"So, what you're saying is, you are sightseeing?"
"Yes"
Wu Chen is now detained inside an aptly named Detention Building, this is the first time he ever went here, and something inside him knows that this will not be the last time.
"And their motive of attacking you is because they… mistook you for someone else?"
"I could only assume"
The back and forth has been going on and on for five hours, the face and tone of the interrogator is exasperated and at times under heavy suspicion, but they didn't have anything to go against Wu Chen.
He is a perfect student, with zero record of misdemeanors and even zero demerit points to his name, very clean and very safe. Yet, the first time he did something it revolves around murder.
The teacher could only assume that Wu Chen either hates them so much or that the murdered groups somehow anger Wu Chen so much that he resorts to beheading them.
Sure, death is no rare incident in the Southern Academy, a lot of students die by either committing suicide or in training related incident. Murder though, that's rare.
"I see… so they charge at you with weapon on their hand, so as you said, and you retaliate by killing them"
The interrogator said; he is by no means a small guy, he is quite bulky and had a fearsome face. One must be intimidating to become an interrogator, but he is quite surprised upon finding that Wu Chen emotion remains as calm as an unmoving pond.
"But here's the thing… I failed to see, nor find. And that includes my colleague, any weapon left on the scene should it remain untampered"
"…"
Wu Chen remained silence for a second, but soon his smile returned and he answered with calm retort.
"They belong to Wu Yincang group"
"…And?"
Wu Chen clapped his hand, closed his eyes and coolly relaxed on his chair. As if this interrogation session was a mere chatting session.
"If I have a… let's just say, uncontrollable and chaotic partner… I should distance myself from them in any way possible less their actions become my blunder and possible downfall"
Wu Chen said, his easy smile decorates his face that is as pale as a doll, the interrogator had a hard time focusing because of it, his heart beats just way too fast.
"But if the subordinate is important, in a way that I lose a significant amount of influence by losing them one way or another, I should keep myself close but not close enough to warrant association with them"
"What are you getting at?"
The interrogator said, having seen this tactic of using overblown words and run-on sentences to confuse him. But even then, Wu Chen calmly spoke.
"You didn't want to become a friend with a rapist, right? The same goes for Wu Yincang, but if the rapist is the wealthiest merchant in the world, you wouldn't outright unfriend them"
Wu Chen is now slouching in his seat, accentuating his doll face even more. The interrogator was forced to turn his gaze away.
"And should time come when the rapist dies, you would make sure to… take your share and erase any evidence that you are a friend to them, no?"
"…So, you accuse Wu Yincang to take away their weapon before the teacher and staff arrive and investigate the scene? Wu Chen, are you taking me for a fool? There're twelve teachers on site and not one of them said that there are any weapons lying around"
And that is true, many testimonies from the teachers gathered at the time said that there were no weapons, only detached heads and dead bodies. But there are some discrepancies with one teacher saying that there are weapons lying around, covered in blood.
But he could assume that Wu Chen has manipulated that teacher to said things that eased Wu Chen own burden even by a bit, to make the verdict unstable due to conflicting statement.
"Isn't Wu Yincang capable of manipulating the Academy rules to his own demand? Surely hushing some teachers is quite easy for him"
"…"
Now, when he puts it like that it does make sense. Wu Yincang is someone that has the means to shape the statement as he likes, and that includes telling the teacher not to mention that there are weapons lying around.
Sure, truth by volume is righteous but when the supposed mastermind is someone powerful, even the power of the majority becomes doubtful and dubious at best, this scenario is only possible if Wu Yincang is involved.
Which means in this particular case, only one teacher dares to speak out the truth while the rest is lying. It feels like the puzzle pieces had finalized themselves.
"…Alright, that concludes this interrogation session, please return tomorrow at the same time"
"My apology for taking your time"
Wu Chen bows, before the interrogator leaves. Soon, the interrogator reaches a chamber in which a female with bob cut black hair and purple eyes sits.
A very rare human who bears the constitution known as the Depthless Vision, a sight that could allow them to see beyond everything and see the very Karma itself. In this case, she could tell whether One is lying or not.
"So…was he lying?"
"…His Karma is so entangled…"
The woman mumbles, the interrogator feign a cough, and the woman immediately squirm upon realizing her transgressions.
"Oh! Y-Yes, I-I mean No.. I-I mean…"
"…"
It took a few minutes before the woman speaks, her face flushed as she hides it beneath her arms. Her eyes are looking everywhere but towards the interrogator.
"Huff, h-he is not lying but he is also not speaking the truth… I, I can't see because his Karma is too thick for me to see through it"
She said, part shame and dejection upon realizing that she fails at her task, which means Wu Chen sits in the grey area and the Academy cannot punish him for anything, at least a few points in demerit for excessive use of force but nothing more.
Not that there isn't enough evidence, it's just that all the evidence is contradictory and defeats each other in a way that makes his case so confusing it might as well be that they did not have any evidence proving his wrongdoing.
