Chapter 364: This Is Fate
He hadn't expected someone to appear at the door. "Y-You... who are you!"
Xiao Ye stepped inside.
His men had already completely surrounded the place.
A jammer had been placed nearby, ensuring they couldn't contact the outside world.
Xiao Ye didn't even look at the man, his gaze fixed on the old man.
"For a member of the Taoist School to commit such an act condemned by the heavens... you're about to die."
The old man coughed twice. He knew he was going to die, of course. After all, something like the national fate was not to be trifled with.
"It seems you're the one who foiled my plans. I thought if I got word ahead of time and retrieved the item, I could have avoided this."
"I never thought... I'd still be discovered!"
The old man opened the rosewood box in his hands.
What lay inside was not the Human-faced Lotus at all, but a perfectly ordinary piece of wood.
As he opened his mouth, fresh blood gushed out. "This... is fate!"
Xiao Ye walked up to him. "That's right, fate. Did you think the national fate was something you could so easily meddle with?"
"Earlier, on Cyan Dragon Mountain, I saw the symbol of Jin Que, but I didn't find it in other places."
"Since Jin Que isn't in Da'anling, and you're the one in charge here, it means there must be someone like you in the other locations, right?"
The old man looked as if all his strength had drained away, his body slumping to one side.
The two young attendants supporting him didn't speak; there wasn't even a flicker of emotion in their eyes.
They had all been brainwashed and had no idea how to be real people.
Their pale complexions suggested they had likely never even seen the sun.
Xiao Ye looked at the old man. "Tell me who's in the other locations. And who ordered you to do this."
The old man's eyes, already murky, turned crimson. In the end, two lines of bloody tears streamed down his face.
"I... can't say! Destiny has intervened! We've failed!"
With that, he breathed his last.
Xiao Ye had seen long ago that the man was living on borrowed time. Considering the backlash he was suffering, it was a miracle he could even say those few words.
Any other Daoist would have likely dropped dead on the spot.
'But what was this "destiny" he spoke of?'
Xiao Ye called in his subordinates to conduct a blanket search of the area and then interrogated the man who had come to retrieve the box.
The man held a higher position in the Tianzhu Association and knew more of their secrets.
His knowledge, however, was limited to the old man's existence and his activities.
He had chosen to work for the Tianzhu Association for the money.
By the time the interrogation was over, it was already early the next morning.
Xiao Ye was weary, having not slept all night.
Suddenly, the phone rang.
He answered the call. It was General He's voice. "I've found something on the Human-faced Lotus you asked me to investigate."
"The Human-faced Lotus has only surfaced once before, fifty years ago, in the possession of the Mo Family."
"They made their fortune in the antiques trade, but the entire Mo Family was massacred overnight. The killer was never found!"
It was one of the most brutal unsolved murder cases on record.
General He's voice dropped. "My father was a police officer at the time and happened to be assigned to the case."
"The Mo Family's assets were completely looted, especially the antiques—not a single piece was left. My father suspected it was a robbery born of greed."
'But Xiao Ye thought otherwise. If it was just about greed, the robbers could have chosen a time when the Mo Family was away or when fewer people were home.'
'Why wipe out the entire family?'
'And to stab them all to death, one by one... This wasn't just robbery; this was slaughter, the kind that ensures no one is left alive!'
A theory formed in Xiao Ye's mind. "General He, could you do me a favor and check if any other antique dealers were murdered around the time of the Mo Family incident?"
"In fact, it'd be best if you checked on all murdered antique dealers from that time until the present day."
"Alright," General He agreed without hesitation. "Oh, right. Jin Mingzhu reported in about the Tianzhu Association."
"This Tianzhu Association operates in the open, so they're easy to investigate."
Xiao Ye thought so too. "They may be in the open, but that doesn't mean they can't put up a fight."
"The Cyan Dragon Warriors are just about finished with their business. I'll have them take down the Tianzhu Association next!"
In the short one or two months since Xiao Ye had discovered the first Angel Association stronghold—the cave on the Ouyang Family's mountain—all four of the association's strongholds had been destroyed.
And now, not even the Tianzhu Association was being spared!
「Three days later.」
The Tianzhu Association became public enemy number one. What was once an obscure little church that no one paid any mind to was now branded an evil cult!
Not only were its strongholds dismantled, but anyone connected to the Tianzhu Association was rooted out and taken away.
Dragon Country's strike was swift and decisive!
Leaving them with no chance to escape!
「Country A.」
Within an impossibly luxurious palace.
CRASH!
An expensive glazed chalice was violently smashed against the floor, shattering into pieces.
"Damn it! That damned Xiao Ye!" the masked man cursed relentlessly. "He must die!"
"Father," a young man said in a clear voice, "I know you're furious, but the most important thing right now is figuring out how to deal with Xiao Ye."
"Anger won't solve anything, and we're running out of time."
The masked man finally calmed down. Although half of his face was covered by the mask, a terrifying scar could still be seen winding out from underneath.
"We spent decades getting the Angel Association into Dragon Country, helping it grow and establish a foothold."
"And then that damned Xiao Ye!" The masked man slammed his hand on the table. "He ended up destroying most of it!"
This was the culmination of decades of our life's blood, passed down from the previous generation.
And now, with Xiao Ye's appearance, it's all been ruined!
The remaining strongholds and personnel were nothing compared to what we had before!
Even the Ouyang Family, now embroiled in internal conflict, was unable to provide any help.
"Father," the young man said again, "I know you're heartbroken. It's not just you; every member of the Angel Association feels the same."
"Dragon Country is vast and rich in resources. If we could seize complete control of it, we would become the undisputed masters of the world!"
'That's right. As long as they controlled Dragon Country, they would be the masters of the world!'
Because Dragon Country's power on the international stage today was far beyond what it once was.
"But now Xiao Ye has appeared. Do you remember the prophecy?"
The masked man fell silent. Of course he remembered.
The previous generation of his family, when they first infiltrated Dragon Country, had gone to great lengths to finally bribe several masters.
After those masters learned of his plans, they performed a divination together and came up with a prophecy.
According to the prophecy, they were destined to succeed.
But the prophecy also mentioned a variable. If this variable were to appear, they would fail.
The young man continued, "I suspect Xiao Ye is that variable. Before he appeared, all our operations in Dragon Country went smoothly."