All of the people present in the hall, except Feng Luotian, were in a complete shock at how knowledgeable he was when they heard his long and thorough explanation.
Especially First Elder, who was Peacock Lord's uncle and had lived for more than a hundred years old. He had been living in this city and had fought with Wight Wolves for three generations, but even he did not know as much as Feng Luotian right now.
And it was only because First Elder had some experience with the beast that he considered Feng Luotian's lengthy illustration to be authentic and remarkable. If he did not have any basic knowledge about Wight Wolf, he might suspect Feng Luotian to be spouting bullshit just now.
"Brother Feng, since when have you become a monster tamer?!" Sun Wuji could not hold it anymore. He was utterly awestruck, gaping at his brother.
A monster tamer was a profession specializing in hunting monsters, so they tend to know more about monsters than others.
Feng Luotian lightly chuckled: "I just happened to come across the info when I was reading books."
"You liars!! I have never seen you read books. I have known you before you could even read." Thinking that his brother was lying, Sun Wuji immediately yelled out.
"No, I didn't lie. I can read long before you know me." Feng Luotian honestly refused the claim with a smile.
Sun Wuji was getting more and more irritating at his brother's continuous farce: "Bullshit!! Who would believe—"
Peacock Lord clapped his hand to stop the two from quarreling and said: "Okay. Good information and analysis, Tian'er. I don't even know some of the things you said. But I won't pursue such a matter. I can only say that it is to be expected from you."
Feng Luotian smirked at Sun Wuji, only to get a scornful "Hmph" back right after. But he did not mind that at all because it was understandable. How could someone like him, who had endlessly trained and never touched any books ever since he became known as a cripple, know more than Peacock Lord?
Nevertheless, there was no lie in Feng Luotian's words.
He had indeed obtained such thorough data from a book. However, that book was one among millions of encyclopedias within the most well-known and most ancient library in the universe called Coeus, which was located on one of the planets within his father's territory.
In his previous life, Feng Luotian was once assigned by his father to be Coeus's head librarian to acquire as much knowledge as possible within the given time. That's why he had a chance to come across all history and knowledge recorded since the start of time.
If he claimed his vast knowledge to be the second, no one on this planet would dare to proclaim to be the first.
"Wuji, you have something to say as well, right?" Feng Luotian turned to his brother and spoke.
Sun Wuji gave a side glance at his brother, then recounted the story while cupping his hands: "Report to Peacock Lord, after we were subjected to Wight Wolf's suppressive force, I volunteered to distract the monster, whereas Sister Mei carried Brother Feng away. Yet, even though I was charging at it, the monster did not have the slightest interest in hunting me, the easier prey right in front. Instead, it relentlessly pursued Brother Feng and Sister Mei. But I don't know who it was actually hunting."
Feng Luotian added: "I think it should be Yue'er. After it caught up to us, it singularly focused on her. It may seem like she had successfully distracted the monster from me, but as the battle went on, it did not glance at me even once. Long story short, the monster was not hunting for food. It came with a target in mind, which was also not a normal behavior of a monster with low-level intelligence."
"…" Peacock Lord's brows creased as fury was boiling inside him. Who dares to target his daughter in Divine Bird City's territory? This is simply a blatant challenge to his authority.
Sun Wuji further put in more clues: "Even more than that, Peacock Lord, after we saw Brother Feng got eaten by the beast, we got angry and broke through before barely defeating it. However, in one or two minutes, it got back up with more strength and no injuries at all. To me, that was so strange. Even now, I don't know how or what it did."
"Up to here, there is only one answer to all this, Uncle Mei." Feng Luotian professed.
"Yes, Tian'er. Only one answer." Peacock Lord nodded with solemnity in his eyes.
First Elder closed his eyes, not voicing any rejection.
Sun Wuji was the only one who did not have the answer, so he asked: "What answer?"
"A summon." Feng Luotian plainly replied.
"A summon?" Sun Wuji raised his brows in befuddlement. Although he had heard this term before, he was not well versed in its deeper apprehension.
