Hidden moth

Chapter 127: Overturning the South
From Shi Zhizhai's perspective, what can the Shi family do if they want to respond to the investigation of the Zongfa Hall?

First, you can put all the responsibility on one or several people and protect the entire family to the greatest extent possible.

Hu Shulue is an option, but with Hu Shulue's identity, he may not be able to take such a big blame alone. Shi Haosheng, Shi Haowu, and Gu Jiang who have been exposed cannot escape. They are also the four high-level sorcerers who activated the Soul Locking Formation.

In addition, there is the head of the family, Shi Zhizhai, and they each bear part of the responsibility.

Although this idea is good, there is a prerequisite, which is that it must be discussed in advance and there must be a unified voice within the Shi family.

If Kang Rulin wanted to show mercy but didn't want to be accused of favoritism and corruption, he might have handled it this way.

But what Kang Rulin said just now was equivalent to waking up Shi Zhizhai, telling him not to harbor any more illusions but to make a quick decision and cut ties.

The Shi family is definitely doomed to fail. The only thing Shi Zhizhai can do now is to try his best to cut out innocent people.

After Shi Zhizhai arrived at the Kanglin Hotel, he had no way to contact the outside world privately, and the above plan would not have the opportunity to be implemented.

Originally, the Shi family had another plan: to let Shi Haosheng, Gu Jiang, and the others escape, making them disappear without a trace. Without clear evidence, the clan law hall could only issue a martial arts order to apprehend these people.

However, Kang Rulin judged that Elder Zong and Elder Gu had already rushed to Huiming City, and Shi Haosheng and others could not escape even if they wanted to.

Although no one had told Kang Rulin, as an elder of the clan law hall, he had certainly anticipated this. His guess was correct. As soon as they received the information, Zong Zheng and Gu Chun set out for Huiming, and they were already there.

There must be more than just these two elders rushing to Huiming. At the same time, the clan law hall will also mobilize personnel nearby to secretly monitor the entire Shi family and wait for the elders to order how to deal with them.

Kang Rulin could certainly foresee the various countermeasures that the Shi family might take. He was just reminding Shi Zhizhai that these countermeasures were useless.

The Zongfa Hall didn't use conventional torture methods, and they were ineffective against high-level sorcerers. However, the Shi family still had a large number of low-level sorcerers and Zhiyuanke, and the Zongfa Hall had plenty of methods to force them to tell the truth.

Anything the Shi family has done, and what they know about it will be asked about, and based on these clues, more inside information will be uncovered.

The clan hall had dispatched four elders, and the number of other experts accompanying them was likely even greater. With such a large commotion, it couldn't be a minor incident; the target was clear.

There is another point that Kang Rulin is not very good at saying, but it is also equivalent to implicitly questioning Shi Zhizhai -

"I know you're tough, but can you guarantee that your son, Shi Haowu, can be as tough as you?

Let me ask you first, just to give you face. If the situation is different, for example, let the sect elders ask your son, is there anything that can't be asked?
Shi Zhizhai, you have been the head of the family for so many years. Can you guarantee that everyone in the Shi family is satisfied with you? In this situation, is there no one who will stand up and testify against you?
Even if it's just for self-protection, it's inevitable that someone will do this!"

There's no doubt that Kang Rulin is telling the truth. The question is, why would he say that? A sixth-order cultivator's body is nearly flawless, and others can hardly see any flaws. Or perhaps it could be said that this is a state of mind.

But he and Shi Zhizhai have been brothers for many years after all. Regardless of their relationship, they definitely have a tacit understanding. They don't need any hints in their expressions or tones, which is equivalent to saying a lot of unspoken things.

For example, Kang Rulin gave Shi Zhizhai a list. What does it mean?
In addition to asking Shi Zhizhai to confess the situation himself, it is also equivalent to telling Shi Zhizhai: everyone on the list will be questioned one by one by the clan law hall, and there will be no luck.