"…Continue your good work"
As the interrogator prepared to leave, he felt that his hanfu were tugged by the woman. As he curiously shifted his head to meet her flushed face, he spoke.
"Could you please let me go?"
"Uhm…"
But the woman didn't relent, instead she pulls him with that tiny tug.
"A-Are you free… like, t-tonight?"
"…"
.
.
.
The Crimson Palace, manor of Lady Myung.
The mist-filled landscape of the Crimson Palace had bored Lady Myung to no end, sure, her own manor has no mist inside, but she would've been content being able to see past into the blue sky.
For this place is nothing but a birdcage, and she is just another treasured fowl plucked off her feathers and rendered unfree.
"…So"
Lady Myung sat in a reclining seat, looking towards her small garden where a canary was kept inside a gilded cage.
Behind her is Elder Nang, looking dejected as he cast his gaze down.
"Your plan has been thoroughly dismantled by my dear Demon King, no?"
She said, honeyed words laced with poison reached Elder Nang ear who can do nothing but to accept those insulting words.
His plan is meticulous. To sow distrust inside the Demonic Sect he intended to make Hu Clan be the scape goat. Sabotaging the Southern Academy, the Vehemence Crimson Birch and even the Ringed Border Town.
All the while he planted the seed of supposed crime left hidden enough yet still capable of being found, a trace that all leads back to the Hu Clan, it's the perfect guess, given that their latest blunder has significantly hurts their reputation in front of the Demon King.
And yet the Demon King saw through all of this, not only that he had managed to utterly annihilate Elder Nang future plan that includes increasing the chaos of the border territory, allowing small skirmish of Southern Army to wreak havoc inside the Demonic Sect villages and towns as well as ordering a swarm of locus from some eccentric sorcerer in order to caused famine.
All were thoroughly countered.
And all of this happened and is made possible since Elder Nang is practically confined in his place, the Demon King has been very watchful of his every step, so much so that he cannot even write a personal diary without its content being jeopardized.
The reason for his inactivity is because of that, and Lady Myung seems unkeen in helping him out of his predicament.
'I am simply unfortunate, and it's not like I am powerful enough to act upon it'
True enough, Elder Nang has been brought back into the Mortal Realm of his Cultivation level, and the one who is responsible for it no longer exists, or so the Demon King declares.
Though elated Lady Myung was at the bygone existence of Wu Nanming, the same cannot be said for Elder Nang and the Demon King who seems awfully restless by his death, for a completely different reason too.
Elder Nang is upset because he can no longer enact his revenge, and he can only assume so much as to what makes the Demon King so restless, for one, the Demon King is never one to be shaken by such lose.
"So we can only act upon our plan in a different manner, Elder Nang"
Lady Myung said as she sipped upon a wine from a crystal glass, the vortex of colored liquid inside is hypnotizing and innately enticing and given by how much she seems to enjoy the liquid, it must've been truly a very delicious drink.
"Correct, I am being suspected by the Elders as we speak, in paper I am only here to entertain you of the 'loss' of 'Wu Nanming'. Given how pummeled Lady Hwang is, it is the only reasonable excuse I could muster"
Elder Nang said, given that if he uses any other excuses, the watchful eye of the Sect would only bore their peerless gaze towards Lady Myung as well.
"Therefore cutting you loose, is the only way for my plan to be able to bloom itself…"
Lady Myung said, her snake like smiles remain as she licks the liquid that has found itself coating her lips, truly a divine lady, if Elder Nang remains a youth he would very much welcome the prospect of intimate relationship with her.
But alas, her uncanny resemblance to Lady Hwang ironically extinguished her own charm, though Elder Nang felt no need to inform her about this, he is not close enough to offer some advice.
"It has been a pleasure working alongside you, Lady Myung. I extend my gratitude and respect towards you"
Elder Nang said as he bowed and leave her room, Lady Myung remains inside, looking towards the canary that stood motionless inside its cage.
"Serve you right Bitch Hwang, now one of your pawns has been eaten…"
She smiles, finding Hwang misfortune quite entertaining, how she wept at the funeral is such a candy for her own aching heart.
Now the only obstacle left is to get rid of Wu Lixian, Wu Lizha and Laiza, Wu Yuen and Wu Chen. And if all failed, she still has a failsafe.
"M-Mother?"
A small child with red eyes peaked around a corner, the new Demonic Prince, Wu Yue.
"What are you doing here dear?"
Lady Myung voice is, for the record, gentle, at least for someone with her bearing. Wu Yue stood there for a second, presenting just the barest minimum of his form behind the door frame.
Until he had enough courage to stroll to Lady Myung, tugging on the hem of her dress as his face turned into a sad look.
"D-Did that scary old man left already?"
"…Yes, and he will not bother you anymore"
Lady Myung said, and at that Wu Yue smiles and asked for a cookie, which Lady Myung gave him. They then spent some time looking at the caged canary.
…
On the other side of things, Elder Nang is looking restless towards Lady Myung Manor. And rightfully so, since Wu Yue is so uncannily similar to a figure long gone.
