Cao Yun and Fang Shaolong kept talking about various things. As he was the Hall Master of this Major Hall, Fang Shaolong had obviously heard of 'Chen Guo'. Besides, considering his relationship with Huang Cixi, he had of course studied him attentively. As such, he knew most of what had happened to him but he didn't know how it had been like to live through it. He was both happy and horrified. Cao Yun had suffered a lot since that night but that had also brought him many benefits he would probably have never had otherwise.
Tragedy could hide many opportunities. They were a curse and a blessing for those who knew how to use them. Even Fang Shaolong had risen to a position he would have otherwise never dreamed of. Although his cultivation was not that great, he was one of the most important men in the Wu Province and the third greatest influence in Baziyun City. Furthermore, he was now working under Huang Cixi and Cao Yun was connected to the Huang family. That meant that Baziyun City was more controlled by them than by the Imperial City as of now.
What tormented Fang Shaolong was that he had failed to uphold his promise. He had sworn to his sister that he would protect her and find the culprit behind the massacre of their family. Not only had he failed, he had let the tragedy happen once more and now, faced with Cao Yun, he had no word to express his pain. Deep down, he wanted to give words of support, he even caught himself about to swear that whoever had really ordered the 5th Imperial Brocade Guards would face justice. But then he remembered the promise he had already failed. This was why he was ready to completely submit to Huang Cixi. Even though Cao Yun was strong, Huang Cixi was a political genius. If there was a conspiracy, and it seemed to be the case, Fang Shaolong thought that she would be able to unravel it.
Then, Cao Yun would be able to deal with it. With his current cultivation, the speed at which he had developed it, and all his allies, he would have the power to do so. However, to act against the Imperial City, they needed more than raw strength, they had to get some proof. Otherwise, all of the Hongchen Kingdom would turn on them. Even if the Wubei Sect, the Golden Flowery Fragrance Institute and the Huang family were powerful, the Emperor had ways to eradicate them if need be. Of course, the kingdom would be greatly diminished after such a civil war but the Emperor would survive, if he was still alive.
On the other hand, if the Emperor had been usurped, the situation would be easier. Getting rid of an usurper was easier than taking down a rightful ruler. Until now, no Emperor had ever been deposed. Contrary to the demon kingdoms, law and legitimacy were very important for humans. After all, each emperor was chosen by his predecessor since Emperor Nuwa herself. In other words, even the current Emperor was endorsed by the past legitimacy of Emperor Nuwa. It was as though he was representing her.
After a while, Fang Shaolong finally thought of something.
"Wait for me here."
He quickly left the room and went to fetch a small treasure box before quickly coming back. When he got back, he was out of breath. For an early Mortal Warrior, that meant something. Fang Shaolong had ran faster than he had ever ran in his entire life. But when he had thought about that box, he wanted Cao Yun to get it as soon as possible. In fact, he found himself stupid not to have thought about it any sooner.
When Cao Yun received the box, he instinctively sent his Qi inside of it. There were many mechanisms preventing to open it without breaking it. Besides, it was made with very resistant materials. In there, there was even Silk Gold, Ageless Marble and Void Nurtured Platinum. An early Spirit Warrior would have not been able to see through it. Even a late Spirit Warrior would have needed some time to do so. Apart from breaking the box, Cao Yun saw no way of opening it. But the box was incredibly sturdy.
As he was trying to find a way, Fang Shaolong manipulated the box in Cao Yun's hands. All of a sudden, he heard a click, the mechanisms had been disarmed and the box could be opened even by a mortal.
Finally, he opened it. He had no fear that Fang Shaolong would try to harm him. Since the beginning, he had used his perception to make sure that he had been telling the truth. Although he was family, Cao Yun barely knew him. But Fang Shaolong had been very truthful to the point that his own emotions had moved the young man.
Once the box was opened, Cao Yun saw a necklace and several papers. Immediately he recognized the writings on those papers. They had been written by his mother. Those were letters sent from her to Fang Shaolong. With shaking hands, Cao Yun took the first one. This letter announced the birth of Cao Sheng, his older brother. With his mind cultivation, Cao Yun could have read it just by laying his eyes on it, but he didn't want to. He wanted to take all the time in the world to read it. While stopping on each character, he also took the time to analyze each stroke and he could even imagine his mother writing it down as he was reading it.
In his mind, he was seeing her sitting at her desk and handling the brush with grace. Cao Shui had been a 4-star Human calligraphist as well as a 5-star Human painter. Unlike Cao Guang who was a hunter foremost, Cao Shui was an artist at core. Both of them were complementing each other and even teaching each other. Many times, Cao Shui had forced Cao Guang to sit down and practice his calligraphy to the point where he had gotten almost as good as her. But he was always lacking her grace. His strokes were more direct and fierce. Hers were like water, soft, gentle but hiding a terrible force. In the last night, she had shown this force to all when she had given her life for her family.
On the side, Fang Shaolong was completely silent. He was watching all the expressions on Cao Yun's face. Even when he had seen death, Cao Yun had not been that moved. Since he had fled his residence in a hurry, he had nothing to remind him of his family. Even after coming back, the estate had been destroyed and nothing remained at all. Apart from his memories, he had nothing to prove that his family had even existed, albeit their very corpses that were rotting already.
In the letters, Cao Shui was almost always talking about her children, lamenting that they could barely see their uncle. But she was happy and had almost forgotten what her young mind had suffered through. She had been five at the time of her family's massacre so she barely remembered anything. However, it had still left deep scars in her.
