: The Truth

2025-05-10 Author: Gu Zhenren

: The Truth

"Who exactly are you?"

Facing the questioning from the White Paper City Lord's paper clone, Ning Zhuo's heart tightened, instantly realizing that his disguise had been seen through.

Ning Zhuo was impersonating Jiao Ma, using Sun Lingtong's stealth techniques.

Sun Lingtong was at the Foundation Establishment stage. Although absorbing the evil god's marrow had greatly boosted his stealth abilities, the increase wasn't enough to reach the Nascent Soul level.

Just like when Ning Zhuo was on the battlefield in Liangzhu Kingdom's Thousand Peaks Forest, even after exhausting all his resources, he still couldn't truly elevate his aura to the Nascent Soul level.

That he had lasted this long before being detected by the paper clone actually spoke volumes about the strength of Sun Lingtong's stealth techniques.

Ning Zhuo cupped his hands and bowed slightly. "For the details, I must ask the City Lord to dismiss the others before I can explain."

Wen Ruan Yu immediately raised his eyebrows, about to speak.

But the paper clone waved its hand. "All of you, step back."

"City Lord?!" Wen Ruan Yu grew tense instantly.

The death of Mournful Melody Youling was the greatest loss for White Paper Immortal City, which had prompted the paper clone's arrival.

However, if the paper clone were also to fall here, the future of White Paper Immortal City would become even bleaker.

But the paper clone stared at Ning Zhuo and repeated, "Out."

Not daring to defy the City Lord, Wen Ruan Yu and the others quickly exited.

With a wave of its long sleeve, the paper clone sealed off the space inside and out, creating a private area for discussion.

Ning Zhuo was slightly surprised, not expecting the paper clone to be so accommodating.

The White Paper City Lord's clone took out a magical artifact. "This is the Plain Inquiry Heart-Slicing Scroll, capable of discerning truth from lies. If you lie, your heart will be sliced open, and you will die a miserable death on the spot."

As she spoke, she activated the artifact, suspending it above Ning Zhuo's head.

Ning Zhuo immediately felt his life force being forcibly drawn and tightly linked to the Plain Inquiry Heart-Slicing Scroll.

"Little Zhuo!" Sun Lingtong cried out, wishing he could take Ning Zhuo's place.

Ning Zhuo transmitted his thoughts to reassure Sun Lingtong. "Boss, don't forget, I already have the Fire Element Heart Temple."

Sun Lingtong shook his head, well aware that this was mostly just comforting words. Although Ning Zhuo's heart had been modified, it was essentially still his Foundation Establishment-level heart, fused with the Ten Thousand-Year Fire Essence. At best, it was only at the Golden Core level—how could it withstand a Nascent Soul-level artifact?

Sun Lingtong stared intently at the Plain Inquiry Heart-Slicing Scroll above. The scroll was plain white, with natural reed fiber textures faintly visible on its surface. The ends of the scroll were rolled from pine-resin-soaked hard paper, the edges retaining the rough cuts from trimming, wrapped in half-faded indigo seals.

"Speak," urged the White Paper City Lord, her voice icy.

Ning Zhuo remained silent for a long moment before letting out a sigh. "Actually, there's no reason I can't tell you."

"My surname is Ning, given name Zhuo. I come from Fire Persimmon Immortal City in Nandou Kingdom. I am the head of the Ning clan's branch, a close friend of Nandou's royal member Divine Constable Zhu Xuanji, the top ally of Nandou's Myriad Medicine Sect, and also the son-in-law of General Mu's residence in Liangzhu Kingdom..."

"I am traveling the world to search for my mother's relics but have found no leads. This time, I was directed by Zhu Xuanji to seek out Mournful Melody Youling of White Paper Immortal City for a divination."

"For this purpose, I also brought a token..."

At this point, Ning Zhuo took out the white jade candle and showed it to the City Lord's clone.

The White Paper City Lord's pupils instantly contracted.

A prophetic poem immediately came to her mind: "Ghost tides surge, White Paper in peril; A lone swan carries a candle to tear the heavens. The guest star shines upon the northern pivot; All lights brighten, calamity self-destructs."

