Chapter 867: Fierce Scheme

“Lord… Young master?!”

Several elders of the Xiao family, especially those from the lineage of Xiao Tianquan who held high hopes for him, disregarded their status and rushed from their seats to the main seat. They checked Xiao Tianquan's breathing, felt his pulse, and perceived a faint trace of spiritual sense. In an instant, their faces turned as pale as paper.

Several people took out pills and tried to stuff them into Xiao Tianquan's mouth.

But their hands were shaking so much that it took them a long time to get the pills in, and it was completely useless.

Xiao Tianquan's seven orifices were horrifying, and he had no breath at all.

“Truly, truly… dead…”

In an instant, everyone felt a chill run down their spines.

An aged elder of the Xiao family raised his head and looked at Xia Jiancha, his gaze a mix of resentment, accusation, and hatred.

But due to the disparity in cultivation and identity, he dared not express it too clearly. He only said in a hateful voice:

“Xia Jiancha… what exactly is going on?”

The Golden Core cultivators of the Xia family all looked at each other.

Xia Jiancha himself also frowned tightly, no longer maintaining that composure of being unfazed by anything.

This matter was truly too strange.

He never thought that one day, someone would suddenly die violently in front of him, and he wouldn't be able to perceive a single clue.

There were no signs of spiritual power or blood energy, no spiritual tools, or any traces of Dao law.

It was just like that… he drank a cup of wine, went mad, and then died.

In the eyes of outsiders, it even looked a bit like…

He, Feihua Zhenren, had killed Xiao Tianquan!

Xia Jiancha walked closer to Xiao Tianquan.

Several elders of the Xiao family looked wary and wanted to step forward to block him, but due to Xia Jiancha's profound cultivation and majestic demeanor, they all hesitated somewhat.

At this moment, that aged elder of the Xiao family suddenly sighed and sincerely said:

“Our Xiao family's young master has suffered misfortune and died suddenly. Please enlighten us, Xia Jiancha, and give our Xiao family justice.”

“Elder!”

Several other elders of the Xiao family were still somewhat indignant.

“Shut up!” The aged elder of the Xiao family rebuked in a low voice and shook his head: “This matter is unrelated to Xia Jiancha.”

The Xia family and the Xiao family had formed an alliance, and Xiao Tianquan was a key figure.

Xia Jiancha had no reason whatsoever to kill their Xiao family's young master.

Moreover, even if he wanted to kill him, he wouldn't do it on this kind of occasion, in front of so many elders of the Xiao family.

The matter was sudden before, and the group of Xiao family elders were shocked and angry, but at this time, after a little thought, they all understood. Therefore, they no longer blocked Xia Jiancha.

Xia Jiancha walked near the tragically dead body of Xiao Tianquan and examined it briefly. His eyebrows furrowed even tighter.

Not a single trace…

With his many years of experience in the criminal prison, he couldn't find even a single clue.

It was as if just now, in a moment of extreme joy, he suddenly went insane, couldn't suppress the malevolent aura, suffered its backlash, his Sea of Consciousness ruptured, and he bled from his seven orifices and died…

This was impossible.

Xia Jiancha took out a palm-sized blue jade compass from his sleeve. Just as he was about to deduce some karma, a thought flashed in his mind, and with a flick of his fingers, his pupils contracted, and he immediately covered the compass.

Xia Jiancha said nothing, and then slowly put the compass back into his sleeve.

But no one knew that the hand hidden in his sleeve was also trembling.

At the same time, a deep chill surged in Xia Jiancha's heart.

Fierce evil!

This was the extremely ominous sign he had never perceived before, an extremely terrifying fierce evil within the karma.

Xia Jiancha's gaze was cold and stern.

The technique of Heavenly Secrets was very special. Not all cultivators would learn it, and even most cultivators wouldn't even believe in it.

But he had accidentally heard a sentence from a profound person:

Do not examine Heavenly Secrets, do not pry into karma. Fortune and misfortune are hard to predict, and life is not in one's own hands.

He had a deep impression of this sentence.

Therefore, after reaching Feihua, he dedicated himself wholeheartedly and sincerely sought guidance from an old ancestor in his clan. It took him a full ten years to gain the old ancestor's favor and be taught a little bit of the Heavenly Secrets technique.

But the Way of Heavenly Secrets was unique and vastly different from ordinary cultivation methods.

