Chapter 441: Tongue Like a Lotus Flower, Stealing Heaven and Swapping Days

Innocent?

The five people in front stumbled, almost falling over.

You’re a murderer, yet you claim innocence here. How can the deceased Zhang Taiying face his next life because of you?

This battle might have been unfair or unexpected, but to claim innocence? No one here is innocent!

The people facing him instinctively wanted to refute something.

After all, Xu Xiaoshou’s words were utterly despicable!

No one could tolerate hearing such things.

But…

What could they refute?

After careful consideration, all five felt their heads suddenly grow heavy.

“How could this be?”

“It’s clearly utter nonsense, yet why, after scrutinizing it so carefully, can’t we find a single point to refute?”

“This…”

Something was wrong!

They were not ordinary people; they clearly realized they had fallen into Xu Xiaoshou’s linguistic trap.

But when did they enter it?

Upon re-evaluating, they still didn't know!

More terrifying still, they suddenly realized Xu Xiaoshou didn’t seem to be joking at all.

After each round of questioning, they would refute and verify, only moving forward once they had completely confirmed the answer was true.

This meant Xu Xiaoshou had no opportunity or possibility to lie.

Yet, why were his conclusions so absurd, and still so convincing?

Qiu Xuan felt his mind was a blur.

He wasn’t one for mental games to begin with.

He was truly powerless against Xu Xiaoshou’s elaborate deception.

But once his consciousness was thoroughly muddled and aligned with Xu Xiaoshou’s logic, he found himself speechless to refute.

“Perhaps…”

“Perhaps Xu Xiaoshou is right?”

“After all, the rules of the Sacred Palace truly are like that. They only restrict Sovereigns from attacking, and nowhere does it say that a mere innate cannot slay a Sovereign…”

Everyone was collectively stunned.

What you’re saying makes so much damn sense!

But in the past, who would have ever imagined a young man at the peak of the Origin Court Realm could plot, let alone slay, a Sovereign?

“No!”

Shouye had also been dazed for a moment.

But he reacted quickly, snapping back to his senses instantly.

Xu Xiaoshou indeed had no chance to lie; his step-by-step arguments were verified by everyone present.

This meant what he had just said was true.

But not lying didn’t mean he was revealing everything!

Shouye narrowed his eyes.

Xu Xiaoshou was formidable.

Perhaps everyone had only seen the halo of talent around this young man, completely overlooking how terrifying his wisdom and strategy were as a person!

“He’s cherry-picking his words?”

A flash of insight struck Shouye’s mind, and he immediately understood.

Having come from the White-Clad system, his experiences differed from others, and he had mastered many interrogation and coercion techniques.

Among the Sovereign prisoners he had dealt with in the past, there were many whose cunning surpassed ordinary people.

The most terrifying thing about such individuals wasn’t their formidable strength, but that even when you could fully confirm something was their doing, with insufficient evidence, a single word from them could leave you utterly bewildered.

“Cherry-picking!”

It sounded simple, but completely fabricating a believable lie was incredibly difficult.

This kind of false-yet-true narrative, concocted by exploiting intelligence gaps between opposing sides and taking fragments of a real story out of context, if it could be logically coherent, would be impossible to refute.

This was what happened.

Everyone felt as if Xu Xiaoshou was madly shouting “I am innocent,” yet they couldn’t refute him because what he said was indeed an objectively existing truth.

“Well, I’ll be!”

Shouye exclaimed, “Well, I’ll be!” right then and there.

He carefully scrutinized Xu Xiaoshou, gaining a clear understanding of the young man before him once more.

If this guy truly wasn’t just lucky, but genuinely possessed the ability to mix truth with falsehood and deceive everyone, then he absolutely couldn’t be allowed to control the narrative.

“Well said.”

Shouye chuckled in admiration, “No, I should say it was simply brilliant.”

“It’s truly a fact that Zhang Taiying attacked you in the City Lord’s Mansion; that was his mistake. He deserved his death.”

“Your… self-defense in the City Lord’s Mansion, although it undeniably blew this place to smithereens, according to the rules, the City Lord’s Mansion can’t even trouble you for it.”

“On the contrary, they must compensate you for the harm you suffered here… that kind of harm from a Sovereign to an Origin Court Realm cultivator…”

Shouye clicked his tongue. He couldn’t even discern any harm done to Xu Xiaoshou, yet he still said, “They must provide compensation!”

Fu Zhi’s face instantly turned green.

