Chapter 1230: Flee
Translator: StarveCleric Editor: Millman97
No matter how much of a dastard Chu Tianxing was, he was still the emperor of the Qingyuan Empire. They could teach him a lesson, they could place him in a state of living h.e.l.l, but if they killed him, that would be a huge matter.
“This is really bad…” Elder Xu was horrified by the situation as well.
As much as he wanted to exact vengeance for his dead comrades, he knew that the death of an emperor would surely draw the intervention of the Master Teacher Pavilion. None of them would be able to escape unscathed.
Even if he was guilty of a crime, he should be put through an official trial of the Master Teacher Pavilion before being sentenced. To kill an emperor of a Conferred Empire so abruptly was no different from challenging the self-determinism of the country.
“I’ll take responsibility for what I have done. I am the one who killed him, so I’ll bear the burden for doing so alone!” Liu Yang clenched his fists tightly as he spoke.
“How do you want to take responsibility for it?” Sun Qiang snapped. “You aren’t just an individual now! You represent the Young Master as well!”
“I…” Liu Yang fell silent.
Indeed, even if he claimed that he was solely responsible for this matter, his teacher would still be inevitably implicated in this matter.
From the moment he became his teacher’s direct disciple, his fate had become intricately linked with his teacher’s, not to be severed by anything.
“What do I do then?” Liu Yang asked in panic.
No matter how high his cultivation was, he was still only a seventeen-year-old child. He might have persevered through the pain and bore of cultivation, but he had no idea what he should do in a situation like this.
“I don’t know either!” Sun Qiang pinched his glabella in frustration.
If only the Old Master was there, he would be able to use his strength and standing to resolve this issue easily. In fact, even if it was the Young Master, given his sharp wits and incredible means, he might be able to salvage the situation, too.
But none of them were around at the moment… and in the face of such a hopeless situation, he had no idea what he could do either.
There was no way they could suppress the news regarding the death of an emperor of a Conferred Empire.
Unable to find a solution, Sun Qiang eventually sighed deeply and said, “Let’s return to the Combat Master Hall first and find a way to contact the Young Master!”
“It seems like there’s no other choice at this point,” Elder Xu said.
Elder Xu and the others knew that the Young Master of their benefactor was a 7-star master teacher who had successfully crashed the Qingyuan Empire Master Teacher Pavilion. At this point, they could only bank on that young man.
Thus, the group quickly departed from the royal palace and returned to the Combat Master Hall.
Shortly after they left, in a corner of the royal palace, a figure struggled for a while in an attempt to rise to his feet, but the overwhelming weakness he felt prevented him from making any large movements.
“This is really a huge matter. I must report this to the Master Teacher Pavilion as soon as possible!” After recuperating for roughly six hours, the figure finally felt the effects of the poison dulling. He quickly rose to his feet and left the royal palace.
It was already daybreak by the time he returned to the Master Teacher Pavilion. At this point, he had already changed his clothes. He was actually a 7-star master teacher!
This was the man whom, under Zhang Xuan’s advice, Wu s.h.i.+ had dispatched to follow Chu Tianxing to keep a close eye on the latter’s movements!
He had concealed himself in the depths of the royal palace to find evidence of Chu Tianxing’s wrongdoings, but who would have thought that he would end up witnessing Liu Yang’s a.s.sa.s.sination of the emperor! To make things worse, he had not been able to move at all due to the poison, so he had been unable to stop them!
“Elder An, you are finally here! Song s.h.i.+ arrived early in the morning, and he’s currently fuming…” As soon as the 7-star master teacher walked into the Master Teacher Pavilion, another master teacher quickly rushed up to report the matter to him.
“Song s.h.i.+?” Elder An frowned.
“He’s the quasi 8-star master teacher from the Qianchong Empire Master Teacher Pavilion dispatched by the headquarters when Pavilion Master Gou reported the matter concerning Zhang s.h.i.+’s pavilion cras.h.i.+ng back then,” the master teacher explained.
“Quasi 8-star master teacher?” Elder An narrowed his eyes in shock.
There were two tiers in between 7-star master teacher and 8-star master teacher, namely half 8-star and quasi 8-star.
Those whose cultivation had reached True Leaving Aperture realm would be qualified to attain the t.i.tle of half 8-star master teacher, but only those who had reached Leaving Aperture realm pinnacle could be called a quasi 8-star master teacher!
