"Cao Yun, I know exactly how you feel as it happened to me too. And just like you, I swore to myself that I would find the culprits and that justice would be done. However, I can see in your eyes that you have more resolution than I had back then. And you have much more strength as well. Even after forty years, I still know close to nothing. I've not only failed to find the culprits, I let them strike again. I spent most of my life climbing to the top of the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall to amass more power and influence. And it brought nothing!"
As Cao Yun was seeing the desperation and the frustration in Fang Shaolong's eyes, he could physically feel how much he had held his sister dear. Although Fang Shaolong had felt like a stranger at first, he was almost seeing his own mother in him now. And seeing him like that was just too painful.
"Uncle, I was lucky to meet powerful allies. Even though I was young, I was still twice your age and I was raised to know how to fight. Please, I thought I would never find anyone related to me by blood any longer. Let's not turn what should be a warm reunion into such a sad moment."
"You're right. You're right... Let me look at you."
Fang Shaolong was a bit smaller than Cao Yun. He got very close to him and observed him intently. As an early Mortal Warrior, he even used his Qi to probe his body and get a good look at his cultivation.
"You're even more powerful than the reports I've read. And you're my sister's son. She would have been so proud of you as I'm sure she was already before all that happened. I'd really like to introduce you to my wife but you should keep your identity a secret as much as you can. Who knows?"
"Sect Leader Xuan, Spirit Master Xiao, Matriarch Huang and Miss Huang Liyue know for sure."
When he heard about the Huang family, Fang Shaolong's face became somber.
"I see... The Huang family is dangerous. Although they are virtuous, you should never forget that no one becomes or stays as powerful as they are by being nice. The Matriarch would do anything to protect her family and make sure to keep her influence. Of course, they have a bottom line and they would never resort to such vile massacres. However, you should not trust her words too easily. If she wants to help you, it is certainly because of some ploy she has against the Imperial City.
"I've met the future matriarch myself, Huang Cixi. That girl is impressive. When you meet her, it feels as though she sees right through you. She didn't stay in town long and yet she had uncovered almost everything about me. As much as I fear the little girl, I do think that she might be able to pull off what I couldn't do. It is obvious in her eyes that she has lofty ambitions. If I was brazen, I would say that she intends to replace the Emperor himself. Despite how dangerous she is and how terrified of her I am, I think that she might be able to do so.
"And I feel like I should follow her. Well, to be honest, I don't really have a choice right now. She could destroy me if she wanted to."
That name, Huang Cixi, seemed to follow Cao Yun. His fate had become entangled with hers when he had met and killed her brothers. Since then, it felt as though her shadow had been there without him even knowing about it. Even now, she had gotten close to his own family before he had. And she seemed to want the same thing he was after. Although Cao Yun wasn't sure whether the Emperor was directly responsible, he was the ruler of the Imperial City. Either through his orders, his disregard or his incompetence, he had let all of that happen. Cao Yun had a hard time imagining that a 9th-grade Spirit Warrior would not be able to stop his own armies from slaughtering innocent families.
There were other possibilities though. Maybe he had truly been usurped or even killed. Anyway, Cao Yun had even more reasons to want to be chosen for the Alchemy Conference. But that Huang Cixi was a variable he could not account for. Considering how his uncle was talking about her, she seemed to be both prodigious and incredibly dangerous.
"Nephew, I've made up my mind! Your determination to bring the culprits to justice is admirable. I cannot go with you, and to be honest, you're way above me now. However, I can help you with everything I've got. Ask anything of my Major Hall and you shall have it. And I will also serve Huang Cixi. If she can take over the Hongchen Kingdom, we will have what we want. Maybe I can even get some information for you or even just influence her a little. If there is a possibility for you two to work together, you might do what I've been unable to accomplish all my life."
"I understand... But you should know what I did in Yinmen City, right?"
"Of course, I do. But Huang Cixi has already forgiven this. She has admitted that her brothers were in the wrong. Obviously, she might still not like working with you, but I know that she won't be your enemy for this. In fact, I am certain that if she had wanted to kill you, you would be dead already. Do not ask me how, but I am certain that she could have killed you and she didn't. You do not realize who this little girl is. She might even be more dangerous than the cunning Matriarch Huang Yufeng. And that's saying a lot."
As soon as he spoke about Huang Yufeng, Fang Shaolong still paused and looked around. Although they were isolated, he was still afraid that that half-step Sage could hear them. He felt like he had misspoken. But being with his nephew had disturbed his usual composure.
The two of them decided to talk some more.
-
After a few hours, they finally left. Ye Zhiyun had prepared all the documents about the Subei Province, and the Sunmen Province. Fang Shaolong let Cao Yun, who had reverted back to his Guai Mo persona, read them in peace.
Apparently, the Sunmen Province which was the homeland of Long Jian and Long Huafang was under more and more pressure from the demons. Even before the stampede, there had been an intensification of the raids. For now, the defenses had been able to protect the Hongchen Kingdom, but many soldiers had already given their life in the conflict. With the rise of this new demon force on the other side of the border, the situation was critical. Moreover, the demons were focusing their strength on the Sunmen Province. It was the only one which suffered as many attacks.
There were still some isolated incidents here and there, especially to keep the entire army from mobilizing at the Sunmen Province's border. But the brunt of the attack was on that specific border. Indeed the Nine Peaks was forming a natural border on the north, all the way to the Wubei Sect. To the south, there was a huge desert that was mostly empty. And to the west of those provinces, there was a large river very difficult to cross. The best place to cross that river was the Sunmen Province.
