Xie Lian shot to his feet. "The Brocade Immortal?!"
Naturally, the silhouette didn't respond. It also did not move, standing there motionless.
Xie Lian set a hand on the other two's shoulders to pin them where they were. "Don't move," he whispered.
A night breeze blew by moments later, and that man's silhouette seemed to sigh, then dispersed with the wind. Xie Lian abruptly stood. Then, a knock sounded from the door of the dyehouse. All three of them looked toward it.
"Who is it?" Xie Lian raised his voice to ask.
A man's voice answered from outside. "Your Highness, it's me."
Xie Lian walked over to open the door, and on the other side was a man with bright, proper features and an upstanding divine form. He entered with his hands clasped behind him.
Xie Lian was a little stunned. "Ling Wen, why did you come in person?"
Ling Wen fixed his sleeves. "Since I heard Your Highness say things were difficult, I figured typical heavenly officials wouldn't be able to assist, so I've come to see what's going on for myself. Greetings, Your Highness Qi Ying. Why are you sitting on the ground? What's wrong? What's with that look?"
It was Ling Wen in male form. Xie Lian walked to the cloth curtain and flipped it open. Sure enough, there was nothing behind it. He turned to address Ling Wen once more.
"The Brocade Immortal showed itself."
"What?" Ling Wen replied in amazement.
"It must have been it. I'm quite sure," Xie Lian said. "It was a young man, very tall—maybe seven centimeters taller than me. Judging by his physical structure, he must be skilled in martial arts."
Ling Wen was somewhat doubtful. "Your Highness, are you sure? We've never had word that the Brocade Immortal showed itself to anyone in the past few centuries. Besides, didn't you say that none of these ninety-eight ghost robes were the real thing? Could someone be playing a trick?"
"I'm afraid that's not possible," Xie Lian replied. "After that wave of agitation was over, we shut the door and windows and set an array to prevent ghost robes from sneaking out and harassing mortals. Things inside couldn't get out, and things outside couldn't come in. There are only the three of us here; who among us would play tricks?"
After mulling it over for a moment, Ling Wen said, "Then perhaps the real thing encountered some special circumstance…or maybe what you saw was a vengeful spirit possessing one of the ghost robes?"
Lang Ying and Quan Yizhen were both crouched on the ground, staring blankly and daydreaming, while Xie Lian and Ling Wen stood with their arms crossed, assuming the stance of adults as they engaged in serious discussion.
In the end, Ling Wen suggested, "Why don't I take these ghost robes to the Palace of Ling Wen and have my people examine them? If they don't find anything, we can make inquiries at the next meeting. I'm sure someone in the Upper Court is an expert."
Giving the idea some thought, Xie Lian nodded. "That's probably a good idea. But this mission was assigned to us, so I want to be a little more thorough. Since the real Brocade Immortal is mixed into the pile, let me think up some methods and give identifying it another shot. If I haven't managed any progress by tomorrow, I'll hand the ninety-eight ghost robes over to you."
After all, this case wasn't under the jurisdiction of the Palace of Ling Wen.
"There's no need for Your Highness to be so polite," Ling Wen said. "Oh, and if you'll be sending them over tomorrow, it will be one hundred and one pieces, correct?"
Xie Lian was puzzled. "Why are there suddenly three more?" Then it dawned on him. "You're suspicious of the robes we're wearing right now?"
"It's not impossible," Ling Wen noted.
Xie Lian's cultivation robes were so worn that they were fraying at the edges, and he lifted the corner of one sleeve to demonstrate. "I've worn this robe for several years now; it definitely doesn't have issues. I recently purchased the one Lang Ying is wearing right now, but he didn't obey my commands, so it also shouldn't be a problem."
He had told Lang Ying not to do housework, but Lang Ying still chopped wood. He had told him to stay home like a good boy, but Lang Ying still came along.
However, Ling Wen shook his head. "That's not what I mean. Your Highness, you might not be aware of this, but the evil qi on the Brocade Immortal is strong. It will pass on to other normal articles of clothing nearby. So don't wear the clothes you have on anymore, just to be safe. Get rid of them."
