The Truth of Xiao Qi’s Demise

“This matter is between you, Senior Brother, and my Tianyan Sect. Why involve others?”

Upon seeing Ye Yan’s sword hover at Chi Qiu’s throat, Su Hanxing’s previously feigned composure and calm shattered completely. His eyes were bloodshot, threatening to erupt with flames.

Su Hanxing unleashed his true qi, pushing it to its most ferocious state. This wild energy surged from every pore of his body, intent on repelling the murderous aura Ye Yan had manifested. Under the force of Su Hanxing’s furious counterattack, the overwhelming murderous aura lasted only a fleeting instant before crumbling layer by layer.

Ye Yan remained silent, his eyes narrowing. With a slight tremor of the longsword in his hand, he effortlessly grazed Chi Qiu’s neck. Chi Qiu felt a faint prickling sensation at her throat. A trickle of blood then traced a cold path down her collarbone, sending a chill through her heart.

“Hold on, Senior,” Chi Qiu quickly interjected. “I believe there must be some misunderstanding between you two. Why don’t we sit down and discuss it properly, rather than resorting to blades?”

In such dire circumstances, Chi Qiu’s will to survive allowed her to forcefully break through a fraction of the suppressing Heaven and Earth energy. Seizing this small window of mobility, Chi Qiu quickly drew her head back, putting some distance between herself and the star-forged sword. Then, she urgently spoke up, attempting to mediate.

“Misunderstanding?” Ye Yan scoffed, a sneer twisting his lips. With a slight flick of his right hand, the longsword pressed closer to Chi Qiu’s throat once more.

“Senior Brother, you may not know this, but all the disciples of our Tianyan Sect believed that your Dao was harmed by the Heart God Sect. That is why so many of our disciples went to the arena this morning to watch my duel with Zhu Yan.”

Seizing this opportunity, Su Hanxing finally broke free from the oppressive murderous aura. With Chi Qiu’s life hanging by a thread, he dared not make any rash moves after escaping the pressure, choosing instead to stand his ground and plead.

“Oh? Do tell,” Ye Yan said, his expression seemingly softening slightly. Yet, the longsword in his hand remained resolutely in place, still held horizontally before Chi Qiu.

Chi Qiu, initially stunned and terrified, finally began to regain a measure of calm. As she gazed at the star-forged sword positioned before her, and at Su Hanxing’s face, contorted with shock and fury, an unusual feeling stirred within her.

Given Ye Yan’s power, taking her life would require no more than a flick of his finger. Why then go to such lengths as to conjure a longsword and hold it before her? It seemed, then, that Ye Yan’s true intention was not to kill her, but to use her as leverage to extract more information about the Tianyan Sect from Su Hanxing.

However, a deduction was merely a deduction. Chi Qiu dared not gamble her life on her guess being correct. Thus, she remained obediently in place, refraining from any small movements.

“According to the rumors circulating among the Tianyan Sect disciples, the incident occurred when you, Senior Brother, left the sect to undertake a mission. Heart God Sect cultivators seized the opportunity to harass our sect’s borders, and Senior Sister was unfortunately killed in the ensuing conflict.” Su Hanxing spoke with extreme speed, relaying the entire matter clearly in less than a breath.

“Died in a conflict with the Heart God Sect, you say…” Ye Yan lifted his head slightly, his expression softening considerably. Even his blood-red eyes seemed to dim, as if lost in remembrance. “Never mind. I suppose you hadn’t joined the Tianyan Sect yet at that time.”

Ye Yan shook his head slightly. With a gentle wave of his right hand, the longsword instantly dissolved into a myriad of starlight, vanishing from sight. Seeing the longsword disappear, Chi Qiu finally exhaled in relief. She moved her hands, only to realize that the Heaven and Earth energy suppressing her had not dissipated.

“That day, I accepted a sect mission that required me to lead dozens of disciples millions of miles away to another sect, where we were to eliminate their fleeing disciples.” Ye Yan casually found a wooden chair and sat down, then began to recount the events of the past. “That sect was merely a small one within a city. It had only two Dharma Manifestation Realm cultivators, both of whom had already been slain by Tianyan Sect elders. My task was simply to hunt down and eliminate the scattered, fleeing cultivators, one by one.”

