Chapter 426 All the Nine Schools of Thought Under Heaven Originate from the He Family
Seeing that neither of them spoke, Dao Xuan turned around and looked at them, spreading his hands in an attempt to explain: "No matter what, she is still the prince's own daughter, a descendant of the Nangong family. If we were to kill her, we would still have some reservations and wouldn't be able to let go."
Li Anmeng and Tang Fei both listened attentively without saying a word.
“How about we turn her back into a person of the Plain Arts, at the mercy of others, and then bring her back to the Breath of Earth?” Dao Xuan asked.
Li Anmeng nodded calmly: "The method is quite good, but how do we turn her back into a person of equal skill?"
Dao Xuan raised an eyebrow: "Didn't I just say that we broke Elder Chang's seal, allowing the Breath of Earth to absorb her Five Elements Qi again?"
Tang Fei shook her head and laughed, "Elder Chang's seal isn't so easy to break."
"Can't the three of us even work together?" Dao Xuan disagreed.
Li Anmeng looked at Tang Fei and asked, "When Mr. Zhou treated Madam Su back then, he gave a method to seal the Breath of Earth. Do you still remember it?"
Dao Xuan also chimed in, "That is indeed the case. Otherwise, how could Madam Su have suppressed the incomplete Breath Soil for so many years?"
Tang Fei recalled for a moment and said, "At that time, Mr. Zhou explained that because Madam Su was the main body that refined the Breath Soil, the part of the Breath Soil that remained in her body could be considered as having been refined, while the part that was given to the Second Miss was the part that had not been refined by her."
"Therefore, Lady Su was able to use external objects to suppress the incomplete Breath Soil, and the speed at which she absorbed the five elements' energy was also slowed down."
"But the second young lady was too young at the time and was powerless to resist the Breath of Earth. The incomplete Breath of Earth had a long-term advantage and almost controlled all the five elements in her body, which is why she misjudged the person who practiced the art."
Dao Xuan: "In the end, it's all because she was too impatient. She insisted on refining the Breath Soil while giving birth, otherwise none of these troubles would have happened later."
He harbored resentment towards Madam Su. If Madam Su hadn't insisted on running away with the Xirang back then, the old lady wouldn't have suffered from chronic injuries for so many years, nor would she have been ambushed and seriously injured to death by Gongsun Qi.
Thinking of all this, Dao Xuan also felt a bit resentful towards Nangong Ming.
The prince is also wrong. If he wanted to kill his daughter and take the Breath Soil, why didn't he do it from the beginning? Why did he have to wait until eighteen years later, until the old lady died, before he finally made up his mind to take action? What's the point of taking action now? The person is already dead.
The more he thought about it, the more agitated he became. Dao Xuan turned around, kicked the wall, and cursed loudly.
The house collapsed with a loud crash as he kicked it.
Tang Fei and Li Anmeng, however, were unfazed and listened quietly as Dao Xuan couldn't help but burst out cursing, "What's the use of getting back the Breath of Earth now? Can the old lady come back to life? I even held that child when she was little! I was the one who saved her when she was being chased by those useless people from Yan! Now you want me to kill her again! Is Your Highness getting senile as you get older?!"
"Be careful what you say," Li Anmeng reminded him in a tone that was neither too strong nor too weak.
Dao Xuan glared at him with bright, sharp eyes, like a drawn sword gleaming with cold light. He was so angry that his breathing became heavy: "Did I say something wrong? If you tell me that the restoration of the Breath of Earth can bring the old lady back to life, I will go and kill her right now!"
"But if it weren't for Madam Su taking the Breath Soil and running away, secretly giving birth to a child outside, causing the Breath Soil to split in two, and the Prince's deliberate delay, how could the old lady have died at the hands of that villain Gongsun Qi!"
"The old lady was originally a saint of the Ghost Path!"
"If he hadn't been suffering from an injury that hadn't healed for years, how could Gongsun Qi have dared to, or even killed her!"
Dao Xuan became more and more excited as he spoke, and as he opened his mouth, the energy around him burst forth, causing cracks to appear in the walls of the nearby houses.
"Old Dao, calm down." Tang Fei reached out and patted Dao Xuan's shoulder, brushing away the sharp gusts of wind.
Dao Xuan glared at Li Anmeng and continued, "It's all because of Lady Su that things have turned out this way! Your Highness was wrong from the very beginning!"
Li Anmeng shook the whisk in her hand again, switching it from left to right, and sighed: "Aren't you afraid I'll tell the Prince these things? The Prince is now the only one in power in the Nangong family. The old lady has long said that if she were to pass away unexpectedly, we would all be at the Prince's beck and call."
