Chapter 537: Came Here on Your Own

Translator: Timothy Editor: GlobeGlotter

“My martial sister, a few martial uncles, and I went to the Hidden Sects Tournament. When we returned, it had already happened,” Yan Yu said.

Ye Mo asked in shock, “You’re saying your sect was annihilated?”

Yan Yu shook her head. “Not entirely. There was only one enemy that night. Those who fought him died. Only my master and the low-powered members who couldn’t face the enemy survived.”

Ye Mo immediately understood. He nodded and asked, “So, those who saw the enemy’s face were all killed?”

Yan Yu nodded and began crying again over her martial sister’s body.

Ye Mo figured the enemy hadn’t planned to annihilate the sect. If he had, the weaker members would have been killed too. It might have been someone the sect knew, or perhaps he was afraid of his identity being discovered.

“How strong was the attacker?” Ye Mo wanted to know who possessed such courage. Their sect wasn’t weak, yet it had been practically annihilated by a single person.

Yan Yu wiped her eyes and sniffed. “My two martial uncles were Earth Level Primary Stage. My master and the sect leader were Earth Level Middle Stage, and there were four Black Level martial uncles.”

Ye Mo was shocked. Such a force attacking one person, and they all died? This enemy was incredibly strong! Among the people Ye Mo knew, someone that strong would be at least Wang Lenchan’s level. Besides him, there were Feng Wu, Wu Dao, Xiang Mingwang, and the Jiu Ming Academy sect leader. But Xiang Mingwang was dead, and Wu Dao seemed too benevolent to do this. The only possibilities were Feng Wu and the Jiu Ming Academy sect leader, but why would they do such a thing?

“Did your master see who it was?” Ye Mo asked.

Yan Yu shook her head. “No, her face was covered. My master only knows it was a woman, a Half-Step Great Heaven Master.”

Yan Yu immediately removed the Jiu Ming Academy sect leader from his suspect list. Ye Mo didn’t expect such a strong woman to exist.

“Did you see the person who attacked your Martial Sister Mei?” Ye Mo asked.

Yan Yu hesitated. “When I left Shen Nong Jia with my martial sister yesterday, it was dark. But as we entered the hotel, I turned and saw a grey-clothed person standing nearby under a streetlight. When I tried to look closer, he disappeared. I don’t know if it was him.”

“Grey-clothed person? Not good.” Ye Mo realized the hotel would have security cameras, but he hadn’t thought to check the recordings.

“What’s wrong?” Yan Yu asked.

“We should check the footage,” Ye Mo said.

Yan Yu was dazed. Her martial sister had been killed in that hotel—how could they not check the surveillance footage?

“Bury your martial sister first,” Ye Mo said, pointing to a nearby mountain.

Yan Yu, muddleheaded, obeyed.

Ye Mo removed a thin needle from the martial sister’s neck and helped Yan Yu bury her. Then, he took her back to town.

Meanwhile, the hotel owner was terrified. A customer had died in his hotel. He was likely to be held responsible, but the victim’s family hadn’t caused trouble. He breathed a sigh of relief, but before he could finish, another relative arrived—a male relative this time.

Seeing the hotel owner’s fright, Yan Yu didn’t question him. She saw it couldn’t have been his fault.

“Please show me your surveillance recording,” Ye Mo asked.

It was soon replayed, luckily undamaged. There were no cameras inside the rooms, only outside. The time was clearly shown, and in the early morning, a grey-clothed man had been circulating outside the hotel.

The man hadn’t covered his face. From the recording, Ye Mo saw he had a long face and appeared to be in his forties or fifties. He was carrying a blue bag when he left. Yan Yu recognized the bag. It was her martial sister’s bag, used to carry the Tian Dan Flower. She began crying again.

Ye Mo hurried away from town. He knew this man wasn’t part of modern society; otherwise, he would have tried to delete the footage. He likely came from the hidden sects or lived somewhere remote.

“Were there any of those flowers left where you found them?” Ye Mo asked.

Yan Yu shook her head. “No, but there were many other herbs. We planned to return after our master recovered.”

“I want to pick some herbs. Can you take me there? After I find them, I will try to save your master,” Ye Mo said awkwardly.

His main goal wasn’t revenge for Xiao Yu’s martial sister. That wasn’t easy; who knew where that man had gone? He’d only checked the footage to remember the man’s face, just in case he saw him again.

Luckily, Yan Yu understood it was impossible for Ye Mo to find the culprit immediately.

She didn’t complain, only saying, “I’ll take you there. All I ask is that you save my master.”

As if realizing he’d overdone it, Ye Mo asked casually, “Xiao Yu, you said your sect was almost annihilated by a woman. Do you know why she attacked?”

Yan Yu shook her head. “I don’t know. We didn’t lose anything. However, our library was a mess. Perhaps she was looking for a book or cultivation method.”

Ye Mo was sure she wasn’t looking for ancient martial arts cultivation methods. She was already at the Half-Step Great Heaven Stage; her cultivation method must be top-notch. Why would she be interested in theirs?

After walking for a while, Yan Yu felt a little better.

She’d been lucky to meet Ye Mo. Although she was taking him to pick herbs, she trusted he would keep his word and treat her master.

Yan Yu, a Yellow Level Primary Stage martial artist, walked quickly. It only took half a day to reach the location.

The place resembled where Ye Mo had found the Face Preserving Fruit. It was a steep cliff. Yan Yu explained she and her martial sister had found the herb midway up the cliff; it was too high, so they’d used ropes, but after her martial sister died, the ropes were gone.

“Isn’t this a piece of a long rope?” Ye Mo saw a custom-made rope, like those martial artists used when he first came to Shen Nong Jia.

“Huh—This is my martial sister’s rope. Why is it here?” Yan Yu ran to touch it, about to cry again.

Ye Mo analyzed the situation and scanned his spirit sense downward. He was at Stage Five now, and his spirit sense could reach almost 800 meters. There was a place in the middle of the cliff that was different from its surroundings. It was lush and green, unlike the barren land around it.

Just as Ye Mo was about to mention it, he saw the grey-clothed man with a bag of herbs carefully picking them. Ye Mo sneered. “So you came here on your own.”

“Xiao Yu, have you thought about why the rope might be here?” Ye Mo asked.