Chapter 234: Chapter 233: A Young Man from the Celestial Master’s Mansion Was Framed in Huaqi Country

Taoist Yi Hong’s eyebrow twitched. They had used Call the Wind and Summon the Rain once in Mountain City, and as for Soaring Clouds and Mist...

’I even used the Invisibility Skill back then. How did they find out?’

"Please rest assured, Taoist Yi Hong. We mean no harm to Mr. Gu or any of you," the middle-aged man continued. "We simply wish to communicate with you, to ask about what happened, and to assess the potential impact on the nation and even on Blue Star."

"If it’s inconvenient for Mr. Gu, might we speak with you first?" the middle-aged man asked.

Taoist Yi Hong turned to Gu Zhao and sent a mental message with a chuckle, "They’re being quite considerate of your feelings."

Gu Zhao nodded. "I have no experience dealing with the establishment. I’ll leave it to you."

"I’m no expert either. Let’s have Senior Brother Ming Yu join me to cover all the bases," Taoist Yi Hong said with a laugh. "It just so happens that we’re both directors of the Taoist Research Institute."

Taoist Ming Yu didn’t object. "Alright!"

Taoist Yi Hong spoke to the person on the other end of the line. "You set a time. I’ll be waiting for you at the Taoist Research Institute."

"Ten o’clock tomorrow morning. Does that work for you?" the middle-aged man asked.

"It does," Taoist Yi Hong replied before hanging up.

After he hung up, the other old Daoists in the pavilion, who had been silent, let out a collective sigh of relief.

Taoist Shen Hao, who had joined them last, was the most sensitive about this. "We’ve been discovered by the establishment. What are we going to tell them?"

Taoist Ming Yu patted his hand. "Senior Brother, calm down. The Sect Leader has had a plan for this for a long time."

When Gu Zhao brought the Daoists over from the Otherworld and began handing out Golden Gang Bracelets in large numbers, he knew it was only a matter of time before he was exposed. He had already discussed this with the old Daoists.

But now, with several centuries of Dao Practice under his belt, his mindset had shifted from his earlier caution to one of complete confidence.

"Of course, we won’t tell them everything. We’ll just give them a few Golden Gang Bracelets as a welcoming gift. Letting them witness some of our skills will be enough."

Gu Zhao smiled and waved his hand. "Then we can openly help extinguish massive forest fires, bring rain to regions suffering from drought, and do other such things."

Taoist Yan Song nodded with a smile. "Doing Good Deeds and Accumulating Virtue cultivates one’s Dao Heart. How can our Dao Hearts be at peace if we must always act in secret?"

Taoist Yi Hong also chuckled. "Cultivate the Dao, cultivate virtue, aid the nation, and save the people. This is exactly as it should be."

Taoist Jing Feng nodded repeatedly. "Precisely!"

Taoist Qingyuan, being the most straightforward of the group, couldn’t help but ask, "But what if they want to investigate the Otherworld, too?"

The other old Daoists just smiled without a word. Gu Zhao raised an eyebrow and grinned. "In that case, I’ll have to ask you, Martial Uncle, to catch a century-old Fierce Ghost and bring it here. As long as they can slay it with their own power, I won’t mind taking a few more people across."

Taoist Qingyuan shook his head with a bitter smile and fell silent.

’Without the restraining properties of Taoist True Qi, can modern weapons that rely solely on shockwaves and physical impact even harm a Ghost?’

Taoist Yi Hong’s expression turned serious. "It’s extremely dangerous for ordinary people to go to the Otherworld. If they were captured by a powerful master and subjected to a Soul Search, exposing the Sect Leader, it would endanger us all."

Just then, Taoist Ming Yu’s cell phone rang.

"Don’t tell me they’re calling me again so soon?" Taoist Ming Yu joked. He picked up his phone, only to see it was a call from Taoist Zhi Qing.

"Hello?"

"Martial Uncle, something has happened to Changyi!"

"Hmm?" Taoist Ming Yu’s expression immediately turned serious. "What happened?"