It doesn't matter if there are wild phoenixes eavesdropping in secret, because this is how things have to be done.

How to cut the Shizhizhai? There are usually two ways. The first is like doing surgery, which is to remove the lesion part to ensure the health and survival of the main body.

The second method is like dealing with waste. The whole thing is scrapped, but you still see which intact parts and materials can be removed and preserved.

Shi Zhizhai certainly wanted to choose the first option, but the actual situation could only be the second option.

The Shi family's secret investigation of Yin'e's identity didn't violate any rules, but silencing someone by murder was unacceptable. Why was Yin'e provoked? Because they had caused an accident that affected Xiao Miao's father and Xiao Pang's mother.

If such a thing were discovered, it might alarm the clan hall and lead to bigger problems, so Shi Haowu and others would be afraid.

Apart from anything else, Shi Zhizhai instructed his disciple Gu Jiang to secretly set up a cleaning department in recent years to secretly train monks to do the dirty work for the Shi family... This is something that the clan law hall will never allow!
Shi Zhizhai looked ashen and seemed to have aged a lot in such a short time.

He finally picked up the list and started to check the boxes, explaining the situation as he checked them... The people at the Patriarchal Hall wouldn't completely believe what he said, and of course they would have to investigate and verify each one.

This hotel, including the courtyard where they lived and the garden where they were talking, had all been taken over by the people brought by the two elders. There were no outsiders disturbing them here, and they talked until late at night.

Almost everything that needs to be explained has been explained, or in other words, it is sufficient as a basis for punishment.

Shi Zhizhai finally said, "Brother, I'm really sorry! I've done so many things without telling you over the years!"

Kang Rulin suddenly asked, "Junior brother, why do you want to take over Yin E? As far as I know, the Shi family was not involved in the previous Qiyuan incident." Shi Zhizhai explained, "It wasn't me, it was Hao Wu.

The clan hall issued a notice introducing the Hidden Moth artifact, a divine artifact invisible yet spiritual, that would choose its own master and could not be taken away. When Hao Wu heard about it, he came to ask me what kind of artifact it was.
My Shi family is descended from the lineage of Patriarch Cang Yun. We have mastered the most exquisite weapon refining tradition in the art and are also the top weapon refining masters today. Can you explain it clearly?
This item might be useless in the hands of others, but in the hands of the Shi family, it has a very different meaning. Even if they don't seek to seize the item from Yin Mo, as long as they can cooperate with Yin Mo and study it, it will be good.

Brother, you should know that some people call the Shi family "a cloud in the south of the sky", not only because the Shi family is large and powerful, but also because the Shi family possesses the flying magic weapon "a cloud" passed down by the ancestors.

That too is an Invisible Vessel, one that Senior Brother has borrowed many times. My Shi family has mastered the ritual and refining methods for the Invisible Vessel, and generations have attempted to replicate a cloud. While we haven't achieved complete success, we have nonetheless achieved some success.

Therefore, even if the hidden moth's things cannot be replicated, as long as we can learn from them and refine them into new invisible tools with some magical uses, the gains will be unimaginable and will benefit the entire sect..."

Kang Rulin: "Is that what Haowu said? So you are tempted."

Shi Zhizhai: "Yes, I was moved by this and agreed to Hao Wu's plan, letting him be responsible for investigating Yin Ge's identity first."

Kang Rulin: "Junior brother, you are confused! There is only one cloud in the south sky, and you are still not satisfied. If there were only one cloud in the south and north sky, then what the sect should want is not this cloud, but a clear sky!
Since you mentioned Yipianyun, you should also explain the location and opening method of the Shi family's secret vault to save the clan law hall from unnecessary effort."

Shi Zhizhai was suddenly startled and looked up at Kang Rulin, but he could not see any meaning in Kang Rulin's eyes or expression. He was surprised because Kang Rulin also knew the location and opening method of the Shi family's secret vault.

