An Explanation (Please Subscribe)

But then Tie Xiongfei's expression stiffened as he suddenly thought of a possibility.

Meng Zhao had left his family and Ji Prefecture at the age of eight, heading to Great Compassion Temple in Jade Capital, Yong Prefecture. It had amounted to leaving the protection of his family.

There was a blank stretch of ten years in between, and anything could have happened.

Could it be that during that time, he had been recruited by the organization the Masked Man belonged to and become one of its members?

It seemed that, out of all the impossibilities, this was the most likely explanation. Moreover, this organization must have had considerable ties to officials within Imperial Capital City; otherwise, there would have been no way to account for Great Compassion Temple.

This was nothing unusual. Whether high officials and nobles attached themselves to an organization or formed one themselves, it was perfectly common.

As early as the era of the Great Ancestor, a founding general had established a Hero Gathering Society on his own. In just a few years, he had gathered nearly half the people in the army into its ranks, along with leaders of civilian gangs, wealthy merchants from chambers of commerce, famous figures, recluses, and more.

Though there was no evidence that he harbored rebellious intentions, he was ultimately suspected by the Great Ancestor and hunted down.

The Hero Gathering Society subsequently vanished into thin air, becoming a sword hanging over the heads of princes and nobles, making them understand that some lines could not be crossed.

From then on, even when such high officials and nobles formed their own forces, they generally kept a low profile and endured in silence, lest they be purged from above. This had become common knowledge.

Tie Xiongfei suspected that the Masked Man's organization