Chapter 327: Proposal for Marriage

Chapter 327: The Marriage Proposal

In the dimly lit chamber, Jun Luo laughed maniacally.

In his view, since Su Mo coveted the Xuánjī Kòu, he would naturally be determined to uncover the secrets hidden within Wusheng Hall.

Wan Yutang had been imprisoned and tortured by him for twenty years, yet he had never revealed a single word.

Now that he had escaped this calamity, he was about to be targeted by the Eastern Wasteland's Number One.

Jun Luo couldn’t help but gloat.

The Qilin Swordsman, seeing his unrestrained laughter, couldn’t resist rolling his eyes:

"What’s so funny?"

"Of course I should laugh!"

Jun Luo burst out laughing:

"Chief Escort Su is hailed as a paragon of righteousness, yet his true goal in this journey is still nothing more than the Xuánjī Kòu.

"I suppose you’ve been chasing me all this way for the same reason, wasn’t it?

"After going to such lengths to rescue Wan Yutang, won’t your true intentions still be exposed in the end?

"Unfortunately, now that I’ve fallen into your hands, I no longer seek survival. It’s just that I won’t get to see Wan Yutang’s fate—that truly leaves me with some bitter regret."

Hearing this, Su Mo also smiled:

"You’re overthinking things. Why not focus on what else you haven’t confessed yet?

"Out with it."

"...Fine."

Jun Luo shrugged bluntly:

"But at this point, there’s nothing left for me to hide.

"From the moment I colluded with the Jinglong Society and betrayed our clan, everything that followed has already been told to you.

"Over the years, I used the map on the recovered Xuánjī Kòu to explore the ruins of Da Xuan.

"In the end, I obtained the Enlightened Lamp-Lighting Sutra.

"I then manipulated Wan Yutang to build the Endless Prison, seized the title of hall master, and locked him inside.

"After that, I relentlessly tortured him to extract the whereabouts of the Heart-Retrieving Umbrella while also attempting to cultivate the Enlightened Lamp-Lighting Sutra."

At this point, he sighed:

"Unfortunately, the Enlightened Lamp-Lighting Sutra is incredibly difficult to master.

"I cultivated the 'Control' ideogram myself, but for the 'Sun' and 'Moon' characters, I couldn’t find suitable candidates.

"It wasn’t until later that I discovered Li Xuechun had potential. And after Madam Wan bore Wan Yilan, the 'Moon' character finally had its inheritor.

"Meanwhile, a group wielding the Divine Light Splitting Hand and the Yixuan Divine Art sprang up in the jianghu."

"Why are these people flaunting themselves so openly? I could tell at a glance.

"I naturally ignored them...

"But because of this, I knew that if this group wasn’t from the Jinglong Society, then someone else must still be tracking me.

"So, I set up a puppet to act as the public face of ‘Wan Yutang,’ while secretly controlling everything from the shadows.

"Not long ago, Chief Escort Su’s reputation skyrocketed.

"So when Chief Escort Su arrived in Wusheng Hall’s territory, I planned to use the Parting Brew to control him.

"If I could achieve that, combined with the *Enlightened LampLighting Sutra* in my hands—

"With these two forces united, who could challenge me?

"By then, I would surely conquer the Eastern Wastes and sweep through the realm.

"Becoming the true ruler of all under heaven!"

"...‘Ruler of All Under Heaven’—fitting for ‘Jun Luo’..."

After hearing this, Su Mo suddenly burst into laughter:

"You pathetic worm, daring to claim the world? What sheer arrogance."

"Hmph."

Jun Luo glanced coldly at Su Mo and said,

"Can a sparrow comprehend the ambition of a swan?"

Su Mo shook his head lightly and pointed at the bundle:

"What’s in here?"

"You’ve seen it, haven’t you?"

Jun Luo sighed. "My clan’s records—about the *Mysterious Mechanism Locks,* about the Great Xuan Dynasty.

"Since I had already decided to betray them back then, these things naturally became extremely important.

"So I spent some time memorizing them.

"Later, after settling in Wusheng Hall, I worried that with time, I might forget what I had memorized.

"So I just wrote everything down.

"Aside from that, there are things I took from the ruins of the Great Xuan’s imperial city... Well, no—actually, that place wasn’t the imperial city at all.

"It was merely an alchemy workshop from the Great Xuan Dynasty’s past.

