Chapter 417 - 254: The Events of That Year

Chapter 417: Chapter 254: The Events of That Year

I am Yao Yixiao. Before joining the organization, I was the humble leader of a theatrical troupe. Though I have since become the head of the Luocheng branch, I privately continue to run a puppet theater. I am writing this to record the events of those years.

Tong Yinyin was gifted, intelligent, and exceptionally beautiful. She was the daughter of the Rank 8 Tong An. Back then, the resurgence of Spiritual Qi had not yet been announced, so most ordinary people were unaware that the world had undergone a seismic shift. Tong Yinyin, with her innate love for theater, joined my troupe.

The troupe I ran, the Yu Ming Troupe, made its living through theatrical arts and was renowned for a performance method passed down within its ranks called Jade Inscription Puppetry. Ordinary puppetry could only manipulate palm-sized marionettes through simple mechanisms; the largest were no more than half the size of a person.

Jade Inscription Puppetry, however, could manipulate special puppets that were indistinguishable from real people. I, too, had studied this art, but I found the puppets had no practical use in combat. Still, other members of the troupe went on to learn it.

From the moment Tong Yinyin joined the Yu Ming Troupe, her genius was perhaps destined. Her mastery of Jade Inscription Puppetry progressed by leaps and bounds, her skill far surpassing that of any other performer in the troupe. She even developed her own unique insights and attainments, able to control over a dozen puppets single-handedly.

Such talent made everyone in the troupe feel inadequate by comparison. Even I, Yao Yixiao, who had only dabbled in the puppetry art, had to admit that Tong Yinyin’s gift was truly exceptional.

Consequently, Tong Yinyin naturally became the star performer of the Yu Ming Troupe. She later combined internet novels and anime with puppetry, causing both herself and the entire troupe to go viral online. This was the source of Tong Yinyin’s fame, and also the beginning of all her misfortune.

The special organization was beginning to form, and as a Rank 8, Tong An was exceptionally busy. I was in the same boat. As a result, neither of us noticed the huge stir Tong Yinyin was causing.

It was then that the Cyan Cloud Sect first emerged, and none of us were prepared to deal with this sudden new power. The disciples of the Cyan Cloud Sect back then were not like they are today.

They called themselves cultivators but held the lives of ordinary people in utter contempt. Having been sealed away in a Secret Realm for centuries, some of the weak-willed among them committed crimes in the mortal world too numerous to count.

Tong Yinyin, the Yu Ming Hua Dan, was a woman of peerless talent and beauty. After one of her performances, she caught the eye of Elder Ye Changlong of the Cyan Cloud Sect.

Ye Changlong. Elder Ye. Hearing this name, Su Xing instantly recalled his time at the Cyan Cloud Sect. The Sect Leader, Gu Che, had mentioned an Elder Ye. It seemed his entire family had been slaughtered by the Yin Crow.

"..."

With this thought in mind, Su Xing said nothing and simply continued reading.

Elder Ye had been sealed away for centuries. And though he had reached the seventh rank, his character was severely lacking. He immediately set his sights on the widely famous Tong Yinyin, coveting her beauty and desiring to take her for himself.

But at the time, Tong Yinyin was already in love with a man named Yuan Hua, and they were betrothed. Though she appeared gentle and beautiful, at her core she was proud and unyielding. Even faced with an Elder of the Cyan Cloud Sect as powerful as he was, she refused to submit, preferring death.

Moreover, she made a defiant declaration right to his face. How could Elder Ye, a cultivator who styled himself an Immortal, possibly maintain his composure?

At the time, Tong An and I were so incredibly busy that we were completely unaware of what was happening. But Ye Changlong never even bothered to investigate whether Tong Yinyin had powerful backing. Or perhaps, the Cyan Cloud Sect of that era was so arrogant that it simply paid no mind to the Extraordinary Beings existing in the mortal world. And so, he began his reprisal against Tong Yinyin.

Reprisal. Why do I call it reprisal?

Logically, it would have been all too easy for a Rank 7 Extraordinary Being to kill an ordinary person without a soul knowing. But Elder Ye didn’t want Tong Yinyin dead; he just wanted to bed her.

Thus, he colluded with members of the Yu Ming Troupe. During a rendezvous between Yuan Hua and Tong Yinyin, they lured Yuan Hua into a room and killed him on the spot. Then, they brought Tong Yinyin to the scene to witness Yuan Hua’s brutal death, attempting to shatter her will completely.

Immortal? He was nothing but a shameful Extraordinary Being who looked down on ordinary people simply because he possessed some power. In ancient times, the Cyan Cloud Sect was considered a righteous and prestigious sect. For its disciples to commit such acts upon their return to the modern world—what a joke!

After enduring such an ordeal and witnessing her lover’s brutal murder, Tong Yinyin’s personality twisted completely. She became like one possessed. In the throes of her overwhelming emotions, she awakened to the Puppet Master sequence. Using Jade Inscription Puppetry, she turned Yuan Hua’s corpse into a puppet and managed to escape.

Perhaps Ye Changlong still held some interest in Tong Yinyin at the time. Otherwise, with his seventh-rank power, she would have had no chance of escape, no matter how exceptionally gifted she was.

After her escape, Yinyin vanished without a trace. She may have tried to find her father and me, but to no avail. At that very time, we were busy discussing how to launch a punitive campaign against the Cyan Cloud Sect and deal with the other ancient powers that had suddenly appeared.

She left the city and, by a twist of fate, obtained the legacy of a Demon Cultivator. This caused her power to surge explosively. In the span of just half a month, she traded her own lifespan for power, reaching the seventh rank. Then, during the Luocheng catastrophe, she stormed the Cyan Cloud Sect and slaughtered every last one of the more than twenty members of Ye Changlong’s family.

Afterward, upon learning she had been betrayed by the other members of the Yu Ming Troupe, she returned to Luocheng and massacred them all.