Pursuit of the Truth
chapter-149

"Tribe leader, it’s him! Take revenge for me!"

The moment the man in red robes let out his final sentence, he fell to the ground dead, unable to hold on any longer. His corpse quickly withered and turned into ashes that were swept away by the wind blowing around the altar.

"I will take revenge for you."

Yan Luan looked at Su Ming’s figure formed from the man’s blood floating in the air and nodded her head.

Han Fei Zi frowned as she focused her gaze on the person. There was something familiar about him, but she could not tell where that feeling came from.

"Tribe leader, let me handle this person. He killed my people, I will bring him here," Han Fei Zi said softly with her usual cold voice.

"Alright, but you will only have two days. Don’t be late."

The married woman smiled faintly and tucked away her hair that were being blown by the wind as she spoke softly.

Her actions held an indescribable allure, causing the tall man beside Han Fei Zi to stare at her, but he quickly lowered his head, not daring to look at her any longer.

"Yan Guang, go with her. If this new guest in Tranquil East can instantly kill Lin Dong, then it means he must have some power."

Yan Luan turned her back and looked at the man who had his head lowered. She lifted her right hand and caressed his face.

A shiver ran through Yan Guang’s body, and he quickly stood up, obeying.

"Go. The man of blood will guide you to him."

Su Ming looked at the sandstorm and the blurred out gigantic building in the distance. He might not be able to see the building clearly, only its faint contours, but he could feel a strong pressure coming from within the sandstorm.

He lifted his right hand and tapped at the area above his heart. Immediately, his flesh and body began trembling and a dim mist was forced out of his body. It turned into a small person the size of his palm. It was He Feng.

"You don’t know?"

Su Ming averted his eyes from the sandstorm and looked at He Feng. His eyes were not bright, but when his gaze fell on He Feng, it made the little person’s heart tremble.

He knew that he had been too anxious and in turn had caused Su Ming to be suspicious. He also no longer looked down on Su Ming after the things that had happened to him. At the same time he grew to respect him, having a feeling that he was seen through as the other’s intelligence grew.

"I really don’t…" He Feng started to answer cautiously, but he only managed to utter half of his sentence. Under Su Ming’s calm gaze, he found that he could not continue with his sentence.

"The goal of Lake of Colors Tribe might perhaps be the legacy left behind by your ancestor from Han Mountain Tribe, but… they’re aiming to dissolve the brand of the slave tribes. Puqiang Tribe and Tranquil East Tribe have opened the tunnel of the canyons over the centuries without any care of consequences for this as well.

"I can understand if the others don’t know about this, but if you don’t…"

Su Ming smiled, but in He Feng’s eyes that smile was cold.

"Master… you have great vision and intelligence! These were just my guesses. About that… because I wasn’t sure, that’s why I didn’t say it."

He Feng licked his lips. Understanding and respect appeared on his face as he looked at Su Ming and quickly spoke.

Su Ming looked at He Feng. He had never seen He Feng speaking this way and putting on this sort of expression before.

He Feng blinked nervously under Su Ming’s gaze. He was just about to speak.

"I know what you’re hiding," Su Ming suddenly said, and his words made He Feng’s heart tremble.

Su Ming averted his gaze from He Feng’s body. He looked at the sand plains surrounded by the valleys in the distance and at the building that was shrouded by the sandstorm that connected the heaven and earth. He could not hear the sounds from the sandstorm from where he stood, but he could feel the shocking power coming from within it.

"I’m not hiding anything from you, please don’t be suspicious of me. This is… I’m really not hiding anything from you. I’ve already told you everything that I could. My life is also in your hands, I wouldn’t dare hide anything from you.

"Besides, Master, you’re intelligent and powerful, you can see through my thoughts with just one glance, I wouldn’t dare…"

He Feng immediately laughed bitterly, but he was laughing coldly in his heart, thinking that he had seen everything in his years. There was no way he would fall for Mo Su’s lie.

"Han Mountain’s ancestor is not dead," Mo Su mumbled while looking at the building in the sandstorm.

He Feng’s heart trembled violently. He wanted to originally hide this fact, but Su Ming’s words were like a bolt of lightning striking down on him, causing everything that he had been hiding to completely crumble, revealing the true secret that he had been hiding within his heart.

This secret was his everything. It was his most important secret, and Su Ming had just mumbled it out. More importantly, Su Ming did not speak as if he was asking a question, he did not even ask He Feng, he was simply talking to himself.

"Mas… Master, are you joking… How… How could this be?"

He Feng took a deep breath. His expression might have changed drastically, but this was not proof of his guilt. He could use disbelief to cover for himself.

"How could the ancestor not have died? If the ancestor hasn’t died, then how would the three tribes dare to rebel? If the ancestor hasn’t died, then the three tribes would be in a state of fear and wouldn’t dare to stay in Han Mountain City…"

Disbelief filled He Feng’s face. When he saw that Su Ming was not paying any attention to him and had his eyes fixed on the building within the sandstorm in the distance, he knew that Su Ming knew that place was the tomb of the ancestor.

"I got it. Master, you must be thinking that the three tribes are still slave tribes and are still affected by the limits set on them, that’s why you think the ancestor hasn’t died. If that’s the case, you’re wrong. I know from the ancient scrolls that the ancestor took the blood from the three tribes and gathered it on the three stone altars in the past. If the stone altars aren’t shattered, then the three tribes will forever remain as slaves.

