Chapter 310: Beast

Zheng Yi folded the cover and tucked it into her bosom, then turned to look outside the cave.

She naturally wanted to know what message Xue Bangzhu, or rather Zheng Wan, had left behind before she died. But she also understood that Li Miao might not be willing to share it with her.

Ultimately, the two were just in a relationship of mutual utilization. Li Miao wanted to use her to probe the bottom of Yingzhou, and she wanted to use Li Miao to seek revenge on Yingzhou.

The essence of their relationship was partnership, not companionship.

Since she was in a weak position in this cooperation, she naturally had to strike a pose and position herself correctly.

Li Miao glanced at her, smiled, didn't say much, and continued to look down at the booklet.

This booklet was divided into two parts.

The first half should have been written just after Xue Bangzhu escaped to the Great Ming. At that time, she was still young, and her Wu Gong was still there, so she didn't need to entrust the revenge to others, so there wasn't much recorded in this booklet.

Except for the first page, the remaining pages of the first half were filled with dense names.

All of them were surnamed "Zheng."

Li Miao flipped through it once, folding a corner on the fourth, eighth, and last pages.

These names were divided into three parts.

Li Miao had basically seen the names written in the first four pages; some he could recount their life stories, some were just familiar, but he could be certain these were historical figures from a thousand years ago to the present.

From the fourth to the eighth page, the names written should be those of Penglai disciples; Xue Bangzhu had marked several of them, among which was the name of Zheng Yi's mother.

And from the eighth page to the end, it should be the names of Yingzhou people.

Because these pages were written in blood; this was a blood letter used for revenge.

Among these three parts, there was no need to look at the last part; the names of Yingzhou people were useless to Li Miao; he would kill them whenever he saw them, and it didn't matter what they were called.

The second part could be used when looking for other Penglai disciples later, but for now, it could be set aside.

The key lay in the first part.

Li Miao carefully flipped through the names listed by Xue Bangzhu, which could be traced back to a thousand years ago, and extended all the way to the founding of the Great Ming, including civil officials, military generals, and legends of gods and ghosts, almost listing every person surnamed "Zheng" in the history books.

Except for the surname Zheng, Li Miao couldn't see any commonality between these names.

Therefore, the thing that could be referenced was still "time."

Li Miao slowly twisted his fingers, secretly pondering.

"First, one thing is certain: the vast majority of these people died before the founding of Penglai and should be unrelated to Penglai."

"So, was Xue Bangzhu suspecting that these people had a relationship with Yingzhou?"

"But the time span is a bit tricky... it's too wide."

"A relatively reasonable explanation is that Yingzhou never truly 'hid from the world,' but would occasionally send people to the Central Plains to participate in various things under their own surnames. Xue Bangzhu was investigating these people."

"However."

Li Miao frowned.

"Although this explanation makes sense, there are still some places that don't fit logic."

"For example, why did Xue Bangzhu investigate figures from a thousand years ago? These people have long turned to dust, and what they did is hard to leave any influence today; even if their identities were clarified, it seems it wouldn't help in seeking revenge on Yingzhou."

"For example, why was Xue Bangzhu certain that these people would walk in the Central Plains using their own surnames? For a 'sect hiding from the world,' wouldn't this be actively increasing the risk of their own exposure?"

"For example, the first name that appeared was already earlier than the time Yingzhou was founded."

"Unless—she wasn't investigating 'certain people,' but 'a certain person'."

Li Miao thought for a moment and shook his head.

This first half wasn't information Xue Bangzhu deliberately left behind, but more like a "memo" she left back then, vague and unclear; except for the person themselves who had already died, it was hard for others to draw definitive conclusions from it.

At least in Li Miao's view, both inferences had their own loopholes, and with the information known now, it was not yet enough to support them.

Whether to verify or falsify, it would depend on what information could be obtained from Penglai disciples or Yingzhou in the future.

Putting these inferences aside for now, Li Miao opened the second half of the booklet.

————————

Li Miao walked out of the cave, didn't even look at Xue Hanmeng, who was kneeling on the ground in a daze, waved his hand, and led Cao Hanyan and Yin Suqin away.

Zheng Yi held the second half of the booklet Li Miao had handed her, walked out of the stone cave with a blank expression.

She also had no intention of paying attention to Xue Hanmeng, walked to "No-Trace's" side, squatted down, reached out and gripped his pulse, and began to treat his wounds.

"No-Trace" was already at the end of his life, having been tortured by Li Miao all the way, waiting to die on the ground, but suddenly felt a warm current drill into his body, and his already exhausted vitality was gradually recovering.

He was overjoyed, thinking it was Xue Hanmeng who had pleaded for him, and in addition to his pride, he immediately squeezed out a few tears with his practiced acting skills, opened his mouth, and was about to speak.

"Hanmeng, I was just confused for a moment about what happened back then; over these years, I have already treated you as my own—"

With his frail appearance, plus the miserable look of being covered in blood from Li Miao's torture, and the acting skills honed over decades in the Jianghu, in any other place, Zheng Yi would have hesitated.

