Demon Sword Sect’s Undercover
Chapter 353 - 353 352 Clues

353: Chapter 352: Clues 353: Chapter 352: Clues Shi Lao Da’s heart jolted as if struck by lightning.

He very much agreed with the Immortal Master’s words because the current situation of the Shi Family wasn’t as glorious as it appeared on the surface.

Exploiting a lapis lazuli mine such as Sangmu Island, the enormous profits apparent to any discerning person, how could there not be those whose hearts burgeoned with envy and covetousness?

Among the Shi family’s descendants, there were no cultivators to stand guard; for years, they relied on adept social maneuvering, making themselves lowly and unassuming, but even so, the challenges, both overt and covert, never ceased for a single day.

These challenges came from the financially powerful merchant associations and the mysterious backing of Cultivation powers, each of which left him overwhelmed and distressed.

After years of exhausting his wits, he was now worn with age, evident before his time, and no Spiritual Medicine could remedy it.

Because it was the heart that was weary.

Now, add to this the underhanded dealings with the Immortal Master Chao, which left him in constant fear, like sitting on pins and needles; he did not care about the profits from the secret mines, but he did not dare to contradict Daoist Chao’s wishes—such was the sorrow of mortals.

He had no power to refuse.

Hou Niao’s words suddenly cleared his confusion, yes, for a hundred years the Shi Family had borne too much envy and jealousy, none of which he could ever fully prevent.

The more they earned, the more envious others became!

Why not let go of it willingly?

If he let go on his own, there could still be arrangements for a peaceful withdrawal.

If he waited for others to force the issue, they would not be satisfied without completely uprooting the Shi Family.

Especially since the Shi Family itself was not clean.

Lost in a turmoil of thoughts, Hou Niao next to him said indifferently:

“After our long conversation, you should probably know what I am really trying to find out, right?”

Shi Lao Da subconsciously replied, “I know, what you actually want to know about is the news of Immortal Master Li, and the rest are just distractions…”

Hou Niao sighed inwardly, indeed, there were no fools in this world.

If he had not psychologically defeated the mine owner, then as soon as he left, everything about him would probably lay before Daoist Chao.

Shi Lao Da also immediately realized, “Immortal Master, I won’t tell Immortal Master Chao about what exactly you want to find out; people like us know better than to indulge in petty talk before Immortal Masters, offend anyone, and there will be no good end.”

Hou Niao remained noncommittal, “Then I can rest assured.

Now, is there anything else you want to tell me before I leave?”

Shi Lao Da gritted his teeth, “…This is it, more than a month after the incident with Immortal Master Li, one of my mine guards mentioned to me in passing that just on the day before Immortal Master Li’s incident, he saw Immortal Master Li practicing his skills on a tidal reef about ten miles outside the island.

I haven’t mentioned this to anyone because the investigation is over, and as mortals like us, we prefer to avoid troubles and disputes, so I didn’t report it.

I just don’t know if this has anything to do with Immortal Master Li’s death?”

Hou Niao asked softly, “Are you certain?”

Shi Lao Da swore, “There’s no mistake, that mine guard was once a fisherman and his greatest hobby is to take a small boat out to sea to fish; he is capable of that, but naturally, he doesn’t usually go far.

This is something he only told me, and we daren’t let it out…”

Hou Niao patted his shoulder, “Very good, I’m curious why you believe so much that I wouldn’t harm you?”

Shi Lao Da exhaled, “Because you also came with a sword-controlling device, obviously related to Immortal Master Li; Immortal Master Li is the most upright and forthright among the Immortal Masters I’ve seen, though sometimes stern, he regarded us as human beings.”

Hou Niao nodded thoughtfully and hinted, “If you want to start a new era for the Shi Family, Daoist Chao’s departure would be a good opportunity.

The new Island Master would be very happy to arrange his own people to take charge of everything on Sangmu Island and would also generously forgive many things.”

With that said, he disappeared into the sky, a kind of repayment for Shi Lao Da’s provided information;

Mortals are still so naïve, equally guilty of embezzlement, a cultivator caught red-handed needs only to return a portion of the spoils, and if quick on their feet, escaping back to their own country leaves them untouchable, but where can a mortal run?

Especially a local prominent family like the Shi Family?

Yes, his purpose here was to fulfill the task given to him by Li Chuping: to investigate the cause of Quanzhen Sword Cultivator Li Shizhong’s death.

The task seemed far-fetched, as too much time had passed, and based on his experience in handling cases in Xionger, the probability of solving it was very low.

The timeline was too long, the evidence all but vanished, islanders uncooperative, the Island Master an opponent of the Quanzhen from the Wu Sect, and his own Realm yet to reach the level where he could use certain special means, all adding uncertainty to the investigation, leaving him no choice but to hope against hope.

At least he had come, and even if he didn’t find anything, he could still make excuses to Li Chuping, bluffing his way through.

In fact, what he heard from Shi Lao Da held no particular surprises; Li Chuping’s documents indicated the same, and even more in detail and comprehensiveness.

The death of Li Shizhong was riddled with doubts, the greatest of which was the absence of any possible murderer; according to the cultivators who arrived at the scene, Li Shizhong had died from losing control of his mana during Cultivation, resulting in a catastrophic explosion.

An explosion of mana is also a type of demonic intrusion, referring to the condition when a cultivator strays into error while absorbing the Heaven and Earth Spirit Mechanism, due to reckless haste and ultimately causing uncontrolled inner mana and explosive death.

In the Cultivation World, there is a phenomenon known as the Illusion Medicine Illusion, which describes the condition where a cultivator seems to be in an excited, hallucinatory state, their spirit and consciousness detached from their physical reality;

Even though their mana is already at a dangerous level and requires cessation, refinement, condensing, the cultivator is completely oblivious, continuing to absorb the Spirit Mechanism and cycle their mana at high speeds in an exuberant state of mind.

This is possession by a Heart Demon, where one falls into demonic intrusion.

This situation occasionally occurs in the Cultivation World, mostly among disciples of minor sects or Loose Cultivators; to have someone like Li Shizhong, a disciple from a major sect, commit such an amateur, low-level mistake seemed unbelievable.

Everyone knew something was fishy, but no one could locate the culprit.

Many Cultivation methods are highly time-sensitive, once the effective retrospective period has passed, finding any trace becomes exceedingly difficult;

Li Shizhong was not immediately discovered after his death, and people like Shi Lao Da dared not to approach him so casually, thus until a passing cultivator stumbled upon him days later, the prime window for assessment had already closed.

No clues were found then, not to mention eight years later.

So, Hou Niao hadn’t harbored much hope of finding any concrete leads.

Unexpectedly, Shi Lao Da still gave him a small surprise?