Chapter 131 (1): Backed Into A Corner

In that instant, Fang Che felt as if Feng Xing's eyes were a pair of radiant beacons shining directly into the depths of his soul.

However, his expression remained unchanged as he continued to meet Feng Xing's gaze.

His cultivation base is far above mine, so if a conflict breaks out, I will certainly end up dead.

At the same time, he was pondering whether he should confirm or deny Feng Xing's suspicions.

He was certain that Feng Xing was on the same level as the likes of Yan Beihan and Chen Yin. As far as he was aware, there was a deputy pope of the Church of the Self-Righteous with the Feng surname. However, the problem was that he didn't know where Feng Xing's allegiances lied.

If he were an ally of either Yan Beihan and Chen Yin, then Fang Che wasn't in any real danger here, but he felt both options to be rather unlikely.

Fang Che had heard of the four young masters of the Feng Clan from Zheng Yunqi and the others, and there was a very good chance that not only was Feng Xing not allied with Chen Yin or Yan Beihan, he could potentially even see them as his competition.

It was no secret that Yan Beihan had taken a liking to Night Demon, and it was also only a matter of time before word got out that Chen Yin had made a delivery of cultivation resources to Night Demon.

Hence, in everyone's eyes, Night Demon could only serve Yan Beihan or Chen Yin in the future. If he were to pledge his subordination to a third party, then he would be offending both the Yan Clan and the Chen Clan, and that was surely not something he would dare to do.

Given the incredible potential that Night Demon had displayed, Yan Nan and Chen Yin's rivals would be eager to get rid of him, so if he were to admit his identity to Feng Xing, then he would certainly be killed.

All of these thoughts flashed through Fang Che's mind in the blink of an eye, and he immediately dismissed coming clean as a feasible course of action.

In response to Feng Xing's question, Fang Che quickly displayed the appropriate level of bewilderment as he asked, "What do you mean, Young Master Xing? Night Demon and I are two completely different people."

Now that Feng Xing had openly referred to him as Starlight, their roles had changed. They were no longer a wealthy merchant speaking to the head escort. Instead, all pretenses had been cast aside, and that was why Fang Che had also switched to referring Feng Xing as Young Master Xing.

"Is that right?" Feng Xing challenged as he continued to stare intently into Fang Che's eyes. "You were adopted by Yin Shengong at three years old, and you first began working in the One Heart Church at fifteen. This year, you are forty-three, and you're now the helmsmaster of the White Cloud Prefecture branch helm. Is that all correct?"

"Yes."

"Ever since you became helmsmaster, your cultivation base has been progressing rapidly. When you first became helmsmaster, you were only a first-rank Lord, but now, you're a ninth-rank Warlord, and this transformation took place in the span of less than half a year, is that correct?"

"Yes," Fang Che replied, looking calm on the surface, but internally, his mind was racing.

He had always known that this was going to be a problem, but there was no way to keep his cultivation base secret from everyone, and sure enough, the loose end was now coming back to bite him.

"Why did you suddenly refer to me as Young Master Xing just now? Are you trying to pledge your subordination to me?" Feng Xing asked.

A hesitant look appeared on Fang Che's face as he replied, "I'm considering the idea, but it'll depend on what happens in the future."

Fang Che's fleeting look of hesitation did not escape Feng Xing's notice.

He had raised the question to imply that he was considering taking Starlight under his wing, and in doing so, he intended to lull Starlight into a false sense of complacency before reapplying the pressure.

Thus, he immediately reaffirmed his earlier accusation as he mused, "Even if you wished to serve me, I wouldn't dare to take you. It would be far too much of a risk for me to take Night Demon under my wing!"

"How can I convince you that I'm not Night Demon?" Fang Che asked with a wry smile.

"You went from a first-rank Lord to a ninth-rank Warlord in less than half a year, and what's even more remarkable is that you did this with the limited resources of a subsidiary church. Does that not make you a generational talent?"

"Hardly," Fang Che sighed in a forlorn manner. "Master Night Demon's aptitude is far superior to mine."

Feng Xing was clearly not convinced.

"Explain to me this then: why didn't you take part in the recently concluded Parasite Ascension Project? And you expect me to believe that someone of Yin Shengong's personality adopted a three-year-old child? If he doesn't hold you in high regard, then why did he assign you such an important position?"

Feng Xing rattled off the questions in rapid succession, each one laden with killing intent, and his intention was clearly to overwhelm Fang Che and not give him any time to think about his answers.

