Chapter 34: The Heavenly Gate

Linghu Chong already found Wang Jingyuan’s methods extremely sinister and ruthless. Hearing that Wang Jingyuan now wanted to claim credit for the deed, he felt a surge of irritation. "I meant that you should spare his life."

Wang Jingyuan frowned. "Senior Brother, you should have said so earlier. Sparing his life is one thing, but letting him go is another. Besides, Senior Brother, even if I knew a way to spare him, the chances of success are incredibly slim. And do you have enough time and money for it?"

Linghu Chong frowned, confused. "What do you mean?"

Wang Jingyuan began to calculate. "Too many people saw us capture Tian Boguang. Everyone knows we have him in our custody. In such a situation, if we let him go, even a fool could guess that we were the ones who released him. What would happen to the reputation of the Huashan Sect? What about Master’s reputation? Who would pay for the depreciation of the intangible assets associated with the title 'Gentleman Sword'?

"Therefore, even if we were to spare him, it would have to be done in a justifiable manner. The simplest way is to have every victim and their family members agree to spare Tian Boguang. You know that this bastard is a slippery one; he’s traveled to so many places and committed so many crimes over the years. Even if we were to track down every victim—factoring in horses, fodder, ferries, room, and board—at an estimated 50 taels of silver per cross-provincial trip, you would spend 500 taels just on travel expenses alone. And as for time, even if you traveled day and night without stopping for rain or wind, it would still take you at least a year or two.

"And that’s just the cost of searching. To convince people to forgive Tian Boguang, you’d need at least 5,000 taels of silver in compensation. Does the Huashan Sect even have that much for a whole year’s expenses? Furthermore, Tian Boguang has harmed many daughters of wealthy merchants. They are far richer than us; do you think they can be bought off with money? And if they refuse the money, what then? Are you going to serve them as a servant to earn their forgiveness? If we go down that road, it will take at least a decade. Even if I hadn’t killed him, he wouldn’t live for another ten years in his current state. It’s not worth it."

Linghu Chong had never considered any of the points Wang Jingyuan raised. He simply felt that since Tian Boguang had fallen into their hands, they had the right to decide his fate. Faced with Wang Jingyuan’s logic, he could only sheepishly reply, "I think everyone would still be willing to give the Huashan Sect some face."

Wang Jingyuan’s expression froze, and he stepped back. "Why should the Huashan Sect vouch for you? And for a rapist, at that? Even I spend every day thinking about how to manage the sect, yet you, a damn NPC, are trying to fleece the sect for your own whims?! Forget it, you wouldn’t understand. Let me ask you this: if someone defiled our Junior Sister, and she felt too ashamed to face the world and committed suicide, do you think Master would let that person go? Would you let that person go?"

Linghu Chong knew what Wang Jingyuan was referring to, but he stammered, "Junior Sister is fine, and Brother Tian is a man of heroic spirit..."

Wang Jingyuan interrupted him. "Heroic spirit is no excuse. I’ve heard that Xiang Wentian of the Sun Moon Holy Sect is also 'heroic'; would you like to become brothers with him, too?"

Linghu Chong shook his head quickly. "He is an evildoer of the Demonic Sect; how could a disciple of the Righteous Path..."

"Then do you know that even those evildoers of the Demonic Sect look down on rapists? And those women he harmed—whose daughters were they? Whose junior sisters?! What right does our Huashan Sect have to forgive Tian Boguang on their behalf?!"

Standing on the moral high ground to criticize others was simply too easy. Wang Jingyuan felt a sense of immense satisfaction watching Linghu Chong struggle to find a retort. No wonder everyone vied to be a moral exemplar; it was essentially leveraging the inherent social norms of humanity to exert force—half the effort for double the result. It was truly the "wheelchair" of arguments in civilized society.

"Well said! Boy, hurry and open the door." Suddenly, a loud voice boomed from outside. Wang Jingyuan turned and saw the nameplates "Tianmen," "Chi Baicheng," and "Lin Pingzhi" through the door. It seemed he had been so focused on "CPU-ing" Linghu Chong that he had ignored his surroundings. Hopefully, they hadn't heard his business plan.

Knowing it was Daoist Tianmen outside, Wang Jingyuan opened the door. He was greeted by a Daoist with hair like snow, bound by a jade hairpin. His face was as chiseled as if carved by a knife, deep furrows carved between his brows, and his eyes were as cold as a frozen pool. He wore loose, grey-blue Daoist robes.

He looked exactly like the stereotypical, hot-tempered, and upright righteous figure. Chi Baicheng followed behind him like a chick. It appeared that after sending Tiansong back, Chi Baicheng had gone straight to his master, while Lin Pingzhi followed behind with a sheepish grin.

Wang Jingyuan maintained his manners, cupped his hands, and greeted, "Wang Jingyuan of Huashan, greets Senior Uncle Tianmen."

Linghu Chong had never met Daoist Tianmen, but seeing Wang Jingyuan’s actions, he stood up and offered his own greetings. Daoist Tianmen managed a slight smile and nodded at Wang Jingyuan, but ignored Linghu Chong.

He walked into the room, glanced at the corpse on the floor, and said, "I found out what happened on my way here. I was worried you might run into danger, but I didn't expect you to actually be able to slay this villain. Although your methods were a bit... well, you are just young people, and facing a martial expert like Tian Boguang, a direct assault would likely have failed."

Having said this, Tianmen turned to Chi Baicheng. "Baicheng!"

Chi Baicheng jumped, stepped forward, and cupped his hands. "Senior Brother Linghu, Junior Brother Wang, I misunderstood you earlier. I thought you were trying to learn from that Liu..."

"Ahem!" Daoist Tianmen coughed loudly.

Chi Baicheng immediately corrected himself: "I see now that you were merely playing along with that lecherous thief. I was blind and lacked judgment. I offer my apologies to you both!"

Wang Jingyuan smiled and helped Chi Baicheng up. Chi Baicheng, seeing Tian Boguang’s prowess, had still tried to assist his uncle. And judging by the time, he must have gone straight to his master after dropping off Daoist Tiansong. The two of them, covered in dust, had likely used qinggong to search every corner near the Huiyan Pavilion. They were pedantic and foolish, yes, but also upright and pure. What was this? The perfect "tool" to utilize!

What could Wang Jingyuan do? Naturally, he set aside past grievances and showered him with pleasantries. Before long, Chi Baicheng was beaming from ear to ear.

Observing Wang Jingyuan’s calm gaze and sincere smile, Daoist Tianmen concluded that he really didn't hold the incident against them. He nodded inwardly, lamenting that Yue Buqun had taken in a fine disciple—broad-minded and possessing the spirit of a gentleman. It was just a pity that the senior disciple seemed unable to distinguish right from wrong.

After all, the previous actions of Tiansong and Chi Baicheng had been dishonorable. After being saved, they had been rude to their savior while he was stalling Tian Boguang to help them escape. They had only learned the truth after running into Lin Pingzhi downstairs, which had made Tianmen even more annoyed. Since Tiansong was still recovering, Chi Baicheng had to be the one to apologize.

Tianmen was a man of action. Seeing that Wang Jingyuan held no grudge against the Mount Tai Sect, he said directly, "You saved my Junior Brother Tiansong, and as an elder, it wouldn't be right for me to offer nothing in return.

"How about this? I see that you are still lacking in your martial arts, Junior Nephew Wang, so I shall pass on a move or two to you. As for Junior Nephew Linghu, you have sustained serious injuries; I have brought some secret healing medicine from our Mount Tai Sect, and I shall gift it to you."