Ex-Wife is a Big Villainess
Chapter 280 - 163 Ran Qingchen VS (2.0) Qu Hongling_2

Chapter 280: Chapter 163 Ran Qingchen VS (2.0) Qu Hongling_2

"Practically impossible."

Shan Dongchuan led everyone to a large vase at the corner, tapped it lightly twice, then twisted the vase slightly and tapped it again twice. Immediately, there was a rumbling sound and the secret chamber’s stone door closed.

The stone door blended seamlessly with the surrounding walls, making it difficult to notice unless one looked closely.

Shan Dongchuan said, "Jin Ao making his first visit to Mengyao Pavilion could not possibly be so familiar with the mechanisms of the secret chamber."

Ran Qingchen observed the mechanism carefully with a slight frown.

It was all too coincidental that the secret chamber door malfunctioned at a critical moment.

Ran Qingchen asked, "The case file states that Jin Ao went on a killing spree, but looking at the list of the deceased, they were all guests in a sealed-off inner hall on the second floor. The other guests of Mengyao Pavilion were unharmed. What exactly was happening in that inner hall at the time, and why was it sealed off?"

"This..."

Shan Dongchuan looked troubled, uncertain whether he should speak or not.

Yuan Anjiang, who was familiar with the inside story, cleared his throat and said:

"Lord Ran, there was one page of the investigative report I removed, which may not be suitable for you to see. In any case, it detailed some... indecent performances, rather cruel in nature, intended for the amusement of certain guests with special proclivities.

The women performing were mostly slaves who had been purchased, and even if they died, the officials wouldn’t care. For example, there were sisters because their mother was a Yanrong woman, who were sold here. As such, their treatment was even worse than that of the other women in the brothel.

In short, what happened was that Jin Ao inadvertently witnessed what was going on inside, couldn’t stand it, and went on a rampage."

Ran Qingchen’s red lips were tightly pursed, and her pure and aloof face took on a hint of frost.

Though Yuan Anjiang did not spell it out, she could guess the kind of torment those women had suffered.

This provoked great anger in her, as a woman herself.

She even secretly applauded Jin Ao’s actions in her heart.

However, remembering her current status as a court official, she felt helpless.

Yuan Anjiang said, "In my opinion, this case really doesn’t have much to do with Qu Hongling. Of course, Jin Ao ultimately being a protector of the Sky Demon Sect means Qu Hongling, as the Sect Master, should also bear some responsibility."

Yuan Anjiang fell silent for a moment, then continued indifferently:

"Additionally, according to the latest intelligence, the Great Protector of the Sky Demon Sect originally planned to expel Jin Ao from the sect, but Qu Hongling saved him, causing a rift between them.

The internal factions of the Sky Demon Sect are quite chaotic at the moment. The Great Protector favors peaceful coexistence with Dazhou, hence he has been restraining the sect members from stirring up trouble for years.

Especially in the past two years, the court has signaled a willingness to accept demon cultivators. Although His Majesty still rejects the Demon Clan, there’s no guarantee he won’t change his mind in the future. After all, Dazhou is the legitimate dynasty of the Central Plains, and being on good terms with them would be extremely beneficial for the Demon Clan—who would want to hide in the mountains?

This is also why the Great Protector insisted on driving Jin Ao out of the sect.

Qu Hongling’s murder of the former Magistrate infuriated the Great Protector, who, along with others, pressured Qu Hongling to step down. Had it not been for Ms. Qiu’s intervention, Qu Hongling would have lost his position as Sect Master."

Yuan Anjiang, well-versed in the affairs of the Sky Demon Sect, paused before continuing,

"There is another faction within the Sky Demon Sect, led by the Third Protector. They wish to join Yanrong, because the current Empress Dowager Xiao has openly welcomed Thousand Beasts Forest and even established an animal soldier army.

However, six months ago, Qu Hongling suddenly became hostile to Thousand Beasts Forest, killing many of their people. What could have been the best of allies turned into avowed enemies. If we now join Yanrong, it would be difficult not to be treated unfairly.

After all, Thousand Beasts Forest has already gained a firm foothold in Yanrong, and Empress Dowager Xiao may show them favoritism.

