Volume Three: Rising Fame - Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Secret Letter

Have my hands ever been stained with blood? Naturally, they have.

However, it was always the others who struck first, forcing Li Yu to retaliate. Yet, today, looking at the life that had just ebbed away from the clansman before him, he fell into a sudden silence.

When Can Yishuang looked at him, she wanted to ask if they should save the man. Li Yu shook his head. On one hand, the youth’s injuries were too severe; he was already holding on by a final thread. On the other hand, it was debatable whether Can Yishuang, as a Spirit Treasure, possessed the power to bring the dead back to life or regrow flesh and bone. If she were exposed now, this group, which had only just come together, would fall apart.

A Spirit Treasure!

Does such a thing still exist in this strange world? Wealth moves the hearts of men, and Li Yu would not gamble on that. He still needed these people to help him find Xiong Xiu’er, and even to guard against the Blue Star cultivators who might appear.

But if he could have saved him... had he then stood by and watched the youth die before his eyes?

Now that the youth was dead, the question of whether he could have been saved was meaningless. This was the root of the sudden confusion Li Yu felt.

He did not know what had happened before the man died, but the fact that the youth had managed to drag his shattered legs this far showed a desperate will to live. Furthermore, the way he had suddenly repented and called out for his mother in his dying moments made Li Yu’s heart tremble. The emotions contained in those final words were the reason for his inner turmoil.

After a long while, Li Yu suddenly asked, "Why did you come to this secret realm?"

Wen Xiangxuan was startled, realizing the question was directed at her. She also sensed that the young man was not in the right state of mind. After some thought, she replied, "What other reason could there be? The clan selected me; whether I wanted to come or not, I had to!"

"Besides, the Wen Clan is only a small clan. It was already a surprise for our younger generation to produce someone like me at the peak of the Sixth Grade. This secret realm is of great importance—if I don't come, who will? The Wen clan has invested in me for so long; naturally, I must pay them back."

"So it wasn't your own choice..." Li Yu murmured softly.

"Choice?!" Wen Xiangxuan brushed back her hair and stared at Li Yu. "You could say I chose to come. If I achieve results, the clan will naturally prioritize my development. Once I am strong enough, I will naturally be able to make my own decisions!"

This principle held true for all clans.

You sell your life for the future of the clan, and the clan must naturally pay for you. The clan and its disciples share the same honor and disgrace; clans that fail to reward merit have long since vanished in the river of history.

Wen Xiangxuan had been assigned to the secret realm, and the Wen clan had made promises to her before she entered. Thus, she was currently selling her life for her own future as well.

Li Yu nodded, indicating he understood.

He pondered, "The youth's score is still there... to be able to run away with injuries like that, it is highly likely that those who attacked him had an even more important target!"

Through his casual chats with these people, Li Yu already knew that, aside from his own single-minded pursuit of medicine, the other clansmen had been engaged in all sorts of treachery and deceit these past few days.

"Snow-Blowing Ghost Crystals?!" Wen Xiangxuan exclaimed.

"Exactly!" Li Yu nodded, his gaze following the bloodstains deeper into the forest. "He couldn't have run far with injuries like that. Let’s follow the blood trail to the place where the battle occurred and see what we can find."

Wen Xiangxuan summoned the rest of the group.

The fact that the youth had only just passed away meant the incident hadn't happened long ago, and he couldn't have traveled far while so severely wounded; the site of the clash must be nearby. In such a situation, it was not wise to arrive with a grand entrance, as it would only alert the enemy.

The youth had been at the mid-Sixth Grade—not weak by any means. To be beaten into such a state, whether by a stronger opponent or a large group, required extreme caution.

The group stopped moving through the canopy and instead moved rapidly across the ground.

Li Yu moved with agility, tapping his feet against the tree trunks to propel himself forward.

"Have you pulled yourself together?"

Wen Xiangxuan followed closely at Li Yu’s side, lost in thought. Looking at him now, it seemed the boy had managed to regulate his own emotions. She had witnessed his earlier abnormality and understood what he was struggling with. When she first participated in a clan mission and had her hands stained with blood for the first time, she had fallen into the same psychological state.

Many of those who failed to adjust back then either became brutal and bloodthirsty or suffered from hidden mental ailments later on.

'As expected, he is no ordinary person...'

Wen Xiangxuan pursed her lips as she watched Li Yu. Especially his speed, which didn't even seem to draw upon spiritual power; if he was moving this casually just to keep pace with them, how fast would he be if he actually used his spiritual power?

And that girl, who was suspected to be ‘Qing Xiumin,’ was also incredibly strong! To reach such speeds relying entirely on her physical body!

Li Yu was unaware of the jumbled thoughts in the woman's head. His body, having been tempered by the hurricanes within the Wind Wall, was already comparable to a Sixth-Grade peak martial arts cultivator. When it came to pure speed, martial arts cultivators were no weaker than divine path cultivators.

Moving through the jungle was no difficulty for him.

Can Yishuang herself was a Spirit Treasure that did not reveal her use of spiritual power. To those who did not know her true nature, it was only natural for them to misinterpret her calm and detached demeanor.

The bloodstains were intermittent, but Xing Chengping, the bearded young man in the group who was also at the peak of the Sixth Grade, turned out to be unexpectedly skilled at tracking.

Xing Chengping.

After a few brief conversations, Li Yu had learned the man's name. The information he had committed to memory proved useful, and he quickly recalled the corresponding details.

