Chapter 901: Killer – Xu Xiaoshou

"What does that mean?"

Wang Dachui and Teng Shanhai were both completely baffled.

The question stopped halfway. Judging by your expressions, it seems you all understood something? So, what was understood?

The two exchanged glances, seeing only confusion in each other's eyes. They snorted at each other, then simultaneously turned back to Rao Yaoyao.

Rao Yaoyao remained silent for a long time. After a deep sigh, she finally said, "Huan Yi, even if you prefer not to state the conclusion and want me to, the credit for this achievement after the battle will still be entirely yours!"

"Huan Yi wouldn't dare," Huan Yi replied.

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

Rao Yaoyao turned to face the only two 'idiots' remaining in the room, shaking her head as she raised a finger.

"First, Yi didn't use Sacred Blood to escape because even if he did, he wouldn't have been able to get away. In other words, if he had used Sacred Blood, his opponent would have immediately caught up, rendering the Sacred Blood useless. However, his opponent *did* possess Sacred Blood, indicating a powerful background. This is the first point!"

Wang Dachui and Teng Shanhai's hearts sank. They had initially thought that even if they couldn't win, they could at least consume Sacred Blood and escape, and surely they wouldn't be unable to flee, right? Now, it seems... they truly couldn't escape!

Rao Yaoyao raised her second finger: "Second, the third party wasn't the Eighth Sword Immortal, and might not even be a Grand Void cultivator. This is because if there had been even one more Grand Void capable of threatening Yi, or two or three, Yi's first choice, like yours, would have been to flee! But he didn't run. Why?"

"Why?" Wang Dachui blurted out instinctively. After asking, he immediately regretted it. "Damn it, why is everyone looking at me as if I'm an idiot?"

Teng Shanhai, having been preempted, managed to keep quiet in time. He wore a mocking expression, as if to say 'this child is beyond teaching,' and quietly awaited Rao Yaoyao's answer. He didn't understand either...

Rao Yaoyao sighed: "Because the one who came was a... weakling, just like Huan Yi!"

Everyone simultaneously looked at Huan Yi.

Huan Yi showed a pained expression, which made Wang Dachui want to mock him, but he found himself unable to say anything. He was already self-deprecating; why would you need to add more sarcasm?

"A weakling?"

Teng Shanhai waited for a moment, but Wang Dachui still hadn't come to his senses. He had no choice but to ask himself, "If it was a weakling, I could finish them with just a glance. Why would Yi need to run?"

Rao Yaoyao chuckled: "This is the third point: Why didn't Yi run?"

"Weaklings don't need to run in the first place! What's there for a weakling to run from? If I hit a weakling with my hammer, they'd turn into mud! What's the point of running?" Wang Dachui finally snapped back, asking irritably.

"But Yi died."

"Uh." Wang Dachui was instantly dumbfounded.

Rao Yaoyao said, "Yi was definitely not as foolish as you two. Even if it was a wolf in sheep's clothing, he would have been able to tell that the person who came might be weak, but absolutely not someone insignificant like Huan Yi. Furthermore, this person was so important that they had to die!"

"What do you mean?" Teng Shanhai couldn't wait any longer; he was genuinely a bit confused by Rao Yaoyao's explanations.

Rao Yaoyao explained, "Perhaps the opponent had obtained crucial intelligence, or their identity and background provided a compelling reason for Yi to kill them. Or perhaps, that person held something over Yi, forcing Yi to stay and confront them directly."

Teng Shanhai disagreed: "You just said Yi wasn't that foolish. If that were truly the case, his first choice would still have been to run, or to transmit the information to headquarters or to us, so we could send more personnel."

"The information couldn't be transmitted," Wang Dachui, unusually intelligent for once, added.

Rao Yaoyao nodded: "Not only could the information not be transmitted, Teng Shanhai, you also forgot a crucial point: the person who came was not a strong individual, but a weakling. However, they might have possessed knowledge of abilities unknown to Yi that could specifically target him."

Teng Shanhai frowned and remained silent.

Rao Yaoyao asked again, "What if the third party was a Throne cultivator, who didn't appear strong, and you either didn't know their full capabilities, or you knew, but felt the probability of your life being in danger was less than 100%, or even less than 70%? In such a situation, what would you do?"