“Was it meant to be a complete extermination?” Chi Qiu’s heart lurched. Could the Tianyan Sect of the past truly have committed such cruel acts? she wondered.

“A sect’s annihilation… Senior Brother, do you recall which sect it was that was destroyed?” Su Hanxing’s expression grew solemn. After a moment of thought, he looked up and asked.

“It should have been called… Qingyuan Sect,” Ye Yan mused, lowering his head in thought for a while before answering.

“Qingyuan Sect?”

Su Hanxing and Chi Qiu exclaimed in unison. They exchanged a glance, both their faces etched with disbelief.

“You know of this sect?” Chi Qiu and Su Hanxing’s unusual reaction caused Ye Yan to pause slightly. He immediately countered with a question.

Chi Qiu and Su Hanxing naturally remembered. The Qingyuan Sect was precisely the sect that Chai Niang’s father had belonged to in life. Even now, a painting from the Qingyuan Sect remained within Chi Qiu’s storage space.

“About a year ago, I encountered a cultivator whose father was once an outer disciple of the Qingyuan Sect. Decades ago, he was silenced by an outer deacon of the Heart God Sect,” Su Hanxing explained, turning his head to Ye Yan.

“Silenced by a Heart God Sect deacon, you say…” Ye Yan’s face first showed surprise. Then, he nodded understandingly and continued: “Indeed, Heart God Sect disciples did act alongside us back then. After all, compared to other sects, the Tianyan Sect’s disciples were significantly lacking in both numbers and strength. As for why we collaborated with the Heart God Sect… I don’t know either.”

“Senior, do you know anything about the Qingyuan Sect?” Chi Qiu asked, her curiosity about the sect’s information piqued. Hearing that Ye Yan had accepted a Tianyan Sect mission to exterminate them, she couldn’t help but inquire.

Ye Yan turned his head to glance at Chi Qiu, who was still confined by the Heaven and Earth energy. With a casual wave of his hand, he dispelled the energy, then replied: “None.”

Chi Qiu nodded, a hint of disappointment in her expression, then offered her thanks.

“When I arrived at the Qingyuan Sect back then, most of the disciples and cultivators had scattered like frightened birds, fleeing to unknown locations. However, I possessed the Tianyan Art. Utilizing its power of deduction, we spent nearly half a year, ultimately eliminating every single Qingyuan Sect disciple. After that, I returned to the Tianyan Sect. The first news I received was that Xiao Qi had died in a conflict with the Heart God Sect.”

As he spoke, although Ye Yan’s expression remained largely unchanged, the profound pain in his words was impossible to conceal. Chi Qiu and Su Hanxing exchanged a silent glance. The Xiao Qi Ye Yan spoke of must be his Dao companion, Chi Qiu mused inwardly.

“When I heard this news, it truly struck me like a bolt from the clear sky. I first went to pay my respects to Xiao Qi, and then I questioned the sect elders about who had intercepted and killed her. The sect elders told me that the Daqi Imperial Family had intervened, and the matter was closed, not to be discussed further.”

As he uttered these words, Ye Yan’s eyes widened, and an overwhelming surge of murderous aura engulfed the entire flying boat, making it difficult for Chi Qiu to breathe.

“Unwilling to let the matter rest, I began a clandestine investigation. Months later, I found the Heart God Sect disciple who had intercepted Xiao Qi. As he lay dying, he shockingly revealed to me that although he had ambushed Xiao Qi, she hadn’t died on the spot, but had been taken back to the Tianyan Sect.”

“I initially dismissed it as a lie concocted to save his life. However, my subsequent investigations proved his words true. Xiao Qi had indeed been brought back to the Tianyan Sect, and she ultimately died within the sect’s walls. To uncover who truly killed Xiao Qi, I finally made a difficult decision: I dug up her grave.”

Ye Yan’s voice dropped to a low murmur. He slowly raised his head, first looking at Su Hanxing, then turning his gaze to Chi Qiu.

“There was nothing inside.”