After all that, his home was blown up, and he had to pay the bomber?

What kind of judge acts like this?

This was utterly ridiculous!

Xu Xiaoshou hadn’t expected Shouye to be so accommodating, feeling a little embarrassed at the moment.

“It doesn’t have to be so troublesome, but… if compensation is truly necessary, it’s not entirely out of the question, hehe, hehe…”

Received a curse, Passive Value, 4.

“Don’t get too happy too soon.”

Shouye interrupted Fu Zhi’s urge to speak, slowly saying, “Now, your argument is concluded. It’s my turn to ask you some questions.”

“What?”

Xu Xiaoshou looked at him, thinking, *what’s coming is always coming.*

Shouye sighed deeply. He genuinely wanted to know how Xu Xiaoshou would try to wriggle out of the upcoming questions.

“As you know, the duty of the Red-Clad is to hunt and slay ghost beasts.”

“During the battle just now, you might have deceived others, but that pungent stench cannot escape me!”

“Tell me, what’s with the ghost beast aura?”

Shouye’s eyes flickered with dangerous light. He said coldly, “Surely you’re not going to try and pin this on the deceased, Zhang Taiying, are you?”

Five gazes simultaneously shot towards Xu Xiaoshou.

Received attention, Passive Value, 5.

Received expectation, Passive Value, 5.

At this moment, Xu Xiaoshou’s pores bristled.

To be honest, that’s exactly what he had planned.

But with Shouye having said so much, if he simply agreed, it would be a helpless defense, making it hard to ever recover!

But if he didn’t admit it…

Burn bridges after crossing?

Close the door and unleash Xin Gugu?

Or perhaps, directly offer up the Greedy God as a scapegoat?

Xu Xiaoshou admitted he was by no means a good person; sometimes, the thoughts that flashed through his mind were only those a petty villain would have.

But at this moment, he truly couldn’t bring himself to do such a thing!

Countless ways to easily erase the matter and disassociate himself from it flashed through his mind in an instant.

But the cost of each one inevitably involved loss.

“Loss…”

This was not what Xu Xiaoshou wanted.

Perhaps, while alive, one should still struggle for something—be it principles, sentiment, or that tiny bit of uncooled passion in one’s heart!

“Zhang Taiying…”

Xu Xiaoshou’s face was grim as he murmured softly.

He suddenly chuckled, then calmly raised his eyes, staring intently into Shouye’s, and asked, “What if I said, yes?”

The air immediately fell silent.

The heavy atmosphere pressed down like an invisible Mount Tai.

At this moment, even Qiu Xuan felt the murderous chill emanating from Shouye.

Shouye enunciated each word slowly: “Then I can only say that your ability to speak nonsense with open eyes is no weaker than all your other combined abilities!”

“Haha!”

Xu Xiaoshou burst into laughter, almost wiping away tears.

“Isn’t that just how people are?”

He spread his hands.

“You think you’re so smart, you walk others’ paths, leaving them nowhere to go.”

“Finally, you force those you look down upon to provide the answers you already have in your heart, then contentedly slit their throats and present the results.”

“Isn’t that how it is?”

Xu Xiaoshou bent over with laughter.

Finally, he straightened up, his smile freezing as his gaze swept coldly from Shouye to the five others.

“I suppose such tactics are not only your usual tricks, Lord Red-Clad, but also frequently used by everyone present, aren’t they?”

“I’m puzzled, since you already have the answers in your heart, why bother wasting so much breath with me?”

“If you want my head, just take it directly. Why play the big bad wolf?”

Bathed in moonlight, Xu Xiaoshou’s nonchalant demeanor at the end truly stunned everyone.

Fu Zhi looked at Xu Xiaoshou, and a sudden shock jolted him.

Xu Xiaoshou was too extraordinary.

With Shouye’s direct evidence, he knew everything Xu Xiaoshou said was likely false.

But in this situation, the young man’s words still directly illuminated the dark corners of his own heart.

Rising from an unknown nobody to City Lord—how could that possibly be achieved through mere diligence?

As for resorting to unscrupulous methods for a certain goal, had Fu Zhi not done plenty of that in his youth?

And at this moment, Shouye’s aggressive aura and his subjective judgment, when compared to Xu Xiaoshou’s desolation and helplessness…

Wasn’t this precisely how he himself had acted when cornering an enemy, fabricating charges to kill them?

“This fellow…”

Fu Zhi was utterly amazed.

