Hidden Moth-Chapter 570 - 326: Reforging the Body at the Mountain Gate (Part 2)
At this point, He Kao silently took the blame for Xiaopang, but he retorted, "Even if I or someone else switched the painting, it wouldn’t necessarily send you to prison, right? The police need evidence to handle cases, if you didn’t do it, you didn’t do it!"
Zhang Yanfei sighed, "What you said is correct, it originally had nothing to do with me, but it’s a lid that uncovered other things..."
The painting inexplicably turned into a fake, all parties were shirking responsibility, there was no evidence proving Zhang Yanfei did it, but once the police got involved, they uncovered other things.
Someone took the opportunity to report that many ancient painting treasures in the Nanhua Academy of Fine Arts were gradually swapped with fakes in recent years, with the originals appearing in overseas art markets, and Zhang Yanfei was the suspected perpetrator.
Indeed, it wasn’t just one fake among the Nanhua Academy’s collection of ancient relics, but Zhang Yanfei wasn’t responsible for these; the situation was like this before his tenure, and either no one noticed or those who did played ignorant.
This was a thoroughly confusing account that couldn’t be explained, so he remained silent, otherwise he might get himself into trouble, yet unexpectedly he was reported!
He was taken away by the police, and soon after he was arrested by the prosecution, but this case wasn’t easy to investigate.
No one saw Zhang Yanfei committing the crime. Even if there were fakes among the collection, it could have been someone else’s doing, or they could have been fake from the start; theoretically, you couldn’t convict Zhang Yanfei based on the existing evidence.
Zhang Yanfei himself thought the same way.
But in theory, things are still done by people, the investigators had experience in such matters and focused their breakthrough on Zhang Yanfei; as long as the suspect confessed, the difficulties would resolve themselves.
However, Zhang Yanfei insisted on his innocence, putting the case into a deadlock, and he was later detained beyond the normal period... Once things reached this point, they got complicated.
The situation developed as it did not only because the investigators were eager to achieve success, but mainly because someone wanted Zhang Yanfei to take the blame, to smooth over all the unclear accounts in history.
Fortunately, Zhang Yanfei wasn’t without background; realizing this, he incurred great expenses to pull strings and finally managed to be released for medical treatment. Soon after his release, he "died of illness."
For everyone, Zhang Yanfei’s death might have been a good thing, meaning all blame could be placed on him with no one left to testify against it.
Zhang Yanfei finally said, "I was innocent until the end; the court never convicted me!"
That’s the truth, he didn’t confess, nor did he wait for a court trial. He Kao, however, mused, "This contradicts what you told your disciple Wu Yanjun."
Niji raised his head and said, "You even know about that?"
He Kao: "Since I can uncover your identity, how could I not understand the situation? As for what’s going on, I’d like to hear your explanation personally."
Niji lowered his head again: "Not everyone in the detention center is wronged; in fact, the vast majority have actually committed crimes. To my knowledge, only Xiaowu was completely innocent at the time.
I didn’t want this silly kid’s life to be ruined forever. Seeing his decent potential, I taught him the Micro-Entry Skill and instructed him to find my brother Ye Hui after his release, to have a way out in the future.
I could have left the detention center earlier, but stayed two more months for this kid until he understood everything. I just wanted to give him a helping hand, not to harm him, so I couldn’t tell him the real inside story."
Hearing this, He Kao nodded silently, confirming what he had previously understood.
Unfortunately, Zhang Yanfei didn’t want to involve Xiaowu in his troubles, but someone did. Once they discovered that the painting was not genuine and couldn’t find Zhang Yanfei, they targeted Wu Yanjun.
Wu Yanjun almost lost his life, luckily saved by He Kao.
Finally, He Kao asked about something he didn’t know: "What about this identity of Niji, what’s that all about?"
Niji continued his story. In his early years, he had similar troubles as Wu Yanjun, which his master secretly helped him resolve. Then his master arranged for him to assume the identity of a monk at the Nanhua Zen Temple, as a potential retreat in case of future trouble.
