"The Saintess defected and took the Lotus Fragrance Cult's Pure Lotus Precious Scroll with her..." Wei Yuefu wore an odd expression as he read the confession.
If Shen Qianjun had not been standing right there, Wei would have definitely stolen a few more glances at him.
His guess had hit the mark: the Pure Lotus Precious Scroll truly was in Dingyuan City.
Following this train of thought, Wei Yuefu was practically certain that the Saintess was nine times out of ten hiding in Shen Qianjun's residence.
And by now, Shen Qianjun had probably brought his mastery of the scroll close to the stage of minor mastery, or might have reached it already.
Yet if he actually voiced this, no one would believe him.
Granted, whether Tian Muchuan believed it or not, the man would back him up immediately the moment he spoke. But his backing would be entirely useless, because Xia Miaozheng would shoot it down on the spot and demand answers.
Without proof, Wei Yuefu would have no choice but to let the matter drop.
"So this was all a misunderstanding?" Tian Muchuan asked with a frown.
"My lord, we must not let our guard down," Wei Yuefu cautioned. "Don't forget there are Lotus Fragrance Cultists among the rebels as well. If these people really came solely for that witch and the martial arts manual, why would they get mixed up with the rebel army?"
That was the crux of the problem. It made no sense to claim they had joined forces with the rebels just to track down their Saintess and their scroll.
A person would have to be utterly brainless to think that way. If the city fell and the Saintess slipped away in the chaos, finding her would be even harder.
It was nothing like the present situation, where Dingyuan City was under martial law—no one in, no one out—leaving the Saintess with nowhere to run.
"I don't know..." the Lotus Fragrance Cult deacon gasped weakly. "When we arrived, Liulin County hadn't rebelled yet. By the time it did, we were already inside the city. It had nothing to do with us."
At this point, she wanted nothing more than a quick death.
Naturally, no one believed her. Then again, they had no way to distinguish truth from falsehood. Beaten to such a state, her face showed nothing that could be read.
Fortunately, after another round of torture, the result remained the same.
This left everyone feeling uneasy.
It was only when the roundup was finished that they realized the true gravity of the situation.
Among the more than one hundred Lotus Fragrance Cult members captured, every single one belonged to the outsiders.
Only three members of the local Dingyuan City branch had been seized, and none of them knew anything.
The rest had vanished.
Inquiries revealed that members of the Dingyuan City branch had left on a distant journey days before the Liulin County uprising.
Now everything clicked: this band of cultists searching for the Saintess and the scroll had been used as a shield by the local branch.
"Damn it!" Tian Muchuan's face darkened. "The Lotus Fragrance Cultists Lord Shangguan spoke of belong to the local branch. It isn't that they joined the Liulin County rebellion—they probably orchestrated it!"
From the look of things, these outsiders posed little real threat; they only wanted to find their person and recover their martial arts manual. Yet they had been thoroughly played, ending up in this wretched state.
"Is Hong Qiming the chief branch leader of the Dingyuan City branch?" Wei Yuefu demanded of the deacon, the realization flashing through his mind.
The others were taken aback, struggling to comprehend why Wei Yuefu was suddenly implicating Hong Qiming, the commandant.
"The branch leader is in charge; his rank in the cult is higher than mine," the deacon said numbly. "I don't know who they are, nor do I have access to them. Only he knows who I am; I don't know him."
Wei Yuefu's expression sank further. "Then how did you hook up with Hong Qiming?"
"I needed someone influential to serve as cover and backing. When I arrived, it just so happened..." At this point, even she trailed off.
"So if Hong Qiming truly is the chief or deputy branch leader, he would have known about your arrival," Wei Yuefu continued. "You thought you sought him out, but in truth, he found you. And when you whispered in his ear to get rid of Bronze Badge Shen, Hong Qiming used your pillow talk to turn the scheme right back against you. He not only used you as a shield to hide his true objective, but once you served your purpose, he could borrow our hands to wipe you all out—saving him the trouble of having you block his path."
It had to be said that rotten as the Great Jing Dynasty was, not a single player was easy to deal with. Anyone who climbed to high office was a crafty operator... except for someone with connections like Xia Miaozheng.
"If this is true, it might already be too late," Tian Muchuan said hoarsely. "In all likelihood, their coordination from inside and out has already succeeded."
Everyone present was sharp enough to understand what Hong Qiming intended to do.
What else could it be but rebelling to make himself emperor? If anyone else in his position had the same opportunity, they would surely consider gambling on it too. The north was already in turmoil, and the Great Jing court could barely look after itself. With the Lotus Fragrance Cult's expertise in brainwashing and proselytizing, seizing the moment to rise was well within reach. As for losing... he had already rebelled; winning or losing hardly mattered anymore.
Tian Muchuan and Wei Yuefu had only just arrived and had previously shared no dealings with Hong Qiming, so they naturally had had no reason to dig into his background. Their first contact had occurred only yesterday, followed by arrests last night and interrogations lasting until now. They had had no time at all to investigate Hong Qiming. With the deacon serving as a distraction, had Wei Yuefu not reacted so swiftly, they might have remained oblivious until the rebels breached the city.
"Let's go find Lord Shangguan!" Tian Muchuan declared resolutely.
Wei Yuefu countered, "Armor up first."
If his guess was correct, the gates had already fallen, and Hong Qiming was far more likely to move to secure Shangguan Shutong than to greet the rebels at the entrance. Going over unprotected would get them slaughtered down to the last man. But if they donned armor and brought spears and shields, the outcome might be different. A group of martial artists outfitted with standard military gear might still stand a chance of survival.
"But if we've guessed wrong..." Tian Muchuan hesitated at the thought. Making such a blunder would invite no small amount of trouble.
"If we've guessed right and go like this, we lose our lives," Wei Yuefu said. He had no intention of risking his neck. If Tian Muchuan refused to listen, he simply would not go.
As they spoke, hurried footsteps echoed outside.
"We're in trouble! The Liulin County rebels breached the city gate and are storming in!" Shen Qianjun panted heavily, pausing to steady his breath.
Silence fell over the room. 'Ding Shoucheng' had guessed right after all.
"Don your armor! We go rescue Lord Shangguan," Xia Miaozheng ordered immediately. "If we can capture the traitor Hong Qiming, we can use him as a hostage to force the rebels to retreat. If anything goes wrong, I will take full responsibility."
Wei Yuefu agreed with two-thirds of Xia Miaozheng's words. What he disagreed with, naturally, was using Hong Qiming to force the rebels to retreat.
The moment Hong Qiming was captured, both the rebel army and the Lotus Fragrance Cult would discard him without hesitation; they might even be the first to cut him down.
They had already committed treason—how could they possibly withdraw their troops for the sake of a single man?
Chapter 33