"The old lady has always cared most about the Nangong family. If you have a falling out with the prince, then you should stop working in the Ninth Ministry."
"What's wrong with you? Can't I even say something if the prince makes a mistake? I promised the old lady that I would protect the Nangong family for her for the rest of my life, and I won't go anywhere!" Dao Xuan was so angry that his eyes turned red.
Tang Fei stepped between the two and advised, "Let's both say less."
Dao Xuan reached out to Li Anmeng across him, his fingertips almost touching Li Anmeng's nose: "The old lady told us to guard the Nangong family and protect the Nangong clan, didn't she? Then let me ask you, isn't the second young lady her own granddaughter, and isn't she of the Nangong family bloodline?"
"Is it reasonable for family members to kill each other?"
"When have we ever killed a child of the Nangong family! We watched the Prince grow up! Back then, the Nangong family was small, with only the Prince as their only son. Everyone cherished him and raised him. Things only got better with this generation. The Second Miss is now very talented and has even learned the Reverse Star and Reverse Polarity technique. Tang Fei said that the Second Miss has a bright future. I think the Second Miss is the most outstanding one of this generation. And what happened? The Prince insisted that we kill her!"
"Is killing the most talented child among the younger generation of the Nangong family really good for the Nangong family?!"
Li Anmeng: "The prince has his reasons for doing things. How can you and I, with our limited vision, understand his intentions?"
Dao Xuan: "You're the one who's short-sighted! You're heartless and brainless!"
Tang Fei: "..."
...
In a house some distance away, Tang Yuan waited for the three orioles Yuan Xi had mentioned to make their move, but after waiting for a long time, nothing happened.
"You lied to me again." Tang Yuan laughed in anger once more.
Yuan Xi scratched his head and muttered in confusion, "This shouldn't be the case. Those three have followed us here and watched the battle for a long time. How come there hasn't been a single sound?"
He was unaware that the three Rakshasa sorcerers of the Nangong Nine Divisions were currently arguing fiercely about whether or not to kill anyone.
Tang Yuan wrapped his burned wrist with bandages and said in a deep voice, "I will tell Miss the truth about your attitude this time."
Yuan Xi: "I told you to stop because I knew you'd die if you faced Nangong Sui, so why are you going to complain to Miss about me!"
"Didn't you hear what Miss said? If Nangong Sui doesn't die, it's you and me who will." Tang Yuan coldly glanced at the wall of the next room.
"Wait, where did she go?" Yuan Xi suddenly leaned out the window to look out. "Where did she go?"
Tang Yuan paused, frowning as he looked around, but couldn't find Yu Sui.
"You're injured, rest first, I'll go look for it." Yuan Xi said, then climbed out the window and ran away.
Tang Yuan didn't know if this guy really wanted to go find someone or was preparing to run away. He quickened his pace and followed in the rain to search for Yu Sui's whereabouts.
Back in the bustling city, Yu Sui bought an umbrella on the street and wondered why no one was chasing after her.
It's understandable that Yuan Xi and Tang Yuan didn't chase after them because they were scared, but why didn't the three people hiding behind them follow? Weren't they ordered to kill them?
It's good that they didn't catch up. Yu Sui plans to go see Elder Yan first and bring out Han Yin, the grandson of the clan leader that Han Ziyang is looking for.
Old Master Yan had already offended Gongsun Qi, and Yu Sui didn't want to see him offend Han Ziyang as well.
If Han Ziyang were to come along, Elder Yan's whereabouts would be exposed to A-Quan, and he would have no chance of defeating Gongsun Qi. Yu Sui would not judge the right or wrong of the feud between Elder Yan and Gongsun Qi, nor did he want to get involved; he could only try to prevent the two from meeting through him.
By the time Yu Sui had made sure he had shaken off everyone and arrived at the small building on Changxiang Street, it was already night.
It's quite far from Tongtang here, but if you stand in front of the small building and look back, you can see the red fish reflected in the sky over Tongtang. With Zhong Li Ci's strength, he can completely extend the range of the armored formation to this side of the small building.
Zhong Li Ci did not do so. Did he have the confidence that he could stop Gongsun Qi with just the area around Tongtang?
The sound of footsteps made Yu Sui gather her thoughts and turn around.
The building was brightly lit, and looking in from outside, it was not opulent, but rather exquisite and elegant. Two figures, one tall and one short, emerged from the building.
Han Yin was only six years old, a small boy with a somewhat plump figure. He had been suffering and working hard lately, and his face had become thinner. He had just changed into clean and comfortable clothes and eaten a hot pancake to fill his stomach.