Since Song s.h.i.+ was a quasi 8-star master teacher, there was no doubt that his cultivation had already reached Leaving Aperture realm pinnacle, just a step away from Saint 6-dan.
Saint 6-dan was known as the Grand Dominion realm. At this cultivation realm, a cultivator would be able to create their own Dominion, wielding absolute control over everything within its area. In other words, they were undefeatable within their own Dominion!
The master teacher nodded. “That’s right!”
He came at a timely moment. I should just report the matter to him and allow him to decide how it should be dealt with, Elder An thought with a nod.
The death of the monarch of the Qingyuan Empire was already a matter that had exceeded his jurisdiction. At times like this, it would be best for him to just report the matter and allow a senior master teacher to decide on a course of action.
Following behind the master teacher, it did not take long for Elder An to arrive at the main hall of the Master Teacher Pavilion. Before he could even enter the room, he could already hear a displeased voice sounding from within. “Pavilion Master Gou, Vice Pavilion Master Tian, and so many 7-star master teachers have been killed, but instead of finding the murderer, all of you are idling around here instead! Have you all forgotten your responsibilities as master teachers, or have the years of loftiness made you all indolent fools? You lot are really reprehensible! It’s really about time to reorganize your Qingyuan branch! Where’s Wu Rufeng? Didn’t Pavilion Master Gou put him temporarily in-charge? Where is he?”
Upon walking into the room, Elder An saw an elder pacing around the room, reprimanding a group of elders from the Qingyuan Empire Master Teacher Pavilion.
That elder was probably Song s.h.i.+.
On the other hand, the group of elders had their heads lowered humbly, not even daring to breathe loudly.
The other party had arrived as an envoy dispatched from the headquarters, and he was a quasi 8-star master teacher at that. Who would dare talk back to him?
Furthermore, his rage was justified. The Qingyuan Empire Master Teacher Pavilion had ten thousand years of history behind it, but their pavilion master and vice pavilion master had ended up dying abruptly along with seven other 7-star master teachers. On top of that, a twenty-year-old young man even managed to crash their pavilion. This was truly a great discredit to the reputation of the Master Teacher Pavilion.
“Vice Pavilion Master Wu is currently in seclusion,” one of the elders replied.
“In seclusion? After such a huge mishap has occurred, as the person in-charge of this Master Teacher Pavilion, he has the gall to go into seclusion?” Upon hearing those words, Song s.h.i.+ nearly erupted on the spot.
To actually be able to go into seclusion when the branch was facing a huge crisis… was the Qingyuan Empire Master Teacher Pavilion filled with nothing but dimwits?
“Bring him to me right now! Also, get that Zhang Xuan who crashed this Master Teacher Pavilion here as well!” Song s.h.i.+ flung his sleeves furiously and harrumphed.
“You want us… to bring Zhang s.h.i.+ over too?”
“Everything that has happened in your branch recently seems to be related to him. I want to see just what kind of formidable figure he is to be able to make a Conferred Empire Master Teacher Pavilion such a mess!” Song s.h.i.+ harrumphed coldly.
He had specially investigated the matter before coming over, and the conflict seemed to have originated from King Zhongqing capturing a butler named Sun Qiang. After which, the conflict had escalated further and further, eventually resulting in a pavilion cras.h.i.+ng.
To cause such a huge ruckus within just a couple of days after entering Qingyuan City, he really wanted to see just what kind of incredible figure that Zhang Xuan was.
“Yes…” An elder nodded before quickly leaving the room.
At this point, Elder An stepped forward and reported, “Song s.h.i.+, I am Elder An Rufang. I have a matter that I would like to report to you!”
“I have heard of you. You are one of the more senior elders of the Qingyuan Empire Master Teacher Pavilion. Feel free to speak!” Song s.h.i.+ nodded.
“It’s like this… Last night, the emperor of the Qingyuan Empire, Chu Tianxing, had one of Zhang s.h.i.+’s direct disciples, Liu Yang, imprisoned. Later in the night, his butler, Sun Qiang, led a group of remnants from the Poison Hall to the royal palace and poisoned all the guards there in order to save Liu Yang. In the midst of doing so, they even had Chu Tianxing… killed!” Elder An swiftly went through everything that he had witnessed.
“You said that they had Chu Tianxing killed? Chu Tianxing is dead?” Song s.h.i.+ widened his eyes in shock.
“That’s right!” Elder An nodded grimly.
“Who’s the one who made the killing move?” Song s.h.i.+ asked anxiously.
