Chapter 185: Suspicions

Li Tan slightly furrowed his brows, sitting still without expressing anything.

Liu Yong made a bored sound and asked, “Hey, where are the others?

Why are you the only one here?

Did they drive you away because you’re useless?”

“They are all dead.”

“Eh, what?”

“They were all killed by monstrous beasts.”

Li Tan turned his head to observe Liu Yong’s reaction. At first, Liu Yong looked shocked, then his expression changed to a sickly joy. After bursting into laughter, he pointed at Li Tan and said, “The effect is even better than I thought. And you, this idiot, actually dared to come back?”

“What!”

Li Tan was startled, his face showing anger as he asked coldly, “Was it your idea to switch the fake map?”

“Yes.” Liu Yong paused halfway through his sentence, looked around to confirm there was no one else, then proudly continued, “Indeed, such a perfect plan must have been mine.”

“So you did it to deal with me, huh. Hehe, but didn’t you think about how many innocent disciples would die because of this?”

“Hey, what are you talking about? Those people were all my competitors. The more who die, the better. You actually have the heart to care about them now, hahaha, you should worry about yourself first. Do you think you can survive much longer?”

Li Tan’s heart filled with murderous intent. “Don’t you have any mercy at all?”

“Mercy? Don’t make me laugh. Those useless people deserved to die. It’s their own fault for lacking strength.”

Liu Yong’s face was full of mockery.

Li Tan’s voice became increasingly cold. “Then those people from the Feiyu Sect, did they also deserve to die?”

As soon as the words “Feiyu Sect” were spoken, Liu Yong’s expression froze, his eyes full of disbelief. He stared at Li Tan and asked, “Wha… What are you talking about? What place is Feiyu Sect?”

“If you don’t want others to know, don’t do it yourself. Hehe, did you really think those people could act so flawlessly?”

The phrase “those people” shocked Liu Yong even more than before. He looked at Li Tan as if seeing a monster. “You, how do you know all this!”

“Dead men don’t need to know so much.”

“Hey!” With a sharp sound, Li Tan’s rusty sword instantly left its sheath. Liu Yong had no chance to resist, and fell into a pool of blood with an expression of deep resentment.

Soon, the scream of a female disciple passing by made everyone aware of Liu Yong’s death.

The news of Li Tan killing Liu Yong spread quickly within the inner sect. Li Tan was then summoned by Zhang Zhi.

“Why did you kill Liu Yong! Wasn’t the number of deaths already enough!”

Zhang Zhi was furious. Even the way he addressed Li Tan had changed from “young friend” to a colder “you.” In fact, he had already been quite angry when he learned of Sima Luo and the deaths of fifty disciples, but had restrained himself from venting his anger. After the incident with Liu Yong, it was hard for him not to consider Zheng Kaishan’s words: “Li Tan is a spy.”

This was in a large hall, where Zhang Zhi sat on a chair to the left, Zhang Zhenshan seated directly in front, also with a grim expression, and Zhang Chenghuan sat to the right, both worried and confused.

“Young friend, why did you kill Liu Yong? At least give a reason.”

Zhang Zhenshan asked.

Li Tan’s gaze swept over the three of them calmly. “Because he personally admitted that it was his idea to alter the map.”

Zhang Zhi, still angry, asked, “If it was truly him, why would he admit it to you?

Moreover, he didn’t have any reason to do such a thing! I know Liu Yong has always liked Chenghuan, so he naturally didn’t like you, but why would he go so far as to scheme in such a matter!”

Why would someone who liked Zhang Chenghuan also dislike himself?

Li Tan really couldn’t understand that strange logic. But since he had already killed Liu Yong, there was no use dwelling on it. The biggest problem now was how to answer Zhang Zhi’s questions.

Li Tan couldn’t reveal the existence of the black-robed figure. Without mentioning him, as Zhang Zhi said, just because of some romantic entanglements, even if Liu Yong was despicable, he wouldn’t have gone so far as to kill so many fellow disciples. Thus, this question was practically unanswerable. Li Tan could only remain silent. Yet, the silence only made the situation seem more suspicious in Zhang Zhi’s eyes. Why wouldn’t he answer?

