The Hall of Miraculous Prescriptions had never been so lively before.
The usually desolate place was now crowded with a throng of people, each wearing a grave expression—except for Yin Congyue.
"Uncle Xie, do you know how long it's been since you last came to see me? If it weren't for my uncle sending me to drag you back this time, I don't know when I'd ever get to see you again." Yin Congyue clung to Xie Jiuzhang's sleeve, his tone exceedingly affectionate.
One would think he'd come out visiting relatives.
"Drag me back?" Xie Jiuzhang lowered his gaze to Yin Congyue. "What does he want with me?"
Yin Congyue furrowed his brow, pondering for a moment before raising his hand to point at Shen Fu. "To be precise, it's not you he wants—it's him."
He then looked up at Shen Fu. "My uncle says he massacred a village and killed Dongxu Sect's Elder Cheng Ping. He wants him taken back for interrogation."
Hearing this, Shen Fu's expression instantly turned grim.
"Congyue!" An elder with white hair and a white beard, looking as withered as dry firewood, barked sternly, "Have you forgotten the solemn oath you swore before the Alliance Leader to not sabotage this operation?"
"Elder Fengyuan, what are you saying? I naturally remember what I promised my uncle." Yin Congyue narrowed his eyes, retorting with clear displeasure.
This Elder Fengyuan was always the most pedantic, and relying on his status as the longest-serving member of the Immortal Alliance, he frequently used his seniority to pressure Yin Congyue. Moreover, the man was an old friend of Cheng Ping's—the two often got together to study some unsavory spells.
Yin Congyue had long since grown tired of him. That Tribulation Cloud from earlier had been released by this very man, clearly bringing personal grudges to cause trouble for Xuanji Mountain.
If Yin Congyue hadn't stopped him, he might have actually succeeded in his sneak attack and harmed Xie Jiuzhang and his group.
Fengyuan, having been shouted at by a junior like this, naturally felt displeased, but he also knew better than to easily offend the Alliance Leader's precious darling. So he flicked his sleeve and snorted coldly, "The Young Master is still young after all. It shouldn't be too much for this elder to offer a word of reminder."
"You!" Yin Congyue's face flushed red with anger. He was about to start cursing when Xie Jiuzhang pulled him behind his back. "Elder Fengyuan is quite advanced in years, so it's only right that you listen to him. Otherwise, the elder might let his anger fester and affect his cultivation."
Xie Jiuzhang wore a gentle smile, but his words instantly broke Fengyuan's composure. "Xie Jiuzhang! What do you mean by that?"
"Don't be angry, Elder. I'm just helping you discipline Xiao Yue—he really is immature." As he spoke, Xie Jiuzhang even raised his hand and patted Yin Congyue's head, feigning disappointment at his failure to live up to expectations.
Shen Fu, who had been watching the show from the sidelines, couldn't help but let out a soft laugh.
It would've been better if he hadn't laughed—that laugh drew the attention of the already furious Fengyuan to this overlooked protagonist.
He narrowed his triangular eyes and stared at Shen Fu with a sinister gaze. "So you're Shen Fu? You're the one who killed Cheng Ping."
A huge black pot had fallen from the sky, and Shen Fu wasn't about to wear it. He spread his hands and said calmly, "Evidence?"
"Evidence?" Fengyuan snorted coldly, his emotions instantly flaring up. "You have the nerve to ask me for evidence! Li Family Village is now littered with corpses and thick with resentment! If the Alliance Leader hadn't noticed in time and sent people to seal it off, your Xuanji Mountain would likely be implicated by now!"
The more Fengyuan spoke, the more agitated he became. His withered face even flushed with excitement. "Cheng Ping died without a complete corpse—his head was severed and tossed into a pile of mud before he even passed! And you!"
Fengyuan glared with wide, furious eyes fixed on Shen Fu, his gaze filled with such hatred that it seemed he might pounce at any moment and tear Shen Fu limb from limb. "Not only did you kill and mutilate, but you also stole his disciple! How can someone as vicious as you exist in this world!"
Shen Fu's heart sank at these words, because in the original story, Cheng Ping had been dealt with personally by Ji Yanzhi—and not at this point in the timeline at all.