"The three altars are connected to the ancestor. If the ancestor hasn’t died, then with just one thought, he could cause the destruction of all the blood descendants of the three tribes. How could they still be around is that was the case?"

A baffled look appeared on He Feng’s face and he quickly explained, though with a certain hesitation, as if he was making his explanations while thinking at the same time. He did not reject Su Ming’s words immediately, but through his words, he was hinting that he was thinking and analyzing the possibility of whether this could be true.

"He Feng, I can feel his presence," Su Ming said slowly, eyes closed.

He did not lie to He Feng. As he stood there and looked towards the building in the sandstorm, he could feel a thick spiritual aura coming from inside it.

He would not have been able to sense that spiritual aura before the path of blood in his body was formed, but right now, he could sense it clearly. The small virescent sword in his body was also acting slightly differently.

The spiritual aura flowed out powerfully, and it was filled with endless signs of life. This was definitely not a tomb!

His words made He Feng’s heart tremble once again, and the latter fell silent.

"Just how long are you going to hide it from me!"

Su Ming opened his eyes and within them was indifference and killing intent. He stared at He Feng floating before him and closed in on him with a step.

He Feng trembled and was just about to retreat when a virescent light flashed and the small sword flew out of the center of Su Ming’s brows. It circled around He Feng once, which not only prevented him from retreating, but also stopped him from moving in any direction as it froze with its tip pointing at his forehead.

Cold air blasted out from the sword and threw He Feng’s mind into a state of chaos. Under the fear caused by the might of the sword, he slowly began to laugh bitterly.

"Master, you have great vision. I was too anxious, and I gave my game away… Indeed, the ancestor is not dead."

He Feng’s expression was complicated as he spoke bitterly in a low voice.

"This is the greatest secret of Han Mountain Tribe. An accident happened to my ancestor when he was training, hence he built this tomb and isolated himself inside… He once said that if he could egress within 100 years, then it meant that he reached a breakthrough, but if he did not, then we, his descendents, were not allowed to bother him.

"As time passed by, rumors that the ancestor died gradually spread. Once the three tribes prodded this a few times, they suppressed the limit of the slave tribes placed on them with the help of outsiders and took over Han Mountain Tribe.

"Yet even then they could not tell whether the ancestor had died. Over the centuries, they’ve opened the tunnel to the canyons multiple times to indeed get rid of the brand of the slave tribes, but they also wanted to check whether the ancestor was truly dead…

"I’ve been investigating in secret behind the three tribes’ back, and I found traces of Freezing Sky Clan helping them. I believe that Freezing Sky Clan helped during the rebellion in the past as well. Since the three tribes are controlled by three different factions in Freezing Sky Clan, it’s only natural that they’re hostile to each other.

"This time, Lake of Colors Tribe has mastered the Relocation Art, and their ambition grew. If they could open the ancestor’s isolation grounds… It would be fine if the ancestor had truly died, but if he had not…"

When He Feng spoke to this point, his expression fell and he paused.

"If Han Mountain’s ancestor hasn’t died, then with Lake of Colors Tribe’s actions this time, the power in Freezing Sky Clan behind would definitely also learn about it. And if that’s the case, then they will appear and kill Han Mountain’s ancestor," Su Ming stated languidly.

He Feng silently agreed to his words. After a moment of hesitation, he looked at Su Ming as if he made his decision and spoke in a low tone.

"Master, I have a method with which you can enter the ancestor’s isolation grounds without needing to break the seals. If you can go in earlier, perhaps you can gain more benefits than Lake of Colors Tribe."

Su Ming’s gaze landed on He Feng. He did not speak.

"Fang Mu’s aunt, Fang Cang Lan, is a disciple of Freezing Sky Clan. If she can return at this moment to Tranquil East Tribe… then the power behind Han Fei Zi and Lake of Colors Tribe can also send people here…"

"No wonder Han Fei Zi asked to defer even though she could already enter Freezing Sky Clan. It’s highly likely that it’s related to this place."

A pensive look appeared in Su Ming’s eyes. He looked at the obscure building in the plains surrounded by the numerous valleys. He took one move, but he did not move towards the plains in the distance, but rather to his left instead.

"A change will definitely happen in this place. If I go to the isolation grounds of Han Mountain’s ancestor too early, it’ll cause a lot of trouble… Even if Han Mountain’s ancestor really hasn’t died, the subsequent moves that will be taken by Lake of Colors Tribe against me for entering the place will be difficult to handle enough by themselves, and that’s not accounting for the troublesome fact that I’ll have to explain that I didn’t enslave the three tribes.

"It’s better if I search for Sky Flute Branch first and gather all the herbs necessary to create Spirit Plunder before making my decision."

Su Ming fell silent and spread out the brand to an area of 2,000 feet, then disappeared into the mountain range.

Time passed by. An hour later, a white cloud appeared within the fog in the sky, whistling past.

Han Fei Zi had her face covered with the veil, but her eyes held an air of elegance and lightness. Behind her was the tall man called Yan Guang. Before them was a person of blood, their guide.

Han Fei Zi lifted her hand and pointed at the person of blood with her eyes closed. After a moment, she opened her eyes and spoke coolly.

"This person stopped here an hour ago…"