The next day, Shen Weimu set out for Shangzhou.
An hour before sunset, the carriage entered a dense forest.
The trees were tall and straight, with occasional pine trees scattered among them.
Slanting rays of light filtered through the branches, and a faint pine scent lingered in the humid air.
Not far ahead, a group of men dressed in black stood in rows blocking the road, facing the approaching carriage.
This time, Shen Weimu traveled with two carriages—one carrying people, the other carrying goods—and Kang Anyun accompanied them with twelve mounted guards.
The carriage suddenly came to a halt.
When Wu Qi lifted the carriage curtain, Shen Weimu was busily munching on Amber Cake made by Liu Wuyou.
Seeing the imposing scene outside, Liu Wuyou instantly turned pale with fright.
A dark mass of nearly a hundred men!
They were either assassins or bandits looking to rob the road!
Their escort had only twelve men—no match at all.
Liu Wuyou nervously swallowed and clutched the plate tightly.
Shen Weimu lifted his eyelids, glanced at the men outside, unwilling to put down the half-eaten piece of Amber Cake, and started to get off the carriage while still eating.
“Master, don’t go!”
Liu Wuyou pleaded anxiously.
She worried Shen Weimu would underestimate the situation, relying too much on his status as Jingzhaoyin’s Son, thinking the others wouldn’t dare make a move.
The master was young and pure of heart; how could he understand these were desperate men capable of anything?
But it was too late.
Shen Weimu had already jumped off the carriage.
He stepped into the center of the road.
Suddenly—
All the men in black knelt down in unison.
They shouted in unison,
“Your humble servants respectfully send off the Cult Leader! Wishing the Cult Leader a safe journey, smooth sailing, and may every place you go become a land of bliss! We await your return, willing to spill our blood and die protecting the Qingyue Cult!”
Clatter!
The plate in Liu Wuyou’s hand fell, her mind buzzing.
Qingyue Cult… Cult Leader?
So Shen Xiaogongzi was actually the Cult Leader of the Qingyue Cult—the Demon Cult Overlord who’d stopped three-year-old children from crying!
But the title of Demon Cult Overlord had spread for over twenty years, and Shen Xiaogongzi was still under twenty years old…
Shen Weimu lowered his eyes regretfully.
Oh, these are his men?
No need to fight then.
Silently, Shen Weimu popped the pieces of Amber Cake, each about the size of a fish egg, into his mouth.
“Cult Leader, this is a farewell gift respectfully presented by the Eight Elders.”
The black-clad leader raised a tray covered with red cloth and brought it before Shen Weimu.
“Spare!”
“Withdraw!”
Shen Weimu did not move.
Kang Anyun lifted the red cloth.
Ten little fingers of varying thickness lay neatly arranged on the tray.
The stumps were cut cleanly and evenly at the base—cut after death.
In other words, these ten little fingers belonged to ten dead men.
“These are the fingers of the top twenty assassins from the Shadow Pavilion. The Elders said these small gifts are only the beginning. Anyone who dares plot against the Cult Leader shall be executed without mercy!”
“Plot against the Cult Leader—death without pardon!”
“Plot against the Cult Leader—death without pardon!”
“Plot against the Cult Leader—death without pardon!”
The men in black shouted again in unison.
Shen Weimu cleared his throat lightly.
The leader seemed to understand that this cough was a sign of the Cult Leader’s impatience and dislike of noise.
He immediately cupped his fists and quickly led his men to take their leave.
The sound of hooves echoed, dust rose and settled, and silence returned once more.
Shen Weimu glanced at Kang Anyun holding the “finger tray.”
His gaze was indifferent but gave off an invisible oppressive pressure.
Kang Anyun hurriedly knelt down to apologize,
“It was I who discovered Qingqiu’s identity and reported it to the Eight Elders. Master, you have been gravely injured and coughing blood these past days. I feared that if you learned of Qingqiu’s betrayal, you might injure yourself further in anger. I acted without your permission and failed to report it—please punish me!”
