Liu Muyan sat cross-legged on the arhat couch, looking askance at Meng Jianqing with a cold smile: “That copper-head snake—I stole it from Wuse here and had Chen Laozhong take it into Flowing Gold Garden to bite that Long family girl. Did she die?” Seeing that Meng Jianqing and Yun Yanjiao remained quite composed, he thought for a moment, understood, and sighed: “Looks like the Long family people have great luck—surviving even that. Wuse, that Long family girl must have caught your Golden Spirit, eaten its gallbladder, and applied its blood to survive. Golden Spirit hasn’t returned, has it?”

Master Wuse’s body trembled and his expression changed: “Golden Spirit was really used as an antidote?”

Yun Yanjiao answered softly: “Yes.”

Master Wuse’s face changed drastically, his body went limp, and he nearly collapsed on the arhat couch.

Liu Muyan spat and supported him while saying, “Wuse, not to criticize you, but after all these years, you still have no courage at all. Golden Spirit is dead, and you just fainted? Don’t you think about how to get revenge? What a waste that you raised it for so many years! By the way,” he suddenly turned to stare at Meng Jianqing, “who killed Golden Spirit?”

Meng Jianqing looked directly into his eyes: “Naturally, it was me.”

Master Wuse’s face was deathly pale as he gasped and opened the porcelain bowl before him, took a pill and swallowed it, slowly calming down. His clear, gaunt, pale face still looked so wan that Yun Yanjiao couldn’t bear to look. Hearing Meng Jianqing’s answer, Master Wuse’s whole body shuddered as he looked up at Meng Jianqing.

Meng Jianqing also looked at him and said coldly, “If that snake didn’t die, Long Yan would have to die.”

The expression on Master Wuse’s face couldn’t help but change. That little girl who had once sat before him years ago, curiously examining Golden Spirit… that little girl who had found three rare medicinal ingredients to feed Golden Spirit…

The anger rising in his heart unconsciously wavered, and for a moment, he was silent with no response.

Meng Jianqing then turned his gaze to Liu Muyan: “So Master Liu wanted to kill Long Yan to vent anger? I just wonder if this anger was for Master Liu himself or the Demon Sect remnants?”

Hearing the hostile intent in his words, Master Wuse’s heart jumped with a “thump,” and he turned to look at Liu Muyan with concern. But Liu Muyan said carelessly: “Officials have two mouths—black and white are whatever you say. Speak up, what exactly do you want?”

Meng Jianqing stared into his eyes and said word by word: “Where is the treasury you manage?”

Liu Muyan’s body shook, then he laughed heartily: “When did the Imperial Guard become so poor that they need to search for a treasury that’s long since turned to ash?”

Meng Jianqing said coldly: “The Demon Sect Fujian-Zhejiang branch’s treasury naturally turned to ash long ago, but Master Liu has skillful ways of making money—you’ve probably built more than one new treasury by now. Without Master Liu’s treasuries, the Maitreya Sect, Holy Mother Sect, Children’s Society, Unity Way, Lotus Sect, Pure Land Society, and other heretical cults wouldn’t be so lively these past few years, would they?”

Liu Muyan snorted: “If you want to condemn someone, you can always find a pretext!”

Meng Jianqing remained unmoved: “Master Liu speaks correctly. When the Imperial Guard wants to convict someone, they indeed never lack for reasons.”

They stared at each other for a moment, then Liu Muyan suddenly jumped up and began cursing: “What bullshit Imperial Guard! Just a pack of mad dogs! I tell you, I do indeed have treasuries, and more than one; I do indeed spend money lavishly on those heretical cults, and not only that, I also spend money lavishly on many bandits, mountain brigands, and pirates, just to buy unrest—so what? If you have the ability, follow the stench of copper to overturn those treasuries!”

Meng Jianqing said blandly: “As long as we cut off the financial sources of those treasuries, there’s no rush to find them—we have plenty of time.”

Liu Muyan sneered disdainfully: “You want to kill me? Why not say so clearly from the start? Why make such a big show? With all the military chaos outside Longwang Valley, exactly how many men did you bring to deal with a weak scholar like me?”

Meng Jianqing glanced at him sideways: “Master Liu thinks too highly of himself. I’m not here just for Master Liu. Wanfo Temple harbors unrepentant Demon Sect remnants, assassinates court envoys, endangers state affairs, and resists arrest while injuring officials—”

Master Wuse was startled and interrupted: “Benefactor, our temple has not resisted arrest.”

Meng Jianqing looked at him with a half-smile.

Master Wuse’s heart couldn’t help but turn cold.

Yun Yanjiao had been here the whole time. Even if she wanted to protect them, she couldn’t witness what was happening elsewhere in the temple. Even if Meng Jianqing searched out hidden women from the temple, no one could prove he was planting evidence.

At this moment, an Imperial Guard’s voice was suddenly heard from outside the courtyard: “Captain Meng, Wei Huan found a cellar in the sutra hall containing dozens of Demon Sect scriptures that were already ordered destroyed!”

Master Wuse’s body began to sway, so the person in official robes outside wasn’t Wei Huan. While Meng Jianqing was unhurriedly talking with them here, Wei Huan had already begun searching the entire temple.

As if sensing the shock, anger, fear, hesitation, and worry in his heart, low, slow, ominous crawling sounds came from the rock cave behind the wall, shaking the walls so they seemed to vibrate faintly, making one seem to see the terrifying massive bodies of two giant pythons in the dark cave.

Master Wuse’s face twitched slightly: “Why must you push people so hard, benefactor?”

