The Truth From Thirty Years Ago

Ye Yun forced himself to stand, his internal organs feeling like they were burning. Though he had successfully killed Steward Zhou in their battle, the Netherworld Sect's demonic arts were truly bizarre, and the residual Yin energy still raged through his meridians. He took a deep breath and circulated the Yuan Gathering Art from the True Martial Secret Manual, slowly expelling the Yin energy that had invaded his body.

Just then, a faint fluctuation came from the long saber in his hand. The blade trembled slightly, emitting a subtle hum, as if something was trying to communicate.

"Thank you... Young Master..." A weak female voice echoed directly in Ye Yun's mind, her voice as ethereal as a candle flame in the wind. "This humble one... has a presumptuous request..."

Ye Yun wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and gently stroked the saber's body. "You want me to help you uncover the truth of what happened back then?"

The long saber trembled slightly, a faint azure light flashing on its edge before dimming again, serving as its response.

"Rest for now," Ye Yun sheathed the long saber, tapping the scabbard three times with his finger. "Once I've dealt with things here, we'll discuss it further."

The female ghost's presence gradually subsided, and the long saber returned to its ordinary appearance. Ye Yun surveyed the surroundings; the entire courtyard had been reduced to ruins. Steward Zhou's corpse lay face up in a pool of blood, the edges of the gruesome wound on his chest tinged with an eerie black, as if corroded by something. The corpses of the four black-robed figures were even more horrifying—three had been drained of their essence and blood, resembling dried husks; the other had been bisected by Ye Yun, its innards spilled across the ground.

Urgent footsteps and shouts echoed from a distance. Ye Yun quickly adjusted his breathing, suppressing the churning Essence Qi within him, and put on his usual expression of exhaustion.

"Brother Ye!" Yan Xiao Liu, accompanied by over a dozen constables, rushed into the courtyard. Upon seeing the scene, he was instantly dumbfounded. "This... this is..."

"The female ghost and Steward Zhou fought to a mutual destruction," Ye Yun coughed twice, feigning weakness. "Steward Zhou used some kind of evil art before he died, and it took the female ghost with him... cough cough... I don't know where she went."

Yan Xiao Liu cast a suspicious glance at Ye Yun, then swept his gaze across the battlefield. Half the courtyard walls had collapsed, and the ground was covered in crisscrossing ravines, some over a foot deep. This was hardly the destruction caused by a mutual fight! It was clearly the trace of a battle between powerful experts!

However, seeing Ye Yun's warning gaze, Yan Xiao Liu wisely refrained from asking further questions. He turned and shouted at the constables behind him, "What are you all standing around for? Clean up the scene! Take all the bodies back to the yamen! Remember, if anyone here dares to speak a single word of what happened today..." He made a throat-slitting gesture.

The constables turned pale and immediately lowered their heads to get to work. Ye Yun patted Yan Xiao Liu on the shoulder. "I'll leave this to you. I'm going to see the Wang family head."

In the main hall of the Wang Mansion, Wang Fu had been waiting for a long time. Seeing Ye Yun approach, the old steward hurried forward. "Lord Ye, the family head is waiting for you in the inner chamber."

Ye Yun nodded and followed Wang Fu through the winding corridors. Along the way, he noticed the Wang Mansion's layout was quite exquisite—rockeries and flowing water harmonized with the Nine Palaces and Eight Trigrams, and bronze mirrors were hung at the turns of the corridors, clearly arranged under the guidance of a master, possessing the effect of suppressing the house and warding off evil.

"These were all left by that Daoist priest thirty years ago," Wang Fu noticed Ye Yun's gaze and explained proactively. "Since these were set up, the mansion has indeed become much more peaceful."

In front of the inner chamber door, Wang Fu knocked lightly. "Master, Lord Ye has arrived."

"Enter," a hoarse voice came from within.

Pushing the door open, Ye Yun saw an old man with white hair and beard sitting in a grand armchair. This was the current head of the Wang family, Wang Shouyi. He appeared to be around sixty years old, his face haggard, his eyes sunken, clearly plagued by nightmares for a long time.

"Lord Ye, please have a seat," Wang Shouyi gestured for a servant to serve tea. After the door was closed, he got straight to the point. "I heard that... that thing has appeared again?"

Ye Yun picked up the teacup and took a sip. "Not only has it appeared, but it also took Steward Zhou from the prefecture down with it."

"Steward Zhou?" Wang Shouyi's brow furrowed. "Impossible... that thing's resentment is extremely heavy. How could a mere prefecture steward..."