The child's dark eyes trembled slightly; he appeared obedient, but in reality, he remained vigilant, forcing himself to stay alert.
Han Yin looked at Yu Sui standing outside the door and wondered to himself, "Are these bastards going to sell me to this young lady as a servant?"
The older child looked to be only sixteen or seventeen years old. He had two short blades at his waist and walked steadily and calmly toward Yu Sui.
“Miss, this is the child you are looking for.” Zhang Tongfang bowed to Yu Sui and said, “The hall master is already waiting inside. Please follow me.”
In the past, when Yu Sui met with Elder Yan, it was always just the two of them present, with no one else around. Therefore, even Zou Yexi did not know who the young lady Elder Yan was referring to was.
This was her first time visiting in a "legitimate" manner.
Yu Sui glanced at the boy, then quickly fixed her gaze on Han Yin. The boy was clearly nervous, his lips pursed, staring at her with wide eyes, trying his best to appear fearless.
"What's your name?" Yu Sui asked.
The child said dryly, "I don't remember."
Ziyang's older brother had said that when you're out and about, you shouldn't tell strangers your name. After he was arrested, he really didn't tell anyone.
Yu Sui seemed to see through his thoughts, smiled, bent down and whispered to him, "It was your brother Ziyang who asked me to come find you. If you weren't Han Yin, I wouldn't be able to take you to him."
Upon hearing the familiar name, Han Yin visibly wavered, his eyes widening even further.
Seeing that he hesitated but still didn't speak, Yu Sui realized that he was quite wary; otherwise, he wouldn't have been locked up by Elder Yan and the others for so many days without knowing his identity.
"You're so smart, I never would have guessed how you got kidnapped," Yu Sui teased with a smile.
"These bad guys are really wicked!" Han Yin said angrily. "Are you really the person Brother Ziyang sent?"
“Yes, but your brother Ziyang is still far away. I’ll take you there after I’m done with my work.” Yu Sui straightened up and handed the Wind-Listening Ruler to Han Yin. “Do you know how to use it?”
Han Yin nodded: "I know how to use telepathy."
There are some words he doesn't recognize yet.
"Then have a telepathic chat with your brother Ziyang." Yu Sui tapped the ruler and helped him send a telepathic message to Han Ziyang.
Han Ziyang answered immediately.
"Did you find the person?" he asked.
Hearing the familiar voice, Han Yin tentatively called out, "Brother Ziyang?"
"A-Yin?" Han Ziyang asked immediately, "Where are you? Are you injured? Who gave you the Listening Wind Ruler?"
After confirming the situation, Han Yin hugged the Wind Listening Ruler and burst into tears. The sound of his crying made Han Ziyang unable to resist taking the Wind Listening Ruler away from his ear.
Yu Sui asked Zhang Tongfang to watch over Han Yin, and then walked into the building alone.
Passing through the corridor, the waterside pavilion came into view, lit up, and an old man in gray clothes stood under the eaves, looking lifeless.
Only Elder Yan was waiting for her ahead.
However, hidden from view, thirty-six people were concealed around the waterside pavilion. From the moment Yu Sui entered the small building, the identity of the second young lady of the Nangong Prince's Mansion was completely exposed.
Yu Sui, unaware of the presence of those people, walked straight into the pavilion. With light steps and a natural expression, she called out to the person in front of her, "Elder Yan."
Upon hearing the sound, Old Yan turned around, his gray eyes looking at the bright young woman.
Yu Sui closed the umbrella and placed it by the fence, then patted the water off her sleeves and walked inside: "That child didn't suffer much, did he? I think he's only five or six years old. He can't even recognize all the characters and incantations in the Wind Listening Ruler. He's also very delicate. If he's injured, let him rest for a while longer."
"Weren't you entrusted to find this child?" Old Yan asked in a deep voice.
“Yes, that’s why we need to raise them properly before taking them back, to avoid any misunderstandings.” Yu Sui said, taking out two boxes of pastries from the mechanical box and placing them on the table. “I bought these on the way here. I was in a hurry to come back from Taiyi, so I couldn’t bring you any local specialties. The seafood there is quite good though. I’ll bring some back for you to try next time.”
Old Yan looked down at the pastries on the table and sat down at the table.
Yu Sui examined the fruit teapot, and Yan Lao began to set out the cups and saucers: "You made your own chilled plum wine, aged for five years."
"Has it been five years?" Yu Sui had completely forgotten about it.
Old Yan nodded: "I only found the jar you left behind when I left Tongtang, so I brought it with me."
He brought up Tongtang, but Yu Sui just blinked, poured a glass of chilled plum wine for both Yan Lao and himself, and didn't ask why they were leaving Tongtang.
