The killer (continued)
"Now you know you regret it? I've told you so many times, but you never listened. My poor daughter, sob sob... Give me back my daughter's life!"
The commotion caught Si Ming's attention. He turned around and saw Su Yingbo's mother-in-law frantically scratching her husband, while Su Yingbo's parents were trying to break up the fight.
Recalling Ai Qing's cause of death, Si Ming couldn't help but maliciously speculate: were these two truly so grief-stricken that they hadn't vented their emotions even after seven days, or were they simply putting on an act in front of Su Yingbo's parents?
After the Third Prince ascends the throne, he will inevitably take action against the nobles. Their noble status will not only become worthless, but their position will Qianzhang. In the future, they can only rely on their son-in-law, who is a Spirit Transformation. Unfortunately, the two of them are the main cause of Ai Qing's accidental death. It is clear that their son-in-law will not give them a good face. So, what they can do now is to win the favor of the two in-laws and maintain their status as in-laws.
Of course, it was all just Si Ming's conjecture. He didn't have Yu Shuying's Mind-Reading Technique and didn't know the other party's true thoughts. Perhaps she really was just very emotional.
After a brief inspection, the Su Clan parents, who had raised a son to the Spirit Transformation stage, seemed to have nothing special about them. The wife's Internal Energy Level Eight, while the husband 'Internal Cultivation was even lower, at only level seven. It was unclear how he managed to enjoy the blessings of having two wives— Su Yingbo and his two other sons were half-siblings.
However, compared to their in-laws, Su Clan's parents were quite different. Ai Qing's parents Internal Cultivation Level Four and level Internal Cultivation Level Three, respectively. Considering Ai Qing's cultivation level, Si Ming even suspected that there might be some hereditary disease in their family that prevented them from practicing martial arts.
But upon further reflection, the other party's situation didn't seem strange. Si Ming usually interacted with martial arts masters, so naturally he raised his standards. In reality, the average Internal Cultivation level of the common people in Su State was only 3.8, and the average level of the common people in France was even lower, at 3.5. Among them, the common people were at 3.3 and the nobles were at 4.2. Of course, this only counted those who practiced martial arts; those commoners who never practiced were excluded from the statistics.
While nobles have access to more resources, their motivation to cultivate is also lower. Martial arts is one of the few avenues for upward mobility for commoners, so they will naturally seize any opportunity. However, nobles have many ways to live the life of a winner in life, and martial arts is just one of many options, and it is a relatively arduous one. Unless they are naturally interested in it or have exceptional talent, they would prefer to choose the easier path.
Just as Si Ming were wandering, Yan Jinghong came out of the room. Everyone turned to look at him, but before they could ask anything, they could tell from the expression on his face that the result was not ideal.
"Master, how is it?" Si Ming asked.
"Before I came in, I had the idea of forcibly pulling him out and forcing him to face reality, but after seeing him, I thought it would be better to let him stay alone for a few more days..."
Yan Jinghong sighed, then said to Su Yingbo's parents, "Let's wait seven more days. If he still refuses to come out after seven days, I will force him to."
With the physique of Spirit Transformation Grandmaster, going without food and water for half a month is no big deal. Su Yingbo's parents knew this, so they nodded and said, "Thank you for your trouble."
After the funeral, the crowd gradually dispersed. Everyone had their own lives to live, and loved ones waiting at home, so it was impossible to waste too much time on others. Although some felt sad and others grieved, the deceased were gone, and the living had to keep moving forward with the passage of time.
Only Su Yingbo's time seemed to stand still.
He stood there blankly in the room, staring up at the wall, which was covered with photos of his wife, nearly a thousand in total. Some were of her alone, others were of her with him. In every photo, his wife was showing a happy and content expression.
The room was filled with Su Yingbo's longing, a longing that even affected reality, bringing the people in the photograph to life. Thousands of Ai Qing appeared in the photograph, some smiling, some waving, some strolling, engaging in limited activities.
This is not an illusion; it is simply a powerful mental force that has shaken reality and altered it through human will, creating a phenomenon that resembles an illusion.
Seeing this scene, even the decisive Yan Jinghong couldn't speak. She could feel Su Yingbo's longing for his wife even as she breathed in the air in the room.