Changyi was the only Daoist of the Celestial Master’s Mansion’s younger generation who had successfully cultivated Inner Breath True Qi. He just wasn’t at the Celestial Master’s Mansion, having gone to study abroad in Huaqi Country.

Taoist Ming Yu hadn’t been concerned. After all, there were still many old Daoists in the modern world who needed to be granted a Thunder Seed. Zhi Qing and Zhi Xiu were still waiting in line, which naturally put Changyi even further down the list.

But as the public face of the Celestial Master’s Mansion’s younger generation and a representative of its future True Cultivators, Changyi absolutely could not be in trouble.

"Changyi’s been arrested in Huaqi Country! He’s been charged with murder!" Taoist Zhi Qing said frantically.

"Are you kidding me? How could Changyi possibly kill someone?" Taoist Ming Yu refused to believe it.

"Of course he wouldn’t," Taoist Zhi Qing sighed.

"Someone framed him?" As Taoist Ming Yu spoke, his eyes narrowed. The gaze that was always full of smiles and child-like innocence was finally tinged with Evil Qi.

"Yes." Taoist Zhi Qing nodded. "Changyi’s parents have already arrived in Huaqi Country and seen him. They just called me."

"What happened?" Taoist Ming Yu asked.

"A few days ago, Changyi discovered that a classmate named Mike was afflicted by an Evil Skill. He performed a ritual to help him, and together they began investigating the person behind it. They eventually traced it to another classmate, a man named Eric. Mike reported it to the police, but since there wasn’t enough evidence and Mike seemed fine, Eric wasn’t arrested. Instead, it tipped him off. He found out Changyi was involved, and they came to blows, with Eric retreating in defeat."

"Then how did Changyi end up getting arrested?"

"Because Mike is dead," Taoist Zhi Qing sighed. "The police found evidence of Changyi poisoning him."

"It was Eric, wasn’t it?"

"Changyi didn’t say, since there’s no proof. However, according to the information he gathered, Eric’s family is quite wealthy," Taoist Zhi Qing said grimly.

"The audacity! Some practitioner of dark arts dares to frame one of our own from the Celestial Master’s Mansion!" Taoist Ming Yu fumed.

"By the time Wang Dehai and his wife got there, the court in Huaqi Country had already delivered the initial verdict." Taoist Zhi Qing’s voice was a mixture of anger and deep concern. "Changyi was found guilty of poisoning and murdering his classmate. The sentence is thirty years in prison.

Now, Younger Brother Wang and his wife have already hired a lawyer in Huaqi Country to file an appeal, but the lawyer says the outlook is grim. The evidence is airtight. Even if Changyi were to plead guilty and sign a plea bargain, the best he could hope for is a reduced sentence of twenty years."

Changyi’s secular surname was Wang; Wang Dehai was his father.

"Bullshit!" Taoist Ming Yu was so angry he swore. "Changyi didn’t kill anyone! What the hell is there to plead guilty to!"

"Oh, wait! Younger Brother Wang is sending me another message!" Taoist Zhi Qing said, then fell silent.

"What is it now?" Taoist Ming Yu asked.

"That Eric contacted Younger Brother Wang." On the other end of the line, Taoist Zhi Qing was so furious he slammed his hand on a table. "He told Younger Brother Wang and his wife to convince Changyi to plead guilty. In exchange, he’ll get Changyi out on bail—no prison time—but on the condition that Changyi joins his family’s company!"

Taoist Ming Yu took a deep breath, so angry he began to laugh. "Good. Very good. So this was all about getting his hands on Changyi’s abilities."

"Martial Uncle, what do we do? Should we get the Taoist Association involved?" Taoist Zhi Qing asked.

Although Changyi was young, he was a formally ordained Daoist of the Celestial Master’s Mansion who had undergone the Transmission and was registered with the Zhang Province Taoist Association. In theory, that made him part of the establishment. Now that he had been framed, they could indeed ask them to intervene.

"No!" Taoist Ming Yu refused.

’Are you kidding me? We’re about to meet with people from the establishment tomorrow. Are we supposed to go asking them for favors today?’