Chapter 418 - 254: The Events of That Year (Part 2)

Chapter 418: Chapter 254: The Events of That Year (Part 2)

She was already at the eighth rank back then, but she didn’t make a move against me. I don’t know if it was because she cherished the memory of me teaching her opera, or if she wanted me to live with the guilt forever.

"She didn’t know your strength?"

Su Xing fell silent for a long time after reading the last part. He never would have thought that such a bizarre event had occurred back then. The good impression he originally had of the Cyan Cloud Sect had mostly collapsed.

However, the past was the past, and it couldn’t be completely equated with the present. Thus, Su Xing didn’t hold anything against the current Cyan Cloud Sect.

What did surprise Su Xing was Tong Yinyin’s choice. At the time, she didn’t seem to know the true strength of this class monitor before her, nor that of her own father.

"She didn’t know."

Yao Yixiao shook his head. "She only found out about my strength much later."

"She slaughtered the entire group of Cultivators who had harmed other women. But by then, the special organization had already decided to integrate those Cultivators, making them an active force within the organization. Therefore, I couldn’t just stand by and watch them die, so I stepped in and stopped her."

"..."

Su Xing frowned. "What about the ordinary people who were abused?"

"Su, killing can’t stop hatred. They committed crimes, so they would naturally face legal punishment and sanctions. But we can’t accept extrajudicial punishment. Besides... even by the standards of the law, the crimes most of them committed were nowhere near severe enough for the death penalty."

Indeed,

He had a point.

But it was also perfectly normal for others to feel a sense of injustice.

"Then what about the people from the Cyan Cloud Sect?"

"This Ye Changlong was a Cyan Cloud Sect Elder, yet he did something like that. The Cyan Cloud Sect claims to be a righteous and prestigious sect. Did they do nothing about it?"

"Back then, the Cyan Cloud Sect did indeed put a lot of resources into investigating this matter, even applying to the special organization for police assistance. But Ye Changlong’s entire family was already dead. Even if the Cyan Cloud Sect wanted to hold Ye Changlong accountable, who could they go after?"

"What’s more, in this day and age, Tong Yinyin wiped out Ye Changlong’s entire family and also killed everyone in the Yuming Class. Those people were ordinary people. Their parents would be grieving, too."

"An act like that is a serious crime. It also gave the Cyan Cloud Sect an excuse to stop pursuing the matter."

"After all... having killed so many people, according to the laws of our Xia Country, no matter how many grievances or excuses she had, she would likely not escape the death penalty."

"..."

Su Xing was silent for a moment before speaking. "The person from the Cyan Cloud Sect in charge of the investigation back then... could it have been that Elder Lu?"

"No."

"It was an Elder named Liu Li. He was killed after taking charge of the case, which is one of the reasons the Cyan Cloud Sect was unwilling to continue the investigation."

"Did Tong Yinyin kill him too?" Su Xing asked.

"That, I don’t know. However, the information I have indicates that this matter seems to be related to Li Ye."

"Back then, Tong Yinyin was able to wipe out Ye Changlong’s entire family of more than twenty people and still managed to escape from the Cyan Cloud Sect. This was largely thanks to Li Ye, who risked his life to help her."

"But Li Ye’s strength is extraordinary. He was quite famous in his generation, which is how I came to know of him."

"However, at that time, he had already been labeled a traitor by the Cyan Cloud Sect for assassinating Gu Che. But even the records in the special organization about this incident are sparse, so I can’t say I understand it very well."

"If you want to know more about him, perhaps you could investigate at the Cyan Cloud Sect. After all, he is the greatest genius the sect has seen in several hundred years," Yao Yixiao said with a heavy expression.

Then, his tone shifted. He looked at Su Xing, his expression serious, and said:

"Su, as the director of the Luocheng branch of the special organization, and as someone with some standing in the system, I shouldn’t be saying these things today."

"I’m willing to tell you this today not only because I trust Li Longxuan’s judgment, but also because I trust you. You went to Desperate Gorge to fight to the death just because of an agreement with me. Although you are ruthless and kill without blinking, I believe you are a kind person at heart, and someone who holds righteous beliefs."

