<h4>Chapter 782: Sinner (2)</h4>


    The news continued spreading among the upper echelons.


    Nanyuan.


    Su Yu was still in a discussion with others. Should they grab a meal before leaving? At that time, his voice transmission talisman shook.


    He took it out openly and checked the message. Then, he smiled and said, "Everyone, I think we need to leave quickly. My teacher told me to return and stop running. I don''t want to get dragged back to Tiandu. This ce is still not too far from Tiandu."


    Inwardly, he was incredibly shaken. That was a message from Xia Huyou. That fellow had just received news that Feng Ji had been captured. Feng Ji had also confessed to killing thosemanders.


    As for Chen Yong, his whereabouts were still unknown. Nobody knew what was going on with him. Some Invincibles were on the way to Great Xia for the public trial. His Martial Uncle Feng had been captured! Where was Chen Yong?


    Su Yu was shocked, but he maintained the same smile on his face. Feng Ji was the murderer? No. It was definitely Chen Yong.


    Previously, the Great Ming storyteller had said that the deadmander enjoyed using cultural researchers as bait. And Su Yu was now certain that those cultural researchers were from the multiple character faction.


    Chen Yong was definitely the killer. What was his martial uncle thinking? Killing those Mountainseamanders without sufficient proof would ce him in great trouble. All those people were from the military. Killing them without reason was punishable by death.


    It wasn''t like Su Yu''s hands were clean. But he knew what he was doing. If anything happened, he only needed to run to Great Ming and he would be fine. Those he had killed were only some Sunmoon descendants. He also had a good reason for killing them. They had intruded upon his home to steal his secret.


    In that situation, as long as he had a sufficient backer, he would be fine. As long as Great Ming protected him, those Sunmoons wouldn''t be able to do anything. This matter wasn''t important enough to attract the involvement of those Invincibles.


    But killing military officials so rashly would result in death. The murders Su Yumitted could be resolved with a strong backer. But killing military officials could not be resolved even with a strong backer.


    Had his martial uncle killed those people for revenge? Was he avenging the multiple character faction? But was his martial uncle really so close to the other multiple character faction branches? Or was there an unknown reason?


    And what was up with Martial Uncle Feng Ji? Public trial by Invincibles. Since there would be some Invincibles in Great Xia City, the smart thing for him to do was to avoid Great Xia City. But could he do that?


    Even at the risk of discovery, he couldn''t miss something like that. He didn''t know if he would even get the chance to learn anything, but he had to try. Inparison, the people he nned to kill in Nanyuan were no longer so important. He would have plenty of chances to do so in the future.


    Su Yu started urging the others to depart immediately.


    At the same time.


    Great Xia Cultural Research Academy.


    Hong Tan was seated opposite Marquis Xia. Marquis Xia sighed helplessly and said, "Feng Ji has been captured, but he will probably be fine. Since he has been left behind, I reckon even Invincibles won''t be able to find anything. Instead, the Invincibles might be the ones to prove his innocence. As for Chen Yong...since he decided to not return, it is clear that he has reached a decision."


    He left one thing unsaid. Simr assassinations had also happened in Nanyuan, but only a Sunmoon descendant had been killed. A Sunmoon descendant was not the same as a Sunmoon.


    As for the other two deaths, they were merely the descendants of some Mountainseas. Their deaths did not matter. Marquis Xia suspected that these deaths were rted to Su Yu. But he didn''t feel like telling Hong Tan this. For now, that was not important enough.


    Hong Tan remained silent. He stared nkly. He was seventy years old this year while Liu Wenyan was two years older than him. Fifty-one years ago, Liu Wenyan was twenty-one while he was neen. At that time, he had only entered the academy for a little bit over one year.


    Not long after that, his teacher died and Liu Wenyan left. When he was thirty-three, he epted the eighteen-year-old Chen Yong as his first student. Thirty-seven years had passed.


