Chapter 177: Just in Time

“Sorry, Yunlian. This senior brother was being presumptuous.”

Chen Yuyang apologized sincerely.

Yunlian waved her hand gently.

“I never mentioned it, so Senior Brother couldn’t have known.”

Chen Yuyang nodded slightly, then after a moment’s silence, couldn’t help asking further, “Junior Martial Sister, have you already taken revenge for this grudge?”

Yunlian slowly lowered her head.

A few strands of hair fell across her cheeks, hiding her expression, but he could clearly hear her bitter sigh.

Yunlian shook her head.

Chen Yuyang raised an eyebrow, his gaze growing more concerned.

“Then, Junior Martial Sister, do you know the identity of the enemy?”

Yunlian’s lips moved; she nearly blurted out the words “Alchemy Sect.”

But she forced the words back down just before they left her mouth.

She still wasn’t one hundred percent sure that the Alchemy Sect had been responsible for what happened back then.

If she told her Senior Brother and he became hostile toward the Alchemy Sect, it might cause trouble.

So Yunlian shook her head again and replied, “I was only three years old then. I can’t remember many things clearly.”

Chen Yuyang nodded, lowered his head in thought, and kept walking beside Yunlian as she continued ahead.

Suddenly, Chen Yuyang looked up and asked, “Would you like this senior brother to help you look into it?”

Yunlian’s steps abruptly halted.

Her body froze, then she quickly turned around, her face showing undisguised astonishment, her eyes shimmering with disbelief.

“Senior Brother, you… you have a way?”

Chen Yuyang first nodded, then shook his head.

“Before that, let me ask: Yunlian, how many people are in your family?”

“Seventy or eighty.”

Yunlian replied, “My father was a merchant. Our family was fairly wealthy.”

Chen Yuyang nodded, then continued, “Even though it happened over a decade ago, a massacre of an entire family is an extremely unusual major case. Especially since it occurred in a large city like Heng City, and with so many people, it must have stirred up some trouble back then.”

He paused, gazing toward the countless cultivators gathered in the square ahead and the banner of the Xuan Family standing there, then added, “Not to mention anything else, even the Xuan Family of Heng City probably investigated at the time. Even if we don’t know what they found, surely some case files or records remain.”

“Why is Senior Brother so certain?”

Yunlian’s eyes were full of surprise.

She had never thought of approaching the matter from this angle.

“As a major local clan, if they didn’t even investigate a massacre like this, the Xuan Family would have wasted their ten thousand years of history.”

Chen Yuyang spoke with certainty, then shifted his tone.

“However, there is one possibility where no records would be left.”

“What possibility?”

Yunlian’s heart tightened as she pressed urgently.

Chen Yuyang looked at the girl, his gaze sharpening slightly, and said slowly, “That possibility, naturally, is that the massacre was carried out by the Xuan Family themselves or someone connected to them.”

Yunlian understood, then gently shook her head.

“That probably isn’t the case. My family had some business dealings with the Xuan Family over the years. We weren’t close, but there was no deep hatred either. The Xuan Family would have no reason to wipe out my entire family for no cause.”

Chen Yuyang nodded, finding Yunlian’s reasoning sound.

“In that case, we can try to approach it through the Xuan Family. If we can obtain the relevant case files and documents, we might uncover some clues.”

“But the Xuan Family…” Yunlian looked troubled.

“They wouldn’t let outsiders like us casually view such records.”

“Indeed, they wouldn’t.”

Chen Yuyang admitted, but his gaze suddenly turned toward the front.

“However…”

He paused and pointed toward the square ahead, where a large number of cultivators had gathered.

In the center of the square stood several black banners bearing the Xuan Family’s emblem.

“Is the Xuan Family holding some kind of event?”

The two drew closer, pushed through the crowded throng, and saw a huge bulletin board in the center of the square with a massive notice affixed to it.

The text was lengthy, but the gist was one thing.

The Xuan Family’s secret realm was about to open, and they were now recruiting talented heroes from across the land, with fifty slots available.

Anyone under thirty years old and above the Foundation Establishment stage could register.

After multiple rounds of elimination matches, the final selected participants would have the opportunity to enter the Xuan Family’s secret realm for training.

After reading it, Yunlian couldn’t help but feel surprised and murmured softly, “Oh? If the Xuan Family’s secret realm is opening, why open slots to outsiders?”

Chen Yuyang smiled slightly and explained, “This is naturally to recruit talent into the Xuan Family.”

“Think about it: as an outsider, if you gain benefits in the Xuan Family’s secret realm and break through your cultivation level, you’ll naturally feel indebted to the Xuan Family.”

“Then, when the Xuan Family sends someone to recruit you, would you have the face to refuse?”

“Besides, joining the Xuan Family is itself a very tempting prospect for these rogue cultivators.”

Only then did Yunlian fully understand and nod repeatedly.

Just as she was about to say something else, she saw Chen Yuyang head straight toward the registration point, pushing through the crowd.

“Senior Brother! What are you doing?”