Yu Sui didn't pick up on the topic of Tongtang, but instead continued talking about Han Yin: "Do you know whose child that is?"
“You said his surname is Han, then that’s the land of Legalism, a member of the Han clan.” Old Yan’s expression remained unchanged, showing neither regret nor fear.
“He is from the same clan as my elder brother. The Han clan suffered a major incident before. The clan leader was murdered, and some families in the Legalist territory were slaughtered. It was in chaos. This child probably got lost around that time.”
Yu Sui sat down at the table: "I thought you were a child from the Han family that you specifically captured."
Old Master Yan: "Speaking of the children who have just arrived in the capital, there are a few guests from the Prince's Mansion that you should pay attention to."
"Are you referring to the three young men Mr. He brought?" Yu Sui looked up at him. "I'm here tonight to ask you, sir, how much you know about the He family."
Old Yan remained silent for a moment, without answering immediately.
He raised his glass to drink, his lowered gaze falling on the swirling liquid in the glass, the scattered light and shadows seeming to flash through scenes of the past years.
"The He family is a prominent clan in the land," the old man said slowly in a deep voice.
Yu Sui blinked. When those aristocratic families praised themselves, they would always mention the surnames of a certain region, with the most powerful being the Duan family, a prominent surname in the country. This was the first time she had heard someone expand the scope to the entire world.
But she's hardly ever met anyone with the surname He.
Seeing the doubt in Yu Sui's eyes, Elder Yan added, "Below the He clan, there are three other major clans: Zhao, Jiang, and Ji."
He dipped his finger in the wine and wrote the surnames one by one on the table.
Yu Sui's gaze lingered on the character "Zhao." If she remembered correctly, Elder Yan was called Zhao Yuxiang, and the Empress Dowager of Yan was respectfully addressed as Empress Dowager Zhao.
Old Yan said, "Of the three clans, the He clan is the most respected."
The He clan was the king, and the three major clans were its subjects.
"Besides the Divine Strategist Technique, what other background does the He family have?" Yu Sui asked jokingly. "Does the He family also send three clans to fight for the world among the six kingdoms?"
"All the nine schools of thought under heaven originate from the He family." Elder Yan raised his eyes to look at Yu Sui, his gray eyes like a dead sea, carrying the remnants of secrets and surging waves. "Do you think the He family is just doing something as simple as ranking the Divine Mechanism Techniques? After they brought the Nine Schools of Techniques to the world, they also announced the Divine Mechanism Techniques, which are above the Nine Schools. What kind of existence will they present in the future?"
Yu Sui stared blankly at Elder Yan, the clear sound of his heart beating suddenly surfacing in his ears.
What he meant was... that the Nine Schools of Arts and the Divine Mechanism Arts were both created by the He family?
"The He clan controls the nine schools of thought in the world, while the three clans enter the world to bring the arts of the nine schools to the people. Looking back at the history of the Xuan Gu Continent, going back three thousand years, all the famous people and those who brought strange abilities and techniques in various countries and regions came from the He clan and the three clans."
If such an extraordinary being aspires to rule the world and unify the six kingdoms, why would the Nangong family need to plan for centuries and pass down their legacy for generations?
Old Master Yan's explanation was also meant to tell Yu Sui why her father treated He Shi in such a special way.
"If the He family is really that powerful, how could they allow their own clansmen to be killed in Yan?" Yu Sui suddenly asked. "You should have heard of He Xuyan. She was an accomplice that my father invited to Yan, but she died in Yan."
"Even the Duan family of Qingyang is divided into the Imperial Party, the Crown Prince Party, and the Sixth Prince Party. Why do you think the He family is even inferior to the Duan family?" Old Yan said expressionlessly. "The He family members are divided according to the size of the country. Those within the country are the most respected among the three religions. Those outside the country are scattered across the six kingdoms and are called the envoys of the three religions."
Yu Sui: "A state with ten thousand chariots?"
"I have never been there either, and I don't know where it is," Old Yan said, gently shaking his head.
"Is He Xuyan not within the realm of Wancheng, but rather an envoy of the Three Teachings scattered across the Six Kingdoms of Xuangu?" Yu Sui asked, frowning. "And what are the Three Teachings?"
Elder Yan shook his head again: "I don't know much, but He Xuyan's lineage is not as simple as the envoys of the three religions. As far as I know, the envoys of the three religions are all sent from the Kingdom of Ten Thousand Chariots. They control power far above the ninth class. He Xuyan's help to Nangong Ming is already considered to have broken the rules."