    Chen Yong was fifteen years younger than him. This year, he was fifty-five. He had the ability to enter the Mountainsea Realm many years ago. At the time, Hong Tan had viewed him as the hope of the faction.


    After being together for thirty-seven years, he would sometimes feel like that fellow was like his son. That was what he felt even though he had no real son.


    In his mind, scene after scene from Chen Yong''s youth appeared. Back then, Chen Yong was a cheerful youth. As a middle-aged man, he had a gloomy personality. And at an old age, he became a patient man.


    Hong Tan nked out for a long while. Finally, he said, "Second Brother, can I ask you something?"


    Second brother...


    How many years had it been since Hong Tan had called him that? Even Marquis Xia turned absent-minded. That was how this kid would address him during their youth. But that had stopped decades ago.


    "Ask..."


    Marquis Xia felt his throat turning dry.


    "Second Brother...what is the Xia Family still waiting for?" Hong Tan shed an ugly smile and said, "I know, I understand. My senior brother understands as well. We are all abandoned chess pieces. Our persistence is pointless. Is that right?"


    With a bitter feeling, Marquis Xia forced himself to smile and said, "Don''t talk nonsense. How is that possible? We won''t abandon you guys. You guys are the hope..."


    "Hope?" Hong Tanughed, "No. We''re not the hope. The multiple character faction is the hope, but not us. We''re the multiple character faction, but we''re not the only ones. Am I right? Second Brother, can you tell me the truth this time? Please?"


    Marquis Xia''s throat turned even drier than before as he said, "No. It''s you! You are the only multiple character faction! This ce is the origin of the multiple character faction. This ce is the ce where the multiple character faction has risen into prominence. Only with this ce and you guys will the multiple character faction be the multiple character faction."


    Hong Tan said, "Was this how you guys fooled my teacher back then? Even my senior brother was fooled. I was fooled as well. All of us were fooled. Second Brother, you''re very good at lying. This has been the case since we were young."


    "I''m not lying!"


    Hong Tan shed another ugly smile that looked more like he was crying and said, "I have always believed that if we try to struggle, we might be able to save ourselves. But...Second Brother, I have a question. Is there...still saving us? When the dayes...who should we even take our revenge on? Could we even do it?"


    "Yes! Definitely!" Marquis Xia was starting to choke with emotions. He said, "It will be fine! Trust me! Trust us! Little Hong, trust us once, please? Trust us again! It will work out! Otherwise, what would be the point of what we have done all these years? The moment Longwu seeds, there will be hope!"


    "Is that so?"


    "Yes." Marquis Xia nodded heavily and said, "Longwu, my father, and some other people will be enough to get justice for you..."


    "Really?


    Hong Tan''s tears streamed down as he said, "But...but my student...can he live until then? Will they spare him after killing so many Mountainseamanders? Second Brother, you can save him, right?"


    Marquis Xia wanted to say yes. But he couldn''t bring himself to say that.


    Marquis Xia felt terrible. He clenched his teeth and said, "Chen Yong is a smart man. He must have guessed something. It isn''t necessarily a bad thing for him to leave. Su Yu is gone. Chen Yong is gone. Liu Wenyan is away at the Allheaven Battlefield. This is actually a good thing for us. We also have some trump cards in hiding. It will be fine, Little Hong! It will be fine!"


    Hong Tan gazed at Marquis Xia for a very long time before calm covered his face. He looked so serene it was scary. "Second Brother, I want to kill. I think I''m going crazy. I''m going to be crazy soon..."


    "Yes. Kill. You''ll get to kill soon." Marquis Xia nodded, "We''ll kill a lot of people."


    "But...they im to be the good guys?" Hong Tan nkly said, "In this era, we are the viins. We are the ones who should die. Do you understand me, Second Brother?"


    "Yes, I understand you."


    Marquis Xia shed an ugly smile and said, "We all understand. Are they the good guys just because they say so? Who are they to make that judgment? We are all humans. Why should they be the ones to make that judgment? Their words don''t count!"


    "But we''re weak..."