Yunlian quickly grabbed the young man’s sleeve and asked in confusion.

“Registering,” Chen Yuyang replied with a smile over his shoulder.

“Registering for what? Are you going to join the Xuan Family?”

Yunlian grew even more puzzled.

“Of course not.”

Chen Yuyang patiently continued to explain.

“I have no interest in joining the Xuan Family. But if I perform well in the secret realm and get a good rank, I’ll likely be able to meet high-level figures like the head of the Xuan Family.”

“Then, in front of everyone, I can bring up your matter, Junior Martial Sister. They’ll have a hard time refusing.”

Yunlian watched Chen Yuyang’s back, understanding dawning on her, and a wave of warmth surged in her heart.

‘So Senior Brother is going through all this trouble for my sake.’

Biting her lower lip, Yunlian felt her eyes grow hot.

But what she didn’t know was that Chen Yuyang had another, deeper purpose for registering: to look for traces of the Hidden Sect.

Rather than searching aimlessly through the vast Heng City for the Hidden Sect, a better method was to make a big splash, attract enough attention, and let the Hidden Sect, lurking in the shadows, notice his existence, start watching him, and investigating him.

If a Hidden Sect disciple dared to secretly observe him, Chen Yuyang was confident he could detect their presence immediately with his perception, which far exceeded that of cultivators at the same level.

After all, hadn’t he himself discovered the Hidden Sect’s existence back then by noticing someone secretly watching him and following the trail?

Originally, he had been worried about how to make a splash in Heng City.

Now, this opportunity with the Xuan Family’s secret realm opening was right in front of him.

As for any rare treasures or cultivation techniques he might gain from training in the secret realm, Chen Yuyang couldn’t care less about them.

“Then I’ll register too.”

Yunlian quickly followed, squeezing into the crowd.

“Two people, more chances. Besides, my strength isn’t bad among the younger generation, right?”

The two registered quickly.

The Xuan Family disciple in charge of registration noted their names and handed each of them a wooden token with a number.

These tokens were their proof of registration.

With these tokens and numbers, they would participate in the first round of elimination matches three days before the Xuan Family’s secret realm opened.

And so, the matter of participating in the elimination matches was settled for now.

After registering and leaving the crowd, Chen Yuyang turned to look at Yunlian and asked, “Junior Martial Sister, where is the former site of your family home? Could we go take a look? Perhaps we might find some clues.”

Yunlian nodded gently, though her voice trembled slightly.

“It’s been over ten years… I’m afraid… well, let’s go have a look first.”

The girl led Chen Yuyang, not flying, but walking eastward through the city.

Looking at the still-familiar streetscape, Yunlian felt her heart pounding harder and harder, her steps growing somewhat heavier.

After a short while, Yunlian stopped and gazed at the imposing, unfamiliar mansion before her.

Though she had been prepared, seeing this scene where everything had changed still made the girl’s body tremble involuntarily.

But then, a hand rested calmly on her shoulder, giving her a measure of comfort.

“This is no longer my family’s home. The residence has been completely renovated and rebuilt. The foundation is even much higher than it was back then,” Yunlian said to Chen Yuyang.

Hearing this, Chen Yuyang couldn’t help but shake his head, thinking regretfully to himself.

‘Originally, I thought that if the old Yun residence still stood, using some secret techniques I know, I might be able to reconstruct some of the scenes from back then to look for clues.’

‘But now, the old house seems to have been completely razed, the foundation possibly even dug up and rebuilt with new structures. No matter how many methods I have, I can’t do anything.’

“Junior Martial Sister, in that case, let’s find an inn to rest. We have the elimination matches in three days. Don’t let the past affect your state of mind and hinder us from finding out the truth.”

Chen Yuyang’s tone was calm, gentle, and consistently rational.

Yunlian slowly nodded, still silent, but the disappointment on her face did not diminish.

Seeing her like this, Chen Yuyang sighed inwardly, then said solemnly, “Junior Martial Sister, rest assured. Your matter is my matter.”

“No matter who wiped out your Yun family, I, Chen Yuyang, will do my best to help you settle that debt.”

‘After all, it’s my Junior Martial Sister’s blood grudge. If I didn’t know, that would be one thing. But since I do know, there’s no reason to stand by and do nothing.’

‘This is not just out of fellow-disciple affection, but also a kind of karma—karma that needs to be resolved in this life.’

Hearing these words, Yunlian felt another wave of warmth in her heart.

‘Clearly, this isn’t Senior Brother’s problem.’

‘Clearly, Senior Brother could have just apologized and then washed his hands of it, but he still did all this for me…’

‘Even though there are no clues right now.’

‘Even though he doesn’t yet know how powerful the enemy he’ll face in the future might be.’

‘But he still promised me without any hesitation or delay.’

Thinking this, Yunlian couldn’t help but feel a flutter in her heart.

She leaned sideways, gently resting her head on Chen Yuyang’s shoulder.

Her voice was a little choked, not from sadness, but from genuine emotion: “Senior Brother… you’re so wonderful.”