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Chapter 488: The Young Hero with the Divine Whip

"How's that whip?"

"It's fine, still quite sturdy."

"We were lucky to have you this time. Otherwise, who knows what would have happened to all these people."

"It was my duty."

"..."

As twilight fell, the once-bustling Imperial Supervisory Bureau grew quiet. Chu Liang sat on the steps in the courtyard, finally letting out a sigh of relief.

One after another, members of the Imperial Supervisory Bureau approached him with questions. Chu Liang had single-handedly saved the entire city from the Walking Jiangshi Poison—a truly heroic feat.

Had it not been for his timely warning, the spread of the Walking Jiangshi Poison could have been dozens, if not hundreds, of times worse. Moreover, without his tireless efforts to cleanse the poison from the victims, few would have survived.

Even so, dozens of people lost their lives in this incident.

Another hero of the day was Jiang Yuebai from Mount Shu. The Asura Leaf Powder she brought back played a crucial role in saving lives, including that of the Potion Jar boy from the Black Pine Ridge. Without this sole surviving Potion Jar Boy, they wouldn't have uncovered the mastermind behind the plot so quickly.

After capturing Master Song, the Imperial Supervisory Bureau swiftly extracted the antidote for the Walking Jiangshi Poison, which, as expected, contained Asura Leaf. Jiang Yuebai, along with the Potion Jar Boy and the Bureau's agents, went to Myriad Poison Mountain to gather additional herbs before returning.

Meanwhile, Di Nufeng went off to play with Xue Muyu again. It seemed the allure of a beautiful married woman was far stronger than that of her own disciple.

And there she went, deserting Chu Liang by himself.

Not long after, Ji Zidian approached to brief Chu Liang on the case.

"Aside from the poison specialist, the main culprits are a couple," Ji Zidian explained. "Yang Bujue and Xiao Wuyan."

"What a fitting pair of names," Chu Liang remarked upon hearing their names.

Ji Zidian then gave a brief introduction of their background.

Yang Bujue was once a disciple of Penglai, and even regarded by Daoist Cangsheng, the leader of the Penglai Supreme Sect, as his last disciple and successor.

Nearly a century ago, a particularly notorious incident shook the world of immortal cultivation. The leader of the Sea King Sect was ambushed by several powerful demons while exploring a hidden realm in the North Sea and barely escaped with his life.

After his narrow escape, he launched a thorough investigation into how news of his visit to the hidden realm had been leaked. He discovered that the Penglai Supreme Sect was the first to know of his whereabouts, and the information was later spread through the East Sea. The one responsible was none other than the Penglai disciple, Yang Bujue.

His collusion with evil entities to harm a righteous sect leader sparked an uproar, inciting the wrath of both the imperial court and the sects in the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten. Few believed that a mere disciple could have orchestrated this alone, so suspicion quickly fell on Yang Bujue's teacher, Daoist Cangsheng.

The Penglai Supreme Sect quickly apprehended Yang Bujue, claiming he had been led astray by outsiders and said that they would be willing to execute him.

Of course, this was seen at the time as a sacrificial move to protect the higher-ups.

However, what happened next made people waver in their judgment. On the eve of Yang Bujue's execution, a group of Celestial Charm Sect bandits launched a nighttime attack on Penglai and rescued him.

In the decades that followed, Yang Bujue married Xiao Wuyan, another notorious member of the Celestial Charm Sect. Together, they committed numerous heinous crimes, gradually leading people to believe that he might have indeed been lured by the Celestial Charm Sect into betraying the Sea King Sect's leader. After all, the Celestial Charm Sect had long been known for secretly and openly stirring up conflicts among various factions.

Yang Bujue was skilled in stealth traversal techniques, while Xiao Wuyan excelled in illusory techniques. Together, their abilities made them nearly impossible to detect or defend against.

If not for the Imperial Supervisory Commissioner tracking down Master Song, the poison specialist, and subsequently uncovering their whereabouts, neither the imperial court nor the sects in the Divine Nine and Terrestrial Ten would have known what Xiao Wuyan truly looked like.

With this discovery, the details of the cases that Chu Liang had been framed for became known.

Shortly after the decision to launch the expedition against the Roupu Kingdom, the Celestial Charm Sect caught wind of the plan and learned about the captive presentation ceremony that would happen after the army's triumphant return. They reached out to Master Song, a poison specialist at Black Pine Ridge, to prepare a deadly poison.

Since Master Song harbored a grudge against the Red River Sect, he demanded that they first kill a few members of the Red River Sect. When Xiao Wuyan was carrying out the killings, she happened to notice Chu Liang. Perhaps due to Chu Liang's past conflict with the Celestial Charm Sect, she decided to frame him for the murders.

She didn't attack Chu Liang because she needed a scapegoat to divert the Imperial Supervisory Bureau's attention and absolve herself of suspicion. Since Chu Liang had been near the crime scenes twice, he became the perfect target.

This aligned with the Celestial Charm Sect's usual methods—they preferred to sow discord between Mount Shu and the Imperial Supervisory Bureau rather than killing a young disciple.

If the plot succeeded, the Imperial Supervisory Bureau would be pressured to take action against Chu Liang, while the Mount Shu Sect would be compelled to protect him. Regardless of the case's outcome, conflict between the two factions would be inevitable.