The pine scent drifted in from the forest as the leaves rustled.
Kang Anyun broke out in cold sweat, kneeling, suffocated by the long silence.
Change.
“Who are the Eight Elders?”
The young man’s voice was like clear spring water—pleasant to the ear, impossible to tell if angry or not.
In this tense situation, the more composed he sounded, the more terrifying it became.
“Master, I truly do not know who the Eight Elders are. Except for Qingqiu’s affair, I have never hidden anything from you.”
Kang Anyun answered this way but wondered why the master suddenly asked this question again.
Apparently, the original master had also asked the same question before.
How interesting.
As Cult Leader, he didn’t even know the identities of the Elders.
So now, he was just a “lucky” figurehead bearing the name of Qingyue Cult’s Cult Leader but wielding no real power.
“They are my subordinates,”
Shen Weimu added,
“and you have overstepped.”
So the master’s question was meant this way; he had misunderstood.
Kang Anyun sincerely kowtowed, willing to accept punishment.
“I swear I will never commit such a fault again. Since serving the master, I recognize no other but you as my lord and swear to die for you.”
Silence returned once more.
BEK…
At this moment, a man in blue rode by.
Normally, anyone passing here and suddenly seeing a group of people standing by the road would glance over out of curiosity.
But this man in blue did not.
His horse was unhurried, not seeming to be in a rush, and yet he showed no interest in the scene beside the road.
He gently swayed his head, moving forward leisurely and calmly.
Only after the hoofbeats faded did Shen Weimu curl his lips into a gentle smile and say softly to Kang Anyun,
“Fine, I’ll forgive you this once.”
The first two words were spoken so lightly only Kang Anyun standing near heard them.
The others only thought their master had generously forgiven Kang Anyun after some consideration and happily moved on.
No one noticed Kang Anyun’s expression had grown even more fearful.
Kang Anyun secretly breathed several sighs of relief before calming down.
No one knew how terrifying the moment had been when the master softly uttered the word “only,” like a venomous snake controlling his lifeline, hissing dangerously at him.
[AJ—Homicide detected, gossip interface activated!]
[At the northern border of the capital’s outskirts lies a strange Self-slaughter Forest. Since the beginning of this month, people have been continuously rushing there to commit suicide.]
[Gossip clue one: Duan Gu, a candidate from Shangzhou, entered the capital in February this spring preparing for the autumn exam. He fell in love at first sight with Dongling, the top courtesan of Hongxiu Pavilion, and they promised to spend their lives together. After more than a month, Duan Gu spent all his money and arranged to elope with Dongling last night. The beauty never came; instead, he met his death.]
[Gossip clue two: Dongling does not like men.]
[Gossip clue three: The Dali Temple Scribe Su Nan is a woman.]
[Gossip clue four: Jingzhaofu Constable Qian Zhiyong loves growing mushrooms, Dali Temple Scribe Su Nan loves growing mushrooms, Hongxiu Pavilion’s boss Li Hongxiu loves growing mushrooms… More and more people are getting into mushroom cultivation!]
Shen Weimu:
What the hell is this mushroom growing?
Liu Wuyou poured freshly brewed Longfengtuan Tea into a Yuzhan cup and handed it to Shen Weimu.
He glanced at her casually.
When she first learned of his Cult Leader identity, Liu Wuyou looked very frightened, but now she seemed much calmer.
“I swear to serve the Cult Leader with my life,”
Liu Wuyou immediately pledged her loyalty.
No matter what the world thought of Master Shen, in her eyes, he was a great man—a deity who saved her from suffering.
Shen Weimu raised the cup and smiled faintly, praising,
“You have great potential to become a demon.”
“What?”
Liu Wuyou was a bit confused.
“You have excellent bone structure and potential for martial arts. If you want to learn, you can ask Kang Anyun.”
Liu Wuyou nodded eagerly,
“I want to learn!”
