"Are you insane?!"
As Cao Yun had been following Fang Shaolong, Dian Mo's voice kept on reverberating in his mind.
"I know what I'm doing."
"If you die, I die! You know nothing about this man! Are you really going to trust him with your identity?! He might just sell it!"
"Although the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall is hiding my identity, this is thanks to Xiao Xuefeng's relation with some of the higher-ups. I would not just trust anyone within the organization, especially not in a local branch which has no connection with either me or Xiao Xuefeng. But this man is special. When I came in here, I still wasn't absolutely sure. But after seeing his eyes, I am sure of what I do."
"Anyway, I can't stop you... But what if you're wrong? No one will be able to come and save you!"
In Dian Mo's tone, Cao Yun could hear true terror. Clearly, his long sojourn in the Demon Palace had truly traumatized him. He was fearful of the world outside.
"Do not worry. I still have the Soul Barrier Protection of Sect Leader Xuan. Not even the Emperor himself could kill me easily. I already took everything into consideration. And if worse comes to worst, you should be able to help me deal with the array formations around us, right?"
"So you would count on me once again...?"
"You just told me that if I die, you die. So if my life is really threatened, you'd better know how to escape those array formations. But do not worry too much, I'm not insane at all and I know precisely what I'm doing and, more than that, I know precisely who I'm talking to right now."
Still pissed off, Dian Mo kept quiet and began to analyze everything he could see through Cao Yun's eyes. Having his survival entirely in the hands of a human was not pleasant at all. However, in Cao Yun's voice, he had found a great confidence. By giving Dian Mo some goal, Cao Yun was also giving him more power over the situation. At least, Dian Mo felt like that and this helped calm him down. Now, he wasn't powerless. He might be able to do something. After all, he was an expert in array formations. Besides, Cao Yun would not blindly go to his death and he wasn't stupid. Even in the Wolf Head Sect's tunnels, he had been careful against the ghost of Lang Shou. To calm himself, Dian Mo focused on the array formations around the young man. The room they were in was almost as isolated as the rooms of the Huang family. Apart from a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior using her spiritual senses to make it absolute, the isolation was the highest the Major Hall could achieve.
It wasn't rare for the Major Hall to have secret deals. So it wasn't surprising at all for them to have such places. After all, they couldn't just borrow a room from the Governor or from Matriarch Huang. Besides, they were the richest private organization in the entire Hongchen Kingdom. Not every hall had such places but every Major Hall had. Those were the halls present in almost every capital of the provinces.
Fang Shaolong had activated everything he could and he was alone with Cao Yun. When they had been walking, Cao Yun had felt the presence of a couple of Spirit Warriors. Although he couldn't be entirely sure, he was convinced that they were both middle Spirit Warriors. Fang Shaolong was weaker than he was and he was not threatened by him at all. And Cao Yun had even prepared a plan to exit the Major Hall, just in case. With his 'Ashen Feather Seal', he could easily hide from those middle Spirit Warriors and disappear back into the Huang estate. But he was certain that this wouldn't be necessary because he was convinced that the man in front of him was who he thought he was. After seeing his eyes, he had been convinced.
The Hall Master's countenance had changed. Although he was rather small and plump, he was always very elegant without flaunting his wealth. All around him, there was a special aura, a profound presence. Even with a weak cultivation for his position, he was respected by all. But in this room, faced with Cao Yun, he was shocked and maybe even a bit timid and uncertain.
"Are you really...?"
His words were very faint and a mere mortal would not have been able to hear him even while standing next to him. It was almost as though he was talking to himself.
On the other hand, Cao Yun was full of confidence. He had let go of the affected arrogance Guai Mo had to have at all times. This facade was not necessary. At that moment, Cao Yun let go of all facade. Even his 'Ashen Feather Seal' was completely abandoned. Inside his sea of consciousness, Dian Mo was tense because he now knew about the Cao family and he didn't want Cao Yun to be found out and killed by those who had slaughtered his family. The main reason was because Cao Yun's death would mean his as well. But he was forced to admit that he had grown attached to the boy as well. Losing him in such a stupid manner would be too bad. Even after taking over his body, Dian Mo intended to keep him as a pet to entertain himself. But could he really take over?
"I am Cao Yun, Cao Shui's son."
Finally seeing Cao Yun without any technique to hide his presence, Fang Shaolong had no need for any kind of proof. He immediately recognized him. At that very moment, his eyes swelled up with tears. Beneath him, his legs were shaking.
"I thought she was completely...I thought that no one had survived... Although we never found your body, I had just assumed... I swear I tried to look everywhere. I used all the resources of my Major Hall. Hell, I even stole from the Huang family to expand my researches but I found nothing at all... I was certain that my sister and her children were all dead, that fate had decided to torture us once more."
Fang Shaolong's words were difficult to understand as he was full of emotion.
"Then I was right... You are my uncle."
"Of course, of course. You wouldn't have known."
Despite the emotion, Fang Shaolong was able to regain a semblance of composure.
"Yes, I am your uncle. Cao Shui was my sister. And I am also the one who made sure that the story of the Shui family was leaked. Last year, I saw Blue Cedarwood incense on the tomb of my sister. It's not a common incense and this was her favorite. So of course, I immediately imagined that someone who knew her had come to visit her. I didn't dare to imagine that... well, I hoped but I didn't want to have hopes... Not after everything."
Even though Cao Yun believed every single word of Fang Shaolong, he didn't know how to react. He should have been elated to finally see another member of his family alive, no matter how distant. But he had never met this uncle of his. Worse, he had not even known about his existence a few months ago. After reading the documents of Lang Shou, he had a suspicion that the young boy who had escaped the Shui massacre with his mother was indeed his uncle. But that boy could have been anyone else from the family, even just a servant.
