"It looks like this Yun Yang is treating me sincerely. I guess this chap is not that bad after all."
Lei Dongtian pondered about this a bit more before saying, "There’s no doubt about it. Everything points towards a phony Supreme Wind – he’s a piece for the Four Seasons Tower’s chess game!"
Old Mu was stumped at the sudden statement. How did his master come to such an abrupt conclusion?
Lei Dongtian continued his explanation, "From that inference, it can be said that the Four Seasons Tower intends to focus their attack on me!"
Despite the ominous words, there was a chilling glint in his gaze.
Old Mu was growing increasingly confused.
Where were these ideas coming from? How did it suddenly become a personal issue for you?
"The question is why is the Four Seasons Tower targeting me? Since they’ve done so, there must be a reason but what could that possibly be?"
Lei Dongtian thought hard and said, "Is it possible that knowledge of my trip here has fallen into the hands of some dastardly party? Someone who doesn’t want me to cultivate the Seven Emotions Praxis? Perhaps that person is using the Four Seasons Tower to stop me, just like how I’ve tempted the Ji and Yue Family?"
"If it were the other families who wanted to point their crosshairs at me, they would leave their tracks, no matter who they've sent. After all, the Bound of Universe’s cultivation methods is clearly distinct from that of the Tianxuan Continent’s. As such, they can only use this current location’s combat power."
"The Four Seasons Tower is without a doubt the strongest force in these parts. Yes, it all makes sense now."
Lei Dongtian murmured to himself as he slowly went over the matter. Since he was already biased, his mind led him to put all the blame on the Four Seasons Tower.
Old Mu was still stupefied!
Bewildered, he was puzzled as to how his young master could be so sure in his conviction against the Four Seasons Tower. He said stoically, "Young lord, should we not test this theory further?"
Lei Dongtian replied confidently, "There is no need. I understand everything now! One is able to know the whole picture just by looking from a corner; besides, we have so much evidence. Why is there a need for further verification?"
So much evidence?
Old Mu felt his mind spinning, trying to put it all together. Could it be like what his young master said – his mind was as dense as a log?
Lei Dongtian glanced at Old Mu like he knew what the latter was thinking. It spurred a sense of superiority in terms of intelligence. This old man was still so stumped over something which was so crystal-clear…
Have you wasted all these years of living? Or do you really have a log of a brain?
"Have we not proven the truth of Yun Yang’s words?" Lei Dongtian said, "As long as what Yun Yang said wasn’t false, then it’s justifiable that the Supreme Wind is an impostor."
"I guess that's true."
"Since this Supreme Wind is a phony, then who does he belong to? Who else would dare don this disguise other than the Four Seasons Tower?"
"Right!"
"The only one who would dare to go against Yutang’s imperial court and have possession of the Nine Supremes’ various manifestation cultivation methods must be the Four Seasons Tower, the party behind the Nine Supremes' annihilation. The various manifestation cultivation methods that Supreme Wind has shown proves that he must be from the Four Seasons Tower, right?"
"Yes."
"How long has it been since I came out to find my wives and my cauldrons?"
"I believe it to be about four to five months. If there were to be contacted, would it have dragged for so long?"
"The reason they didn’t ambush us a few months prior to this is probably because they haven’t been contacted yet. After all, our tracks were concealed and it's almost as if we have yet to enter this part of the world."
"Put in that manner, it does seem rather logical."
"Seem? It is the truth!" Lei Dongtian said in exasperation, "When they were finally contacted, they carried out the ambush against us. What’s more, the Four Seasons Tower’s men must have guessed that our background is unusual and didn’t plan to go head to head with us. That’s why Supreme Wind was the one to strike, kidnapping the girls and spiriting them away with the wind!"
"If they weren't targeting me, why would they take the two women away?"
"In the eyes of the public, Supreme Wind is on Yutang’s side, it can easily deceive and disrupt my investigation! Isn’t this so?"
"In fact, if we hadn't found Yun Yang and gained his trust, before finding out Supreme Wind’s real identity, we would be having a tough time to get to the bottom of this!"
"Besides, we could have gone the wrong way and made a ruckus at the Empire of Yutang – tormenting the empire for nothing while the Four Seasons Tower watches the farce from the sidelines!"
"Ultimately, our efforts would have been futile, and we wouldn't even have been able to find the true culprit."
Comprehension began to dawn on Old Mu and he said, "Yes… that is reasonable."
"Going back to the beginning, since the other party decided to seize the ladies at the last moment, what reason could there be if not to target me?"
"Young master’s words ring true."
"Why would Supreme Wind’s true associate, the Four Seasons Tower, pin me down? The Four Seasons Tower doesn’t even know who I am, why would they go against me? It stands to reason that they already know who I am." Lei Dongtian analyzed the situation wisely.
"Only the Four Seasons Tower can afford such a big operation; the cost of the men they've sent should be rather substantial. I believe they would only use the best."
"Young master is right."
