Chapter Ninety-Seven: A Plan in Mind

For the Ouyang clan as a whole, the Ouyang Patriarch still cared somewhat, and so when Tang Wei used that to threaten him, he fell silent. But that did not mean he would simply yield. In his heart, he was already thinking of using a mixture of truth and falsehood to confuse them.

He was gambling that they could not sense fluctuations in the soul. He had already examined that man’s cultivation carefully; it should not have been very high. That temperament could not fool anyone, and he absolutely did not yet possess such extraordinary ability.

Since he had been willing to stake the fate of his entire clan this time in order to carry out the suppression of the Xuanyuan family, then he could also gamble with his life and trust that Tang Wei and the others would be helpless before him.

Tang Wei and Zixuan were not fools. Would they still trust him after seeing the way he behaved? Even if he confessed now, how much of it could be believed? As for Bai Mei, he had almost no cultivation left at all, so he truly could not help with this matter. Calling Bai Mei out was merely meant to intimidate the Ouyang Patriarch.

“Since he is not falling for it, do we really have to use Little Spirit’s method?” the two of them thought at nearly the same time. “Wouldn’t that be a little too much?”

Neither of them was the sort to exterminate everything in sight. They had merely intended to interrogate him, learn the truth, and then mete out a small punishment. They had never expected the man to refuse cooperation. Sigh.

Tang Wei softened a little and said, “To be honest with you, if you refuse to cooperate, it’s not that we have no way to deal with you. It’s just that it won’t do you any good at all.”

When the Ouyang Patriarch heard that tone, he immediately burst into laughter. So they really had no way to handle him. This gamble had been won.

Seeing him laugh so arrogantly, Tang Wei was so furious that her face darkened. This man was far too shameless. Did he really think they were helpless against him? Utterly outrageous.

She flung her hand in exasperation and said, “Xiaoxuan, do it according to Little Spirit’s plan. Some people won’t cry until they see the coffin. That kind of person deserves a little color!”

“I told you long ago,” Zixuan said gleefully. “For a man like him, there’s no way to convince him. You still wanted to—well, never mind. Forget I said anything.”

He turned and saw Tang Wei staring at him in anger, so he immediately touched the bridge of his nose and pretended to accept his bad luck.

But when he turned back to the Ouyang Patriarch, he was no longer so good-tempered. With a faint smile that was not a smile at all, he asked, “Old man, you don’t want to choose the path my senior sister gave you? Fine. Then I’ll give you two paths instead.”

“What methods do the two seniors have? Please, by all means try them,” the Ouyang Patriarch said, growing even more brazen.

As long as he could keep his life, the Ouyang clan would one day rise again. So what if he lost all his cultivation? With that secret in hand, centuries later the Ouyang clan could still trample them beneath its feet.

“Very well. Since you’ve made up your mind, then let it be clear that you insisted on walking this road yourself. Don’t blame me later for not giving you a choice,” Zixuan said, no longer bothering with nonsense. He pointed out the two paths directly and let him choose.

“The first is for me to search your soul. The second is for you to sign a master-servant contract. Choose for yourself.”

“No, that’s impossible. You can’t possibly do that!” The moment Zixuan seriously stated those two options, the Ouyang Patriarch wavered a little.

He still believed that Tang Wei and the others could not possibly manage it. After all, his cultivation was at the Inedia stage, and it was not so easy to force through either method. They were certainly bluffing, just as before.

“If you don’t want to choose, then I’ll choose for you. Although searching the soul of an Inedia-stage cultivator with only Core Formation cultivation is a bit troublesome, it is not impossible.”

Zixuan smiled with wicked delight and drew a talisman prepared by Little Spirit from his storage.

This talisman could weaken a person’s soul to an extreme degree for a period of time, allowing the caster to take advantage of the moment and get exactly what they wanted.

Seeing that Zixuan was no longer sparring with him, and that he had already begun chanting, the talisman swiftly shining with golden light, the Ouyang Patriarch finally understood they were serious. Fear rose at last in his heart. When he saw that Zixuan still did not stop and that the talisman was about to take effect, he cried out in panic, “I’ll do it! I’ll tell you everything! Stop now!”

Soul search!

If he were not careful, he could die on the spot. Then wouldn’t the Ouyang clan be finished for good? Better to stall for now.