There was not as much emotion in him as what Cao Yun would have thought. This man in front of him was still a stranger, no matter how much he really believed him. And he did believe him. He could see something in his eyes. As soon as he had seen him, he knew that he was related to his mother. This glint, he had been able to see it in his younger sister too and a bit in his older brother.
"I imagine that this is sudden to you. After what happened to the Shui family, your mother and I had decided to keep it a secret. Only Cao Guang and Cao Beiwen knew of my sister's story and of my existence. I imagine that you don't remember but when you were born, I've seen you. And I've kept tabs on you and your siblings."
As Cao Guang often went to hunt, he also frequented the Major Hall a lot. Indeed, Cao Yun had almost forgotten but the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall had sent representatives within the Cao family several times. Although he couldn't remember because he had not cared at the time, Fang Shaolong had maybe been among them. Thinking back to this period of happiness and blessed naivete, Cao Yun's emotions were slowly beginning to rise within him.
"Hall Mas..."
Cao Yun stopped himself and forced himself to pronounce a word that felt very strange to his ears.
"Uncle, can you tell me what happened to the Shui family? And what do you know about the night of the massacre in Baziyun City?"
"Unfortunately, I know very little about what has transpired in Baziyun City. But I suspect that this was done by the same culprits who have annihilated my parents and my relatives."
This time, there was rage in Fang Shaolong's eyes.
"To this day I still don't know what they were after but I am now sure of something, the 5th Imperial Brocade Guards was behind both massacres."
Such an accusation was serious. For many people in the Hongchen Kingdom, this would just be absurd to imagine that the elite force of the Emperor would slaughter an entire family, not once but twice. However, Cao Yun was not disturbed at all. In his eyes, Fang Shaolong saw that he was aware that this was a possibility. Thus, he kept talking.
"When the Shui family was slaughtered, I was only seven and my sister five. Without the help of our parents, we would have died as well. Out of the blue, our family was attacked by many men clad in black. Their leader had a sword with a bloody red blade, it seemed to always be covered in blood that shined under the moon. At the time, as an impressionable young boy, I had been convinced that he was a demonic cultivator."
That description was exactly what Cao Yun had seen. This man with the bloody sword was the one who had killed Cao Beiwen. Apart from him, only a handful of people had heard about this man. There was no way for Fang Shaolong to invent it.
"Our family was just too small and weak. Our patriarch was only a 1st-grade Spirit Warrior and he was more than 300 years old. He would never had been able to contend with the force that attacked us. At first, he tried to reason but the man killed him right away and ordered his men to kill all the adults and all the boys. All our parents tried to fight but it was useless. I'll be honest, I don't know what my mother did exactly. She had some kind of pendant that she used. By putting it around her neck, we were able to disappear completely and we ran away as fast as we could. The next thing I remember is that we were lost in the wild. We were not going to survive alone. Thankfully, we were able to find Baziyun City and Cao Wen took us in.
"For some reason, I trusted him. I had no alternative anyway... After hearing our story, he warned his own father and they protected us. In order to keep our identity a secret, I've left the Cao family almost immediately to join the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall."
So Cao Yun's father, grandfather and great-grandfather all knew about this story...
"For decades, I've dedicated my life to finding who had attacked us and why. Although the latter eluded me, even to this day, the former has already been answered. Thanks to the network of the Myriad Cherry Blossom, I am absolutely certain that the 5th Imperial Brocade Guards was indeed behind the attack. And when the Cao family was slaughtered as well, the 5th Imperial Brocade Guards was responsible too. They were just too quick to come here.
"In less than a month, they were already here and they took over the investigation. Then, in less than a day, they had found the 'culprit' and went to exterminate the Wolf Head Sect. They claimed that the 5th Imperial Brocade Guards had been close and when they had heard about the disaster, they had decided to help out. But everything had been planned beforehand. After studying the reports, the 5th Imperial Brocade Guards had no reason to be the one chosen for the task that brought them close to Baziyun City. This was just a cover-up to justify their presence. I imagine that after letting us escape from the Shui family, they have become more careful."
Now that Cao Yun had a bigger picture of what had happened, he decided to also share what he knew thanks to Lang Shou's reports.
-
"That is what I feared. My sister had always been the target... But why? We were just a small family without any significance! Besides, during the Cao massacre, they just killed her and left her body behind. I've made sure that her body was the real deal, and sadly, this is really her. My sister is truly dead. And I still don't know why..."
Fang Shaolong took his time to calm himself. On the other side of the room, Cao Yun was slowly being affected by all this reminiscence. Moreover, now that Fang Shaolong was not hiding behind a professional front, Cao Yun could see and hear his own mother in him. He was moving like her and talking like her at many moments. His words, his enunciation, his mannerism, they were all slightly different and yet almost identical to his mother's. The more he was talking with him, the more emotional he was becoming.
"Uncle, I swore to find whoever had killed my family and bring them to justice. Even if the Emperor himself is behind this, I swear to you that he will pay."
Although the 5th Imperial Brocade Guards was under the direct orders of the Imperial City, Emperor Weide had not appeared in public for seventy years now. There was still a possibility that someone else was controlling the Imperial City and the guards.
"I know that you're powerful, but..."
"I am also Chen Guo."
Suddenly, Fang Shaolong was bewildered. Even now, he had not realized that his nephew was the Young Sect Master of the Wubei Sect. This changed everything.
"I see... Great! Great!"
"I came here to learn more about the Subei Province because I suspect demonic cultivators of being there. And I am certain that they have the key to this conspiracy. They have to know why our family was targeted, what is so damn important that so many of our lives had to be sacrificed. I swore to myself and I swear to you now that I will find out the truth, no matter how long it takes me and no matter how difficult it is. Everyone who was responsible for those crimes will pay!"