166 Self Acting

"Tell us!" Xiao Tieying shouted.

The woodman lowered his voice and said, "I… I… there was a man two days ago who found me. He told me to say these things. As long as I said as he did, he'd give me a hundred silver!"

"What kind of man? How did he look?" Xiao Tieying scoffed.

The woodman contemplated for a moment, then said, "He's in his thirties, he's tall and thin! He looked gentle."

"Forget it, there's no point in asking. A hundred silver, did you think it was that easy to get a hundred silver? I'm afraid you might have earned your money but lost your life. Whatever, go home. Go be a nice woodman and don't even think about making easy money. It's just a disaster waiting to happen."

"Understood! Thank you, Master! Thank you!" the woodman looked as if he got his amnesty. He bowed his head on the floor a few more times.

"Is there anything else you'd like to add, Protector Song Siwen?" Xiao Tieying turned and stared at Song Siwen. He added, "There's someone who wants to harm Chu Li by framing him. Such treacherous intent!"

Song Siwen gazed upon the woodman who was scared to the point where cold sweat began to roll down his face.

"The funniest thing about this whole situation is that the High Protectors from the Imperial House have been played by a man from the wilds. The Royal House has really lost face. I even chased him all the way back here." scoffed Xiao Tieying.

Song Siwen was also extremely angry. What Xiao Tieying said was a slap to the face. He was furious and hated the fact that he was not allowed to bash Xiao Tieying to death.

Xiao Tieying was unwilling to give up. "You should thank me because if this went to the King, you would probably have been excused from your posts as Protectors of the Imperial House." he sneered.

"Thanks, Master Xiao!" Song Siwen sneered back at him.

Xiao Tieying stared at him and scoffed, "You don't know what's best for yourself."

"Then who did it, Master? This man must have harbored quite a strong hatred towards Chu Li," Song Siwen said to change the topic.

"Between the Tempest Temple and the Ren Public House, it was probably the Ren Public House who did this. The monks from the Temple lack any form of intelligence and they rarely resort to tricks like these," Xiao Tieying explained.

"Chu Li offended the Ren Public House?"

"Don't you know about the relationship between my Public House and the Ren Public House?" Xiao Tieying asked harshly. "They wanted to seize the advantage every chance they had but failed because Chu Li had stood in their way twice. They must have been rolling over in their beds in anger since they could not possibly remove him from the equation and make their lives a lot easier," he explained.

Song Siwen slowly nodded. They double-checked the information before they had arrived and both the Public Houses were in quite a heated feud with each other.

"Lu Yurong doesn't really care about anything and if it weren't for her being a woman, I would've killed her already." sneered Xiao Tieying.

Song Siwen smirked.

It was not that Xiao Tieying did not want to kill her, he couldn't.

Lu Yurong hardly ever left her Public House and her stratagems were brilliant with very strong Protectors around her. She even almost succeeded in killing the Second Lady of the Yi Public House.

"You're just being used by Lu Yurong!" Xiao Tieying scoffed.

Song Siwen and his men were extremely angry that they were almost tricked. Such an easy gimmick and he had actually fallen for it. To make matters worse, he had been tricked by a woman!

Chu Li was lying down on a small couch under the Glory's Will Tree. The sunset dyed the courtyard a bright orange. He squinted his eyes and sensed the spiritual force of the Glory's Will Tree as well as the spiritual force of the Perishable Touch.

The Glory's Will Tree had an unstoppable vigor but the Perishable Touch was just as deadly. It continuously engulfed its vigor to strengthen itself.

The spiritual force of the Perishable Touch seemed like it had a life of its own. It was subdued in the morning but was extremely active at night. The spiritual force of the tree was similar in a sense where it was active during the day and even more so at night. It absorbed the sunlight during the day and the moonlight during the night. The daylight strengthened it and the moonlight assisted in its growth. In comparison to the spiritual force of the Perishable Touch, his senses were getting more and more delicate.