"So, there must be something else behind this! The only explanation for it is that our whereabouts have been exposed! Someone doesn’t want me to advance in cultivation, so they’ve conspired with the Four Seasons Tower to arrange a series of attacks against us while snatching away our cauldrons; that would be best and most effective tactic to stop me!"
"The ultimate conclusion is that this is a conspiracy against me!"
Lei Dongtian’s expression was dark. "However, we still don’t know which family has plotted all these."
"No matter which family is it… As long as young master captures the person from the Four Seasons Tower, we shall find out!" Old Mu said.
"You’ve finally gotten clever for once!"
Lei Dongtian watched Old Mu approvingly. "Correct, this is the way to go. The key point now lies with the Four Seasons Tower! We don’t have to destroy the entire tower. As long as we find this key point and save my women, everything will be fine!"
"Young master is wise."
"There is nothing wise about it. We need to find them first." Lei Dongtian sighed, "I’ll sleep first. Let’s talk about this tomorrow. Old Mu, be on your guard tonight."
"Alright."
Lei Dongtian waved Old Mu out of his room and sighed.
The old man was a good servant, other than the fact that he was turning a bit slow. He would not be able to figure things out if there were no hints provided.
"I have to admit that he isn't sharp enough…"
Lei Dongtian sighed and lamented his fate.
My intelligence is paramount, but I can only flaunt it before my own servant… What’s the use of mocking Old Mu every day? However, if I don’t go hard on him, this old man’s brain is like a rock... stationary!
Lei Dongtian sighed and retrieved his two portraits to stare at them indulgently again…
…
Wind blew through the clouds; as the breeze danced, a fog of cloud followed closely behind as it drifted leisurely above Tiantang City.
Yun Yang, who was manifested as the cloud, wondered aloud, "Are the two people staying at Tower to Heaven Inn from the Four Seasons Tower? It would be great if they are!"
With that question in mind, Yun Yang eventually arrived at the Tower to Heaven Inn. His deific consciousness was divided into two, one of them entering the inn alongside the wind.
After searching through all the rooms in the inn, he did not find the two targets. Where were they?
Yun Yang was rather disappointed.
The timing right now was perfect. If the Four Seasons Tower were here now, it could further complete his plot and allow him to manipulate the entire episode flawlessly. After all, Yun Yang was cramped between two petrifying forces and was playing with fire. Any loss of control would overturn his entire board of well-placed chess pieces; it was best to have things move along quickly and let both sides kill each other!
However, it could not be helped if he could not find the targets. Just as Yun Yang was about to leave, a thought flashed through his mind. The breeze moved even more airily towards the roof of the inn.
Tiantang City had been snowing these past few days. It had only stopped this afternoon, so there were some thirty feet of snow accumulated on the roof.
True enough, there were two people standing on the accumulated snow on the roof, comfortably stable.
One of them was white from head to toe. In fact, this person was snow-white all over. Not only were his clothes, pants, shoes, and socks white, his hair and eyebrows were white as well. Even if one were to look hard at the individual, he was almost undistinguishable from the snow, as they shared the same color.
On the other hand, the other individual was in black from head to toe.
Both of them stood there, forming a stark but terrible contrast. Yun Yang could almost believe that he was looking at the Concourse of the Underworld’s legendary assassins, Black and White Impermanence.
The lean and tall person in black, especially with the unique aura he had, allowed Yun Yang to identify him right away – Venerable Lord Saber!
The blade that hung from the sky!
Upon being sure it was the Venerable Lord Saber, Yun Yang proceeded with caution as a gust of wind.
He had come indeed!
The breeze blew softer, almost a gentle caress; it was more cautious than earlier now, not even moving the air around it.
In spite of this, the person clad in white like frost frowned suddenly and lifted his head.
A face of white hair and white brows greeted Yun Yang’s eyes. Although the face was white, it was neither an eerie nor ghastly white. It was a rich, translucent, white akin to a piece of shiny jade.
Standing there, the person resembled a flawless statue carved intricately out of the clearest white jade.
The man in white looked thoughtful for a moment as his expression slowly turned grim.
"Second brother, what ails you?" Venerable Lord Saber asked.
The man in white shook his head but did not answer. Suddenly, an aura of mind-numbing cold flared up around him as he threw out his hands in the direction of the sky.
Swoosh, swoosh, swoosh!
He made several grabbing motions, ripping a dozen black holes in the air.
The man dressed in white watched the black holes with a serious gaze until they were slowly filled by passing air and the sky returned to its former peaceful state. However, his gaze did not grow any less vigilant.
"Second brother, what is it?" Venerable Lord Saber asked.
The man in white said faintly, "I suddenly had an uncomfortable sense of being observed earlier, and couldn’t help but recall the wind manifestation power you explained about Supreme Wind. This is his territory, it’s better for us to be cautious."
As he spoke, his eyes were still darting around the air, like he was searching for something.
Yun Yang, who was in the air, was drenched in cold sweat and trembling all over.
This was amazing, truly amazing!