Chapter 245: The Seal of Stolen Fortune
Chapter 245: The Seal of Stolen Fortune
“No wonder you could go from Qingjiang Prefecture to Lingwu Sect and kill within just one day. No wonder you left a Ghost Official mark each time after killing. And no wonder, after I had people investigate, I found that at first, among the people, the Ghost Official had a very good reputation. Some even built shrines and offered worship to you. But not long after, rumors spread of the Ghost Official killing the innocent and committing evil deeds. Since then, the Ghost Official’s reputation completely collapsed. And the related dossiers grew messier and messier, more and more shapeless…”
After hearing Young Sect Master Xu’s words, more doubts in Fang Cun’s mind were resolved.
It sounded very frustrating, but upon careful thought, it still seemed quite interesting. Of course, he couldn’t laugh.
“It really startled me at first. I truly thought the Ghost Official wanted revenge on those who borrowed his name…”
Fang Cun couldn’t help but laugh at himself to ease the tension.
Young Sect Master Xu glanced at him and said, “At first, I indeed had such thoughts…”
“Hmm?”
Fang Cun turned his head cautiously and looked at him.
Young Sect Master Xu sighed and said, “But there are so many people impersonating me. How could I possibly kill them all? When the first impersonators surfaced, it wasn’t without me taking harsh action. But the result proved… Have you ever cut wild grass in a barren field?”
Fang Cun couldn’t help feeling a little amused inside.
“At this point, I have nothing more to say!”
Young Sect Master Xu sighed, slowly stood up, and bowed to Fang Cun. “I entrust the Shoushan Sect to you!”
Fang Cun: “?”
“My identity is exposed, so I can no longer stay in Qingjiang!”
Young Sect Master Xu softly replied, “According to Great Xia law, I deserve execution ten times over. And by the karma of the world, those many innocent people who died because of me should sentence me to a great crime. But I don’t want to die yet, so I can only leave. Second Young Master Fang, you have secrets I can’t see through. But honestly, your cultivation is a bit lacking. We’d better not…”
Fang Cun interrupted him, “Who said your identity was exposed?”
Young Sect Master Xu: “?”
Fang Cun smiled, leisurely picked up his teacup and drank. He said with a smile, “Speaking of the Ghost Official name, none of us have ‘Ghost Official’ in our birth names. Those who used the Ghost Official name to act, you’ve done it, I’ve done it. The Seven Clans have done it. Looking across Qingjiang, who knows how many Ghost Officials have done such things? Why should revealing your identity mean it’s exposed?”
Young Sect Master Xu frowned slightly and looked at Fang Cun, “What do you mean…”
Fang Cun looked at him, expression serious, “How many haven’t you killed this time?”
“Two!”
Young Sect Master Xu looked at him and said softly, “Young Lady of the Nanli Family, and Young Master Bai Huaiyu of the Bai Family!”
Fang Cun nodded.
The people the Ghost Official wanted to kill were the seven heads among the Seven Clans handling trade with the South.
Because the County Mansion couldn’t punish these people, he took action to kill them.
Before that, at a bloody fight outside Lingwu Sect, three were killed: Second Master Hu, the old manager of Wan Tong Trading House who served the Fan Family, and the eldest son of the Qin Family. The others were all collateral. And Elder Xue Wu and the son-in-law of the Mo Family were also killed. That made five in total. So now, the heads handling trade with the South who haven’t been killed were only Young Master Bai Huaiyu and Young Lady of the Nanli Family.
“So how close is your Ghost Seal to being refined?”
Fang Cun looked directly at Young Sect Master Xu and asked seriously, his voice low.
“Can you understand the Ghost Seal too?”
Young Sect Master Xu looked at Fang Cun with some surprise this time.
“Do I look like someone so ignorant?”
Fang Cun glanced at him and said gloomily, “Although I haven’t cultivated a demon body, my understanding of the Divine Nether Scriptures might not be shallow. And knowing this secret isn’t just us two. Lu Xiao of Nine Immortals Sect has already figured it out. That’s why he insisted on sending Lu Huaiyu back to the Seven Clans. To do that, he used Master Shang as bait to lure you out. Just so you couldn’t destroy all the Seven Clans’ Qi Luck!”
“This person is indeed hard to deal with!”
Young Sect Master Xu was silent for a moment, then said, “But Bai Huaiyu has returned!”
“That only happened because I made him return!”
Fang Cun glanced at him and sighed softly, “Now only the Young Lady of the Nanli Family is troublesome…”
“Not troublesome…”
Young Sect Master Xu suddenly looked at Fang Cun, “Three years ago, I already killed a direct blood relative of the Nanli Family. So among the Seven Clans holding Qingjiang’s greatest Qi Luck, only the Bai Family hasn’t died under ghost magic.”
He looked at Fang Cun oddly, “I thought you’d already noticed that!”
Fang Cun looked slightly embarrassed and said nonchalantly, “I’m not some dossier fanatic like Lu Xiao. Missing a point is normal!”
Young Sect Master Xu fell silent and quietly looked at Fang Cun.
After a long while, he softly said, “You really aren’t planning to capture me?”
Fang Cun wanted to speak, but suddenly had a foreboding feeling and thought of something.
The Celestial Merit Record was in his sea of consciousness. After coming to Qingjiang, it gave him three main tasks: slay the Demon Hound, capture the Ghost Official, and fix the Spirit Well. Now the Ghost Official’s identity was exposed right before him. If he captured Young Sect Master Xu, he’d feel reluctant. But if he let him escape freely, what would happen to the Celestial Merit Record?
