Chapter 1406: True Culprit Appears?

The Northern Frontier, Golden Gourd Mountain Range.

The Golden Gourd Mountain Range is characterized by steep terrain, comprising hundreds of peaks of various sizes. When viewed from above, it closely resembles a gigantic golden gourd, hence its name.

Golden Gourd Valley is located in the northwest corner of the Golden Gourd Mountain Range. The valley is bustling with activity: shops line the streets, crowds stream through, and vehicles fill the roads.

Chen's General Store, situated in the northwest corner of Golden Gourd Valley, primarily deals in acquiring artifact-refining materials. Its business is quite slow, with few customers.

The shopkeeper, Chen Guang, was an elderly man in his fifties, dressed in a green robe and sporting a walrus mustache.

A fair-faced young man in a green robe walked past the store, his arm around a seductive young woman in a red dress. Her captivating, watery 'peach blossom' eyes were enchanting, and the thin veil she wore did little to conceal her voluptuous figure, leaving much to the imagination.

“Fellow Daoist Zheng, good morning!”

Chen Guang greeted the young man in the green robe with a smile, who merely nodded in response.

Shopkeepers from several nearby establishments also greeted the young man in the green robe, indicating he was clearly no ordinary person.

“No wonder the Zheng family is in decline; it’s not without reason. This is a direct descendant of True Monarch Golden Gourd, let alone other Zheng family members,” Chen Guang sighed.

The young man in the green robe was Zheng Yinghao, from the Zheng family of Green Rhinoceros Mountain. The Zheng family was a newly emergent cultivation family, one of the many affiliated with the Nine Nether Sect.

The Zheng family was originally an obscure minor clan. However, a family member who joined the Nine Nether Sect fortuitously advanced to the Core Formation stage, adopting the Daoist title True Monarch Golden Gourd. He also had the good fortune of becoming a grand-disciple of Shangguan Wei. True Monarch Golden Gourd's outstanding performance in multiple external conflicts involving the Nine Nether Sect significantly elevated the Zheng family's status.

During the Zheng family's most prosperous period, half the shops in Golden Gourd Valley belonged to them. However, True Monarch Golden Gourd had been missing for over a hundred years. Some claimed he was dead, while others said he was in secluded cultivation, leading to many rumors. Regardless, the Zheng family's territory continued to shrink, their development worsened, and they even sold off many of their shops.

Zheng Yinghao was a notoriously dissolute young man, at the fifth level of Qi Refinement. He was addicted to women, changing female companions every six months to a year. Although his cultivation level was not high, he was lavish with his money, which made him popular among many young female cultivators.

Zheng Yinghao, still with his arm around the young woman in the red dress, entered a teahouse. It was just dawn, and the establishment had few customers. As soon as they stepped inside, a young attendant in a green robe approached them and said enthusiastically, “Fellow Daoist Zheng, Fellow Daoist Sun has been waiting for some time. Please come this way.”

The attendant led them to a private room, where a stout, gold-robed man with large ears had been waiting for some time. Beside him sat a comely young woman in a yellow dress.

“Fellow Daoist Sun, this must be Madam Li, right? Where is it? Let me see the item,” Zheng Yinghao urged, a hint of impatience in his expression.

The young woman in the yellow dress smiled charmingly and produced a palm-sized yellow jade box. She opened it to reveal an egg-sized yellow spherical pearl inside.

“Didn’t you say it was an inherited magical bead? This is…”

Before Zheng Yinghao could finish his sentence, the yellow spherical pearl suddenly erupted in dazzling yellow light. Zheng Yinghao and the young woman in the red dress instantly became listless, as if struck by some evil spell.

The young woman in the yellow dress let out a sigh of relief. She was Wang Yingying, Wang Yingjie's cousin, and was not using her true appearance.

Years ago, Wang Changsheng and Wang Ruyan had taken action against high-ranking cultivators of the Nine Nether Sect but failed to identify the culprits. Later, Wang Qingjun adjusted his approach, beginning his investigation with the Nine Nether Sect's affiliated forces.

