Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)

Translated by: Pipipingu

Edited by: Michyrr

It was silent in the forest. Countless gazes landed on Zhexiu’s body, and they all varied from one another. Zhu Luo squinted his eyes slightly, and seemed to want to say something. Mei Lisha was not there at all, but where the green mountain had disappeared. He looked at the Garden of Zhou that had already disappeared, and his old face revealed an indescribable expression.

“So it’s like that.” The Mount Li elder looked at Zhexiu expressionlessly.

The sound of footsteps and wind appeared in the forest. It belonged to the various cultivators of the southern Longevity Sect and Holy Maiden Peak. Without any orders, they all dispersed, and slightly blocked the directions that Zhexiu could leave in. Seeing the situation, they were about to act in the next moment. Logically, it was not because Zhuang Huanyu had pointed out that Zhexiu was the demon traitor that everyone believed it without a doubt, it was that Liang Xiaoxiao who lay on the stretcher always stared at Zhexiu, staring at him with undisguised hatred and vigilance. Also, Zhexiu did not speak up against it.

Liang Xiaoxiao was a member of the Divine State’s Seven Laws, and Zhuang Huanyu was a proud, brilliant student of the Heavenly Dao Academy. The testimony of the two was extremely powerful. Most importantly, Liang Xiaoxiao was currently heavily injured, and his true essence was dispersing brightly. He was about to die. No one would doubt what he said. Who could lie in the final moment before death?

Zhexiu was not a human cultivator, and did not have any association with the various cultivating sects of the Central Plains. However, he killed demons on the snowy plains and coordinated with the army of Great Zhou. He had committed a lot of meritorious deeds in the military, and many aristocrats in the capital admired him very much; in essence, an exchange and consideration of interest. However, that did not stop some people siding with him.

The status of Li Palace was relatively higher. The cardinal who had helped heal Liang Xiaoxiao furrowed his eyebrows slightly, and thought in his heart that the sword slashes on Liang Xiaoxiao’s body did not seem like the killing method that Zhexiu was good at. He said hesitantly, “I think what was most fatal… should be the sword wounds.”

A lecturer from Star Seizer Academy looked at Zhuang Huanyu and said with a cold expression, “Indeed, how do you explain it? Zhexiu has performed meritorious military service time after time, and who knows how many demons he has killed on the snowy plains. You actually say that he worked with the demons to enter the Garden of Zhou to kill people. How would people believe you?”

It was indeed like that. Especially with the sword wounds on Liang Xiaoxiao’s body, it clearly was not done by Zhexiu. This deepened the doubt even more. Many people looked at Zhuang Huanyu once again, wanting to hear how he would explain it. Zhuang Huanyu hesitated slightly before saying, “Perhaps, he has always been hiding it the years before, just to gain our trust from the meritorious deeds.”

“Pointing at people for working with the demons cannot be said with the word ‘perhaps’,” the lecturer from the Star Seizer Academy said without any respect, as if he did not care about his identity at all.

Both of Zhuang Huanyu’s eyes were slightly blood-shot, perhaps due to worry or anger. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but he did not do it in the end, and seemed to subconsciously glance at the stretcher.

Liang Xiaoxiao shooked his head with difficulty and said, “Speak no more.”

The Mount Li elder saw what happened, and vaguely understood that his conjecture had turned into the truth. His complexion became extremely pale, and his body became slightly cold. Listening to Liang Xiaoxiao’s weak voice, Zhuang Huanyu tightly closed his mouth. His complexion also paled and his body became slightly cold, except his coldness and the coldness of the elder from Mount Li were different.

Looking at Liang Xiaoxiao who lay on the stretcher, covered in blood, he thought about the conversation he had in the Garden of Zhou before and the several dozen mournful sword rays. He could not help but feel cold inside.

At that time, outside the Mountainside Whispering Wood, Liang Xiaoxiao saw the scene of Zhexiu carrying Qi Jian out of the Garden of Zhou. He briefed Zhuang Huanyu over some things very calmly, before pulling out his sword from the sheath without the slightest sign of hesitation. He then used an extremely powerful sword move.

The sword move was the final move of the Mount Li Sword Style, the most heroic and absolute move. Using the sword move could bring great harm to the opponent, but the user himself would definitely die under the sword. Before, in the Grand Examination, the reason Gou Hanshi conceded in the end was that he saw that Chen Changsheng had decided to use the sword move.

Liang Xiaoxiao used such a grim and tragic move on himself.

Zhuang Huanyu was shocked to the point where he only stared blankly. He had never seen such a grim person who was so grim and so fierce to himself, so what about to other people?

Yes, this was an immediate scheme Liang Xiaoxiao had come up with. He used death and his sword wounds to denounce Zhexiu and Qi Jian as working with the demons, making both sides suffer.

He did not say Qi Jian’s name in front of so many people, because he loved her as a friend, and deeply believed that the name of the sect was more important than the life of a Mount Li disciple. Even if he was about to die, he did not wish for Mount Li’s great reputation to suffer any damage, still taking pity on his youngest junior.

It was also exactly because that he was like that, that his word was even more believable. Using his death to exchange for benefits, Liang Xiaoxiao really was very terrifying. Most terrifyingly, before he made the decision, he did not hesitate at all, and seemed as if he did not care whether Zhuang Huanyu would act out his plans at all.

Liang Xiaoxiao using his death to construct a scheme caused Zhuang Huanyu to feel extremely terrified. He wanted to flee, however, he knew that he could not flee. Ever since the moment on the lake shore, when Chen Changsheng and the other two were ambushed by Liang Xiaoxiao and the demon experts, and he had not appeared, he had taken the fork in the road.