“It’s Zhang s.h.i.+’s direct disciple, Liu Yang. He killed Chu Tianxing with a single punch!” Elder An said.
“This… How could he kill the emperor of a Conferred Empire so easily? He’s really taking our Master Teacher Pavilion too lightly!” Song s.h.i.+ roared with a livid face.
The Master Teacher Pavilion was in charge of maintaining order within the region so as to ensure peace for the populace.
While that Zhang Xuan was admittedly an incredible genius, the Qingyuan Empire did not seem to have had a single day of peace ever since his arrival. In fact, his student even ended up killing the emperor. How was the Master Teacher Pavilion supposed to account for all of this to the populace?
This was truly unforgivable!
“Bring Zhang Xuan and that direct disciple of his to me this very instant!” Song s.h.i.+ spat through gritted teeth.
“Yes!” Hearing Song s.h.i.+’s instructions, a group of elders immediately left the main hall.
Not too long later, they returned with a fatty behind them.
The fatty clasped his fist and introduced himself with an att.i.tude that was neither too humble nor arrogant. “Paying respects to Song s.h.i.+. I am Zhang s.h.i.+’s butler, Sun Qiang.”
“You are Sun Qiang?” Song s.h.i.+ narrowed his eyes as he a.s.sessed the person before him.
To be honest, rather than to pinpoint Zhang Xuan as the root of the entire string of trouble that had happened in Qingyuan City, it would be more accurately to say that it had all started with the fatty before him.
“That’s right. Our Young Master happens to be out of Qingyuan City at the moment,” Sun Qiang said.
“He isn’t in Qingyuan City?” Song s.h.i.+’s complexion turned even more awful.
“Young Master and Wu s.h.i.+ have left to apprehend the culprit behind Pavilion Master Gou’s death. In order to prevent the culprit from learning of their movements beforehand, they instructed us to maintain the act before others that they have gone into seclusion!” Sun Qiang explained.
He knew that the Young Master was not truly in seclusion, and considering that the elder standing before him was a master teacher dispatched from the headquarters, he knew that it would be best for him to report the truth.
“They have left to apprehend the culprit?” Hearing those words, Song s.h.i.+’s expression finally alleviated. He then continued asking, “Where’s Liu Yang then?”
It was understandable that Zhang s.h.i.+ was not around, but what about the culprit who had killed Emperor Chu Tianxing, Liu Yang?
Why didn’t he come here along with Zhang Xuan’s butler?
“He…” Sun Qiang hesitated for a moment before continuing. “He has left Qingyuan City. I don’t know where he is at the moment.”
“You don’t know where he is at the moment? What do you mean by that?” As Song s.h.i.+ spoke, a powerful aura suddenly burst forth from him, causing the crowd to shudder involuntarily under the pressure he was emanating.
Song s.h.i.+ glared at the fatty before him intently, seemingly daring him to utter the slightest word of falsehood before him.
Sun Qiang was alarmed by the sudden outburst of power as well, but recalling that he was Yang s.h.i.+’s butler, he forcefully composed himself and replied, “Reporting to Song s.h.i.+, after accidentally killing Emperor Chu Tianxing, Liu Yang felt extremely guilty at his actions, so he left Qingyuan City overnight discreetly. I honestly have no idea where he has headed off to.”
What he was saying was the truth.
After returning to the Combat Master Hall, Sun Qiang had quickly consoled Liu Yang to calm him down before anxiously attempting to contact the Young Master. However, despite a night of trying, he was still unable to establish communications with Zhang Xuan. By the time he realized it, Liu Yang was no longer in the Combat Master Hall.
He had left only a letter in his bedroom.
“He left Qingyuan City overnight? Hah, more like trying to flee from his crimes!” Song s.h.i.+’s eyes narrowed menacingly as he instructed, “Comb through the entire city and have that murderer apprehended… dead or alive!”
“Yes!”
A group of master teachers quickly left to carry out his orders.
“On the other hand, as a mere butler, you disregarded the laws of the country and brought your men into the royal palace to poison the guards. You are as guilty as Liu Yang! Men, throw Sun Qiang into the prison! I’ll judge him along with Liu Yang once the latter is captured!” Song s.h.i.+ bellowed.
A group of master teachers swiftly stepped forward to grab hold of Sun Qiang.
“You want to judge me and Young Master Liu Yang?”
Not expecting Song s.h.i.+ to make such a decision, Sun Qiang’s eyebrows shot up in displeasure. “How dare you! Do you know who our Old Master is?”