Chapter 1220: Kite

Huang Yixing met his end near the East City Gate, the very gate that faced directly towards Linzi.

Beneath the shroud of night, Zhao Heng City lay like a colossal beast, slumbering in the shadows. Its city walls, towering and massive, were a testament to its former name, “Tianxiong.” Such grand ambition was evident in that moniker. Once, Tianxiong City symbolized the zenith of Yang Country's strength, born from the ashes of its former self to become the most formidable of the Sunrise Nine Countries.

But all that was gone now.

Yang Country's ancestral temples had been razed to the ground. Its last ruler perished amidst a million soldiers. The Yang royal bloodline was offered as a sacrifice by Yang Jiande, refined into a demonic art. State and altar alike were extinguished. One no longer heard tales of the old Yang court, nor saw those who still harbored loyalty to it. Many, like Huang Yixing, had adapted to life under the Qi, thriving as "Yangdi people" in their new identities.

The lonely moon hung suspended in the sky.

Lin Youxie stood facing the city gate tower, seemingly lost in contemplation, perhaps visualizing the scene – how Huang Yixing ascended the tower and how he plummeted to his death.

“What did you glean from the corpse?” Jiang Wang finally found an opening to ask.

“The subtleties of Huang Yixing's musculature tell me he was terrified before death,” Lin Youxie replied.

“But I observed his expression, and that painting…” Jiang Wang trailed off, then continued, “Does the Chief Catcher have something to hide?”

“Not necessarily,” Lin Youxie shook her head. “Concealment has three levels: expression, mood, and inner emotion. Inner emotion refers to the instinctive reactions of the body's subtle parts. His expression and mood were both expertly crafted; it's perfectly normal they weren't detected.”

*Crafted?* Jiang Wang seized upon the word.

The notion of expression, mood, and inner emotion was also new to him.

Lin Youxie continued, “Before death, Huang Yixing was struggling against something, yet there was no trace of a second power within his body. All I can confirm for now is that he did not commit suicide. Furthermore, it was evident that before his fall from a great height, his organs were intact. This suggests his resistance wasn't intense. The person who brought him to this state was either terrifyingly strong or employed some peculiar method.”

Jiang Wang found it difficult to grasp this "evident" aspect, this ease of observation, but it didn't prevent him from joining the discussion. “Perhaps a method akin to a flesh and blood puppet?”

“Uncertain. I found no manipulation lines. Such special methods aren't limited to puppets; there are many possibilities.”

As she spoke, Lin Youxie leaped upwards. “I'll go up to the city tower and take a look.”

Clad in her neutral attire, she ascended to the pinnacle of the city tower, her robes fluttering in the wind. Only then did Jiang Wang realize how incredibly thin she was. Flying through the night, she resembled a fragile kite. And the string that pulled her was concealed within the night sky of Qi Country. Perhaps she possessed some vulnerability, one she expertly masked through her daily demeanor and actions. She was almost indifferent, towards others and towards herself.

“How is it?” Jiang Wang called out from below.

“No matter what happens in a moment, don't concern yourself with me,” Lin Youxie said with remarkable composure.

Before Jiang Wang could fully process the meaning of her words, he saw Lin Youxie suddenly turn, her back towards him, and tilt her face upwards as she began to fall! Even the Dao Yuan surrounding her body had dispersed!

Jiang Wang instinctively reached out to catch her, but recalling Lin Youxie’s earlier request, he stopped halfway. He merely released some wind Yuan, causing a slight rotation near the ground, ready to react at any moment.

Lin Youxie fell until she was but two inches from the ground, then suddenly halted. From extreme motion to absolute stillness, her entire being flipped upwards. She naturally felt the wind Yuan near the ground but said nothing, merely ascending once more to the top of the city gate tower. She pried off a piece of black tile and let it float down.

“I saw this when I fell just now,” Lin Youxie explained.

Jiang Wang took the piece of black tile. At the bottom edge, he saw a line of characters—

“Feng Li Kiln Town.”

Followed by a gap, and then two smaller characters: “Imperial Made.”

“Yang script,” Jiang Wang stated.

“Which Yang?” Lin Youxie inquired.

