Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 339 Using Conversation as a Method of Talk Therapy

Two waterways jut out from the snow-white walls of the holy city.

The water in the city flows into these two waterways and then pours down directly into the sacred lake below.

Because its shape, when viewed from below, resembles the tip of a sword, it is called a sword platform.

Lu Xiaofeng leaned on the railing and looked out. Below the Sword Platform, there was naturally the gourd-shaped Sacred Lake.

The waters of the sacred lake flow into two rivers on the left and right, and then disperse from these two rivers, forming a dense network of waterways.

The current prosperity of the Western Regions is a direct result of this network of waterways.

but……

"Where did all this water come from?"

Lu Xiaofeng turned to look at the snow-white summit of the sacred mountain.

If it were meltwater from snow-capped mountains, there could never be so much.

Unless the entire snow-capped mountain melts completely, it might be possible to sustain the flow of this water network for half a month.

Currently, the water flowing through this network of waterways has far exceeded the limits of snowmelt from the mountains.

On the sword platform, besides him, there were many other members of the Star Luo Sect.

This sword platform juts out from the holy city; standing here, one can enjoy a panoramic view of the vast world.

Especially at sunrise or sunset, the dim, golden light illuminates the entire world.

Standing on the sword platform, one can see the entire water network of the Western Regions, shimmering under the light, a truly rare and magnificent sight.

Lu Xiaofeng approached a man standing alone and exclaimed, "What a beautiful view! Are you here to enjoy the scenery too, brother?"

The man, with a hint of wariness, asked, "Who are you?"

"Oh, I am from the Central Plains, and I have come to pay my respects to the Star Luo Sect Leader. I heard that the Star Luo Sect has swallowed up the ancient Western Demon Sect and become the overlord of the Western Regions. I thought it would be the next Western Demon Sect, but I did not expect that the Star Luo Sect Leader is such a benevolent ruler. It is truly admirable."

The man snorted coldly, and said with a hint of pride, "How could the Western Demonic Sect and Jade Rakshasa compare to me, the Star Luo Sect Master?"

"Indeed, looking at the history of the various countries in the Central Plains, heroes like these have all been able to forge great achievements. I'm afraid it won't be long before the world has another Western Regions Kingdom and another Western Regions King!"

"Oh, you people from the Central Plains do have some knowledge."

"I am but a humble man, having merely read a few history books. Along my journey, I have witnessed the scenery of the Western Regions, and I feel that the actions of the Star Luo Sect Leader are reminiscent of those of several powerful rulers of the Central Plains. Brother, have you ever heard of Liu Bang, the King of Han?"

"Um...I've heard a little bit about it..."

"That Liu Bang, the King of Han, once..."

An hour later, at the man's home, a table was laden with food and wine.

A man, with his arm around Lu Xiaofeng's shoulder, said drunkenly, "Brother, to be honest, the Western Regions are not as prosperous as the Central Plains, but the great sages of our Western Regions are no less wise than those of the Central Plains. Take that one for example..."

In the evening, Lu Xiaofeng returned to the residence arranged by the Xingluo Sect.

Ah Fei frowned as he saw that Ah Fei was reeking of alcohol.

"We've been worrying about serious matters all day, and you've gone out drinking?"

"What's there to worry about? We got access to those files and documents without paying anything, which is already a huge advantage. As for being a day later than those people from the Eastern Depot, it's nothing compared to that."

Lu Xiaofeng said, "Besides, drinking is also a serious matter for me!"

Li Xunhuan handed over a cup of tea and said, "Brother Lu, although you enjoy wine, you always have a method to your actions. I'm sure this drinking session wasn't for nothing."

"Haha, you guessed wrong. This meal was paid for by someone else. I really got a free drink!"

He sat down with his teacup in hand and asked, "What have those people from the Eastern Depot done today?"

Afei said, "What kind of actions did they take? They were just frantically searching through the archives. However, they got paper, pens, and manpower from the Star Luo Sect, so they were having people copy the documents while they were looking through them."

Lu Xiaofeng said, "Haha, it seems that the Star Luo Sect Leader has indeed kept his promise and only given them one day of preliminary review. After one day, the files and documents they have reviewed will be sent directly to us."

This presents a problem: if they want to review the documents they've already read, they'll have to wait until we let go.

That's why the head of the gang had the Star Luo Cult members copy it for him. He did have some cleverness, but unfortunately, it was just a little bit of cleverness.

Li Xunhuan asked, "What advice does Brother Lu have for me?"

Lu Xiaofeng said, "The Iron-Blooded Marquis's actions in the Western Regions can be described as continuous, lasting for more than ten years, and involving a huge amount of funds!"
Therefore, it is very likely that he has already established a power base, or even a country, in the Western Regions!
The Star Luo Sect's archives and documents are indeed crucial, but the sheer volume of records is immense. Moreover, the fact that Iron-Blooded Marquis has managed to keep this information hidden for so many years suggests he has employed extremely meticulous disguise.

