Chapter 169: The Final Act

Chapter 169: The Final Act

Although the voice came suddenly, none of them were surprised.

The valley was only so big, and with no particular effort to conceal their presence or mask their aura, anyone at the entrance would be visible to all.

Yang Yizhi didn't mind her eavesdropping, and naturally, Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun had no reason to say anything either.

The person who arrived was none other than Ling Hongxia, the Blood Osprey Blade.

Hearing her speak, Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun bowed their fists together in her direction:

"Senior Ling."

Ling Hongxia waved her hand but then swept her gaze across Su Mo's face, her eyes holding an indescribable color.

After shaking her head lightly, she glared at Yang Yizhi:

"Why did you tell them about those old trivial matters? You mentioned Su's romantic escapades?

"Is this something children should hear?"

"When it comes to this matter, we need to go over every detail," Yang Yizhi said. "Mo'er is meticulous and insightful. Even you and I still have unclear points in this matter.

"You've been investigating this for many years. The one from Cold Moon Palace, although stationed in East City, has always kept an eye on the Eastern Wilderness.

"The purpose is to uncover the truth from years past, isn't it?

"Today, I'm recounting our past experiences to Mo'er and Yun'er, and we'll go over it again to see if there's anything new we can learn."

Ling Hongxia was silent for a while. Yang Yizhi's argument was solid and hard to refute. After a moment of silence, she waved her hand, "Since that's the case, let me tell this part."

"Yes... from your perspective, it will be more insightful."

Yang Yizhi extended his arm to invite her to continue.

Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun also shifted their gaze to Ling Hongxia's face.

Ling Hongxia didn't speak at first, but her face reddened.

Finally, she sighed and said to Su Mo, "Your father... is a troublemaker."

Su Mo was left speechless, unsure whether to refute this.

"When I first met him, I was sixteen. Back then, I carried two blood-red blades and wore a big red robe. I punished the wicked and eliminated the evil. Which villain didn't flee at the sight of me?

"But then I met your father, a shameless man.

"Obsessed with trivial matters, at first, I really wanted to cut him into a thousand pieces with these two blades.

"But... I couldn't bring myself to do it.

"My relationship with your father is too complicated to explain. I won't bother you with all the details.

"You just need to know that I saved his life, and he once protected me with his life.

"If it weren't for your mother's interference, the person you'd be calling mother would be me!"

Upon saying this, Ling Hongxia placed her hands on her hips, inexplicably full of fighting spirit.

Su Mo was left embarrassed, feeling that this matter would be more convincing if told in Yang Yizhi's calm tone.

He saw Yang Yizhi quietly smirk and then listened contentedly from the side.

"After I found out he had secretly married, I was so angry that I didn't speak to him for a long time.

"But later, after much consideration, I decided to see him again.

"My martial arts skills are passed down from my family. When it comes to concealing aura, although they may not be as flawless as Yu Lingxin's, they have their own merits."

Su Mo believed this.

In the battle with the Heaven Gate Master just now, Ling Hongxia had been hiding nearby, and Su Mo hadn't sensed her at all.

This skill was extraordinary.

Then Ling Hongxia continued:

"As a young maiden, going to see a married man couldn't be done openly.

"So that night, I sneaked into Ziyang Escort Agency, expecting to see some unsightly scenes, but I couldn't find your father after searching.

"Only your mother was sleeping soundly on the bed.

"Later, I found the three of them in a room in the backyard.

"One was your father, another was this wooden Yang, and the last was Li Siyun.

"I was curious. Two of these men were already married. Why were they idly and secretly gathering like that?

"So I eavesdropped, and almost fell off the roof after hearing the first sentence.

"At that time, I heard Li Siyun tell them that the item their clan had guarded for generations was actually the Great Xuanwu Treasury!"

Ling Hongxia said this and gave Yang Yizhi a cold glance.

Yang Yizhi pretended not to see it.

Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun had already noticed, after all, the word "Shouxuan" had essentially revealed the crux of the matter.

"What kind of existence is the Great Xuanwu Vault?

"In its heyday, how powerful was the Great Xuan Dynasty?

