Chapter 901: The Murderer - Xu Xiaoshou

What do you mean?

Wang Dachui and Teng Shanhai were both dumbfounded.

This question was only half-asked. From everyone's expressions, it seemed like they had all figured something out?

So, what had they figured out?

The two exchanged glances, seeing the confusion in each other's eyes. They snorted dismissively at each other, then simultaneously turned back to look at Rao Yao Yao.

Rao Yao Yao remained silent for a long time. With a long sigh, she finally spoke:

"Yi Huan, even if you don't want to state the outcome and leave it to me, the credit for the post-battle merits is all yours!"

"Yi Huan dares not."

Yi Huan bowed and stepped back, resuming his role as an unobtrusive presence.

Rao Yao Yao turned to look at the only two fools left in the room, shaking her head as she held up a finger.

"Firstly, Yi doesn't need to use Saint Blood to escape because even if he did, it wouldn't work... To put it another way: if he used Saint Blood, the enemy would catch up immediately, making it useless. But the enemy has Saint Blood and is someone of great significance. That's the first point!"

Wang Dachui and Teng Shanhai felt a jolt in their hearts.

They had originally thought that even if they couldn't win, taking Saint Blood to flee would at least get them away.

But now...

They truly couldn't escape!

Rao Yao Yao held up a second finger:

"Secondly, the third party isn't the Eighth Sword Immortal, and might not even be a Tai Xu. Because if there was even one more Tai Xu who could threaten Yi, or two or three, Yi's first choice would be the same as yours—run! But he didn't run. Why?"

"Why?"

The words slipped out of Wang Dachui's mouth instinctively, and once they did, he regretted it immensely. Damn it, why were they all looking at him like he was an idiot?

Teng Shanhai had been about to speak but stopped in time, putting on a mocking expression as if to say, "This fool is beyond help," and quietly waited for Rao Yao Yao's answer.

He didn't understand either...

Rao Yao Yao sighed:

"Because the one who came was a weakling... someone who seemed as unthreatening as Yi Huan!"

Everyone turned to look at Yi Huan.

Yi Huan displayed a pained expression, which made Wang Dachui want to mock him but left him speechless.

The guy was already being self-deprecating; what was the point of piling on?

"Weakling?"

Teng Shanhai waited a moment, but Wang Dachui still hadn't snapped out of it, so he had to ask himself: "If it's a weakling, I could deal with them with a single glance. Why would Yi need to run?"

Rao Yao Yao chuckled:

"That's the third point: why didn't Yi run?"

"Weaklings don't need to be run from. What's there to run from with a weakling? I'd smash them with one hammer, and they'd be turned to mush. Run from what?"

Wang Dachui had come to his senses and grumbled irritably.

"But Yi is dead."

"Uh."

Wang Dachui was stunned silent.

Rao Yao Yao continued: "Yi isn't as foolish as you two. Even if it was a wolf in sheep's clothing, he could tell. The person who came might be a weakling, but definitely not someone insignificant like Yi Huan... And this person was important—important enough that Yi had to kill them!"

"What do you mean?"

Teng Shanhai couldn't wait any longer; he was getting dizzy from Rao Yao Yao's reasoning.

"Maybe the enemy had some crucial intelligence, or their identity and background gave Yi no choice but to kill them. Or perhaps that person had leverage over Yi, forcing him to stay and fight head-on."

Teng Shanhai disagreed: "You said it yourself, Yi isn't that stupid. If that were the case, his first choice would still be to run, or at least send the information back to headquarters or to us, so we could send reinforcements."

"The information couldn't get out."

Wang Dachui chimed in smartly for once.

Rao Yao Yao nodded: "Not only couldn't the information get out, Teng Shanhai, you forgot a key point: the newcomer wasn't a strong fighter; they were a weakling, but one who might have just happened to possess an ability that Yi didn't know about—one targeted specifically at him."

Teng Shanhai frowned in silence.

