Otherworldly Affairs Office

Chapter 1130: I’m Doing This for Your Own Good

"Oh, someone can escape unscathed!" Pei Yan took the last puff of his cigarette, flicked the butt far away between his fingers, and answered his own question, "That would be whoever drilled holes in this ship and had already prepared a retreat.""Pei Xiaoyou, do you truly believe there is such a person among the Five Mansions of the Immortal Palace?" After a brief silence, the voice resurfaced, asking with a tone of doubt.

"Who knows? Maybe there is, maybe there isn’t! Isn’t our task to verify that? I understand what you mean, you’re just trying to say that the Spirit Lord has lost trust in the Immortal Palace after the Peach Blossom Spring incident and wants to use this as an excuse to thoroughly cleanse the Immortal Palace."

Pei Yan sneered disdainfully, "How ridiculous! If your Spirit Lord truly harbors such thoughts, do you think these little tricks of yours could prevent it from happening? Perhaps it might delay things a bit, but I believe it would only make the Spirit Lord more wary and distrustful of you. Besides, what does it have to do with us? If it weren’t for the fear that a traitor within your ranks might drag us down and the enticing conditions offered by your Spirit Lord, do you think we’d bother interfering in this matter?"

"Ha ha ha, to put it bluntly, I’m really doing this for your sake!" As Pei Yan spoke, he walked toward the pavilion, pointing disdainfully at Ge Yongshou, who had just awakened, his eyes filled with resentment and fear. "You can choose not to cooperate, but don’t send someone like this to humiliate us! Do you really think without you translating the documents, we’d be totally helpless? I’ll tell you, there are plenty of ways, face? Elder Changsun just said he could do without face, why can’t I? At most, I’ll spend some time in the Hell Plane, show your Spirit Lord how you handle his orders. Didn’t this old man say someone had to replace you to guard this place before deciphering the documents for us? Fine! I’ll have someone replace you. I think my Embroidered Robe Envoys behind me would be more than willing to take over such a crucial place as the Heavenly Guardian Pavilion."

Pei Yan pointed at the crowd behind him and laughed, "I want to see if you can remain lofty and untainted then."

"Throughout the generations, the Heavenly Guardian Pavilion has always been managed by someone sent from the Immortal Palace. Only we are familiar with the array and document storage methods here. Do you think anyone can just come and replace us?" Zhangsun Zhize couldn’t help but retort at Pei Yan’s arrogant demeanor.

"Ah!" Hearing this, Pei Yan squatted down, looking at Zhangsun Zhize lying on the ground, shook his head in helplessness and sighed, "Old sir, you’ve lived for so long, how can you see less clearly than a young man like me? You can make your boss feel that you’re important, and he’ll value and use you. But when you make your boss feel that he can’t do without you, that’s when he’s ready to groom someone to replace you. No boss likes being threatened by his subordinates. Is it before you felt the Immortal Palace was irreplaceable? How about now? If that’s really the case, why are you panicking?"

Zhangsun Zhize broke into a cold sweat upon hearing Pei Yan’s words and fell into silent contemplation, his head hung low. Seeing his expression, Pei Yan knew the other had thought of something peculiar. Not asking further, Pei Yan patted his shoulder and, rising, chuckled, "Alright, let’s say you’re right! You are indispensable for now. It doesn’t matter! If you don’t translate, there are others who will. Is the entire Daoist Realm dependent on just the Immortal Palace to understand the documentation? What about other sects? What about the Celestial Sword Manor?"

As these words were spoken, the faces of several elders outside the Heavenly Guardian Pavilion changed repeatedly, and the voice inside the pavilion trembled, "Fellow Daoist Pei, you mean!"

"That’s right! Even if your Immortal Palace has a more unique encryption method, the essence is the same, as it’s from a Daoist Realm sect. Other sects can decipher something from it, which is enough! Since you’re obstructing our investigation indiscriminately, why should we remain polite? The truth? Ha ha ha! Does the truth matter?"

Pei Yan spread his hands, looked around questioning the audience, and seeing no reply, answered himself, "It’s not important! As long as I submit this report to the Spirit Lord, whether she believes it or not is her business, and the fate of the suspicious sect is even more irrelevant to me!"

"Pei Yan, you, you can’t do this!" The people inside the Heavenly Guardian Pavilion, truly panicked, spoke to dissuade him.

"Why can’t I? I think many sects will be very interested in my proposal! If they’re not interested, it’s fine!" Pei Yan clapped his hands, laughing, "The Celestial Sword Manor, still held under watch, would surely be happy to help us with this favor. They’ve already realized none of you Immortal Palace folks care about investigating the truth to clear their name. You just want to minimize and quickly cover up this matter, letting the Celestial Sword Manor take the fall and die for it! Dear Pavilion Master, if you were part of the Celestial Sword Manor and had the chance to be involved in the investigation, what would you do? You’re a gentleman, you’re all gentlemen at the Immortal Palace! You certainly wouldn’t do anything despicable. If it were me, I’d be different. I’d certainly ensure those who wish me dead pay the price, take down whoever I can, and smear whoever I can—when a thief bites deep, it leaves a mark!"

"Pei, Pei Yan, you, you’re so malicious!" Zhangsun Zhize, imagining the consequences of such actions, pointed at Pei Yan in fear.

"Malicious? If I were truly malicious, I wouldn’t have shown up here today! As I said, I’m here to save your necks, now do you believe it?" Pei Yan said as he scanned the crowd in the Heavenly Guardian Pavilion, fiercely saying, "We have plenty of ways to make you yield. My unreasonable, domineering reputation has spread across the six planes, I don’t mind adding another incident to the list! I came today to give you face, to give you an account before the Immortal Palace, to offer you a way out, got it? But none of you appreciate it, treating my goodwill like horse liver, living such long lives, yet winding up like dogs!"

Facing Pei Yan’s sarcastic derision and scolding, the elders in the Heavenly Guardian Pavilion fell silent with fear. After unleashing his anger, Pei Yan finally took a deep breath and said leisurely, "Convey my words to the Five Mansions of the Immortal Palace. After I handle matters here, I’ll head to the Spirit Monster Plane. You may continue your hypocritical obstruction against my colleagues once I’m gone, but if you do, not only will everything I mentioned be immediately implemented, I’ll think of even more malicious and cunning ways against you. So, I hope you recognize the situation, choose collaboration for mutual benefit, otherwise, we risk mutual destruction!"