Chapter 132: Possibility

Chapter 132: Possibility

The silver was certainly not prepared for Su Mo.

The other party had the little thief place the Love Scroll in the tree hollow, and the remaining payment was naturally inside as well.

As for why this little thief did not speak up, it clearly indicated he had his own thoughts and intentions.

And for the other party to dare place the silver here in advance, it showed they were not worried about the little thief taking the silver and the Love Scroll and fleeing.

Opening it for a quick glance, Su Mo refrained from touching it recklessly. With something of unknown origin, acting rashly could be dangerous. After a brief look, he tied it back up and slung it over his shoulder.

Su Mo did not care about their intricate schemes. Glancing around the forest, he leaped up and leaned against a clean treetop.

From afar, he looked like a clump of snow on the treetops.

Up close, one would not easily notice that there was actually a person there.

Judging by the sky, he estimated that even if these people were to come, it would not be now.

Just as he was about to close his eyes and circulate his inner energy, he noticed snowflakes drifting down from the sky.

Startled, he laughed.

Suddenly, he recalled a scene from an old TV show, "The Return of the Condor Heroes," where Beggar Hong Qiugong slept in the snow, with snowflakes landing on him but not melting.

The explanation given was that even while sleeping, the old beggar's inner energy continued to circulate, keeping the heat inside and preventing it from escaping outward, so the snowflakes would not melt upon contact.

Su Mo asked himself if, with his Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill now at its peak and the Sunlight Heart Sutra also reaching its pinnacle, he could achieve such a state through focused effort.

He closed his eyes immediately, allowing the snowflakes to land on him, gradually entering a state of complete absorption.

Of course, even in this state of absorption, he was not completely oblivious to the outside world.

Any slight inconsistency in the forest would rouse him.

The snow fell heavily, and Su Mo, half-asleep, opened his eyes to find himself quite heavy.

He was covered in snow.

Hearing footsteps approaching and then fading away, he realized someone was passing through the snow nearby.

He paid no attention, opening one eye to check the sky, which was already brightening.

"By now, Xiaoyun and the others should be on their way."

Su Mo thought to himself, closing his eyes again.

But he couldn't fall asleep, so he decided to focus on his breathing and circulation of energy. Time passed swiftly, and before he knew it, it was sunset.

Yet, the person he was waiting for had not arrived.

Just as this thought crossed his mind, he heard a whistling sound approaching.

He adjusted his breathing and waited quietly. Sure enough, a middle-aged man appeared in front of the banyan tree hollow.

He peered inside cautiously, then withdrew his head and reached into the hollow with his hand.

After a moment, he stood still in shock:

"How can it be gone? Did he fail last night? No, that's not right... If he failed, how could the silver be missing? Without the silver, the scroll is also gone..."

Muttering to himself, he suddenly became furious.

His gaze swept the surroundings, but the heavy snowfall had erased any traces.

He snorted coldly, "What audacity, to dare steal my things! Do you really think I'm easy to provoke? Hmm... I coated the silver with Sanjie Powder; he shouldn't have gotten far."

With that, he turned to leave.

But the next moment, the snow began to fall heavily again.

He froze, turning around to see a white figure standing on the tree, looking down at him with hands behind his back.

"It's you!"

The middle-aged man was taken aback. "You didn't leave? Where's the Love Scroll?"

Su Mo smiled, realizing he was being mistaken for the little thief from the previous night.

He took out the Love Scroll from his chest.

"Give it here!"

The middle-aged man immediately reached out to take it.

But Su Mo shook his head.

"What do you mean?"

The middle-aged man, seeing this, became enraged. "I've given you your full payment, the silver notes and jewels in the box are yours too. Why won't you give me what I want now?"

Su Mo sighed. "Because I'm curious."

"..."

The middle-aged man heard only these four words before he turned and ran without a second thought.

A twitch at the corner of Su Mo’s mouth: "So, you recognize the voice?"

He suddenly employed the Divine Speed Technique, and in an instant, Su Mo was already in front of the man, reaching out to grab him.

The middle-aged man roared in anger, clasping his hands together in front of his chest, then thrusting out a palm.

At the moment their palms met, the middle-aged man felt an overwhelming force surge towards him, sending him flying backward.

Su Mo flicked his foot and caught the collar of the flying man, casually throwing him to the ground with a thud.

Instantly, snowflakes once again danced through the air, swirling everywhere.

First being struck by a palm and then this additional blow, the middle-aged man spat out a mouthful of blood, feeling as if all his bones had been shattered.

His eyes wide open, he stared at Su Mo: "You're not him, you're Su Mo!?"

"Indeed, it is I."

Su Mo nodded, pulling off the mask from his face and looking around at the middle-aged man: "May I ask for your distinguished name?"

"Heh..."

The middle-aged man smiled: "It's better that you don't know me."