Unfortunately, Zheng Yi wouldn't give him any sympathy now.

"Own—Pfft!"

A slap without holding back directly shattered "No-Trace's" chin, and flesh and blood splashed onto the ground with a *clatter*.

"Your voice makes me sick."

Zheng Yi said calmly.

"Don't speak again, you only deserve to wail like a pig."

After saying this, Zheng Yi treated his wounds again; this time, "No-Trace" didn't dare to make a sound again.

Zheng Yi sealed his acupoints, stood up, walked to Xue Hanmeng, and threw the booklet into Xue Hanmeng's hand.

And then, without any mercy, she reached out and grabbed her hair, not caring about her cry of pain, and lifted her up.

"Actually, I thought about a lot while inside."

Zheng Yi said calmly.

"I really thought about a lot."

"I have many reasons to let you off, for example, you might be my last fellow disciple; for example, your mother must have hoped you would live well."

"And for example, you didn't want to do anything to your mother, you were just too stupid, too young, deceived by others, and did many things that let down your mother and Yan Fan."

"You probably don't even know who Yan Fan is."

"So, I originally wanted to tell you the truth, let you kill this enemy with your own hands, and then take you to seek revenge on Yingzhou, so I could have one more companion and helper."

She let out a long sigh.

"However, Lord Li said some things to me that changed my original thoughts."

"He said that many times, the damage caused by fools is far greater than that caused by villains. And the reasons they defend themselves are hundreds of times more."

"At such times, there is a principle that must be kept in mind at all times."

Zheng Yi stared into Xue Hanmeng's eyes and said slowly.

"That is—do not defend those who have done evil."

"'Don't want to do' and 'can't do,' the result is the same; someone must pay the price for this rotten ending."

Zheng Yi dragged Xue Hanmeng by her hair, dragged her in front of "No-Trace," and threw her to the ground.

"For the sake of us being fellow disciples, I will give you a chance. You can look at the words your mother left you now, and then seek revenge for your mother."

"After that, I will waste your Wu Gong."

Zheng Yi's voice carried no emotion.

"You are not worthy of being a Penglai disciple."

"You are not worthy of being a Jianghu person."

"You are not even worthy of seeking revenge on the real murderer."

"For the sake of your mother, Lord Li will send someone to prepare a residence for you in Kaifeng City; whether you want to raise children or grow old alone is up to you. From today on, you and Penglai will have no more connection."

"You have half an hour."

After saying this, Zheng Yi turned and walked a distance away, leaning against a tree, coldly watching Xue Hanmeng, and said no more.

Xue Hanmeng was stunned for a while, then tremblingly opened the booklet.

The first half of the booklet had already been taken away by Li Miao, and the remaining half was Xue Bangzhu's instructions left behind after she knew she was going to die.

Inside, it explained the ins and outs of the matter in detail.

Forty-seven years ago, the Penglai sect was annihilated, and the disciples died, fled, or scattered; at that time, Xue Bangzhu, who was still called Zheng Wan, escaped to Kaifeng and opened up a mountain cave to stay temporarily.

Forty-five years ago, Xue Bangzhu confirmed that no one from Yingzhou was chasing her, and also confirmed the safety within Kaifeng Prefecture, so she changed her appearance and entered the city to live under a pseudonym; it was also at this time that she met Yan Fan.

Forty years ago, Xue Bangzhu married Xue Hanmeng's father; the two had a good relationship, but because of the special nature of Penglai inheritance, they never had children. Fortunately, her husband didn't mind, and the two lived like that.

Twenty years ago, Xue Bangzhu suddenly discovered that she was pregnant.

It was hard to say whether she was happy or afraid at the time, because she knew that if a Penglai person gave birth outside of Penglai, she and Xue Hanmeng could only have one survive.

From the moment she became pregnant with Xue Hanmeng, the special trait she inherited from Penglai bloodline that could avoid the Five Decays of Heaven and Man would gradually disappear, until her Wu Gong was completely lost and she became a cripple.

Disturbed, she went out of the city to pray in a temple, also to make a choice without her husband knowing, whether to give birth to Xue Hanmeng.

What decision she made, the booklet didn't write.

Considering this booklet was left for Xue Hanmeng, the decision she made at the time was likely not wanting to give birth to Xue Hanmeng.

But when she made up her mind and returned home, everything changed.

"No-Trace" killed everyone in her family, leaving no chickens or dogs.

Her husband, who had always treated her with respect and never said a word of complaint, died in his own home, died in their bedroom.

Knowing Xue Bangzhu would return that night, he had prepared some good wine, intending to comfort his wife's heart, telling her that he really didn't mind whether she could give birth, as long as they could grow old together.

He couldn't say these words, and was killed by "No-Trace" at the table, his blood spilling into the wine cup, spreading in the wine.

Xue Bangzhu walked around the house and couldn't find a living person.

She dismissed the servants, picked up her husband's corpse, and placed it on the bed. Then she flashed onto the rafters and took down the long sword that had been hidden there for decades.

