The moment they met, Sha Rulai tossed a bundle to Niu Youdao. "Put these on."
Niu Youdao caught it without any hurry and smiled. "Looks like Ding Wei's side has gotten results."
Sha Rulai said, "There are results, but not the kind you imagined. Ding Wei was stripped of his post as the Misty Pavilion's Command Wielder. The reason was that the assassination case had made no progress for so long, and Hong Yunfa's death had yielded no results either. One setback after another enraged Yuan Se. After dismissing him, Yuan Se assigned him solely to investigate the assassination case."
"Xuan Yao did die, but not because he tried to assassinate you. Since he had a grudge against you, Yuan Se adopted the attitude of rather wrongly punishing than letting anyone slip through the net. He arrested Xuan Yao and subjected him to severe interrogation. Unable to bear the humiliation, Xuan Yao smashed his head into a wall and killed himself."
Niu Youdao was stunned, somewhat surprised. "I clearly told Lü Wushuang and pointed the finger at Ding Wei. How could they let him off so easily? Did Lü Wushuang conceal it and say nothing?"
Sha Rulai slowly shook his head. "Not necessarily. I heard something: Lü Wushuang and Yuan Se came to blows in Heaven-Questioning City, and the commotion was considerable. They said people from the Great Yuan Sacred Land offended Lü Wushuang, while Yuan Se was protecting his own. If I hadn't heard some inside details from you, I might have believed it too."
Niu Youdao's gaze sharpened. "So Lü Wushuang probably did say something, but didn't make it public? He and Yuan Se reached some sort of compromise?"
Sha Rulai said, "That should be it. Otherwise, Ding Wei's demotion and Xuan Yao's death at this time would