"HANLIN THE SAGE spends most of his time in his pill-refining workroom and rarely makes public appearances. When he does, it's with a veil," said Mo Ran. "All he'd need to do is control someone who could pass as a body double, and we'd be none the wiser."
"So what you're saying," Jiang Xi said, brows furrowed, "is that the Hua Binan at Guyueye is a fake?"
"Not always. The real one and fake one might have switched places as needed."
"To do that, Shi Mingjing would need to be able to wield the Zhenlong Chess Formation," Jiang Xi said, following his line of logic. "Our medicine master lacks the spiritual strength necessary for such a technique."
"Jiang-zhangmen is not wrong. The Zhenlong Chess Formation does require a prodigious amount of spiritual energy from its wielder. Hua Binan might know it in theory, but be unable to use it himself with his weak spiritual energy. That's why he needed Xu Shuanglin—"
"That makes no sense," Jiang Xi said with a shake of his head. "Xu Shuanglin called the person behind the scenes an ally; he was unwilling to betray them. All the way until his death, he refused to reveal his co-conspirator's identity. If, as you say, Shi Mei is Hua Binan, then Xu Shuanglin would've recognized him. But if that's so, when Hua Binan destroyed his Rebirth array, why didn't Xu Shuanglin turn on him?"
"Because Xu Shuanglin had no idea that Shi Mei and Hua Binan were one and the same," Mo Ran answered.
Master Xuanjing, the abbot of Wubei Temple, stroked his beard. "They must have been working closely together. How could Xu Shuanglin not know something so important?"
"Xu Shuanglin considered Shi Mei a friend, but there's no way Shi Mei held him in the same regard. To him, Xu Shuanglin would've been nothing more than a piece on the chessboard." Mo Ran thought it over. "Back when Hua Binan was injured on Mount Jiao, he removed his veil to reveal a disfigured face, with a raised, spiny texture to the skin. In retrospect, that was likely some kind of sophisticated skin mask. Perhaps Xu Shuanglin only ever saw the original face of this friend of his—that is, Shi Mei's face. He wouldn't have made the connection between Hua Binan and Shi Mei on sight alone. He died never realizing he'd been set up, used by someone he considered a friend. He never knew the truth."
"So according to this theory," Jiang Xi said, "when Shi Mingjing and Hua Binan were both on Mount Jiao at the same time, one of the two was actually a Zhenlong pawn?"
"That's my guess. But there's another possibility."
"What?"
Mo Ran shook his head. "I'll come back to it in just a moment."
"Let's say Mo-shizhu's first explanation is correct," Master Xuanjing said. "This humble monk still feels there's something we're missing—why did Hua Binan disrupt Xu Shuanglin's Rebirth array? Does he have some grudge against Xu Shuanglin? Some reason to deprive Xu Shuanglin of his wish to see Luo Fenghua reborn?"
Mo Ran sighed. "Does the great master recall what Xu Shuanglin's array turned out to be?"
The old bald donkey shook his head, taken aback.
"The rift that appeared wasn't Rebirth," Mo Ran explained. "In fact, Shi Mei didn't actually teach the Rebirth technique to Xu Shuanglin at all."
"Ah…"
"He was lying to Xu Shuanglin the entire time. Xu Shuanglin made all that effort, believing he was planting the seeds for his Rebirth technique, but all he did was grow a garden for the use of Hua Binan and his weak spiritual power."
"Then which technique did Hua Binan teach him?"
"The foremost of the forbidden techniques." The next words seemed to stick in Mo Ran's throat as he spoke them. "What Xu Shuanglin learned was the technique for the Space-Time Gate of Life and Death."
Murmurs ran through the crowd. Those who had been at Mount Jiao couldn't help but recall that black rift torn in the sky and the thousands of mysterious cultivators who had poured out. That had been the Space-Time Gate?
"This would be the other possibility I raised earlier," Mo Ran said. "Using the Space-Time Gate, it would indeed be possible for Shi Mei to be in the same place at the same time. One from this world, and the other from an entirely different world from our own."
The silence was broken by someone slapping their thigh and guffawing. "Mo-zongshi, what kind of bedtime story is this? Legendary forbidden techniques? Two Shi Mingjings?" The man was gasping with laughter. "You can't be serious!"
"Right? How would that even be possible, we're talking about a forbidden technique that's been lost for thousands of years… How would anyone even learn it?"
"According to legend, the most important scroll relating the Space-Time Gate technique was sealed within the Flame Emperor's sacred tree long ago. Even if somebody wanted to learn it based on the surviving texts, they would be able to master the space aspect at best. There's no way they could tear a rift in time—if one world's timeline were to overlap with another's, both worlds would be thrown into chaos!"