Finding clues in those archives and documents is no less difficult than finding a needle in a haystack.

Li Xunhuan nodded: "I understand what Brother Lu means. To find out what Iron-Blooded Marquis is doing in the Western Regions, we need more than just those archives and documents; we also need to compare them with the various city-states and forces in the Western Regions at present!"

"Not bad!"

"So, Brother Lu went to find out about these things?"

"As expected, Brother Li understands me best!"

"Then, Brother Lu, have you found out anything?"

Lu Xiaofeng gave a wry smile: "What kind of place is the Western Regions? It's too big, and there are far too many powerful forces there. In such a short time, we didn't even get to talk much."

In my opinion, the force supported by the Iron-Blooded Marquis should be relatively stable. Therefore, forces that have faced annihilation crises or repeated annihilation in the past ten years or so can be ruled out first.

Powers established in the last ten years or so are the primary targets, while those established more than ten years ago are the secondary targets.

And most importantly, they received substantial external assistance. Given Iron-Blooded Marquis's cautious nature, this assistance likely couldn't have come from a single force; that would be too obvious. It probably came from all directions!

Li Xunhuan exclaimed, "Brother Lu's wisdom is indeed extraordinary. Hearing you say that, I feel that the road ahead is difficult, and it will be really not easy to find clues among thousands of complexities."

Lu Xiaofeng laughed and said, "Where there's a will, there's a way. If you think this is difficult, Li Tanhua, why don't you think about those Eastern Depot people who are working hard to find documents in the archives? Their methods are much more difficult than ours!"

Li Xunhuan couldn't help but laugh.

"Ah Fei, do you still think it's a waste of my time for me to find people to drink with?"

"Who knew you were so cunning!"

Ah Fei said, "Besides, do you think you're the only one who's busy today?"

"Oh? I wonder what you gentlemen are busy with?"

Li Xunhuan said, "I was just about to tell Brother Lu that the Star Luo Sect has conquered all the oasis areas near the Central Plains and is currently in a stage of consolidation and development. However, the Star Luo Sect has not let go of the forces in the desert either."

The Star Luo Sect has three thousand Rakshasa soldiers, five hundred of whom are currently out in the desert, wreaking havoc across the entire desert on the orders of the Star Luo Sect leader.

Lu Xiaofeng's gaze sharpened: "Having occupied such a vast territory, they're still constantly trying to suppress the development of other forces in the desert. That Kunsha fellow really wants to be the King of the Western Regions!"

Li Xunhuan said, "The leader of the Star Luo Sect is a man skilled in strategy. He must understand the principle of knowing yourself and your enemy, and you will never be defeated. Since he has this intention, he should also be collecting information on various forces in the Western Regions."

Even the five hundred Rakshasa soldiers who were ravaging the Western Regions were not without the task of investigating the situation of various forces.

Lu Xiaofeng immediately understood: "If Kunsha has such information, it would be much easier to borrow it than to investigate it ourselves. However, it might not be easy to get our hands on such information."

Li Xunhuan said, "I've already inquired. Although the Star Luo Sect Leader is the supreme leader, he usually only makes decisions on important matters and spends most of his time in seclusion cultivating. On the contrary, that Azure Phoenix King holds great power, and he handles most of the affairs within the Star Luo Sect!"

"That Huo Tianqing guy has really made it big. Before, he only managed a chamber of commerce, but now he controls such a large area of ​​land," Lu Xiaofeng teased.

But he also understood what Li Xunhuan meant.

In terms of difficulty, befriending the Azure Phoenix King is probably far more difficult than befriending ordinary people within the Star Luo Sect.

However, in terms of efficiency and benefits, it far surpasses that of ordinary people.

The Western Regions are too vast.

This vast land is divided by yellow sand. A piece of land that would only be a county town in the Central Plains can become a country here.

Countless kingdoms and city-states are scattered throughout the land.

The difficulty of investigating all these countries and city-states is self-evident.

Moreover, Lu Xiaofeng's approach involved gathering intelligence from ordinary people of lower social class and limited perspectives.

The worst thing is that while the investigation is going on, those people will run out of things to say and nothing will be found.

"Alright, I'll go talk to Huo Tianqing tomorrow."

Lu Xiaofeng stood up, intending to go to sleep first.

Li Xunhuan quickly stopped him, saying, "Brother Lu, you may not know this, but the King of Qingfeng is very busy. He is busy from morning till night during the day, and only has some free time after dusk."

Lu Xiaofeng paused, "You mean..."

"Speed ​​is of the essence in war, Brother Lu, it would be best to go now!"

"..."

