Chapter 75: Old Stories

"It seems Commander Zhuo has made significant progress these past few days?" Gu Mo poured Zhuo Qingfeng a cup of tea.

Upon entering, Zhuo Qingfeng and Mo Qingxian exchanged greetings. They were already acquainted, so Gu Mo didn't need to introduce them, and there was no excessive politeness.

Zhuo Qingfeng picked up his teacup and took a sip. "Gu Mo," he asked, "as a Bounty Hunter, are you interested in joining me to capture the cat demon? The yamen is offering a three-thousand-tael reward."

Gu Mo smiled slightly. "Commander Zhuo," he said, "perhaps you should first tell me about your clues."

Zhuo Qingfeng set down his teacup and slowly began, "The day I encountered the cat demon at the East Mountain Sword Sect, I noticed something unusual. However, the situation was special then, and I left before I could inquire further."

"What was it?" Gu Mo asked.

"Some white powder, very fine and hard to detect," Zhuo Qingfeng replied. "Fortunately, I have a sensitive nose and caught an unusual scent. Most people would probably just dismiss it as plaster dust. After leaving the East Mountain Sword Sect that day, I sought out a martial arts friend who is knowledgeable in pharmacology. He told me the powder is very common, or more precisely, a common spice in Qingyang County called Lingling. However, if you add a bit of thyme to that spice, it creates an unexpected effect."

"What kind of effect?" Gu Chuxia asked.

"It's highly attractive to cats," Zhuo Qingfeng explained. "As soon as cats smell the mixture of thyme and Lingling, they are irresistibly drawn to it, as if losing their minds. Yet, if that same substance is burned, the resulting scent makes cats agitated and violent."

Gu Mo frowned slightly, recalling the scene of countless cats hissing in the courtyard at the East Mountain Sword Sect that day.

Zhuo Qingfeng smiled faintly and continued, "Guess where this method of combining Lingling with thyme originated?"

"The Divine Cat Temple?" Gu Mo ventured.

"Precisely," Zhuo Qingfeng confirmed. "It's the Divine Cat Temple. So, now you understand why so many cats gather there for extended periods and exhibit all sorts of strange behaviors, right? The offerings at the Divine Cat Temples are substantial, and ordinary folk are easily deceived. They don't know that the cats gather there not because the temples house divine cats, but because Lingling and thyme are consistently present. Things like cat groups blocking roads or civet cats 'rescuing' people are all fabricated by the Divine Cat Temples for sensationalism and to lure offerings, ensuring the common people believe deeply in the divine cats."

"Then what's its connection to this cat demon haunting?" Gu Mo asked.

Zhuo Qingfeng spoke gravely, "Now, here's the crucial part of my investigation. Once I realized the trickery behind the Divine Cat Temples, I was puzzled. There are so many of them across the region, hundreds in Qingyang County alone. They require vast amounts of Lingling and thyme, which is difficult for ordinary people to produce. Most importantly, while these temples operate independently, their offerings are so immense that it's impossible without someone protecting them from behind the scenes. So, I followed the trail and discovered that the Four Quadrants Sword Sect is actually supporting these temples. They provide the Lingling and thyme, and in return, the Divine Cat Temples make regular monthly tributes."

Gu Mo thought for a moment. "There's a question," he said. "The Divine Cat Temples started appearing nearly sixty years ago, and even then, it wasn't just one or two; they were widespread. But the Four Quadrants Sword Sect didn't exist back then; it was founded only forty years ago. Did those temples not use Lingling and thyme then? And did they not need protection?"

"As expected of Hero Gu, you hit the nail on the head," Zhuo Qingfeng replied. "I had the same doubt at the time, so I continued to dig deeper. Guess what I found?"

"Commander Zhuo, just tell me. Don't beat around the bush," Gu Mo said.

Zhuo Qingfeng slowly explained, "Do you remember the story of the divine cat that Chen San told us earlier? Everything began with a man named Fang Lianshan. He claimed to have received teachings from a divine cat, and it was he who caused the cat to transform into a demon and wreak havoc everywhere. In that divine cat legend, it was mentioned that Fang Lianshan had four disciples. However, after Fang Lianshan's death, his four disciples built a Divine Cat Temple on Mount Jiuhua and then vanished, never to be seen again."

Gu Mo's brow furrowed slightly. "You're not suggesting that the four leaders of the Four Quadrants Sword Sect—Mountain, River, Lake, and Sea—are Fang Lianshan's four disciples, are you?"

"Precisely."

Zhuo Qingfeng continued, "After learning that the Four Quadrants Sword Sect was behind the Divine Cat Temples, I became suspicious. I risked demotion to investigate official records and, through various clues, discovered that the four leaders of the Four Quadrants Sword Sect didn't suddenly appear in Qingyang County forty years ago. They had a history of activity much earlier, and even before the sect's founding, Divine Cat Temples across the region were already making tributes to them. Therefore, I've pretty much concluded that the four leaders are Fang Lianshan's vanished disciples. While they abandoned the title of Fang Lianshan's disciples, they secretly never gave up the Divine Cat Temple industry."

Gu Mo then asked, "Why would they give up the title of Fang Lianshan's disciples? Fang Lianshan had a widespread reputation as a hero; wouldn't it have been more convenient for them to operate under his name?"