Mournful Melody Youling was her right-hand man and naturally would not have kept this from her.

Thinking this, the White Paper City Lord reached out and took the white jade candle, holding it in her hand to confirm its authenticity before saying, "Mournful Melody only ever gave out eleven of these white jade candles in her lifetime."

Her tone then shifted slightly. "Why didn't you present it earlier? And why impersonate someone else? Did you kill Jiao Ma?"

Ning Zhuo smiled wryly. "I'm new here and unfamiliar with the place, so I thought I'd disguise myself to gather local information first and find a way to request an audience with Mournful Melody Youling."

"But along the way, I came across a battlefield with many casualties, so I seized the opportunity to impersonate one of the deceased."

"Little did I know I'd end up making things worse and get brought into the immortal city as one of the male consorts."

"I originally intended to seek out Mournful Melody Youling, but after she was targeted in two assassination attempts, security became extremely tight. If I had revealed my true identity, I might have been able to act openly. But the city was already under strict investigation and martial law; revealing my true identity rashly would likely have caused a major misunderstanding."

"So, I hesitated, waiting until today to use the promotion opportunity to reveal my true intentions to Mournful Melody Youling."

"Now, here we are."

The White Paper City Lord fell silent again.

The slight tightening of her grip on the white jade candle betrayed her inner turmoil.

The White Paper City Lord was naturally aware of Yang Weida, but upon learning Ning Zhuo's identity, she leaned toward another possibility.

Even if she couldn't be certain, her interest in Ning Zhuo soared. She couldn't help but ask in detail, "Who is your mother? And why are you searching for her relics?"

Ning Zhuo showed a sorrowful expression. "My mother's name was Meng Yaoyin. She passed away when I was two years old. My purpose in traveling the world is simple: first, to learn more about my mother..."

Ning Zhuo didn't reveal everything, concealing his main goal of wanting to resurrect his mother. He rambled on for a while, speaking only the truth, not triggering the Plain Inquiry Heart-Slicing Scroll above him at all.

The White Paper City Lord fell into silence once more.

This silence lasted longer than before.

She broke the silence, her voice somewhat hoarse. "You are a filial son, it seems."

"Very well."

"I grant you three protective talismans. Go and find the true culprit who murdered Mournful Melody Youling for me."

As she spoke, the White Paper City Lord flicked her fingers, and three talismans shot like white shadows into Ning Zhuo's body in an instant.

Ning Zhuo was startled and quickly checked himself, only to find the three talismans had taken up the central positions in his three dantians.

Ning Zhuo smiled bitterly and cupped his hands. "City Lord, with your keen insight and the Plain Inquiry Heart-Slicing Scroll here, you already know I am not the murderer."

"I am merely a lowly Foundation Establishment cultivator, too young and inexperienced to take on such a heavy responsibility."

The White Paper City Lord chuckled. "If you don't wish to investigate, you may leave White Paper Immortal City now. Consider these three talismans my farewell gift."

With that, she waved her sleeve and vanished on the spot.

Along with her, Mournful Melody Youling's corpse also disappeared.

Before leaving, she left one last message: "With Mournful Melody's death, attacks have erupted both inside and outside the city. You need not concern yourself with the outside. The southern gate area within the city is under attack. The statue at the southern gate is a key point of the immortal city's grand formation. Go there, and you may find clues."

"Wen Ruan Yu will accompany you."

"If you don't wish to investigate the true culprit, that's fine too. The ghost tide is weakest at the southern gate; you may leave from there."

Ning Zhuo stood frozen in place.

The White Paper City Lord's unexpected leniency had taken him completely by surprise.

The formation in the Listening Melody Pavilion had ceased, and Ning Zhuo regained his freedom.

Sun Lingtong transmitted his thoughts. "Hmph, that paper woman talks nicely, saying you're free to act and even leave White Paper Immortal City? If that's true, why leave three talismans inside you? They're clearly meant to monitor you—daggers hanging over our vital points!"

Ning Zhuo sighed.

