Chapter 250: Cannot Refute
After confirming the situation, Chen Mouguang gave up on his plan to attack Zhoushan Village again.
It wasn't that he was concerned with reciprocity or had high moral standards.
It was that the situation had already been exposed, and reinforcements from Mist Mystic Temple were likely already on the way. Although there was a recognized killer of Bai Xuanling's present, it was unnecessary.
After all, it wasn't a completely fruitless endeavor.
Secondly, as long as his identity from Heavenly Derivation Sect could remain a secret for now, it was best to keep it that way.
As for the matter of Chen Baiqing using an illusion on Bai Xuanling, that couldn't possibly be used as evidence.
To begin with, such evidence was flimsy; you couldn't just say that if someone used an illusion to mimic someone, that someone had to take the blame, right?
Even if you tried to use that excuse to confront Bai Xuanling, her method of "confrontation" would probably be quite wild.
*
In the grand and imposing Yongping Funeral Parlor in the city's west, Chen Baiqing was using an illusion to project the ritual array onto the walls of the room at a one-to-one scale.
At the same time, she was meticulously drawing the ritual array's pattern by hand.
Chen Mouguang sat casually on a coffin board. He didn't understand the ritual array, so it was pointless for him to look at it. It was better to let the person on the team who understood it handle it.
His gaze swept up and down Zhou Ping, who looked a bit uneasy.
Perhaps it had something to do with the somewhat horrifying paper man standing next to him.
Although the plan had deviated significantly from the original and hadn't caused an earth-shattering commotion.
It had been a bit of a scare, but it was not unacceptable.
The most important thing was that they had achieved results without completely severing ties with Mist Mystic Temple, leaving room for maneuver for their next encounter.
After all, when Chen Mouguang saw that Chu Xingchen had indeed sent Chen Baiqing, he had
Sect Disciple Recruitment, I Can See Attribute Tags
basically held out little hope for this mission.
But the result was actually quite good. Don't let his young age fool you; he handled things very efficiently.
Like Zhou Ping, who was looking a bit pale before him.
And Chen Baiqing preparing the environment for the ancestral hall's ritual array.
This meant they had both witnesses and physical evidence, which was perfect. They now had a reason to storm the sect's gates.
If he had gone in and fought a bloody battle, he might not have achieved such results. A bloodless victory was the best possible outcome.
As for a core figure like Patriarch Zhou, Chen Mouguang didn't dare to even think about being able to extract him alive.
So when that little girl had a look on her face as if she had messed up the mission, Chen Mouguang wondered if she was actually showing off. This was completely exceeding the mission requirements— the mission requirements.
But having a strong teammate was a good thing, after all, it saved him a lot of trouble.
"Boy, are you hungry?" Chen Mouguang asked.
Zhou Ping quickly shook his head and said, "N... no, not hungry."
Hearing this, Chen Mouguang got up from the coffin, walked over to the coffin's memorial tablet, and took an apple from the offerings beside it, tossing it directly to Zhou Ping.
He said with a laugh, "Don't be shy, eat if you're hungry. You look so pale and thin."
Zhou Pan fumbled to catch the thrown apple. It was large and smelled sweet.
But... was this considered stealing from the offerings? The old folks said that would deduct from one's blessings.
However, Zhou Ping didn't think about it for long and started biting into the apple—after all, he wasn't the one who stole the offerings; he had just received an apple.
Chu Xingchen sat beside Chen Baiqing and glanced over after hearing the commotion.
Including him, there were four disciples of Heavenly Derivation Sect involved in Chen Mouguang's operation. The weakest among them was in the early Nascent Soul Realm.
Three men and one woman. The woman wore a veil and stood silently to the side, observing the ritual array conjured by Chen Baiqing.
The other two male teammates were also on the quiet side, only occasionally offering their opinions.
Most of the time, they followed Chen Mouguang's orders without any objection.
One could tell this team was not on their first mission together; they must have worked together many times.
If it were his own disciples, four of them going out on a mission...
Sigh...
The scene might be hard to imagine, but the level of chaos would be undeniable.
Chu Xingchen's gaze remained fixed on Zhou Ping. Chen Baiqing had specifically told him this boy might be special.