Yet with such a deviation in the plot, the Blood Trace hadn't reacted in the slightest.
So now there were only two possibilities. One: Cheng Ping wasn't actually dead—or rather, it was a fake death—and he'd staged this whole act with Fengyuan, either to frame Xuanji Mountain or to snatch Ji Yanzhi back.
Two: Cheng Ping was truly dead, but the question was… who did it?
Although Cheng Ping always practiced some unorthodox arts, he was still a sect master after all, and his cultivation base wasn't low. To kill him, only two people present had that ability.
One was naturally his senior brother and sect master, Xie Jiuzhang. And the other…
Shen Fu was just about to turn his head when his palm was gently scratched. "Master, his voice is so loud. I'm scared."
Ji Yanzhi hid pitifully behind Shen Fu, both hands nervously clutching at Shen Fu's sleeve.
"…" Shen Fu looked at Ji Yanzhi with a complicated expression, the suspicion in his heart reigniting. Since Ji Yanzhi was the protagonist, if the plot had been altered by his own hand, would the Blood Trace… tacitly allow this development?
Shen Fu was startled by his own wild imagination, but… it wasn't entirely unreasonable as an explanation.
As soon as Ji Yanzhi spoke, he naturally drew Fengyuan's attention. The latter shot a sharp glare over and immediately spotted the fleeting mark on the back of Ji Yanzhi's hand.
The next second, Fengyuan flashed forward with a chopping strike, heading straight for Shen Fu.
Seeing this, Xie Jiuzhang and Jiang Lin both drew their swords to meet him. Even Shen Fu was startled into a defensive stance. But soon, everyone realized Fengyuan's target was not Shen Fu at all—it was Ji Yanzhi, who had been hiding behind him all along.
"What is this?" Fengyuan grabbed Ji Yanzhi's hand, and a surge of powerful mana flooded into it, causing the invisible Cauldron Mark to manifest instantly.
Ji Yanzhi's brow furrowed slightly, and his expression darkened in an instant.
"A furnace cauldron? You, a disciple of the Dongxu Sect, why would you be carrying this thing on Xuanji Mountain? Did someone force you?" Fengyuan squeezed Ji Yanzhi's wrist tightly, his mana pressing down on his vital pulse—with just a little more force, he could easily take Ji Yanzhi's life.
Shen Fu was closest to the two of them, so he naturally noticed something was wrong at once.
Fengyuan showed no intention of letting Ji Yanzhi go, and Ji Yanzhi, seeing that Shen Fu remained unresponsive, simply turned his head to look at him with a pitiful expression, right in front of everyone.
"Master, it hurts." Ji Yanzhi's voice trembled, as if he might burst into tears at any moment.
"You—don't do this."
The moment Shen Fu heard him speak, he always had a bad feeling about it.
Sure enough, the next second Fengyuan let out a cold snort. "What more evidence do you need? Isn't this the perfect proof that you killed Cheng Ping? Before I even came here, I heard that Xie Jiuzhang had taken in a crippled waste poisoned with a deadly toxin. For all these years, Xuanji Mountain has been searching for a furnace cauldron to cure that waste. It seems the two of you learned that Cheng Ping was a disciple of extraordinary talent and grew greedy—not only did you incite him to steal the Dongxu Sect's secret manual, but you also deliberately had him lure Cheng Ping to Li Family Village, only to spring a trap and finish him off."
As he spoke, Fengyuan roughly yanked Ji Yanzhi's hand upward. "Before I arrived, weren't you all arguing with me that Xuanji Mountain had no motive for murder? If this doesn't count as motive, then I, Fengyuan, will go kneel before the palace hall and beg the Alliance Leader to bring justice for my old friend."
"Now that both witnesses and evidence are present, I ask you all to arrest Xie Jiuzhang and Shen Fu and return with me to the Immortal Alliance to report." Fengyuan pressed forward relentlessly, as if he couldn't wait a single moment longer to have Shen Fu convicted.
That said, not a single elder among them made a move. Instead, they all turned to look at Yin Congyue, as if waiting for him to give the order.