Peacock Lord promptly explained: "Yes, there is no reason for a Talon Monster to come all the way to the green zone of Warland Thicket just to hunt some weaklings as it has too little benefit and wastes too much of its time. It should have been summoned by a technique. So, it is not the monster that targeted Yue'er. This is humans, or rather, cultivators' doing."
"Cultivators, my lord? Who would be so foolish as to try to kill Peacock Lord's daughter? Not to mention the God's decree." Sun Wuji was now even more confused than before.
Feng Luotian shook his head: "Wuji, my father's decree has only limited to the threat from outside the city, not to mention that he has gone for several years without coming back even once. Do you not remember that some people already ignored my father's prestige seven years ago, let alone now? The effect of that decree has withered down day by day as time passed. We must consider both internal and external forces who might become our enemies sooner or later. If not for Uncle Mei and Mei Clan's strength, we might not be this peaceful until today."
Peacock Lord heavily nodded in approval: "Tian'er is right. Although we, Mei Clan, are the lord of this untouchable city, we still have a lot of hidden enemies. It's not that strange if someone plans something in the dark."
"I see." Sun Wuji nodded and asked another one that was still unclear: "What about that strange behavior when it used its suppressive force instead of Ghost Walk? A monster controlled by cultivators should all the more use the most efficient way to hunt the target."
"Wrong. Exactly because it was controlled by a cultivator that it acted this way." Feng Luotian responded.
"I don't get it." Sun Wuji scratched his head.
Feng Luotian had no choice but to elaborate: "At first, they only wanted to kill Yue'er, not anyone else. The suppressive force was unleashed not only to scare us but also to divide our group. They should know my identity as well as our relationship. In their eyes, I am a burden that always needs protection from you two. Upon sensing a threat, one of you would have to face that threat while the other would have to carry me away as far and as fast as possible. Whether Yue'er would choose to sacrifice herself or flee with me, either of that would be an easy task for a Talon Monster to finish her."
Peacock Lord added: "It may not be the most efficient way, Sun Wuji, but it is the most planned out method that mindless beasts could never think of. Those in the dark didn't want to risk you two fighting the beast together because there might be a possibility of you defeating it, which you actually did. Even though they have got themselves a warranty, they still chose to carry their task in such a way. Whoever they are, we have got ourselves a very cautious enemy."
"What kind of warranty, Peacock Lord?" Sun Wuji asked.
"The one you told us earlier that the beast got back up with more strength and no injuries after being defeated. They must have used some kind of enhancement technique to make their monster stronger and recover from its wounds." Peacock Lord answered.
"Damn them!!" Sun Wuji started to see everything clearly now as anger roused from his stomach: "But why aren't you angry at all, Peacock Lord? Your daughter was the target this time."
A cold light flashed across Peacock Lord's eyes: "Of course, I am angry, but it is better to stay calm in this kind of situation. This will smoke out the culprit."
Peacock Lord solemnly replied to Sun Wuji's question before giving out an order: "First Elder, please have someone investigate this matter. However, do it discreetly."
"Understood, Clan Chief." Following that, First Elder flashed and disappeared from the hall.
Peacock Lord waved his hand: "You two can return for now. I will take care of this matter from here. If I have any updates, I will send someone to inform you."
"Yes, Uncle Mei!!"
"Thank you, Peacock Lord!!"
Both of them cupped their hands and gave another respectful bow to Peacock Lord before leaving the hall.
Once there was no one in the hall, Peacock Lord softly mumbled: "There are many loopholes in their stories that they chose not to tell me. Tian'er got eaten? Broke through by anger? After defeating it, it got back up with more strength and no injuries? Then how the hell did you all return to the city safely without a single wound?"
"And from the look of it, Tian'er wasn't simply hiding things from me. He intentionally left obvious loopholes in his story for me to do a thorough investigation of this incident. Using my own curiosity to do his bidding? Hehe. This boy has changed to another being entirely after this encounter. At this rate, our second God may come faster than all of us expected."