Was the ancient corpse in Yongzhou killed by Arhat Duqing?!
Li Miaozhen and Daoist Jinlian turned their heads in astonishment and looked at Xu Qi’an beside them.
They understood the ancient corpse in the underground palace better than anyone. They knew that the corpse left behind thousands of years ago had recently “met an untimely end”.
But they had never imagined that the corpse’s “death” would actually be connected to Arhat Duqing.
Al-Asura, Zhao Shou, and Sun Xuanji knew little about this matter, so their expressions did not change much. They listened in silence, wanting to know why Xu Qi’an had brought it up.
Inside the prison cell, the lamplight was like a bean flame, casting a dim yellow hue. Arhat Duqing sat cross-legged, answering with silence.
“Monks do not lie, so by staying silent, are you admitting it in another way?” Xu Qi’an smiled.
“Among the beyond-mortal experts in Yongzhou back then, apart from you and the two Vajras, there were only the two Yang Spirits from the Heaven Sect, plus the National Teacher and me. The latter two can now be ruled out, so if it wasn’t you, who else could’ve killed the ancient corpse in Yongzhou?”
At the time, the ancient corpse had been in a sealed state. It wouldn’t have been difficult for a third rank Vajra to kill it, but it would definitely have caused some commotion. Yet when Xu Qi’an returned to the underground tomb, all he saw was the corpse with its intelligence erased, and there were no signs of any fierce battle.
Anyone capable of doing that had to possess crushing superiority in strength. A second rank Arhat fit perfectly.
Li Miaozhen frowned.
“But didn’t you say back then that the owner of the ancient tomb had returned? Also, why would Duqing kill the ancient corpse?”
Lanlian’s enthusiasm for deduction and case-solving had been stirred up.
Everyone turned to look at Xu Qi’an.
Now comes the deduction segment of Silver Gong Xu that everyone is waiting for… Xu Qi’an joked inwardly, then let out a breath and explained in a low voice:
“At first I did think that, which was why I didn’t suspect the Buddhist sect. But if the one who killed the ancient corpse was that tomb’s owner, then at his level, with his cultivation, why didn’t he come straight for me?
“Why did he instead silence the ancient corpse, as if erasing evidence?”
At the time, Xu Qi’an had thought that the owner of the tomb had scruples about the karmic ties on Silver Gong Xu and had therefore not dared act rashly.
That idea had naturally been reasonable. On top of that, his cultivation had still been limited back then, and his greatest enemies had been the Buddhist sect and Xu Pingfeng. So Xu Qi’an had not taken the tomb’s owner too seriously. He had adopted a “we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it” attitude rather than rack his brains trying to hunt down the truth.
“Later, when I went to Heaven Sect to take Miaozhen away, I learned from the Heavenly Venerable that Daoist Venerable’s Human Sect avatar was very likely still alive. At the time, I thought, if Daoist Venerable’s Human Sect avatar hadn’t died, then who was he? And over the endless years, where had he gone?”
“What exactly are you trying to say?” al-Asura frowned.
“Stop being mysterious.”
Xu Qi’an ignored him and chuckled.
“The truth is, we’ve already met Daoist Venerable’s Human Sect avatar.”
Daoist Jinlian’s pupils contracted, and his tone became slightly urgent.
“The owner of the ancient tomb is Daoist Venerable’s Human Sect avatar!”
As soon as those words were spoken, all the beyond-mortal beings present were shocked.
Al-Asura, Sun Xuanji, and Zhao Shou felt as though they had swallowed an enormous piece of gossip and learned an ancient secret.
As for Li Miaozhen, all kinds of details about the tomb flashed through her mind. After Xu Qi’an and the others had left the underground palace, they had described its situation in detail in the Earth Book chat.
Now, comparing the two, the match was astonishingly exact.
Daoist Jinlian sighed.