In this world, only the two of them, brothers, know this secret.

Even Shi Zhizhai's own son Shi Haowu didn't know, because the time had not come yet. Perhaps Shi Zhizhai would have to wait until the day when Shi Haowu took over as the head of the family before he would tell him.

If Shi Zhizhai doesn't tell, then only Kang Rulin will know this secret, which means that the treasures hidden in the secret cave will belong to Kang Rulin alone in the future, and no one else can get them.

Shi Zhizhai had no intention of saying it, but Kang Rulin asked directly, which meant that he was now representing the clan hall and was going to publicly raid the Shi family's secret vault!

Why is Kang Rulin doing this? Why let the Zongfatang take away all the treasures? Why not keep them in his own hands?
Thinking about it again, Shi Zhizhai felt inexplicably relieved, as if all his strength had gone out of him. In his opinion, Kang Rulin did this for a reason, because there was another Shi Haowu.

Although Shi Haowu did not know the location of the secret cave and how to open it, he knew that it existed and had heard about what was inside.

Since the clan law hall would question Shi Haowu, then this matter could not be hidden. Even if Shi Zhizhai did not say it, it would be difficult for Kang Rulin to explain the origin of the things in the secret vault when he took them out in the future.

Kang Rulin might as well just make it clear and not leave any doubts or stains for himself.

Did Kang Rulin really mean this? Shi Zhizhai couldn't tell. He originally thought that he and his senior brother had a tacit understanding, and they did just now, but now he couldn't figure it out.

The Shi family's secret vault naturally houses the most precious treasures, the most famous of which is the flying magic weapon, Yipianyun. Yipianyun was passed down from the Cangyun ancestor, and Shi Zhizhai and Kang Rulin are both considered to be of the Cangyun lineage.

Cang Yun was the founder of the Ruwei Sect 1,500 years ago. It is said that he had reached a very high level of cultivation and was known for being able to "cut a piece of cloud into a divine weapon and travel freely under the sun and moon without limit."

Shi Tianjing, who founded the Shi family, was the direct descendant of the Cangyun Patriarch and received many precious inheritances, including a cloud.

The Shi family built a secret vault for this purpose to store important treasures. The earliest ones were the ancient inheritance of the Cang Yun lineage, and later some treasures refined and obtained in modern times were added.

If it is not a rare and exquisite item, it is not worthy of being collected there.

Shi Haowu wanted to deal with Yin E, so some time ago Shi Zhizhai specially took out the Soul Locking Array from the secret vault and gave it to him.

The Shi family has the cloud and the Soul-Locking Formation, which the clan hall knows, but there are many other things in the secret vault that are unknown to outsiders, and even Shi Haowu may not be clear about them.

Shi Zhizhai originally thought that even if Kang Rulin wanted to open the secret vault, he could only take out the things known to outsiders and hand them over to the clan hall, which would be considered a great achievement.

So he left the choice and the opportunity to make merit to Kang Rulin.

Unexpectedly, Kang Rulin did not appreciate this favor and did not act according to what Shi Zhizhai thought was the tacit understanding. Instead, he directly asked him to hand over all the treasures in the Shi family's secret vault.

This time, all the secret artifacts of Patriarch Cang Yun in the Shi family branch will be confiscated to the clan hall and shared by all the sects.

Could it be that Senior Brother meant for him to offer his treasure and beg for mercy? Shi Zhizhai asked with difficulty, "I wonder how many of my Shi family's direct descendants can survive this time?"

When he asked this question, his voice was already very weak, not at all like that of a fifth-level warlock.

Kang Rulin shook his head and said, "I don't know either. I have to ask you and them themselves, what kind of enemies have they offended over the years?
Aside from the ringleader, the rest of the clan will not be killed by the clan law hall. Those who were involved in the crime and knew the truth will only be exiled. As for the descendants of the Shi family, an additional charge will be added to their punishment."

**
(End of this chapter)