Heaven-Collapsing Start [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

On the windowsill sat a flowerpot containing a single, twisted green plant; its verdant leaves, however, possessed a translucent, jade-like quality.

Ji Liang stood by the window frame, gazing out. In the ink-black night, rain fell wantonly. He seemed to see hurried footsteps trampling through the grass and splashing water, a murderous aura concealed beneath the endless curtain of rain.

Black clouds weighed down upon the city; a storm was brewing.

Knock, knock, knock.

The door was tapped.

“Come in.”

A bright, pale orange glow illuminated a small corner of the world. The little servant entered the room holding a lampstand encased in a mesh net, while his other hand carried a charcoal brazier. The flickering yellow firelight brought threads of warmth, dispelling the chill of the room.

“Just now, I thought I had seen something incorrectly.”

Passing through the corridor, he had caught a faint glimpse of a figure standing by the open window.

The little servant placed the still-burning brazier onto a stand before turning to look at Ji Liang by the window.

“Rainy nights are rather chilly, so I took the liberty of lighting some charcoal. Are you still not sleeping?”

Ji Liang turned his body, allowing the little servant to close the window, sealing out the pitter-patter of the rain outside.

His gaze swept over the brazier, emitting warmth clearly an act of kindness from the little servant. Ji Liang offered a word of thanks and moved toward the bed.

At this point, the little servant should have withdrawn, but after a moment’s hesitation, he spoke haltingly:

“Are you still worried about that student of yours?”

He saw Ji Liang turn his head. In the flickering lamplight, Ji Liang’s eyes appeared quiet and stagnant, as they always were.

Xiao Ba looked at him and felt that he ought to be worried and sad; after all, that youth was like his apprentice. Thus, he said: “The Alliance Leader will surely rescue him. Do not worry.”

The air went silent for a while. The corners of Ji Liang’s mouth curled slightly as he said: “I appreciate your kind words.”

However, he did not trust others; he trusted himself.

The Demonic Sect Leader would come looking for him again. As long as that man wished for revenge or a comeback, he could not do without the support of the Yin Lou (Hidden Pavilion) intelligence network.

Kidnapping Ah Heng was a bargaining chip for the Demonic Sect to deal with him, as well as a threat.

But did they truly think they could control him with just that?

Ridiculous.

……

Between the Martial Arts Alliance and the Demonic Sect, a game of hide-and-seek seemed to have begun, one hiding, one searching. However, it appeared the Demonic Sect’s hiding skills were superior, as many days passed with zero results.

For the Martial Arts Alliance, the primary goal was to find the remnants of the Demonic Sect and pull them out by the roots to ensure stability.

That day, using the traitor Ji Liang as bait had finally lured out a member of the Demonic Sect. Unfortunately, the one who appeared was the Right Envoy, whose martial arts were second only to the Sect Leader, and who was especially skilled in lightness techniques!

Although they failed to detain the person, it proved the feasibility of the “bait” strategy. Consequently, the number of Martial Arts Alliance experts hidden around Ji Liang more than doubled.

To this, Ji Liang himself acted as if he were unaware.

He stayed predictably within the courtyard arranged for him by the Alliance. Occasionally he took walks in the garden, but more often, he read books and practiced calligraphy in the study, as if he had accepted his fate.

Since the time he walked out of the manor gate and attracted the Demonic Sect remnants which the Alliance was happy to see Ji Liang had not stepped out again for many days.

From a distance, Xiao Ba walked toward the study. The flowing air brought a hint of bitter medicinal scent, as misty steam rose from a bowl of pitch-black medicinal cuisine.

Before getting close, Xiao Ba suddenly froze and stopped in his tracks.

“Allian—”

The moment the word left his mouth, his moving lips were silenced by the person appearing at the study door.

The newcomer walked over in a few strides, took the medicinal meal from Xiao Ba’s hands, stepped over the threshold, and entered in Xiao Ba’s stead to deliver the medicine.

The visitor was Gu Yun, whom he hadn’t seen for several days.

Inside the study, Ji Liang, who had been standing at the desk with a brush in hand, had put down the brush as soon as Xiao Ba’s voice rang out. He looked up, and thus Gu Yun met his eyes the moment he entered the room.

Gu Yun’s pace faltered slightly, a sheepish smile appearing on his face, seemingly tinged with a sense of trying to curry favor.

Ji Liang lowered his eyes, no longer looking at him.

Gu Yun walked in on his own accord and, with some hesitation, handed over the medicinal meal. He wasn’t sure if his Eldest Brother would acknowledge him. His gaze darted away, landing on a calligraphy sheet on the desk; the ink was not yet dry.

The handwriting was, naturally, beautiful. It was no different from the script he had seen his brother write before, yet it seemed slightly different. Gu Yun was no master of calligraphy; his literary attainments only went as far as being able to read and write. He couldn’t put his finger on what was different; he only felt it looked even better than before.

While his mind wandered, the weight in his hand lightened. Ji Liang had taken the medicinal meal he offered. He felt a sudden surge of relief in his heart.

Ji Liang saw no need to vent his anger by jeopardizing his own health. Moreover, with so many Alliance experts hidden in the manor, his connection with the Hidden Pavilion was severed, leaving him unable to know the situation outside.

Setting down the empty bowl, Ji Liang raised his eyes and looked at Gu Yun with a calm gaze.