Rao Yao Yao pressed on: "Suppose the third party was a Wang Zuo who didn't seem very strong, and you didn't know their full details—or you did, but you figured the risk to your life wasn't absolute, maybe not even seventy percent. In that situation, what would you do?"

Teng Shanhai fell into thought.

Subjectively, after hearing all that, he wanted to say run.

But setting aside the mess of information, if it was as Rao Yao Yao described—like Yi facing a situation he thought he could control—maybe his first choice wouldn't be to run, but...

"Wait!"

Teng Shanhai said: "Bide my time, look for an opportunity, and secretly send a message."

All the intelligence officers laughed, leaving Teng Shanhai baffled.

Rao Yao Yao laughed too, but her expression quickly turned serious.

"Waiting is exactly right."

"Yi's first choice might not have been to run."

"But the enemy came prepared and poised to strike."

"If they laid out bait step by step, making you think you could always escape, while secretly cutting off all your retreat paths..."

"Then, if your first choice was to run, you might burst out with full force, take Saint Blood, and even if you couldn't shatter the Yun Jing World, at least you could send out a trace of a message."

"But if you wait..."

Rao Yao Yao paused for a long time, her face darkening as she said: "If I were Yi's opponent, I'd choose to wear him down bit by bit—drain his spiritual energy and techniques with targeted spiritual tools and treasures aimed specifically at him, then erode him from his body, soul, and even his will, until I completely devour him!"

Everyone felt a shiver run through them.

Rao Yao Yao went on: "If Yi had chosen to escape at full strength, the enemy might not have been able to seal off every trace, and they'd have slipped up—because even we don't know how many hidden cards Yi prepared for his own survival."

"But if he fell for the trap and didn't escape right away, instead biding his time like you..."

Rao Yao Yao stared straight at Teng Shanhai: "In your full strength state, you could break through their control, attacks, and seals by sheer force. But if your spiritual energy is half depleted, or you're hit with a surprise attack right at the start and end up lightly or severely wounded—would you still be confident you could escape?"

Teng Shanhai felt a chill run down his spine.

Rao Yao Yao's speculation was bold; he couldn't respond for a moment.

"How could Yi be that stupid? From start to finish, he never realized something was wrong and just walked into the enemy's trap step by step?"

Wang Dachui didn't buy it; the speculation seemed unreliable.

"You forgot, I said the third party was weak, but their identity was important enough that Yi felt he had to take them down—or at least, take the risk for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."

Rao Yao Yao explained.

"Who could it be?"

Wang Dachui blurted out again.

This time, everyone fell silent, no one mocking him.

Indeed.

Who could it be?

This person had to be weak in strength, yet possess the ability to take down a Tai Xu—or at least target Yi specifically—and hold a very important status, with access to Saint Blood.

"I thought of someone..."

Teng Shanhai suddenly spoke up.

"Keep that thought to yourself."

Rao Yao Yao knew what he was thinking, but this wasn't the time to jump to conclusions.

She turned to Wang Dachui: "What about your investigation results? You can share them now."

Everyone looked over.

Wang Dachui was in charge of examining all the battle traces at Yi's death site.

It was he who had uncovered the Yin Yang Sheng Si Lei power.

With the task at hand, Wang Dachui perked up and said:

"The storyteller was definitely at the scene; the traces of the Yin Yang Sheng Si Lei's ancient world power weren't completely erased."

"Besides the storyteller, you all said that Tianji sorcerer was strong, but I didn't find many traces of Tianji at the site—they were pretty faint."

"They were erased!"

Rao Yao Yao added, "But your first point is strange. Logically, that Tianji sorcerer could erase so many traces—why leave only the Yin Yang Sheng Si Lei power? They shouldn't be incapable of it..."

The intelligence officers might only know that the Tianji sorcerer was powerful.

But as for just how powerful, they had only a vague idea.

Rao Yao Yao, however, had already pretty much confirmed through Si Tu Yong Ren that the Tianji sorcerer was likely Wu Ji Lao Zu from Void Island.

Wu Ji, the one Dao Qiong Cang had to personally intervene to capture back in the day.