Zhuo Qingfeng replied gravely, "That brings us to another issue: whether Fang Lianshan's heroic reputation was truly beneficial. To answer this, I practically ran myself ragged finding a few elders from that era. I discovered a very interesting phenomenon: ordinary people from humble backgrounds, like Chen San, deeply revered Fang Lianshan and believed he sacrificed himself to suppress the cat demon. However, another group—elders who came from prominent families or renowned orthodox sects—scoffed at Fang Lianshan, calling him a charlatan. They also mentioned something else: before his supposed sacrifice, Fang Lianshan had already incurred widespread anger in the martial arts world. Many sects were preparing to join forces against him to expose his true nature as a trickster. But unexpectedly, Fang Lianshan died, performing an act of self-sacrifice in plain sight. This left the major sects helpless. Crucially, everyone witnessed his burial, and some, not believing his death, even guarded his grave for a month or two before leaving. After that, Fang Lianshan's reputation among the common people grew even stronger and more positive, but those in the martial arts world simply chose not to speak of him, given that he was already dead."

Gu Mo suddenly understood. "So, under these circumstances," he said, "his four disciples dared not continue operating under Fang Lianshan's name. They could only secretly build Divine Cat Temples to make money. Then, twenty years later, once their martial arts cultivation was sufficient and the wealth from the temples' offerings had accumulated, they changed their identities and founded the Four Quadrants Sword Sect."

Zhuo Qingfeng nodded. "Precisely."

Gu Mo said gravely, "So, the cat demon is one of the four leaders, and Fang Lianshan was a charlatan. His four disciples inherited his methods?"

Zhuo Qingfeng shook his head. "No, the cat demon isn't one of the four leaders."

Gu Mo, Gu Chuxia, and Mo Qingxian all looked puzzled.

Zhuo Qingfeng explained, "Although the four leaders are unwilling to give up the financial benefits from the Divine Cat Temples, they went to great lengths, even remaining incognito for twenty years, to sever ties with Fang Lianshan. Why would they now actively impersonate a cat demon? Furthermore, the four leaders all have alibis for the periods when the cat demon appeared."

"Then... who could be impersonating the cat demon?" Gu Chuxia asked.

"I imagine the four leaders are equally puzzled by that question," Zhuo Qingfeng said. "As you and Manor Lord Mo discussed earlier, if there isn't a real demon, who could abduct the four leaders so silently and without a trace? They were together, within the East Mountain Sword Sect no less. Even a Grandmaster couldn't achieve that. Therefore, there's only one possibility!"

Gu Mo slowly stated, "They left voluntarily."

"Exactly. After much thought, this is the only possibility I could come up with: they left voluntarily," Zhuo Qingfeng affirmed.

"Why would they do that?" Gu Chuxia asked, perplexed.

Zhuo Qingfeng explained, "Just as we're wondering who is impersonating the cat demon, the four leaders are even more bewildered. They are certain there's no such thing as a cat demon in the world. But besides them... perhaps even they don't possess the methods to impersonate the cat demon. Only one person would know, but that person died sixty years ago."

"Fang Lianshan?" Gu Chuxia exclaimed, shocked.

"Precisely," Zhuo Qingfeng confirmed. "I don't know if the four leaders possess the technique to impersonate the cat demon, but Fang Lianshan absolutely did, and the four leaders know this."

"But even if Fang Lianshan isn't dead," Gu Chuxia argued, "if the four leaders wanted to investigate, they wouldn't need to go secretly. Now they've simply vanished, which doesn't make sense!"

Zhuo Qingfeng chuckled. "What if," he said, "the four leaders have something to hide?"

"What do you mean?"

Zhuo Qingfeng elaborated, "Fang Lianshan's death back then was suspicious. The major sects were about to gang up on him, and he just happened to 'sacrifice himself' and die. It looks like a feigned death to escape, doesn't it? If his intention was to fake his death and escape, but it somehow became a real death, who could have accomplished that? Naturally, his four disciples. So, if Fang Lianshan feigned his death to escape but was betrayed by his disciples, turning his feigned death into a real one, then now, sixty years later, if Fang Lianshan reappeared, wouldn't those disciples be terrified? Would they want to find out what truly happened? But would they dare investigate openly? If Fang Lianshan truly isn't dead, their act of betraying their master and destroying their sect would be exposed, ruining their reputations forever! Furthermore, even if Fang Lianshan had indeed died back then, they wouldn't dare investigate. His reputation in the martial arts world wasn't good then; it took them twenty years of living incognito to sever ties. Now that they're old, they'd be even more unwilling to bear the title of Fang Lianshan's disciples. After all, while Fang Lianshan's reputation was excellent among the common people, in the martial arts world, he was almost universally condemned. If it were revealed now that they are Fang Lianshan's disciples, the reputation they've built over a lifetime would be utterly destroyed!"

Gu Chuxia said gravely, "But these are all just your speculations; there's no actual evidence."

Zhuo Qingfeng replied, "Proving my theory is simple. If we go to Mount Jiuhua now, we'll find out. Because the four leaders will certainly go to Mount Jiuhua to check Fang Lianshan's grave. After all, they personally buried him. If they suspect he's alive, they will definitely want to see what's inside the grave!"