He had started learning it after reaching Feihua, and up to now, he had only grasped some superficial knowledge.

But it was precisely this superficial knowledge that completely overturned his understanding of the entire cultivation world.

Some matters that seemed to be natural disasters were actually man-made calamities.

Under a seemingly foolish appearance, there was a vast game and calculation as deep as the sea.

The people in the world, one by one, seemed to be “independent,” but in fact, they were just puppets whose spiritual sense tracks were set and “springs” wound by others.

And now, his understanding was once again overturned a bit.

He personally experienced the “great terror” existing within the karma of Heavenly Secrets, as mentioned by the old ancestor. It was real…

Xia Jiancha deeply remembered a sentence the old ancestor of the Xia family had said:

“Karma of Heavenly Secrets, deduce if you can deduce, do not deduce if you cannot deduce.”

“Deduce if you can deduce” meant not to fear wasting spiritual sense, not to be lazy, and to often deduce karma for seemingly superficial small matters, as it was very possible that Heavenly Secrets were hidden within them.

“Do not deduce if you cannot deduce” meant that once there was a warning sign in one's heart, one should immediately stop, to avoid deducing something that should not be deduced and provoking an unknowable great disaster.

Before, he had always been “deduce if you can deduce,” but now, it was the first time he had encountered the situation of “do not deduce if you cannot deduce.”

Xia Jiancha's expression was extremely solemn.

The elders of the Xiao family looked at each other in panic and asked in a low voice: “Lord Jiancha, have you found anything?”

Xia Jiancha came back to his senses, his face as still as water. After a moment, a sharp light flashed in his eyes, and he slowly said:

“The physical body's meridians, Sea of Qi, and Sea of Consciousness are all self-destructed, and there are no traces of external force destroying them… Either it was a mistake in cultivation, or it was…”

Xia Jiancha paused slightly, then condensed his voice, “A great master of Heavenly Secrets used karma technique to break his vitality!”

As soon as these words came out, the expressions of the Xiao family elders changed.

Great master of Heavenly Secrets!

“Xia Jiancha, do you know…”

Xia Jiancha shook his head and sighed: “Although I am Feihua, my attainments in the way of karma are not deep. I just calculated a little, but I couldn't calculate anything…”

The aged elder of the Xiao family frowned, then sighed: “Then we can only go back and ask the old ancestor to make a move.”

Xia Jiancha said nothing.

The Xiao elder hesitated for a moment, cupped his hands towards Xia Jiancha, and said: “I still have one inappropriate request.”

Xia Jiancha nodded: “Just say it, no harm.”

The Xiao family elder said: “This matter is strange, to avoid provoking gossip, could you please keep this matter a secret and not mention it to outsiders?”

Xia Jiancha said: “This is natural. Things have reached this point, and it is not what our Xia family wished for. The Xiao family nephew had extraordinary talent and unlimited future. I was very optimistic about him, but it is a pity that heaven is jealous of talent. I am also very regretful.”

After finishing, Xia Jiancha subtly emphasized:

“Tianquan was publicly cursed and killed. This is both a challenge to my Xia family and a blow to the Xiao family's face. The person behind it is very likely an enemy of the Xiao family, who is unwilling for our two families to associate, thus setting up such a sinister scheme.”

“If the old ancestor of the Xiao family is proficient in karma methods, please ask him to carefully calculate the karma involved and see who is secretly shooting cold arrows from behind. Not only the Xiao family, but even my Xia family will not let this person go.”

The Xiao family elder cupped his hands gratefully: “Thank you for your kind intentions, Xia Jiancha. I will certainly report back to the old ancestor and ask him to consider this.”

Xia Jiancha nodded.

After that, the banquet ended abruptly.

Originally, the guests were all happy, but they unexpectedly saw blood and death. At this time, the atmosphere was also somewhat strange.

The elders of the Xiao family did not dare to delay. They collected Xiao Tianquan's body in a coffin, collected all his belongings, said goodbye to Xia Jiancha, and then hurried back to the Xiao family.

Xia Jiancha watched them leave. Only when he looked at Xiao Tianquan's coffin did a trace of suppressed disgust finally appear in his eyes. He lightly sighed:

“What a pity, the Lifelong Life Talisman was planted late…”

The news of Xiao Tianquan's death was concealed, but it was impossible to conceal it completely. At least the Dao Ting Si side would definitely get wind of it.

