Chapter 677: Zhu Qiansi

Lin Yu had sensed earlier that Mystic Cloud Master bore no ill will, but that didn’t mean he fully believed everything the elder had said.

No ill will didn’t equal honesty.

As a Fraudster, Lin Yu knew all too well that deception didn’t always stem from malice—sometimes it wasn’t even driven by good intentions. The one being deceived might just be a pawn in the deceiver’s grand scheme.

And when he re-examined Mystic Cloud Master’s entire speech under the assumption that he might be lying or hiding something, it was riddled with too many coincidences, vague statements, and ambiguities.

Maybe some parts were genuinely lost to the mists of time, and even Mystic Cloud Master didn’t know the truth.

But still… still…

With so many openings where lies could be woven, Lin Yu refused to believe that Mystic Cloud Master hadn’t deliberately slipped in a dozen or so falsehoods.

Of course…

He hadn’t expected to accidentally uncover the Taiqing Sect’s old scandal.

As the winds shifted, all six Otherworldly Ones had already turned to his side.

Chen Yuanye stared at Mystic Cloud Master. “You hypocritical Daoist dog, finally slipped up, have you?”

Mystic Cloud Master’s face darkened as he shot a glare at Chen Yuanye. “Even so, a demon is still a demon… The ancestor might have been wrong back then, but that spider demon was a great calamity that plagued the human world. Letting it run rampant would mean more than just one Willow Town suffering!”

He turned to the players and cupped his hands. “I admit… I did deceive you six Otherworldly warriors and young friends. I also admit that perhaps the ancestor’s actions three hundred years ago were improper, but… the Prison Mountain Realm three centuries ago was far more chaotic and lawless than it is now. Sometimes, we had to resort to desperate measures.”

High Mountain sighed. “Desperate measures meaning sacrificing millions of lives just to deal with a demon that killed a few hundred people?”

“Improper. What a choice word.”

Snowy Owl’s voice was ice-cold, dripping with hostility.

Mystic Cloud Master fell silent, then let out another sigh. “I am willing to atone for my Taiqing Sect ancestor’s sins by dying for the million souls of Willow Town. But… even if my ancestor bears a heavy burden of guilt in this matter, the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord absolutely must not be set free! This demon has plagued the world for too long. Letting it re-emerge would truly render those million innocent lives a wasted sacrifice!”

Mystic Cloud Master spoke with earnest sincerity, and the players fell into contemplation once more.

It was then that Chen Yuanye spoke up again.

“HAHAHAHAHA!”

He burst into laughter. Mystic Cloud Master glared at him. “What are you laughing at now?”

“Mystic Cloud, little Daoist,” Chen Yuanye roared with laughter, “you’re still spouting nonsense that confuses right and wrong—but I don’t blame you. What happened before was your intentional concealment, but what comes next is something you genuinely don’t know!”

“Your ancestor committed two sins back then. First—to kill the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord, he didn’t hesitate to sacrifice a million innocent people! Calling himself righteous, presuming to decide the lives of others—that is the sin of arrogance and overstepping!”

“Second…”

Chen Yuanye’s voice turned cold. “He was an idiot!”

“Three hundred and fifty years ago, the world’s righteous path—the Daoist sects and martial arts schools—jointly pursued a mysterious demon that had killed countless people… Its hallmark was killing without a trace, making its victims vanish without a trace, then turning them into puppets,” Chen Yuanye said. “The Taiqing ancestor tracked it to Willow Town, where a spider demon was hiding in human form. He discovered its Causality Silk ability was very similar to the demon causing trouble back then, so he determined it was the evil demon and attacked it without hesitation.”

“But… your Taiqing ancestor was wrong!”

“Even though that demon possessed the Causality Silk ability, it had been living in Willow Town under the alias ‘Zhu Qiansi’ for over thirty years. It had no opportunity or motive to commit those crimes.”

“It was a demon, yes, but one that had cultivated for a long time and was kind by nature. It lived in Willow Town, got along with people, and was peaceful and happy—everyone praised it.”

Mystic Cloud Master stared at Chen Yuanye, stunned. “What did you say?”

“I said your Taiqing ancestor killed the wrong monster. Zhu Qiansi was never some demon wreaking havoc on the world. She was a good demon who worked hard to integrate into human society, making a living by telling fortunes and casting divinations in town!”

Chen Yuanye repeated himself, his tone already trembling with emotion.

Mystic Cloud Master looked as if he had been struck by lightning, muttering, “Impossible… impossible…”

“What’s impossible about it?” Chen Yuanye turned to Lin Yu. “Do you know why Xie Chong’s remains are the key to breaking the seal on Willow Town and letting Zhu Qiansi re-emerge?”

Lin Yu, seeing Chen Yuanye suddenly address him again, played along cooperatively. “Why is that?”

“The abandoned baby the Taiqing ancestor picked up back then was Xie Chong’s ancestor,” Chen Yuanye said, his tone softening slightly. “But it wasn’t an abandoned baby at all. It was… Zhu Qiansi’s child.”

“In her twelfth year living in Willow Town, she met an accountant from a local pawnshop. Not long after, they married and had a son.”

“So Xie Chong carried Zhu Qiansi’s bloodline.”

Chen Yuanye finished speaking, and Mystic Cloud Master suddenly seemed to realize something, growing agitated.

“No, no. You said Zhu Qiansi was kind by nature, but in the end, she still killed thousands of people—you said that yourself just now.”

“Besides, seven or eight out of ten people in town were caught by the Causality Silk… What good demon exists in this world? All demons, without exception, cannot suppress their instinct to devour humans!”

Chen Yuanye looked at Mystic Cloud Master and sighed.

“That’s because Zhu Qiansi made a living by telling fortunes. She was a spider demon—how could she have learned esoteric arts like fortune-telling? Of course she had to rely on her Causality Silk ability to do it.”

“As for those thousands who died… If your Taiqing ancestor had investigated back then, he would have known that all of those people were repeat offenders guilty of heinous crimes.”

“Some raped women, others killed and robbed… Zhu Qiansi simply took their living souls and used them to fuel her Causality Silk ability, helping good people do a little better.”

“After Zhu Qiansi killed them, they returned to town as ‘reformed sinners’ who had ‘turned over a new leaf’—What do you think turned Willow Town from an ordinary big town into the number one town of the Two Mountains, Six Hells back then?”

Mystic Cloud Master stared at Chen Yuanye, utterly speechless.

After a long moment, he finally spoke. “Who… exactly are you?”

“Just a survivor of Willow Town who received Zhu Qiansi’s kindness back then,” Chen Yuanye said quietly. “No… I didn’t survive, really. I’m just barely holding onto a shred of consciousness, still able to move thanks to Miss Zhu’s ability.”

Then Chen Yuanye turned to Lin Yu.

“Alright. Having heard all this, you probably know right from wrong now, don’t you?”

Lin Yu looked at Chen Yuanye and gave a slight nod.

“I understand now. But I still have questions…”

“Since Xie Chong was Zhu Qiansi’s descendant, why did you kill him and split his body into five pieces?”

“And why did you entrust his remains to the Golden Fortune Escort Agency to transport to the current ‘Willow Town’?”