Chapter 3543

After reading this letter, Ye Chen felt unbearable pain in his heart.

At this moment, he deeply regretted not revealing his identity to Xiao Churan from the beginning, as a single lie required countless lies to cover it up.

Instead of facing the truth, he kept using lies to conceal it, like a program with a major bug where the programmer avoids fixing the bug itself and instead piles on extra code to work around it, barely keeping the program running.

The result was that what could have been a simple and efficient program became bloated with more and more code, growing increasingly unstable.

When unnecessary code accumulates too much, the entire program is prone to collapse at any moment—a complete, total breakdown from inside out.

Ye Chen's mistake was exactly like this situation.

If he had confessed everything before marrying Xiao Churan, she might have thought he was speaking nonsense, but at least he would have had a clear conscience and wouldn't have needed to keep lying afterward.

At the very least, he should have come clean when Tang Sihai found him, laying everything before Xiao Churan; even if she didn't believe him, he still had his bank balance and Tang Sihai, the Ye family's chief steward, to back him up—she might have struggled to accept it then, but since he would have been sincere, she likely wouldn't have left him.

Thinking this through, Ye Chen couldn't help but wash his face with tears.

Immediately, he murmured: "Tang Sihai……Tang steward……"

As he spoke these words, his whole body felt as if struck by lightning, instantly straightening up, his mind and spirit shaken!

A flood of questions surged into his mind!

First, how did Xiao Churan know my identity?!

Second, even if she could learn I am the young master of the Ye family, how would she know I still bear a deep, bloody feud?!

Third, someone who knows me well must have told her all this—who is that person?! Is it Tang Sihai?!

Moreover!

Who is secretly manipulating Xiao Churan to decide and act on leaving me?!

Why did Tang Sihai disappear for so long, only to suddenly appear in Australia?

Why did the news of Tang Sihai being attacked in Australia conveniently reach me through Xiao Churan?!

Why did Xiao Churan leave just as I arrived in Australia?!

These questions flooded in like a burst dam, violently rushing into his sea of consciousness, disturbing his mind while also washing away his doubts.

The dirt covering the core surface was swept away by this mental flood, instantly revealing the essence.

Ye Chen knew this must all be Tang Sihai's secret doing.

He must have told Xiao Churan my identity;

He must have told Xiao Churan I bear a deep, bloody feud;

He must have persuaded Xiao Churan to leave me so I could focus on dealing with the Po Qing Hui without distraction;

He must have deliberately let himself be robbed by those teenagers in Australia, having Xiao Churan cooperate and pretend it was accidental so I would see it;

He must have, right after I set out for Australia, arranged for Xiao Churan and her parents to leave Jin Ling, even to leave Huaxia.

Ye Chen couldn't understand, and he couldn't help but roar: "Tang Sihai, Tang steward, why?! For all these years, I have revered you like a father, and you have loved me like a son—why did you leave without a word?! Leaving silently is bad enough, but why did you make Xiao Churan leave me?! Why!!!"

Via video, Cai Cai Zi watched Ye Chen tearful, eyes red as blood, in agony, and felt her heart ache terribly.

She was already sharp, and now she had guessed the full context; seeing Ye Chen lose emotional control, she quickly spoke to soothe: "Ye Chen jun, please don't get angry—Tang steward did this for your own good!"

"For my own good?!" Ye Chen instinctively questioned: "For my own good, must I be torn from my wife—what kind of 'for my own good' is this?!"

Cai Cai Zi softly said: "But Ye Chen jun, you are ultimately facing a colossal entity with hundreds of years of history! Calmly analyzing, the Xiao family not only cannot help you, but will become your weakness, giving your enemies an opening—even if your maternal grandparents' family is strong, they have repeatedly narrowly avoided enemy attacks; if enemies learn of the Xiao family's existence, how can you protect them completely?"

Saying this, Cai Cai Zi added with some heartache: "Moreover…… moreover, Ye Chen jun, don't you feel that family life has already severely affected your cultivation? You rarely get chances to retreat and cultivate; when important matters arise, you can only find a feng shui excuse every few days—honestly, at this pace, you will struggle in the short term to gain the ability to resist the Po Qing Hui……"

Ye Chen was instantly left speechless by Cai Cai Zi's words.