Although Yin Congyue indeed had the least seniority and was the youngest, he had the Alliance Leader backing him, and Yin Congyue also had countless connections to Xie Jiuzhang. If they acted rashly, they might displease this young prince, and once back at the Immortal Alliance, he could easily find some excuse to punish them.
After much deliberation, the elders of the Immortal Alliance ultimately held their ground, waiting for Yin Congyue to speak.
Fengyuan saw the tide turning against him and guessed what these old foxes were thinking. After a moment of stunned silence, he let out a cold laugh. "I thought you were all righteous people, but it turns out you're nothing but sycophantic cowards!"
The elders present naturally took offense at being insulted like that, and someone muttered back, "If you're so above flattering the powerful, then don't join the Immortal Alliance. What are you trying to prove?"
Hearing this, Fengyuan's face turned green. "Then give me a straight answer, Young Alliance Leader. With witnesses and evidence right here, what are you waiting for? Don't tell me you're actually letting old ties cloud your judgment and shielding them?"
"Don't you go pinning hats on me," Yin Congyue said. "Since this case has been placed in my hands, it follows my rules. Elder Fengyuan, you've lost an old friend and are speaking out of grief and rage—I'll let that slide for now. Go cool your head for a moment. I still have matters to discuss with Sect Master Xie."
Fengyuan let out a cold snort, flung Ji Yanzhi's hand aside, and stormed off in fury.
Once he was gone, Yin Congyue cursed under his breath a couple of times, then had Jiang Lin settle the remaining Immortal Alliance elders while he dragged Xie Jiuzhang to the back courtyard.
Shen Fu and Ji Yanzhi, having no further use, were sent back to their sleeping quarters.
It wasn't until he sat back down on his own bed that Shen Fu still felt completely dazed.
He had killed someone, yes—but he had killed Cao Zhenhui, not Cheng Ping. At the time, he had acted with the attitude that he didn't care even if the Blood Trace sought revenge on him for eliminating that piece of trash. But unexpectedly, the Blood Trace had no intention of punishing him at all.
So, had his rebirth changed part of the storyline, or had the Blood Trace tacitly approved of his actions?
The Blood Trace's core purpose was to serve Ji Yanzhi. If it had tacitly approved, did that mean some of these changes had been caused by Ji Yanzhi?
If that were truly the case, then Ji Yanzhi clearly shouldn't have had the ability to kill Cheng Ping at this point.
Unless—
he, too, had returned with memories from his previous life.
Shen Fu's heart jolted. He looked up and saw Ji Yanzhi standing at the foot of the bed, his gaze dark and heavy as he studied him. The moment he noticed Shen Fu looking up, the expression vanished instantly, replaced by a docile, obedient demeanor.
Their eyes met, and Ji Yanzhi's eyes immediately lit up. He quickly raised his head to look at him. "Master."
Shen Fu's heart began to pound wildly at the sight of him, but he still maintained a composed facade on the surface. "Don't look at me like that."
Ji Yanzhi's eyes drooped at the corners, his starry gaze instantly dimming as he dropped to his knees with remarkable decisiveness.
"I didn't mean to let him see the Cauldron Mark just now." Having said that, he obediently extended his palm toward Shen Fu. "Please punish me, Master."
"…Did I say I was blaming you?"
It would have been better if he hadn't brought it up—his words made Shen Fu start to wonder whether Ji Yanzhi had revealed the mark intentionally or by accident.
Ji Yanzhi's eyes flickered, his watery gaze fixed on Shen Fu as if looking at a savior, as though not striking him were the greatest of mercies.
Shen Fu felt uncomfortable under his stare, but then a thought crossed his mind, and he dismissed the matter. "I'm a bit hungry. If you truly feel you've done wrong, go to the kitchen and fetch me some food—consider that your penance."
Hearing this, Ji Yanzhi finally broke into a smile. "What would Master like to eat? I'll go get it for you."
"Anything," Shen Fu said. "As long as it won't kill me."
Watching Ji Yanzhi scamper off happily from the bedchamber, Shen Fu finally let out a sigh of relief. He casually cast a soundproofing spell and summoned the gleaming, golden, invincible Overlord Ball.