16. Lin Yue is dead?_2

"Yes," Deputy Commander Chu nodded slowly.

He finally understood why the commander had valued that young master Xia Lie so much.

Was it because that young master Xia Lie was from the Imperial Family, the Xiahong clan?

And with such a startling phenomenon, he must be someone of a particularly pure bloodline within the Xiahong clan, perhaps the direct offspring of a Prince?

Or even higher...

He dared not let his imagination wander further.

"Hm?"

Deputy Commander Chu looked towards the house within the estate and suddenly paused, incredulously saying, "Sir, I sense no presence of anyone inside that estate."

Baili Fengzhi's eyes remained calm and undisturbed as she spoke indifferently, "I also can't sense any movement, not even the slightest hint of a living being's breath."

"Not even you can sense anything? This is..." Deputy Commander Chu was somewhat astonished.

"There must be a barrier. Although it can't prevent the phenomenon of the Xiahong clan bloodline's awakening, it can isolate other breaths. I fear the grade of this barrier is not low."

Baili Fengzhi spoke slowly, "This is also why I dare not act rashly. I am not very clear about the situation inside now."

She narrowed her slender eyes slightly, "But according to the spy I dispatched to surveil Lin Yue, before the phenomenon began, there was always only him and Su Ziqiu in Lin Yue's family home. However, at the moment the phenomenon started, the spy skilled in eavesdropping couldn't detect anything anymore."

"Lin Yue?"

Deputy Commander Chu looked at the small estate and couldn't help asking, "Sir, how did young master Xia Lie end up at Lin Yue's home?"

"I don't know."

Baili Fengzhi frowned slightly and said in a low tone, "It was only yesterday that I began to suspect Lin Yue, but I did not think he could achieve much. However... now it seems, maybe he has been deceiving us the whole time?"

"Sir, could it be that Lin Yue is also a hidden Cultivator, even capable of eluding your investigation?" Deputy Commander Chu couldn't help saying.

"Impossible."

Baili Fengzhi immediately said, "I have personally examined his body and tested his blood. He is definitely a mortal without a doubt. If he could deceive me, his Cultivation Realm must be far beyond mine, so why would he need to grovel and act before me?"

She paused, then added, "Although he is indeed extraordinary, he is indeed just a mortal."

Deputy Commander Chu found it increasingly unbelievable. "But... how could Lin Yue... Young master Xia Lie was clearly under the protection of your personal confidant. How did Lin Yue manage it?"

"Perhaps it was Old Daoist Tu who made a move. If that's truly the case, then their act played out in prison for me to see also makes sense."

Baili Fengzhi scoffed, "Or perhaps Lin Yue used some strange and cunning method, like some Miracle Medicine that is also effective on Martial Cultivators? My confidant, although always cautious, might not have been without moments of carelessness and could have fallen for such a trick."

Deputy Commander Chu fell silent, merely looking at the seemingly ordinary small estate.

He still couldn't believe it.

When he first met the young man named Lin Yue, although he felt the latter had some boldness, he was after all just a common man.

Later he discovered that although Lin Yue was a pitiful person struck by an undue calamity, he was also faithful and caring towards his burdensome wife, deserving of being called affectionate and righteous.

But now, he could guess a part of the reason.

The person seemed to be bolder and more affectionate and righteous than he had imagined, and also... with a depth of cunning that even made his back chill.

Just then—

The rolling thunder over Qingdu ceased, and the dragon-like bolts of thunder left only a faint glimmer of lightning, with the rainbow bridges in the sky becoming exceedingly scarce. The golden, jade-like glowing plasma was dispersed by the evening breeze into specks of golden light that faded away.

"The bloodline awakening of Xia Lie is about to end."

Baili Fengzhi looked up at the now vanishing phenomenon and immediately grasped this point in her heart.

She took a deep breath and raised a hand, her cold and majestic voice spreading out, breaking the tranquility that had just been restored in the night for a few breaths:

"Attention, all soldiers—"

...

Inside the estate, in the small room.

The Long Bright Pearl hanging from the beam was emitting a bright and gentle light, illuminating the interior.

On the table was the 'Blood Lotus Lamp' shaped like a blood-red lotus, currently burning a dim red flame.

Under the eerie light of the lamp, there was a strange tranquility, as if isolated from the world.

Lin Yue was fiddling with the 'Mask of Myriad Beings' in his hands, sitting quietly by the bedside.

On the bed was Xiahong Lie, having returned to his original state, who was covered with a quilt and seemed to be still frail, but his body was constantly merging with streaks of strange light.

These lights included wandering bolts of electricity, a plethora of rainbow-like streams, and that golden, jade-like plasma continually falling upon him.

Although Lin Yue did not open the windows to observe the phenomenon outside, he had read about similar records in the Daoist texts and naturally knew this was the process of Xiahong Lie's bloodline awakening.

And Xiahong Lie's originally extremely pale and weak face was becoming healthier and rosier through the awakening process, as if he would recover fully at any moment.

"Soon..."

Lin Yue sat expressionless next to the bed, watching Xiahong Lie recover little by little, with no intention of taking action.

On the table beside them lay the Blood Jade of Myriad Spirits and the Glass Box containing the Fire Phoenix Blood.

Although the Blood Jade of Myriad Spirits could refine Xia Lie's bloodline and soul, it needed a Blood Sacrifice to activate it.