He is no fool, nor a hotheaded simpleton—he knows what Cai Cai Zi said is correct.

If the Po Qing Hui ever grasps his identity and information, the Xiao family of three will undoubtedly become their second-priority assassination target after him.

He also knows the special circumstances of his family have long severely affected his cultivation—whether the ring Lin Wan'er gave him or the handprint appearing in the Nordic aurora, they remain mysteries to him because he has never been able to free up time for true, undisturbed retreat.

He understands the logic, but the pain of separation is real and present—it is his wife of six years! Though they had no marital relations in the first six years, just the other night on his birthday she finally……

Thinking this through, Ye Chen felt even greater sorrow.

He choked back a silent sigh: "Xiao Churan clearly prepared long ago to leave me, yet she still stayed to see me through my birthday, even giving herself to me that day…… and since she knows my identity, she must also know about my engagement to Gu Nannan, yet even so, she accompanied me to Yanjing for Gu Nannan's final concert…… and I never even had the chance to tell her my true identity in person……"

Ye Chen suddenly felt he owed Xiao Churan too much; at this moment, only one thought filled his mind: find Xiao Churan, confess everything, lay all secrets bare—if she accepts the real him, they can stay together; if she cannot forgive him and refuses to return, he at least wants to hear her answer in person.

But how to find Xiao Churan?

He immediately wiped his tears and said to Cai Cai Zi: "Cai Cai Zi, help me contact Ruo Li—He family has served the Su family for years, experienced, let her work with the He family to investigate Xiao Churan's whereabouts—start now, every second counts!"

Cai Cai Zi said without hesitation: "Okay, Ye Chen jun, I'll tell Ruo Li right away—anything else I need to do?"

After speaking, without waiting for Ye Chen's reply, she quickly added: "How about I bring over a batch of ninjas from Japan? Their combat strength may not be strong, but their tracking and anti-tracking skills are unmatched—having them come should help."

Since the Tokyo great melee, the Ito family has already subdued most of Japan's ninja clans; these ninjas have sworn allegiance to the Ito family and stand by 24 hours a day.

Ye Chen has dealt with ninjas before; as Ito Cai Cai Zi said, though their strength is lacking, their tracking and anti-tracking are top-notch, their concealment top-notch—ordinary martial artists may be stronger, but if ninjas truly want to hide and not be found, even martial artists far stronger than them may fail to find them—unless one is a cultivator like me who can sense spiritual energy, then ninjas cannot escape.

Since Tang Sihai had long planned this, Xiao Churan's escape route must be convoluted—ninjas might truly be useful.

Thus he said: "Thank you, Cai Cai Zi—thank you for arranging those Japanese ninjas, but be sure to tell them: once in Huaxia, do not cause trouble or stir up incidents—focus all attention on finding people."

"No problem, Ye Chen jun." Cai Cai Zi quickly said: "Ye Chen jun, you need not be so polite with me—those ninjas aside, as long as Ye Chen jun says one word, the entire Ito family, top to bottom, all heed your command!"

Ye Chen felt moved in his heart, yet did not keep saying thanks—he said sincerely: "Cai Cai Zi, since Xiao Churan left me a note at home, proving her departure began there, have the He family start investigating immediately; when your ninjas arrive, let them meet Ruo Li and temporarily follow her dispatch."

Ye Chen had long known Su Ruoli's abilities.

She is young yet able to lead many Su family masters across Japan to exterminate the Matsumoto family—if not for meeting me, that operation would have withdrawn smoothly and completed perfectly; having her command the action is absolutely no problem.

Cai Cai Zi naturally had no objection, immediately saying: "No problem, Ye Chen jun—I'll have them prepare now and reach Huaxia before dark!"

Ye Chen then said: "Then thank you for your trouble, Cai Cai Zi."

Cai Cai Zi asked: "Ye Chen jun, when do you plan to return?"

Ye Chen said: "I want to return as soon as possible, but Tang steward last appeared in Australia—he should still be there now; I want to try to find him, after all he is the key link—without finding him, I will never know what other secrets he holds!"