Hidden moth

Chapter 37 Using Moths as Bait

Facing Gu Chun's questioning, Jiang Daozhen's expression was like that of a child playing tricks: "I did not participate in the matter of the hidden moth, I did not go looking for the hidden moth, and I did not have any intention of competing for the hidden moth's belongings.

You and I both know that thing can’t be found, so why bother!
As for what happened yesterday, I didn't show up nor did I take any action, I just said a few words, and it has nothing to do with the Hidden Moth incident. So you're not even going to let me speak, right?"

Gu Chun remained silent, still staring at Jiang Daozhen. Jiang Daozhen felt somewhat uncomfortable with his stare, and finally spoke up, "You say I'm unfair, but there's no such thing as absolute fairness, and it's hard to say what is fair.

It may not be a bad thing for me to stop Lin Qingshuang from accepting disciples.

So many good-for-nothings, once they heard the news, they were like flies to rotten eggs. The matter has become so serious that everyone now knows that He Kao is the son of the Hidden Moth.

Lin Qingshuang came to Qiyuan, claiming to be investigating the death of Lin Hualei. Lin Hualei died because he was plotting against He Kao, but she suddenly accepted He Kao as her apprentice. What would others think?
Even if Lin Qingshuang told the truth, few would believe it. Then the rumors that followed would not be about me and the wild phoenix, but about Lin Qingshuang having obtained the hidden moth.

She has long since distanced herself from the disputes of the martial arts world and has been living in seclusion in Hengzhou alone. Can she withstand all the dangers and turmoil?
So if she really accepted He Kao as her apprentice, it would not be good for both her and He Kao. She just couldn't understand the situation... I told you the truth, why are you still looking at me like that?

Gu Chun: "As a fortune teller, you talk a lot today."

Jiang Daozhen: "Didn't you insist on asking me? Besides, these are just things that anyone with a brain can figure out. There's no need for a fortune teller."

Gu Chun: "I still don't understand you! As the saying goes, explanation is a cover-up, and it's especially true for you. Are you harboring some hidden ulterior motives? If I trace back to the source of this incident, I'm afraid it can be linked to you, right?"

Jiang Daozhen: "Whose idiom is that? Isn't that what little girls say about their boyfriends? I'm just an old man running a chess stall."

Gu Chun: "Are you still being stubborn? The leopard claw pendant that Lin Qingshuang took away is the one He Kao has worn since he was a child. Who made it? I've been thinking about it. He Kao's grandfather is an old carpenter. What kind of expert could he know?
Your hometown, Xiawan Village, isn't far from Puhu Village? Besides you, who else in this area has that ability?

Jiang Daozhen muttered with a guilty conscience, "There's no such thing as Xiawan Village or Puhu Village anymore. They've all been merged into Pugang Town in the Jiangbei New District."

Gu Chun ignored him and continued to talk to himself, "If He Kao hadn't been wearing that leopard claw, he wouldn't have gotten into so much trouble. As long as we find out that his father might have been a hidden moth, the leopard claw looks more and more like him. It's hard not to be suspicious!
Wang Qimen Qian was certainly the first to make one, but except for Ye Hui's daughter, everyone else's craftsmanship was pretty good, and the counterfeits they made were somewhat realistic, but in short, they did not look like ordinary objects.

Lin Hualei was the second to take action, but Liang Kai saw him and killed him. If Liang Kai hadn't disappeared, or was still alive and reappeared in the future, do you think Lin Qingshuang would have let it go?

If Lin Qingshuang killed Liang Kai, what would Zhao Zhenzhen do? If Zhao Zhenzhen dared to fight Lin Qingshuang to protect his junior brother, given her temper, she would not be polite and might even kill Zhao Zhenzhen. How would Wan Zhongle react?
If Wan Zhongle went to find Lin Qingshuang, what about Ye Fenghuang? As a fortune teller, you wouldn't have thought of this as soon as the first thing happened, right?
If the pendant was yours, you can't completely stay out of it."

Jiang Daozhen: "So, it's best if Liang Kai dies completely!"