Reports concerning the demons were rare and Guai Mo, even with his 4-petal card, would not have access to those. However, Fang Shaolong had. Thus, Cao Yun would later receive them. A powerful demon was slowly unifying several kingdoms in bloody internal wars. Many demons had already died by his own hands and in the strife he had caused. But in the end, he had been successful in his campaign. He had given himself the title of Empyrean Asura and his new unified kingdom was the Empyrean Asura Theocracy. It existed with the sole purpose of exterminating mankind.
This theocracy believed that they could bring forth the return of Demon God Da Mo by dying the Piaolu planet red with the blood of all humans. This Empyrean Asura was really a terrible news for the Hongchen Kingdom. One of the strengths of the humans was their unity against many isolated warring demon kingdoms. If demons were unified, humans would be in extreme danger especially in the Forsaken Dao Era. No one could transcend the Spirit Warrior realm. Having a Sage would clearly tip the balance of the war, even if only one would not bring that many advantages...
Besides, this Empyrean Asura Theocracy was absolutely impossible to reason with. Against demons, it was usually possible to negotiate. After all, humans had drafted several peace treaties during the Seven Treaties Era. The name was not literal. It came from the fact that there were seven treaties that were fundamental but many more had been signed over time. Demons were not evil by nature. Contrary to humans, they were more emotional, more volatile and, yes, more violent. But it didn't mean that they were all bloodthirsty monsters. Demon God Da Mo had been like that, literally making tapestry with the skin of human slaves.
Thankfully, other demons were more receptive to negotiations, especially when humans had just killed their living god. But with time, several kingdoms had slowly reverted back to their more primitive and violent ways. After all, they were more violent than humans. With the Forsaken Dao Era tensing everyone, some demons had decided that this aggression was best turned against humans rather than fellow demons. Moreover, many had started to claim that this Forsaken Dao Era was a punishment because they had not avenged Demon God Da Mo.
Unfortunately, the reports on the demon side were very few. In fact, almost nothing was known of the kingdoms beyond those directly bordering the Hongchen Kingdom. The Piaolu planet was way bigger than that and those kingdoms were completely unknown. There were many demons, way more than there were humans. And only a fraction of those demons lived in the kingdoms bordering the Hongchen Kingdom. Nothing was known of the other ones.
Cao Yun went to the reports on the Sunmen Province. They were mostly war reports. Governor Long Cheng, Long Jian's father, was also the greatest general of the province, the Silver Wolf General. He often went to battle himself. And his son, since his return from the Wubei Sect, was following in his steps. Father and son were extremely powerful. General Long was also a governor. That meant that he was linked with the Imperial City. This province was special though. Because of the perpetual battles, the Imperial City had chosen a military governor while all the other provinces were governed by civil officials. In fact, Governor Long wanted to be called General Long most of the times. He was not interested in politics at all. His only goal was to protect his province. Cao Yun found him a bit naive for that. But that might show that he was a good man.
Then, he read about the Subei Province, directly to the south of the Sunmen Province. This was where Yun Ping had been born and raised. His dad, General Yun was a powerful soldier as well. But the Subei Province was rather preserved as the demons were targeting the north. Of course, there were still some battles now and then so that humans were forced to keep their army mobilized everywhere, just in case. This general also had a very good reputation, but he was less powerful and famous than General Long.
In the Subei Province, there were two main families, the Yun family and the Xue family. He immediately remembered the Xue name. The young master of the Xue family was Xue Rui, a man who had been annoying Zhong Ling for quite some time in the Wubei Sect. He had a high status because his older brother was in the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute, Xue Gulin. That family had a somewhat bad reputation but they were very influential and were helping against the demons. As long as they didn't go overboard, they were tolerated.
The two families were also fighting about the upcoming Alchemy Conference because they could send only one alchemist for the entire Subei Province. As such, Governor Jiahe was trying to make them compete in harmony. Unlike General Long, he was a true politician. He didn't want either family to be too strong but he still wanted them to be strong enough to be useful. The best thing was to make them compete with each other without violence so that the governor would always keep his power and influence over them as a mitigating force.
The entire Subei Province would soon organize an alchemy battle to determine the best suited alchemist. The victor would be chosen as the representative of the province to the Alchemy Conference. Of course, one of the two families would surely get this spot. But this was also a good way to showcase one's talent to the entire province and maybe even gain a bit of recognition from the Governor and the Imperial City through him.
There were other things in the report. But he found nothing about Gu Song. In fact, there was absolutely nothing on any demonic cultivator activity. However, there was something that attracted Cao Yun's attention. Many mortals had disappeared. In itself, it wasn't that strange. After all, the exact number of victims of the stampede was still unknown and the east of the Subei Province had been hit. But that in itself was strange. The stampede had been controlled by the demonic cultivators. They had not struck the Sunmen Province that was yet weakened by the demons, however they had attacked the Subei Province. That showed that they had wanted something there.
And the reports of the disappearance were just too strange. Even compared with other provinces, there were too many disappearances compared to the deaths. When he tried to find more information, Cao Yun realized that there had been an small increase in unresolved disappearances a few decades ago. Mere mortals were not considered as important as cultivators by the Imperial City. Thus, the census was done only once every decade. On the other hand, powerful cultivators were monitored way more closely. But to be fair, there were a lot of mere mortals and in many small cities. It was hard to keep track of them all.
That being said, Cao Yun was convinced that there was something wrong there. It wasn't extremely apparent but now that he had seen it, it was obvious. Too many people had simply vanished in very specific places. Although there was some randomness to the killings, the disappearances appeared planned. Someone had used the stampede to try to hide that they had captured many mortals. And Cao Yun immediately thought about demonic cultivators as they often needed humans for their disgusting ways, especially an alchemist.