Then, Cao Yun reached the bottom of the box. Beneath all the letters, there were a few scrolls. As his hands were still shaking from the emotion, Cao Yun took the first scroll and unrolled it. When he saw what was on it, he almost let the box drop to the ground. In fact, he almost dropped to the ground as well. This was a painting of himself when he was a bit younger. On the bottom, there was a short poem to Fang Shaolong expressing how she wanted him to be able to see his nephews as much as he wanted through this humble painting. Of course, Cao Shui was the one who was humble. The painting was extremely well done. Cao Yun's eyes were so lifelike that he felt like he was looking at a mirror when he was staring in them. Then, that meant that all the other scrolls...
Indeed, Cao Yun had been right. All the scrolls contained painting of her children, but also of her husband and herself. Once again, with his mind cultivation, he could have memorized them in an instant but he was studying every single stroke of the paintings. He wanted to lose himself in them. Not only were they the work of his mother, they were the only representation of his family members left in the world. For Cao Yun, that made them impossible to replace.
Fang Shaolong waited for Cao Yun to put them back in the box to break the silence.
"Take them with you."
"What?!"
Suddenly, Cao Yun turned toward him.
"They mean a lot to me. But I think you need them more than I do."
"Uncle, they're just too precious for me to..."
Cao Yun's voice was shaking at that point. Although he could regain his composure any time he wanted, he didn't want to dispel those emotions yet. In fact, he wanted to revel in them for a while. But he suddenly remembered the words Xiao Xuefeng had spoken to him when they had first met. He should never punch a gift horse in the mouth. This phrasing had stayed with him. But from time to time he kept on refusing gifts that he truly wanted or even needed. That was a bad habit that died hard.
For the first time ever, Cao Yun really saw Fang Shaolong as his kin. He got down on his knees and bowed to him.
"Uncle, this unfilial nephew has never greeted you properly. You too have suffered a lot. I will never forget the kindness you showed to my mother and I will repay your loyalty to our family as best as I can. This gift is extremely precious and I swear that I will hold it dear and protect it as my most treasured possession."
Fang Shaolong helped Cao Yun up.
"Nephew, no need for so much ceremony. It is I who was unworthy. All those years, I've almost never visited you. You thought that you were the last of our blood and you suffered alone as you believed that all your family was gone. Although we will part soon, I want you to know that your family will always be there for you. If there is anything I can do to help you in any way, shape or form, I will gladly throw away everything that I have, even my own life, to be of assistance."
Both men stayed very emotional for some time.
At last, they exited the room under the Major Hall. To Ye Zhiyun's surprise, Fang Shaolong gifted a lot of money to Cao Yun. All those years, Fang Shaolong had been stealing money from the Huang family but most of it had gone into his investigation. He had been trying to track down those who had had a hand in the Shui family's massacre. In fact, he had even been able to discreetly have a few of them assassinated. As long as they were still in the 5th Imperial Brocade Guards, they were very difficult to touch. But thankfully, a few of them had been either transferred or had even left on their own. As soon as one of them was a target and Fang Shaolong was sure they had been there during the massacre, he made sure they would end up dead. Assassinating early Spirit Warriors had required a tremendous amount of money, especially to make sure no one could trace it.
Fang Shaolong suspected that Huang Cixi knew but she had never told him.
After the massacre of the Cao family, Fang Shaolong had been looking for Cao Yun but to no avail. Thus, there was no money left from his theft. However, his lifestyle was very austere, even with his wife. So Fang Shaolong had still a lot of money as the Hall Master of the Major Hall. And he could easily get even more by either selling a few things or even borrowing from some people. Of course, this was nowhere what he had gotten out of the Xiliang Mines.
That being said, he was able to give a few Yuanbao to Cao Yun. The young man now had fourteen Yuanbao worth of money in his spatial ring. Fang Shaolong even made sure he had access to the best ingredients, the best pills, the best medicine and the best tools he could find. Because he didn't need much, Cao Yun did not abuse Fang Shaolong's generosity. However, he was deeply moved by his actions.
There was one thing he was glad to get help with though. After meeting Hongyu, Cao Yun was worried for her. Her evil core was a constant threat and he wasn't sure he could find a definitive way to help her. As long as she was with him, she would be mostly fine, but he wanted to find a way to deal with the problem for good. Even the Huang family who had many beast tamers had found no solution. However, the Myriad Cherry Blossom Hall had many contacts.
Cao Yun hoped that Fang Shaolong might be able to find beast tamers who could help. Sadly, he couldn't divulge everything to just any beast tamer as he couldn't really explain how the Evil Qi absorbed by Hongyu was kept in check. But he still asked his uncle to try and find someone who could help out. Unfortunately, demonic cultivators seemed like the best option. Fang Shaolong still promised to try but even several months after Cao Yun's departure, he would have found no one at all.
Indeed, Cao Yun only stayed a few more days in Baziyun City.
He now was determined to go to the Subei Province in order to flush out some demonic cultivators. There was a high possibility that Gu Song was there. Although they were not directly responsible for his family's demise, they knew something about why the Imperial City had targeted his mother so intently in the first place.
After finding Gu Song, he would need to be able to make him talk, so Cao Yun also decided to focus a lot of his time on manipulating seals. He also used those few days to train with Hongyu and Elder Ying. Flying on the back of a demonic beast was a very intense experience. And although Cao Yun and Hongyu had a deep connection, Cao Yun still needed to learn how to fly properly with her. He had to keep in mind that she might also be forced to escape from a powerful cultivator. This time, Cao Yun wanted to be ready in case this happened once more.
But he was also determined not to run away or be on the defensive this time. He was now on the offensive!