A member of the Xing Clan, a mid-sized clan where the elders held Third-Grade status and most clansmen served as constables.

'No wonder!'

Li Yu looked at Xing Chengping’s beard with interest. The man was only twenty-five, yet he gave off the impression of someone in his forties. It turned out that because his whole family were constables, they had to look the part; a childish face wouldn't intimidate the most vicious of criminals!

After a moment of hesitation, he asked him the same question he had posed to Wen Xiangxuan.

"Haha, most of the people in the clan were eager to sign up. But what would be the point of Ninth or Eighth-Grade cultivators coming here? It would just be a farce," Xing Chengping said with a squint and a laugh. "In the end, three were chosen. The other two... they both died two days ago."

"Knowing the mortality rate is so high, why were they still so eager to come?" Li Yu asked, puzzled.

"What is there to question? If I work at the yamen, the yamen pays me a salary. I'm risking my life here—if I survive, my family will be treated better. If I don't, they'll treat my brother better," Xing Chengping replied frankly.

Li Yu fell silent.

Of the three people from the Xing Clan who entered, only one was from the main branch, and he was already dead. Though the secret realm mission was important, who didn't cherish their own life? Once the suitable people were chosen, they had to undergo all sorts of psychological conditioning to ensure they could enter without any worries.

Xing Chengping’s words were crude but held a deep truth.

Without benefits, why risk your life?!

"We're almost there!" Xing Chengping whispered sharply.

The entire team came to a sudden halt. Xing Chengping scanned the surroundings quickly, then leaped into the foliage to peer into the distance, using the leaves as cover.

"Found it. It's about three hundred meters ahead. It looks like they finished the fight and left!"

The time it took for the youth to escape and for Li Yu’s group to track him back—if the perpetrators were efficient, they could be far away by now.

"Let's go take a look!"

Li Yu wasn't afraid of a trap and, calling out to the others, took the lead.

Emerging from the lush canopy onto a massive, exposed mountain rock, Li Yu and the others landed with a soft rustle. Seeing the rock surface stained with blood, they all fell into a heavy silence.

Eight bodies lay scattered upon the stone.

Since Xing Chengping said everyone had left, those remaining here were naturally dead.

"The Xiong Clan?!"

Li Yu’s expression changed as he spotted a familiar clan emblem on one of the garments—the very same Xiong Clan that Xiong Xiu’er belonged to. He stepped forward. The man’s face was unrecognizable, but it was clear enough to tell he was male. Li Yu breathed a sigh of relief; if this was a man, then Xiong Xiu’er should still be alive.

"See if there’s anything useful!" Li Yu ordered.

Wen Xiangxuan nodded and led the remaining eight people to inspect the corpses one by one.

"The scores are all gone!"

Wen Xiangxuan checked the tokens of the dead, seeing they had all been reduced to zero. Her hopes of picking up scraps vanished instantly. The points from the youth who died earlier had been transferred to her token; Li Yu hadn't asked for them, and she had hoped for more gains here.

"Big Sister, there’s something here!"

Someone from the other side called out in surprise. He pulled a blood-stained piece of paper from a corpse’s chest and handed it to Wen Xiangxuan.

"Young Master, would you like to see?" Wen Xiangxuan walked over to Li Yu and asked.

Even though the others still looked to Wen Xiangxuan as their 'leader,' Li Yu hadn't said much, yet Wen Xiangxuan felt a constant tension in her heart. She had decided to submit to someone else; how could she still view herself as the one in charge?

Putting herself in their shoes, she knew she couldn't accept such a situation, but the trust these people had built over the last few days was hard to change overnight. Every time something happened, they looked to her first, which left her feeling quite helpless.

"What is written on it?" Li Yu asked.

"Let me see..." Wen Xiangxuan read the contents of the note aloud: "Have seen the whereabouts of the rest of the Xiong Clan. There are fifteen or sixteen of them. It seems their goal is also the Snow-Blowing Ghost Crystals. The enemy is many and we are few; how should we strike?"

The note was brief, and Wen Xiangxuan finished reading it quickly. She pondered for a moment.

"Young Master, this must have been sent by a spy from another team. But it seems that before they could decide on a plan after receiving this message, this group was wiped out by someone else!"

Based on the scene, it wasn't hard to guess.

Li Yu nodded, deep in thought. Since the note mentioned "the rest of the Xiong Clan," it seemed the other two members of the Xiong clan were in the same place. He hadn't expected to find Xiong Xiu’er’s location so easily.

And if they were weighing their options because the "enemy was many and they were few," could it be said that the group on Xiong Xiu’er's side was weaker than this one? Yet, this group had been wiped out before they could even attack...

If that was the case, Xiong Xiu’er and the others should be temporarily safe.

"Fifteen or sixteen people? How did Xiong Xiu’er manage to gather so many?"

Li Yu muttered to himself. He didn't recall the Xiong Clan having any alliances before entering the secret realm. It was a pity, though—if a team that was outnumbered still dared to have designs on them, the people they had gathered were likely just a bunch of motley fools.

"Young Master, what should we do now?" Wen Xiangxuan asked.

They had searched everything worth searching here, and aside from this secret note, there were no other items of value.

"Let's go take a look at these Snow-Blowing Ghost Crystals," Li Yu said after some thought, looking in the direction indicated by his token. "Since they were able to receive the secret message, this group must have been close to the Xiong Clan. If our general direction is correct, we should be able to find the Xiong Clan."