Chapter 123: There Is Only One Truth

"Wait, wait, wait, wait..." Ran Tinglan massaged her temples.

After spending nearly a month with Dantengzi, she had gradually come to understand what kind of person he was. In short, his favorite catchphrase was, "There must be something fishy here!" He was suspicious of everything all day long; staying with him for too long made one feel like they were about to have a nervous breakdown.

"Your judgment is way too hasty!" Ran Tinglan exclaimed. "Even the best of us stumble; you can't just dismiss the whole thing just because it seems unlikely!"

Dantengzi replied, "I am not dismissing the event itself; I am dismissing the appearance of it. The appearance is that our junior brother stumbled and died while raiding the Mother Centipede's lair. I am only questioning this appearance, not the fact that he died in that lair."

"And so?" Ran Tinglan asked, crossing her arms.

"You don't believe my deduction?" Dantengzi countered.

"If you want me to believe it, you need to provide an analysis that is actually convincing," said Ran Tinglan.

"Fine. To accommodate your intellect, I will explain it in detail," Dantengzi said.

Ran Tinglan glared. "You!"

Ignoring her, Dantengzi continued, "Analyzing the footage from the Shadow Linglong, our junior brother was dealing with a Mother Centipede. Based on his preparations, this Mother Centipede is very likely a Gold Core stage creature on the verge of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage."

"How do you know?"

"It's simple," Dantengzi explained. "A Nascent Soul Mother Centipede can produce centipedes with the strength of the Qi Refining stage. A junior brother who only has the strength of the Foundation Establishment stage could never deal with those. If the enemy were only at the Foundation Establishment level, he would have easily crushed them; there would be no need for him to utilize mortals to set up a Solar Spirit Exorcism Array."

Ran Tinglan went silent. What he said did indeed make sense.

"The footage shows that our junior brother broke through three stone walls, sacrificing his Jinghong Sword and protective banner to reach the Mother Centipede. At that point, the Mother Centipede had no defenses left. Then, for unknown reasons, the Shadow Linglong shattered, and we lost the rest of the view."

Dantengzi continued his analysis, "A Gold Core stage Mother Centipede has no physical strength of its own; it relies entirely on powerful illusions. Given that our junior brother had already consumed a Nine-Turn Creation Pill and had already reached the creature, how could it possibly have killed him?"

Ran Tinglan fell into silence. In that instant, she had run through hundreds of possibilities in her mind, but every single one of them indicated that the Mother Centipede could not have defeated a Gold Core stage Lu Wuji.

Human cultivators could sweep through monsters of the same rank. This was because cultivators practiced techniques and spells, and possessed magical treasures, talismans, and pills; these various means ensured a high survival rate. Furthermore, the Mother Centipede lacked effective offensive means; even if a Gold Core cultivator stood still, the creature could not break through the protective aura of a Gold Core.

After long contemplation, Ran Tinglan’s eyes suddenly brightened. "It's possible that because the Shadow Linglong was damaged, he lost his ability to see through illusions. The Mother Centipede's illusion took advantage of the opening, and he was ambushed by centipedes. Under the siege... hmm... and the enemy held the terrain advantage, he was caught off guard, couldn't use any of his treasures, and just died like that..."

As she spoke, her voice grew quieter. The probability of such a scenario was so minuscule it was nearly impossible.

If Xu Wenshan were here, he might have been speechless, because it seemed Lu Wuji had indeed died like that. Only, the opponent wasn't the Mother Centipede—it was him.

Dantengzi said coldly, "You forget? Junior brother consumed the Nine-Turn Creation Pill and possessed Gold Core strength. According to the Immortal Alliance's emergency avoidance protocols, he could have ejected his Gold Core to possess a nearby mortal and wait for rescue. Even if besieged by centipedes, he could have easily escaped; the flight speed of a Gold Core is something centipedes could never match."

Ran Tinglan stubbornly insisted, "He was using medicine to force a breakthrough. If he ejected his Gold Core, he might have been crippled forever. Perhaps he hesitated for a moment and lost his chance."

Dantengzi turned to their master and asked, "Master, do you think junior brother was the type of person to be so indecisive?"

The master, who had been silent until now, spoke up when asked: "He was a ruthless, decisive man. Even with only a sliver of hope, he would have fought for it; he would never have been indecisive."

Ran Tinglan fell silent. "Then what kind of situation could he have encountered to leave no trace behind?"

Dantengzi smiled. "Fool, that is why I said, there must be something fishy here."

"You mean?"

"Junior brother was sabotaged," Dantengzi said. "The enemy is not just the Mother Centipede."

The master stroked his beard and said, "Go ahead and state your deduction."

Dantengzi took a deep breath. "What I am about to say may sound sensational."

"Just say it!" Ran Tinglan urged impatiently.

"Junior brother was set up by someone," Dantengzi said. "Based on the earlier footage from the Shadow Linglong, we can see that our junior brother was calculated against perfectly by the enemy, to the point that even his trump cards were forced out. This shows that his opponent knew his psychology and his magical treasures like the back of their hand. If it were just a monster, it would never have such cunning."

Ran Tinglan was stunned. "How can you be sure the enemy is a human? There was no sign of any other cultivator opposing him in the Shadow Linglong footage."

"Intuition," Dantengzi replied.

"Huh?"

"The layout of this Mother Centipede's lair is not like that of a monster," Dantengzi said. "I felt a human intelligence behind it. Look at these three stone walls—no Mother Centipede would set them up like that. Look at these venom-spitting centipedes; their body structure is completely different from normal ones. Even if this Mother Centipede had mutated, it would have mutated according to its own anatomy; it wouldn't have created a new species out of thin air. If there were no other creatures intervening, I wouldn't believe it."

Ran Tinglan spread her hands. "But how would a Mother Centipede take orders from a cultivator?"

"Did I say the enemy was a cultivator?" Dantengzi asked.

"If not a cultivator, what could it be? A mortal? A spirit beast? An outer-realm demon?"

Dantengzi said, "When I saw those snout-mouthed centipedes, I remembered a book I once read. There was a line in it."

"What line?"

"It roughly said that three thousand years ago, there was a type of cultivator called a 'Demon Cultivator' who could control monsters."

"Control monsters?" Ran Tinglan asked in surprise. "How would one do that? Why have I never heard of this? Master, can you tell me about it?"

The master cleared his throat and hummed something in a voice as faint as a mosquito.

"What?"

"I haven't heard of it either," the master said loudly.

The atmosphere became incredibly awkward.

"What book did you read it in?" Ran Tinglan asked. She was surprised that this man knew something even their master didn't; it seemed he was unexpectedly well-read.

"Er... it's hard to say." Dantengzi actually blushed.

"What's so hard to say about it?"

"I read it in *Female Cultivator Bai Jing*... there is a passage in it where she is with a group of monsters... er, cough, cough, cough..." Dantengzi stammered.

"What do you mean? Is it a novel?" Ran Tinglan was completely lost.

"Danteng," the master said, "is that book still with you? If it is, let me have a look as well."

"Certainly."

"To think there is a book I haven't read; it seems I really must study further."

"Exactly... no, I mean, Master's spirit of never being too old to learn is truly worth emulating."