Blind Ghostwriter: Starts with the full level of Nine Yang Magic Skill

Chapter 75: Past Events (First Order Request)
"It seems that Captain Zhuo has made a lot of gains in the past few days?" Gu Mo poured a cup of tea for Zhuo Qingfeng.

Zhuo Qingfeng walked in and greeted Mo Qingxian. They both knew each other, so there was no need for Gu Mo to introduce them, and there was no excessive politeness.

Zhuo Qingfeng picked up the teacup and took a sip, then asked, "Gu Mo, you're the ghostwriter. Are you interested in coming with me to catch the cat demon? The government is offering a reward of three thousand taels."

Gu Mo smiled slightly and asked, "Captain Zhuo, please tell me your clues first!"

Zhuo Qingfeng put down his teacup and said slowly, "When I encountered the cat demon at Dongshan Sword Sect, I noticed something unusual. However, the situation was special at the time, so I left without asking any questions."

"What is it?" Gu Mo asked.

"Some white powder, very fine, hard to detect," Zhuo Qingfeng said. "Luckily, I have a sensitive nose and can smell something different. If ordinary people saw it, they would probably just think it was wall dust and not take it too seriously.

After leaving Dongshan Sword Sect that day, I went to see a friend in the martial arts world who was well-versed in pharmacology. He told me that the powder was very common. To be more precise, it was a spice that was very common in Qingyang County called Lingling. However, if you added some thyme to that spice, it would have an unexpected effect.

"What's the function?" Gu Chudong asked.

"It's very attractive to cats," Zhuo Qingfeng said. "As soon as they smell the mixture of thyme and linalool, cats will run towards it like they've lost their souls. However, the smell of burning it will stimulate cats and make them go berserk."

Gu Mo frowned slightly, and recalled the scene of cats screaming all over the yard at Dongshan Sword Sect that day.

Zhuo Qingfeng smiled slightly and continued, "Guess where this method of adding thyme to Lingling came from?"

"Shenmao Temple?" Gu Mo said.

"Smart," Zhuo Qingfeng said, "It's the Divine Cat Temple. So, now you can understand why there are so many cats gathering in those Divine Cat Temples for a long time, and why there are all kinds of strange behaviors, right?
The incense offerings at the Divine Cat Temple are incredible, and ordinary people are the easiest to be deceived. They don't know that the cats that gather there for so long aren't because there are divine cats there, but because there's always lingling thyme in those temples. The occasional sightings of cats blocking the road or civet cats saving people are all fabricated by the Divine Cat Temple for publicity, to coax the incense into paying homage, and to make the common people believe in the divine cats.

Gu Mo asked, "Then, what is the connection with this cat demon's mischief?"

Zhuo Qingfeng said in a deep voice, "Next is the highlight of my investigation. I was puzzled when I learned about the tricks behind the Shenmao Temple. There are so many Shenmao Temples in various places, and there are hundreds of Shenmao Temples in the entire Qingyang County. The amount of Lingling thyme is so great, and the production of Lingling thyme is quite difficult. Most people can't make it. The most important thing is that the Shenmao Temples in various places are independent, but the incense is so strong. It is obviously impossible if there is no one behind the scenes to escort them.

So I followed the clues and started investigating, and finally discovered that the Four Directions Sword Sect was actually the one supporting the various Shenmao Temples. The Four Directions Sword Sect was also providing the Lingling Thyme, and the Shenmao Temples in various places were providing it on time every month."

Gu Mo thought for a moment and said, "I have a question. The Divine Cat Temples started to appear nearly sixty years ago. At that time, there were not just one or two, but they were also everywhere. However, there was no Four Directions Sword Sect at that time. The Four Directions Sword Sect was only established forty years ago. Didn't those Divine Cat Temples at that time use Lingling Thyme? Did they not need protection?"

Zhuo Qingfeng said, "Master Gu is worthy of being Master Gu, he hits the nail on the head. I had the same doubt at the time, so I continued to investigate further. Guess what I found?"

"Captain Zhuo, just say it directly, don't beat around the bush," said Gu Mo.

Zhuo Qingfeng said slowly, "Do you still remember the story of the divine cat that Chen San told me before? It all started with a man named Fang Lianshan. It was he who claimed that the divine cat was preaching, and it was he who caused the divine cat to transform into a demon and cause trouble everywhere.

In the legend of the divine cat, it is mentioned that Fang Lianshan had four disciples. However, after Fang Lianshan's death, his four disciples built the Divine Cat Temple on Jiuhua Mountain and left, never to be seen again.

Gu Mo frowned slightly and said, "You're not saying that the four masters of the Shanchuanhuhai Sifang Sword Sect are Fang Lianshan's four disciples, right?"

"exactly."

Zhuo Qingfeng said, "After learning that the Four Directions Sword Sect was behind the Divine Cat Temple, I became suspicious. I risked being demoted to go to the government to review the files. Through some clues, I discovered that the four leaders of the Four Directions Sword Sect did not suddenly come to Qingyang County forty years ago, but had been active there for a long time. Moreover, before the Four Directions Sword Sect was established, the Divine Cat Temples in various places had been paying tribute to them.

Therefore, I have basically concluded that the four masters are the four missing disciples of Fang Lianshan. Although they gave up the title of Fang Lianshan's disciples, they secretly did not give up the industrial chain of Shenmao Temple. "

Gu Mo asked again, "Then why did they give up the title of Fang Lianshan's disciple? Fang Lianshan's reputation as a hero is well-known. Wouldn't it be more convenient for them to act under the title of Fang Lianshan's disciple?"

