Volume 3 Chapter 97 / Chapter 264: Yiyi, The Yun Family Blood, The Yun Family Words
In the dim stone chamber, only two candlesticks provided illumination.
Zhuang Yan’s expression was calm. At this moment, his hair was disheveled, and he had none of the celestial aura he once possessed as a Shadowmoon Sword Sect elder. Locking nails had been driven into his hands and feet, and cold iron chains bound him to the wall.
Two Shadowmoon Sword Sect elders sat solemnly on wooden stools, interrogating him. Yun Yiyi sat nearby, holding a black judge’s brush, silently recording every word Zhuang Yan said:
“The Sword Pavilion murder—those inner disciples were killed by Xue Xinghai under my orders. Each one had an organ taken, stitched together to form a Cursed body. However, I didn’t expect Xue Xinghai to miss one. Later, he ran into the Third Young Mistress in the marketplace. Sensing trouble, I rushed over to save him, but the Eldest Young Mistress seemed to notice something… she brought Elder Hu along, and I had no choice but to use Soul Searching Technique to destroy Xue Xinghai’s soul.”
Zhuang Yan turned his head to glance at Yun Yiyi, his eyes holding a faint trace of resentment and helplessness.
The two elders nodded after hearing this and continued questioning:
“And what about the incident at Qiong Peak? Do you have anything to say?”
“The Qiong Peak incident… I wanted to take the blood essence of the Eldest and Second Young Mistress to complete the Demonic pill. Everything was going smoothly until two unknown junior cultivators broke the outer shell of my pill furnace and threw in a pure water-attribute spiritual pearl. This caused a chaotic flow of water and fire energies, and the furnace exploded—”
…
The interrogation lasted a long time.
After all, Zhuang Yan had once been a Shadowmoon Sword Sect elder. Though his crimes were grave, the situation was clear, and the elders chose not to use Soul Searching Technique on him. Instead, they questioned him like any ordinary interrogation, going through each question one by one.
Yun Yiyi, who was silently recording the interrogation, remained silent throughout, acting as a “scribe.”
Recording case details was a mundane task. Even though Zhuang Yan’s case involved Yun Kunwu, this kind of work would usually be assigned to a senior inner disciple at most.
As for why Yun Yiyi didn’t return to Yishui Peak to rest, instead taking on this task despite her fatigue, it was because of something she had heard from Feng Yudie:
—”Young Master Ye!! What are you doing? You must have foreseen this, right?! At this rate—”
That single sentence was enough for her to connect all the events of recent days.
Feng Yudie had known Ye Anping for a long time.
When Yun Jiujiu met Feng Yudie, Yun Xi encountered Pei Lengxue, and he encountered Ye Anping.
During the Sword Pavilion murder, it was Ye Anping who hinted to her that Zhuang Yan was suspicious.
Zhuang Yan mentioned the two people who threw the pure water-attribute spiritual pearl into the pill furnace at Qiong Peak—one of them was Feng Yudie, and the other was Ye Anping.
Ye Anping had presented himself as an outsider, yet every event seemed to revolve around him. It was as though the entire situation had been orchestrated by him from the very beginning. Not only the events but everyone involved seemed to be dancing in the palm of his hand.
Yun Jiujiu fell in love with Feng Yudie, who was disguised as a man, supposedly after a chance encounter and a fight.
Yun Xi met Pei Lengxue when he was attacked by a fourth-tier demonic beast, narrowly escaping death thanks to her rescue.
Though there was no evidence to support her suspicions, this was the only logic that connected everything together.
…
The elders, having listened to Zhuang Yan’s confession, also noticed this particular point of doubt. They asked:
“Zhuang Yan, you mentioned two unknown junior cultivators who ruined your Demonic pill. Who were they?”
“Elder Wu, I truly don’t know who they were. But I can say this—they were no ordinary cultivators. In fact, if not for those two, Kunwu would never have lost.”