At many moments in the past, he had the opportunity to correct the direction he traveled in, including right now. He could tell the truth, however… if he did that, he would be seen as a coward. As a result, he did not, so afterwards, he needed to continue traveling along that path, unable to look back.

The opposing seemed to have already guessed his choice since the very start.

Looking at Liang Xiaoxiao who lay on the stretcher, covered in blood and on his last breath, Zhuang Huanyu felt that he had seen a devil.

Liang Xiaoxiao also looked at him. His gaze was rather gloomy, but it was very peaceful.

The moment their eyes had connected, everything was settled.

Zhuang Huanyu said nothing and slowly lowered his head. He said with a slightly trembling voice, “Sorry, I can’t say anything.”

In the eyes of everyone, Zhuang Huanyu seemed very sad, and also seemed to be very unwilling.

He could not say anything, but actually had already conveyed a lot, which was even more terrifying than speaking.

Zhu Luo slightly raised an eyebrow and looked to the ground at Qi Jian who was still unconscious.

Qi Jian did not know what was happening at all.

“What do you have to say?”

A new lecturer of the Heavenly Dao Academy walked into the crowd. Hearing the situation, his expression became slightly cold, and asked Zhexiu while looking under the tree.

Zhexiu said expressionlessly, “Liang Xiaoxiao is the demon traitor… but I did not kill him.”

The crowd fell into an uproar again, and the elder of Mount Li asked with a cold expression, “What did you say?”

Zhexiu described what had happened by the lake. He was not good at speaking and spoke very slowly, but also because of that, it instead was rather believable.

The lecturer from the Star Seizer Academy asked, “Do you have a witness for what you have said?”

Zhexiu and Liang Xiaoxiao accused each other of being the demon traitor. They naturally did not have any evidence, so they could only look for witnesses.

Not many people present believed in what Zhexiu had said. What the Star Seizer Academy lecturer asked was a chance that Zhexiu had to seize without a doubt.

Zhexiu stayed silent for a while before saying, “I know you don’t believe what I have said. Wait until Qi Jian wakes up, and you all will naturally know.”

As the gazes of the crowd turned to him, the cardinal shook his head and said, “Too heavily injured, and the meridians have some heavy problems. Don’t know when he’ll wake up, even…”

Zhuang Huanyu sneered and said with grief and indignation, “Unable to wake up so you…”

Both of them did not finish what they were saying, but the crowd understood what the two were implying.

It was possible that Qi Jian would never wake up.

In that case, Zhuang Huanyu would be overjoyed.

It was still like that saying: sometimes, not speaking or not explaining completely was far more harmful than speaking clearly.

With the details and the injuries on Liang Xiaoxiao’s body, most of the people already believed that they were able to guess roughly what the scheme that occurred in the Garden of Zhou was, why Zhuang Huanyu was so grieved and indignant, why he wanted to speak but then stopped, why Liang Xiaoxiao was about to die, but instead remained unwilling to say any more.

“According to what Zhexiu has said, you were not there at the time,” the lecturer of the Star Seizer Academy said while looking at Zhuang Huanyu.

Zhuang Huanyu said nothing for a very long time. Finally, he raised his head and made his choice. As a result, he seemed very calm.

To make the choice between being a coward forever, or being a warrior for a while. It was very easy.

He had already been a coward once, so in the story he told, he obviously was a warrior.

Although he knew very clearly that these were the actions of a coward.

Listening to Zhuang Huanyu tell his story, the crowd became quiet again.

Under the scholar tree, Zhexiu could feel the gazes that originated from his surroundings, and he could feel the pressure that slowly became real. He slightly lowered his head, and was very confused.

At that moment, he could not see, so he was even more confused by how humans could speak so brazenly.

In order to lie successfully, there needed to be even more lies to prevent any holes from occurring. The story Zhuang Huanyu had told completely originated from the fabrication that Liang Xiaoxiao came up with in a very short time, so he was obviously unable to keep all the details straight perfectly. Zhu Luo, who was always silent, suddenly said, “Chen Changsheng was also there?”

In the story Zhexiu had told, Chen Changsheng played an extremely important role. In Zhuang Huanyu’s story, Chen Changsheng did appear, but he was gone in a few words. Zhexiu did not understand and said, “Yes, Chen Changsheng can testify.”

The lecturer from the Heavenly Dao Academy looked at him and furrowed his brows slightly. He said, “Chen Changsheng did not exit from the Garden of Zhou, and should have already died… you know this, so why did you purposely say it?”

Hearing that Chen Changsheng had died in the Garden of Zhou, Zhexiu became silent and did not say anything more.

Liang Xiaoxiao’s voice became weaker and weaker, “So he couldn’t leave the Garden of Zhou, then there’s nothing else.”

After saying that, he sighed. It was slightly regretful, slightly pleased, slightly disappointed; in general, very complicated.

The forest became quiet again, and the crowd was shocked speechless.

Perhaps… in the matter of Zhexiu working with the demons, Chen Changsheng actually also participated in it?

How could a perfect lie be created? It was not to constantly fill it up with new lies, but like a painting, some areas should be left blank, giving people space to fill in the gaps themselves.

This was what Liang Xiaoxiao did, and it was very successful.

Of course, until the current moment, the lie was still not perfect, because the words of the living were still not as convincing as the words of the dead in the end—life was the most valuable thing in the world, and the accusation made with life was the most powerful. Many times, it was even more powerful than the truth.

Only if Liang Xiaoxiao died at this moment would his set up against Zhexiu, Qi Jian and Chen Changsheng be considered perfect.

He closed his eyes and smiled in a rather tired manner.

He displayed many complicated emotions on his face. There was unwillingness, grief, relief and… forgiveness.

Then, he died.