Wen Ruan Yu pushed the door open and entered, his expression grim. He urged, "Since the City Lord has confirmed your innocence and tasked you with investigating, come with me."

"Hurry. The southern gate is in chaos, with several Golden Core-level ghost generals running rampant!"

Southern City.

The battle over the half-finished paper statue had reached a critical stage.

"Hold the line, we must hold it!" human cultivators shouted, boosting morale.

A butcher ghost general, as massive as a mountain of flesh, wielded a cleaver as large as a door panel and swung it down fiercely.

The strike shook the defensive barrier, leaving it on the verge of collapse.

The cultivators, positioned at the formation's core and key points, channeled their spiritual power, struggling to hold on.

The Mirror Makeup ghost general held a bronze mirror, emitting beams of light that caused the cultivators inside the barrier to sway mentally and destabilize their energy output, causing the barrier's power to plummet.

The Chatterbox ghost general laughed heartily. "It's broken, broken, broken!"

Besides the normal mouth on his face, he had two additional mouths on each cheek. All three spoke simultaneously, emitting eerie sound waves.

Under the impact of the sound waves, the defensive barrier shattered with a crash.

The human cultivators manning the formation suffered backlash simultaneously, vomiting blood and collapsing on the spot.

With their combat strength gone, they became lambs to the slaughter!

The three Golden Core ghost generals charged in. The butcher ghost general focused on slaughtering the cultivators, while the other two rushed deeper inside.

"Damn it, we're too late!" Wen Ruan Yu, arriving with Jiao Ma (Ning Zhuo), witnessed the defensive formation shatter and was filled with rage and despair.

"Although the City Lord has tasked you and you're no longer suppressed by the immortal city's formation, you're still only at the Foundation Establishment level. Stay back and protect yourself."

Wen Ruan Yu hastily instructed Ning Zhuo, then rushed into battle without another word.

As a Confucian cultivator, he wielded a brush, employing literary techniques. His strength was indeed impressive, far beyond that of an ordinary Golden Core cultivator.

The butcher ghost general had only killed a few people before being suppressed by Wen Ruan Yu. No matter how ferocious his cleaver techniques, they were no match for the nimble brush.

Sun Lingtong transmitted his thoughts from within the Ten Thousand Li Roaming Dragon. "Little Zhuo, take this chance. Let me check and try to steal those talismans from your three dantians!"

Ning Zhuo had been pondering the White Paper City Lord's attitude toward him all along the way. The more he thought about it, the more peculiar it seemed.

She had been far too accommodating.

He largely agreed with Sun Lingtong's analysis.

He nodded slowly. "Boss, I'll rely on you to take a good look. The White Paper City Lord's 'magnanimity' must have an ulterior motive."

With Mournful Melody Youling dead, Ning Zhuo had no reason to stay.

"I can follow a similar approach elsewhere. There's more than one diviner in this world," Ning Zhuo thought to himself, unwilling to remain in White Paper Immortal City.

The city's internal and external troubles, along with his experiences here, left him speechless.

Just look at the three ghost generals now, completely unaffected by the immortal city's formation—it was absurd! This situation was undoubtedly the result of prior causes. Respecting others' fate, Ning Zhuo had no desire to waste more time on this mess.

Boom!

At that moment, the clash between Wen Ruan Yu and the three Golden Core ghost generals completely shattered the local formation, expanding the space and revealing the workshop inside.

The workshop was engulfed in raging ghost flames, nearly reduced to ruins.

A human craftsman cried out, "Lord Wen, protect the giant statue's head at all costs! If it's destroyed, we won't be able to make another one easily!"

Wen Ruan Yu's expression changed drastically.

The Mirror Makeup ghost general fought fiercely to hold him back, allowing the Chatterbox ghost general to step onto the giant statue's head first.

"Damn it!" Wen Ruan Yu was now constrained, inwardly cursing the situation.

Ning Zhuo's gaze was also drawn to the scene.

In the next instant, he froze completely—he saw the head's appearance clearly for the first time.

It was...

"Mother?!"

(End of )