Daily life of a cultivation judge-Chapter 1242: clues left behind (2)

If earlier it had only been a supposition, now it was fully confirmed: Bai Chen was the target behind this entire incident.

It had been one of the key working theories Yang Qing had operated on since the beginning of the case.

Among the primary possibilities behind the disappearance, Bai Chen had always been a prime suspect, alongside Xia Fang and the Heart Clarity Dew that had been in transport. But as the investigation progressed and Yang Qing was able to verify a few things, he eventually ruled out Xia Fang and the Heart Clarity Dew as core factors behind the disappearance of Bai Chen, his disciple, and the flying ferry.

Now, it seemed he had been right to suspect that Bai Chen was at the center of it all.

The only questions that remained were: who was behind it, and why?

He still had a few guesses about the who, some of which were closely tied to the why. His recent encounter with the Ice Emerald Sect had revealed an underlying conspiracy targeting those whose cultivation arts had ties to the Frozen Serenity Scripture. The sect had been hunting down organizations and individuals who possessed such techniques, and they had been doing so for years.

As for why they were doing it, Yang Qing still didn’t know. But as for who they were doing it for, one chilling possibility came to mind: that eerie, abyssal red blood thorn tree that had nearly taken his life.

While the conspirators within the Ice Emerald Sect had all been killed during its demotion, their murderous string-puller was still at large. Yang Qing didn’t know what that figure wanted with those techniques, only guessing that maybe it might have something to do with the famed Frozen Serenity Scripture, or perhaps something else entirely tied to the Frozen Serenity Sect.

He couldn’t guess the why, but based on what he had seen of that figure, there was no way the Ice Emerald Sect had been their only pawn. This was someone who not only had the means to manipulate a rank three sect but also the ability to prolong the life of a Palace Realm expert far beyond their natural lifespan.

The founder of the Ice Emerald Sect had long been presumed dead for thousands of years. Yet when Yang Qing and the others attacked the sect, they had found her alive, kicking, and in such peak condition that it had taken five judges to finally bring her down.

Someone capable of such feats was no simple figure, not in the slightest. Especially when taking into account that abyssal red thorn tree that had appeared at the end.

With all that in mind, Yang Qing was certain of one thing: there was no way a figure of that caliber had only a single pawn carrying out their will.

They likely had many.

So somewhere out there, there was likely an organization—or a cultivator—being targeted simply because they possessed a technique tied to the Frozen Serenity Scripture.

And here was Bai Chen, a fourth or fifth stage Palace Realm cultivator with little backing, who happened to own a cultivation art with ties to that very scripture... and who had just gone missing.

Of course Yang Qing would suspect him as the trigger behind his and his disciple’s disappearance. How could he not, given everything he had seen and experienced?

But as strongly as he felt about the matter, he couldn’t afford to let himself be blinded into thinking that was the only reason Bai Chen had been targeted. Pinning everything solely on the technique would be a surefire way to blind himself.

This was the cultivation world where cultivators had over a million reasons to be targeted by, or to target, one another.

While his theory was a strong contender, it wasn’t the only explanation. The evidence collected had to be the guiding light while the guess was supplementary. The evidence proved the guess, not the other way round.

And right now, the evidence was pointing him toward a few things. First, that he needed to make his way to Yunan Province. Second, that Bai Chen truly was at the center of it all. And lastly, it offered a few clues about whoever had taken him.

Firstly, whoever they were, they were definitely skilled but were not confident enough to confront Bai Chen directly. Otherwise, why go through the roundabout method of kidnapping his disciple just to lure him in?

Secondly, and this was closely tied to the first point, they were almost certainly in the Palace Realm. Judging from the spiritual imprint they left behind and the decision to use the disciple as bait, Yang Qing was willing to bet they were in the early stages of the Palace Realm, like himself. And if not the early stage, then they were no higher than fifth. If they were at the sixth stage or beyond, given the abilities they had shown, they wouldn’t have needed Jiang Hao to get to Bai Chen; they could have gone after him directly.

The third point was partially informed by the evidence and partially by Yang Qing’s own wishful thinking, which was that the kidnapper wasn’t a mindless killer. Considering the depth and ease with which they had influenced the cicada’s soul, to erase all traces of their actions, they could have killed her the moment Bai Chen received the message. But they hadn’t.

Why?

Not to mention, even the rune itself pointed to someone who didn’t take lives needlessly. Its grade alone placed it at a level the cicada shouldn’t have been able to sustain, at least not without suffering serious repercussions. Yet she was perfectly fine by every metric.

That was only possible because of the rune’s intentional design. The risks it posed were alleviated through the inclusion of the spiritual imprint and the nebulous yin qi. Without those two components, the cicada’s lifeforce would have been drained just to activate the rune.

Someone callous with life wouldn’t have gone to such lengths. But here, thanks to the rune’s intricate design, the cicada’s life had never been at risk. There weren’t even any fail-safes in place to silence her afterward—something Yang Qing had checked for immediately.

Because of those findings, and despite how ruthless the cultivation world could be, Yang Qing held on to the faint hope that whoever had taken Bai Chen and his disciple might let them go once they had gotten what they wanted. He knew it was a reach—especially in a world where lives were so easily discarded—but if there was even the faintest thread to cling to, he would hold onto it with everything he had, right down to the very last second... up until it snapped.

And finally, his last deduction about the perpetrator was that they were highly skilled in manipulating nebulous yin qi in its rawest form—and that narrowed down the suspect pool considerably. Very few individuals could wield it with the kind of finesse the kidnapper had shown.

Yang Qing’s thoughts drifted to the two treefolk species Shao An and Ren Shu had mentioned.

Dark Yin Water Oak Tribe or the Aurora Dark Winter Jade Tribe... which of you is the likelier culprit? he pondered.

His attention gradually shifted as his gaze fell on the cicada, who was beginning to stir.

What do we do with you? he mused. Given what she’s been through, maybe my earlier plans aren’t as unachievable as I thought...

Hopefully she’s mortified enough, he added to himself, quickly masking his gleeful, insidious thoughts behind a façade of concern.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from f(r)eeweb(n)ovel.𝒄𝒐𝙢