Heaven-Collapsing Start [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The Demonic Sect’s ability to evade the eyes and ears of the Martial Arts Alliance and remain hidden until now naturally stemmed from their own set of methods.

Gu Yun stood silently by Ji Liang’s side, following the cultists as they transferred from one location to another, gradually shaking off the Alliance experts who were in pursuit.

Of course, this involved Gu Yun’s prior arrangements; the so-called pursuit was merely a performance for show.

It was not until three days later that they stepped into a familiar city, Qingyang City, located not far from the Martial Arts Alliance headquarters. “The small hermit hides in the mountains; the great hermit hides in the court and market.” It turned out the direction of their investigation during this period had been entirely wrong.

Gu Yun lowered his head, concealing the dark glint that flashed in his eyes.

“Cough, cough.”

A coughing sound suddenly rang out in his ear. Gu Yun hurriedly turned and lifted the carriage curtain, only to see Ji Liang inside the carriage just lowering the hand that covered his lips. His brow was slightly furrowed, and his face was even paler.

After shaking off the Alliance’s pursuit, Gu Yun had hired a carriage. Although it was more comfortable, the Demonic Sect’s itinerary remained hurried, causing Ji Liang’s already weak body to show signs of a relapse.

Seeing this, Gu Yun was anxious, even considering ending the plan. But regardless of the consequences of doing so, Ji Liang merely swept a calm gaze over him, and Gu Yun froze, understanding that his brother would not agree. He could only do his best to drive the carriage as smoothly as possible.

Swallowing a pill, Ji Liang looked up to see Gu Yun handing over a water skin, his movements incredibly cautious.

Ji Liang did not reach out to take it. Instead, he bypassed the worried Gu Yun in front of him and looked out of the carriage. Upon the city gate were three magnificent characters: Qingyang City.

Finally, they had arrived.

…

In a somewhat secluded area sat a manor, where Xu Wei had been waiting outside the main gate for a long time.

After a while, two carriages drove up from a distance, one following the other, surrounded by a few warriors escorting them. Before long, the carriages stopped in front of the manor.

The Demonic Sect Leader disguised as a wealthy merchant, along with a group of remnants dressed as guards, was quite a novel sight.

Xu Wei stepped forward, first greeting the Sect Leader. Then, looking up, he saw Ji Liang stepping down from the second carriage, that flat and waveless gaze meeting his own.

Xu Wei’s heart tightened slightly, likely thinking of his betrayal of this man to join the Demonic Sect. But then he thought: the other party had ultimately succumbed to the Demonic Sect as well. In terms of status, perhaps he was even a step above him. Thus, he felt completely at ease and met the gaze without backing down.

“Young Hero Ji has arrived as well.”

However, Ji Liang had already withdrawn his gaze, ignoring him entirely as if he were non-existent.

Xu Wei gnashed his teeth inwardly, but seeing the Sect Leader already walking into the manor, he had no choice but to turn and follow.

Gu Yun remained by Ji Liang’s side, silently acting as a non-entity, yet he took in all of Xu Wei’s behavior.

He knew of this man, so he was somewhat puzzled by his reaction to his brother. Shouldn’t he face his master with respect?

Of course, he did not know that following the original host’s “death” and the subsequent purge by the righteous path of the Martial Arts Alliance, the internal forces held by the original host had undergone a massive upheaval. Cunning as he was, Xu Wei had made a prompt decision to join the Demonic Sect.

But current Gu Yun had no way of knowing this. He could only suppress his confusion and follow into the manor with a submissive air, while surreptitiously observing his surroundings. All he saw were the former remnants of the Demonic Sect, though he didn’t know if they were all hiding here.

But since the Sect Leader was here, it meant this was likely their largest hiding place. “The monk can run, but the temple cannot.”

While Gu Yun was calculating in his heart, Yin Ren brought Ji Liang to the front hall. With a flick of his robes, he turned and sat in the central main seat.