Gu Chun: "Are you sure Liang Kai is dead?"

Jiang Daozhen: "Even if he can come back alive, it's nothing more than dying again. When I first heard the news, I thought it was you who did it."

Gu Chun: "I came to Qiyuan, and I did want to kill him, but someone had already made a move. Analyzing all the signs, it must be Yin Mo... I almost led you astray. You still haven't told me what's going on with the pendant?"

Jiang Daozhen: "You saw what happened just now, didn't you? You always run into people like that in this world. That year, there was a guy who came to the market and played a game of chess with me when he passed by. He lost and cheated, not even giving me two dollars, and even tried to overturn my chess stall..."

In He Kao's memory, the old man first sold a chess game for five yuan, but this happened when it was only two yuan a game. It can only be said that prices in the entire East Country rose very quickly in those years.

Carpenter Zhou was also nearby at the time and he grabbed the man to stop him from bullying Old Man Jiang. During the struggle, Carpenter Zhou's pocket was torn and a leopard paw fell to the ground, which was later picked up by Jiang Daozhen.

The next time Jiang Daozhen went to the market, he saw Carpenter Zhou again. He greeted him with a smile, expressed his gratitude again, invited him to sit down and play a game of chess, and said that he didn't have to pay if he lost.

Carpenter Zhou played a game of chess with him and unexpectedly won, so Old Man Jiang took out two dollars. However, Carpenter Zhou shook his head and said that since he didn't have to pay for losing, he shouldn't ask for money for winning, so he refused to accept it anyway.

Jiang Daozhen didn't insist any more, and took out another leopard claw and asked Zhou the carpenter if it was the one he accidentally dropped last time. Zhou the carpenter nodded and said yes. He had heard that this thing could ward off evil spirits, and planned to make a pendant for his eldest grandson, so he put it in his pocket that day.

With Carpenter Zhou's skill, there was no need to find someone else to make such an object; he could have made it himself. However, the beast claw had been in Jiang Daozhen's hands for a month, and when it was returned, it had already been refined.

Although Jiang Daozhen wasn't a Ruwei Sect sorcerer, he had already reached the sixth level of cultivation, so it wasn't surprising that he could create this thing. This incident probably happened when He Kao was three years old, while his father Zhou Du was still alive.

After hearing this, Gu Chun curled his lips and said, "Sure enough, it's your fault! Did you know then that the carpenter's son Zhou Du was Yin E?"

Jiang Daozhen: "I can't say I know, let alone calculate it. It's just a guess. But this guess is meaningless, and we can't go find the hidden moth to verify it."

Gu Chun: "Is the rumor true? Your current cultivation has broken through to the seventh-level great mathematician?"

Jiang Daozhen: "What garlic? And shallots!"

Gu Chun sighed. "Every time you don't want to talk seriously, there must be something wrong. Have you really made a breakthrough?" Jiang Daozhen said, "It's not that easy. I always feel like I'm not quite there yet. Otherwise, I wouldn't have to brave the sun and rain every day to set up a stall here to earn a little hard-earned money."

Gu Chun: "How can there be any sun exposure under the shade of this tree? As for the rain, I've never seen you setting up a stall when it rains."

Jiang Daozhen: "Who said there isn't? I've been here before on a gentle and rainy day."

Gu Chun: "Don't keep putting the point across! You forbid Lin Qingshuang from accepting a disciple. Given her temper, she definitely won't accept it. But don't forget that she and Ye Fenghuang were close friends when they were young. Don't you think she won't go to Ye Fenghuang and ask for an explanation?"

Jiang Daozhen shrank his head. "You're here, aren't you? If Ye Fenghuang wants to make trouble, you can explain it to me... We've been friends for so many years, you wouldn't refuse to help me with such a small favor, right?"

Gu Chun: "You only think of talking about friendship when you're in trouble?"

Jiang Daozhen changed the subject and said, "Let's get down to business. What are you thinking? Why did you persuade the clan law hall to pass on the order? This is equivalent to announcing to everyone that Yin Mo is in Qiyuan. Don't you think it will be okay?"