Hearing this, Xie Lian quickly went over and started to peel both Lang Ying and Quan Yizhen out of their outer robes.
"Don't wear this anymore, don't wear this. T ake it off, take it all off. I'll pack up the clothes and bring them to the Palace of Ling Wen tomorrow."
"I'll send people to come pick them up," Ling Wen offered.
"No need, no need," Xie Lian said. "It's already embarrassing enough to trouble you like this every time without you personally making a trip on top of that. Your palace is busy—I can handle this myself."
The next day, Xie Lian painstakingly packed the huge piles of clothes and carried the large bundles up to the Heavenly Capital by himself.
When he arrived, it seemed that Ling Wen had been waiting for him in her palace for a long time. Her palace wasn't as hustling and bustling as usual today, packed with gods flowing in and out. Xie Lian untied the large bundles, and the brightly colored ghost robes burst out of their wrappings, spilling onto the floor and covering the ground. He casually wiped away the sweat on his forehead as Ling Wen strolled over.
"Was your investigation fruitful?"
"Much ashamed, it's been fruitless," Xie Lian sighed, sounding resigned. "I apologize in advance. I don't have any helping hands, so unfortunately things are a bit scattered.
After all the chaos yesterday, I don't know if I brought all of the robes. I keep feeling like I'm missing one or two pieces, but I'm not sure."
"That's not an issue," Ling Wen said. Then she looked down and made a rough count. "There are indeed a few pieces missing. Your Highness, I don't think I see the robe that the little ghost next to you was wearing."
Xie Lian tapped his palm with his fist. "Ah, you're right! I remember now. Lang Ying has already gotten used to wearing it, and I forgot to collect it. I'll go grab it right now."
Ling Wen chuckled. "No rush. T ake care, Your Highness."
However, Xie Lian didn't move to leave—he instead remained planted in place, his expression growing solemn.
Ling Wen was about to summon her subordinate heavenly officials to collect the ghost robes, but she was puzzled when she turned and saw that he was still there. It was just the two of them in the hall.
"Your Highness, is there something else?"
Xie Lian watched her with a complicated expression.
"No, nothing. It's just that I wonder…if I did bring you the real Brocade Immortal, would you hide it away if I took my eyes off you?"
"..." Ling Wen's smile receded, but she still was extremely polite as she asked, "Your Highness?"
Xie Lian watched her mildly. "I've had an inkling from the very beginning."
Ling Wen remained at ease. "What of?"
"Most people—or ordinary nefarious creatures—wouldn't dare break into a T emple of Divine Might. Not many individuals aside from Jun Wu himself are familiar enough with the layout of them to steal objects under such heavy lockdown, let alone escape capture. I'm afraid that Ling Wen-zhenjun is the only other one who would know her way around so well."
After all, the Palace of Ling Wen roamed every other god's palaces each and every day. It was more than familiar with everyone's domains.
Ling Wen grinned. "Your Highness, your reasoning is a little too simplistic. 'The person with the easiest access is the most suspicious.' Based on that line of thinking, isn't it more likely that the Heavenly Emperor robbed himself?"
Xie Lian nodded. "I must admit, you're not wrong. But what made me start to suspect you was the Half-Maquillage Woman."
"What about the Half-Maquillage Woman?" Ling Wen asked.
"She had the fake Brocade Immortal in her possession and just happened to come to my door," Xie Lian replied.
"How could such a huge coincidence happen? Besides, she'd practically written 'suspicious' on her face; like she was scared I wouldn't immediately find her dubious. Her intent was too obvious."
"Oh? What intent?"
"Didn't she already say it herself?" Xie Lian said.
"'Exchange old for new.' What she wanted was the old clothes in my Puqi Shrine!"
When the Brocade Immortal was stolen, the Palace of Divine Might found out extremely quickly and reacted equally fast. An investigation started the moment it was stolen.
Therefore, the thief might not dare keep it in their own possession and would instead hide it away. But where would be the best hiding place?
