"My theory is that scholar He has the given name 'Xuan,'" Xie Lian continued, "and that his birth details are exactly the same as My Lord's."
It was no easy task to deceive the heavens and commit such fraud. And furthermore, not just any target would do— there were certain requirements that needed to be met.
From the three questions the Reverend of Empty Words had asked when it encountered the young Shi Qingxuan in the woods, it was clear that it knew two things: first, that its prey's name contained the word "Xuan," and second, its prey's birth details. However, it couldn't recognize its prey's face and had needed Shi Qingxuan to approach for it to see.
The Reverend probably knew nothing besides those two facts, thanks to the Shi family's speedy response to the original incident.
In order for someone to take Shi Qingxuan's place and take on his misfortunes, two things had to be true. The target had to be male and share the same birth details—the same year, same month, same day, same time—and their name had to contain the word "Xuan."
How difficult it must have been to find a scapegoat! The world is vast, but even if Shi Wudu searched every corner of it, he might not have found a single individual who satisfied the conditions to the letter. Using the power and influence of his great Water Master status, he cast the net wide and actually landed a perfect catch.
Furthermore, it was one who possessed the potential to ascend, and who was about to go through his first Heavenly Tribulation!
How could he let this chance slip the line? This was a convenient shortcut to arduous cultivation. If he let him go, he might not find another opportunity ever again!
At this point, Ming Yi's increasingly dark expression indicated that he had arrived at the same conclusion. Though Shi Qingxuan nodded at first, something seemed to have struck him, and he looked to where Hua Cheng stood leaning against the door. This wasn't something that should be discussed before a ghost, after all. However, Hua Cheng only chuckled and crossed his arms.
"No need to look at me, Lord Wind Master. I'm not the one you should worry about; I have nothing to do with this whole business. Why don't you concern yourself with whether anyone else in the Upper Court has caught wind of your brother's dirty little secret?"
"You really do have spies in the heavens," Ming Yi accused darkly.
"Didn't you already know that?" Hua Cheng replied lazily.
Lord Earth Master was originally sent to Ghost City to investigate that very topic, but he came back empty-handed after over a decade of undercover work. It seemed the spy was planted deep, and their identity was never uncovered.
Hua Cheng said this business had nothing to do with him, so naturally Xie Lian believed him and didn't think any more of it. But Hua Cheng had also mentioned that Shi Qingxuan should instead worry about others in the Upper Court, which reminded Xie Lian of something else.
"Lord Wind Master, why did you open the door and disrupt the protection array that night at the T errace of Cascading Wine? Did someone call out to you? Who was it?"
"Yeah," Shi Qingxuan replied. "It was the Reverend of Empty Words. It said…" Xie Lian crossed his hands into his sleeves. "How did it know your verbal password?"
"..." Ming Yi made an annoyed face. "Isn't it because he's always prancing around trying to make friends? He yaps nonstop whether others are free or not! He talks too much!"
Shi Qingxuan was aggrieved. "Ming-xiong, you can't say it like that. Everyone who chats with me is an Upper Court official! I've never given anything personal to that creature!"
"If the Reverend of Empty Words could so easily uncover Lord Water Master's…secret…after returning from its long dormancy, then getting Lord Wind Master's verbal password wouldn't have been difficult either," Xie Lian said. "Someone must've leaked your verbal password. It's worth investigating, whether it was intentional or not."
"So? Did you see what it looked like? What did it do after calling you out?" Ming Yi asked.
"..." Shi Qingxuan's head seemed to start throbbing. "I don't know what it looks like. It cast a spell; I couldn't see clearly."
This vague answer didn't elaborate on what he did see.
Ming Yi's tone was becoming sullener by the minute. Xie Lian considered the possibility that it had emulated some gory scene from the Bloody Fire Social, which was certainly difficult to describe. A moment later, Shi Qingxuan sighed.
"I'm the useless one. If I could've ascended on my own, none of this would have happened."
