The Regressor of Mount Hua-Chapter 327. Nangongs Demon Sword (2)

"Well, that's a big issue too... but no, this isn't the time. Have you heard about Nangong Weiwu?"

"Nangong Weiwu? Why are you bringing up the Martial Alliance Leader?"

"The Martial Alliance Leader apparently..."

"Could it really be true? I just can't believe it."

A month later, the shocking truth was revealed.

All the recent evil deeds were the work of Nangong Weiwu.

However, it wasn't easy to accept.

The Martial Alliance Leader Nangong Weiwu was a hero of the previous generation, and a warrior respected by countless warriors.

To the older and younger generations, he was a hero, and as a great leader, there was a strong sense of trust.

"It's hard to believe, but it's true. Every branch of the Martial Alliance has released official statements backed by none other than the Strategist, the Knowledge Dragon, Zhuge Xiang."

"Could it be that the upper leadership of the Martial Alliance, those bastards, are trying to avoid responsibility?"

"That shouldn't be the case. My relative is a warrior belonging to the Martial Alliance headquarters, and he said he personally witnessed what happened that day."

"Huh..."

This wasn't like the groundless rumors of the gangho, where the source was unclear. On the contrary, it was too accurate.

Starting with the headquarters at Hefei, Anhui Province, each branch issued a statement.

"Nangong Weiwu has been using his power to..."

It wasn't just each branch. There were announcements from the Nine Sects and One Gang as well as the Five Great Ancient Families.

Among the announcements was one from the current hero of the murim and one of the Seven Empyrean Overlords—no, the Six Empyrean Overlords, the Sword God Zhou Xuchuan.

Not only the older generation, but even the younger generation listed Nangong Weiwu's evil deeds one after the other, publicizing his actions, leaving the public with no choice but to believe it.

"That can't be true!"

"To think that Nangong Weiwu would do such a thing..."

Of course, since it happened so suddenly, it was hard for them to accept everything.

Some people refused to believe it even at the very end. They insisted the Completion Sword wasn't the type of person to commit such acts, claiming it was all the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Ancient Families deflecting blame.

"Look here, everyone is bound to change. Even that pure-hearted Nangong Weiwu became corrupted at the taste of power."

"Exactly. I guess we have to accept it by now. If a person truly were perfect, how could they truly be human? They would either be an Immortal or a Buddha."

People were more sensitive to evil deeds than to good deeds.

"So it must have been because of that bastard Nangong Weiwu satisfying his selfish desires that it's so hard to make a living!"

"That shithole bastard, he deserves to be torn to pieces!"

The outrage was especially intense because he had once been seen as noble and pure.

The Evil Valley inwardly mocked the Martial Alliance, claiming they had seen this coming all along, given the state of affairs within the alliance. Meanwhile, the Martial Alliance cursed Nangong Weiwu, blaming him as the 'cause' of all their troubles.

"Could it be that the Nangong Family was involved too?"

"That's probably not the case. From what I heard, they denounced Nangong Weiwu on the spot as a representative of the Martial Alliance. In the end, it seems their Little Patriarch, the Boundless Dragon, personally stepped forward and took his life."

"The Boundless Dragon executed him personally? Were his martial skills truly that strong?"

"It seems that he helped the Juvenile Fist Emperor and the Sword God kill him. After all, didn't the Sword God help the Sword Immortal kill the Blood Demon before?"[1]

"So that's what happened, I see."

"While we still have to wait and see, the Nangong Family has admitted the truth, invited the bereaved families to apologize, and said that they would compensate for the damages, so it seems they were used against their will."

"Hmm..."

To put it simply, the plan was a success.

Under the command of Zhuge Xiang, the Martial Alliance's intelligence division, the Beggar Gang, and the Xia Wu Sect went all out to manipulate public opinion.

All of the distrust, hatred, anger, and evil were directed at Nangong Weiwu.

The Dark Heavens Association.

Boom!

Blessed Existence slammed the table with his only hand.

"Nan... gong... Weiwu!"

His face twisted in rage. Veins bulged on his forehead, and blood trickled from his lips.

"You crazy bastard!"

A curse came out naturally.

Blessed Existence was seething at the current situation.

"How could a person—how could anyone do this?!"

Calling it madness wasn't enough.

When he first heard the news, he couldn't believe his ears.

He had worked so hard to split the Martial Alliance in two, only to be stopped in vain.

And in such a ridiculous, unexpected way.

"Calm down."