“Presumably you already know that Xu Wei is currently a member of the Demonic Sect. This seat is very satisfying to him. It is just that Chun Niang’s character is a bit too fierce; she won’t listen to anything. Now that you are back, she should be able to set her mind at ease.”

He spoke as if Ji Liang’s submission were already a foregone conclusion. Now that Ji Liang was deep within the Demonic Sect with tigers in front and behind, he would surely have no choice but to obey the Sect Leader’s words.

Thus, Yin Ren spoke bluntly from the start, demanding Ji Liang offer his loyalty—specifically, the intelligence organization he still held: the Hidden Pavilion.

Ji Liang did not reply immediately. After a moment of silence, he said: “We will speak after Chun Niang arrives.”

Gu Yun, whose heart was racing nearby, felt slightly relieved at this. He then thought that perhaps his brother was helping him stall for time, and he was momentarily moved.

Yin Ren seemed about to say something, but then he laughed. “Fine. Hearing about someone is not as good as meeting them. This seat has not seen Chun Niang for some time; I wonder if she is still well.”

He spoke as if with a hidden meaning.

Xu Wei, standing nearby, chimed in: “The Sect Leader is right. If Chun Niang had been like me and placed herself at the Sect Leader’s service earlier, perhaps none of the subsequent troubles would have happened. You would have been rescued sooner as well. You must have suffered quite a bit these days.”

Having said that, and after requesting instructions from the Sect Leader, Xu Wei hypocritically made arrangements for Ji Liang, though his words were tinged with irony.

“Young Hero Ji’s health is poor and he is exhausted from the journey. I have arranged a room in advance. I’ll have a subordinate take you there to rest first.”

This was clearly a mockery of Ji Liang losing his martial arts and becoming a useless person even inferior to an ordinary human. Gu Yun couldn’t help but frown, casting a dark glance at Xu Wei.

However, Ji Liang said nothing. He merely looked at Xu Wei with a calm gaze until Xu Wei felt a jolt in his heart. Then, Ji Liang turned and followed a subordinate who stepped forward to obey the command, leaving the main hall.

Speaking of this subordinate, he was clearly a member of the Shadow Pavilion. However, with Xu Wei now in charge and having joined the Demonic Sect, he hesitated for a moment upon facing his former master, Ji Liang, not knowing what to say.

Fortunately, Ji Liang had no intention of “reminiscing” with these people. He came here simply because he did not want to remain under the nose of the Martial Arts Alliance any longer.

Furthermore, it was time for this matter to reach a conclusion.

…

The room Xu Wei arranged was relatively neat and clean, which made Gu Yun’s expression clear up slightly. But thinking back on the words Yin Ren had just spoken and the information they revealed, Gu Yun pondered throughout the walk and reached a conclusion in his mind.

As expected, his brother had been framed. Xu Wei’s defection to the Demonic Sect meant the Shadow Pavilion had also joined them. The one who had been supporting the Demonic Sect recently was likely Xu Wei.

That was why they had found Shadow Pavilion tokens on the Demonic Sect remnants because Xu Wei and his Shadow Pavilion had completely integrated with the Demonic Sect, becoming fellow travelers in evil.

But the most suspicious part of this matter was that they had only discovered those few remnants by following the Right Envoy at the time, and those remnants had decisively committed suicide by poison.

He hadn’t thought much of it then, but now it seemed the “Shadow” tokens found on those remnants were as if they were deliberately meant for them to see.

Why?

To shift the blame onto Ji Liang.

After all, who would have thought that the Shadow Pavilion had already pledged loyalty to the Demonic Sect? People would instinctively think of the master behind the Shadow Pavilion—Ji Liang!

After clarifying all of this, Gu Yun’s heart could not stop racing. He took a deep breath before slowly calming down.

Observing the Demonic Sect Leader Yin Ren, it was clear he was determined to have the Hidden Pavilion. He was willing to set up all these ruses and risk being hunted by the Martial Arts Alliance just to take his brother away.