If the person before him was someone who had seen through the ways of the world, he could understand such words.

But how old was Xu Xiaoshou?

What had he gone through to be able to pinpoint the shortsightedness of the Red-Clad’s strategy in such a situation?

If this child didn’t die tonight, he would surely become a dragon!

Fu Zhi considered himself an excellent judge of character.

But regarding Xu Xiaoshou, even without that divine accuracy, he knew this person’s future would be extraordinary.

He wanted to protect him.

But…

“As for the ghost beast, it’s a pity.”

“Xu Xiaoshou, whether you can break out of this situation today is entirely up to you. My family and I are tied down; I truly can’t risk our lives for this. I’m powerless!”

Xu Xiaoshou’s gaze swept over the five, making their faces flush.

Clearly, everyone understood these tactics implicitly.

But there was a real difference between not explicitly stating it and having it directly exposed.

Shouye froze on the spot.

After a moment of hesitation, his imposing aura completely dissipated.

He was indeed Red-Clad, but within the Red-Clad, they never dealt with ghost beasts in such a similar manner.

Even the White-Clad weren’t allowed to directly execute Sovereign prisoners who could convincingly lie, without truly irrefutable evidence.

This guy is good.

This Xu Xiaoshou is quite something!

“You don’t need to beat around the bush, young man. Tell me, what exactly do you want to say?”

Shouye sighed.

“Do I still need to say it?”

Xu Xiaoshou retorted.

“When I tell you to speak, then speak! What’s with all the nonsense?”

Shouye’s short temper flared up again on the spot.

Are you taking my generosity for granted?

Just now, when I didn’t give you a chance, you nearly made everyone spit blood on the spot.

Now that I’m giving you a chance to defend yourself, you’re playing hard to get?

Xu Xiaoshou fell silent for a moment.

In his heart, however, he felt a slight sense of relief.

If he didn’t plan to reveal Xin Gugu, or the Greedy God, or A’Jie, then the ghost beast aura that appeared tonight, no matter how much others suspected, had to belong to Zhang Taiying.

This point could not be changed!

The dead couldn’t speak, so his arguments were destined to be weak and unconvincing.

But also because the dead couldn't testify, no matter how unconvincing he was, or how much Shouye suspected, he would only be convicted if Shouye seized a second opportunity.

And would he give him that opportunity?

Perhaps…

If he was truly pushed to the brink.

Without thinking too much.

Xu Xiaoshou snapped back to reality and looked at Qiu Xuan.

Since any explanation was destined to be weak, the only thing he could do was to add a bit of flair to it, making it slightly less anemic.

Speaking was an art.

Xu Xiaoshou didn’t know if Shouye had any interrogation spirit techniques similar to “mind-reading,” so to be safe, tonight he would only state genuine facts and ambiguous answers.

As for words like “Zhang Taiying is a ghost beast,” they were destined not to come from his mouth.

You all deduce it yourselves!

That’s how he’d get a sense of accomplishment.

“Leaving other things aside, I only ask you this.”

Xu Xiaoshou stared at Qiu Xuan, then pointed to the charred ground of the flower sea, “Do I have the power to kill a Sovereign?”

Qiu Xuan was startled.

The topic shifted so…

He glanced at Shouye, who also frowned, but then nodded slightly, clearly signaling him to follow Xu Xiaoshou’s line of argumentation.

“Barely.”

Qiu Xuan gave an equivocal answer.

Xu Xiaoshou chuckled, “Then let me ask another question: If I were to compress those thousands of fire seeds again right now and unleash them directly onto your defenceless face—remember, defenceless.”

“Would you die?”

Qiu Xuan was stumped by the question.

He actually began to consider the feasibility of the question, and his heart suddenly tensed.

“He wouldn’t die.”

From behind, Fu Zhi gave a definitive answer.

Xu Xiaoshou nodded calmly, lightly patting Qiu Xuan’s shoulder.

“Brother, have some confidence. You really wouldn’t die.”

Qiu Xuan: “…”

Received a curse, Passive Value, 1.

Xu Xiaoshou’s gaze swept over everyone as he slowly said, “Zhang Taiying didn’t die at that time either. He merely lost two arms and two legs, plus his body was split in half, completely disintegrated, and impossible to recover from. That’s all.”

“Gulp.”

One second Qiu Xuan’s face was dark, the next he unconsciously swallowed.

What the hell was the difference between that and dying?