As Su Mo was taken aback, a thought suddenly struck him. He reached out again, but saw a hint of cyan and purple flash across the man's face.

Then his cheeks bulged...

Su Mo's eye twitched, and he immediately retreated, putting over ten yards between them.

The man spat out a mouthful of purple vapor. If Su Mo hadn’t moved in time, he would have been covered head to toe.

The purple vapor gradually dissipated into the air.

And the middle-aged man was no longer breathing.

"This..."

Su Mo returned to the man's side, examined him briefly, and frowned: "This doesn't make sense."

Regardless of who this middle-aged man was, or what his purpose was with the Mandarin Ducks Spectrum,

If it was just about himself, Su Mo hadn’t intended to kill him, so there was no reason for him to commit suicide.

"If he had to die, it must be because he had a reason to do so.

"There must be something more behind this man."

Su Mo shook his head and searched the man's body.

The man didn’t carry much—just a few small vials without any markings, their uses unknown, likely distinguished by color.

Apart from that, he had a few dozen silver taels on him.

Su Mo took them without hesitation.

There was nothing else, no letters or tokens that might lead to his origins.

Sighing, Su Mo re-examined the middle-aged man, recalling the martial arts he had used, but found nothing familiar.

After delivering a final palm strike to the man’s forehead, Su Mo turned to leave.

Just as he took a step, he glanced back at the man.

"Nameless and faceless, yet skilled in martial arts, this scene feels strangely familiar."

But upon further reflection, he couldn’t place it, so he sighed and stopped thinking about it. In a flash, he left the forest, heading in the direction the escort agency’s convoy had gone.

After Su Mo left, nearly two hours passed.

Beside the motionless corpse on the ground, two people appeared.

The girl squatted down, examining the thoroughly frozen body, then turned back and said: "...He, he's dead..."

Her voice was timid, as if she was terrified of everything around her.

Yet she tried hard not to show her fear.

Behind her stood an old man.

Li Siyun!

"This Chief Escort Su Mo is indeed not someone to be trifled with; Yang Xiaoyun has such a husband, which is enviable."

Li Siyun let out a light breath, gazing in the direction Su Mo had left: "They failed this time, and with this man dead, they may not have another chance to fail next time."

With that, the old man’s lips curled, and he looked at the young girl, Wan'er.

Sighing, he said: "Once we reach Sunset City, I'll find you a good family."

"Ah?"

Wan'er was startled and quickly shook her head: "You, you don't want me anymore?"

"The path of the jianghu is too dangerous. You've suffered enough following me this far. If you continue, you won't be able to bear it."

After Li Siyun finished speaking, he took out a small bottle from his bosom, opened the lid, and the liquid inside was directly sprinkled onto the corpse.

In no time, the corpse was eroded by the liquid, decaying into water.

"This test has already reached its limit. Without absolute certainty next time, they won’t dare to make a move. Come, Wan'er, I will take you to Sunset City. No matter what, we need to settle you down first."

He extended his hand to pull over Wan'er, whose face had turned pale with fright. With a slight movement of his toes, he carried the young girl far away.

And as his feet stepped on the snow-covered ground, not a single trace was left behind.

...

...

It wasn't until midnight that Su Mo caught up with the people from the escort agency.

Inside the inn, Su Mo had already changed into his own clothes and sat opposite Yang Xiaoyun.

He recounted the situation of the day in detail.

"The Lovebird Spectrum clearly has major issues."

Yang Xiaoyun frowned deeply: "But... there has never been any clue about this Lovebird Spectrum in the martial world. Who would kill for it?"

Su Mo shook his head lightly: "That's what I want to know too."

He glanced at the package taken from the banyan tree, which was placed on the table.

"Someone commissioned that little thief to steal the Lovebird Spectrum and even coated the silver with poison. This clearly indicates an intention to eliminate witnesses.

"After being defeated by me, he didn't even think twice before taking the poison to commit suicide.

"If it were just his personal matter, there would be no need for such extreme measures.

"The fact that he did so suggests that there is another force behind him, giving him a reason he cannot avoid."

Yang Xiaoyun nodded: "Why don't we ask that little thief again?"

"He probably knows very little."

Su Mo sighed: "After all, he was merely a pawn used by others to steal the Lovebird Spectrum."

Yang Xiaoyun agreed, but picked up the Lovebird Spectrum on the table and flipped through it casually, then shook her head:

"I know nothing about music. Xiao Mo, are you proficient in this field?"

"Nine out of ten..."

"..."

Yang Xiaoyun gave Su Mo a glare: "When is this time to crack jokes?"

"Ha ha."

Su Mo laughed: "What else? There's no need to worry excessively. The other party clearly has many reservations about us; otherwise, they wouldn't go to such lengths.

"Instead of worrying and racking our brains without results, we should consider who Li Siyun and Wan'er really are."

"From this, it seems that most of what they said that day can't be trusted."