    Marquis Xia said, "It''s fine. Being weak now doesn''t mean that you will be weak forever. Don''t you have me by your side?"


    Hong Tan had a self-mocking smile as he said, "No, you''re not. You still have a path of return. Second Brother, you can still turn back. But that is not an option for me, my senior brother, my students, and my grandstudent...I will start killing. Not now, but I will. I promise you that."


    "Yes, you will...and I''ll help you..."


    Hong Tan smiled, stood up, and turned to leave. While walking away, he said, "Marquis, I have been staying patient for this faction, this world, and this race. A day wille when I live for myself and my loved ones. At that time, I will stop caring about the Xia Family, the Human Realm, and everyone else..."


    Marquis Xia lowered his head silently. His fists were clenched tight.


    Hong Tan left. He left with a smile. He left with a sense of relief. Perhaps...this was how he should have acted long ago. He had thought that Chen Yong could continue staying patient.


    After all, it had been so many years. Why was Chen Yong suddenly acting like the kid, Su Yu? He was too foolish. Why was he going crazy at this age? While Hong Tan walked, he looked at the distant Heart Cultivating Pavilion. His gazended on the top of the building as he smiled. And what was that old fellow nning?


    Heart Cultivating Pavilion.


    Wan Tiansheng stared at the ceiling nkly. After a long time, he muttered, "Ye Batian, you fool. You sure have it easy dying so early and leaving this terrible mess behind for me. What am I supposed to do about it? Fine, fine. Perhaps...this is the final bout of madness before the end? Chen Yong has gone mad. Hong Tan has gone mad. Liu Wenyan has gone mad long ago. Your students and grandstudent have all gone mad. And it''s all your fault. Will you not feel shame when you meet them in the afterlife?"


    <i>Creak! Creak!</i>


    Creaking sounds came from the wooden chair he sat on.


    Slowly, Wan Tiansheng regained his calm. Wait. He would wait a little bit longer. He wanted to get a clearer look. Some things were still unclear. He still wasn''t sure who he should kill. Would he...turn into a sinner as well? No. He was already a sinner. Including Ye Batian, Hong Tan, Chen Yong, Xia Xiao''er, and Xia Longwu, all of them were sinners.


    So be it.


    One only lived once. If they couldn''t leave their names behind as the shining beacons of humanity, they shall immortalize their names through their sheer infamy instead. Once again, creaking sounds came from the swaying wooden chair as Wan Tiansheng shut his eyes.


    Future...only one of the possible futures. The battle he saw...was it something he started? Or was it someone else? He was a sinner. But he would not atone for his sins.


    ***


    That day, Su Yu talked andughed with Zhou Hongbo and the others as they traveled in the direction of Great Xia City. As for Nanyuan, he could no longer pay any attention to it. As for the deaths in Nanyuan, the people in the group didn''t care about them.


    While they were traveling, some of them received word that Feng Ji had just been captured. Since Feng Ji had been captured in Great Wu, was it possible that Chen Yong was the one in Nanyuan?


    As for whether it was possible for Chen Yong to be the culprit in both Great Wu and Great Xia, nobody could be sure as well. After all, he might have a unique ability that was capable of doing that.


    He had hidden his abilities too well before this. Perhaps he had a clone? That wouldn''t even be surprising. After all, he was a cultural researcher. And since he was someone capable of killing seventh and eighth stage Mountainseas, having a clone would be the least surprising thing about him.


    He also seemed to possess elemental transformation escape abilities as traces of these abilities had been found in the previous murder scenes. Feng Ji would be trialed by Invincibles soon. Perhaps there would be some new discoveries after that. For a lot of people, this was a great chance to capture a secret cultist like Chen Yong or even more like him. Before long, the entire group learned of that.