“Too late. You have no choice now. Soul search is simpler and far more convenient, and there is no need to worry about you lying,” Zixuan said, pressing forward with his spiritual pressure. With a flick of his wrist, he sent the talisman onto the man. It burst into a blaze of dazzling light and vanished into the Ouyang Patriarch’s body.

He immediately felt his soul power begin to weaken, growing thinner and thinner. At that point he could no longer deceive himself. After a soul search, he would either die or become a fool.

Terrified of becoming a witless idiot despised by all and stripped of all dignity, the Ouyang Patriarch collapsed to the ground. After a long struggle and repeated consideration, he begged in trembling fear, “Senior, I was wrong. Please, spare me this once. I do not want to die, and I do not want to become a fool. I am willing to tell you everything. Please, spare me once!”

Beside him, the Ouyang Family Head also felt the panic of his own ancestor and knelt down together with him, pleading, “Senior, please spare my ancestor! If there is any sin, I am willing to bear it all myself. Even if I must die, that is fine, so long as you will spare my ancestor’s life.”

“There is no place for your voice here! Get lost!” Zixuan waved his hand casually, sweeping the Ouyang Family Head aside and binding him with magic so that he could neither speak nor move. He could only watch from the side.

Then he turned back to the Ouyang Patriarch and smiled. “Now you’re afraid? Unfortunately, you have no choice. In truth, becoming a fool isn’t necessarily the worst outcome. If your soul is scattered, that would be even better.”

Having said that, he did not rush to act. Instead, he watched the old man trembling all over on the ground, and in doing so, he washed away the humiliation of being mocked earlier.

By now, the Ouyang Patriarch was truly terrified. He could already feel that the strength of his soul was scarcely different from that of a three-year-old child. At this point, not to mention a Core Formation cultivator, even a Qi Refinement cultivator could easily perform a soul search on him.

At this moment he looked just like those old men of seventy or eighty who survived by picking through trash on the street. One could not help but feel a trace of pity at the sight.

Tang Wei had never truly suffered any great loss before. She could be considered a first-rate good citizen, and naturally she could not compare with people who were accustomed to life and death. Looking at the Ouyang Patriarch’s pitiful appearance, she had already forgotten how he had mocked her earlier. Lowering her voice, she said to Zixuan, “Xiaoxuan, why not let him choose again? Soul searching is a little too cruel.”

“Weiwei, have you forgotten that the entire Shi family was wiped out because of him? And Yaya was imprisoned because of him for so many days. We were even almost made fools of by him! You want to let him off so cheaply—do you think the Shi family won’t feel resentful? The Shi family has acknowledged you as their master; you have every reason to stand up for them,” Zixuan explained softly into her ear.

“But the Shi family’s matter has passed so long ago. Shouldn’t we just punish him lightly? Leave someone a little leeway. As for Yaya, although we were worried for so long, nothing serious actually happened, did it?” Tang Wei said with a somewhat awkward smile after hearing Zixuan’s quiet explanation and seeing that he still disagreed.

She was not the one involved, so she could not understand the kind of courage it took to seek vengeance without regard for everything. But neither could she bear to watch a living person die before her eyes. Touching the back of her neck, she said, “Hehe, why not let him choose from the last two options instead?”

At the very least, that would still leave him a sliver of hope. If there were a chance later, they could still set him free.

Tang Wei had grown up in a society ruled by law. Aside from being cast aside once, she had always enjoyed smooth sailing, and so her temperament naturally retained a faint softness. But later, after tempering herself in blood and fire, she would slowly grow. Though she might still be a little lazy, she would never remain so indecisive.

Zixuan naturally would not quarrel with her over such a minor matter. An old Inedia-stage cultivator, after all, was nothing to fear. Even if they spared him this once, it would not matter much. With a mere Ouyang clan like his, without their support, who knew whether he would ever have another chance to advance in this lifetime?

So Zixuan ruffled Tang Wei’s hair and said with a smile meant to please her, “I’ll listen to you. Do whatever you want.”

Tang Wei returned him a brilliant smile, then turned to the Ouyang Patriarch and said, “My junior brother is generous. He’ll give you one more chance. Choose one of his two paths yourself.”

At first the Ouyang Patriarch thought the two of them were simply whispering and discussing matters, and that he still had a sliver of hope. Unexpectedly, the choice was merely between dying and suffering. Still, that was better than before. After repeated consideration of the two methods, he finally made his decision.

“Senior! I am willing to serve you as master for the rest of my life. Please grant me your mercy!”