Mo Ran didn't bother to refute their objections. This was likely the very last opportunity he, as Mo-zongshi, would have to reveal everything. After today, the odds that these people would listen to anything he said were slim to none. He would use the pretext of confessing his crimes to hold their attention, to make them think, just long enough to share what he'd deduced. Whether they believed him or not, he would have said his piece. It was all the warning he could give them. If things got worse from here, perhaps some few might recall what he'd said today, and it wouldn't be too late.
"Everyone, please just imagine it. Pretend I'm Hua Binan, and I've grasped the fundamentals of both the Zhenlong Chess Formation and the Space-Time Gate, yet I have neither the spiritual strength to wield them, nor the status or authority to take reckless action. What would I do?"
Most of the crowd in the hall had already written Mo Ran off and were unwilling to hear him out. Jiang Xi, however, held some measure of esteem toward him after their previous interactions. He also had his own suspicions about the slaughter at Guyueye. He considered Mo Ran's question and concluded: "You'd get someone to help you."
"Who would help me?"
"Nobody."
"Right." Mo Ran nodded. "Truly, nobody would help. And so, as Hua Binan, I'd have no option but to deceive someone into helping. Someone with a powerful ambition or goal—someone like Xu Shuanglin. I'd befriend him, and I'd pretend to help him with his plans."
"Mo-shizhu is being absurd," Master Xuanjing scoffed. "What makes you so sure the array was the Space-Time Gate? The Gate is not a feat achievable by just anyone. In thousands of years, nobody has managed it. The most important scroll for the technique is lost. Who would be able to accomplish this?"
"Exactly," someone else piped up. "This is pure fantasy!"
"Why not say Fuxi's descended to walk this world again; it's about as likely as a Space-Time Gate opening."
"A ludicrous idea—even tavern storytellers would find this too much of a stretch."
Concurring murmurs filled Loyalty Hall. Eventually, someone said scornfully, "Mo-zongshi, you've laid it out so nicely. Surely you're not about to tell us that the one who killed those heroes at Guyueye wasn't you, but another version of yourself who came through the Space-Time Gate?"
When Mo Ran made no response, the crowd burst into laughter. "Incredible, incredible. To think Mo-zongshi would go to such elaborate lengths to exonerate himself."
"All that imagine this and that, and in the end he just wants to blame his crimes on a tall tale?"
Unable to bear the incessant chatter any longer, Jiang Xi shook out his sleeves and turned to glare at the hecklers. "If you've something to say, then out with it. What are you insinuating?"
"Jiang-zhangmen, it is not that these bystanders are insinuating anything untoward, but rather that Mo-zongshi's tale is far too fantastical." Master Xuanjing pressed his palms together piously. "In this humble monk's opinion, it would be best to invite Tianyin Pavilion to do a thorough investigation before any decision is made."
"That's right, Tianyin's pavilion master should be arriving any moment. Once she's here, let Mo-zongshi try and take her for a ride."
Before Jiang Xi could reply, Xue Zhengyong cut in. "Ran-er's reasoning makes sense. Perhaps the Space-Time Gate really did open. Tianyin Pavilion's investigations are reserved for only the most heinous crimes." Though his emotions were in disarray, his voice was firm. "Until we've cleared things up here, you're not taking him anywhere."
"That's right!" A Sisheng Peak disciple stepped forward. "When things were at their worst on Mount Jiao, it was Mo-shixiong who saved you. Would you be standing here today if not for him? If he really wanted to destroy the cultivation realm, he could've just left us trapped on Mount Jiao!"
"W-well…" Master Xuanjing sputtered.
"It's true," another person chimed in. "Back then, it was Mo-zongshi who opened the way. If he wanted to kill us, he could've done so right there."
The truth of this statement gave a few people pause. For a moment, the roiling crowd seemed to settle, but the matter was not so easily put aside. Many in the crowd had donned mourning colors for the friends and family they'd so recently lost, and for whom they were still grieving. The survivors of the massacre in the garden pavilion had witnessed Mo Ran's slaughter with their own eyes. Only Mei Hanxue had found something off about the situation; every other survivor was fully convinced the killer had been the man standing before them now. For them to put aside their lust for vengeance would take much more than some fantastical tale of the Space-Time Gate.
It didn't take long before someone voiced new disagreement. "Something's still not right. All of you remember, don't you? On Mount Huang, Mo-zongshi displayed a profound understanding of the workings of the Zhenlong Chess Formation. He's saying Shi Mingjing knows the Zhenlong Chess Formation, but isn't he the one who knows too much about this forbidden technique?"