Only then did Jiang Wang fully comprehend. He had practiced the Qian Yang Zhi Tong, a secret transmission of the Yang royal family, and later obtained the supreme-grade Dao technique, “Dragon Tiger.” This had given him some understanding of Yang Country's script. The characters on the black tile closely resembled Yang Country script, with slight variations, suggesting it was indeed Yang script.

Thus, he replied, “Yang Jiande's Yang.”

“You still recognize Yang Country script?” Lin Youxie sounded somewhat surprised.

Jiang Wang answered honestly, “I recognize the script of the Great Yang Empire that unified the East Domain. This script is quite similar, with only minor alterations, making it not difficult to comprehend.”

“What does it say?” Lin Youxie asked.

Jiang Wang read it aloud.

Lin Youxie looked at him, her expression clearly conveying, *I didn't realize you actually read books!*

“What is wrong with this?” Jiang Wang asked. He was, of course, inquiring about the significance of the discovery.

“Huang Yixing’s eyes were well-preserved. From the details of his eyeballs, it was evident that his field of vision, before losing consciousness entirely, was quite clear,” Lin Youxie explained. “I stood exactly where Huang Yixing fell, recreated his trajectory and state, and fell myself. That’s when I saw this.”

She emphasized with certainty, “Huang Yixing *must* have seen this before he died.”

Jiang Wang still couldn't grasp how she determined this point, how one could discern a dying person's field of vision from their eyeballs and accurately correlate it with the scene of their death. The Qing Pai family, it seemed, held its own secrets.

As for the piece of black tile itself… Yang Country script had become extinct, its calendar nullified, replaced entirely by Qi Country’s script and calendar. This old tile represented one of the few remaining traces of Yang Country script in the world.

While Qi Country script did incorporate some elements of Yang Country characters, it had fundamentally diverged, possessing its own unique characteristics.

Huang Yixing, who had climbed the ranks and secured the position of Zhao Heng County Town Pacifying Envoy on the reputation of the old Yang monarchs and ministers, was in truth not truly respected by the high echelons of Qi Country. As he fell from the city, on the brink of death, what emotions must he have felt upon seeing Yang Country script?

Jiang Wang unfurled the painting scroll once more, gazing at Huang Yixing’s eyes in his death throes, eyes that almost leaped from the paper.

“The one who killed Huang Yixing is a Yang person!” His voice held an indescribable emotion. The reason for his emotional fluctuation wasn’t the discovery of the truth, but rather that this truth seemed to contradict the command he had received!

Compared to him, Lin Youxie was far calmer. “This case might be linked to Zhao Xuan’s death.” She looked at Jiang Wang as she spoke.

Zhao Xuan of the Ministry of Rites was a Yang person who had transferred his allegiance to Qi Country before the fall of Yang. He had been stabbed to death on Small Chain Bridge in Linzi.

“Ah, is that so.” Jiang Wang regained his composure.

Lin Youxie might have been subtly suggesting a connection to Hell No Door. But Jiang Wang didn't think that way.

At this moment, a memory suddenly struck him. The first time he had journeyed overseas, it was to apprehend Wu Yiyu, a traitor of the Golden Needle Gate. On Sea Gate Island, he had used the power of the Four Seas Business Alliance to organize an auction. Among the items auctioned, besides the Cui Fang Luo brought by Lin Youxie, there was one item that left a profound impression on him—the Lie Yao Stone, a fragment said to have fallen from the sun itself!

When dissecting Huang Yixing’s corpse, Lin Youxie had used two words to describe the gold Yuan within his lungs: “sharp” and “fierce.” Huang Yixing, though he possessed the courage to risk life and death for wealth and honor, was in no way associated with sharpness or fierceness. According to the records, the cultivation technique he practiced was gentle in nature. At the time, Jiang Wang had a vague sense that something was amiss but failed to grasp the inspiration.

Now, he suddenly recalled that “sharp” and “fierce” were precisely the sensations the Lie Yao Stone had initially given him!

Thus, he logically thought of…

A Ce!

That A Ce from Tianxia Building!

The leader of that clumsy killer organization, who had promised to deliver his letter to the Yang Country palace.

On the day the Qi-Yang war ended, he and A Ce had met face-to-face.

And on Sea Gate Island, at that very auction, he had also seen A Ce!