"Steward Zhou was from the Netherworld Sect," Ye Yun put down his teacup, his gaze sharp. "Patriarch Wang, even now, are you still going to conceal the truth of thirty years ago?"

With a thump, the teacup in Wang Shouyi's hand fell to the ground, shattering into pieces. His face instantly turned pale, his lips trembling. "You... how do you know about the Netherworld Sect?"

Ye Yun did not answer, merely looking at him quietly. An deathly silence filled the room, broken only by the heavy breathing of the old steward, Wang Fu.

After a long while, Wang Shouyi sighed, as if he had aged ten years in an instant. "Alas... since that thing has already appeared, the Wang family is probably unavoidable. Ask whatever you wish to know, Lord Ye."

Wang Shouyi signaled Wang Fu to retrieve an old wooden box. The box was opened, revealing a yellowed family tree and several faded letters.

"This matter dates back thirty years..." Wang Shouyi's voice was low and hoarse, as if each word carried immense weight. "My father was still alive then, and I was the eldest legitimate son of the Wang family. I also had a younger sister born to a concubine, named Wang Yun. This girl was strange from a young age, always saying she could see unclean things. At first, we all thought it was just childish nonsense, until she was seven years old..."

Wang Shouyi's eyes became distant, as if he had returned to that nightmarish era. "Three Daoist priests arrived that day, claiming to be cultivators from the Xuantian Temple. They said Yun'er had a 'Spirit-Connecting Physique' and was a rare talent for cultivation, and wanted to take her up the mountain to practice. My father naturally didn't believe them. Who knew the leading Daoist priest performed a magic trick on the spot, conjuring a golden lotus from thin air and making a dead tree bloom... Such abilities, how could ordinary people possess them?"

Ye Yun frowned. He had never heard of this Xuantian Temple. However, the magic of conjuring something from nothing and making a dead tree bloom bore some resemblance to the Netherworld Sect's Illusionary Form Technique.

"My father immediately agreed and even offered a hefty sum as a betrothal gift," Wang Shouyi continued. "Who knew that the day after they stayed, strange things began to happen in the mansion—first, the large black dog at the gate inexplicably died, its blood completely drained; then, Granny Li, a kitchen helper, was found dead in the woodshed, her eyes... her eyes had been gouged out..."

At this point, Wang Shouyi's hand trembled involuntarily. Wang Fu quickly handed him a cup of hot tea, but he waved it away.

"The most terrifying thing happened on the seventh night," Wang Shouyi's voice was almost squeezed from between his teeth. "Yun'er... Yun'er personally strangled her birth mother, Lady Liu, and... and gouged out her eyes! The guards on patrol at the time witnessed it firsthand, saying Yun'er had superhuman strength, and four or five strong men couldn't restrain her. Her eyes... were completely black, with no whites..."

Ye Yun's heart jolted. Completely black pupils—this was a typical characteristic of someone controlled by the Ghost Seeding Technique! The Netherworld Sect was most skilled at refining living people into vessels, and a woman born in a Yin year, Yin month, and Yin hour was the best container.

"What happened later?"

"Later, those three Daoist priests took action and suppressed Yun'er with talismans," Wang Shouyi wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "Just as they were about to take Yun'er away, a disheveled Daoist priest arrived at the mansion and, without a word, began fighting those three..."

Wang Shouyi's description gradually became vivid, as if that earth-shattering battle was unfolding before their eyes. "Though that disheveled Daoist priest was in ragged clothes, his methods were astonishing! With a wave of his hand, thunderbolts struck, forcing the three Daoist priests to retreat. They fought from the inner courtyard to the main hall, then from the main hall to the rooftop... Finally, they transformed into four streams of light and flew towards the outskirts of the city. As for Yun'er... she took advantage of the chaos and fled back to her own courtyard..."

Ye Yun pondered. To fight three Netherworld Sect cultivators single-handedly, this disheveled Daoist priest must be a master of the righteous path. But who was he, and why did he happen to appear at the Wang family's residence?

"What happened later? Miss Yun'er how did she..."

"Committed suicide by jumping into a well," Wang Shouyi closed his eyes. "The mansion was in chaos at the time, and no one paid attention to her. When they found her, all they found by the well were a pair of embroidered shoes... and... and her birth mother's eyeballs..."

The temperature in the room seemed to drop sharply. Wang Fu unconsciously shifted closer to the door, while Ye Yun remained motionless, merely tapping his fingers on the saber scabbard, lost in thought.