She sharpened the sword, drank the blood-wine on the table, and went out with the sword to seek revenge on "No-Trace."

At that time, although she began to show signs of Wu Gong decline, she was still a Heaven-Man Realm expert; "No-Trace" was definitely no match for her.

Logically, this should have been a simple matter.

But after searching for several days, she gradually discovered one thing—"No-Trace" was deliberately hiding from her, as if he already knew her Wu Gong, and knew she would seek revenge on him.

But she had never revealed her Wu Gong, and even her husband didn't know that his wife was a hidden expert.

"No-Trace" shouldn't have known these things.

Just then, Xue Bangzhu heard that a sect annihilation case had occurred nearby, the method was extremely similar to "No-Trace," so she rushed over, only to find that this matter was done by someone else.

She caught the murderer, and after some interrogation, the other party confessed that someone had hired him with a large sum of money to do this, and as for who the other party was, the murderer didn't know, but it was definitely not "No-Trace."

Investigating to this point, Xue Bangzhu stopped her steps.

This matter seemed to be no longer a simple case of murder for money.

Someone who knew Xue Bangzhu's background told "No-Trace" everything, and deliberately hired someone to lead Xue Bangzhu away, so she couldn't seek revenge.

Only Yingzhou and Penglai knew Xue Bangzhu's background. And if Yingzhou knew where she was, they would have killed her immediately, and wouldn't have done such a roundabout thing.

So, the mastermind was a Penglai fellow disciple.

After figuring this out, Xue Bangzhu was almost in despair.

People who escaped from Penglai all had disguise techniques; the person holding the knife wouldn't let "No-Trace" know their identity, and even if she caught "No-Trace," she would only have wasted a knife.

Xue Hanmeng in her womb was growing, and her Wu Gong was rapidly declining; she no longer had the strength to seek revenge.

So she had to return home and finish the funeral. The blood on her soles at the time was left when she interrogated the person who had been hired.

After the funeral was over and everything was settled, Xue Bangzhu looked at her husband's tombstone and changed her decision—she would give birth to her child and raise her.

From the moment she made the decision, she began to prepare, using everything she could think of to ensure that after she died, Xue Hanmeng could live well.

When her Wu Gong declined to the first-class level, she discovered that "No-Trace" had also found her and was monitoring her at all times.

So she endured the excruciating pain and changed her plan again.

The first back-up plan was Yan Fan.

The second back-up plan was this mountain cave. She considered everything, even considering that Xue Hanmeng might not be able to bear to act against "No-Trace," so she left behind poison, allowing Xue Hanmeng to end everything without needing to act, so as not to leave a shadow in her heart.

The third back-up plan was the missing corpses. It was both to prepare for Yan Fan to spread the news and to attract the attention of others, so that "No-Trace" wouldn't be able to act against her for the time being.

As for the fellow disciple hiding behind "No-Trace," Xue Bangzhu no longer had the ability to take them into account, and could only hope that the other party would stop at her and not implicate Xue Hanmeng.

As for what happened later, there was no need to say more.

The day Xue Bangzhu was pushed to the ground, she knew her time was up. So she found "No-Trace," who had been monitoring her, and took the initiative to die in his hands.

The moment she died, Yan Fan moved out of Kaifeng Prefecture.

Her plan officially began to operate.

Until this moment, this plan that had spanned decades finally came to an end.

On the last page of the booklet, Xue Bangzhu wrote this.

"Hanmeng, if the one opening this booklet is you, mother wants you to know—everything was my plan."

"You will be adopted by 'No-Trace,' you will think he is the last person you can trust, you might protect him, you might not be able to bear to act against him."

"It doesn't matter, this is not your fault."

"He should follow you into this cave, and then die in my hands—you didn't do anything, I was deliberately killed by him, and his blood won't dirty your hands."

"Now, everything is over."

"How old are you now? Have you grown taller? People from Penglai all grow up very good-looking; if only I could take a look."

"You can go to the village outside the city and find an old man named Yan Fan; if he is still alive, buy him a pot of good wine and tell him everything is over."

"If he is dead, bury me with him; I hope in the next life, he can speak earlier, so as not to miss out."

"You don't need to think about seeking revenge for me; that fellow disciple who harmed me, by the time you see these words, should have already died of old age."

"Your father and I wouldn't want you to live as a demon who risked your life just for revenge."

"The grievances of our generation end here."

"After that, go live the life you want to live."

The last sentence, the strokes were already scattered.

This was the last sentence Xue Bangzhu left behind.

In the silent dense forest, a heart-rending cry suddenly rose.

Xue Hanmeng forgot the fact that she was a Heaven-Man expert, crawled over like a wild beast, bit down hard on "No-Trace's" throat, and tore at it with all her might.

Wailing, crying, screaming, struggling.

The regret that almost burned through her heart and lungs drove the wild beast named "Xue Hanmeng" to use her teeth to tear her enemy into a pool of blurred flesh.

Blood and tears mixed together, seeped into the dirt, and disappeared.

Zheng Yi slowly closed her eyes.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 311 =====