Because of this, the senior members of the Third Protector’s faction are highly critical of Qu Hongling, even publicly declaring that Qu Hongling is not fit to be the Sect Master of the Sky Demon Sect. So now, Qu Hongling only has the Second Protector, Shen Shengyuan, by his side.

It’s just that Shen Shengyuan is indifferent by nature and has always been disinterested in power within the sect, refraining from forming cliques. Therefore, his close disciples and power base are few, and his support for Qu Hongling is rather limited."

And Protector Jin Ao of the Sky Demon Sect was of a carefree and unrestrained nature, spending his days roaming forests and streams, lingering in Jianghu, seldom inquiring about the affairs of the Sect. He also hadn’t been too supportive of Qu Hongling’s position as the Sect Master before, preferring to stand by with a cold eye.

Therefore, Sect Master Qu’s position within the Sky Demon Sect was quite awkward at the moment, with too many internal and external checks and balances. How to cleverly navigate between factions, balance everyone’s interests, and seek the greatest consensus was extremely difficult.

Externally, they also had to guard against the prying of other forces. Thousand Beasts Forest, Nine Heavens Pond, Dead Man Island... none were to be taken lightly.

Listening to Yuan Anjiang’s analysis of the Sky Demon Sect, Ran Qingchen couldn’t help but feel sympathy for the young Sect Master Qu.

Just listening to it was exhausting.

Yuan Anjiang, due to a multitude of official matters that still needed attention, did not stay long and departed first. Shan Dongchuan and his entourage also left, returning to the office to continue handling official business.

Ran Qingchen continued to stay at Mengyao Pavilion, intending to look for other clues.

Although the case seemed clear-cut and simply required catching Protector Jin Ao from the Sky Demon Sect, as her first case handled externally, Ran Qingchen still wanted to treat it with seriousness.

Moreover, led by women’s intuition, she always felt that something was not quite right.

Seeing Ran Qingchen decide to stay behind to investigate alone, no one was too worried. After all, Lord Ran was a high-level cultivator from the Heaven Desolation Boundary, and Qingzhou City had tight security at present, making an assassin’s appearance unlikely.

Inside the attic, the woman with hands folded behind her back meticulously observed every corner.

As a Cultivator, she could broadly infer the scene at the time from the bloodstains— who resisted Jin Ao, who fled, who held which weapon in their hands, and so on.

With the list of deceased in mind, the woman matched each victim to the bloodstains at the scene based on their identity and ability to resist.

In the end, she returned to that secret room.

According to the investigation and her own inferences, those people had entered the secret room in advance before Jin Ao followed them.

At that time, Jin Ao probably hadn’t discovered the secret room.

It was only when the secret room’s door suddenly opened that Jin Ao killed his way inside.

"Why did the secret room door suddenly open? Could it be that someone inside opened it? But wouldn’t that be seeking death?"

Ran Qingchen stroked her sharp and delicate chin, coming up to the vase.

Or perhaps, there was a person hiding here at that time.

Was it that person who deliberately opened it?

Just as Ran Qingchen was deep in thought, a sharp look suddenly flashed between her brows, and she instantly drew her long sword and slashed toward one side.

The sword light, like a dragon swimming from the abyss, shot out swiftly, aiming for the buildings on one side.

With a loud "crash", at the touch of the light, the door shattered in response, wood chips flying everywhere, with the sound of splintering echoing nonstop.

Behind that broken door, a lively and cute figure in red appeared, gracefully standing atop the attic, like a red lotus blooming amidst the storm of Sword Qi.

Upon seeing the person clearly, the originally peaceful and beautiful countenance of Ran Qingchen turned dark in an instant, like clouds shrouding the sun, as shadows quietly spread.

Ran Qingchen clenched her silver teeth, "It’s you!?"

Qu Hongling was equally taken aback, but then, considering their past grudges, she smiled brightly, her voice melodious as an oriole yet tinged with mocking banter, "Oh, isn’t that Danai? How’s your injury fairing? Do you need your little sister to take a look for you?"

—

[Author’s Note: Brothers, I’ve hit a bit of a writer’s block, sorry for the late update. I wasn’t feeling the flow today, maybe because I’m lacking inspiration and feeling a bit anxious.]