In their plan, if things escalated, the Mount Shu Sect might even attempt to break into the Imperial Supervisory Bureau to rescue Chu Liang. As for Di Nufeng's plan to raid the capital of Yu at night, even the Celestial Charm Sect hadn't dared to envision such a spectacle.

While the Imperial Supervisory Bureau had their attention on the Myriad Poison Mountain, they secretly transferred all the Potion Jar Kids to the capital of Yu, planning to strike a devastating blow on the day of the captive presentation ceremony.

They even tampered with the bone teeth used in the Roupu Kingdom's ceremonial offerings. Typically, captives entering the imperial city would undergo thorough inspections. If they showed any signs of poisoning, they would not be allowed to even step into the main hall.

However, the couple from the Celestial Charm Sect and Master Song coated the bone teeth with the Walking Jiangshi Poison, ensuring that the captives were only poisoned during the ceremony, with the effects appearing later at the banquet. This allowed them to carry out their scheme undetected, plunging the palace into chaos.

The plan was meticulously crafted, but unfortunately for them, the person that Xiao Wuyan saw happened to be Chu Liang. Sending him to the Imperial Supervisory Bureau might be the decision that Xiao Wuyan would regret making the most.

With Jiang Yuebai at the Myriad Poison Mountain and Chu Liang in the Imperial Supervisory Bureau, it could be said that the Celestial Charm Sect's evil plan was completely foiled, thanks to the two of them.

...

After reviewing the entire plot, Ji Zidian couldn't help but feel a sense of dread as he remarked, "Fortunately, you were the one who was framed and it was you who came here. Had it been someone else, the capital of Yu would likely have plunged into chaos."

"I believe that even without my help, the Imperial Supervisory Commissioner would have found a way to quell the unrest," Chu Liang replied with a smile.

He didn't believe the success was solely his; at the very least, the Imperial Supervisory Bureau had mobilized immediately at his warning, demonstrating their strict vigilance during large-scale celebrations.

"But he wouldn't have been able to treat the Walking Jiangshi Poison. At the very least, those thousands of citizens would have surely died," Ji Zidian said with a smile. "Oh, by the way, many people have already written thank-you letters to you, and some have even sent banners."

Some of those saved early had recovered quickly after detoxification and had already prepared their thanks for Chu Liang, sending them to the Imperial Supervisory Bureau. However, Chu Liang had been busy, and the bureau hadn't yet passed them along.

At Ji Zidian's call, the staff of the Imperial Supervisory Bureau promptly brought over a stack of thank-you letters and several banners.

Chu Liang smiled as he unfurled them, revealing golden characters embroidered on the red banners.

"Skillful Hands and Benevolent Whip..."

"The Divine Whip that Clears All Meridians and the Sacred Hands Moving with the Spring Breeze..."

"Thanks to the Divine Whip of the Young Hero from Mount Shu, My Wife Has Found Her Smile Again..."

Chu Liang's smile gradually faded as he found the words somewhat odd.

Wouldn't it have been better if they had just given some money instead? Real silver or gold, regardless of the amount, would have made much more sense, he thought.

"You can hang these on your wall at home to let people know of the heroic deeds of the Young Hero With the Divine Whip," Ji Zidian said as he laughed heartily.

The smile didn't disappear; it simply shifted from Chu Liang's face to Ji Zidian's, who now beamed with amusement.

"Heh." Chu Liang forced a smile. No, thanks. I fear I'll never be able to hold my head up for the rest of my life...

As they packed away the banners and letters, Ji Zidian remarked, "It seems you and your teacher are the true nemesis of the Celestial Charm Sect. The imperial court has hunted them for years with little success; in the past sixty years, they've only managed to slay a few. Last time, your teacher struck one down, and now, thanks to you, we've captured another. You need to be cautious. There's no telling if they will come after you."

"I'll be careful," Chu Liang responded with a nod.

The imperial court's current failure to hunt down the members of the Celestial Charm Sect was largely due to the brutal chaos that occurred eighty years ago. Many members of the sect were killed during that turmoil, forcing the Celestial Charm Sect to maintain a low profile for decades, which made it difficult for the imperial court to capture them.

Recently, however, their activities had resurfaced with alarming frequency. Whether they had regained enough strength or were simply exploiting the turmoil across the land of the nine provinces remained unclear.

With Xiao Wuyan now imprisoned in the Celestial Northern Prison, there was hope that her interrogation might yield some valuable information.

In the capital of Yu, prisons lay in all four directions, but the most renowned was the Celestial Northern Prison, known for holding the Eminent Ones.

In a world where individuals held great power, the importance of secure prisons could not be overstated. Without proper fortifications, they could easily be breached, much like the jail in the City Supervisory Division where Chu Liang had once been held.

Compared to the prisons across the land of the nine provinces and four seas, the Celestial Northern Prison was the most fortified. It was guarded by the Guardian Ruler of the Celestial Northern Prison and a Master of the Heavenly Origin from the Imperial Supervisory Bureau.

Both were eighth-realm cultivators, capable of ensuring absolute security.

As the two were chatting, someone suddenly approached and called out, "Young Hero Chu, an imperial decree has arrived... you and your teacher are being summoned to the imperial palace."