Chapter 280: Ancestor of the Thieves' Gate

“Officer Mo, why was Master imprisoned this time? Was it for soliciting prostitutes without paying, faking an accident on the street and claiming he was hit, or secretly selling 'Size as Desired (Partial Edition)' again?”

Master claimed he was wronged, but Yunzhi was skeptical.

Having spent nearly a millennium with Master, Yunzhi knew when his words could be trusted and when they couldn't.

“Senior Sister, when can we trust Master's words?” Lu Yang asked curiously.

“When Master isn't speaking.”

“Then when can't we trust Master's words?”

“When Master is speaking.”

Lu Yang: “...”

The Minister of Justice clapped his thigh excitedly upon hearing this. Yunzhi's words had enlightened him.

It was no wonder she had such high cultivation; her ability to summarize was unmatched.

If he hadn't believed the old thief's nonsense, wouldn't everything have been fine?

If only he had heard that summary earlier, he wouldn't be sharing a cell with the old thief now.

Officer Mo shook his head: “None of those. According to our investigation, Daoist Buyu has been in Dayan Commandery for over ten days. During this time, he has been well-behaved. In the daytime, he tells stories at the tea house, specifically 'The Legend of Wen Dao Sect.' The tea house is always packed, and he ends each session with 'Please listen next time for the continuation,' prompting groans of disappointment from the crowd. In the evenings, he ponders how to continue fabricating 'The Legend of Wen Dao Sect' for the next day, leading a rather fulfilling life.”

Lu Yang listened, dumbfounded. So Master, you improvise your storytelling on the spot?

Lu Yang knew his ability to fabricate was not inferior to Meng Jingzhou's, but he couldn't match Daoist Buyu's knack for concocting stories the night before and recounting them the next day.

“So 'The Legend of Wen Dao Sect' was made up by you!” Officer Xu looked at Daoist Buyu, surprised.

'The Legend of Wen Dao Sect' was widely circulated; even tea houses in the imperial capital told its stories. He had listened to it out of boredom once.

He had heard stories from the era of the Nine Sons of Wen Dao Sect, which contained many embellished descriptions of Daoist Buyu. He was quite displeased after hearing them and stopped listening.

Other capital officials were similar; they listened out of interest but found the stories highly inconsistent with their knowledge, so they also stopped.

However, common folk enjoyed the stories immensely. Although Daoist Buyu's tales had elements of exaggeration to the point of being fictional, they were still stories of cultivators, and of a top-tier sect at that.

The various deeds of cultivators and the colorful, fascinating plots described within were captivating and very appealing.

“Do you have no shame? Is there any resemblance between the 'you' in the story and the real you, apart from the name?” Officer Xu glanced at Daoist Buyu with disdain.

“That's called appropriate embellishment,” Daoist Buyu said without the slightest shame.

Officer Mo continued: “Just three days ago, the monthly cultivator's market opened. Daoist Buyu set up a small stall in a corner, selling cultivation techniques that boost movement speed. He claimed that the 'Ancestor of the Thieves' Sect,' renowned for his speed, cultivated this very technique.”

“When people discovered they were scammed, they confronted him and demanded a refund. He flatly denied it, insisting his technique was genuine.”

“After the dispute yielded no results, people reported it. After reviewing the case, this official concluded the technique was fake and decided on a ten-day administrative detention.”

Immortal Fairy, hearing an unfamiliar term, tapped on Lu Yang's spiritual space, seeking help: “Lu Yang, who is the Ancestor of the Thieves' Sect?”

As Immortal Fairy's invaluable assistant, Lu Yang indeed answered every question. He explained to Immortal Fairy: “Regarding the Ancestor of the Thieves' Sect, I know the general idea. You should know, Fairy, that there are over three thousand unorthodox paths, and one of them is the Thieves' Sect.”

Immortal Fairy nodded, motioning for Lu Yang to continue.

“The Thieves' Sect had a peerless master thief whose speed reached an unprecedented level, unparalleled in the world. Due to his existence, the Thieves' Sect before him and the Thieves' Sect after him were entirely different concepts. Members of the Thieves' Sect honored him as the Ancestor of the Thieves' Sect, and the world generally referred to him as the Thief Ancestor.”

“The Thief Ancestor was so fast that he could enter and leave the imperial palace at will, stealing many spirit stones and magical artifacts. The most exaggerated instance was when he stole the palace gates themselves. The imperial court was enraged but could do nothing to the Thief Ancestor.”

“What happened to the Thief Ancestor later?” Immortal Fairy listened excitedly. She had never fought against a cultivator known for speed and wished to compete if she ever met one.

Lu Yang shook his head: “It's a mystery. No one knows what became of the Thief Ancestor. Some say he passed away, some say he grew weary of worldly disputes and secluded himself, and others say he failed in his attempt to achieve immortality and perished.”

Speaking of the Thief Ancestor, Lu Yang involuntarily thought of another figure, the second fastest person after the Thief Ancestor—the Thief King.

The Thief King's speed reached a level where he could go anywhere in the vast world. He then violated the ancestral teachings of the Thieves' Sect by attempting to steal from the Landed Money Merchant Guild, after which he vanished without a trace, disappearing from the world.

In reality, Daoist Buyu continued to insist he was wronged, swearing: “It's true! Cultivating the technique I sold will absolutely make your speed unrivaled, just like the Thief Ancestor!”

Yunzhi was silent for a moment, as if remembering something, then asked: “Officer Mo, could I examine the cultivation technique Master was selling?”

“Of course,” Mo Danxin called a subordinate and instructed him to retrieve the seized evidence from the yamen.

Soon, the subordinate returned, panting, with a thin, very old book. It had no title or author's name, looking like a cultivation manual stolen from a tomb and brought back into the light of day.

It was no wonder some cultivators were fooled into buying it; the book looked genuinely convincing.

Officer Mo added: “Daoist Buyu sold a total of ten copies of the technique. All ten copies contained the same content and were seized. This is one of them.”

Yunzhi opened the first page, and Lu Yang, curious, craned his neck to look.

On the first page of the ancient book, it read: “To practice this skill, first break a leg.”

Daoist Buyu spread his hands: “See? What did I tell you? I absolutely didn't lie. Practice this technique, and I guarantee your speed will be unrivaled, just like the Thief Ancestor!”

Lu Yang: “...”

Officer Mo, Master, you are not wronged in the slightest!

And you still cry foul? Being locked up for a year or two wouldn't even be excessive!

Lu Yang roughly understood why Master was the strongest below the Tribulation Transcending stage.

Anyone with slightly weaker cultivation would have been beaten to death long ago.

Yunzhi's expression was a little strange: “The Thief Ancestor indeed only had one leg, so he claimed his speed was unrivaled, and no one ever refuted him.”

“Indeed, I've heard that as well,” the Minister of Justice nodded.

There was something else Yunzhi didn't say. She had quickly analyzed the cultivation technique and found that practicing it seemed to genuinely allow one's speed to reach the fastest among those of the same cultivation level.

So, was this really the cultivation technique the Thief Ancestor practiced?