"That's right," another dissenter chimed in. "You know what else is odd? How did Mo Ran open the seal on Mount Jiao when he's not a Nangong descendant?"
"Nothing odd about that." A clear female voice answered from the entrance of Loyalty Hall. "After all, Nangong blood runs through Mo-zongshi's veins."
The crowd turned as one as a cadre of guards marched in arrayed in silvery green armor, each with a tassel dangling from their waist bearing a silver token embossed with the word Tian. At their head was a beautiful young woman who looked to be in her late twenties. With her bright eyes, clear features, and thick, inky hair, she could have rivaled the cultivation world's number-one beauty, Song Qiutong, if not for the iciness in her demeanor that underscored her striking looks.
Her appearance sent ripples through the crowd, and a few sect leaders stood up a little straighter. Only Jiang Xi remained unmoved, nodding as she strode across the threshold. "Pavilion Master, you've finally arrived."
This armored woman was none other the reclusive master of Tianyin Pavilion, Mu Yanli.
As the leader of Tianyin Pavilion, investigations into the most monstrous crimes committed in the cultivation realm all fell under her purview. Still, cases that required Tianyin Pavilion's intervention were few and far between, and thus Tianyin Pavilion's leader had rarely made any public appearances, or indeed stepped outside Tianyin Pavilion at all, in the past several decades. Her reclusiveness was evident in the fairness of her skin, so exceedingly pale one could see the faint traceries of veins beneath.
She took a few deliberate steps into the hall, then stopped and said evenly, "Apologies for my tardiness."
"Did something delay the pavilion master?" Master Xuanjing asked.
"Not quite," Mu Yanli answered with a shake of her head. "Tianyin Pavilion makes it a point to be thorough in its investigations before making any arrests. Before I came, I made several inquiries into the background of Sisheng Peak's Mo-zongshi." Her almond eyes were cold as she regarded Mo Ran, red lips parting around her next words. "These inquiries unearthed a rather complicated web of connections between this Mo-zongshi and a long-cold case in Xiangtan."
Everyone exchanged confused glances. "What long-cold case?" someone asked.
But Mo Ran had gone pale, his palms clammy with sweat. He'd never expected this to come back to haunt him.
Mu Yanli cast a cold glance over at the man kneeling in the front of the hall, her words falling like an executioner's axe: "Mo-xianjun, let's cut to the chase. You and I both know what happened in your past. Would you like to confess to it yourself, or shall I call in the witnesses?"
Mo Ran closed his eyes.
In the early days, after he'd just been reborn, he'd known that if he truly wanted to live freely, there were certain people he would need to get rid of or he'd risk regretting it later. At the time, he had neither power nor opportunity to do so. Later, when he had both the power and the opportunity, he was no longer inclined to take another's life for his own selfish reasons. After all, in the past life, he'd killed more than his fair share of people, either to conceal his past, or to keep bargaining chips in his hands.
Mu Yanli spoke into his silence. "It appears Mo-zongshi does not wish to confess." Undisguised scorn twisted the cold beauty of her features. Shaking out her sleeves, she turned to face the crowd. Her voice was bell-clear, resonating through the crush of assembled cultivators. "Then it falls to me. Heed my words—before this famed zongshi entered Sisheng Peak, he had already taken more than a dozen lives. This vile, despicable monster should have long been brought to justice!"
"What?!"
"He killed a dozen people before even entering the sect?"
"Ge…?" Xue Meng's eyes were wide with shock.
Though his voice wasn't loud, it reached Mu Yanli's ears. She glanced over at the young master of Sisheng Peak, and said mildly, "Ge?"
Xue Meng did not reply.
The sleeting rain pelted down outside, the skies overhead growing darker and darker, until even the candlelight within the hall was not enough to lift the chokingly oppressive atmosphere.
The contempt that filled Mu Yanli's gaze when it rested on Mo Ran turned to cold mockery when she looked upon Xue Meng. Her lips were like two sunset-stained clouds as she said, "Mistaking killer for kin? Truly Young Master Xue is to be pitied."
Xue Meng had no idea what she meant, yet the words crackled through him like a lightning strike, reverberating in his skull. He stumbled back, eyes growing wider still. "What…what do you mean, mistaking killer for kin?" His entire body shook with fine tremors. "What nonsense are you…"
Mu Yanli turned away, losing interest in him. "Mo Weiyu is not Xue-zhangmen's nephew. In fact—" She paused, her pitiless gaze slicing like a dagger across Xue Zhengyong and Madam Wang's faces. Her voice rang with both righteousness and cruelty. "Eight years ago, Xue-zhangmen's real nephew was slain by Mo Ran."