Shi Qingxuan's original fate was probably quite good by mortal standards, otherwise the Reverend of Empty Words wouldn't have set its sights on him. Even so, ascension still might have been a long way away. Those who could ascend were protected by spiritual auras, and inhuman creatures had a hard time doing anything to them. And what nefarious creature would risk messing with a future heavenly official?
A person's ability to ascend didn't depend on how smart they were. Intelligence and effort might not matter at all, and all the rare treasures and devices in the world certainly wouldn't increase one's chances. Sometimes, it was just that vexing—ten years of study couldn't compare to natural wit and talent, and a century of bloody struggle couldn't compare to a moment's enlightenment.
If it wasn't written in fate, then it wasn't written in fate.
The Water Master could invest all the power and treasure he wanted in his younger brother, but without a fate to match, Shi Qingxuan would remain in the Middle Court as nothing more than the bellwether of the lower ranked officials. It had only been possible for him to reach such a glorious position because his older brother robbed another of what was originally theirs and secured it for him instead. If he had even a shred of conscience or pride, it wasn't hard to imagine how he must feel after having learned the truth.
If that exchange of fates had never happened, the man who should have ascended would surely be supremely glorious today.
Having thought this far, something struck Xie Lian.
"No," he said. "Lord Wind Master, the one who called to you wasn't the Reverend of Empty Words."
Shi Qingxuan raised his bowed head. "Huh? The voice definitely was; I couldn't have mistaken it."
"No, no. While that was its voice, it doesn't mean it was the same body," Xie Lian said. "Everyone, do you remember?
Each of the Reverend of Empty Words' targets died by way of suicide…except for one."
After a pause, he continued, "How did Scholar He die?
How was it portrayed at the Bloody Fire Social? Was it suicide?"
Shi Qingxuan's eyes grew wide. "It wasn't suicide. It was…" "Exhaustion," Ming Yi answered.
"That's right!" Xie Lian exclaimed. "Even though he was hounded by misfortune, never once did Scholar He think of killing himself.
"Think about it. He had abnormally strong determination," Xie Lian continued somberly. "He was ground down by so much unfairness, so much injustice. A typical person would've given up or ended everything. Yet he always fought back; he never yielded. Perhaps, once the Reverend of Empty Words found him, it never managed to suck out what it wanted: fear. The cause of his death wasn't suicide due to fear and despair. When the Reverend of Empty Words clung to him, it didn't bite down on sweet fruit but rather an iron plate. In the end, it broke its teeth and lost thoroughly."
Shi Qingxuan shook his head as he listened. He sighed in earnest. "...I really am nothing compared to that man."
"He died filled with murderous intent and resentment," Xie Lian pointed out. "I don't think a soul hammered into shape by such means would easily rest in peace. Instead, he'd thirst for revenge.
"So, Lord Wind Master, I believe the current 'Reverend of Empty Words' is quite possibly not the same one that hunted you from birth. Instead, it's Scholar He himself—or rather, He Xuan—who stubbornly fought till the end, then bit back at the Reverend."
Shi Qingxuan and Ming Yi were both left stupefied by his claim.
"Ghosts devouring ghosts," Hua Cheng added coolly.
When humans devour humans, they fill their stomachs at most. When ghosts devour ghosts, with the right method, the devourer can absorb the devoured's powers for their own use.
"This could also explain why the 'Reverend of Empty Words' knew so many of the details of this whole affair," Xie Lian said. "A monster like that should be simpleminded and strange in its logic. It shouldn't be so intelligent. However, the one that's currently pursuing you two is a…" He wanted to say "hybrid," but it didn't feel accurate.
"Enhanced entity," Hua Cheng offered.
"Right," Xie Lian said. "After Scholar He devoured the Reverend of Empty Words, his consciousness took complete control. Right now, he is not only intelligent, but he's also able to curse. And he bears endless resentment toward you and your brother."