    Zhou Hongbo smiled and said, "In that case, the same group of people might be the culprits behind the murders in Nanyuan. Who knows? Perhaps Chen Yong is an ally of the Six-Winged Divine Sect. I will try my best to give all of you the chance to attend the public trial. If Chen Yong was really the culprit...sigh. First, Su Yu escaped. Then, Chen Yong defected. Not long ago, Su Yu even made a fake usation about Principal Zhou, causing chaos in the Human Realm. Their line is truly disgusting."


    Someone else asked, "But we still don''t know who the culprit is, right?"


    Zhou Hongbo smiled, "I was merely specting based on the clues. The Invincibles will naturally find out the truth. Sigh. Multiple character faction...there are plenty of multiple character cultivators out there. But very few of them are troublemakers like those from Great Xia. Back then, they were troublemakers. Today, they are still troublemakers. When will this end?"


    "Great Xia''s multiple character faction is indeed filled with troublemakers. Their news has dominated the Human Realm for the past two years. If I were from the Xia Family, I would have expelled them long ago. That would make life much easier for them. Things wouldn''t have been so difficult for Prefect Xia. I can''t understand what they are thinking."


    They couldn''t understand what the Xia Family was thinking while Su Yu was turning absent-minded as he listened to them. So the truth was that for everyone else, they were the ones dragging the Xia Family down, not the other way around.


    In the eyes of everyone, the multiple character faction had turned into baggage. No, not the multiple character faction as a whole. Only Great Xia''s multiple character faction. Or to be precise, only a few individuals.


    Liu Wenyan, Hong Tan, Chen Yong, and Su Yu himself.


    For many people, they were troublemakers. They were the source of cmity. As far as everyone was concerned, the correct action for the Xia Family to take was to abandon them entirely. Since the Xia Family had not abandoned them, it had turned into an embodiment of justice.


    Beside him, Zhou Hongbo, who was mounted on a demonic beast, smiled at him and asked, "Brother Cui, what are you thinking about?"


    Su Yu smiled, "Women."


    "..."


    Zhou Hongboughed, "Brother Cui sure is honest."


    Su Yuughed heartily, "I call this honesty. I am no hypocrite. I will speak everything on my mind. We only live once. Why tire ourselves thinking about so many things? We have the big shots worrying about the matters that are truly important. The rest of us should just enjoy life."


    "You are an optimistic person, Brother Cui."


    Someone else spoke, "I have a lot to learn from you. That''s right. The big shots can worry about those matters. We can talk all we want, but we will be nothing but spectators. We won''t even know what the actual truth is."


    A different person asked, "Brother Cui, since you know Su Yu, do you think Great Ming will do anything if the trial manages to confirm that Chen Yong is the killer?"


    Su Yu smiled, "Su Yu himself might not ept that. But he''s too weak. This is the crime of murdering military officials. There is no escaping the capital punishment. Why would Great Ming get involved in this? At most, they will not participate in the hunt for Chen Yong for Su Yu''s sake. Are they supposed to stand against humanity for someone unrted to them like Chen Yong? Great Ming is not interested in something like that. We don''t care about the events outside Great Ming. This has always been how we conduct ourselves"


    "True. We''ll see. If it was really Chen Yong, Great Xia would probably be in some trouble, including Hong Tan. The dead military officials were people with friends and teachers. Chen Yong will probably be a wanted criminal across the entire Human Realm."


    Su Yuughed, "Who cares? That has nothing to do with me. That has nothing to do with any of you. Are you even capable of killing him? You must be dreaming. Don''t court death. I am merely a bystander. If you keep talking about this topic, I will start ignoring you. I don''t want to get implicated alongside all of you."


    "You''re right."


    Someone nodded. This was too dangerous. And it waspletely unrted to them. They shouldn''t get involved. Su Yu smiled with a carefree and cheerful expression on his face.


    Inwardly, he was feeling extremely gloomy. What woulde out of that trial? Would his grandteacher do something? Where was his martial uncle?


    Why was he receiving one bad news after another after leaving Great Ming? Why did he feel like the entire Human Realm was standing against them?


    Were they the ones in the wrong?


    Or was everyone else wrong instead?