Could he fail to erase the storyteller's power?

Was it a deliberate trace left to frame them?

Or something else?

Yi Huan suddenly stepped forward: "Is it possible that the Tianji sorcerer was borrowing the Yun Jing World's power to manipulate Tianji and fight Yi? And the Yin Yang Sheng Si Lei power appeared afterward, once we'd reclaimed the Yun Jing World, so the Tianji sorcerer couldn't act at full strength. After all... don't forget, if the Yun Jing World is in our hands, any power exceeding Wang Zuo in the Yun Lun Mountains would be detected."

As soon as he said this, Rao Yao Yao felt enlightened: "That possibility can't be ruled out."

"No way!"

Another intelligence officer spoke up, urgency making them disregard offending others: "If the storyteller arrived late, who was Yi fighting before? Who could have pushed him to that point? We've already concluded that the third party wasn't strong—just had abilities targeted at Yi at key moments."

Rao Yao Yao suddenly felt a headache coming on.

What he said made sense too.

Yi Huan clearly didn't agree with his own speculation either, saying: "Then I must be overthinking it. But if that possibility doesn't hold, it's obvious someone wanted to frame the storyteller. After all, the storyteller wouldn't fail to erase their own power traces—it's not like they forgot... Oh, wait, saying that makes my first speculation seem valid again? Was it really not the storyteller who did it? Are they innocent?"

Everyone thought it was absurd.

Who didn't know your first speculation was fake to begin with?

It's ridiculous—now you're pushing it until it seems true?

But...

As the saying goes, the speaker might not mean it, but the listener does.

Rao Yao Yao seemed to unearth some fragmented pieces of information buried deep in her memory, her eyes lighting up as she probed: "What if someone brought the storyteller's Yin Yang Sheng Si Lei to the scene?"

In an instant, all the intelligence officers froze on the spot.

This speculation...

Was terrifying!

But it seemed closer to the truth?

After all, the storyteller should have been with the Eighth Sword Immortal in Sky City when Yi died?

"Very possible, very possible..."

Yi Huan tapped his fingers, looking amazed.

He glanced down in thought, then looked up at Rao Yao Yao, clearly shocked by the idea.

"If you think about it that way, my earlier reasoning might actually hold up."

"The Yin Yang Sheng Si Lei was held by someone else; that person arrived later and trapped everyone in the ancient world."

"The Tianji sorcerer went in too, unable to interfere with the outside world's Tianji. When they came out, control of the Yun Jing World was back in our hands."

"So, they couldn't erase all the traces?"

Wang Dachui and Teng Shanhai were both baffled.

They couldn't follow the group's train of thought.

But seeing how seriously the leaders were taking it...

"Did I just spill the key info?"

Wang Dachui scratched his head, second-guessing himself.

Rao Yao Yao pondered.

Yi Huan's speculation was exaggerated, sounding almost plausible, but it directly overturned all their previous conclusions.

If the person holding the Yin Yang Sheng Si Lei arrived later, then this clearly wasn't a setup.

If it wasn't a setup, how did Yi die in just a quarter of an hour?

Coincidence?

Rao Yao Yao didn't believe in coincidences.

She even less believed that Yi, facing a Wu Ji Lao Zu who was held back, plus another weak opponent with some targeted abilities, would lose.

Moreover, if there was a weakling at the scene with abilities specifically against Yi, that screamed a setup—a grand one designed to kill Yi!

Yi, the head of the Yi Department, known for his ever-changing tactics—if not planned in advance, who could counter him so precisely?

At this point, a paradox formed.

It wasn't a setup, yet it was.

Aside from coincidence, there was no other explanation.

The only coincidence left was that after interrogating Mu Xiao Gong, Yi ran into a group of Tai Xu and Wang Zuo youngsters wandering hand in hand, each with abilities that perfectly countered him, and they all happened to have a grudge.

Rao Yao Yao nearly spat blood.

That was too stupid!