Xu Xiaoshou chuckled, “I bet you’re all thinking, ‘What’s the difference between that and dying?’”

“But I can tell you very solemnly, there really is a difference.”

“At the very least, as long as a person doesn’t die, the ghost beast form can be unleashed!”

Saying this, Xu Xiaoshou looked at Shouye.

“If I could have blown Zhang Taiying to death with one blast, why would another realm appear after the explosion, and why would I need to be trapped for so long?”

“And if I were a ghost beast, why would I need so much time to deal with Zhang Taiying?”

“Problems that an explosion couldn’t solve, I could just finish off with a few more sword strikes.”

“If I intended to unleash a ghost beast, why would I bother waiting like that, even blowing up the City Lord’s Mansion, just to slowly transform?”

Xu Xiaoshou unconsciously intensified his tone, “Am I a psychopath, or some thrill-seeker, to play like this?”

Shouye: “…”

You argue, you keep arguing!

Let’s see if I’ll listen…

And oddly enough, what this kid said actually made some sense!

Could it be that after the explosion, Zhang Taiying couldn’t bear it anymore and thus activated his ghost beast form?

Precisely because he was Red-Clad, Shouye knew how secretly a ghost beast host could hide in the human world if it wished.

Even if the host merely possessed an innate cultivation, even a Sovereign might not necessarily detect it.

So if Zhang Taiying was a ghost beast host, with his Sovereign cultivation, perhaps even a Red-Clad standing before him, or even in his bed, might not be able to smell him.

So, could Zhang Taiying have been a ghost beast host lurking for decades…?

A sliver of doubt suddenly arose in Shouye’s heart.

What Xu Xiaoshou said was too seamless!

“You said Zhang Taiying transformed into a ghost beast and then withstood your attack. So, how did you, at most a Peak Master… hmm, let’s say a Sovereign!”

“How did you, with the combat power of a Sovereign, defeat Zhang Taiying in his ghost beast form?”

“In that form, you should know his combat power.”

Xu Xiaoshou *should* know?

Fu Zhi and the others were taken aback.

From the sound of it, Xu Xiaoshou had fought a ghost beast?

Received suspicion, Passive Value, 4.

“You’re wrong.”

*I never explicitly said Zhang Taiying transformed into a ghost beast; you deduced all of that yourself,* Xu Xiaoshou thought.

He continued to correct Shouye’s mistake, “It wasn’t that he became a ghost beast *before* taking my thousands of fire seed attacks; it was because of arrogance!”

Glancing at Qiu Xuan, Xu Xiaoshou said, “It was because of arrogance that he was maimed by the explosion, and only then did he decide to activate his special form. That’s the correct sequence of events.”

Qiu Xuan’s face instantly turned green.

What does arrogance have to do with me? Why are you looking at me!

Shouye remained unmoved and asked, “Special form… what did Zhang Taiying’s ghost beast look like?”

“What did it look like, huh…”

Xu Xiaoshou sighed, and in his mind, Zhang Taiying’s special form appeared—the illusory figure of an Empress with three heads and six arms. Then, in another flash, Xin Gugu’s ancient wild ox head, which emerged after he transformed into a ghost beast, also merged and combined.

“It was indeed very special. His lower back split open, a bull’s head emerged, and his body became very tall, perhaps several to over ten meters high. Quite strong.”

Quite strong…

Shouye’s mouth twitched.

“So you finished it off while it was in a weakened state, during its transformation?”

“Of course not.”

Xu Xiaoshou shook his head decisively.

He wouldn’t fall for such a low-level trap.

Weakened?

Who said that being weak before transforming meant gradually becoming powerful after transforming?

Shouye seemed confused, but his words contained traps that, if one wasn’t careful and fell into them, would be impossible to get out of.

He was an old hunter, after all!

Xu Xiaoshou completely ignored his rhythm, saying, “Zhang Taiying indeed transformed into a ghost beast, but I am no longer the person I used to be either.”

“Or, to put it another way, I never actually thought that a thousand-plus fire seeds alone would be enough to finish off a Sovereign.”

“I’ve never tried it, so I have no experience. That’s why I had other backup plans… or rather, ten more.”

Fu Zhi’s face turned pale.

Never tried?

Is this the kind of thing you can just ‘try’ out?

Whose home do you want to experiment on next?

Who would dare let you?

Received a curse, Passive Value, 1.

Shouye’s heart tightened.

He truly couldn’t tell if Xu Xiaoshou was lying or reminiscing about what truly happened.