"The Great Xuan Emperor trampled the jianghu seven times on horseback, collecting all the treasures and peerless martial arts secrets in the world, which were gathered within this Great Xuanwu Vault.

"There is a rumor that the entire fate of the Great Xuan Dynasty was suppressed here.

"And when the Great Xuan Dynasty vanished overnight, it was as if the fate was returned to the jianghu.

"Many say that what was returned was the Great Xuanwu Vault.

"Because of this, the saying 'He who obtains the Great Xuan will obtain the world' came to be."

Ling Hongxia paused and shook her head slightly: "The theory of fate is elusive, so we won't mention it for now.

"But even without mentioning fate or the dynasty, just the treasures and martial arts secrets within the Great Xuanwu Vault are enough to make many in the jianghu yearn for it.

"And since the fall of the Great Xuan Dynasty, how much bloodshed has been caused by it?

"Your father, who was doing perfectly fine, actually got involved with something like this?

"He's really courting death.

"My heart tightened, and I lost my composure. The three people inside the room noticed immediately and came out to capture me..."

She glared fiercely at Yang Yizhi again.

Yang Yizhi shook his head: "This concerns a top-secret matter, so when there's the slightest hint of a breeze, action must be swift. But after seeing it was you, didn't Su Tianyang apologize to you for a full half-hour?"

"Hmph... just half an hour."

Ling Hongxia snorted and continued: "Your father explained the situation to me, and I understand how tragic Li Siyun's clan is. However, I still didn't want your father to take such a risk.

"But if he could listen to even half of what I said, how could things have come to this...

"Hmph, later, seeing that I really couldn't argue with him, I had no choice but to make him agree to let me join.

"I thought that if things became impossible, at least at a crucial moment, I could knock him out and take him away.

"That's why I got involved in this matter.

"That's all from my part, whether you want to mention the Cold Moon Palace or not."

She snorted again and stood to the side, arms crossed, lost in thought about something.

Yang Yizhi sighed: "This has indeed become a complication for us, but there's nothing we can do about it. My father already feels guilty towards her, and since she found out, we couldn't exactly kill her to silence her, right?

"In the end, we had no choice but to agree to let her come along.

"What Li Siyun said that day was far more than just about the Great Xuanwu Vault.

"What his clan guards is not the martial vault itself.

"But the key to the vault... the Xuanji Buckle!

"According to Li Siyun, there are seven Xuanji Buckles.

"When the Great Xuan Dynasty collapsed, four of these seven Xuanji Buckles were scattered across the jianghu.

"Li Siyun's clan, being the remnants of the Great Xuan Dynasty, was tasked with guarding the remaining three Xuanji Buckles.

"However, in the early days of the dynasty's fall, chaos erupted everywhere, with warlords fighting for control, making the world a place of turmoil.

"His clan was hunted by those with ulterior motives, living in constant fear.

"They always felt that one day, someone might kill them and take the Xuanji Buckles away.

"So... after much thought, they decided to hide the three Xuanji Buckles separately.

"Each left behind clues for their retrieval.

"For example, the map within the Jade Clear View Mountain Chart, the Mandarin Duck Manual in Li Siyun's possession, and the Golden Jade Cone secretly kept by the Heavenly Blade Sect.

"These three together are the key to unlocking the hidden vault containing the Xuanji Buckle.

"There are three such hidden vaults in total.

"All were created by Li Siyun's clan, but the methods to open these hidden vaults and the items left behind are all different.

"Specifically how, even Li Siyun at the time only had a partial understanding.

"He only knew that, just like the Golden Jade Cone being hidden in the Heavenly Blade Sect and the map being hidden in Jade Willow Villa.

"The rest of the items that could lead to the Xuanji Buckles were secretly kept by various clans and organizations.

"Li Siyun's clan only kept three items.

"One of them was the Mandarin Duck Manual.

"Now, with his death, there's probably only one person left in the world who knows what all the items are."

Su Mo raised his eyebrows slightly upon hearing this: "There's still one person?"

"Hmm..."

Yang Yizhi nodded. "He was one of the traitors who escaped many years ago.