“I had long found it strange. Since ancient times, those who failed their tribulation had absolutely no chance of surviving. Yet that Human Sect senior not only lived, but also cast off the flesh and gained a new life.
“Looking across all ages, within the Daoist sect, probably only Daoist Venerable could’ve been so astonishingly gifted.”
Xu Qi’an added:
“And the timeline matches as well. Do you remember? Chu Yuanzhen once looked through historical records. Based on the figures’ clothing in the murals, as well as clues from the scale of the sacrifices and the ritual implements, he deduced that it was from at least two thousand years ago, perhaps even earlier.
“And one of the murals recorded that Human Sect senior slaying a giant serpent and being honoured as National Teacher. From that, we can infer that it should’ve been during the era when the descendants of gods and demons roamed rampant.”
Sun Xuanji frowned and coughed hard.
With perfect understanding, Protector Yuan used mind-reading and asked on his behalf:
“But what’s that got to do with the Buddhist sect?”
Xu Qi’an looked around at the group and said:
“Some of you may not know this clearly. That ancient corpse had slumbered in the underground palace for thousands of years, guarding the imperial jade seal that carried fortune, waiting for its master to return. But its master left for thousands of years and never came back.
“It wasn’t until Lina accidentally entered the underground palace that it awoke from its sleep.
“At this point, I don’t need to repeat how important fortune is to Beyond-rank beings. But if it was so important, why did the master of the underground palace never return to take it?”
Asura pondered.
“Perhaps the time hadn’t come yet. Perhaps some accident occurred…”
Xu Qi’an grinned.
“For example, being sealed!”
By the time he said that, everyone present understood. Their eyes widened and their faces were filled with shock.
Xu Qi’an’s meaning was plain. The Buddha was the master of the underground palace, that Human Sect Daoist.
Arhat Duqing’s white brows twitched. His aged, austere face could no longer remain calm, and his eyes carried a trace of bewilderment, and a trace of sudden understanding.
For a long while, he stayed silent, while the oil lamp burned quietly.
Al-Asura let out a sigh-like breath, breaking the silence, and said softly:
“The Daoist Venerable is the Buddha… what evidence do you have?”
If this matter spread, it would certainly cause an uproar across Jiuzhou.
The others said nothing. They were still digesting the news and trying hard to find flaws, hoping to overturn Xu Qi’an’s deduction.
With a matter this big, they had to be one hundred per cent certain. There couldn’t be even the slightest uncertainty.
Zhao Shou, who had not spoken until now, shook his head and said:
“No, that’s not right. If that were true, back then He wouldn’t have needed Shenshu to subdue the Wanyao Kingdom. He could’ve simply infiltrated the Central Plains and retrieved the fortune from the ancient tomb. Taking a step back, even if that portion of fortune wasn’t enough, having it safely in hand would still have been better. If the Buddha was the owner of the underground palace, He had far too many ways to send someone to recover the jade seal.”
Li Miaozhen felt Zhao Shou had a point and frowned.
“But if the Buddha wasn’t the owner of the underground palace, then why would He send Arhat Duqing to kill the ancient corpse?”
Arhat Duqing couldn’t help speaking up:
“This poor monk never admitted it!”
This female Daoist is far too subjective. She’s already decided that he was the murderer who killed the ancient corpse…
Xu Qi’an looked at the white-browed Arhat and smiled.
“Don’t be in such a hurry. I’ll explain it to you bit by bit.”
Then he looked at Zhao Shou and answered his doubt:
“That brings us to the second possibility. The time hadn’t come yet. By now, we can judge that the Beyond-rank beings have the goal of seizing fortune. They may even be fighting for fortune itself. So why the Buddha hid this fortune is easy enough to imagine.”
One of His trump cards kept in reserve… Everyone nodded slightly, accepting Xu Qi’an’s explanation.
“There’s another matter that can serve as evidence. Do you all remember when the Buddhist sect first became intent on converting me into the Buddhist path?” he asked.