At least so far, this guy hadn’t fallen into a single trap, and his understanding of fighting ghost beasts was remarkably accurate.

And this really didn’t seem like something a ghost beast host could perceive so accurately.

At least according to internal Red-Clad research, even Sovereigns, when transforming into high-level ghost beasts, had unclear minds and couldn’t recall such details.

Precisely these details were what Shouye had experienced and fought through, so he knew Xu Xiaoshou wasn’t lying.

“Without those thousand-plus fire seeds, how did you kill him?”

Shouye asked the crucial question.

If Xu Xiaoshou couldn’t answer this, then he was still lying!

Sure enough, Xu Xiaoshou paused, suddenly becoming hesitant.

Shouye rejoiced.

So this guy, in the end, still fabricated it imperfectly; there were flaws after all!

“If I heard correctly, there were two ghost beasts within the barrier just now.”

“The one you mentioned is indeed true, and I’ll tentatively conclude that Zhang Taiying was a ghost beast host. But the remaining one, that must have been you, right?”

Xu Xiaoshou was startled.

He almost reached out to touch the old man’s forehead.

Are you dreaming?

Two ghost beasts?

Do you really think ghost beasts are so common, and would even fight among themselves?

There was only Xin Gugu, okay? Where did you conjure the other one from?

Xu Xiaoshou immediately realized this was another one of Shouye’s verbal tactics.

But after thinking it over, it still felt wrong!

How could this guy make such a basic, superficial mistake and hear one as two?

“No!”

“Hear?”

“Did this guy confuse it with the Raging Giant?”

That’s it.

It must be!

This old coot couldn’t see, so he really only relied on hearing.

Xu Xiaoshou finally realized that the Red-Clad’s nose wasn’t omnipotent.

It wasn’t “perception,” nor could it trigger passive information prompts; the only thing he could do was infer and judge based on experience!

His heart suddenly lightened. Realizing he held absolute information advantage, Xu Xiaoshou suddenly felt less intimidated by Shouye.

“There weren’t two; you must have misheard. There was only one.”

Xu Xiaoshou said seriously, “The rest was my spirit technique.”

“What spirit technique?”

“I choose… not to say.”

Xu Xiaoshou didn’t generously confess his “Raging Giant.”

He shrugged.

“You’re not someone close to me, and I have many ways to kill ghost beasts. I don’t need to explain each one to you, do I?”

“Besides, how a ghost beast managed to enter the City Lord’s Mansion is still a question.”

“Perhaps, among those present, there’s another… uh, maybe more than one, who is a ghost beast host?”

“And you, sir…”

Xu Xiaoshou watched Shouye’s eyes grow colder and colder, his voice suddenly weakening, but he still forced himself to finish.

“Whether you are truly Red-Clad remains to be seen!”

Well, I’ll be!

The Sovereigns of the City Lord’s Mansion were utterly bewildered.

This Xu Xiaoshou really dared!

Being interrogated by the Red-Clad, he actually played a trump card at the end, even managing to suggest that the Red-Clad wasn’t a Red-Clad at all, but actually a ghost beast host?

Received admiration, Passive Value, 4.

“Xu Xiaoshou, shut your mouth!”

Shouye was enraged to the point of laughter. His finger trembled as he pointed at the young man, roaring, “Many ways to kill ghost beasts? Are you the Red-Clad or am I?”

“Do you really think with that mouth, you can confuse right and wrong, and twist black and white?”

“I…”

“Do you want to try?” Xu Xiaoshou interrupted him, his eyes suddenly becoming serious.

At this moment, for the first time ever, Shouye felt the murderous intent in this guy’s eyes.

He immediately rolled his eyes to the heavens.

Unbelievable!

In my entire life as Shouye, I’ve interrogated so many people, and you, a mere Innate, are the most arrogant and astounding of them all!

“You want to kill me?” Shouye chuckled.

“No, it’s you who wants to try.” Xu Xiaoshou remained serious.

“Haha, I really do want to see what methods you, young man, have to kill ghost beasts!”

“Hehe, many. Just now, I used spirit formations, alchemy, and compressed fire seeds. How about I perform a sword art to slay a ghost beast for you?”

Shouye paused.

His eyes narrowed, and he said coldly, “Are you sure you’re not joking?”

Xu Xiaoshou didn’t flinch.

“If you don’t believe I have this ability, then I suppose I have to let you test it out, don’t I?”