Could it be that he really is a spy?

This thought surfaced again.

Even Zhang Chenghuan and Zhang Zhenshan began to waver slightly.

Li Tan saw this but felt helpless. He reluctantly replied, “I don’t know why he did it. I’m just stating the facts. Take the map and go check the places marked on it. That is already solid evidence.”

Even if Zheng Kaishan and others had great power, Li Tan didn’t believe they could arrange real fierce beasts at those locations marked on the map in such a short time.

Zhang Zhi’s expression slightly softened. He took the map and hesitated for a moment before saying, “Elder Zheng will come for you soon. With such a big matter involved, even Father won’t be able to interfere directly with the judgment of the Judicial Department. There must be sufficient evidence to prove your innocence. I’ll go to the locations marked on the map to collect evidence right away.”

“But Father, going alone…” Zhang Chenghuan was somewhat worried.

Zhang Zhi comforted her, “It’s fine. I won’t have any problems.”

He had likely already broken through to the innate stage. As long as he was cautious, there shouldn’t be any real issues going there.

After saying this, Zhang Zhi took the map and left.

Zhang Zhenshan was silent for a moment before saying, “Young friend, you might as well stay here for now. Don’t run around and give others a reason to talk.”

If he ran around now, Zheng Kaishan would surely claim that Li Tan was trying to escape justice. Zhang Zhenshan’s words were indeed meant to protect him, but they also carried an element of surveillance. Otherwise, arranging another place to stay wouldn’t be difficult. At the very least, he could have stayed in the training hall. After all, Zhang Chenghuan also lived here, so sheltering a member of the opposite sex was inconvenient.

Li Tan understood their reasoning and didn’t object.

As for the Judicial Department’s trial, which would probably start tomorrow, Li Tan honestly wasn’t afraid at all. He still had an ace up his sleeve. As previously mentioned, the source of all rules in the Nine Provinces was strength. Conversely, with enough strength, one could break the rules set by others.

Li Tan indeed possessed such strength now, though he wasn’t particularly eager to use it.

At night, Li Tan sat by the window in meditation when a sudden knock on the door sounded.

“Come in.”

He called out, and the person knocked again before entering the room. Zhang Chenghuan had probably just bathed, wearing a pink nightgown. She hesitated as she entered and only sat down after Li Tan’s prompt invitation.

“Miss Zhang, what brings you here so late?”

Actually, he already knew without needing to ask.

“I want to ask about the details of this mission.”

“I think I’ve already explained it clearly.”

“There are some parts I don’t quite understand.” “Hmm, go ahead, I’ll try to answer.”

Zhang Chenghuan hesitated, looking down for a moment before lifting her head with a determined expression. “Master Li, you really came back after avenging Master Sima by killing that beast, right!”

“Of course, why do you ask that?”

“Ah, nothing. I just wanted to hear it from you, Master. Oh, it’s getting late. I should go back now.”

Zhang Chenghuan hastily left.

Li Tan watched her in slight surprise until she disappeared around the corner before returning his gaze and resuming his meditation.

After returning to her room, Zhang Chenghuan lay on her bed, staring at the ceiling, murmuring softly, “Master Li must not be lying. Is there really a spy in Tianlang Sect? Why would they do such a thing?” Her thoughts drifted somewhere unknown before she finally drifted into sleep from drowsiness.

Zhang Zhenshan, a master at this level, could easily go ten or fifteen days without sleep. Right now, he had even less desire to sleep. He came alone to the mountaintop of Tianlang Sect’s territory, standing on a protruding rock, gazing down at the unfathomable abyss below, and sighed deeply.

“Half of the inner sect disciples have perished. It’s fine if I die, but they must not die. They are the future of Tianlang Sect. Alas, this is a great loss. After my death, if Tianlang Sect doesn’t produce an extraordinarily talented individual, it might begin to decline.” His concern was not for the deceased disciples, nor for the spy Li Tan spoke of, but for the future of the sect. Zhang Zhenshan turned his gaze toward the direction of Zhuixian Domain, sighed again, shook his head lightly, and turned to descend the mountain.