CH12: Agreement

Chapter 12: Agreement

[In an Inn located at the Táng Village]

Lord Māo gave me a pat on my shoulder and walked in our room, I followed and closed the door without making any sound. I drew an array on the door to prevent anyone from being able to eavesdrop on us. 

"So how exactly did you become the ghost of the Inn? Wait no, let me say it properly, How exactly did you fool all those who are connected to the real ghost of the Inn?" I cocked an eyebrow, he scoffed and sat on a chair near the railing.

What's with his obsession with railings? He's always near one.

I rolled my eyes and put on a forced smiled, "Well, it seems that I acted too rashly and disregarded the procedures, well then, could I offer you some food and tea? Or just tea, perhaps?" 

Say yes, and I will definitely serve you well that you'll see the Buddha. 

At my offer, he flinched and look away. Can't he at least keep a straight face and pretend that my tea isn't that bad? But then, I'm well aware that my tea could be counted as a... weapon. 

As he spoke, I could swear I heard him very quietly say something about not wanting to eat garbage, 

"Thank you for your hospitality, but I'm not here for a... meal--khm!" He cleared his throat.

That hurts my feelings... anyway. 

It's not that I didn't hear his answer, but I pulled a tea set from my sleeves and set it down on the table between us. Lord Māo raised his eyebrows questioningly, had he never saw anyone pulled a tea set from their sleeves before? That's odd. 

I shrugged and offered him a cup, which he almost hesitantly accepted.

He's in luck, the tea is one of the rewards that I had received from refining the flute and the moths. I wonder, how would he react if he sees the moths now? 

His reaction would definitely be amusing... 

He cleared his throat and took a sip of the tea before speaking, he smiled mischievously and made eye contact with me.

"Your tea improved this much? Will my appearance change also?" He laughed, "Anyway, do you want to hear something... nice?" 

I sneered, "Just say it, Lord Māo, but it better be something nice and be straight on point, will you." 

He made a gesture with his hand and I sat on the chair opposite to him, "Won't information regarding yourself interest you? But if you really rather hear my answer to your previous question, then I won't be sharing this news to you. So which one do you like?" 

I chuckled and spoke with derision, "You're improving, Lord Māo, isn't that nice?" 

He only took a sip from his tea and smiled brightly. Something is up with this man, but there's no way for me to find out what is it, does he have a split personality or something similar? He's completely acting different.

He chuckled as he watched my face, "Curious? Choose wisely, Mr. Zhang."

Although he says that, I could tell that this man is just testing me, "I'm no humble man, you had better tell me both." 

He burst into a laughter, but he quickly stopped, he eyed me quietly as he faced his left.

Now he's acting creepy.

"Smart, then as you wish." His voice sounded serious and calm, just like the time that he brought the moths. 

What if this guy really has a split personality? But then, it could also be because he is currently doing his investigation? 

He quietly set down the cup on the saucer, "Well then, to satisfy both, I'm here for my investigation, as you are aware, I am currently investigating the crime of the lower realm's Imperial Family, the Wu Imperial Family to be specific. How I became the "Ghost of the Inn," was just a matter of, let's just say, negotiation. The ghost of the inn is actually a leader of a gang and those victims who "disappeared" from the Inn are his underlings, I found out that they were re-enacting a tale by the Emperor Wu in order to gain fame, and yes, the story about the gang is actually just a fabricated tale by the Emperor himself, there was no real group of gang involved, but there is a variable who acted as the "Gang," which should be the victim's that had already been turned into a puppet after the Imperial Family had extracted their golden core." He paused and stared at me with a straight face. He took a deep breath and continued.

So were those cultivators that I killed in Qianwei are also one of those puppets? It makes a lot of sense now, they were like empty shell which depended on invisible strings to move around. Assuming that they were created by the Emperor, his abilities are indeed to be feared, but if I fear him, it would undoubtedly slow me down.

I don't fear him, if my observation is right, he is just another pawn on the deck. I, the player, can pave my own path! 

"The reason to why the Emperor Wu had been after the golden core of the genius young masters of certain families as I had said, is correlated to you, but you are not one of those "Geniuses," just to make it clear." He chuckled quietly and sipped his tea, this man has a lot of free time that he choose to diss me? 

"Their golden core contains potent spiritual qi, which is odd for someone who resides within this lower realm, but that is unless, they are one of the "blessed moon child," these children are those who are according to old scriptures, were the chosen heirs of the Moon Emperor, they each have a fragment of his infamous golden core that contained his highly-sought spiritual energy, and the fragments that they had harvested are within your body, but it's still incomplete, which is why you should be unable to feel it. It lies dormant within you at the moment, so you best leave this realm as soon as you could." 

Although I understood everything clearly, I couldn't avoid, but be curious of something, "So my body was tampered? Is this why parts of my body is incomplete too? Why would they implant the core fragments into me? Who exactly am I?" 

Could it mean that this body really isn't normal, after all? Is it similar to the puppets? 

His gaze fell on the tea that is placed on the table between us, he spoke with a hushed voice, "That's also what I'm curious about, Who exactly are you, Zhang Xi Yin? Tell me everything."

He lifted his gaze and stared straight into my eyes, his gaze felt intimidating for some reason. My body felt heavy, I'm unable to make a move. I sat quietly in front of him as I pondered. Is this the power of a cultivator from the higher realm? 

Is he aware that I'm a different soul that resides in this guy's body? How? 

He let out a sigh, "Curious why I'm asking you such a question, Mr. Zhang? Well, you do have the right to know... " 

He continued, "Based on my investigation, it seems that you are currently in a puppet body who was under the care of the Imperial Family, a body that isn't supposed to be able to act on its own but yet, here you are." 

His eyes locked on me, it felt unsettling. So I'm right that this body being a puppet, but Should I confess? Right now, I'm not sure if he can be trusted, but what choice do I have? The man in front of me is Māo Tóu Yīng, someone far above me. 

"What is making you so hesitant to give an answer? Is my suspicion, correct?" His eyes continued to give me a feeling of intimidation.

This situation is difficult, if I lie, he would instantly know that I told him a lie and that could make him think of me as an accomplice of the Wu Imperial Family, although I could actually be considered an accomplice because of my relationship with the children of the Imperial Emperor, I am innocent of the crimes.

I took a deep breath and stared straight into his eyes, hopefully he would see my sincerity, "I'm a man named Zhang Xi Yin within the puppet body of this young man named, Lan Zhī Yuán. I have no ill motives, all I desire is my revenge and to live a better life." 

Lord Māo remained quiet for a while. We spent a long moment without either of us saying anything.

'System, use Omnicient Insight, let me peer at his thoughts.' 

⟨⟨Understood, force activating passive effect. 100,000,000 points have been deducted as a service fee.⟩⟩ 

I can't believe that actually worked, I should've tried that before. Damn it! How could I forget that this system is greedy enough to bypass such thing? 

[Narrative of Māo Tóu Yīng]

A different soul within this proxy body... Where did this man come from? How did he possess the body of a puppet? 

This is no big deal, but it's possible that it was done through evil means. But I cannot kill him yet, he could be a possible key in solving this cursed problem. 

I can finally put my shifu's soul at peace soon, he didn't deserve to be cursed by those ignorant fools. I, Huáng Yi Chén, the heir of the Sun Emperor shall clear his name and spill the blood of those who plotted against him!