Fang Che could clearly sense Feng Xing's killing intent, and he knew that he was walking an extremely fine tightrope, constantly teetering on the brink of death.

Clearly, Feng Xing was suspicious of him, but this branch helm was very important, and he didn't want to lose it. Feng Xing knew that Starlight was the key to this branch helm, so if he were to kill him, then this branch helm would be as good as ruined.

This was the only thing keeping him in check, but as soon as he found sufficient evidence, even if it were only circumstantial, that Starlight and Night Demon were one and the same, then he would ‌immediately go in for the kill.

Eliminating a formidable future foe was far more important to him than a branch helm that didn't even belong to him.

Starlight heaved a long sigh, shaking his head with a wry smile as he insisted, "There's truly been a misunderstanding, Young Master Xing. You've been misled by the reports."

"Go on then, tell me more of your lies," Feng Xing sneered.

Starlight was struggling to contain his exasperation as he groaned, "Young Master Xing, I don't know why you're so convinced that I'm Master Night Demon... This is just absurd!"

"You're going to keep denying it? Fine, let me enlighten you so you at least understand why you're dying here today."

The killing intent radiating from Feng Xing's body became even more overbearing as he spoke.

"After Night Demon took part in the Parasite Ascension Project, he came out as an eighth-rank General. Around a month later, Starlight was appointed helmsmaster as a first-rank Lord. Given Night Demon's rate of progression, the timeline lines up perfectly. If you were truly lacking in aptitude as you proclaim, then Yin Shengong wouldn't have raised you for all these years.

“If he's raised you as his foster son for all these years, then he'll surely be closer with you than Night Demon, especially since he has no biological children. Why is it that Night Demon was sent to take part in the Parasite Ascension Project, yet you missed out?

“He gave the opportunity to his disciple, but not to a child that he's been raising for the past forty years? How do you explain that? How can you expect to believe that you're not Night Demon?"

"Honestly, I wish I was Night Demon," Fang Che said with a wry smile. "If I were Night Demon, I wouldn't have to work anywhere near as hard as I'm doing now."

Feng Xing clasped his hand behind his back as he made his way toward a nearby pergola and said, "Let's go and take a seat over there. I'm curious to hear what lies you have prepared for me."

Feng Xing's killing intent hadn't abated in the slightest, and Fang Che could sense that Feng Xing fully intended to kill him in the pergola.

Fang Che didn't know what to say anymore.

If you've already made up your mind, then it doesn't matter what I say! You're already convinced that I'm lying to you, so everything I say will sound like a lie!

Fang Che felt like he had been backed into a corner.

After the two of them had taken a seat under the pergola, Feng Xing summoned a tea set out of his spatial ring, then began brewing a pot of tea.

He offered a cup of tea to Fang Che said, "Have some tea. This tea will help you feel more alert so you can think of better lies to tell me. I'll be very impressed if you can fool me."

Fang Che could only look back at Feng Xing with an exasperated expression. He could tell that it was going to have to take a monumental effort from him to change Feng Xing's mind.

He took a sip of tea from his cup, then praised, "This is some very fine tea."

After setting his teacup down, a look of resolve appeared on his face, as if he had finally decided to come clean, and he asked, "Young Master Xing, are you aware that our One Heart Church has a Gold Weed Hall?"

"I am not. What's it for?" Feng Xing asked.

"The Gold Weed Hall is a place where people have the potential to become gold, but the vast majority of them will ultimately prove to be nothing more than worthless weeds. In the One Heart Church, if someone from the headquarters dies and leaves behind orphaned children, then those children are raised in the Gold Weed Hall.

“The Gold Weed Hall was personally set up by Pope Yin, so we say that all of the orphaned children in it were adopted by him. I was one of the orphans to have come out of the Gold Weed Hall, and that is the reality of my situation. I was never adopted by Pope Yin. As a matter of fact, I entered the Gold Weed Hall at three years old, but I never even got to meet Pope Yin until I was eighteen."

"I see," Feng Xing mused, clearly a little taken aback by this revelation.

"As for Master Night Demon, I don't know his background. Everything about him has always been kept strictly confidential in our church. From what I've heard, he was only an unofficial disciple of Pope Yin's. Apparently, Master Night Demon only caught Pope Yin's eye by chance as a teenager, but I don't know any more details than that.

“Only after he claimed the top spot in the Parasite Ascension Project was he officially taken on as a disciple by Pope Yin. That's the extent of my knowledge on Master Night Demon."

A look of self-doubt flashed through Feng Xing's eyes for the first time.

Could it be that I was wrong?