"I recorded everything I found there and kept it here.

"Now, it’s all ended up with you."

Then, Su Mo pressed about the ruins of the Great Xuan and such.

But on this matter, Jun Luo was evasive.

He merely said that the place was extremely dangerous.

Even with a map as guidance, one could still easily become trapped there.

The land was deadly, filled with poisonous miasma, and the alchemy labs of the Great Xuan Dynasty were littered with traps.

Venturing there was near-suicidal.

He said that if one could gather all seven Xuanji Tokens,

they might gain unexpected insights.

Unfortunately, in his entire life, he only managed to find one. As for the second token, Wan Yutang wouldn’t spill a word about its location no matter what.

This left Jun Luo at a complete loss.

Eventually, he was ready to wash his hands of it altogether.

The only reason he kept Wan Yutang alive was sheer stubbornness.

At this point, Su Mo suddenly changed the subject and asked about Ren Xiongfei.

"When did you find out about the Night Monarch sending Ren Xiongfei to infiltrate Wusheng Hall?"

"..."

Jun Luo fell silent for a moment before answering:

"I’ve known about this for a long time...

"But Ren Xiongfei’s abilities were limited, and he had already slipped up from the start, so I never lost sleep over him.

"Moreover, as Li Xuechun and Wan Yilan’s inner energy cultivation grew stronger, my mastery of the Enlightened Lamp-Lighting Sutra was nearing completion.

"A small fry like him was hardly worth mentioning.

"In fact, he could even serve as a valuable piece in my counterattack against the Eternal Night Valley.

"But from what I observed, aside from trying to use Wan Zangxin to control Wusheng Hall, his actions were mostly directed at the Fallen Phoenix Alliance.

"There’s one thing... you might wanna hear."

Here, he glanced at Su Mo, perhaps initially intending to negotiate terms. However, the moment he locked eyes with Su Mo, he dropped the act and immediately continued:

"Ren Xiongfei was actually in cahoots with the Fallen Phoenix Alliance.

"Back then, Wei Qifeng, the eldest son of the Fallen Phoenix Alliance’s Chief Wei Ruhan, fought a duel by the Heng River.

"In the end, his corpse was dumped into the Heng River... This incident was actually Ren Xiongfei’s doing."

"What?"

Both Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun were floored.

This came completely out of left field.

"How did you know about this?"

Yang Xiaoyun jumped in immediately.

"This matter... actually wasn't something I knew, but rather Wan Yutang."

Jun Luo said: "Back when Ren Xiongfei joined Wusheng Hall, he started at the bottom but was a skilled and promising martial artist.

"He joined Wusheng Hall earlier than I did, yet it wasn’t until Wan Yutang was poised to take over that he was finally promoted.

"At that time, Wusheng Hall was in upheaval, with its Twelve Halls locked in power struggles.

"Even as the old hall master’s son, Wan Yutang couldn’t rally support, leaving him scrambling for loyal allies.

"That’s why he promoted Ren Xiongfei.

"However, Wan Yutang wasn’t as foolish as one might imagine—in fact, he had always been shrewd.

"He didn’t immediately trust Ren Xiongfei after promoting him.

"Suspecting his motives, Wan Yutang dug deeper and eventually discovered that Ren Xiongfei was in cahoots with Zeng Youwang, the Seventh Alliance Leader of the Fallen Phoenix Alliance.

"Thus, Wan Yutang suspected Ren Xiongfei might be plotting with the Fallen Phoenix Alliance against Wusheng Hall.

"However, without solid proof and still consolidating his own position, Wan Yutang had to tread carefully.

"After all, if word spread that the very person he had just promoted was a spy, how would others view him?

"So, he played dumb while having Ren Xiongfei watched.

"Whenever Ren Xiongfei left Wusheng Hall, Wan Yutang had him tailed.

"On one occasion, Ren Xiongfei changed his appearance and went to the banks of the Heng River to meet someone.

"The tails split up—one group to investigate the person he met, the other to continue following Ren Xiongfei.

"But unexpectedly, after the meeting, Ren Xiongfei didn’t return to Wusheng Hall. Instead, he followed the person he had met.

"This actually made the spies’ job easier.

"Then, they saw the man murder Wei Qifeng by the Heng River.