[Target: Zhou Ping]
[Cultivation: None]
[Purple Tag: Eye of Truth-Breaking]
[Purple Tag: Skilled in Alchemy]
[Blue Tag: Average Aptitude]
[Blue Tag: Resilient Mind]
[Does not meet the requirements for taking on a disciple]
The Eye of Truth-Breaking... it sounded a bit similar to Yuan Kong's, and from what he saw now, it wasn't particularly amazing.
But being certified as "Skilled in Alchemy" by the system was rare. In Chu Xingchen's opinion, Bai Xuanling's alchemy skills were already at the pinnacle.
Yet she hadn't been certified by the system as having a talent for alchemy.
This boy, however, had been certified. This made Chu Xingchen quite curious. Just how skilled could he be in alchemy?
Could he replicate his own pills?
It was just that the boy's aptitude was far too average, even inferior to Cui Hao.
Should the sect have outer disciples... or have someone teach him?
Chu Xingchen asked, "Boy, what's your name?"
Hearing this, Zhou Ping's gaze shifted. Seeing Chu Xingchen looking at him, he quickly answered:
"My name is Zhou Ping."
"Can you read?"
"N... never learned." Zhou Ping shook his head slightly.
Chu Xingchen nodded in understanding. This wasn't urgent for now. The main task was at hand. His gaze then turned to Chen Mouguang:
"Mouguang, what are your plans now?"
Hearing this, Chen Mouguang smiled faintly and sat back down on the coffin he had taken the offerings from.
"We're not like Great Dao Sect. Of course, we have to release this for others to criticize."
Chu Xingchen instantly understood Chen Mouguang's purpose. This man was truly ruthless and had a low moral baseline.
According to Chen Mouguang, the disciples from the Eighteen Immortal Sects who had come here were not just from Heavenly Derivation Sect. Judging by the current situation, this matter had already gained some traction.
It was enough to shake some of the other Eighteen Immortal Sect disciples who were still on the fence.
After all, even major sects valued contributions.
If other immortal sects also obtained some intelligence, they might verify it with Chen Mouguang, or at the very least, cause some trouble for Mist Mystic Temple.
It would also lay the groundwork for Chen Mouguang's next actions.
The saying "You can't catch a wolf without risking a child" was one Chen Mouguang had clearly mastered.
But... having a teammate with a brain like this was actually quite comfortable.
"In that case, you handle things here. Contact me if you make any progress." Chu Xingchen said casually, "I think this young man is alright. You can ask him some questions, but don't push him into a pit of fire."
He didn't know as much as Chen Mouguang, and giving random orders might ruin things.
The next period of time should be spent taking Xiao Baiqing out to have some fun. After experiencing such a dangerous event, she needed to calm down her emotions. Bringing Zhou Ping along wasn't appropriate.
Rather than leaving Zhou Ping to fend for himself, it was safer to leave him with Chen Mouguang.
Hearing this, Chen Mouguang's expression turned serious. "What are you talking about, senior? We're not some sinister cult."
After Chen Baiqing finished drawing the ritual array from her memory onto the paper, she set down her brush and silently stood beside her master.
Chu Xingchen reached out and patted Chen Baiqing's head, then tossed a talisman to Chen Mouguang:
"Use this to contact me if anything comes up."
Chen Mouguang's eyes lit up, and he quickly raised his hand to catch it. "Thank you, senior."
Chu Xingchen turned and left without a second thought. "Let's go for a stroll. Where do you want to go?"
Chen Baiqing thought for a moment. Strictly speaking, this was her first time going out properly. During the Demon Nation's chaos, she had basically just stayed by her master's side.
When her senior sister went out, she had promised to bring back some candied fruit. Her second senior brother would also bring back small gifts when he returned.
Chen Baiqing felt she shouldn't be left out, so she said:
"Let's buy a gift for senior sister, and for second senior brother and fourth junior sister as well."
"Huh? What about your fifth junior brother?"
"He must have gotten into trouble again. We'll just have to beat him up when we get back."
Hearing this, Chu Xingchen found himself at a loss for a rebuttal.
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