagined that the little push he needed had long been done by Yin Shen Palace. His report had already reached the Weiwo Sect Headquarters as the first blade, thanks to serendipity.

Because Fang Che couldn't possibly report the transmission content of the Five Spirits Gu to Dongfang Sansan as well.

He could only respond to the transmission and then hand the response over to Ye Meng.

If Shadow knew even the transmission messages from the Five Spirits Gu, then it would basically mean that Fang Che himself was exposed.

No matter how much he trusted Ye Meng, he could never do that.

...

Weiwo Sect Headquarters was now in complete chaos.

Almost every day, bad news came, followed by a family or a branch of that family hanging a white banner.

Symbolizing yet another person's death outside.

And during this period, most of the dead were young people, the oldest being no more than thirty-five.

Sending away their children by the elderly, this kind of sorrow was even more profound.

However, it spawned another industry, where Sheng Yuan Pills suddenly became very popular.

This Sheng Yuan Pill had no other use but one: after taking it, it was very easy to get pregnant.

Many people, in their grief, were already busy creating small offspring.

But the trumpeters, playing their tunes, had at least ten families doing so every day.

The city was huge, so they hardly met, and even if they did, they couldn't hear each other.

But in the ears of high cultivation experts, it was clear as day; it constantly felt like... damn, people seem to die every day?

On this day, yet another person was buried.

The head of the Zheng family's third branch, Zheng Zhicheng, watched from a teahouse as a procession of people wearing white clothes, waving white banners, and crying loudly passed below, his heart slightly burdened.

Wondering how his son was doing in Baiyun State?

At that moment, a message came from the Five Spirits Gu.

Zheng Zhicheng's expression shifted, and he hurried back home.

This message had to be read with his wife; Yunqi was her everything, and he was never allowed to view it first.

His wife had to read it with him together.

Though Zheng Zhicheng wasn't afraid of his wife, he dare not provoke her either.

He hurried home.

"Third Lady. Yunqi sent a message."

"Really? Quick, quick, let me see!"

Third Lady, with a look of surprise and joy, wiped her hands and rushed over.

"We'll look at it inside."

Zheng Zhicheng said with a smile.

It's good that there's news from his son.

Went into the room.

Zheng Zhicheng sat on the edge of the bed, Third Lady leaned her head on her husband's shoulder, excited and anxious: "Take it out... quick..."

The Communication Jade was taken out and lit up.

A string of words appeared.

"Father, I wish you good health. Please ask after the Old Ancestor's health for me, and I wish all the family elders prosperity as vast as the sea."

This first sentence immediately enraged Third Lady.

"He only acknowledges his father, doesn't even ask about his mother! What kind of son is this, really raising him for nothing."

"Let's read on first."

Zheng Zhicheng suddenly furrowed his brows tightly, feeling this opening was... a bit off.

Why inquire about the Old Ancestor and all the elders of each house?

Reading on, Third Lady became excited again: "My son indeed makes me proud, successfully infiltrating and not just that, but he also earned an important position in... Yixin Sect's branch, the second-in-command, one below and over ten thousand above, quite impressive."

Zheng Zhicheng rolled his eyes inwardly, thinking it's just a subordinate sect's branch; how many people could there be?

Yet he never contradicted his wife, nodded, and agreed with a hum.