Assuming the Nine Nether Sect was indeed responsible, they would naturally have created a diversion out of fear of being discovered by the Seven Immortal Sects of the Eastern Barren. Putting himself in their shoes, Wang Qingjun reasoned: If the Wang family were to dispatch someone to eliminate a Nine Nether Sect Core Formation cultivator, after the deed was done, all participants would surely be relocated to another region, preferably far from the Northern Frontier, to prevent information leaks. If the Wang family understood this, why would the Nine Nether Sect risk offending the Seven Immortal Sects of the Eastern Barren by keeping the participants in the Northern Frontier?

Wang Qingjun's hypothesis was that the Nine Nether Sect might have relocated the culprits elsewhere. To this end, he conducted extensive investigations, using both coercion and incentives. He discovered that several Core Formation cultivators from the Nine Nether Sect had suddenly disappeared. Their disappearance coincided precisely with the time three of the Wang family's strongholds were attacked. To call it a coincidence would be too great a stretch.

For this reason, Wang Qingjun recruited over a hundred informants. He used these peripheral agents to gather information. Twice, he was nearly discovered by the Nine Nether Sect, but fortunately, he acted cautiously, always operating behind the scenes. The moment he detected the Nine Nether Sect closing in, he would eliminate the informant if possible, or else deflect suspicion onto other forces.

Wang Qingjun was meticulous. He would cleverly devise pretexts for his informants to gather intelligence, never mentioning the Wang family or the Eastern Barren. After all, the Nine Nether Sect had so many enemies that it was easy to impersonate one of them.

True Monarch Golden Gourd, the Zheng family's patriarch, was among the disappeared. Logically, if True Monarch Golden Gourd were still alive, why would he not have appeared for over a hundred years? If he had died, the Zheng family should be aware. If he were still alive, he would likely contact the Zheng family.

Zheng Yinghao was a direct descendant of True Monarch Golden Gourd. However, he was addicted to wine and women and only possessed Qi Refinement cultivation, making him relatively easy to control.

It took Wang Yingying over a year to earn Zheng Yinghao's trust. She then used a Soul-Swaying Orb to temporarily control him. Under the orb's influence, Zheng Yinghao would obey all of Wang Yingying's commands without the slightest resistance.

“What is your name? What is your identity and status within the Zheng family? Is True Monarch Golden Gourd alive or dead?”

With a blank gaze, Zheng Yinghao truthfully replied, “Zheng Yinghao. I am the fifth-generation grandson of True Monarch Golden Gourd, the youngest son of the Zheng family patriarch. I have a four-spirit root, and the patriarch is still alive.”

Wang Yingying's delicate eyebrows furrowed as she pressed, “True Monarch Golden Gourd is still alive? Where is he now? Why hasn't he appeared?”

“The patriarch is in the Central Plains cultivation world. He is on a mission and cannot return at the moment. However, he sent someone back to report that he is safe. My father only told me after I asked him several times.”

“Where in the Central Plains cultivation world is True Monarch Golden Gourd? Is he using his real name or an alias?”

Zheng Yinghao shook his head directly, stating, “I don’t know. My father didn’t say, and I didn’t ask.”

Wang Yingying proceeded to ask over a dozen more questions, which Zheng Yinghao answered truthfully. He knew little about True Monarch Golden Gourd, only that he was still alive and currently on a mission in the Central Plains cultivation world. Zheng Yinghao was unaware of True Monarch Golden Gourd's exact whereabouts.

She raised a hand, and several slender yellow flying needles shot out, piercing through the heads of Zheng Yinghao and the young woman in the red dress. Their legs buckled, and they collapsed.

Wang Yingying searched their bodies for valuables and then stored away the young woman in the red dress's corpse, creating the illusion of a robbery-murder.

“Let’s go. We must report back to the patriarch immediately.”

Wang Yingying waved her hand, and together with the gold-robed man, she left the private room.

Half a day later, Zheng Yinghao's body was discovered, causing quite a commotion. However, the culprit had already fled. The Zheng family offered a reward but failed to apprehend the killer, so they eventually gave up the search.