Yang Xiaoyun sighed: "Unfortunately, because they mentioned Father's name, we didn't think deeply enough about the possibilities. Now, if we want to find them, it will be difficult."

"Finding them isn't easy, but it's not entirely impossible."

Su Mo said: "There are only two possibilities regarding these two people.

"The first is that their identities are fake, and everything they told us is a lie, including their past relationship with Uncle Yang.

"The second is that what they said is true, and the Lovebird Spectrum was indeed a gift they intended to give to Uncle Yang, and they didn't expect it to cause any trouble.

"But the second possibility is almost non-existent. It's too coincidental that everything was fine when it was in their hands, but once it came to us, all sorts of trouble started?"

Su Mo paused slightly here, then smiled: "But regardless of whether their identities are real or fake, the final outcome remains unchanged."

"The unchanging point is their commission, that this item is meant for Father?"

Yang Xiaoyun instantly understood Su Mo's meaning: "If what they said is true, it's just a simple thank-you gift. But if it's false... why would they give it to Father?"

"Exactly."

Su Mo laughed: "This makes the matter quite interesting. At least two different possibilities arise from this."

"I'm all ears."

"..."

Su Mo's lips twitched, feeling that the idiom sounded strange. After organizing his thoughts, he continued:

"The first point is that they actually don't care who this escort is delivered to.

"They know that someone will definitely try to rob the escort along the way. If we can't protect it, the result will be the same no matter who it's delivered to—ultimately, the escort will be stolen, and everything will be in vain.

"If this is true, their purpose is to divert disaster.

"They know there's something wrong with the Lovebird Spectrum and don't want to keep it, as it could bring trouble. So they handed it over to the escort agency. If the item is lost during the escort, they can both receive compensation and stay out of the mess, a win-win situation."

"Hmm... there is indeed some possibility."

Yang Xiaoyun nodded: "But if that's the case, why did they choose us for the escort? Your reputation in Profound Theory Valley is great, and everyone knows you're not easy to provoke. The person behind this also has many reservations about you. If they wanted the escort to fail, they could have found a less capable escort agency in Wufangji."

"Exactly, that's what I think too."

Su Mo nodded: "So, I believe that not everything they said might be lies. Perhaps, they really do want us to deliver this escort mission to Uncle Yang’s hands.

"Perhaps there are some connections between them and Uncle Yang that we don't know about.

"And this Love Scroll must be delivered to Uncle Yang’s hands, but they themselves lack the confidence to do so, which is why they went through all this trouble to pass it to us.

"But in doing so..."

"How so?"

Yang Xiaoyun immediately followed up.

Su Mo shook his head: "Let's set this aside for now... Sister Xiaoyun, have you truly never heard Uncle Yang mention anything about the Love Scroll?"

"...Never heard of it."

Yang Xiaoyun sighed: "Especially in recent years, ever since Uncle Su passed away, Father has been acting very mysteriously. Whenever I catch a glimpse, he always tries to hide things, and his personality has changed completely from the past.

"I always feel like he’s hiding many things from me.

"That’s probably why we have less and less to talk about.

"In the past... he wasn’t like this."

Su Mo nodded: "Alright, let’s not overthink it. What the Love Scroll is, perhaps we’ll find out when we see Uncle Yang. Since this involves him, we probably can’t stay out of it."

"Do you think it might be related to Father’s insistence on getting involved with the Fallen Phoenix Alliance?"

"What do you mean?"

Su Mo glanced at Yang Xiaoyun.

"Just a thought..."

Yang Xiaoyun exhaled: "Now that I think about it, it feels like Father is planning something, but it’s all shrouded in mystery, making it hard to see clearly."

Su Mo recalled the Yang Yizhi in his memories, who was indeed very different from the current one.

He wasn’t reserved but rather full of spirit, always bringing him many interesting things whenever he visited the Ziyang Escort Agency.

When Yang Xiaoyun used to beat him up as a child, Su Mo’s own parents didn’t care much, but Yang Yizhi would always take him to seek revenge on Yang Xiaoyun.

He would earnestly advise Yang Xiaoyun that once married, she should respect her husband, and that she shouldn’t treat Su Mo like that...

At the time, the look in Yang Yizhi’s eyes made Su Mo feel that he cared more about him than his own father did.

And all of this seemed to change after Su Mo’s father passed away.

Su Mo vaguely remembered that during the memorial service, Yang Yizhi’s gaze towards him was very complex, filled with many emotions. Unfortunately, young Su Mo didn’t pay much attention to it then.

Reflecting on it now, he felt a slight chill.

What exactly caused Yang Yizhi to change so much?

This led to a question Su Mo had never seriously considered before.

Back then... how did Su Mo’s father die such a tragic death on the road?

Who was his opponent?

What was the cargo he was escorting?

What does Yang Yizhi know about this?

Is it because he knows something that his personality changed so drastically?