"Although I am a man of the organization, I am too entangled with her. Therefore, I am unwilling to fight her, and I have no idea what she truly intends to do by returning to the Cyan Cloud Sect this time."

"But she has already suffered so, so much misfortune..."

"Uncle Yao, do you have a way to contact her?"

Su Xing recalled the scene of Tong Yinyin appearing here today and thus asked the question.

"I was only able to see her this time because of my special ability. But I’m afraid she will never be willing to see me again."

"..."

’It seems the incident with the Yuming Class, and Yao Yixiao’s subsequent interception of Tong Yinyin, created a rift between them. A rift that will likely never be healed in this lifetime.’

’I just don’t know what happened between Tong Yinyin and her father, Tong An. But since Tong An is already dead, there’s probably no way to find out.’

With that thought, Su Xing cupped his hands towards Yao Yixiao and said, "Thank you, Uncle Yao, for telling me about these past events. I should be leaving now."

"..."

"If you see her again, please give this letter to her. I should have given it to her myself, but in the end, we are enemies."

Yao Yixiao spoke with some bitterness, then handed over a small, button-like object. From previous experience, Su Xing knew that he had written the letter on this kind of small item.

Without any intention of trying to perceive its contents, Su Xing immediately pocketed the button. He gave the other man a solemn look and said:

"I understand. I’ll keep this button safe for now. If I see her again, I will definitely put it in her hands."

"Thank you," Yao Yixiao nodded.

As these words fell, the spatial power in the surroundings rapidly returned to Yao Yixiao’s body. Su Xing immediately felt the space reconnect with the world outside the door. The sound of staff members talking outside returned to his ears.

Su Xing had only been here for half an hour, but his mood was heavy. Although he had wanted to know the truth of the past, he never expected to learn something like this.

’The Cyan Cloud Sect is supposed to be a righteous and prestigious sect, absolutely famous in the Luocheng and Liu City area. To think that such a despicable person appeared among them back then... it’s truly disheartening.’

’But Yao Yixiao only ever mentioned Ye Changlong. Apparently, the original incident had nothing to do with Elder Lu. So why did the opera lyrics point directly at Elder Lu when Yin Crow went to the Cyan Cloud Sect? What role did Elder Lu play in this drama?’

’Besides, even though Yin Crow had awakened the Puppet Master sequence to become a Sequencer, cultivated the Silent Extinction Demon Skill, and even had help from Li Ye, the idea of her escaping the Cyan Cloud Sect just like that still felt like a stretch... even unbelievable.’

’After all, it was their headquarters. How could it be so easy to leave?’ Thinking of this, Su Xing suddenly felt that there was still a lot of information about this matter that he didn’t know.

"..."

’There are still three days left before the ten-day agreement. I should head back to the Cyan Cloud Sect first.’

Thinking of this, Su Xing immediately bid farewell to Yao Yixiao. After leaving the organization’s building, he headed straight for the Cyan Cloud Sect’s Secret Realm.

Upon arriving at the Cyan Cloud Sect’s Secret Realm, Su Xing immediately spotted several disciples in the distance investigating something. When they noticed him, they immediately cupped their fists and said:

"Elder Su, you’ve returned."

"What are you all doing here?"

Su Xing saw their expressions and the corpse lying nearby. The corpse’s insides were completely devoid of organs. This manner of death reminded Su Xing of the sacrificial rituals from his first encounter with the Spiritual Sect.

"Elder Su."

"We are investigating the corpse."

"The day the Cyan Cloud Sect declared war, that Demoness used puppet techniques to control an Elder of our sect, as well as Extraordinary Beings like the Cyan Wood Daoist of Spirit Flower Mountain, Zu Yuan of the Poison Blade Sect, and others."

"Now, we happened to find the abandoned corpse of the Cyan Wood Daoist here. We discovered that its internal organs are all gone. At the same time, Sequence energy was used to support the body from within to keep it from decaying."

"Therefore, when these puppets are being controlled, they are no different from living people, making them incredibly difficult to detect when mixed in a crowd. Our current task is to investigate the characteristics of these puppets."