Chapter 431 Why would she betray me for her sake?
No one knows what Yu Sui and Mei Liangyu talked about in the room. After a long time, Yu Sui called Han Ziyang and Gongsun Qi in and told them about the He family's three clans and the envoys of the three religions.
Han Ziyang was shocked to learn that the He family had such a background: "Aren't they a family that studies the Divine Mechanism Technique?"
Gongsun Qi then asked, "Do you know Zhao Yuxiang?"
Situ Jin asked in bewilderment, "These three surnames are very common. They can be found all over the six kingdoms. It can't all be from their family."
Ah Quan pondered, "Wait a minute, Zhao Yuxiang is from the He clan, and so is Empress Dowager Zhao? I know quite a few people with the surnames Zhao, Jiang, and Ji. Are they all that powerful?"
Gongsun Qi pressed Yu Sui for an answer: "Where is Zhao Yu Township?"
Han Ziyang pressed further: "Alright, even if they're on opposing sides and fighting each other, what is Zhao Yuxiang's purpose? Is he infiltrating Qingyang Capital just to deal with the Nangong family? But he's also cooperating with the Nangong family's daughter? Isn't the He family helping the Nangong family?"
Gongsun Qi: "What is your relationship with Zhao Yuxiang?"
Everyone was talking about their own point of view, and each person had their own focus.
Yu Sui waved the Wind-Listening Ruler in his hand: "Senior Brother, do you know about what Elder Yan was talking about?"
Mei Liangyu said, "We all know about the existence of the He family. It's not a secret. But we only know that the He family is a reclusive family that studies the Divine Mechanism Technique. Perhaps they are hiding something about the Divine Mechanism Technique. We never thought that they would be the kind of family that Zhao Yuxiang mentioned."
He never hid himself away; instead, he lived openly and honestly in the world.
"The Zhao family is also a large family in the Yan state. It has existed for a long time and has many branches. The family has risen and fallen. Moreover, Zhao Yuxiang and the Empress Dowager are not from the same lineage."
So nobody knows.
"Didn't you previously call Grandmother Nangong a lackey of the He family?" Aquan asked Gongsun Qi, "Then do you know anything about the He family's background?"
Gongsun Qi glanced at him: "Back when she and the He family surrounded and killed me, she obeyed the He family's every command. Did I say something wrong?"
Ah Quan suddenly realized, and Situ Jin also said, "Before this happened, the He family, like the Zou family of the Yin-Yang School and the Han family of the Legalist School, were just a reclusive clan with special powers. It wouldn't be strange if they would interfere in other people's grudges because of their closeness to each other."
"But is the 'nation of ten thousand chariots' he mentioned really true? I have to go back and ask my grandmother, but I think she and the others probably don't know either, otherwise they would definitely have a plan against it."
Situ Jin pondered, "According to Zhao Yuxiang, the three clans have passed on their skills to the world, and the number of clansmen is no less than the number of people. Moreover, over such a long period of time, passed down from generation to generation, probably eight out of ten people have their bloodline. What is there to fight about? It's just family fighting family."
“Even families in a village have political parties,” A-Quan reminded them.
Situ Jin shook his head: "What I mean is, with such a large and prosperous population, yet no one knows this secret, it means that this secret only exists within a small circle of people. Why?"
Gongsun Qi said expressionlessly, "That means you guessed wrong. It's not that they have more people, but that they have fewer people."
Situ Jin stroked his chin and nodded, continuing, "That's right. I don't believe such a secret can be kept hidden for long, especially given that the descendants of the three clans are all over the world. So it's only possible that there are very few true descendants of the three clans, and the rest are ordinary people, normal aristocratic families, like Mr. Han and our mechanical family."
“The number of members of the three clans is too small to contend with the six kingdoms. They can only intervene in the course of events at certain times.” Situ Jin looked at Yu Sui. “As for the He clan they mentioned, they are known for their research on the Divine Mechanism Technique. The Nine Streams Realm has always respected them to some extent and will give them some face, but there is very little information about them.”
“My grandmother mentioned the He family before, and it was they who helped Nangong Ming kill… people.” Situ Jin dared not say in front of Gongsun Qi and Mei Liangyu that he killed Gongsun Xi.
"How did Nangong Ming know that?" A-Quan wondered. "Is his luck and opportunity really that unbeatable?"
“Nangong Ming may not know,” Situ Jin said. “Perhaps he is like us, only knowing that the He family is a reclusive family that studies the Divine Mechanism Technique. The Divine Mechanism Technique alone and the powerful strength displayed by the He family are enough for him to win them over.”