"There are other twists to this matter, and it is, by all means, a stroke of incredible fortune.

"After revealing all his secrets, we came to realize that the hidden forces behind him were extremely ruthless. If people like him had succeeded,

"even if they had gained the destiny to unify the world, it would have been an incredibly cruel dynasty.

"For this reason alone, we could not allow them to succeed.

"Your father, your Aunt Ling, and I immediately began to cultivate the Yixuan Shen Gong and the Jinghong Fenguang Shou.

"Li Siyun was severely injured back then. Although the fatal wound was a stab to the heart, his hand skills were also nearly ruined and could never return to their former glory.

"Once the three of us made some progress, we started planning to help Li Siyun take revenge.

"His clan's Jinghong Fenguang Shou and Yixuan Shen Gong were like fireflies in the dark night.

"Your father, using his convenience of escorting goods, traveled across the Eastern Wastes from time to time, and occasionally, he would don the guise of a black-clad figure to challenge famous martial artists using the Jinghong Fenguang Shou and Yixuan Shen Gong.

"Sometimes, your Aunt Ling and I would accompany the convoy, and other times we would act separately.

"The purpose of this, I believe, doesn't need to be explained."

"Luring the snake out of the hole."

Su Mo nodded. "The whereabouts of the escaped traitor were something the Three Extremes Sect desperately wanted to know back then.

"And whether these traitors were truly united was something that needed to be verified."

"Exactly."

Yang Yizhi sighed. "We didn’t expect that the Three Extremes Sect would be more patient than we imagined.

"The first to show up were actually members of Li Siyun's clan.

"After your father captured this person, he was interrogated under torture, and only then did we learn that some accidents had occurred back then.

"The reason the leader of the Earth Sect didn’t manage to send our information back was that the Three Extremes Sect also had internal issues and was attacked by a group of unknown individuals.

"In the midst of their own troubles, they couldn’t pursue the traitors from Li Siyun's clan as planned, and they had to let them escape.

"Even the item they had seized was taken from them…

"And that item was the Seven-Foot Mystic Light Sword."

"The Yu clan?"

Both Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun were taken aback. "The ones who ambushed the Three Extremes Sect back then were actually them?"

"That’s correct."

Yang Yizhi nodded. "But it took us a great deal of effort to investigate this far.

"We eventually confirmed that the Yu clan had many connections with the Mystic Locks.

"After the fall of the Great Xuan Dynasty, four out of the seven Mystic Locks ended up in the jianghu, and one of them had always been with the Yu clan.

"After several tests, we confirmed that the Yu clan wasn’t acting out of ambition but was constantly being probed by the Three Extremes Sect because of the Mystic Lock.

"They managed to find some clues.

"At that time, they went to the Li clan’s territory because they sensed something was afoot with the Three Extremes Sect and wanted to stop them.

"But they arrived too late. They only saw the Three Extremes Sect members chasing the traitors and, not knowing the full story, let the traitors escape and even took the Seven-Foot Mystic Light Sword that the Three Extremes Sect had just seized.

"This, however, planted the seeds of the Yu clan’s tragedy."

"So, before that, when you were transporting the Mandarin Ducks Manual to the Yu clan..."

Su Mo recalled what the Five Tigers of Huaishan had said that day.

"Yes, that’s true."

Yang Yizhi nodded. "That was another attempt to lure the snake out of the hole, but unexpectedly, after that incident, the Three Extremes Sect went silent.

"The only remaining hidden piece from back then was the endless knife-wielding Tong Yun..."

He looked somewhat peculiar at this point. "The martial arts of the Heavenly Blade Sect, I believe you are aware of them, right?"

"Yes..."

Su Mo nodded. "The Tai Shang Hiding Emotions."

"Exactly."

Yang Yizhi smiled. "Tong Yun was a hidden operative the Three Extremes Sect had planted in the Heavenly Blade Sect to investigate the Golden Jade Cone.

"That escort mission was meant to draw out members of the Three Extremes Sect to annihilate them.

"But in the end, only Tong Yun appeared.

