Chapter 92 The Cruel Truth (Part 2)

"...I haven't noticed. I've seen her very few times. And now that you've asked, I can't really be sure whether I saw her or not."

Wei Jingchen suddenly felt even more horrified, and goosebumps rose all over her body. She wasn't unaware of why Lin Chengye had asked that question. But she still couldn't help wanting her to reveal that outrageous guess.

"What...do you mean by that?"

Everything suddenly overwhelmed Lin Chengye like a tidal wave. She reached out and pushed Wei Jingchen, who was standing in front of her, away with great force, yet it felt as if the man had been drained of all his energy.

She just kept stepping through the mud, her eyes vacant. She didn't know where she was going; she just kept walking forward.

Why did the late emperor show such favoritism towards the "eldest princess," yet she still resolutely launched the Huanyu Incident, killing her brother and father?

Why did the "Eldest Princess," who was clearly so capable and ambitious, choose to support Wei Yun'e to ascend to the throne instead of taking the supreme position herself?

Why is the "eldest princess" completely inconsistent with the weak and gentle image described by Wei Jingchen?

Why does the "eldest princess" claim that her face is disfigured and that she always wears a mask?

Why does she, though now living a secluded life, still rarely appear in public, and why does she still need the emperor to live?

Why is the "Eldest Princess" so closely connected to the forces of the martial arts world? Insects, mechanical arts...

Unbeknownst to him, Lin Chengye had reached the end of the weeds. The crescent moon was bright tonight, hanging high in the sky, casting a bloodless glow on Lin Chengye's face and casting a cold, silvery light on the two graves before the cliff.

The tombstone on the right bears the name of Chen Shudong.

On the left... Lin Chengye's gaze swept over each character on the inscription.

"Senior Sister of Qingluan Medicine Valley..."

The next moment, her gaze was fixed on those two words, and she couldn't look away.

"The Tomb of Wang Yi".

It's simply because she was originally a person of the martial arts world, because the face beneath the mask wasn't actually ruined, and because she still needed the emperor to be the face she presented to the world and her ministers.

Beside the tombstone were many carefully selected beautiful stones, one of which shimmered with a green light. That was the warm jade that Bian Yi had brought back from the Qingluan Xianzhi Temple.

"My senior sister liked to collect stones from different places, so whenever I went to a new place, I would pick out the prettiest stone and ask someone to take it back with me..."

Bian Yi's gentle and nostalgic tone when she mentioned her senior sister still lingered in her ears, but now all that remained was a laughable sadness, even irony.

Lin Chengye's eyes involuntarily welled up with tears. She squatted down, picked up the warm jade, and held it tightly in her palm.

She was relieved that Bian Yi was no longer around, but she didn't know how to tell Bian Yi the truth.

Will she believe her? Will she be sad? Will she be distressed?

Does she... still want revenge?

Thinking of this, Lin Chengye suddenly could no longer control himself, and two lines of tears flowed down his face.

She was heartbroken for Bian Yi, realizing that fate had never truly let her go. All that she cherished—the past, the person she loved—was nothing but a mirage. And her hatred was also empty, a grand dream.

Her hatred and love are from the same source.

Fate has always been cruel to these two women.

Even the names of Huashi and Qingshi, in retrospect, are probably not a coincidence.

When the answer was about to be revealed, Lin Chengye looked back and realized that everything had already been covered with traces, hidden in the shadows like a snake.

After a long while, until the warm jade in his palm heated up, Lin Chengye finally spoke slowly.

“…Wei Jingchen, the Princess is no longer Wei Yunmo. The real Wei Yunmo is probably long dead.”

"Although I don't know exactly how she did it, I think... that's the conclusion."

“You should call that person Wang Yi, or even… Wuma Yi.”

Suddenly, Lin Chengye's eyes widened, his pupils slowly contracted, and his breathing became rapid like a sudden rain in the quiet night.

Yes, if it was Wuma Yi, her body was not weak, and she even possessed internal energy. Furthermore, since she later changed her name to Wang Yi and became the senior disciple of Qingluan Medicine Valley, she might very well have known about the "blood sacrifice."