Destructive Soldier tapped Blessed Existence on the shoulder.

Crack!

Blessed Existence clenched his teeth and held back his anger. He couldn't lose control when the decisive battle was right around the corner.

"How can they believe and accept it so easily?" Destructive Soldier muttered in confusion.

It wasn't that he didn't understand Nangong Weiwu's intentions. On the contrary, after hearing them, he couldn't help but admire the Martial Alliance's methods.

"Sān Rén Chéng Hǔ (三人成虎). It's said that it takes three people to create a tiger out of nothing. Not only the Martial Alliance, but even the intelligence network of the Beggar Gang is manipulating public opinion, so their impact is bound to be great. Moreover, it might be because of money, but the Xia Wu Sect of the Black Hand is also helping..."

Zhou Xuchuan had put all his effort into this plan.

While Zhuge Xiang was cooperating with the Beggar Gang, he had sent letters to the Xia Wu Sect Master Jiang Ningchu and also asked Li Yicai for aid.

It was truly the power of money and connections.

"The public tends to believe bigger lies more easily, and anger and hatred are the most powerful forces to make them excited."

This was truly the most effective form of deception.

It was a lie that contained a hint of truth.

Moreover, not a small lie, but a great one.

A storm of anger and hatred.

"How terrifying... truly, how terrifying you are, Nangong Weiwu."

His willpower was far beyond that of an ordinary man. Martial artists, especially those of the Righteous Faction, valued honor.

And for those who had already achieved both martial prowess and honor, that sense of honor was even stronger.

As people aged, while death was a concern, what also mattered was how one died, and how one would be remembered after death.

However, Nangong Weiwu had given up all of it for the Martial Alliance. He let it all go without hesitation.

He had accepted it even though he knew that in the future, he would be remembered as the embodiment of hypocrisy, the enemy of the murim, and the greatest villain under the heavens.

"Zhuge Xiang..."

Zhuge Xiang was no ordinary person either. He had perfectly controlled public opinion and achieved maximum efficiency.

Even amidst the chaos, he distributed tailored information to each sect while also overseeing preparations for war.

It wasn't easy to maintain control and coordination without making any mistakes, especially with so many powerful martial forces involved.

"It's still too early to make any hasty judgments, Blessed Existence. Since this statement came after such prolonged silence, there are bound to be those who remain suspicious. And if we consider the hearts of those who are disappointed by the hypocrisy of the Righteous Faction—"

"Destructive Soldier."

Blessed Existence cut him off mid-sentence.

"Humans are more foolish than you think."

The expression on the dark-skinned soldier's face wasn't good.

"They only see what they want to see, and only believe what they want to believe. Facts don't matter to them. They don't care what's actually true."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Righteous Faction members, especially those of the Nine Sects and One Gang and the Five Great Ancient Families, have a strong sense of belonging and pride. They think they aren't cowardly like the Evil Path, nor evil like the Demonic Path, and because of that, they discriminate against those who are not of the Righteous Path. The split that we wanted to cause in the Martial Alliance using the Black Shadow Division incident was aimed precisely at that point."

The Righteous Faction had to be of the Righteous Path.

Even if it was hypocritical, it needed to maintain an image of integrity.

But now that illusion had been shattered. The fallout would be enormous. Even if the elders tried to bury it quietly, it was something that could never be overlooked by the disciples.

In the case of members of the more prestigious sects, like the Nine Sects and One Gang or the Five Great Ancient Families, the blow was as great as their pride.

"They would question whether the path they were walking was the right one, and if the wounds in their hearts were severe enough, it could even lead to cultivation deviation. Their pride in their sects would disappear, and they would be filled with doubt and disappointment... But not anymore. Not now that they have a good excuse."

"You're not saying..."

"Yes. Saying that it's Nangong Weiwu's fault is their scapegoat and their excuse—they've passed the blame."

Destructive Soldier seemed a little shocked and let out a sigh.

Blessed Existence continued, gritting his teeth once more.

"The Martial Alliance wasn't bad. Their sects weren't bad. Even those complicit in the hypocrisy weren't bad either. The real villain was the former Martial Alliance Leader, the hypocrite Nangong Weiwu. Thus, in order to protect themselves, they would just blindly believe the rest when they say that they had no choice."

Blessed Existence scoffed and then sneered.

"It's impossible to stop this."

What was even more frustrating was that he could only watch.

"It takes a lot of manpower and time to block the manipulation of public opinion and cause chaos again. We've already invested everything into preparing for the decisive battle. We can't afford another delay. The Martial Alliance that we worked so hard to rattle might become even stronger."