"How the hell did she do it…?"
He remarks, his face turning into a scowl as his wrinkled feature contorts into a scholar-like expression. Musing about the possibility of one thing that he found utterly blasphemous.
"That face… is Wu Yinkuang"
The realization hits him like a charging bull, for a way unknown and possibly downright forbidden, she had somehow resurrected Wu Yinkuang. For it's not just his face that resembles him, his gait, personality and trait are all the same, to the point that it's creepy.
He heard some hearsay from the other Elder, remarking about how the new prince is so similar to the late Prince Wu Yinkuang.
Elder Nang dismissed it as mere correlation, but now that he sees it for himself, Wu Yue is practically just Wu Yinkuang in a different name.
Did Lady Myung just commit the impossible and blasphemous act of resurrection? But how?
And for what? Why did she resurrect him? If the Demon King caught wind of this it would be very catastrophic. Given how the Demon King hasn't yet acted, he too, must've been unaware of the fact.
"Lady Myung, the retribution from both the Heaven and the Nether won't be pretty, did you just casted the iron of judgement upon this Sect as a whole?"
That's the only reasonable explanation to her action, since resurrection means taking the departed souls from the Nether back into the Mortal Realm, and that is akin to taking the Nether King Araka Niala belonging away from her.
So, she planned to self-destruct, to die and dragged this entire Sect away with her. How petty.
.
.
.
Gunsi, somewhere in the West and South.
After parting away with Flame Streak who returns to the village with the old lady inside to check on whether Hao had arrived safely or not, Nanming wastes no time in returning, for this detour has been quite eventful.
Back in the nameless village, Nanming returned to his makeshift shack. Only to find it leveled to the ground, footsteps remain fresh and it was all from children, maybe playing around and they knock on one of the foundations or something.
"You're living here?"
Yi Ling ask, unimpressed by the sad heap of wooden plank that is both uneven and rough, with some board still having its bark attached.
Nanming didn't answer her, he instead rummages through the debris, determined to find the rest of the fruits that he left to cultivate penicillin. He digs and digs, having his own fist being struck and pierced by the rough plank and board, with his black blood smearing through some of it.
The first fruit he placed in the corner was squashed, no hope in that. The second fruit he placed near an opening was, in a similar note, crushed so completely that only a smudge of it was left, and the third one he placed near a window to catch sunlight had rotten.
As he rummages through the debris to find his own makeshift basket, finding it missing, someone must've stolen them, maybe the same one who collapsed his shack.
Nanming, in a way he cannot explain, was extremely disappointed, dissatisfied and betrayed.
The same village he tried to help with had placed a significant roadblock in his effort. But its okay, no, its fine… everything is fine.
Why? Because Nanming had found that the last peach that he had smacked in some dubious place had been sheltered and remain in perfect shape, he can even tell that the blue of the penicillin had grown.
A sign, though small, that his plan will work out somehow. He must persevere, to push through and succeed. No pain, no gain so as they say.
"…Those are moldy fruit, don't tell me you wished to eat them…"
Yi Ling said, though empathetic in her words, the tone in which she said those was pitiful, like he is watching a starving dog eating his own shit to survive.
"Of course not, I used it to make a cure for this village"
Nanming said, drawing a mocking gaze from Yi Ling who scoffed in return.
"A cure? What do you know about making cure? Last time I checked a mold can only make someone sick, not curing them… or was that your plan to begin with?"
Yi Ling prepared her staff, but Nanming isn't in the mood to try and make sense nor was he trying to straighten the misunderstanding. He went silent and went to work doing whatever he could to protect this last fruit.
He can search for more, but there is no guarantee that there may still be a moldy fruit that isn't rotting.
And before long, Heaven jeers on him. The plop of rain has arrived, even when it was so…
"Fucking bright…"
A strange sensation is taking hold, his heart was hot, but it isn't Wrath that he felt. Just… its just so annoying.
"What kind of… Omniscience and Omnipotent Divine concept you are… Fucking Heaven can kiss my ass!"
Crude and rough words leaving his mouth like a stream of ire-filled river. Even Yi Ling was surprised that Nanming can and did lose his calmness and composure.
"Yi Ling…"
Nanming said, Yi Ling was about to be mad again since he dares called her name. But before she can speak, Nanming already cuts her off.
"…I know I cannot kill Human. But can I Kill the Heaven?"
"…"
What a strange word, and Yi Ling is surely giving him the stare that spoke those unspoken words. Before she apathetically replies.
"I mean… Why can't you?"
"…Its settled then"
Nanming make a male genitalia gesture towards the sky that is now roaring and flashing with a sign of lightning. He swears, he fucking swears that one day… those Skies will be split open, and he will Kill the Heaven.
Right after he was done being Human of course, to further mock the Heaven.
-Author Notice: Due to an injury regarding motor-bike collision, my hand got injured and it proved debilitating to writing. Chapter update might slowdown a bit (That and I still have to process my college admission process, bureaucracy and all) Apology.