Gu Yun naturally understood what his brother wanted to ask, and he had indeed come for that purpose.

“We investigated that village. Ah Heng went missing five days ago, and…”

He paused here, appearing somewhat hesitant. However, seeing Ji Liang’s consistently waveless and boundless eyes, he steeled himself and continued:

“And, a youth was murdered.”

Ji Liang’s expression shifted for a fleeting moment, turning slightly dark.

Gu Yun continued: “He likely witnessed Ah Heng being captured, so to silence him… those Demonic Sect people are capable of anything!”

“Is there any news?” Ji Liang said slowly.

News of Ah Heng, who was taken by the Demonic Sect. Before he could even feel the surprise that Ji Liang had finally reacted, Gu Yun immediately said:

“We followed the direction the Right Envoy fled and discovered several remnants hidden in the city. Unfortunately, before we could interrogate them, they committed suicide by poison… However, we found this.”

He opened his hand, revealing a token within, faintly engraved with the character “Ying” (Shadow).

Gu Yun naturally recognized this token. Not only did he recognize it, but he was very familiar with it; it was even directly related to the man before him Ji Liang.

When the Demonic Sect was defeated and Ji Liang was exposed, an organization that was subsequently destroyed was the Ying Lou (Shadow Pavilion), which was closely linked to the Demonic Sect. The Martial Arts Alliance had found this exact token on the bodies of all the key members they had exterminated.

And Ji Liang was the master of this Shadow Pavilion.

When this matter came out, an uproar broke out within the Martial Arts Alliance. Some believed Ji Liang was still secretly colluding with the Demonic Sect. Everyone knew the Hidden Pavilion spanned the entire country with countless secret outposts; why was it that the Alliance couldn’t track the Demonic Sect for so long, and even when found, the enemy escaped quickly? What did that explain?

Most likely, someone was providing secret support!

The Hidden Pavilion belonged to Ji Liang, and the Shadow Pavilion also belonged to Ji Liang.

Now, finding the Shadow Pavilion token on a Demonic Sect remnant only served to confirm this point.

An oppressive atmosphere flowed through the study, seemingly making it impossible to breathe.

It was a good while before Ji Liang moved his gaze away from the token, slowly shifting it to Gu Yun’s face.

Ji Liang said: “If I say this was not my doing, would you believe me?”

He was already too lazy to explain. Events like this, where baseless accusations were pinned on him, were so numerous across the many worlds he had experienced that he had become numb to them.

Composed, without waves or ripples, calm and gentle this was what Gu Yun saw from his brother at this moment. It seemed that ever since that time in Pangxi Village when his brother had shown a few flashes of mocking vividness, his expression had never changed again—not since returning to the Ji Family Villa, nor since being placed in this residence.

Gu Yun was slightly dazed, as if waking from a dream. His chest suddenly felt a sharp, expanding pain.

He swallowed the sourness in his throat with some difficulty and then said:

“…I believe you.”

…His brother had always been of a proud nature and disdained lying. Moreover, he had been… under guard these days, making it impossible for him to evade them to contact the Demonic Sect.

Furthermore, there was another point: regarding the capture of the youth Ah Heng, Gu Yun vaguely felt something was fishy. Why would they kidnap Ah Heng?

Thus, facing the harsh denunciations against Ji Liang from the members of the Martial Arts Alliance, he had said the same:

Before returning to the Ji Family Villa, his brother had been with him the entire time. Inside the Villa, he was under the watch of his foster father. Now, the courtyard where his brother resided was filled with our hidden brothers and experts. Where would his brother have the opportunity to contact or support the Demonic Sect?

And… his brother possessed no internal energy; he could not possibly evade the eyes and ears of the Martial Arts Alliance under any circumstances.

Once these words were spoken, the Alliance members fell silent for a long time, seemingly contemplating his argument. Of course, there were still some murmurs of dissent, but Gu Yun suppressed them.

However, at that time, unlike the others, Gu Yun had more concerns. After encountering his brother, he indeed saw no contact with the Demonic Sect but what about before that? Before he discovered his brother was still alive, what had his brother done? Had he already established contact with the Demonic Sect long ago? He knew nothing of these things.

This doubt was buried in his heart, wavering slightly, until this moment facing his brother. In those calm, indifferent eyes, Gu Yun’s swaying heart suddenly found peace.

…Regardless of the truth, he would investigate it thoroughly.

After staying with Ji Liang for a while longer and discussing some current progress, Gu Yun hesitated and then bid his farewell and left.

……

The study was quiet; Gu Yun was no longer there.

Ji Liang walked to the desk, reached out, and lightly picked up the token Gu Yun had left behind. His gaze brushed over it inch by inch.

On the dark surface, the character “Ying” was inlaid with gold exactly as it was in the memories of the original host.

The expression on Ji Liang’s face remained waveless, just as it always was. However, those stagnant eyes turned completely dark, deep and pitch-black like a bottomless cold pool.

Back before the security in the manor was tightened, the last message he had received from the Hidden Pavilion consisted of only one short sentence:

“Beware of Xu Wei; he has defected to the Demonic Sect.”

As expected…

Suddenly, Ji Liang applied pressure with his fingers, and the token was forcefully squeezed out of shape.

At the same time, a streak of bright red snaked down from the corner of his lips, yet he remained entirely oblivious to it.