Chapter 7: Chapter 7: Doubt

Crack—

The crisp sound of splitting echoed within the main hall, the tea cup shattered into four pieces.

Song Tonghai's eyes were slightly red, filled with bloodshot veins, his gaze piercing through the wide-open doors of the hall to the mountainous piles of gift boxes outside, his anger becoming increasingly uncontrollable.

A visible inner strength condensed into mist, rising from the top of his head and generating an invisible gust around him, cutting like a blade, sharp to the extreme.

Gathering Qi into sharpness, this was the wonder seen in those who stepped into the realm of a Martial Arts Grandmaster.

Song Lingxue stood not far away, her brows equally furrowed.

With the news spreading this fast, there must be a traitor within the Song Residence, and perhaps not just one.

Looking at the fury on Song Tonghai's face, Song Lingxue picked up a tea cup from the side and slowly stepped forward:

"Father, please calm your anger."

Song Tonghai took the tea cup, drained it in one gulp, steadying the tumultuous breaths within him, then with a long shout:

"Song Yun!"

Song Yun stepped quickly into the hall, knelt, and paid respects: "Present."

"Thorough investigation!"

Song Tonghai took a deep breath, his eyes filled with terrifying killing intent: "I grant you the authority to make decisions on the spot. If the evidence is conclusive, there's no need to report back. Just kill them and feed them to the dogs."

He believed he had been fair to the people in the residence. Never did he imagine he'd raised such ungrateful beings. Now, he was truly enraged.

"Understood."

Song Yun replied respectfully, stood up, and left.

...

...

Chu Zheng paid no attention to these external disturbances, his main focus was on studying those several books and repairing the Jade Cup.

These past few days, he slept very little, but his spirit had not been greatly affected.

The enhanced effects of the Essence Yuan Pill, after the repair, were too evident; even if Chu Zheng stayed up late studying the books nightly, he would still be energetic the next day.

After lunch, under the warm winter sun, Chu Zheng began repairing the tea tray that he had taken out from the Filth Room.

Even the tea tray was an old piece, long deprived of moisture and inevitably cracked.

The previous day, Chu Zheng had submerged it in a water trough to soak overnight; the small cracks had closed up almost entirely.

Gently wiping the water stains off the tea tray, Chu Zheng took out a specially mixed new lacquer and brushed it over the tray once more.

Under the sunlight, the new lacquer quickly solidified, and the whole tea tray looked as good as new.

[You have expended some effort and have repaired an old tea tray, your skills have slightly improved.]

A prompt surfaced in Chu Zheng's mind. His eyes flickered, and he promptly pulled up the panel.

[Name: Chu Zheng]

[Cultivation: Zeroth Order]

[Cultivation Technique: Integrated Fist (Zeroth Order), Chasing Wind Sword Technique (Zeroth Order), Great Circulatory Qi Guideline (Sixth Order/Incomplete)]

[Repair Master: Zeroth Order (32/1000)]

[Remaining Repair Opportunities for Today: 0]

[Currently Repairable: Great Circulatory Qi Guideline- Beginner Chapter (18/100)]

Looking at the experience in the Repair Master category, a flash of understanding crossed Chu Zheng's eyes.

Repairing the tea tray by hand was a test by Chu Zheng of the panel.

With only five repair opportunities per day, it was far too few for him; to increase the level of a repair master would take almost half a year.

Therefore, he wanted to try to gain repair master experience on his own.

The results were pleasing; fixing the tea tray did indeed add 2 points to his experience.

These days, Chu Zheng used all the daily refreshed repair opportunities on the beginner chapter of the Great Circulatory Qi Guideline. In over ten days, he would be able to start cultivating it.

Shortly after noon, the usually deserted Filth Room welcomed a visitor.

Song Yun came alone amid his busy schedule to inspect the tasks he had previously assigned to Chu Zheng.

The Filth Room had been tidied up, with not a speck of dust on the floor—a commendable effort indeed.

Even though Song Yun came with the intention of finding fault, he couldn't find any issues at that moment.

In the past, Chu Zheng wouldn't have taken his words to heart, but this time he made such an effort, which was somewhat unaccustomed.

"Not bad at all."

After circling around, Song Yun stepped out of the Filth Room and praised it before saying, "Anything lacking in terms of food? If there is..."

He didn't finish his sentence when Chu Zheng smiled and said bluntly, "My appetite has been quite good these days; could you send some more meat for lunch?"

Song Yun was momentarily speechless; his comment had been a subconscious courtesy.

Thanks to Song Lingxue's care, Chu Zheng's meals were already the best among all the servants, yet here he was asking for an increase.

"Understood."

Ultimately, Song Yun did not refuse and agreed before turning to leave. The day before Song Lingqing's return to the residence, Chu Zheng had behaved very appropriately, at least pleasing to Song Yun's eye.

Perhaps the young mistress might also change her view of him...

Just as he left the side courtyard, Song Yun was slightly taken aback; suddenly turning back, he looked at Chu Zheng basking in the sun far away, with an unavoidable idea sprouting in his mind.

In the residence, he had the authority to make on-the-spot decisions—even if he killed Chu Zheng now on the pretext of exterior communications, at most, the young mistress would scold him later.

Perhaps this was an opportunity given by the heavens, and he could use this chance to make Chu Zheng disappear forever...

As the thought deepened, Song Yun suddenly raised his hand.

Slap—

The crisp sound of a slap echoed, Song Yun's cheek immediately swelling with a trickle of blood at the corner of his mouth.

Looking at his slightly reddened palm, Song Yun fell silent for a long while, then glanced at a pair of tiger head shoes in the corner and chuckled softly,

"Beast, is this how your parents taught you to behave?"

...

...

With Song Tonghai's consent, Song Yun acted without much restraint, turning the Song Residence upside down. Within just a few days, he had already apprehended six people.

Fear and anxiety spread throughout the Song Residence, leaving everyone feeling insecure.

Every servant's room was searched, digging three feet into the ground, uncovering many secrets.

Soon, they again searched the Filth Room where Chu Zheng was staying.

Song Yun had intended it only as a formality, but he encountered an unexpected finding.

With the limited space in the Filth Room, Chu Zheng had no place to hide the few books, which were quickly found.

On the day Song Lingqing visited alone, he was in a hurry and didn't pay much attention to these trivial matters, naturally not making a special note to inform the family. Searᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Given Chu Zheng's status, he should not have access to these texts, which naturally raised suspicion.

...

...

Not long after, Chu Zheng was once again confined in the woodshed.

Compared to the last time, there were more instruments of torture, some with dark brown scabs of blood on them—clearly, they had been used recently.

Most of the torture equipment looked new, as if they had just been prepared.

Though strict, the Song family rules did not condone the abuse of private punishments; these were obviously prepared on an ad hoc basis.

Song Yun did not interrogate Chu Zheng himself; instead, he reported the matter to Song Lingxue, submitting all of Chu Zheng's recent actions for review.

After going over Chu Zheng's recent activities, Song Lingxue's brows knitted slightly, and thinking back to the day Song Lingqing returned to the residence to see Chu Zheng standing alone, her eyes inevitably darkened:

"Why have you been running outside these days? Do you have acquaintances beyond our gates?"