Zhuo Qingfeng said in a deep voice: "This involves another issue, that is, whether Fang Lianshan's reputation as a hero is actually useful. Regarding this issue, I almost ran my legs off before I found a few old people from that era.

I've discovered an interesting phenomenon: ordinary people, those from humble backgrounds like Chen San, all hold Fang Lianshan in high esteem, believing he sacrificed his life to subdue the cat demon. However, another group, elders from prominent families or reputable sects, scoff at Fang Lianshan, calling him a con manipulator. They also mention that even before his death, Fang Lianshan had already sparked widespread public outrage, leading many sects to join forces against him, exposing his true nature as a con manipulator.

However, no one expected Fang Lianshan to die, and he even performed a self-sacrifice in public, leaving all the major sects helpless. The most important thing was that everyone watched Fang Lianshan being buried, and some people still didn't believe it and suspected that Fang Lianshan was faking his death, and stayed at the grave for one or two months before leaving.

After that, Fang Lianshan's reputation among the people became even greater, but people in the underworld kept silent about it, after all, he was already dead."

Gu Mo suddenly realized and said, "So, under such circumstances, his four disciples didn't dare to continue traveling the world under Fang Lianshan's name. They could only secretly build the Divine Cat Temple to make money. Then, after twenty years of development, when their martial arts skills were sufficient and the money brought in by the incense from the Divine Cat Temples in various places was enough, they changed their identities and founded the Four Directions Sword School."

Zhuo Qingfeng nodded and said, "That's right."

Gu Mo said in a deep voice, "So, the cat demon is the Four Great Sect Leaders. When Fang Lianshan was playing tricks, the Four Great Sect Leaders were his disciples and inherited his methods?"

Zhuo Qingfeng shook his head and said, "No, the cat demon is not one of the four masters."

Gu Mo, Gu Chudong and Mo Qingxian all looked confused.

Zhuo Qingfeng said, "Although the four leaders are unwilling to give up the benefits of the Shenmao Temple, they did everything they could to sever ties with Fang Lianshan, even going so far as to remain anonymous for twenty years. How could they possibly take the initiative to impersonate the cat demon now? Furthermore, the four leaders all have alibis for the time when the cat demon appeared."

"Then... who could be pretending to be a cat demon and causing trouble?" Gu Chudong asked.

"I think the four masters are also confused about this question." Zhuo Qingfeng said, "As you and Master Mo said before, if there really wasn't a monster, who could have abducted the four masters so quietly? The four of them were together, and at the same time they were in the Dongshan Sword Sect. Even a master couldn't do it. So, there is only one possibility!"

Gu Mo said slowly: "They left on their own initiative."

"Yes, after thinking about it, I can only think of this possibility, that is, they left on their own initiative." Zhuo Qingfeng said.

"Why?" Gu Chudong wondered.

Zhuo Qingfeng said, "Just like we're wondering who's pretending to be a cat demon, the four sect leaders are even more confused than we are. They're certain there's no such thing as a cat demon, but apart from them... even the four of them might not know how to pretend to be a cat demon. Only one person knows how, but that person died sixty years ago."

"Fang Lianshan?" Gu Chudong said in shock.

"That's right," Zhuo Qingfeng said, "I have no way of knowing whether the four great sect leaders know how to disguise themselves as a cat demon, but Fang Lianshan definitely knows how to do it. The four great sect leaders also know about this.

Gu Chudong said, "But, even if Fang Lianshan wasn't dead, the four leaders wouldn't have to go in secret to investigate. Now, he's just disappeared. This doesn't make sense!"

Zhuo Qingfeng chuckled and said, "What if the four leaders have something to hide?"

"What do you mean?"

Zhuo Qingfeng said, "There was something strange about Fang Lianshan's death back then. All the major sects wanted to unite to deal with him, but he just happened to sacrifice his life and died. No matter how you look at it, it seems like he faked his death to get away.

If he had intended to fake his own death and ended up dying for real, who could have done it? It would have been his four disciples, of course.

So, if Fang Lianshan faked his own death to escape, only to be betrayed by several of his disciples, and his fake death became real, then now, sixty years later, Fang Lianshan has reappeared. Would those disciples be afraid? Would they want to investigate? But would they dare to do so openly? If Fang Lianshan truly lived, would their acts of betrayal and betrayal be exposed? Their reputations would be ruined for life!

Furthermore, even if Fang Lianshan had died, they wouldn't have dared to investigate. His reputation in the martial arts world wasn't good back then, so how could they have remained anonymous for twenty years before they were able to cut ties? Now that they were old, they were even more unwilling to bear the name of Fang Lianshan's disciples. After all, Fang Lianshan had a good reputation among the common people, but he was practically universally hated in the martial arts world. If it were revealed now that they were Fang Lianshan's disciples, the reputation they had built up over their entire lives would be completely ruined!"

Gu Chudong said in a deep voice: "But, this is all your speculation, there is no actual evidence."

Zhuo Qingfeng said, "If you want to prove my hypothesis is true, it's very simple. Just go to Jiuhua Mountain now and you'll find out. Because the four leaders will definitely go to Jiuhua Mountain to see Fang Lianshan's grave. After all, Fang Lianshan was buried by them. They doubt whether Fang Lianshan is still alive, so they will definitely go to see the grave!"

(End of this chapter)