Ah Quan and Situ Jin's minds started working, and they made all sorts of guesses. Situ Jin even asked Yu Sui if they could tell the news to the mechanical expert.
Yu Sui said, "I have already told you everything I know. Zhao Yuxiang has been taken away by the He family, and I don't know where he went."
Gongsun Qi was still fixated on the question from earlier: "You and Zhao Yuxiang have a very good relationship?"
Yu Sui didn't answer, and no one else dared to speak up.
"So what if we're close? Are you going to kill me?" Yu Sui asked Gongsun Qi with a smile, looking up at him.
Mei Liangyu warned, "Uncle."
Gongsun Qi didn't seem to be going crazy. Instead, he asked, "How do you know him?"
Yu Sui recounted how he had seen the beggar Yan Lao when he was a child and how Yan Lao had given him a gold leaf.
Situ Jin advised, "She was only a few years old then, she was still a child."
A-Quan chimed in, "That's right, she's just too kind. Jin Yezi saved the beggar, but Zhao Yuxiang ended up deceiving her. She didn't even know that the beggar was Zhao Yuxiang."
Han Ziyang chimed in, "You can't take your anger out on a kid who doesn't know anything."
Gongsun Qi, however, noticed something else entirely.
He remembered what Mingyue Qing had said before: the empathy from eighteen years ago was with the Destroyer.
That person was undoubtedly Yu Sui.
The girl before me was chosen by the strange fire when she was born into this world.
She experienced the empathy of death even when she was just an infant. Not only that, she also experienced a second empathy of death in her childhood. At that time, Nangong Sui was still an immature child, but she was able to keep quiet and not say anything, and nothing was discovered.
She also met Zhao Yuxiang, who, behind her parents' backs, associated with and cooperated with the enemy of her family, and kept her identity hidden all the time. From her weakest and most helpless age until now, no one has discovered that she is the destroyer of the world.
Previously, Gongsun Qi had only noticed the ominous aura emanating from Yu Sui's sword spirit, but only just now did he finally put more thought into it.
Yu Sui seemed unafraid that Gongsun Qi wanted to kill her, so she waited quietly and even told Mei Liangyu on Tingfengchi's side not to rush.
Gongsun Qi stared at Yu Sui for a long time, so long that Han Ziyang and the others thought they couldn't persuade him and that the two were about to fight. But he casually looked away and said to Situ Jin, "Let's go."
"Okay, okay." Situ Jin nodded, then asked, "Where to?"
"Go to the Prince Nangong's residence," Gongsun Qi said. "Ask Nangong Ming where the He family took Zhao Yuxiang."
"Now?!" Situ Jin said with a stern face, "We've only just come out of the Dragon Fish!"
"Let the child rest for a while!" Ah Quan said with a bitter face. "It will take time for us to form the formation, so let's wait a little longer, brother!"
Gongsun Qi: "How long do we have to wait?"
Ah Quan: "Let's wait until noon!"
Gongsun Qi: "If we wait any longer, Ali will have already arrived in the capital."
Ah Quan said, "It's just in time for him to come. Our barrier will be stronger then, and our escape will be smoother."
Han Ziyang: "Don't plot in front of me, I don't want to hear it."
Gongsun Qi then asked Yu Sui, "What are you going to do next?"
“Go and seize the Breath Soil,” Yu Sui said. “But I need to nurture it; the power of the Light Core must be restored to more than 90%.”
Gongsun Qi turned around and told Aquan and Situ Jin to leave. The two young men glared back at him, but still obediently turned and left.
Han Ziyang was about to ask me if I wanted to go out too when he heard Gongsun Qi say to Yu Sui, "You used the power of the strange fire?"
Yu Sui nodded: "Yes."
Upon hearing this, Han Ziyang immediately sensed that the two of them had used the power of the strange fire quite a bit. He looked at the two suspiciously, but couldn't see any signs of being burned on Gongsun Qi's body.
"Your hand has been burned?" Gongsun Qi asked again, also examining Yu Sui's bandaged left hand.
Yu Sui raised her left hand and asked him, "Can it grow back?"
Gongsun Qi: "Okay."
Yu Sui smiled and said, "Then I'm relieved."
“But the bones can’t be restored,” Gongsun Qi added.
Yu Sui looked at him strangely and said, "But my bones have been burned. Won't my hands become very brittle and I won't be able to do heavy work?"
Gongsun Qi said, "If your bones become brittle, it's best not to engage in close combat or subject them to excessive force, or they will break."
Yu Sui asked, "Are you one too?"
Gongsun Qi: "More or less."