“Since you’ve chosen, then let’s begin,” Zixuan said without the slightest hesitation. The man who had harmed his family deserved the punishment he had earned.

Without another word, he formed a hand seal. A strand of his soul slipped from the center of the Ouyang Patriarch’s spiritual altar and, in an instant, entangled itself with the man’s own soul.

“Master!”

Once the seal was successfully formed, the Ouyang Patriarch developed a sincere goodwill toward Zixuan deep in his heart. He could no longer summon even the slightest thought of resistance. He only felt that this man was someone he ought to trust utterly, and that he should never do anything that would betray him.

The master-servant contract was indeed formidable.

“Very well. You ask, and he answers,” Zixuan said easily, sitting down beside Tang Wei. Pointing at the Ouyang Family Head, he asked, “Does this matter have anything to do with him?”

“Replying to my master, the Ouyang Family Head has only ever been an executor. I was the one who planned the entire affair. He was unaware of many things,” the Ouyang Patriarch answered respectfully.

“Good. Since the Ouyang Family Head knew nothing, then trouble him to take the Patriarch outside,” Zixuan said.

He was plainly trying to send these people away. But since they were also victims, they had the right to know the truth. Looking toward the Xuanyuan Patriarch, Zixuan said, “Fellow Xuanyuan Daoist, this matter may concern the privacy of various clans. Why not leave only you here to understand the situation?”

“I would not dare. Please, Senior, just call me Xuanyuan Wei. You are the great benefactor of my Xuanyuan family. Naturally, we shall obey your instructions,” the Xuanyuan Patriarch said very sensibly, immediately waving the others out.

A Core Formation cultivator was not someone he could afford to offend. It was better to be obedient; perhaps he might even gain some benefit.

The others said nothing more and left in proper order. The last one out even hoisted the Ouyang Family Head along with him and carried him through the door.

“All right, let’s begin. That Long Jiu from the security department should be one of your people, yes?” Zixuan asked straight to the point.

“Yes. Long Jiu was selected into the security department under the identity of an orphan, but in truth he had always been a disciple secretly raised by our Ouyang clan. After sending him there, we also gave him considerable help in cultivation. I wonder how Master saw through him?” The Ouyang Patriarch was quite curious about this as well.

Although he had already recognized Zixuan as his master, his subconscious mind could not carry out anything harmful to Zixuan. Even the slightest thought of resistance would be punished by the contract. But so long as he did not resist, his own consciousness still remained in charge in ordinary matters.

“I thought he was suspicious from the beginning. With no basis at all, he was convinced the Xuanyuan family meant to harm others and kept trying to lead us down the wrong path. I’d say half of your plan was ruined by him,” Zixuan said. Since the Ouyang Patriarch had already been subdued and could no longer harbor murderous intent, Zixuan felt it did no harm to tell him.

“Master is wise. A mere Long Jiu could never escape your eyes. Even without Long Jiu, Master would certainly have seen through the truth of the matter!” the Ouyang Patriarch flattered him without the slightest stinginess. He was truly shameless, acting as if the entire matter had nothing to do with him, as though he were only an onlooker.

Seeing Tang Wei turn her head and roll her eyes, Zixuan smiled and said, “You don’t need to praise me so nicely. I don’t buy that. Even without Long Jiu, I still sensed that something was wrong. I just did not know where to begin with the key point. With Long Jiu, though, I could use him to counter their scheme.”

“You mean the later capture of Bai Mei was also arranged deliberately by Master?” the Ouyang Patriarch asked in astonishment.

“Of course. The purpose was to lure your snake out of its hole. Ever since the death of the Tianshan Double Fiends, I had already guessed the general shape of things, though I could not be certain and dared not say exactly who was behind it. So I could only respond with a plan of my own within theirs.”

On this point, Zixuan was very confident. Without his plan, the truth might still not have been discovered even now.

Of course, Little Spirit’s magical artifact had also played a great role. The plan was only finalized after that.

“Still, I am very curious about something. In the Xuanyuan family, it seems as though nothing can remain secret from you at all. The moment something happens over here, your side knows immediately. That is why I suspect you have a man inside the Xuanyuan family as well, but I have never managed to figure out who it is. Tell me, who exactly is that person?”

Zixuan was very curious. Just how deeply had the Ouyang clan infiltrated things, to the point that the Xuanyuan family could not defend itself against them?

He never expected the Ouyang Patriarch to give a name that left everyone utterly incredulous.

“Dongfang.”

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