Suddenly, an old man with a wrinkled face emerged from the darkness. He didn't come through the door or window; it was as if he appeared out of thin air.
"Commander Su, I have come as invited."
The aura of the dead emanating from the other person disturbed Su Yingbo's thoughts, causing the figure in the photograph to cease moving.
Su Yingbo frowned, finally reacting, and turned to ask, "Who are you? When did I make any agreement with you?"
"Hehe, Commander Su, you really have a bad memory. Have you forgotten? I once said that we would meet again soon."
His mind, stiffened by grief, began to function again, memories flashing through his mind. Su Yingbo immediately recalled that the other person was the Nether Master from the Heaven-Defying Society he had met that day.
In an instant, a bolt of lightning struck Su Yingbo's mind, dispelling the fog and allowing him to recall many details.
That day, his father-in-law advised him to pledge allegiance to the Second Prince, but he refused. Not wanting to offend his father-in-law, he heard a maid report that two groups of men who appeared to be Imperial Army were fighting outside. He then used the excuse of mediating to escape his father-in-law and leave. What followed was a tragedy—
Why did the timing happen so coincidentally, precisely when he was arguing with his father-in-law and there was a military clash?
Why did the accident happen precisely when he was leaving?
Furthermore, while his wife's low cultivation level meant he couldn't save her after she fell down the stairs, his in-laws' household steward possessed Level Eight Internal Cultivation, and there were also security guards and other personnel. If they had intervened, Ai Qing's injuries wouldn't have worsened so quickly. On that day, they were either on leave or involved in the Imperial Army's fighting. Why was it such a coincidence?
Previously, Su Yingbo hadn't considered these suspicious points because he was immersed in the grief of losing his wife, but now everything became clear.
"You did all of this!"
The Nether Master chuckled, "Heh heh heh, to accuse someone without evidence is false accusation. As a France, shouldn't you always prioritize evidence?"
Su Yingbo paid him no heed. Her grief turned into rage, and with a flick of her wrist, her inner True Qi surged as if boiling.
"Silver Brush Strokes Chill a Thousand Mountains!"
Seeing that his ultimate move was about to be unleashed, the Nether Master remained unfazed and calmly said, "I can revive your wife."
"Impossible! No one can bring a dead person back to life!"
Su Yingbo was emotionally agitated. Although his words were negative, they concealed a hint of hope, so he stopped his ultimate move and did not unleash it.
Having completely seen through Su Yingbo's thoughts, the Nether Master chuckled and said, "A person who is completely dead cannot be brought back to life, of course. But if you collect her soul information at the very moment of her death, before her soul dissipates, you can revive her through a method similar to possession."
"Possession and parasitism? The one who was resurrected is not the real her."
"Same memories, same personality, how could it not be her? If you care about mere physical appearance, you can easily have plastic surgery to make her look exactly like your wife."
"..."
"If you're worried about the success rate, don't worry. We've conducted many experiments before, some private and some public. For example, one of them involved extracting the soul of the 'Eight Asura Sin Lord' and inhabiting an ordinary person's body, causing quite a bit of trouble in Tange City of Su State. The authorities should have records of this, and you can use your connections to verify it. By the way, Yan Jinghong's disciple was one of the people involved; you can ask him to confirm."
"The Eight Asura Sin Lord? I remember he was captured by Yan Jinghong. The person or the corpse should be under the guard of the Mohist Knight Guard... Are you a member of the Mohist Knight Guard? No, since you're doing these strange researches, you must be from the Mohist Academy of Science of Sciences?" Su Yingbo's tone was threatening.
The Nether Master chuckled, ignoring the other's question, and continued, "My research on the soul over the years has led me to discover that the souls of the strong can last much longer, and can be extracted even after a long period of death. However, resurrecting them is extremely difficult, often resulting in various flaws. Conversely, the souls of the weak remain for a very short time after death, often dissipating in less than half an hour. Yet, the success rate of resurrecting them is very high. I have a 90% chance of resurrecting your wife. How about it, are you willing to make a deal with me?"
Suppressing his anger, Su Yingbo gritted his teeth and said, "You killed my wife, and now you're using her to threaten me?"
"Yes, it's like kidnapping. You kidnap a hostage and then demand a ransom. You can choose to pay or not; the decision is yours," the Nether Master said confidently.
"You shameless murderer!"