"After the deed, the assailant immediately fled, only for Ren Xiongfei to jump him in a secluded spot, killing him and covering his tracks.

"Once this was done, Ren Xiongfei returned to Wusheng Hall like it was just another day."

After recounting all this in one breath, Jun Luo smirked:

"The world believes Wei Qifeng was killed by another Fallen Phoenix Alliance leader, not knowing the truth behind it.

"It was this incident that confirmed Wan Yutang’s suspicions about Ren Xiongfei.

"And Wei Qifeng’s death naturally sent Wei Ruhan into a rage, who had the Fallen Phoenix Alliance scouring the riverbanks daily for the body.

"But they never found it.

"Wei Qifeng’s body vanished without a trace."

"After learning about this, Wan Yutang initially wanted to write a letter to Wei Ruhan."

"But I stopped him..."

"The reason at the time was that Ren Xiongfei, after all, came from Wusheng Hall."

"And Wei Ruhan had just lost his son. Under such circumstances, if Ren Xiongfei's involvement was immediately revealed, Wei Ruhan might find it hard to believe."

"The pain of losing a child is no trivial matter."

"Even if we wanted to hand Ren Xiongfei over, it should wait until Wei Ruhan had calmed down."

"Most importantly, if Ren Xiongfei's connection with the Fallen Phoenix Alliance wasn't as previously suspected, and his origins remained unclear, acting rashly could risk unknown repercussions lurking in the shadows."

"Naturally, it was better to investigate thoroughly first and then discuss the matter properly with Wei Ruhan."

"Wan Yutang agreed with my reasoning and thus dropped the matter..."

"He had planned to discuss it with Wei Ruhan later, but unfortunately, he never got the chance."

The reason he missed the chance is obvious.

After that, Jun Luo stole Wan Yutang’s identity and status.

He kept close watch on all of Ren Xiongfei’s deeds, which is why, over the years, Ren Xiongfei remained only a Deputy Hall Master.

Later, Su Tianyang and others helped Li Siyun track down their clan’s traitor in the martial world, purposely showcasing the Divine Light Splitting Hand.

This once again alerted Jun Luo, who then intentionally allowed chaos to grow unchecked in Wusheng Hall.

There was internal strife within Wusheng Hall, made worse by Ren Xiongfei, an outsider, fanning the flames.

Amidst the resulting chaos, Jun Luo himself sank deeper into hiding, leading to the present state of affairs.

The only thing he hadn’t anticipated was that Ren Xiongfei, who had seemingly been 'docile,' would make such a bold move over the matter of Wan Zangxin.

It was completely unforeseen.

When he first encountered Wei Ziyi at Jade Willow Villa, she’d asked him: if Su Mo encountered any news about Wei Qifeng during his travels, he must inform her.

Unfortunately, despite his journey taking him all the way to East City twice, there had been no trace of Wei Qifeng.

He never imagined hearing the whole truth here today.

By now, Su Mo also understood why Cao Ming had once said during his conversation with Madam Wan, 'Jun Luo’s schemes against the Fallen Phoenix Alliance have been long in the making.'

Since Cao Ming was Jun Luo’s puppet, it made sense he knew some inside details.

Jun Luo’s account also brought up the name Zeng Youwang.

The Fallen Phoenix Alliance’s internal strife was now laid out plainly.

In her dying moments, Madam Wan had refused to let Ren Xiongfei seize the Hou family’s power to turn against the Fallen Phoenix Alliance.

This led Su Mo to suspect that Ren Xiongfei could still be alive.

If he's still alive, there's little doubt where he is now.

The Fallen Phoenix Alliance's gathering is about to begin, and Ren Xiongfei had previously laid many traps within the alliance's territory.

He was likely waiting for a day like this.

Similarly, Wei Ruhan was also waiting...

That pretty much covers it.

Jun Luo raised his head, avoiding Su Mo's gaze, but instead turned his eyes toward Yang Yizhi and the others:

"I've said everything I should and shouldn't have. What's to be my fate?"

He still didn’t dare to ask for a quick death.

As for how to handle him, Su Mo was deeply conflicted.

Although most of the necessary questions had been asked, who knows if there might still be more to inquire about later...

Su Mo glanced at Yang Yizhi, who wore an equally uncertain expression.

After a moment's consideration, Su Mo smiled:

"Uncle Yang, this place is secure enough for the time being.