Because Xiao Tianquan was an executive officer of the Dao Ting Si.

Gu Changhuai and Xia Diansi were handling the subsequent matters of the Yanzhou boat when they received a document.

This was an internal document of the Dao Ting Si that only cultivators above the rank of Diansi could see.

There were only a few sparse words on it, without any preamble, simple and direct:

“Xiao Tianquan, executive officer of the Xiao family, was brave and fearless and died in the line of duty.”

Gu Changhuai and Xia Diansi were stunned and for a moment thought they had seen wrong.

After confirming several times, both of them were shocked.

They had only separated not long ago, and Xiao Tianquan was being protected by Xia Jiancha of the Feihua realm. Yet, he had just…

Died?

The so-called dying in the line of duty was fundamentally just an excuse.

The real situation was definitely that the cause of his death was not suitable to be revealed to the outside world.

Both of them raised their heads and looked at each other almost simultaneously. A thought jumped out in their hearts:

How did he die?

Or rather… who killed Xiao Tianquan? And how did they kill him?

But no matter how hard they thought, they couldn't figure out who could have killed the most direct disciple of the Xiao family under the nose of a Feihua realm cultivator, and by what means.

The atmosphere in the room was silent for a while.

Both of them pondered, but still had no clue.

After a moment, several more official documents were delivered. They were all reports of many escaped evil cultivators, criminals detained in the Dao prison, family disciples, and even some sect disciples in the Qianxue Prefecture boundary and its surrounding areas suddenly dying within a single day.

Their identities varied, and their ways of dying varied, but without exception, they all died tragically and violently for unknown reasons.

Gu Changhuai and Xia Diansi's eyebrows furrowed tighter.

“Violent death…”

Gu Changhuai murmured.

He always felt this word was somewhat familiar.

After a moment, he suddenly remembered the sentence Mo Hua had said before in the restaurant in Yanshui City:

“People do, heaven watches. Little dog Xiao has done many unjust things, and who knows which day the heavens will send punishment, and he will die a sudden violent death…”

Not only Gu Changhuai, but Xia Diansi also thought of it.

Both of them looked at each other, and for a moment, they all felt it was incredible.

“Mo…”

Xia Diansi opened her mouth, but stopped halfway when she saw Gu Changhuai shaking his head, obviously signaling her not to mention that name at this time.

Xia Diansi then swallowed the name “Mo Hua” and said with a stunned expression:

“This should… be a coincidence, right?”

She thought for a moment, her gaze suddenly condensed, and she asked Gu Changhuai: “Yesterday you…”

Gu Changhuai nodded: “I sent him back, to the mountain gate of Taixu Sect. He should be inside the sect now, cultivating honestly.”

Xia Diansi breathed a sigh of relief.

Since it was like this, it should have nothing to do with Mo Hua.

He had just said a sentence earlier.

It was impossible for Mo Hua's words to become reality. He said who should die, and that person would die.

Xia Diansi shook her head.

But in Gu Changhuai's heart, he vaguely felt it was not that simple.

Based on his understanding of Mo Hua, he wouldn't say such words without reason.

It would be fine if nothing happened.

But now, his words had been verified, so this was absolutely not empty talk.

He said that Xiao Tianquan had “done many unjust things and must die by himself,” very possibly because at that time, he had already determined that Xiao Tianquan was destined to die.

Why…

Gu Changhuai frowned. Since entering the Qianxue Prefecture boundary, he had known Mo Hua for five years.

In these five years, Mo Hua's progress in cultivation was not obvious, but his abilities had leaped forward.

Moreover, it was the kind of progress that ordinary people couldn't perceive.

His cultivation might not be eye-catching, but his arrays, Dao laws, and various other means emerged endlessly.

From the beginning of being unfathomable, he had now become somewhat “unbelievable.”

A single word became a prophecy, and his words became reality.

If it was said that Xiao Tianquan's death had nothing to do with Mo Hua, he wouldn't be surprised.

But if it was said that it had something to do with it, he wouldn't be surprised either.

Even, that Xiao Tianquan was just decided to die by Mo Hua's single word, this absurd matter, Gu Changhuai now felt, was not so unacceptable…

But this matter, he still just silently buried it in the bottom of his heart and didn't say it to anyone.

And in Yanshui City.

Ye Hong still hadn't given up the idea of revenge.

Although he knew it was impossible, he was already alone and had nothing to lose.