"What? Does that mean members of the He family can't get involved in the conflicts between the six kingdoms?" Yu Sui asked.
Old Master Yan paused for a moment, then said in a low voice, "You could say that."
Yu Sui looked at him and asked again, "If members of the He family can't, then can members of the three clans?"
“Yes.” Elder Yan’s tone was calm, revealing neither joy nor anger. “The three clans were originally tasked with distributing the Nine Schools of Arts to the people of the world on behalf of the He clan, so it is only natural that they would participate in the struggle between the six kingdoms.”
"Is the Empress Dowager Zhao of Yan a member of three clans?" Yu Sui asked softly.
Old Master Yan held the wine glass in one hand, the chill of the ice gradually seeping into his palm: "Yes."
Yu Sui asked again, "Is Zhao Yuxiang, the Chancellor of Yan, also one?"
"Yes." Old Master Yan put down his wine cup.
You are a member of the He clan, is that why the strange fire cannot sense you?
But the three people He Yuan brought were also from the three clans, so why could they all be sensed by the strange fire?
Since the He family has been in charge of the Nine Schools of Arts for over a thousand years, how could they not know the secret of the Strange Fire that only appeared in the last six hundred years?
If the history of the Xuan Gu Continent was almost entirely written by the He family, how much of it is true or false?
Yu Sui felt a sense of anxiety and urgency for the first time in a long time, just like when he first arrived on the Xuan Gu Continent, trapped in a dark and gloomy room and his small body, unable to do anything.
She had just calmed down when she suddenly looked up and gazed at the outside room.
Elder Yan stood up and said, "Both the Ninth and Sixth Ministries of Nangong have people searching for you in the area. Nangong Ming is going to make a move against you. You should stay here for now and not go anywhere."
“It seems like the people who came this time aren’t here to see me, but to see you,” Yu Sui said, standing up as well.
The two figures in green robes outside the small building were like sharp bamboo shoots in a storm, unyielding and unbreakable.
Jiang Fengyu stood alone under an umbrella, his dark eyes peering into the building. Zhao Tingzhu, without an umbrella, was swept away by the raging wind and rain without getting wet in the slightest.
"Where did Ji Jingcheng go? Why hasn't he come yet?" Zhao Tingzhu complained.
"I went to find Qingkui," Jiang Fengyu said calmly.
"He's so chivalrous, he can't stand seeing people die." Zhao Tingzhu snorted twice. "Then let's not wait for him."
She skipped and hopped inside, where she encountered Han Yin, who was still crying and clutching the Wind Listening Ruler, and Zhang Tongfang, who was standing guard beside him.
Sensing someone was there, Zhang Tongfang immediately stepped forward, gripping his drawn dagger in one hand: "Who goes there?"
Before he could finish speaking, the dagger was snatched from his hand. Zhang Tongfang looked shocked and turned around abruptly. He saw Zhao Tingzhu standing in front of Han Yin, bending down and staring at his face: "Kid, your face is really white."
Han Yin was frozen in place, unable to move, only his eyes showing fear, reflecting the girl's smiling yet dangerous appearance.
"You're so fair-skinned, like a canvas, it makes me want to paint something on you." Zhao Tingzhu pointed the dagger at Han Yin's cheek and gestured. Zhang Tongfang ignited his protective aura and rushed over, but before he could get close, he was blasted away by an invisible gust of wind and rolled far away.
Jiang Fengyu ignored the boy who had fallen in front of her, and continued walking forward with her umbrella, without even glancing at Zhao Tingzhu who was drawing on Han Yin's face.
On the child's pale face, six bloody cuts from a dagger resembled a cat's whiskers.
Zhao Tingzhu straightened up, looked at the six blood-red whiskers with satisfaction, and exclaimed, "So cute!"
Han Yin was freed from his immobilization and cried even harder, clutching the Wind-Listening Ruler and calling out, "Brother Ziyang!"
Zhao Tingzhu looked at him and laughed: "I gave you a painting, it's so cute, why did you go to your parents to complain about it!"
She reached out to snatch the Wind-Listening Ruler, but the raindrops falling from the sky transformed into a giant frost python formed from ice and snow, its blood-red maw snapping open to bite Zhao Tingzhu. Zhao Tingzhu merely raised an eyebrow, and with a wave of her hand, a golden longsword appeared out of thin air, slashing horizontally towards the giant python, shattering the Star Array with a single strike.
Ice shards, not yet dissipated, scattered in the air. Zhao Tingzhu squinted, looking through the black rain curtain at Yu Sui, who was leading Han Yin away from her.
Jiang Fengyu also stopped, gently raised the umbrella, and looked at the girl who was only a few steps away from him.
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