If she dared to write up Yi's death as such in a report and submit it to Sheng Shen Dian Tang headquarters, she wouldn't even need headquarters to send someone—Ye Xiao would personally step in for a nonstop assassination campaign against her.

Who would believe that...

"Let's summarize!"

Rao Yao Yao waved her hand, clearing the jumbled thoughts from her mind.

Time was running out.

She needed to make the first decision so her subordinates could proceed to the next action.

If they kept stalling at this first stage, her team would just waste time standing by.

Besides, case reasoning wasn't something done in one go; it required continuing to hunt for clues, exploring details, constantly negating and innovating to find the final answer.

With this round of brainstorming, at least the current situation was no longer a fog—they had leads solid enough for the next steps.

Yi Huan spoke up first:

"Based on all the information, my conclusion is..."

"At Yi's death site, there were at least three people, possibly more."

"The more-than-three scenario, we'll discuss later. For now, let's focus on exactly three."

"Among the three, the Tianji sorcerer was held back by Yu Zhi Wen, and the main force fighting Yi was the storyteller. The Saint Slaves have declared war on us, Sheng Shen Dian Tang, so the deliberately left traces of Yin Yang Sheng Si Lei can be seen as a provocation."

"As for that third party, though they only provided supplementary output, their identity and status are high; they have Saint Blood, and while their strength is judged as weak, they still had means targeted at Yi..."

"Across the entire continent, there aren't many people like that."

"But in East Heaven King City, there really is one."

Yi Huan paused, turning to Teng Shanhai: "I imagine you have the answer, Senior?"

Teng Shanhai hadn't expected the conversation to pivot to him.

This one I know!

He puffed out his chest, coughed twice to clear his throat, and was about to speak: "Xu..."

"Xu Xiao Shou!"

Wang Dachui jumped up and answered first: "The Saint Slave, Xu Xiao Shou!"

Teng Shanhai's face darkened like ink, nearly dripping with it...

Yi Huan looked embarrassed.

He was good at navigating situations and reading the room, and he knew Teng Shanhai had been frustrated earlier when Rao Yao Yao stopped him, so he threw out this opening.

His intention was to let the head of the war department state his correct deduction.

But now, because Wang Dachui stole the spotlight, it left him feeling awkward, as if he had started the fire himself.

This...

A miscalculation!

Fortunately, Rao Yao Yao knew how to handle people. She just glanced at the smug Wang Dachui, who was still taunting Teng Shanhai, and then looked away.

"What about the weapon?"

She turned to Teng Shanhai and asked: "What's your conclusion?"

Teng Shanhai didn't hesitate this time; his words came quickly: "Looking across the entire continent, aside from Yu Ling Di, the only one who could fight a Tai Xu at the Wang Zuo level or below is Xu Xiao Shou. Coincidentally, he has four swords that could perfectly counter Yi!"

Rao Yao Yao looked around at the others: "Anything else to add?"

"No..."

"No..."

Everyone shook their heads.

Rao Yao Yao nodded slightly, grabbed the gleefully wandering Wang Dachui, and said: "Your task is here. We currently control the Yun Lun Mountains. The Saint Slaves and their infiltrators haven't strayed far—find them, at least find Xu Xiao Shou!"

"Find people?"

Wang Dachui was stunned; fighting was his thing, but assigning him to track people down? What kind of nonsense task was this?

"Of course you can't do it alone, but he can."

Rao Yao Yao gestured.

Yi Huan stepped forward with a smile, bowing respectfully: "Senior."

"Will you listen?"

Rao Yao Yao held Wang Dachui and asked coldly.

Wang Dachui wasn't stupid.

Which Tai Xu was truly foolish?

It was just that compared to these crafty intelligence types, he seemed a bit straightforward.

Wang Dachui finally understood why Rao Yao Yao's group of smart folks had included him and Teng Shanhai in their discussion.

Yi Huan...

This kid was quite the talent!

"Yes."

Wang Dachui confirmed, his eyes rolling as he pointed at Teng Shanhai and said to Yi Huan: "If you call him Xu Xiao Shou, I'll help you take him down. How's that for listening?"