This explained why it didn't send a death curse directly through Shi Qingxuan's private spiritual communication array, despite knowing his verbal password. Instead, it tightened the snare gradually—it forced Shi Qingxuan to plug his own ears, shut his own eyes, and lock himself in an empty room. Like a cat that caught a mouse, it wouldn't kill him quickly. It would play and play until the mouse died of its own terror.
Moments later, Ming Yi said, "Now that it's come to this, what will you do?"
Everyone looked at Shi Qingxuan, whose hair was a frightful mess from his unconscious head-scratching.
"...Well, don't look at me!" he responded bemusedly.
"I...I don't know what to do either! I just…I just don't know how to look at my brother right now…" They were brothers by blood, after all, and Shi Wudu had committed this heinous crime and harmed the life of another for Shi Qingxuan's sake. It was understandable that he didn't know what to do.
"But I must beg everyone here to keep this a secret!
Don't say anything yet! Just for now. Only for now," Shi Qingxuan pleaded. "Give me time to think properly…about what is to be done. Even though I've been thinking for days now and still came up empty… Anyway, let me cool my head first…" T oward the end he was rambling, and his eyes were unfocused.
Shi Wudu kept claiming that Shi Qingxuan needed to be treated for his "illness," but what illness was there to treat? It was simply that he had fallen from divine grace and had transformed back into a mortal. That "illness" could only be cured if his fate was changed again and he ascended once more. It'd be difficult to find another qualified candidate, but who knew what other evil spell Shi Wudu would come up with? No wonder Shi Qingxuan was so desperate to flee and kept ranting about becoming mortal and abandoning his godhood.
As for that error-filled scroll about the Reverend of Empty Words, no doubt it was made to mislead Shi Qingxuan and ensure he didn't discover the truth. While its author could have been either Shi Wudu or Ling Wen, Shi Wudu would have needed help from the Palace of Ling Wen at the start to cast the net for a qualifying candidate. Did Ling Wen really know nothing of this? If a single heavenly official had ascended this way, could there perhaps be a second, or a third, or even more who ascended using the same method?
If that were the case, it'd be horrifying; the world would be turned upside down. This incident had to be treated with the utmost gravity. Everyone in the little cottage was filled with gloom and doom, as if a great enemy was about to descend upon them—everyone except Hua Cheng, of course, who had no horse in this race and was visibly enjoying himself.
Just then, there was a sudden commotion outside the cottage. Oxen lowed furiously, and farmers started shouting.
"Stop! Stop!"
"Such murderous intent! What do you want?!"
Xie Lian moved to the door and peeked out through the crack. "It's General Pei."
Pei Ming had just taken a beating from Quan Yizhen, yet he still appeared to be in one piece. There was a leaning stone slab that marked the land's boundary, and Pei Ming seemed rather wary of it, not daring to enter rashly. He remained standing at the boundary marker, sword in hand.
The farmers gripped their pickaxes and sickles, and their faces were written with unwelcoming expressions.
The black ox in the paddy blew a few heavy breaths from its nostrils, then suddenly stood on its hind legs. An instant later, it transformed into a large, strapping man. He was rather handsome and wore a small iron nose ring.
"Well I'll be, is that General Pei?" the ox laughed. "What a rare guest. What winds blew My Lord over today? Lemme say this first: we've got nothing to do with your Little Pei's situation."
Xie Lian looked thoughtful. He'd already had a vague suspicion when he saw the black ox out in the paddies. After all, this was Mount Yulong, the home of the Rain Master, and this very Ox-xiong had lent Xie Lian the Rain Master Hat to create rain long ago. Centuries had passed, and yet the ox was impressive as always. He still plowed the fields diligently and with great strength.
Shi Qingxuan squeezed over to the crack in the door and explained the sight to Xie Lian. "The ox is from the Rain Master's household. He's a good guy."
Pei Ming had once suffered a loss at the hands of the Rain Master, so for the time being he was maintaining a perfectly polite mien, neither haughty nor humble.
"Please, no need to flatter me. Pei didn't come to seek the Ruler of Yushi. May I inquire if Lord Wind Master has stopped by your esteemed country?"