Hide a leaf in a forest.
If Xie Lian wanted to hide the Brocade Immortal, he would turn it into an extremely inconspicuous and normal-looking hemp robe and toss it into the markets of the Mortal Realm, then keep an eye on it from afar. Normally, no one would want to buy such a coarsely made robe. But the life Xie Lian led couldn't be called normal. He had been wearing the same frayed cultivation robe for the past several years; he could only afford such clothing with the money he had. As long as clothing was clean and kept him warm, that was all he asked for, and he wasn't picky. In addition, he was the kind of person who possessed the incredible ability to pick out the most dangerous article of clothing out of countless other pieces in the big discount bin. And it was in this fashion, in self-congratulatory cheer at finding such a major discount, that he bought and brought home the legendary Brocade Immortal.
"Your Highness, your accusation is quite undue," Ling Wen said. "You are from a martial god background, after all.
You would subdue a Half-Maquillage Woman in no time if she approached your door. She wouldn't be able to take any robes away, old or new."
"She certainly wouldn't, but who says she had to? How would she have been dealt with if this unexpected turn of events hadn't happened?" Xie Lian said.
If Xie Lian had assumed the Half-Maquillage Woman had the real Brocade Immortal, then he would have surely reported it to Ling Wen, and Ling Wen would've most likely descended personally. And, like she had the day before, she would've probably told Xie Lian that all the clothes needed to be brought back to her palace to be assessed just to be safe.
It was too bad that Quan Yizhen was there at the time.
Ling Wen couldn't have expected that he'd be so knowledgeable after having only worn the Brocade Immortal once, and that he could correctly identify the Brocade Immortal in the Half-Maquillage Woman's hands as a fake.
This meant it was no longer easy nor logical for Ling Wen to whisk away all the clothes at Puqi Shrine.
All of Xie Lian's information was provided by Ling Wen.
She could also openly make inquiries and keep constant track of Xie Lian's progress. When the Half-Maquillage Woman was exposed, Ling Wen immediately sent Xie Lian new communication through the array that Ghost City was distributing counterfeits that had to be managed. She had wasted no time in throwing new missions at him, giving him little time to think too deeply about anything questionable with her requests.
"I don't know if you were the one who distributed the counterfeits, but it was indeed you who provided me with intel. You probably wanted to draw me away from Puqi Shrine before coming for Lang Ying," Xie Lian said.
But Lang Ying had tagged along with him.
"I don't know if you anticipated that the Brocade Immortal would show himself so suddenly, but you have no trouble improvising."
There were so many ghost robes with authenticity unknown. A chance would surely arise to slip the real Brocade Immortal away amidst the chaos. And when the Brocade Immortal showed himself, Ling Wen could also use that as an excuse to personally and openly confiscate all clothing on-site. As for how things would be assessed, how the real thing would be identified, and the explanation for that silhouette— that would all be on Ling Wen's word.
Having listened to that point, Ling Wen gestured for him to pause. "Your Highness, please stop right there. So you believe that—Lang Ying, that's his name, right? You think that the robe he was wearing is the Brocade Immortal? Don't forget, he didn't obey your orders when he put it on. Am I wrong? You said so yourself. You have to know that the Brocade Immortal is extremely powerful. Even a Ghost King would not be able to resist a direct order if he wore it."
"You also said that it 'must've encountered some special circumstance,'" Xie Lian replied. "As for what that could be, I'm sure you know better than I do. I hope you can answer the question."
Ling Wen frowned slightly and folded her hands behind her. "Your Highness, does this mean you have deemed me the thief?" she asked softly. "Pardon my bluntness, but this makes me somewhat…displeased."
Xie Lian inclined his head. "I apologize."
"Apology accepted," Ling Wen said. "However, Your Highness, as long as you have the evidence, you may make your adamant accusations. But this is nothing but speculation."
"I didn't have any evidence before today," Xie Lian replied slowly. "In fact, I didn't have anything to go on at all before I stepped into the Palace of Ling Wen. But I've gotten it during this conversation."