Yun Yanjiao glanced at Meng Jianqing, her eyes flowing with various meanings that couldn’t be spoken aloud.

Meng Jianqing nodded slightly to her, wondering if Yun Yanjiao understood his signal—everything was under his control—then turned to look at Master Wuse, then at Liu Muyan, who kept his mouth tightly shut but whose eyes had grown even brighter.

The former Five-Colored Dragon King was often viewed as indecisive, soft-hearted, and unlikely to achieve great things.

But such a normally submissive old gentleman steadily held the position of Left Protector of the Ming Sect’s Fujian-Zhejiang branch.

Simply because when good-natured people get angry, they’re more terrifying than evil spirits.

Just as terrifying as sleeping, gentle, slow giant pythons when awakened and enraged.

Meng Jianqing’s tone softened slightly: “The master misunderstands. I think these matters should all be unrelated to the master, merely the result of the temple monks acting recklessly. After I help the master properly clean up and reorganize this temple, I’ll certainly find other honest, loyal monks to serve the master and rebuild Wanfo Temple.”

At this moment, another Imperial Guard came to report: “Captain Meng, Wei Huan didn’t find secret chambers in the scripture pavilion, but he discovered the brick floor is laid over gold bricks—estimated at fifty thousand taels!”

Meng Jianqing’s gaze never left Master Wuse and Liu Muyan. Without turning his head, he said: “Good! Keep searching!”

He smiled: “The master lives in pure poverty and probably never imagined the temple monks could be so extravagant. For Wanfo Temple’s annual incense donations to be so abundant, temples throughout the realm would probably be envious. I think the Court of Colonial Affairs would very much like to learn from Wanfo Temple’s money-making methods. The master wouldn’t mind if I copied the account books to send to the Court of Colonial Affairs for temples throughout the realm to learn from, would you?”

Without waiting for Master Wuse to answer, he raised his voice: “Someone come! Go get Wanfo Temple’s account books from all these years and make a proper copy!”

Liu Muyan’s face suddenly turned iron-gray as he glared at Meng Jianqing.

Wanfo Temple’s wealth was far more than these fifty thousand taels of gold. If the account books couldn’t prove the legitimate source of this wealth, this Imperial Guard captain would have plenty of reason to confiscate it as treasuries he had built and convict all the monks along with it.

Had he too greatly underestimated these young people of today?

Master Wuse swallowed another pill, steadied himself, then raised his head: “Benefactor Meng, what exactly do you want to do?”

Liu Muyan sneered: “Nothing more than that someone won’t be at ease unless he drives people like us to extinction!”

Yun Yanjiao looked at Meng Jianqing uneasily. Was he going to start such a great persecution?

But Meng Jianqing changed the subject: “The master and Master Liu probably both know Zhang Dingbian.”

Zhang Dingbian was Chen Youliang’s top general. At the Battle of Poyang Lake, Zhang Dingbian led a lone army deep into enemy territory and nearly killed the Hongwu Emperor aboard his ship. After Chen Youliang was struck by an arrow, it was also he who fought desperately to protect the corpse and remnant army, cutting open a bloody path to escape—reportedly he had long since become a monk at Nine Peaks Mountain in Sichuan.

Even Zhang Dingbian could be spared—as long as he completely severed all relationships with Chen Youliang’s former subordinates and stepped out of the circle of conflict.

Master Wuse remained silent. How could he not know that his twenty years of peace had been for the same reason?

But… he had no way to refuse Seven Treasure. This youngest brother they cherished, brilliant and proud-spirited, though sometimes perhaps a bit extreme and stubborn, they would all rather sacrifice their lives to fulfill his wishes.

Meng Jianqing continued: “Master Liu, I want to ask why you put the master in such a position? Originally, governing a great nation is like cooking a small fish—without necessity, great persecutions wouldn’t be frequently launched. Unfortunately, the tree wants to be still, but the wind won’t stop—this too is a matter of no alternative.”

His latter statement was spoken with such righteousness that Liu Muyan jumped up again: “Nonsense! Who exactly is the tree, and who is the wind? Speak clearly! The Bright Teaching is now called the ‘Demon Sect’ by everyone, whose order was that? You show no benevolence, yet expect others to maintain righteousness? Such ungrateful, unjust, and improper actions—I, Seven Treasure, refuse to accept ten thousand times over! If Heaven is unjust, I’ll restore justice to the world!”

Meng Jianqing only looked at him quietly.

After Liu Muyan’s outburst got no response whatsoever, he couldn’t help but be stunned, his anger stuck in his chest. Looking at this young, composed, and spirited Imperial Guard before him, he seemed to see this rising nation with its blazing vitality.

Were people like them destined to cower in dark places under such sunlight, fearing its edge?

His anger and indignation unconsciously cooled down.

Yun Yanjiao said softly from the side: “The victor becomes king, the defeated become bandits; the strong prey on the weak—the Way of Heaven has always been thus. If the Way of Heaven weren’t so, I’m afraid even more people would resent its injustice. Master Liu would certainly never be willing to die quietly in the countryside like those village fools and ignorant people—you must become famous throughout the world.”

They all understood this principle, and precisely because they understood, Liu Muyan became even more depressed and angry.

The gentle and soft-spoken Yun Yanjiao saying such words so calmly and peacefully facing such a cold and merciless Way of Heaven made Meng Jianqing secretly surprised—did disciples of the Immortal Mountain of the Sea all view the comings and goings of Heaven’s Way, the rise and fall of order and chaos, with such calm? Among the founding heroes, had they chosen to serve the Ming Dynasty early simply because they believed the Ming would be the ultimate victor?