Chapter 131: Since You’ve Hidden All These Years, Just Keep Hiding
Chapter 131: Since You’ve Hidden All These Years, Just Keep Hiding
Thinking about that one still struggling with how to deal with others… Xuantongzi couldn’t help but sigh inwardly. He really had been living deep underground for too long; it had made him naive.
Currently, inside the Imperial Palace, aside from Hu Xiaoxian, Hu Dali, and a few other Fox Clan members, there were hardly any Dao-Entry Grade masters. So, Xuantongzi was able to sneak in relatively easily.
But for Ling Yi to leave undetected wasn’t as simple.
Hu Xiaoxian and the others didn’t pay much attention to Ling Yi’s whereabouts because they all knew he was the most terrifying presence in the entire Royal Capital. There was simply no need to worry about his safety.
Yet, if he tried to leave, unless the Enchantress intervened, he would definitely be noticed.
So, he could only let Xuantongzi go first, then find an excuse himself to go out later.
“Give me an address. Go out and wait for me. If I leave with you, it’s bound to alert people in the palace,” Ling Yi said calmly.
Xuantongzi looked at Ling Yi and couldn’t resist asking, “Young Master Ling, aren’t you going to ask who I am? Or why I’m asking you to go?”
Ling Yi remained expressionless. “No need.”
Xuantongzi: “…”
He felt somewhat slighted.
But then again, why did it also seem perfectly reasonable?
Not long after Xuantongzi left, Ling Yi strolled out, found Luo Xue, and told her he needed to go out for a while.
Luo Xue was startled for a moment, looking at him. “Finally?” she asked.
Among everyone in the palace, only Luo Xue and Ling Yi knew that the Aged Monarch might not be dead. But after so many days had passed without any movement from that side, Luo Xue had started to harbor some doubts.
But what was coming had finally arrived.
Ling Yi nodded.
“Will it be dangerous?” Luo Xue asked softly.
Because of Ling Yi, years of plotting might be ruined. That grudge would not be small.
So even though she had full confidence in Ling Yi, she still felt a bit of worry.
Ling Yi smiled. “It’s fine. Don’t worry.”
Luo Xue nodded. “Then go ahead. See what he wants from you.”
Ling Yi said, “No matter what he wants, since he’s hidden all these years, he can just keep hiding.”
Luo Xue’s eyes sparkled as she looked at him, suddenly smiling. “What he probably fears most is that the future Chu State’s ruler might have the surname Ling, right?”
Ling Yi glanced at her. “You worry about too much. It’s enough if your child has the surname Ling.”
Luo Xue’s face flushed, and she made a scoffing sound.
Ling Yi left with a smile.
Using his status as the “Monarch’s Distinguished Guest,” Ling Yi easily exited the Imperial Palace.
However, he had barely stepped out when he received a call from Chu Yanyu.
“I heard from the guards’ report that you went out? Don’t misunderstand, I don’t mean anything else… I’m just a little worried about you…” Chu Yanyu’s voice sounded weary, carrying a hint of softness.
“Yes, I have some business to attend to outside the city. I’ll explain it to you when I get back. Don’t worry, nothing will happen to me.”
After saying that, Ling Yi hung up the call, activated his movement technique, and vanished from the spot in an instant.
The Enchantress laughed in his mind. “Looks like the future Monarch of Chu State really might have the surname Ling.”
Ling Yi ignored her, thinking to himself, With you around, who could I possibly mess with?
Arriving outside the city, he saw Xuantongzi waiting there.
He gave a slight nod toward him. “Let’s go.”
Xuantongzi also nodded silently, then led Ling Yi toward the remote mountains far from the Royal Capital.
Along the way, Xuantongzi noticed that Ling Yi’s movement technique was remarkably refined. As a Dao-Entry Grade cultivator, even when not deliberately slowing down, Ling Yi actually managed to stay right behind him, never falling behind!
This discovery made Xuantongzi all the more amazed.