Lu Xiaofeng was speechless, but he still immediately stepped out of the room.

As Li Xunhuan said, speed is of the essence in war.

They not only need to find irrefutable evidence in the capital and bring it back before the case is officially closed, but they also need to consider the influence of the Eastern Depot.

In this situation, waiting even one more day could mean missing the opportunity altogether.

Therefore, Lu Xiaofeng immediately took action.

Huo Tianqing now holds a high position and has his own pavilion in the Holy City, called the Azure Phoenix Pavilion.

Naturally, it was heavily guarded.

Huo Tianqing was on the third floor of the pavilion, gazing out from the railing.

A servant came forward and said, "There is someone outside who claims to be an old friend of the Ming Dynasty and has come to pay his respects to the King of Qingfeng."

"An old friend from the Ming Dynasty?"

Huo Tianqing immediately thought of the guests who had come today and said, "Please come up."

"Yes."

Soon, Lu Xiaofeng arrived at the third floor.

He praised, "The place where Sect Leader Huo resides is so well-suited that one can overlook the Holy City nearby and gaze at the earth in the distance. It is truly ingenious."

Huo Tianqing shook his head and said, "I am no longer the leader of the Heavenly Bird Sect, so there is no need for you to address me like that."

"But as far as I know, the Heavenly Bird Sect still refers to Mr. Huo as its leader."

"My deeds are recorded in 'Detective Lu Xiaofeng,' written by the adopted son of the Grand Secretary of the Ming Dynasty. That book sold extremely well, and you should know what I did."

Lu Xiaofeng nodded: "I know."

Huo Tianqing calmly said, "I was tempted by greed and secretly plotted to acquire jewels and wealth, which violated morality and made the perseverance of all the members of the Tianqin Sect a laughing stock. How can I have the face to continue as the sect leader?"

Lu Xiaofeng's eyes dimmed.

He was also friends with the Seven Heroes of the City, even though he knew that these people, despite their martial arts skills, were content with a simple life.

They are people who truly uphold morality and are willing to pay the price for it.

However, their sect leader did such a thing, violating morality.

For them, this was tantamount to the collapse of their faith.

Meanwhile, a wave of mockery arose in the martial arts world towards the members of the Tianqin Sect.

However, after this incident, the members of the Heavenly Bird Sect still stuck to their principles. Apart from searching for the whereabouts of their sect leader, Huo Tianqing, they did not change much.

He also learned some things about Huo Tianqing from the other members of the Xingluo Sect, knowing that he was living a normal life in the Western Regions under an assumed name.

How he was approached by Kunsa remains a mystery.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Xiaofeng said, "The great hero Guo Jing once said, 'The greatest heroes are those who serve their country and its people.' I think the same applies to morality. Mr. Huo is now the leader of the three kings of the Star Luo Sect, and what he seeks is the well-being of the people of the Western Regions."

This code of conduct surpasses even that of the Heavenly Bird Sect. Therefore, in my view, Mr. Huo has not only not failed in his duty to morality, but is actually shouldering an even greater responsibility.”

Huo Tianqing smiled and said, "You don't come here unless you have a reason. Just tell me what you want. Otherwise, I'm going to rest."

"Forehead……"

Lu Xiaofeng hesitated for a moment, but still said, "I have come here for the matter of Iron-Blooded Marquis."

"Then, I'm afraid I'll refuse. If you want to find evidence against Iron-Blooded Marquis and sentence him to death, wouldn't I be an accomplice to murder if I help you?"

"In fact, that was just an excuse used when negotiating with the cult leader. We are not backed by any powerful organization, nor do we intend to sentence Iron-Blooded Marquis to death."

"Oh? So you want to help Iron-Blooded Marquis?"

Lu Xiaofeng shook his head again.

"If you won't kill, and you won't help, then what do you want to do?"

Huo Tianqing asked curiously.

Lu Xiaofeng looked into the distance.

As the sun set, the entire Western Regions was plunged into darkness, with only a few scattered rays of light visible.

"All I want is to find that evidence. If it can prove that Iron-Blooded Marquis was corrupt, then justice will be served for the people. If it can prove that Iron-Blooded Marquis is innocent, then justice will be served for him."

Lu Xiaofeng smiled and said, "Speaking of which, it does align somewhat with the principles of the Heavenly Bird Sect. Hehe, saying such things at this time might make Mr. Huo think I'm deliberately trying to curry favor."

Huo Tianqing shook his head: "Having lived all these years, I, Huo Tianqing, still have a good eye for people. At least I can tell whether what you just said is true or false."

So indifferent to purpose, uninvolved in interests, caring only about the truth... you're a bit like someone else.

"Oh? Like whom?"

"It's the protagonist of that detective novel I just mentioned... Lu Xiaofeng!"

(End of this chapter)