Teng Shanhai fell into deep thought. Subjectively, given the previous discussions, he naturally wanted to answer 'run immediately.' But setting aside the confusing information, if it truly was as Rao Yaoyao suggested, that Yi was facing a situation he believed he could control, then perhaps his first choice wouldn't have been to run, but rather...

"Wait!"

Teng Shanhai stated, "Observe, wait for an opportunity, and secretly transmit information."

All the intelligence officers laughed, leaving Teng Shanhai somewhat bewildered.

Rao Yaoyao also smiled, but her expression quickly turned serious.

"Waiting is precisely the correct move."

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

"But the opponent came prepared, poised for action."

"What if they threw out bait step by step, making you believe you always had a chance to escape, while secretly having already cut off all all your escape routes?"

"In that case, if your first choice was to run, perhaps going all out and consuming Sacred Blood—even if it couldn't shatter the Cloud Realm world—would at least allow you to transmit even a shred of information."

"But if you wait..."

Rao Yaoyao paused for a long time, her expression dark, and said, "If I were Yi's opponent, I would choose to gradually wear down Yi's spiritual energy and techniques, using targeted spiritual artifacts and items specifically designed against Yi's treasures. Then, I would slowly consume him, step by step, from his body, soul, and even his will, completely devouring this person!"

Everyone shuddered inwardly.

Rao Yaoyao continued, "If Yi had chosen to escape at full strength, the opponent might not have been able to completely erase all traces, and would surely have exposed flaws. This is because even we don't know how many hidden cards Yi had secretly kept for his survival."

"But if he fell for the trap, and didn't choose to escape immediately, but instead, like you, waited for an opportunity..."

Rao Yaoyao stared directly at Teng Shanhai: "At your peak, if you disregarded the opponent's control, attacks, and blockades and simply charged through, you would surely break out of the situation. But if your spiritual energy was depleted by half, or if you were lightly or severely wounded by a sneak attack the moment you met them, would you still be confident you could escape in such a situation?"

Teng Shanhai felt a chill. Rao Yaoyao's speculation was perhaps too daring, and he couldn't answer immediately.

"How could Yi be so foolish as to not realize something was wrong from beginning to end, thus falling into the enemy's trap step by step?" Wang Dachui didn't believe it; this speculation seemed unreliable.

"You forgot, I said the third party, though weak in strength, had a very important identity. There was a reason Yi felt he *had* to capture them, or rather, even at some risk, he couldn't let go of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Rao Yaoyao said.

"Who could it be?" Wang Dachui blurted out again.

This time, everyone was silent; no one scoffed. Indeed. Who could it be? What a contradictory person it must be: weak in strength, yet possessing the ability to defeat a Grand Void, or rather, abilities that specifically target Yi, and whose identity and status are extremely important, while also possessing Sacred Blood.

"I've thought of someone..." Teng Shanhai suddenly blurted out.

"Put that thought aside," Rao Yaoyao knew what he was thinking, but it wasn't the time to draw a definitive conclusion. She looked at Wang Dachui: "What about your investigation results? You can speak now."

Everyone looked at him. Wang Dachui was responsible for investigating all combat traces at the scene of Yi's death. The power of the Storyteller's Yin-Yang Life-Death Scroll was what he had discovered.

With the task on him, Wang Dachui became excited and said, "The Storyteller was definitely at the scene. The traces of the Yin-Yang Life-Death Scroll's ancient book world power were not completely erased."

"Besides the Storyteller, you all said that Heavenly Secret Master was very strong, but I actually found very few traces of heavenly secrets at the scene; they were quite faint."

"They were erased!" Rao Yaoyao clarified. "But your first point is very strange. Logically, given that Heavenly Secret Master could erase so many traces, why would he only leave behind the power of the Yin-Yang Life-Death Scroll? It's not that he couldn't have done it..."

The intelligence officers might only know that Heavenly Secret Master is very powerful. As for *how* powerful, they only had a vague concept. However, Rao Yaoyao, through Situ Yongren, had largely confirmed that Heavenly Secret Master was none other than Ancestor Wuji of Void Island. Xuan Wuji was someone Dao Qiongcang himself had to personally apprehend back then. He couldn't erase the Storyteller's power? Were they traces left deliberately to frame someone? Or... was there another reason?