"Wei Jingchen, you said that when the incident happened at the Lin family residence... where was the Eldest Princess?" Lin Chengye asked slowly.

"She claimed to be seriously ill at that time and had been recuperating at Yongfo Temple."

"No one has ever seen her?"

"……unmanned."

Lin Chengye suddenly realized.

The previously intricate clues before her eyes suddenly became clear and glaring, and she could hear the sound of locks clicking shut. The hundreds of paths that had been laid out before her finally closed their doors to her in that instant.

There is only one path left leading to the truth.

She kept wondering who that fortune teller was, and who the Wuma family members were.

Yes, why can't they all be the same person?

It is Wuma Yi, it is Wang Yi, it is the eldest princess, it is... the new demigod.

Before she could even catch her breath, a tremendous buzzing sound suddenly echoed across the dark horizon. Wei Jingchen didn't have time to cover her ears; the sound resonated with the mountains and the earth, crashing violently through her chest and lingering for a long time.

Lin Chengye quickly reacted and used her inner strength to protect herself. She looked up and saw a silver light tearing through the sky and colliding fiercely with another golden light.

A sudden gust of wind arose in the distance, startling countless crows and sparrows.

“…Bian Yi?” Lin Chengye stared blankly in that direction and murmured.

She had seen that silver light before; it had cleaved through the mountains with a single sword strike when the floodwaters were being contained in Mengshan City. It was Bian Yi's sword technique, but could that golden light be…?

The Half-Immortal Wu Ma Yi!

Lin Chengye's mind went blank; her earlier palpitation had come true, but she hadn't expected the situation to take such a sharp turn for the worse. Without thinking, she lifted her foot and tried to run in that direction.

"Are you crazy? Where are you going?"

Wei Jingchen's face was contorted, her mouth tasted metallic, and she struggled to endure the pain in her chest. She didn't have time to ask Lin Chengye what was going on, but when she saw that the man was trying to approach, she quickly raised her hand and grabbed his wrist tightly.

"Bian Yi is in danger; she is no match for that person."

So that's how it is. She wasn't the only one waiting for the spring search opportunity. Lin Chengye broke free from Wei Jingchen's grasp, inwardly cursing herself for being foolish and naive.

The eldest princess was also waiting.

The original plan to use Wei Jingchen to restrain Bian Yi has been ruined, and she has long wanted to kill Bian Yi, this pawn that has escaped her control.

"who?"

“Wu Ma Yi”.

"so what?"

Wei Jingchen took a deep breath, suppressing her anger, and said coldly. She grabbed the scabbard of the Lan Chen sword, held it horizontally in front of Lin Chengye's chest, and shoved her hard.

"Wake up, Lin Chengye!"

"If Bian Yi wins against that person, everyone will be happy."

"If she loses and dies, what good will your trip do?"

"Can……"

Wei Jingchen's words were like knives, piercing Lin Chengye's body and freezing her in place. The word "death" was so jarring that she even opened her mouth in resistance, but despite her eloquence, she couldn't utter a word in rebuttal.

She had to admit that Wei Jingchen was right.

"Lin Chengye, I know she is very important to you."

Wei Jingchen, however, refused to stop. She looked into Lin Chengye's eyes, pressing closer step by step, as if she wanted to tear away all her hesitation in this one moment.

"But Lin Chengye, isn't your goal revenge?"

"Revenge is like this: all things and all living beings are pawns, and even you yourself are just one thing trapped in this game. Now you have only lost a very important move, and the price is losing a very important pawn."

Lin Chengye looked at Wei Jingchen and was speechless for the first time.

She recalled her past dissatisfaction with Huang Qindong's actions, finding them contradictory and hesitant. Her grand-sounding advice, in Huang Qindong's eyes, was futile, just like herself now. She knew perfectly well that every word Wei Jingchen said was correct, yet she was still in so much pain.

Every word she uttered back then has become a source of pain, and now it has been returned to her in its entirety.

Master Shichen once said, "If there is no solution, then there is no solution. If it hasn't happened yet, just accept all the outcomes with equanimity. Everything that has happened is what should be lost in the process of revenge; it is through this step-by-step exchange that we achieve the result she demanded."