She especially envied experts like Kang Anyun, who could just throw a punch without a word when provoked.
How satisfying that must be.
A breeze blew in, bringing a foul smell through the open carriage window.
“Ugh—what’s that smell?”
Liu Wuyou frowned, covering her nose.
Shen Weimu got off the carriage and followed the stench deeper into the forest.
“Hey, there’s a horse here?”
Wu Qi pointed at a neglected chestnut steed by the roadside.
Though it looked rough, even a poor horse was worth at least ten taels of silver these days.
Who would just throw away such valuable silver by abandoning a horse?
“Master, the sun is about to set. Let’s keep moving—we’ll soon reach Tang County and can stop to rest. Why go into the forest? This place stinks so bad—”
“Ah—”
Liu Wuyou screamed, startling several birds into flight.
Even the brave and skilled Kang Anyun was shocked speechless at the sight before them.
Less than twenty feet ahead, a corpse hung from a tree, swaying gently with the wind.
Looking closer, one corpse after another, and another… countless bodies dangled like salted fish throughout the forest.
The stench came from some severely decomposed bodies.
Several guards couldn’t help but gag.
Liu Wuyou was visibly terrified; her face drained of color and she felt nauseous but bit her lip to hold it back.
Kang Anyun raised his eyebrows, impressed.
“No wonder the master personally chose this man—he adapted so quickly in just one day.”
“That’s him, the man who rode by just now.”
Liu Wuyou pointed north.
Shen Weimu and others looked over to see the man in blue hanging from a pine tree.
Two nooses of hemp rope, about the thickness of a thumb, were wrapped twice around his neck; the other end tied to a sturdy pine branch.
Because the man’s body was pressed close against the tree trunk, only half his back was visible, making him easy to miss at first glance.
Kang Anyun hurried over to confirm and indeed, it was the man they had met on the road.
“He has a mole behind his ear, so I recognized him immediately,”
Liu Wuyou explained.
Kang Anyun cut the hemp ropes with a throwing knife, caught the falling body with one hand, then laid it flat on the ground.
He checked the pulse at the man’s neck, opened his eyes for confirmation, then shook his head.
“The body is still warm, but he’s dead.”
“Search him.”
Kang Anyun found a letter and a jade pendant engraved with the character “Duan” on the man and handed them to Shen Weimu.
After reading the letter, Shen Weimu ordered everyone except Wu Qi to ride ahead to Tang County to report the matter to the authorities.
Once everyone had left, only Shen Weimu and Wu Qi remained by the roadside, waiting quietly.
Shen Weimu leaned against the carriage, casually eating Amber Cake.
Wu Qi stood a little behind and to the side, gripping the sword at his waist tightly, eyes nervously scanning the surroundings.
The setting sun cast a fiery glow as the forest grew darker.
“Giddy-up!”
Hoofbeats approached from the north.
Soon, Song Qiyun, Yuchi Feng, Bai Kaizhi, Lu Yang, and others arrived on horseback and stopped before Shen Weimu.
Song Qiyun dismounted first, eyeing Shen Weimu suspiciously.
“What are you doing here?”
“Song Shaoqing, long time no see. As you can see, I’m the one reporting the case.”
With that, Shen Weimu led them to view the bodies.
Song Qiyun’s group had only six constables with them.
Shen Weimu sighed,
“That’s too few people. They probably won’t finish the investigation.”
“The County Bailiff of Tang County will bring more men shortly.”
After explaining, Song Qiyun decided it was pointless to argue further with Shen Weimu.
“How did you find this place? Did you smell the stench halfway by carriage and deliberately follow it out of curiosity?”
Fortunately for him, Song Qiyun guessed right.
Unfortunately for Shen Weimu, he wasn’t going to tell the truth.
Shen Weimu shook his head innocently, his eyes mournful as they rested on the corpse in blue.
“Of course not. I came looking for my Yibrother, but I was too late.”
“Poor Yibrother, ending up like this for an unfaithful courtesan.”
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