Huan Yi suddenly stepped forward and spoke: "Is there a possibility that Heavenly Secret Master was borrowing the power of the Cloud Realm world to manipulate heavenly secrets and fight against Yi? And the power of the Yin-Yang Life-Death Scroll appeared after the battle, at which point we had already reclaimed control of the Cloud Realm world, preventing Heavenly Secret Master from acting with full power. After all... don't forget, if the Cloud Realm world is in our hands, any power exceeding that of a Throne cultivator in the Cloud Lun Mountains will be detected."

Upon hearing this, Rao Yaoyao felt a sudden enlightenment: "That possibility cannot be ruled out."

"No way!" another intelligence officer beside them interjected, so anxious they seemed to forget about offending anyone. "If the Storyteller arrived late, who was Yi fighting previously? Who could force him to that extent? We've already reached the conclusion that the third party wasn't strong, only possessing abilities that could specifically target Yi at critical moments."

Rao Yaoyao immediately felt a headache coming on. What he said indeed made sense.

Huan Yi, clearly not agreeing with his own speculation either, said, "Then I must have been overly suspicious. But if this possibility doesn't hold true, then someone clearly intended to frame the Storyteller, right? After all, the Storyteller wouldn't be unable to erase his own power traces; surely he wouldn't just forget... Oh, now that I mention it, my first speculation earlier might actually be valid? All of this wasn't the Storyteller's doing? Was he truly innocent?"

Everyone felt it was utterly absurd. Who didn't know your first speculation was inherently false? It was utterly preposterous! He kept pushing, and somehow made it valid for himself?

However... as the saying goes, 'the speaker has no intention, but the listener takes it to heart.'

Yet Rao Yaoyao's eyes suddenly lit up, as if fragmented information long buried in the depths of her memory had been unearthed. She probed, "What if someone arrived holding the Storyteller's Yin-Yang Life-Death Scroll?"

Click! All the intelligence officers were instantly petrified. This speculation... It was a bit terrifying! But it seemed to be closer to the actual situation? After all, at the time of Yi's death, the Storyteller should have been in Sky City, alongside the Eighth Sword Immortal, right?

"Very possible, very possible..." Huan Yi tapped his hands together, his face filled with awe. He would occasionally lower his head in thought, then look up to glance at Rao Yaoyao, clearly quite startled by this speculation. "If you think of it that way, then my previous deduction might actually be valid."

"Someone else was holding the Yin-Yang Life-Death Scroll, and that person arrived later, trapping everyone inside the ancient book world?"

"Heavenly Secret Master also entered, unable to interfere with the heavenly secrets of the outside world. By the time he emerged, control of the Cloud Realm world had returned to our hands."

"So, he didn't erase all the traces?"

Wang Dachui and Teng Shanhai were both dumbfounded. They couldn't follow the group's train of thought. But seeing the leading figures looking so insightful...

"Did I say something crucial?" Wang Dachui scratched his ears and cheeks, growing self-doubtful.

Rao Yaoyao pondered. Huan Yi's speculation was exaggerated, sounding as if it were true, but in the process, it directly negated all previously reached conclusions. If the person holding the Yin-Yang Life-Death Scroll arrived later, then this clearly wasn't a trap. If it wasn't a trap, how could Yi have died in just fifteen minutes? A coincidence?

Rao Yaoyao didn't believe in coincidences. She also didn't believe that Yi, facing an Ancestor Wuji whose rhythm was disrupted, and another person who was weak but possessed specific targeted abilities, would be unable to defeat them. Moreover, if there was a weak person at the scene specifically targeting Yi's abilities, then this was clearly a setup, a grand scheme specifically designed to kill Yi! Yi, the Head of the Alien Department, was renowned for his countless transformations. Without prior preparation, who could target him so precisely as to ensure his demise?

Thus, a paradox formed. It wasn't a trap, yet it was a trap. Aside from coincidence, there was no other explanation. However, the only remaining explanation of coincidence was that after Yi finished interrogating Mu Xiaogong, he encountered a group of Grand Void and Throne-level youngsters wandering hand-in-hand, and each of their abilities happened to target Yi, and the two sides coincidentally had a feud?

Rao Yaoyao nearly spat blood. This was too foolish! If she dared to compile a report like this on Yi's death, and submit it to the Sacred Divine Hall headquarters, there would be no need for the headquarters to send someone down to deal with her; the Night Owl would personally step forward and carry out assassination missions day and night, targeting her specifically.