"When he made his move, we recognized the Seven Emotions Immortal Blade. The only person who could elevate that blade technique to such a level was none other than this Senior Tong.

"Your father, on a whim, decided not to kill him but to try and turn him to our side instead."

Tong Yun, as an undercover operative, should have been as hard as iron at heart. However, after cultivating the internal skills of the Heavenly Blade Sect, he became more sentimental and pensive. Although his expression grew increasingly cold, his emotional inclinations had already begun to waver.

"In the end, he was actually persuaded by your father.

"However, there were some things he only told your father at the time, and I didn't find out about them until much later, from your father's own mouth.

"It turns out... the Three Extremes Sect was not the true mastermind behind the scenes.

"Or rather, the Three Extremes Sect was merely a tendril extended by this behind-the-scenes presence into the Eastern Wasteland.

"Even to this day, my understanding of this is still very limited. It was only a few days ago, when I was tracking the Scholar of Flowing Clouds, that I learned their main headquarters seems to be a great secret to them as well.

"This is the one thing I want to know the most right now."

Hearing this, Su Mo couldn't help but furrow his brow.

Back then, the leader of the Man Character Sect did have a conversation like this with the Scholar of Flowing Clouds.

The Scholar of Flowing Clouds poisoned Yang Yizhi. The Haoran Academy certainly couldn't tolerate him.

At that time, he indicated that he could no longer stay in the Eastern Wasteland. The leader of the Man Character Sect immediately asked if he was going to return to the main headquarters and even inquired about its location.

Su Mo had assumed at the time that the main headquarters was that of the Three Extremes Sect.

But now, it seems that was not the case.

Thinking about it carefully, doesn't it send a chill down your spine?

What kind of enormous presence is secretly plotting within the jianghu?

Attempting to seize the Profound Mechanism Buckle?

If it were just a single gang or sect, or even just the Three Extremes Sect, one might say they were delusional. But the scale of the organization behind this is truly terrifying.

They... might truly be aiming for the entire world!

Seeing Su Mo lost in thought, Yang Yizhi waited for a moment before continuing,

"At that time, I didn't know what Tong Yun had told your father, but after that, your father often fell into silence.

"Especially since your mother was already six months pregnant at the time, and Yun'er was just beginning to speak. Every time he looked at Yun'er, he would fall into deep thought.

"After that, your father went to the Purple Sun Sect.

"That trip, he made alone.

"It was said that he stirred up some romantic entanglements along the way, which resulted in Cold Moon Palace's Cold Rain Flying Star Sword remaining unmarried to this day...

"When he returned from East City after this trip, his personality had drastically changed.

"He directly handed the Mandarin Ducks Register back to Li Siyun for safekeeping.

"And he asked me to start a new branch, founding the Iron Blood Escort Agency.

"In the following years, although on the surface I was still that incompetent escort living under the shade of my ancestors, in secret I was always helping Li Siyun search for the traitors from years ago.

"During this process, the Three Extremes Sect made a comeback, annihilating the Yu clan.

"That night, the Seven-foot Profound Light Sword was retrieved by your father, but at the time, I didn't understand why he never asked me to make a move.

"In the end, the Seven-foot Profound Light Sword was given to the Jade Kirin.

"Then, your father and I sent Yu Lingxin and the Jade Kirin to two different places for martial arts training.

"After that, he sent Li Siyun away and asked your Aunt Ling to leave the jianghu, forbidding her from using the Mystic Transfer Divine Skill and the Startling Rainbow Dividing Light Hand ever again.

"All of us who knew him well understood that he wouldn't suddenly change his personality like that.

"We all knew that he must have encountered something, faced some difficult situation.

"But no matter how we asked, he never said a word...

"Not until just before he met his end, he came to me."

Yang Yizhi's eyes held a hint of melancholy,

"I remember that night, with the slight drizzle on the water, he came to me with a jug of wine.

"When I saw it, I was so angry I almost cursed out loud.

"After Yun'er was born, I had buried two jars of daughter's red.

"This guy... had opened one of them!

"He didn't seem to care about my anger, his cheeky grin made me want to smash the wine bowl on his face.