“The Buddhist contest!” Li Miaozhen replied without thinking.
“But that was also after I entered the underground palace and obtained the jade seal. From that point on, the Buddhist sect went mad trying to convert me into the Buddhist path. Was it really only because of Mahayana Buddhism?”
Ah, so on the surface it had been for Mahayana Buddhism, but in truth they wanted to reclaim the fortune inside Xu Ningyan… Li Miaozhen pressed her lips together and stole a glance at Xu Qi’an, feeling somewhat impressed.
This man had actually thought so much and considered so much in private.
She had thought that the lustful and flirtatious Silver Gong Xu spent every day only thinking about how to sleep with the Flower Goddess and the National Teacher in ever-changing ways, and Lin’an too.
“But even that still isn’t enough to prove that the Buddha is Daoist Venerable’s Human Sect avatar. It’s only tonight that I gained complete confidence,” Xu Qi’an said.
At this moment, Daoist Jinlian sighed and said:
“You only truly confirmed tonight, after listening to Shenshu finish telling his story, that the Buddha is the Daoist Venerable’s Human Sect avatar, didn’t you?”
Xu Qi’an smiled and nodded.
What does that mean… Everyone was stunned.
But al-Asura’s pupils contracted slightly, and he blurted out:
“One Qi Transforms into Three Purities?!”
He had cultivated this technique himself.
Daoist Jinlian nodded.
“The Buddha’s method of separating Shenshu was exactly the same as the underground palace master’s method of creating the ancient corpse, and these were simplified applications of the spell One Qi Transforms into Three Purities.”
Zhao Shou shook his head as he sighed.
“Amazing, amazing. To reverse-engineer a cultivation system from the Beyond-rank realm, and then create an entirely new path anew. Although it was comparatively simpler, the Daoist Venerable’s talent could well be called unmatched through all ages.”
Next you’re going to say, but even so, he was still suppressed by our Confucian Sage… Xu Qi’an muttered inwardly.
“Cough, cough, cough!”
Sun Xuanji coughed violently, using this to remind Protector Yuan, who had gone completely monkey-brained after hearing so many deep secrets.
He also wanted to take an active part in the brainstorming.
The latter took a deep breath and, with difficulty, read his mind:
“There’s still one thing I don’t understand. What was the purpose of the Daoist Venerable’s Human Sect avatar doing all this?”
In Sun Xuanji’s view, this avatar of the Daoist Venerable’s had been completely unnecessary.
The Daoist Venerable himself was already Beyond-rank, so why go to so much trouble to create another system and cast off his former identity?
Xu Qi’an and Daoist Jinlian exchanged a look. The former smiled and said:
“I have a guess, but I can’t be certain. This is a matter of the Daoist sects, so let’s let Daoist Jinlian explain.”
If it had been a chance to show off like this, Yang Qianhuan would definitely have been hopping up and down with his hand raised, saying:
Let me, let me…
But Daoist Jinlian merely gave a wistful sigh and said slowly:
“Lanlian, do you remember the scene we spoke of before, the one in the mural where he underwent tribulation?”
“Daoist, please call me Miaozhen,” Lady Flying Swallow protested, then replied:
“After that Human Sect Daoist became National Teacher, he usurped the throne and ascended it, gathering fortune in an attempt to overcome the tribulation with its help, but later he failed.”
Daoist Jinlian gave an “Mm” and said:
“Looking at it now, that guess is wrong. Since he was the Daoist Venerable’s Human Sect avatar, then gathering fortune couldn’t possibly have been for overcoming tribulation. He usurped the throne and ascended it for another purpose. However, he later discovered that those who obtained fortune couldn’t attain immortality.
“So he had no choice but to use the heavenly tribulation to kill himself, shedding his original body. Presumably, the fortune was also separated out at that time.”
This… Li Miaozhen was stunned for a moment and found it hard to believe.
“The great Daoist Venerable didn’t know the principle that one with immense fortune can’t attain immortality?”