"Please take the others here and review all the items I retrieved...

"If there are any doubts, you can 'consult' Mr. Jun."

"...”

Jun Luo couldn't help but grimace—what kind of "consultation" was this?

Their idea of 'consultation' meant sealing one's qi channels, breaking limbs, and torturing them before asking questions.

Yang Yizhi nodded immediately:

"We'll decide after we’ve reviewed everything whether to execute or skin him alive."

Jun Luo's face paled:

"Skin me alive? What for? Just kill me already!"

"Someone's scared of dying," the swordsman chuckled. "Those who accomplish grand deeds don’t fuss over details—why worry how you die?"

"...”

Was that really the correct interpretation of "not sweating the small stuff"?

Jun Luo looked at the swordsman again and felt this man was truly cut from the same cloth as Su Mo.

Su Mo then said:

"There’s still some unfinished business to deal with in Wusheng Hall. Yang Xiaoyun and I will need to return.

"Also, I need to confirm his story with Wan Yutang."

"After this, we’ll be returning to the Fallen Phoenix Alliance."

"Uncle Yang... heed my advice. The affairs of Xizhou must be handled with patience—rash action must be avoided."

"Besides..."

Here, he added awkwardly:

"Besides, the matter of Yang Xiaoyun and me getting married still needs your approval."

Yang Xiaoyun froze, unprepared for Su Mo to raise this now. Her face turned crimson in an instant.

The swordsman exclaimed, "Aiya!"

"I told you it’s settled—why can’t you two just—"

"Shut up!"

Everyone shouted at once—even Ji Feiyang shot the swordsman an angry glare.

The swordsman clammed up, rolling his eyes with a huff.

"Well..."

At this, Yang Yizhi’s lips twitched in a suppressed smile, though he pretended bewilderment, his gaze shifting between Su Mo and Yang Xiaoyun.

Then, playing dumb, he asked:

"You two are getting married? Why wasn’t I informed?"

Yang Xiaoyun gaped at Yang Yizhi, almost demanding—how could you take it back now?

Yang Yizhi shot Yang Xiaoyun a few pointed looks, silencing his daughter—already firmly in Su Mo’s camp—before she could object.

Su Mo gave a quiet laugh, then bowed deeply and said solemnly:

"This nephew, Su Mo, seeks your permission to marry your daughter, Yang Xiaoyun."

"To grow old together, never parting."

"This vow is as clear as the heavens above."

"I humbly ask for Uncle Yang’s approval."

At last, Yang Yizhi dropped the act and looked at Su Mo, his eyes brimming with unreadable emotion. Finally, he boomed:

"Good!"

"Mo’er, don’t forget the promise you made today."

"If you ever mistreat my daughter, though I may be old, I still have the same stubbornness as your Uncle Fu."

"Then you’ll learn what this old man can do!"

Su Mo was momentarily speechless and could only nod, saying:

"You needn’t worry, Uncle Yang...

"But you know Uncle Fu's temper too?"

"Ha ha ha!"

Yang Yizhi laughed heartily: "I’ve known him since before you were born.

"This old man is stubborn as a mule.

"Even though he can’t fight, he always manages to be a headache.

"I bet he’s cursed me plenty at home all these years."

This left Su Mo not knowing how to reply.

Yang Yizhi then took Yang Xiaoyun's hand and placed it in Su Mo's:

"That scoundrel father of yours cracked open a jar of 'daughter’s red' too early back then.

"I was so mad I almost whacked him with my spear.

"Now I’ll finally taste this wedding wine.

"Too bad I’m already a ghost now—can’t sit in the hall proper to witness your wedding ceremony.

"Today, I’m handing my daughter over to you. I hope you will cherish her and keep your word."

"Yes."

Su Mo tightened his grip on Yang Xiaoyun's hand and said softly:

"I won’t fail her."

"Good, that’s good."

Yang Yizhi looked at Yang Xiaoyun, and when their eyes met, her eyes welled up, and her nose stung.

"Father..."

"Silly girl, marriage is a happy thing.

"After you’re married, don’t go acting wild.

"Put Mo’er first in everything, and help him hold up the Ziyang Escort’s name!"

Yang Xiaoyun kept nodding, words failing her.

Jun Luo watched awkwardly, a strange sadness welling up in him.

It hit him then—he had a daughter too... What would her wedding be like?

...

...