"He poured me wine and said, 'Brother, I've always wondered what daughter's red tastes like, my mouth was too greedy, don't blame me.'

"He also said, 'These years, I've been acting more and more erratically, so I'm here to apologize with this drink.'

"I was still fuming, so I didn't pay much attention to his words. After drinking a few bowls of wine, the conversation gradually opened up.

"But still, it was just idle chatter.

"He said that in his life, he really felt he had wronged many people.

"He owed a debt to the lady of Cold Moon Palace, but it was just an encounter along the way, fighting demons together, and somehow, he had stirred a maiden's heart."

"The grace of a beautiful woman is too great to bear.

"He also said he owed much to your Aunt Ling. They knew each other the earliest and were truly compatible, but fate had other plans, and they were destined not to be together."

When Ling Hongxia heard this, she instinctively turned her head to the side, her eyes slightly reddening.

"However, the person he owed the most was your mother...

"He said that your mother followed him and never had a single day of peace.

"He was rarely home, always away, and every time we met, all that remained was longing.

"He was also negligent in disciplining you, which led to your increasingly unruly behavior.

"He told me, 'Big Brother, the older you get in the jianghu, the more timid you become. I was always worried that one day, while walking the jianghu, I might fall into a trap. With them being a widow and orphan, I would have no one to care for them. I hope you, Big Brother, will take care of them.'"

As Yang Yizhi spoke, his fist clenched involuntarily.

"At that time, the alcohol was hitting me, and between us brothers, when we drink, we never use internal energy to dispel the alcohol. Instead, it made my head dizzy, and I didn't take his words to heart.

"It was also that day when he revealed to me, in his drunken state, what Tong Yun had told him all those years ago.

"Now that I think about it... he, he must have already harbored the resolve to die!

"That night, we talked a lot, said many things, and he both cried and laughed. Eventually, I drank too much and couldn't remember...

"He put me to bed and covered me with a quilt. The last thing I remember is his departing back... which was inexplicably tired.

"It was as if he had taken all the burdens upon himself, with no one able to help him... to share even a little of it."

"Damn it!"

Ling Hongxia suddenly waved her hand, unable to listen anymore, and turned to leave.

Yang Yizhi looked up silently and said softly,

"That was the last time I saw him...

"The next time I saw him, he was lying in the mourning hall of the Ziyang Escort Agency."

After saying this, Yang Yizhi closed his mouth and seemed unwilling to speak for a long time.

Yang Xiaoyun instinctively pulled Su Mo's hand.

Su Mo's eyes shifted slightly upwards. This conversation had lasted an entire day.

Now, as night fell, the cool air began to chill.

"Uncle Yang... did they ever know that you possessed the 'Mandarin Ducks Manual'?" Su Mo suddenly asked.

"...They didn't," Yang Yizhi replied. "Investigating the Mandarin Ducks Manual was something Tong Yun was doing. After Tong Yun was turned by your father, the manual became lost to them."

"And your entanglement with the Yu clan, does anyone know about it?"

"Apart from us, no one knows.

"Even within the Yu clan, it's often kept under wraps."

Su Mo nodded and sighed,

"The Seven-foot Mystic Sword was taken by him alone.

"Apart from us, no one knows that the Mandarin Ducks Manual was with Li Siyun.

"In the past, none of you used the Yixuan Divine Art or the Graceful Light Technique under your own identities.

"Nor did you ever act simultaneously, so even the mastermind behind the scenes might not know that it wasn't just one person, but several.

"My father went to the Purple Sun Sect and perhaps learned something.

"After that, the Purple Sun Sect also became less involved in the jianghu, which might be connected to this incident.

"I suppose it was the true colossal power behind the Three Extremes Sect that intervened.

"This matter must come to an end...

"If it doesn't end with him, it will involve all of you.

"He upheld justice and stayed true to his heart but didn't want to involve those around him.

"So, he planned to end this with his own death.

"However, if he truly intended to do this, in the final battle before his death, he probably never used the Yixuan Divine Art or the Graceful Light Technique.""