Having an invisible, terrifying presence backing him was frightening enough, but being so outstanding himself was downright chilling. Xuantongzi got the feeling… Ling Yi might be even more formidable than Lu Qingming had been in his day.
Truly, fortune’s wheel turns. The Qin State, weak for many years, was probably really about to rise.
If Ling Yi didn’t follow Lu Qingming’s path of seeking absolute power in the Mortal World, then the future of Qin State would be limitless!
That being the case, this person was bound to become the greatest enemy of the Carefree Sect!
Thinking of this, Xuantongzi suddenly felt a surge of excitement.
He decided he must secretly remind that person later.
Under no circumstances should they do anything to provoke this young man.
Following Xuantongzi through the snowy night, Ling Yi sped along for over three hundred miles until they finally reached the place.
First, they passed through a Formation Array, arrived at the entrance of an underground facility, went through many password-protected doors, passed many more layers of Formation Arrays, and finally rode an elevator deep into the earth.
This place was extremely concealed. Just the multiple Formation Arrays were enough to block all satellite surveillance from the sky and the prying eyes of powerful cultivators.
It seemed the other party had laid out a grand scheme many years ago.
Only one thing Ling Yi still hadn’t figured out: what was the point of this scheme?
Watching helplessly as Lu Qingming reached the pinnacle step by step, then sacrificing all royal relatives, even abandoning his own sons and daughters… what was he seeking?
Even if he could ultimately kill Lu Qingming, then what?
What could it possibly change?
Moreover, no matter how perfect a scheme, how could it withstand the full wrath of the Carefree Sect?
This was the one thing Ling Yi still hadn’t been able to understand.
That was also why he came without hesitation—he wanted to understand what was hidden here.
After roughly another twenty-something minutes, having passed through numerous checkpoints, Ling Yi finally met that person.
Xuantongzi didn’t leave immediately. Instead, he communicated with that person via voice transmission for a long while before finally smiling at Ling Yi and turning to depart.
In the dimly lit room, only Ling Yi and the old man before him remained, the old man with slack muscles and a face full of age spots.
“Seeing me, aren’t you surprised?” the old man asked solemnly.
“It’s okay,” Ling Yi replied.
The old man stared directly at Ling Yi. The sagging, age-spotted face slowly twisted into anger. He growled in a low voice, “Ling Yi, do you know how long we have prepared to set the stage for today’s confrontation?”
“No,” Ling Yi answered honestly.
“I didn’t ask you!” The old man seemed even angrier.
“Oh.” Ling Yi nodded and plopped down on the sofa.
Hmm, pretty comfortable, actually.
Seemed the old man enjoyed his comforts too.
The old man looked coldly at Ling Yi. Xuantongzi had told him a great deal just now, giving him a whole new understanding of Ling Yi.
Yet he still couldn’t help but feel furious.
Because, no matter what, Ling Yi’s appearance had disrupted the plan for Chu State’s unification of the six states.
The old man fell silent for a moment, then suddenly sighed. He picked up a bottle of wine from the table and brought over two glasses.
He poured a little into each glass and handed one to Ling Yi.
Ling Yi glanced at the wine glass and casually set it aside.
“Fine wine, not poisoned,” the old man said with displeasure.
“I don’t like using cups others have used,” Ling Yi said.
“…”
The old man couldn’t help but glare at him and said crossly, “No one has used that cup!”
Only then did Ling Yi pick it up, examining it carefully for a long time before feeling reassured. He took a small sip. “Good wine.”
Hmph!
The old man drained his cup irritably, poured himself another, and then looked at Ling Yi. “Who do you think I am?”
Ling Yi thought for a moment. “Originally, I thought you should be the Monarch of Chu State. But since you ask this way… there must be something wrong. Let me guess…”
The old man watched Ling Yi and took another gulp of wine.
Ling Yi sat there and spoke slowly. “You are the Monarch. The one who died… was also the Monarch, but you… are not Yanyu’s father.”
Yanyu?
How intimately he calls her!