During that era, when anti-counterfeiting ID systems were not yet widespread and population mobility was great, it was still possible to obtain genuine identification with the right connections. So, Zhang Yanfei held another identity, the monk Niji.
After his master passed away, no one else on earth knew this secret.
All of Niji’s documents were real, legally genuine, with no relation to Zhang Yanfei. The benefit of being a monk was that he could use pilgrimage as an excuse to travel far and wide, requiring not to show his face for a long time.
His fake death and disappearance was not only to escape legal trouble, but also to avoid the exposure of the Tan Xian’s Walking Stick Painting incident. This case would surely attract the attention of the Magic Sect, especially the Alchemy Sect...
Officially becoming the monk Niji, severing all past connections, he retreated to Jingshe Temple on Qixia Mountain, while also devoting himself to cultivating the Hidden E Technique.
Why Jingshe Temple? Because it’s at Qi Yuan; the painting was stolen from someone there, and he wanted to find out who did it, as well as seek the Hidden Moth.
Finally finished listening to Niji’s experience, the sky was bright; He Kao looked at Niji sitting in the shadow of the treetop and said, "Your current appearance is very different from before; facial recognition software probably wouldn’t recognize you. What’s going on with that?"
The Shadow Mirror had already shown him, He Kao knew this wasn’t some disguise or transformation, but his actual appearance.
Niji: "You are the sect leader of the Hidden Moth Sect, you should know that the Hidden Moth Sect has such a technique."
He Kao: "I know, is it the Bone Shaping Skill?"
Niji nodded: "Yes, it’s the Bone Shaping Skill..."
Indeed, there’s such an applied technique, seemingly akin to the profound principles of the Observing Body Skill, but it’s passed down from the Hidden Moth Sect. Its basis is an internal practice method, during which one can slowly alter the distribution of bones.
It only has a micro-adjustment effect, but as long as key parts are slightly changed, a person’s facial recognition features will vary greatly, and it’s a real change.
The process is quite slow, so slow that it is hard to detect, often taking several months to see subtle changes. During this process, you can hurry to replace your old ID before it’s no longer recognizable.
Since faking his death, Niji began practicing the Face-shaping Skill, and so far he has used various reasons to undergo two batches of ID renewals, which changed his appearance to what it is now.
As for some new IDs now requiring fingerprints, they pose no problem for someone with cultivation and who is proficient in the Micro-Entry Skill.
He Kao considered the Bone Shaping Skill to be somewhat useless for him, as he had never thought of practicing it, but Niji found it to be quite applicable in his case.
Thinking for a while, He Kao asked, "Who else knows about your faked death and escape?"
Niji: "My brother Ye Hui, many traces were erased with his help. If anyone tries to check, they can only find Zhang Yanfei’s ashes, but you can’t test DNA from ashes... However, he doesn’t know my current identity, and I haven’t contacted him again."
He Kao: "What about Wu Yanjun, what are your thoughts?"
Niji sighed: "I heard he once encountered trouble but survived the ordeal. After the Hidden E Technique broke through Tier Four, I secretly visited Grandma a few days ago to check on him. I found out he’s now a Tier Three Appraiser of the Micro Realm Sect.
This is very good, from now on, let it be as if Zhang Yanfei no longer exists!"
He Kao nodded slightly, saying, "What you stated, as well as your past actions, I will verify them myself. Leave me a way to contact you, and I’ll get in touch in a month’s time."
The Magic Sect has an established process for checking the return of disciples, taking anywhere from one to three months, as they cannot let someone wait indefinitely. If they find no issues, they will have to conclude there are none.
In ancient times, the situation was quite simple, as it mostly involved making inquiries around someone’s hometown, spending a lot of time traveling. Moreover, many experiences could only be told by the individuals themselves, as they were nearly impossible to verify.
What to do if problems arise in the future? Deal with it then!
Nowadays, with greatly improved transportation and communication, there’s no need for it to take three months, hence He Kao set the shortest interval of one month before notifying Niji.
The major Magic Sects are confident about this process, but it carries significant risk for the current Hidden Moth Sect, yet since He Kao inherited the Floating Colors Grotto Heaven and leads the sect, it’s his responsibility to bear.
**
