Record of the Missing Sect Master

Chapter 8

The contents of those sheets of paper were all the same.

The main gist of it was that the shitty old man surnamed Wang was sanctimonious, with his actual personality not what it seemed on the surface, and that, behind people’s backs, he was utterly heartless in his dealings, yet he still somehow managed to win a good reputation. The poisoner couldn’t bear to allow the heroes of this land to continue being deceived, and so to enforce Heaven’s justice, he found the Lantern-Extinguishing Poison to let Old Wang taste the suffering from that year. And he’s soon going to reveal Old Wang’s true colors to the people, so just wait and see!

The Wang family head was so angry he was trembling, and even his eyes were red. He asked, “Who left this? Did you see the person? Catch whoever it was!”

“No,” the servant said, “These papers were all found stuck in secluded alleyways, and we also don’t know when they were put up. Many alleyways have them, and this lowly one has already sent people to tear them down.”

The Wang family head’s chest moved violently up and down. In a rough tone, he said, “Send even more people to search!”

Having received the order, the servant turned to leave, only to be called back by another seated person who keenly asked, “If the alleyways were so secluded, how did you learn that these were there?”

The servant’s lip trembled, wanting to speak but hesitant.

The Wang family head glared at him. “Speak!”

The servant could only brace himself and said, “Responding to Master, I knew because these places all had people crowding around to look.”

The Wang family head asked, “Then who did they hear about this from? Go ask, there should be a person who incited them to go.”

“That isn’t certain,” Wenren Heng interjected to say, “The perpetrator chose those places to put these up so as not to be seen, so even if we go ask now, we probably won’t learn anything useful. After he finished sticking these papers up, all he had to do was pretend to be a passerby and carelessly drop a sentence or two. Those who hear would naturally go and look, and from there, one person naturally becomes ten, and ten naturally becomes one hundred.”

The Wang family head felt his breaths get stuck in his throat. Realizing that the entire city was probably all now gossiping about his father, he especially felt like breaking some things, but knowing that the elders of renowned martial art circles were sitting in this lobby, he managed to hold in the impulse in the end. He hastily called for the steward to inform the rest of the household to hold their tongues so as to keep the matter from his father’s ears.

Wenren Heng spoke once more, “But we can’t eliminate the possibility that the person who placed these notices and the poisoner are different people. Perhaps someone wanted to borrow this sudden windfall to stir up some trouble. For the Wang family and those who are close to them, we should be more mindful of these things.”

In response, the Wang family head called over the servant again and added a few more commands before finally looking at those seated. After attempting to calm his anger, he hoarsely spoke, “These elders should be aware of how much my father has done for others. These accusations are complete slander.”

Manor Lord Wei took the initiative to answer, “Naturally. We’ve had a good relationship with your father for so many years, we couldn’t possibly distrust him, so there’s no need to get so angry.”