Nangong Weiwu had taken all the blame, erasing the conscience of the Righteous Faction members in the process.

It didn't matter whether it was true or false. Only a few knew the truth in the first place, and they had no intention of revealing it.

"We can't create any more variables."

Bang!

Blessed Existence slammed the table, feeling as though his heart was bleeding.

"It's outside our margin of error... but we can still salvage the plan. Proceed as scheduled, Destructive Soldier. We can't back down now."

***

Nangong Weiwu was dead.

As a great sinner and a villain, his life after death wouldn't be honorable. He wasn't allowed to be buried anywhere.

He was beheaded to confirm his death, and his body was collected separately and burned to ashes.

Naturally, he couldn't be entombed in his family home, the Nangong Family Estate. Instead, his remains were scattered elsewhere.

Half a mile north of the Martial Alliance headquarters.

The bamboo forests that were comparable to the jungles of the Southern Jungles continued on, and if one walked for about half an hour, a quiet open space would appear.

While there were still only bamboo trees around, there was still an open space above one's head.

"..."

Zhou Xuchuan stood in that open space and recalled the old days.

It's been a long time since I've been here.

He was standing in the Alliance Leader's hidden space, surrounded by a nature formation.

"The former Alliance Leader said that he would come here when he was tired or had guests to talk to privately."

He had once crossed swords with Nangong Weiwu here. He could still picture the old man's smiling face, asking if he wanted to meet his granddaughter.

"Have you ever been here, sir?"

Zhou Xuchuan turned.

The Juvenile Fist Emperor stood behind him, silent.

"Are you satisfied?"

He hadn't wanted to make the worst choice the best one. However, he had no other choice.

"Are you satisfied that you have corrected what was wrong and made him take responsibility for it?"

The Juvenile Fist Emperor didn't open his mouth.

He just stood there quietly.

"I've already said what I wanted to say before, and because of your stubbornness and beliefs, I chose the worst option available. I won't say more."

Nangong Weiwu had said that Jing Bai wouldn't change his mind.

So he had asked that only one person take responsibility, and reduce the backlash for the sake of the decisive battle with the Dark Heavens Association.

Of course, if they had taken the time to think about the situation, there might have been another way.

But he had no choice but to make a hasty decision.

Thud, thud!

Zhou Xuchuan stepped forward, and, using no qi, slammed his right fist using only pure strength into the Juvenile Fist Emperor's cheek.

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Thwack!

Jing Bai didn't even try to dodge. He fell back helplessly after taking the punch. Zhou Xuchuan grabbed him by the collar and headbutted him directly.

Bam!

"Listen carefully, you petulant child of a geezer!"[2]

His heart was burning. His head was burning.

"If you had truly cut off all ties with the secular world, this situation wouldn't have happened, and the Alliance Leader wouldn't have passed away like that. This division wouldn't have happened in the first place, and we would have been prepared for the final battle with the Dark Heavens Association. Then, the results would have been better and we would have taken less damage!"

Bang!

"Listen carefully, Juvenile Fist Emperor! I hate you! I really hate you!"

He felt like killing the elder right away.

"Even though I hate you like an enemy, I'm keeping you alive because the Alliance Leader pointed out that you were wrong! If I kill you here, I'll be making his death worse than a dog's death!"

Right now, it was a time where they had to save every single person they could.

Just as the Martial Alliance and the Evil Valley cooperated even though they didn't like it, the Juvenile Fist Emperor couldn't be harmed or sent away even though Zhou Xuchuan couldn't stand him.

In order to defeat the monster called the Dark Heavens Association Lord, he had to borrow the hand of the child.

"If you left the world of the murim to the next person, you shouldn't have come back anymore. What, now you come and say, 'I've made a mistake, and I'm going to fix it?' If that's how you wanted to do things, you shouldn't have left in the first place, you little brat!"

Bam!

Their foreheads clashed once again, and blood spurted out.

"Don't try to justify your actions by saying that there was no other choice."

Zhou Xuchuan looked at Jing Bai with eyes that seemed to be ablaze.

"Take responsibility for that Righteous Path that you so admire!"

He raised his voice and shouted with all his might.

"Grow up! You immature little brat!"

BAM—!

1. This is why we named Zhou Xuchuan the Sword God instead of the Sword Immortal even though both words are the same in Korean. ☜

2. Literally, 'an old geezer who ate his way backwards. ☜