Therefore, he was also fearless.

Three days later, he finally managed to get a message through various means.

Xiao Tianquan, died in the line of duty…

At that instant, Ye Hong's first reaction was also disbelief, and then he also thought of the sentence Mo Hua had said to him.

“People do, heaven watches…”

Ye Hong smiled bitterly, and two streams of clear tears flowed out.

He went to the edge of the Yanshui River again, sprinkled a pot of wine on the riverbank to sacrifice his wronged children, and then faced east, towards the Qianxue Prefecture boundary, the location of Taixu Sect, bowed three times from a distance, and kowtowed:

“Thank you, Young Master, for your great kindness!”

“I only wish Young Master great success in the great Dao, to support the world, and seek a bright future with a thousand Dao, and supreme justice in heaven and earth.”

Xiao Family.

Within the forbidden ground, in a secret and magnificent cave mansion.

The old ancestor of the Xiao family, with a head full of white hair and dressed in black, looked at the body of Xiao Tianquan, whose divine soul was extinguished and who had bled from his seven orifices and died. His heart was sad and angry, and his whole body trembled.

This was his most beloved great-grandson.

He had determined that this direct successor would inherit his mantle in the future and lead the Xiao family further.

But now, this great-grandson he favored most had died inexplicably, just like that.

The old ancestor of the Xiao family had bloodshot eyes, and his voice was like a cold pool:

“What happened?”

The Xiao family elder at the side dared not even lift his head. He recounted everything that had happened at the banquet in a low voice, and then slowly said:

“Old Ancestor, you see, isn't this Xia Jiancha…”

The old ancestor of the Xiao family laughed coldly: “He's not stupid either. Without reason, why would he publicly kill my grandson? Moreover, this person has a deep hidden agenda, far from being as simple as you think. He would absolutely not do this kind of reckless thing and forge a deadly enmity with my Xiao family…”

“Old Ancestor is right…” the Xiao family elder said.

The old ancestor of the Xiao family's face was full of anger, and then he forcibly suppressed it and asked again: “Did he say anything when all the children died in front of him?”

The Xiao family elder said: “Xia Jiancha said that there were no external injuries on Young Master Tianquan's body. Now that his body is dead, either it was a mistake in cultivation, or it was… someone with great Heavenly Secrets ability who broke his vitality with karma technique.”

“Great Heavenly Secrets ability…” The old ancestor of the Xiao family snorted coldly: “Where do so many great Heavenly Secrets abilities come from? Would a great Heavenly Secrets ability be so bored as to exhaust their mind to kill a Foundation Establishment direct disciple of my Xiao family? If they had this ability, wouldn't it be better for them to come and kill me directly?”

The Xiao elder dared not answer.

The old ancestor of the Xiao family's gaze sank, and he suddenly asked: “Did that Xia Jiancha personally calculate? Did he not calculate anything?”

The Xiao elder recalled a bit: “He did take out a blue jade compass and did some calculations, but very quickly, he frowned and put the compass away. It seemed he did calculate, but his ability was not enough, and he didn't calculate anything…”

The old ancestor of the Xiao family nodded, and his heart relaxed a bit.

“Instruct those below to set up the Heavenly Secrets compass, prepare the karma items, and then clear everyone out, seal the cave mansion, and do not allow anyone to disturb.”

“Yes.”

The Xiao elder knew that this old ancestor of the Xiao family had accidentally obtained a secret Heavenly Secrets technique inheritance, and his attainments were quite deep.

The Xiao family was able to become a fifth-grade family to a large extent precisely because the old ancestor had used this Heavenly Secrets technique to seek good fortune and avoid disaster, and adapt to circumstances.

This time's “abandoning the dark and turning to the light,” betraying the Gui Water Gate and relying on the Xia family, was also calculated by the old ancestor.

It was the Xiao family's opportunity to go further.

It was just that this karma now seemed to have some “changes”…

A trace of unease arose in the Xiao elder's heart, but in front of the old ancestor, he dared not say more. Only after arranging everything properly did he rebuke and dismiss others and close the cave mansion.

He knew that the old ancestor acted alone and regarded this Heavenly Secrets technique as a treasure. When deducing, he absolutely would not allow anyone to peek.

The large door slowly closed, and the cave mansion was tightly sealed.

The old ancestor of the Xiao family sat alone in front of Xiao Tianquan's corpse.