“But he did lose. Elder Hu found the remains of that Cursed body in the forbidden grounds. It’s confirmed that Yun Kunwu’s soul has been destroyed—he was directly struck by Tian Xing’s Earth Phoenix magical tool. Leaving behind even a body fragment was already fortunate for him.”
“Hah…”
The other elder beside Elder Wu stroked his long beard and said,
“Regardless, there are doubts in this case. We still need to investigate the identities of those two individuals. This incident has caused such a commotion—if we leave loose ends and something happens later…”
Elder Wu nodded. “You’re right. I’ll instruct the disciples from the Judgment Hall to investigate this thoroughly…”
Hearing this, Yun Yiyi, who had remained silent until now, suddenly interrupted, “Elders, may I take on this task?”
“Young Mistress Yun, you’ve just gone through such an ordeal. You should take time to rest and recover. In half a month, Sect Master Yun will leave seclusion, and by then—”
The elders absolutely must not investigate!
Yun Yiyi was confident that Ye Anping wouldn’t have left any clues, but what if he had? What if he had overlooked something and the elders discovered his involvement?
Even if he had merits in this matter, he still violated the Shadowmoon Sword Sect’s rules by interfering in internal sect affairs as an outsider.
In the best-case scenario, his merits would offset his crimes, and he’d be released after a few dozen days of confinement.
But if the elders were to judge strictly, he could be sent to the Sky Prison for interrogation, and the minimum sentence would be decades of imprisonment.
Yun Yiyi bit her lip slightly and said,
“I have some leads on the identities of those two people. I ask the elders to entrust this matter to me. Within half a month, I will locate their whereabouts.”
The two Shadowmoon Sword Sect elders paused. Seeing her insistence, they nodded in agreement:
“…Since the Eldest Young Mistress is so determined, we will trouble you, then.”
“Alright. I will go back and organize the case records now,” Yun Yiyi replied as she stood up and cupped her hands respectfully. “In a few days, I will deliver the compiled documents to the Judgment Hall.”
“Please rest well, Eldest Young Mistress. Don’t overwork yourself…”
Yun Yiyi nodded. She quickly gathered her thick stack of recorded case files, neatly bundled them, and left the stone chamber.
As she passed by Xue Xinghai’s prison cell, she paused for a moment. Through the iron bars, she glanced inside and saw Xue Xinghai staring at her with an innocent, vacant expression:
“Ah… Bah… Bah…”
“… …”
Yun Yiyi smiled bitterly, shook her head, and continued walking toward the lift. She ascended to the platform at the entrance.
…
By dusk, the distant mountain peaks were bathed in a golden glow.
Escorted by two Shadowmoon Sword Sect disciples, Yun Yiyi flew on her sword toward Yishui Peak. The more she thought about it, the more infuriated she felt.
—Ye Anping had been lying to her the entire time! He had no feelings for her, never treated her as his fiancée, and never cared for her.
What impotence? What waiting until the wedding ceremony?
Yun Yiyi could already guess that once she returned, Ye Anping would definitely request to leave.
“…You came to the Shadowmoon Sword Sect, and you think you can leave without leaving something behind? Dream on!”
“?” “?”
The two Shadowmoon Sword Sect disciples behind her were utterly confused:
“Eldest Young Mistress, what did you say?”
“Hu—”
Yun Yiyi closed her eyes and let out a deep breath. She redirected her flying sword and headed toward the Central Peak.
“I’m going to the Central Peak to pick up some elixirs.”
The two Shadowmoon Sword Sect disciples following her looked puzzled and asked, “Eldest Young Mistress, we can fetch them for you. What kind of elixirs do you need?”
“… …”
Yun Yiyi ignored them, accelerating as she flew toward the Central Peak. Her heart blazed with determination:
—You were the one who deceived my feelings first, so don’t blame me for deceiving your body!
—If you can get out of bed tomorrow, then my name is not Yun Yiyi!!