Who would believe that...?

"Summarize!" Rao Yaoyao waved her hand, discarding the jumbled thoughts in her mind. There wasn't much time left. She needed to make the first wave of decisions so that her subordinates could proceed with the second operation. If they kept getting stuck at this first stage, her subordinates would only waste a lot of standby time. Besides, case deductions aren't completed in one go. They require continuous searching for clues, exploring details, constant negation, and continuous innovation to finally find the ultimate answer. With this brainstorming session, at the very least, the current situation was no longer shrouded in fog, but instead had clues sufficient to support a second operation.

Upon hearing this, Huan Yi was the first to step forward. "Integrating all the information above, my conclusion is... there were three or more individuals present at the scene of Yi's death."

"We will continue to discuss scenarios with more than three individuals later. For now, we will focus on the scenario with only three."

"Among the three, Heavenly Secret Master was held back by Yu Zhiwen, and the main combatant against Yi was the Storyteller. The Sacred Slaves have already declared war on our Sacred Divine Hall, so the Storyteller deliberately leaving traces of the Yin-Yang Life-Death Scroll can be understood as a provocation."

"As for the third individual, although they only had supplementary combat abilities, their identity and status are very high, they possess Sacred Blood, and their strength is temporarily judged as weak, yet they still have means to target Yi..."

"Across the entire continent, only a handful of such individuals can be found."

"But in Eastern Heavenly King City, there truly is such a person."

Huan Yi paused, then looked back at Teng Shanhai: "I presume, Senior, you also have an answer?"

Teng Shanhai hadn't expected the conversation to turn to him. "I know this one!" He immediately puffed out his chest, cleared his throat with a couple of coughs, and was about to speak: "Xu—"

"Xu Xiaoshou!" Wang Dachui leaped up to blurt out the answer: "Sacred Slave, Xu Xiaoshou!"

Teng Shanhai's face instantly turned as dark as ink, almost dripping with it...

Huan Yi's face was filled with awkwardness. He was trying to be tactful and observant, having seen Teng Shanhai's discomfort after Rao Yaoyao stopped him earlier, which was why he provided this opening. His original intention was to let the Head of the War Department state his correct deduction from earlier. Now, however, because Wang Dachui had stolen the limelight, he felt extremely awkward, as if he himself had started the conflict. This... A miscalculation!

Fortunately, Rao Yaoyao also knew how to handle people. She merely glanced at the smug Wang Dachui, who was still provoking Teng Shanhai, and then withdrew her gaze.

"What about the murder weapon?" Turning her gaze to Teng Shanhai, Rao Yaoyao asked again, "And what is your conclusion?"

This time, Teng Shanhai didn't pause for long, his speaking speed much faster: "Looking across the entire continent, capable of fighting a Grand Void at the Throne level or even below, besides Yu Lingdi, I can only think of one person: Xu Xiaoshou. As it happens, his Four Swords can precisely target Yi!"

Rao Yaoyao looked back at the others: "Is there anything else to add?"

"No..."

"No..."

Everyone shook their heads simultaneously.

Rao Yaoyao nodded slightly, then suddenly lifted the joyfully fidgeting Wang Dachui onto her hand. "Your mission has arrived. Control of the Cloud Lun Mountains is currently in our hands. The Sacred Slave group of infiltrators surely haven't gone far from here. Find them, or at least, find Xu Xiaoshou!"

"Find people?" Wang Dachui was dumbfounded. He was good at fighting, but telling him to find people? What kind of ridiculous mission was this?

"Of course, you can't find people, but he can." Rao Yaoyao gestured.

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

"Can you be obedient?" Rao Yaoyao asked coldly, holding Wang Dachui.

Wang Dachui wasn't foolish. Among those who could become Grand Void cultivators, who was truly foolish? It was just that, comparatively, these intelligence operatives were more cunning. Wang Dachui finally understood the fundamental reason why Rao Yaoyao and her group of smart people would gather to talk, yet still make him and Teng Shanhai listen in. Huan Yi... This fellow truly was a rare talent!

"Yes," Wang Dachui said definitively, his eyes rolling, then pointed at Teng Shanhai and said to Huan Yi, "If you call him Xu Xiaoshou, I'll help you take him out. Is that obedient enough?"