How much sin backlash would hit him?
So he paused for a moment and said, “I will definitely capture the Ghost Official. But before that, there are other tasks to complete!”
Young Sect Master Xu looked at him silently. After a long time, he softly said, “Thank you. I also have some unfinished business.”
After a long pause, he suddenly looked up at Fang Cun and said, “Why does everything in this world never go as one wishes?”
Fang Cun looked at him and did not speak.
…
“Why did I rush over?”
At this moment, under the main hall of Lingwu Sect, Old Master Fan sat in the foremost seat. Below him, all the Chief Wardens and Divine Generals from the Seven Clans, Six Sects, and County Mansion had come to pay respects. Looking at the somber Old Scholar, no one dared speak carelessly. They all knew that since the Demon Hound on Crow Mountain was slain, Old Master Fan had left Qingjiang. Though unspoken, they knew he was busy resolving the Demon Hound matter. Could his sudden return to Qingjiang Prefecture mean that trouble was settled?
Observing the tense faces below, Old Master Fan was clearly fuming. He snorted coldly before saying sternly, “I’ve only been away from Qingjiang for how long? Yet you’ve already turned upside down! First, someone raided my prison, burned my dossiers, slaughtered wildly outside Qingjiang City, and even came to your sect to murder randomly. If I didn’t return, who knows if all of Qingjiang would be overthrown?”
Upon hearing this, all the Qi Refiners fell silent.
In a way, Old Master Fan’s anger was quite justified. Looking at recent happenings, the entire Qingjiang Prefecture had indeed become too chaotic.
“Old Scholar, I’ve already surveyed it!”
A woman entered from outside the hall, wearing a wide-brimmed hat with a light veil covering her face. In her hands, she held a small cauldron shaped like a crescent moon, white smoke drifting gently from it. Behind her came two rows: one of men, one of women. All were barefoot, with flowing hair, faces painted in fragrant oils, robes lending an exotic air—clearly not native Qi Refiners of Yuan Nation.
They were all followers Old Master Fan brought this time. Upon arrival, they had scouted the side hall.
“So?”
Old Master Fan gave a slight bow and asked with a grave expression.
“Exactly as expected!”
The woman stepped close, smoke from her small cauldron curling upward into a floating seal.
That seal appeared etched in the air itself, displaying four seal-script characters: “Crime Deserves Death.” It seemed both real and unreal.
Everyone recognized this as the mark left by the Ghost Official after each murder.
Old Master Fan’s face instantly clouded over. He coldly scanned everyone. “What do you see here?”
No Qi Refiners in the room answered.
Chief Warden Xue whispered, “Is this that Ghost Official’s taunting mark after killings?”
“Hmph!”
Without replying, Old Master Fan snorted coldly. He turned to the woman with the cauldron. “You tell them then!”
“This is a Soul Seal!”
The woman nodded softly. “All cultivation methods in the world—whether of demons, monsters, people, or ghosts—fall under the scope of the Seven Classics. Each tribe merely studies different paths. This seal comes from a deep secret in the Scripture of Souls. It stands for upright justice, celestial justice, and earthly law. The Ghost Official kills in Heaven’s place, judging sins. Others see random slaughter, but he doesn’t just kill blindly. He follows rules: investigates first, judges after, then executes. This imprint means he has probed, tried, and convicted before leaving it!”
Upon hearing this, all the Qi Refiners couldn’t help murmuring in wonder.
Meanwhile, Old Master Fan’s expression was hideous, impossibly gloomy.
The woman pressed on. “This seal can be seen as the people’s will or Heaven’s decree. A single county should have only one such authority: that would be Fan the Old Scholar, holding the Mountain River Seal—ordered by Great Xia Immortal Court and Yuanshen Palace—to govern Qingjiang Prefecture. But now, that Ghost Official operates in darkness, judging secretly to steal Qingjiang’s Fortune essence and usurp power. That this Seal hangs immovable shows his treasure is almost complete. Old Scholar Fan’s Mountain River Seal has lost much of its Qi Luck to this theft!”
“What?”
All the cultivators were stunned. They had thought the Ghost Official merely hateful. Who knew such hidden truths existed?
“That villain harbors dark thoughts to seize our Qingjiang’s Fortune!”
At that, Old Master Fan forcefully struck the table. “In recent years, Qingjiang’s Spirit Well has seen its waters fall, its spiritual energy drained—its cause a mystery. That’s why I invited the Holy Maiden of the Witch Tribe’s Moon Clan to use supreme soul arts to heal it. Yet before saving it, we uncovered that criminal mind! Hmph! The Spirit Well is Qingjiang’s spiritual veins’ core heart. Its spring flows stronger: our land thrives with peace, our folk live safe. Even your mountain spiritual veins pulse with life, growing ever stronger! And my Mountain River Seal of course grows mightier too! Now, our spring dwindles daily—it even alarmed Yuanshen Palace. We puzzled at first, but now we know: that demon stole its Fortune! This Ghost Seal stems from that Demon Embryo sky-theft technique—the one that old scourge of the Divine Land, the demon tribe, once honed! Even they were crushed by our Great Xia Immortal Emperor long ago. How dare it reappear here in Qingjiang…”
He grew ever more wrathful as he spoke. Suddenly he slammed the table hard. “Tell me, how can I pardon him?”