Gu Yun instinctively clenched his fists, his gaze sharp. It seemed he needed to speed up his own actions as well.

Thus, after tidying the room, Gu Yun said to Ji Liang: “Elder Brother, I’m going to look around nearby.”

Predictably, there was no response. Gu Yun had no choice but to assume his brother agreed. After a moment’s hesitation, he turned and walked out.

Gu Yun first circled the manor, noting several places where he was stopped by cultists and told it was forbidden to pass. He then surreptitiously listened to the remnants’ chatter for a long while, his eyes darkening slightly.

An hour later, Gu Yun returned to Ji Liang’s residence. Upon entering the door, he saw an extra person in the room.

It was a familiar face of the youth Ah Heng.

At that moment, at Ji Liang’s request, a Demonic Sect member had brought the youth, who had been imprisoned for some time and was now of no use.

Initially, Ah Heng was quite reluctant, even looking fiercely at the cultist. But as a prisoner, he was not his own master; otherwise, he would be met with a whipping. It seemed he had made many futile attempts to sneak away, as staying obediently imprisoned was nearly impossible for him.

Therefore, before arriving in front of Ji Liang, Ah Heng was not only reluctant but was also racking his brains for a way to use this to escape, since he had finally been let out of the cell that confined him.

However, when he entered this room and saw that familiar thin figure, all the bitterness and strength he had maintained over these days couldn’t help but turn into a wave of sourness at this moment.

“Teacher!”

He was both choked with sobs and excited.

Hearing the sound, Ji Liang turned around and saw the image of the youth rushing toward him.

Ah Heng’s personality was naturally steady. A tall and sturdy youth with dark skin, he still carried a trace of youthful greenness. Seeing his teacher, who had left without saying goodbye and whom he hadn’t seen for a long time, he suddenly opened the floodgates and poured out all his indignation in a non-stop stream of words.

When he finished, he scratched the back of his head somewhat bashfully and looked at Ji Liang with bright eyes.

“Seeing that Teacher is alright, Ah Heng can rest easy.”

Although Ah Heng hadn’t known who the people who captured him were or why they did it, that didn’t stop him from picking up some information through eavesdropping and subtle questioning over the days.

It turned out these people were the Demonic Sect.

To the youth, the first impression of the Demonic Sect was of burning, killing, looting, and every kind of evil. Initially, the youth had been terrified, thinking he had somehow provoked this group of villains. Later, he heard his teacher’s name.

Those people used mocking tones to talk about certain deeds his teacher had supposedly done in the past. They ridiculed his teacher, saying how the Martial Arts Alliance was treating him and that his end would surely be miserable. Hearing this made Ah Heng’s fury boil.

Teacher… such a good person, who not only taught the village children to read but also never collected tuition, and was always humble and gentle toward every villager… Clearly Teacher was so good, yet these people slandered him.

Ah Heng couldn’t help but fight back using the martial arts his teacher had taught him. But two fists are no match for four hands. Aside from initially catching them off guard and succeeding once because they were shocked by his counterattack, the cultists subsequently punched and kicked him.

Perhaps because he was still useful, those people avoided vital spots even in their anger.

His body hurt a lot, but the youth’s gaze remained fierce throughout. He had never craved powerful martial strength as much as he did at this moment.

As long as he had strong martial arts, he wouldn’t have to be controlled by others, nor would he be used to threatening his teacher… Ah Heng thought this way until this moment, finally seeing his teacher’s familiar silhouette once more and seeing that his teacher had not suffered any harm.

After the initial excitement, Ah Heng calmed down.

“I wonder how Da Lang is. When I was snatched by the men in black, Da Lang was right beside me. He should be fine, right?” The youth said with a hint of worry while lowering his brows.

Ji Liang’s movements paused as he said slowly: “It has been hard on you these days.”

Ah Heng waved his hands hurriedly, revealing a simple smile.

“It’s nothing. Seeing that Teacher is unharmed is what makes me truly happy!”

His voice cleared away the previous gloom and became bright once more.