Gu Chun sighed, "When I delivered the message, Qian Guran, Lin Hualei, and Liang Kai had already set their sights on He Kao. Do you think the news won't continue to leak out?

I was trying to control the situation and protect the mainstay of the sect. You know, there are more and more sorcerers nowadays, but the percentage of those who can break through to the fourth level is getting lower and lower, and successful disciples are becoming increasingly rare..."

Jiang Daozhen: "But what about those disciples below the fourth rank? The order from the clan law hall may have led to misunderstanding. Disciples of the fourth rank and above are not allowed to interfere in the affairs of the hidden moth. Some people will inevitably think that this is an opportunity for the younger disciples below the fourth rank."

Gu Chun: "The message only reached the higher-ups. Some didn't even tell the disciples, some used it as a warning to discipline the disciples, and some hinted to the disciples to come... This also shows the difference.

Although I want to protect these people, I would also like to take this opportunity to conduct some screening.

As for the warlocks below level four that you mentioned, they have become more and more numerous and chaotic in recent years. Times have changed, and people's hearts are in great turmoil. It's time to do a thorough cleaning!

I'm sure all the elders in the clan law hall feel the same way, but they're hesitant to take ruthless action. So let me be the bad guy. Otherwise, why haven't you objected?"

In recent years, the elders of various sects have reached a consensus. Society is changing too rapidly and dramatically, and it's impossible for the sorcerers living within it to remain unaffected. However, the sects' responses to this change are often somewhat delayed.

It has been more than two thousand years since the establishment of the school and the spread of the magic. The magic has been continuously improved and the rules of the school have been continuously perfected. A relatively stable state was reached a thousand years ago.

During the long agricultural society, despite several changes of dynasties and cycles of order and chaos, people's production and living styles and cultural customs have hardly changed, or have changed very slowly.

In that era, the vast majority of sorcerers were very pure. This purity didn't necessarily refer to a pure mind, but rather to their clear pursuit: to cultivate the art wholeheartedly.

This is almost inevitable. Once ordinary people obtain a legendary mysterious inheritance, they will often devote their entire lives to pursuing it. As for the various business methods in the world, they are nothing more than a way to ensure their livelihood.

However, in modern times, the pace of social change has accelerated dramatically, and more and more unprecedented new situations have emerged. The management of the sect and the supervision of disciples have also had to make corresponding adjustments.

There is a very paradoxical phenomenon: the more convenient the communication, the looser the organizational structure and cohesion of the sect.

Especially in the past two decades, the changes in lifestyle have been so drastic that they are beyond imagination. For another thing, both Gu Chun and Jiang Daozhen grew up in an era without mobile phones and the internet, which makes them seem like two generations apart.

He Kao just heard a piece of gossip yesterday. A few years ago, the clan hall formulated a new rule that prohibits disciples from searching for keywords and corresponding content on the Internet that are not allowed to be passed on to outsiders. This can also explain the problem from the side.

As the choices and temptations grow, the conflicts between morality and self-interest become greater, especially for those with greater abilities. Even if a sorcerer is simple at first, they won't always be so innocent.

The practice of magic is difficult, and many people no longer regard it as a goal, but merely a means to satisfy selfish desires or even evil thoughts.

Starting two hundred years ago, the organizational structure of various sects became increasingly loose, and their behavior towards disciples became increasingly lax. It was time to clean up and rectify the situation.

Jiang Daozhen's expression finally turned serious. He looked up at Gu Chun and said, "You are using the hidden moth as bait."

Gu Chun: "It just happened to happen! It's funny to say that so many disciples of the Shu Sect, even me, actually don't know who Yin E is. Elder Jiang is a local. Does he have any suspects or has calculated anything?"

Jiang Daozhen shook his head and said, "You don't understand if you're not a fortune teller. I can't calculate this, and I can't do it. Whoever it is is who it is. The hidden moth is unknowable and unseen."

Gu Chun: "This is exactly what I am puzzled about. The reason I came here today is to ask you, my old friend, to help me solve this puzzle."

**
(End of this chapter)