Yu Sui was stunned. This was tantamount to revealing his own weakness.
Han Ziyang suddenly asked, "Did you break any bones?"
Gongsun Qi glanced at it: "Not yet." Then he asked Yu Sui: "Who will make you do heavy work?"
Yu Sui: "..."
Mei Liangyu: "You can't be talking about me."
"If you use a strange fire when your mental strength is stronger than the strange fire itself, you must be prepared to have your body burned. In other words, you should use it from the beginning. If you use a strange fire when your body is weak and your strength is exhausted, you may really be burned to death."
Gongsun Qi shared his experience with her: "The strange fire burns the light core first. Only when the energy in the light core is exhausted will it spread to the body and begin to damage the flesh and blood."
"Won't the light core be burned up?" Han Ziyang asked.
“Yes,” Gongsun Qi said, “but the strange fire will burn the five elements first. When the light core is exhausted, the body’s flesh and blood will store more energy than the light core. So the strange fire will then burn from the body’s flesh and blood to the light core.”
"The speed at which the strange fire burns the host's five elements is already the slowest."
These words shocked Yu Sui as well.
Is that speed the slowest?
Han Ziyang couldn't help but ask, "How many times have you been burned?"
Gongsun Qi did not answer, but said, "So in any case, using the power of the strange fire means burning oneself, but this is only using the strange fire to enhance the form of the Nine Streams Technique. If it is just a simple release of the strange fire..."
Therefore, it will not appear in the form of a low-level technique, but will instead devour the heavens and earth with pure flames, its power and speed being immeasurable.
"What would happen if I simply released the strange fire?" Han Ziyang pressed.
Yu Sui couldn't say for sure, because every time she used the strange fire, it appeared in the form of a ninth-class technique.
"You'll know once you try it," Gongsun Qi said indifferently.
Yu Sui asked him curiously, "Why did you take the initiative to talk to me so much?"
Gongsun Qi: "Because I just treated you like a human being."
Yu Sui was stunned.
Before this, in Gongsun Qi's eyes, the girl was the daughter of Nangong Ming and Su Xing, Mei Liangyu's weakness, and an unlucky girl chosen by the strange fire.
It is a symbol of identity.
Gongsun Qi lowered his eyes and examined the strange child: "When did you realize that you possess a different kind of fire?"
Yu Sui met his gaze and vaguely guessed the reason for Gongsun Qi's change of attitude.
Gongsun Qi was also present during that shared experience of death eighteen years ago.
“The first time we shared this feeling,” Yu Sui answered softly, “he said he would be burned to death.”
Can a baby who was only a few months old eighteen years ago remember that moment of empathy?
Han Ziyang was unsure when Yu Sui first experienced empathy. He even recalled that he hadn't heard those words when he first experienced death empathy.
"What's your name?" Gongsun Qi asked slowly.
Yu Sui held the Wind Listening Ruler, typed out two characters using the Fill-in-the-Blank Technique, and turned the ruler towards Gongsun Qi: "I told you, you can call me Little Yu."
Gongsun Qi and Han Ziyang both looked at the Wind Listening Ruler in Yu Sui's hand, and two words were reflected in their eyes: Yu Sui.
...
As dawn broke, the rain continued unabated. The sound of the golden bell rang out again, announcing that the thunderstorm would continue.
Since the news of Zhong Li Ci's serious injury spread last night, the military strategist Chongtai has taken action, and the Azure Dragon Army has surrounded the entire North and South Thirty-Six Streets.
When Long Zhongyu broke through the formation, it triggered an explosive shock, wiping out the entire Xing Shui Si guards nearby. Zhong Li Ci and Gongsun Qi went missing. This news enraged Emperor Qingyang, who sent more men into the Thirty-Six Streets.
Not long after, the seriously injured Zhongli Ci was found in the ruins of Tongtang, and news of the general's serious injuries also reached the palace again.
Emperor Qingyang remained silent, his face cold, lost in thought.
Wang Jingshu's face turned even uglier. Suddenly, her Criminal Investigation Department had become the one with the most casualties, losing two trusted confidants in succession. She said, "Your Majesty, I will go to the Thirty-Sixth Street myself."
Emperor Qingyang asked, "I summoned Nangong Ming to the palace to tell him about his daughter being a member of the Xuan Kui Hundred Bandits, but why has there been no response from the Prince's residence?"
As soon as he finished speaking, the golden-armored soldier stepped forward, knelt down, and reported: "Your Majesty, the prince said that he was unaware of the Xuan Kui Hundred Bandits, but he will capture Chu Jin and give Your Majesty an explanation."