Not long ago, this vigorous young master, this great-grandson with unlimited future, would often come to see him and cleverly call him “Old Ancestor,” but in the blink of an eye, they were separated forever, and the white-haired person was burying the black-haired person.

His heart was even sadder.

This “sadness” also affected his mind and made him commit a great taboo:

His Dao heart was not steady, and he should not peek into Heavenly Secrets or deduce karma.

But at this time, he couldn't care so much.

He wanted to find out exactly who dared to commit this great crime and harm his Xiao family's heaven-blessed son.

What's more, that Jiancha of the Xia family, who was just a Feihua, had only a rough understanding of the superficial karma. It didn't matter what he calculated.

He, a Dongxu, had studied Heavenly Secrets for so many years and had sought profit and avoided harm for the Xiao family, sheltered it from wind and rain countless times. Even if he couldn't calculate anything, there wouldn't be any major obstacle.

The old ancestor of the Xiao family then silently recited the Heavenly Secrets technique, his divine thoughts flowing. Facing Xiao Tianquan's bloody corpse, he began to deduce.

What he was calculating was Xiao Tianquan's karma.

But as he deduced, he was suddenly shocked.

Heavenly Secrets flowed, and karma reversed.

The old ancestor of the Xiao family saw his great-grandson using cruel punishments outside and arbitrarily killing lives.

He saw him indulging in pleasure on the Yanzhou boat, corrupt and unbearable.

He saw him slaughtering cultivators in a water stronghold and then sacrificing all these cultivators to an unknown altar…

Wrong!

The old ancestor of the Xiao family's expression changed.

This person who killed people like cutting hemp, with a face full of malevolent aura and ferocious gaze, was completely not the clever and sensible great-grandson he knew!

Why?

Why had he never perceived it before?

What thing had blinded his perception?

Now that Xiao Tianquan was dead, had this fog also retreated, and the truth surfaced?

The old ancestor of the Xiao family suddenly felt a chill down his spine.

He continued to deduce…

Just at this moment, a trace of Heavenly Secrets warning suddenly appeared.

But the old ancestor of the Xiao family's mood was fluctuating, and with his heart in turmoil, he ignored this trace of warning.

He wanted to know exactly what his seemingly clever great-grandson had done.

Also, who exactly had killed him!

Even if his great-grandson's actions were boundless, he was still a member of the Xiao family, not to be judged by outsiders.

Even if he deserved to die ten thousand times, he should be personally punished by him, this old ancestor. Outsiders fundamentally had no right to kill his grandson!

The old ancestor of the Xiao family's eyes unconsciously turned bloody.

He continued to deduce, and very quickly, he saw the Dragon King Temple.

He saw a group of people inside the Dragon King Temple, but these people were all hazy and unclear.

Especially, there was an existence among them that seemed to be there and not there, like a little ghost.

He fundamentally didn't know if this “little ghost” was a living person or something else, but its existence was very special, making it impossible for people to ignore it.

It was as if this little ghost was the core of this group of people and also the existence with the deepest resentment towards Xiao Tianquan.

But this little ghost always had its back to the old ancestor of the Xiao family.

The old ancestor of the Xiao family wanted to see the appearance of this little ghost, so he consumed more divine thought and operated his Heavenly Secrets technique to the extreme.

But before he could calculate anything, this little ghost suddenly paused, as if it perceived that someone wanted to look at it.

It satisfied the old ancestor of the Xiao family's expectation and slowly turned its head towards the old ancestor of the Xiao family.

The old ancestor of the Xiao family was stunned for a moment and finally saw the face of this little ghost.

This was a terrifying, black-bleeding, evil and strange face that seemed to have just hatched from an embryo and was still growing strange sheep horns.

The little ghost grinned at the old ancestor of the Xiao family, revealing a naive but strange smile.

The old ancestor of the Xiao family silently gasped.

A chill rushed straight to his Heavenly Spirit.

The anger retreated, and he finally came back to his senses.

He finally realized that he seemed to have committed an extremely fatal mistake.

He seemed to have… calculated something that he fundamentally should not have calculated.

The old ancestor of the Xiao family strongly pretended to be calm, silently shifted his gaze, and wanted to detach his divine thoughts from the little ghost's gaze.

But a more majestic, more ancient, and more chilling aura gradually emanated from around him.

It seemed that because of his disturbance, a certain evil “existence” was slowly waking up from an eternal deep sleep…