The old man first glared at Ling Yi irritably, then frowned and asked, “How did you know?”
Ling Yi looked at him. “I can sense the sadness of losing a loved one from you, but not the grief of an elder sending off a younger one. There’s a difference between the two.”
“So, the deceased prince likely wasn’t your son. Then his older sister, Chu Yanyu, naturally isn’t your daughter either.”
Although the old man had just heard from Xuantongzi that this young man was remarkable, hearing about it and witnessing it firsthand were two different things.
He looked at Ling Yi with some astonishment. “This was… guessed?”
Ling Yi wore a modest expression. “Deduced, deduced.”
The old man gulped down another large mouthful of wine, a flush appearing on his aged face. He set down the cup and gave Ling Yi a thumbs-up.
“Did you know all along that I wasn’t dead? Or, did you know from the start that the deceased Monarch of Great Chu was problematic?”
Ling Yi glanced at him. “Many cultivators might not care for high-tech products, since even surveillance devices can’t capture their presence. But I’m different. I think they still have their merits.”
The old man was taken aback, pondered for a while, then muttered, “Through video footage comparison?”
Ling Yi said, “Yes.”
The old man shook his head with a bitter smile. “Even the Carefree Sect didn’t know about this, yet you found the flaw through videos. So, it seems there really is no such thing as a perfect scheme.”
Ling Yi looked at him. “I don’t understand. Why did you set up such a scheme?”
The old man remained silent for a long time before whispering, “Out of helplessness.”
Helplessness?
Ling Yi looked at him.
The old man drank another mouthful of wine, sitting there with a reminiscent look in his eyes.
“My elder brother and I are twins. The midwife who delivered us was from the Mount Taiyue Sect, the guardian sect of Chu State. We were separated right after birth.”
“I was taken into the Mount Taiyue Sect to cultivate, while my brother stayed in the Imperial Palace. So, apart from a few high-ranking members of the Mount Taiyue Sect and our parents, no one knew that two children were born that day.”
“Within the Mount Taiyue Sect, there was a powerful artifact. Many years ago, the Carefree Sect learned of it and sought to obtain it. At the same time, the Carefree Sect also planned to replace the Mount Taiyue Sect as the guardian sect of Great Chu and eventually unite the world.”
“Soon after the spy planted by Mount Taiyue Sect within the Carefree Sect relayed this message back, he died mysteriously.”
“Sensing the danger, our side dispatched a group, led by me, to secretly come here.”
“From then on, I began to imitate my brother. For many years, I even ruled in his place, while my brother used that time to cultivate.”
As he spoke, the old man glanced at Ling Yi. “I suppose it was those videos that allowed you to spot the loophole.”
Ling Yi smiled slightly.
The old man continued, “We made dual preparations out of sheer necessity.”
“On one hand, to leave behind a force for Mount Taiyue Sect to seek revenge; on the other hand, we feared something might happen to my brother, leading to the extinction of Great Chu’s bloodline…”
“When my brother discovered Lu Qingming, his background was spotlessly clean. He fooled us all, so none of us knew he came from the Carefree Sect.”
“It wasn’t until after he rose to power that, by chance, my brother learned his true identity.”
The old man said bitterly, “But by then, it was too late. My brother could only endure in silence, pretending to know nothing, because Lu Qingming was not only powerful enough but also clever enough!”
“If he discovered any flaw, neither of us would likely survive.”
“Despite all our preparations to guard against the Carefree Sect and Lu Qingming, we ultimately failed.”
“Mount Taiyue Sect was eventually annihilated, and the true nature of the Carefree Sect was fully exposed.”
“In such circumstances, we could only go with the flow, waiting for Lu Qingming to seize the world before making our move to eliminate him!”
“Meanwhile, using the power hidden all these years, along with the arrangements made over time, we would launch a strike into the Carefree Sect.”
“Then, new grudges and old grievances would be settled together!”
At this point, the old man looked at Ling Yi and said coldly, “But all of this was perfectly ruined by you and my niece, who knew nothing about any of it!”