0p0 Chapter 556 Investigating the Details
Chapter 556 Investigating the Details
Even though she wasn't afraid that the people of Forget-Worry City would regroup and launch a counterattack, Yun Yici didn't want to keep a large group of people around for questioning.
"Have you made sure all the villagers from the fishing village have been settled?"
Xie Guanxuan realized what was happening and immediately replied, "Yes, I told the village chief when I left the village that they would temporarily disperse and take refuge in the sea."
"We agreed on a time and place to meet."
Yun Yici nodded slightly. She could tell that the guards of Wangyou City who had just retreated had ulterior motives, but fortunately Xie Guanxuan had acted carefully.
"This is not the place to talk. You two should settle them in first."
Xie Guanxuan and Yingniang had no choice but to agree.
The group first arrived at the seaside and could see the firelight and bustling figures in the village from afar.
Under Yun Yici's protection, the clam maidens quietly slipped into the sea.
They were originally sea demon cultivators, and after they separated, even if the people of Forget-Worry City wanted to catch them, it would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
The sea breeze, carrying moisture and a fishy smell, brushed against the hair of Yun Yici and the other two.
Xie Guanxuan refused to leave, and Yingniang was unwilling to leave alone, so Yun Yici pulled the two of them back to the city lord's mansion using the Shrinking Earth Technique.
Xie Guanxuan and Yingniang had no time to react.
The two felt their vision shift and change, and when they finally stood still, they were no longer in the desolate night, but in a luxurious and extravagant room.
Before he could even be surprised, Xie Guanxuan had already seen the five people in the room, and he instinctively shielded his Daoist partner behind him.
Four exceptionally handsome men stood or sat, their expressions calm and composed, so Xie Guanxuan was not worried.
His concern was for the fifth person in the room—Xie Chunqiu.
Xie Guanxuan looked troubled: "This..."
Could this senior who saved them be one of the patriarchs of the five families?
It's unclear what their relationship is with Xie Chunqiu.
He was filled with unease, wondering what Yun Yici wanted to do by bringing the two of them here to see Xie Chunqiu.
In terms of ancestry, he and Xie Chunqiu share the same ancestor.
However, the Xie family has countless collateral branches.
The Xie family members who have branched out generation after generation.
Aside from having the surname Xie, one's life is as worthless as grass.
Unless one possesses exceptional cultivation, the family trial held once every ten years offers a glimmer of hope for advancement.
Otherwise, even if he were a commoner like him, and his family wanted to take his partner's life, he wouldn't be able to say a word.
Xie Guanxuan stared intently at Xie Chunqiu.
Rong Xuan raised a finger, and Xie Chunqiu suddenly knelt down on the ground with a "thump".
The troubled look on Xie Guanxuan's face instantly turned into horror.
"What did you do to him?"
Yun Yici: "They've been turned into puppets."
Yun Yici's casual remark instantly left Xie Guanxuan and the other man's minds blank.
Yingniang trembled slightly, and she stammered, "My lord... what is your background?"
"Why don't you come with us to the sea to... to avoid the storm?"
"The city lord's accident can't be kept secret from the Xie family for long."
Xie Guanxuan was not without resentment at his Daoist partner being captured, but even in his most heated moments, he only dared to break into the water prison to rescue her, rather than assassinate Xie Chunqiu.
Yun Yici: "This pawn is not a threat."
"I have invited you here because I have something to ask you."
Xie Guanxuan regained his senses from the shock and said solemnly, "Yes, benefactor, please ask."
"The conversations between you and me in this room will absolutely not be heard by anyone outside. If I leak the secret, may my cultivation never advance an inch for the rest of my life."
Yingniang also promised that she would never tell anyone what she heard.
Yun Yici did not doubt the two men's character.
She asked, "Do you know what the relationship is between the five major families now?"
Xie Guanxuan was taken aback, somewhat puzzled by Yun Yici's question, but he still answered honestly.
“A long time ago, the Xie family was the leader, and the other four families followed the Xie family’s lead.”
"However, later Xie family's direct descendants led four elite forces to a crushing defeat in the outer regions, and the five-family alliance fell apart."
"After that, the five families went their own way and divided the Three Realms into five regions."
There were disputes, both big and small, in the past, but there are few now.
"Because the direct descendants of the Xie family died in foreign lands, the Xie family lost its glory. Meanwhile, the Xue and Li families formed an alliance and gradually gained power. Later, the Gu family worried that their family's power was waning and they would have to submit to the Xue and Li families, so they took the initiative to win over the Xiao family."
The emperor and the others listened without interrupting.
Yun Yici: "So, in other words, the Xue family is now allied with the Li family, the Gu family with the Xiao family, and the Xie family is the only one left?"
Xie Guanxuan nodded. Anyone on the street would know this. What he was about to say was the important part.
"Because the current head of the Xie family, strictly speaking, cannot awaken the family's talent and is not considered a true direct descendant of the Xie family."
Therefore, the other four families secretly said that the Xie family was a false legitimate heir.
When it comes to his own family affairs, Xie Guanxuan is quite knowledgeable.
He still remembered his father always sighing when he was young, saying that no one in the Xie family had awakened their family talent and that he didn't know when the Xie family would be able to be restored.
He shared what he knew: "This is something only a few members of the Xie family know."
"In recent years, it has been either the East Wind prevailing over the West Wind or the West Wind prevailing over the East Wind. The four families are fighting each other in pairs, as if they have deliberately forgotten about the Xie family."
"Until this year, for some reason, the head of the Xie family wanted to arrange a marriage between his youngest son and a daughter of the Xue family."
Xie Guanxuan sighed: "That is the reason why Wangyou City wanted to capture Yingniang and the others to refine pearls."
"I suspect that the Xue and Li families want to win over the Xie family to deal with the other two families."
This speculation is reasonable, and Yun Yici also thinks so.
Unexpectedly, the five families were in a tense relationship, fighting tooth and nail, and could easily achieve their goals with the slightest provocation.
"Do you know how many ancestors of the Xie family are currently at the Mahayana stage or above?"
Xie Guanxuan frowned and pondered for a while before honestly saying, "I don't know."
“I am from a collateral branch of the Xie family. We separated from my father’s generation. Such confidential matters are not something we should know.”
"However, the Xie family's name is known to everyone in the Nine Desolations. The Xie family has been able to live in peace all these years thanks to his elder."
Yun Yici pondered for a moment: "Could it be half-step ascension?"
Xie Guanxuan shook his head: "I heard that when he ascended to immortality, he sensed that the direct bloodline of the Xie family was cut off, so he gave up the ascension."
"He is only a hair's breadth away from becoming an immortal."