But what does she have to accept? Bian Yi's death?

How can she be so at ease? She doesn't even want to hear those two words now.

What's even more tragic is that Lin Chengye suddenly realized that now she couldn't turn back.

"I..." Lin Chengye opened his mouth.

"Don't you understand these principles?"

Wei Jingchen took a step forward, and Lin Chengye took a step back. Her gaze grew increasingly intense, and Lin Chengye's gaze flickered more and more.

Do you regret it?

Wei Jingchen asked.

"I ask you, do you regret choosing revenge?"

Lin Chengye shut up completely, unwilling to make any further excuses for her hesitation.

Regret? She certainly had regrets, but if she didn't choose revenge, she would spend the rest of her life regretting it anyway. Both choices were filled with blood and tears; choosing either one would be wrong. Lin Chengye let out a self-deprecating groan, gave a bleak smile, shook his head, and uttered two words.

"It's too late."

Looking at the man's disheveled appearance, Wei Jingchen silently lowered her sword. For her, losing Lin Chengye was not an option at the moment.

Bian Yi, however, was merely a江湖人 (jianghu person, a person who lives and works in the martial arts world).

From within the thick black fog, another gust of sharp wind and blade-like energy swept in. Wei Jingchen thought it was another fight from the other side, but suddenly his vision blurred, and Lin Chengye grabbed his shoulder and pulled him into his arms.

In the darkness, she heard a muffled groan from the person above her.

In an instant, a short blade grazed Wei Jingchen's face, drawing a string of blood droplets, before disappearing into the rocks behind her.

"Who's there!"

Lin Chengye's eyes were cold. She released Wei Jingchen and shielded him behind her.

A figure swooped down, Chai Hu Nan blocking Lin Cheng Ye's path, still holding a short blade that she had broken in her hand.

Wei Jingchen then realized that Lin Chengye's clothes on the back were soaked with blood, which was still spreading. She herself was also shocked and broke out in a cold sweat.

She didn't even see where the blade came from.

Lin Chengye stared at the dark forest behind him and roared angrily.

"Get out here!"

The blade suddenly trembled, and with a whoosh, it was drawn out, curving in a strange arc in the air.

A pale hand reached out from the darkness and caught the short blade. A woman's eerie laugh echoed from the dark forest, her voice hoarse, weak, and ethereal.

"You're really impressive... You actually managed to find this far. However, you're still under that person's control."

Immediately afterwards, two people emerged from that direction. The woman on the left was as thin as a skeleton, while the woman on the right was smaller in stature. They wore iron fang masks and black clothing suitable for nighttime movement.

At first glance, it looks like two terrifying masks floating in mid-air.

"You are... the Princess's new maids?" Lin Chengye frowned.

A dull ache throbbed from the wound on her back. Had she not released all her internal energy during her investigation and hadn't had it not been for Chai Hu Nan's intervention to deflect the most fatal blow, she would have barely escaped the deadly blade. She would have died right there. What kind of martial art was this? How could it be so concealed?

Wei Jingchen was furious. Even if she was looked down upon, no one dared treat her like this. Did they intend to kill the prince?

"Insolence! What do you want to do?"

Suddenly, the smaller woman bent over, covered her mouth, and laughed, as if Wei Jingchen had said something funny.

The other person beside her continued to laugh in that ethereal voice.

"Third Prince, it seems you don't know what a江湖人 (jianghu person) is?"

The emaciated woman reached out and removed her mask, revealing a face that was neither a smile nor a frown. The face was nothing but skin clinging to bones, with bulging eyeballs. She slowly moved her eyes, sweeping over Lin Chengye and Wei Jingchen, finally settling on Chai Hu Nan, who stood between them.

She slowly opened her mouth and smiled sinisterly.

"Long time no see, my disciple."

The smaller woman beside her skipped forward a couple of steps, reached out and took off her mask, revealing a cute, round face with long, upturned eyes that looked especially like a snake.

She waved to Chai Hu Nan and said.

"Senior Sister Ni Sang, how have you been?"

Author's note: I've finally gotten to this point (breath of relief). Chengye has finally revealed the truth.

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