Zhao Shou, being a scholar, said:
“You can’t look at the ancients through the eyes of modern people. In the Daoist Venerable’s era, the human race had only just begun to rise, and the descendants of gods and demons were wreaking havoc across Jiuzhou. Back then, the land was divided among tribes and many kingdoms. It was simply impossible to gather the vast national fortune that a Central Plains dynasty can today.
“The Daoist Venerable was essentially crossing the river by feeling for the stones. It’s perfectly normal that he didn’t know this law of heaven and earth.”
Li Miaozhen nodded slightly, accepting his explanation, then asked:
“Then what was his purpose in usurping the throne and gathering fortune?”
As soon as she said it, she already knew the answer.
“Was it connected to the gatekeeper?”
In the Daoist Venerable’s later years, he had always been planning and striving for the sake of the gatekeeper. Since that was true of his Heaven and Earth avatar, it must naturally have been true of his Human Sect avatar as well.
“That doesn’t make sense.” al-Asura frowned and looked at Daoist Jinlian.
“Isn’t the gatekeeper connected to the Way of Spirit and Incense, and to the Arcanist system? How has it become tangled up with mortal emperors as well?”
The Daoist Venerable’s Earth Sect avatar had destroyed the Way of Spirit and Incense and seized the Mountain and River God Seals for the sake of the gatekeeper.
And the Arcanist system had been inherited from the Way of Spirit and Incense, while the Jianzheng had also been confirmed to be the gatekeeper.
That the gatekeeper was related to the Arcanist system was an ironclad fact.
Xu Qi’an waved a hand.
“Didn’t we just say it? He took the wrong road. That also explains why he went far away to the Western Regions and founded Buddhism. Perhaps this time, he truly found the right path.”
Still, I could learn this method of Daoist Venerable’s for stripping away fortune. That way I’d be able to get rid of this short-lifespan limitation.
Xu Qi’an immediately gave his final summary:
“Back then, the Daoist Venerable’s Human Sect avatar usurped the throne and ascended it, only to discover that one who obtained fortune couldn’t attain immortality. So he used the heavenly tribulation to kill himself and be reborn through death, successfully shedding his old shell, then travelled far to the Western Regions and founded Buddhism. He originally wanted to keep the Imperial Seal’s fortune as a trump card, but I got there first, so in the name of converting the Buddha Son, he repeatedly sent beyond-mortal experts to capture me.
“Arhat Duqing, if I’m not mistaken, when you went to the Central Plains, it wasn’t solely to capture me. Silencing the ancient corpse was also one of your purposes, wasn’t it?”
Arhat Duqing’s expression grew grave. He had nothing to say. Bringing his palms together, he murmured softly:
“Amitabha.”
“Why silence the ancient corpse?” Li Miaozhen demanded, her brows raised.
Whether it was the Buddha, or one of the three Bodhisattvas, they had sent Arhat Duqing to silence him. It surely wasn’t merely to keep the Buddha’s secret.
If outsiders knew about such a thing, then they knew. It wouldn’t harm Buddhism in the slightest.
There was no need at all to go as far as silencing a corpse.
Arhat Duqing lowered his eyes and said nothing.
Xu Qi’an said flatly:
“There’s no need to ask. A mere second rank isn’t qualified to know such matters.”
A mere second rank… Daoist Jinlian and al-Asura silently glanced at him.
Crude martial brute.
Arhat Duqing sighed.
“I had long heard that Silver Gong Xu solves cases like a god. Today, I’ve witnessed it for myself.”
The implication was that he was effectively admitting he had been entrusted by the Buddhist sect to silence the ancient corpse.
“There must have been a reason for silencing the ancient corpse, but things have already reached this point, so there’s no need to dwell on it further,” Zhao Shou said.
You’ve peeled the mask clean off him already… Xu Qi’an said:
“Daoist Jinlian, do you know how the underground palace master stripped away fortune?”
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