Ling Wen gestured an invitation for him to proceed.
"Please."
"The evidence is this: You never bothered to count the exact number of ghost robes," Xie Lian stated.
Ling Wen's expression barely changed aside from the slight stiffening of her brows.
"The number of ghost robes I brought was indeed lacking, but there wasn't just a single robe missing," Xie Lian continued. "In fact, I only brought eighty-eight pieces—a deficit of ten!
"I kept every piece of clothing I considered suspicious away from you. You never mentioned that the count was off, but with one look you noticed that the one Lang Ying was wearing wasn't here. So, pray tell, how did you know that particular one was missing?"
Ling Wen raised her hand. "Please wait."
She unhurriedly recounted the ghost robes and discovered that there were indeed eighty-eight pieces of clothing. Maintaining her impassive tone, she replied, "I suppose you can say that no one is perfect and something will always be overlooked."
"Very well," Xie Lian said. "Since you've counted seriously this time and have looked over every single piece, then let me ask whether you noticed this: the robe Lang Ying wore yesterday is among these eighty-eight ghost robes!"
"Your Highness, what are you implying?" Ling Wen asked.
Xie Lian crouched and pulled a robe from the pile of random clothing, shaking it open. It was a plain white hemp robe.
"The one Lang Ying wore yesterday is obviously here.
Why didn't you notice it when you were counting?"
"Your Highness should also know that there's nothing special about that hemp robe. You can't blame me for not recognizing it at a glance," Ling Wen replied.
"It really is nothing to write home about," Xie Lian agreed. "So then, as Ling Wen-zhenjun is so competent and reliable, so hardworking and cautious, why would you so rashly declare that such an inconspicuous robe was missing when you hadn't fully counted?"
Ling Wen's smile did not falter. "There are too many robes; my eyes glazed over. The scrolls on my desk are piled high as mountains, and my mind blanks at the sight of them."
"Your eyes didn't glaze over, it's the opposite," Xie Lian said. "Your eyes are too sharp. Let me tell you something else —I didn't actually bring the robe Lang Ying wore yesterday.
The one in my hands right now is a replica of the original. I was careful with the details. How were you able to tell with just one look that the real one Lang Ying wore isn't here?"
Ling Wen was baffled. "Fake or not, either way, I didn't see it. Your Highness, have you worked on so many cases that you're constantly overthinking things? Why would you spend so much effort creating a replica?"
Xie Lian could tell that she was dodging the question.
"I'm not done yet. I'll tell you one last thing." He lifted the white hemp robe and said softly, "...This hemp robe was just a random one I pulled from the pile. That 'replica based on the original,' 'careful with the details' was just nonsense I made up. As you said, why would I waste my time making a replica? You've been tricked; this one isn't even the same color as the robe Lang Ying wore yesterday. Did you not think anything was off when I questioned you with it as evidence?"
"..."
Xie Lian stared at Ling Wen with intent. "Ling Wen, right now, I only need you to answer a very simple question: what color was the robe Lang Ying wore yesterday?"
Ling Wen didn't answer immediately. She slowly raised her eyelashes.
The white hemp robe fell to the ground.
"You are the esteemed top civil god, and countless scrolls detailing the matters of the Upper Court pass through your hands," Xie Lian said. "Your memory shouldn't be this bad. Why can't you even recall the color of the robe Lang Ying wore yesterday?
"You can't answer because you're guarding against my potential trickery. You daren't answer because you never knew what color it was in the first place—because yesterday, what you saw him wearing was simply a headless, sleeveless, ragged cloth sack!"
He made sure she could hear every word in his accusation clearly. "The Brocade Immortal takes on thousands of forms, but that's nothing more than an illusion.
But no matter how powerful the illusion is, it will always be ineffective on one individual—the one who created it!
"No matter what shape it takes, it will always show its true form to its creator. You glanced through these eighty-eight ghost robes and didn't see a strange, headless, sleeveless cloth sack. Of course you knew at once that the Brocade Immortal wasn't in the pile!"