Emperor Qingyang said in a chilling tone, "I want him to come to the palace and explain to me in person. Where is he?"
"His Highness said that there will be many guests at the funeral in the Prince's Mansion, and afterwards..." Before he could finish speaking, Emperor Qingyang smashed his cup, and the guards immediately fell silent.
Emperor Qingyang then asked Wang Jingshu, "Has Chu Jin been captured?"
Wang Jingshu paused: "Not yet."
Seeing the Emperor Qingyang's grim expression, another deputy director of the Criminal Justice Bureau hurriedly stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, the Sixth Prince almost captured Chu Jin, but was rescued at the crucial moment, and it seems..."
"When the Sixth Prince's men were arresting the Xuan Kui Hundred Bandits, what were the people in the Thirty-Six Streets doing? Were they just standing by and watching?!" Emperor Qingyang roared in anger.
He couldn't directly criticize Wang Jingshu, so he could only curse at others.
After Emperor Qingyang finished his tirade, people spoke up, saying, "Your Majesty, the Grand General is seriously injured, and the Prince's residence is in complete chaos. Perhaps we should send Chief Wang over there..."
Before Qin Shan could finish speaking, the guard whispered, "Thirty-sixth Street is now surrounded by the Azure Dragon Army."
Emperor Qingyang remained silent for a long time before calming his emotions and saying, "Summon Nangong Ming here. If he doesn't listen, he doesn't need to come anymore."
The guards acknowledged and withdrew, then spurred their horses and hurried to the Prince Nangong's residence.
"I'd like to trouble you to go to Thirty-Sixth Street," Emperor Qingyang said to Wang Jingshu.
Wang Jingshu lowered her head silently, turned and left.
After everyone had almost left, Emperor Qingyang asked Qin Shan, "How is his youngest daughter?"
Qin Shan shook his head and said softly, "Nangong Sui has also disappeared into the streets. I'm afraid this is what the Prince is busy with."
"She's not dead yet?" Emperor Qingyang was somewhat surprised.
Qin Shan: "As far as I know, those who have died so far are all people who were chasing her, but she disappeared after the battle last night."
He was right; Nangong was indeed very busy with this matter.
Since we have to give up one daughter, we must save the remaining one.
Once Qingkui Xuankui's identity as Bai Kou was exposed, she could no longer stay in the capital of Qingyang. After the incident, Nangong Ming asked He Yuan to rescue Qingkui.
Nangong Ming waited in his mansion for another piece of good news to come back, but after a whole night, he received the news that all six of Nangong's troops had been killed in battle and that Yu Sui had disappeared.
Shortly afterward, Cao Yan brought the mute woman over and told Nangong Ming that the mute woman had gone out to ask someone to save Yu Sui.
Nangong Ming coldly stared at the old woman kneeling outside the door, and after a long while said, "She is the child you raised with your own hands, can't you bear to?"
The mute woman knelt down and kowtowed, but received no response.
Not getting a reply, Nangong Ming had no interest in such a trivial matter: "Take her to talk to her master."
Cao Yan brought the mute woman to Madam Su's courtyard. Upon learning what the mute woman had done, Madam Su sat on the edge of the bed, stunned. The woman's complexion, which had only recently recovered, turned ugly again.
Madam Su slowly walked outside. The mute woman, kneeling in the pouring rain, prostrated herself before her when she saw her come out.
"Get up," Madam Su said in a hoarse voice. "Mother-in-law, tell me the truth, did you give Sui Sui that Heart-Eating Powder?"
The woman lying on the ground slowly shook her head.
Madam Su gripped the door frame tightly, her fingertips turning white, as she stared in disbelief at the old man kneeling in the rain.
“I met you when I was fourteen. How many years have you been with me? I could abandon my senior brother, but I couldn’t abandon you. I took you with me when I left Yan. I regarded you as the closest and most trusted person. Why… why…”
Madam Su almost choked up and couldn't finish her sentence. The anger and grief in her heart came so suddenly that her eyes reddened instantly due to the great fluctuation of her emotions.
Why would she betray me for her sake?
Madam Su stared at the mute woman in disbelief.
The old woman raised her head from the rain, looking back at Madam Su with such sorrowful eyes for the first time:
"That child is already very pitiful."
“She is the child I raised. When none of you could see her, only I could see her.”
"She's pitiful?" Tears welled up in Madam Su's eyes. "Mother-in-law, don't you think I'm pitiful too?!"
The mute woman opened her mouth, but could not make a sound. She looked at the woman through the rain for a moment, then bent down again. All she left for Madam Su was a silent apology.
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