Chu Li was badly injured and he was completely overwhelmed by the sheer power of the Glory's Will Tree. Moreover, as he sensed the Perishable Touch, his understanding of the Life and Death Scripture deepened. An amazing realization slowly grew within his heart about life and death, perish and growth.

Chu Li felt as if he had gotten closer to the door of the Scripture's second layer.

Xue Ling pushed the door open, walked in and sat next to Chu Li's couch. She carried a rather nice scent with her everywhere she went.

The sunset gave his fair face a rose tint. It was infatuating, red, pretty and attractive.

"Master, Brother Jiang Kuai said he's already finished what you asked him to do," she said.

Chu Li opened his eyes and nodded.

"What did you make Brother Jiang Kuai do?" Xue Ling curiously asked.

Chu Li smiled.

"Master?" Xue Ling asked again, even more curious this time.

Footsteps could be heard coming towards them. Su Ru pushed the door open and walked in. She looked at Chu Li, smiled and said, "Good news!"

Xue Ling stood and bowed. "What's the good news, Chief?" she quickly asked.

"Everything is finally over! That group of Protectors from the Imperial House have confirmed Chu Li's innocence! He didn't kill Zhao Zilai!" Su Ru said in joy and with a smile on her face.

"Thank God! Thank God!" Xue Ling put both her palms together and let out a sigh of relief. She quickly went to the pagoda and picked up a garden stool.

Su Ru elegantly sat on the stool as she smiled once more and said, "Thank God Lu Yurong had this plan. She found someone to frame Chu Li to corner him but Master Xiao was able to get a hold of that person and squeeze the truth out of him in a few sentences."

"Is Master Xiao that great?" said Xue Ling in surprise.

"Was he ever not?" replied Su Ru with a smile.

"Master Xiao is very wise indeed," said Xue Ling.

Su Ru rolled her eyes at Xue Ling, looked at Chu Li and said, "Now you can rest easy and cure yourself slowly. Recover as soon as possible because Lady Xiao has said that she wants to bring you along to look for the Thunder Guiding Blade."

"Has she found him?"

"Not yet."

"Lady Xiao wants to go?"

"Yes. Lady Xiao said that Master Xiao needed to be in the Public House to keep watch and it would be better if she went with you following her. You'd need to get well soon so we can make haste and leave as soon as possible."

"What's the point of me butting in? Just let Lady Xiao bring a few more Grandmasters along and it will be okay."

"Tell Lady Xiao that." Su Ru rolled her eyes at him and then smiled. "There are also times where Lu Yurong shoots herself in the foot. We have to be thankful that this was one of those times. It's true that even the smartest of people will make mistakes out of their thousands of thoughts."

Chu Li smiled, nodded and said, "We'll really need to thank Lu Yurong this time."

"Hmm, such a sinister woman. She must be infuriated for failing when she came so close," Su Ru said. She then stood up and asked, "Do you need any more spirit medicine?"

"I don't need any spirit medication. I'm slowly channeling spiritual force to cure my wounds," he answered.

"Alright then, I shall take my leave," Su Ru said while standing.

Xue Ling quickly stood up to send her off. She then returned to the couch and sat by Chu Li's side. She fed him a piece of watermelon and asked, "Master, what did you ask Brother Jiang Kuai to do?"

He smiled and did not reply.

"If you don't tell me, I'll ask Brother Jiang Kuai myself. He'll tell me." she scoffed.

"Don't tell any outsiders about this," Chu Li replied with a smile.

"Of course!" Xue Ling pounded on her plump chest.

"It was actually nothing. I just helped Lu Yurong a little," he said.

"You helped Lu Yurong?" Xue Ling's beautiful eyes blinked in confusion. She was unable to make heads or tails of Chu Li's statement. "How did you help her?"

"I helped her find a witness," Chu Li replied.

Xue Ling's eyes immediately widened. She pointed at Chu Li, "That witness… he was planted by you, Master?"

Chu Li smiled.

"Master, you're really… you made me worry for a long time. Why didn't you say anything earlier?" Xue Ling said as she blinked her eyes and shook her head.

"The heavens are better than humans who only predict. What is the point in saying anything before the dust has settled?" he smiled.