"Shouyi, why are you rushing us over... what's the situation here?"
Wen Yuxian and Master Guanyun arrived, wondering why Yan Shouyi had summoned them so urgently, thinking he had found the lotus array eye.
However, upon reaching the scene, they found no lotus array eye, only thirteen skeletons.
Master Guanyun's face turned grim. She asked in a deep voice, "Were these skeletons dug up from here?"
Such skeletons should not have appeared on Mount Emei. As the sect leader of the Emei sect, seeing this scene felt like a slap in the face.
Mount Emei was a place of Buddhist compassion, where even the act of killing should not occur, let alone this.
Yan Shouyi nodded. "Zhuge Ji, Jue'er, and Lele found them."
Lele happily stepped forward to claim credit, as if discovering treasure.
But Wen Yuxian was clearly not in the mood to entertain Lele. She knelt down to examine the skeletons and asked,
"What's the situation with these skeletons, Shouyi? You must have discovered something, otherwise, you wouldn't have called us over so urgently."
"Yes."
Yan Shouyi paused, organizing his thoughts.
The story was too convoluted, making it difficult to explain clearly.
However, as soon as he opened his mouth, it was a bombshell:
"Among these thirteen skeletons, eleven were left by the human trafficking organization. The remaining two skeletons, one large and one small, belong to the late Master Miaohui's husband and child."
Silence fell upon the scene for a few seconds.
Wen Yuxian and Master Guanyun stared blankly at the skeletons, while Zhuge Ji and Yan Nanfei also looked bewildered.
We haven't even figured out what happened, and you've already identified the deceased?!
After we were just arguing, the atmosphere now... is so awkward!
The two of them tacitly fell silent, no longer wishing to utter any foolish remarks, waiting for Yan Shouyi to reveal the truth.
While the elders Wen Yuxian and Guanyun were still in silence, Yan Shouyi began to recount the story of that year.
Master Miaohui went down the mountain for training, encountered a magician, and then became inseparable, falling in love. They naturally got married and had a child. To pray for the child's health, they gave the child a piece of broken jade, which served as the child's personal keepsake.
However, good times did not last. People from the Emei sect arrived and forcibly took Master Miaohui back to Emei. The magician, in order for his family to be reunited, brought his child to live at the foot of Mount Emei, occasionally having secret meetings with Master Miaohui.
If things had continued like this, life would have been fine. But for some reason, the magician suddenly decided to take his child up the mountain one day, and by chance, they encountered a human trafficking organization that was killing and burying bodies. Thus, they were tragically murdered and buried in this deserted back mountain.
Master Miaohui was unaware of her husband and child's fate. After descending the mountain and being unable to find them, she became stubbornly convinced that she had been abandoned. This became a knot in her heart, which she could not untangle even until her "death."
Little did she know, the two people she loved the most had never left her. They were in the back mountain of Mount Emei, unable to reveal the truth for decades.
When Yan Shouyi reached this point in his story, Master Guanyun, unable to accept it, couldn't help but interrupt,
"How can you be so sure of the identities of these two skeletons?"
Yan Shouyi produced Master Miaohui's diary and the faded black and white photograph.
"The time of death for these two skeletons was eighty-seven years ago, which coincides with the time Master Miaohui recorded in her diary as being abandoned. But more importantly, we found this at the scene."
He spread his palm, and on it lay a piece of broken jade, identical to the one the child in the photograph was wearing!
Thus, the evidence was complete, and the identities of the skeletons were beyond doubt.
Master Guanyun and Wen Yuxian had complex expressions.
They never imagined that so many years after their master's death, they would uncover this secret. It was a pity that their master was already dead, and her unresolved issue would never be cleared, this regret would accompany her soul into reincarnation.
"Amitabha... Master, if you are in heaven, perhaps you can finally find peace now," Wen Yuxian clasped her hands together.
Master Guanyun said gratefully, "Shouyi, I never expected you to uncover a secret from decades ago. We owe you a lot this time. I will send people to collect these skeletons and ensure they are properly laid to rest."
Grandmother, Great Aunt, do you think it's over?
Yan Shouyi gave a wry smile. The more shocking part was yet to come!
"Cough cough, the matter I am about to discuss may be difficult for you to accept for a while, but these are all facts."
"There's more?" Master Guanyun asked in surprise.
Yan Shouyi said, "Actually, Master Miaohui is not dead."
As expected, the elders' first reaction to this news was disbelief. Wen Yuxian even chided Yan Shouyi,
"Shouyi, you are always a well-behaved child. How can you speak such nonsense?"
"I'm not speaking nonsense."
Yan Shouyi proceeded to tell them the truth revealed by 'Wei', even summoning the soul of 'Wei' to serve as a witness.
However, after hearing it, the elders found it even more unbelievable.
By now, their master would be over a hundred years old.
Not only was she not dead, but she was also helping Li Genmiao and seeking revenge against the Emei sect that she once led?!
If what Shouyi said was true, their master must have fallen into madness long ago!
"This is too absurd. Give us a moment to process this," Master Guanyun said, holding her forehead.
Her head must be buzzing.
Yan Shouyi sighed inwardly. He had anticipated this outcome.
But he believed the elders would gradually accept this reality and then rationally consider a plan.
Yan Shouyi's attitude towards Master Miaohui also shifted from "secretly eliminate her" to "first find her, explain the truth of that year, wait for her repentance, and then let Grandmother and Great Aunt decide her fate."
Ling Xiaoxiao, standing beside them, had a look of shock on her face the entire time. She suddenly realized that the matters she had insisted on Yan Shouyi telling her were perhaps things she could only listen to, without being able to help at all.
As for Zhuge Ji and Yan Nanfei, they marveled at Yan Shouyi's ability to connect all the clues in such a short time and reconstruct the truth of that year.
After a long while, the elders finally recovered from their shock.
Wen Yuxian asked Master Guanyun with a stern face, "Junior Sister, what do you think about this matter?"
Master Guanyun's head still ached. "I... I don't know."
As the sect leader, she now seemed to be stuck in a quagmire. After all, this was their deeply respected master. After learning the cruel truth, whatever they did seemed inappropriate.
"Perhaps... this matter should be left to Shouyi to handle?" Wen Yuxian suggested.
When those involved are confused, observers can see clearly. It seemed that handing this matter over to Yan Shouyi, an "outsider," would simplify things considerably.
Master Guanyun asked Yan Shouyi, "Shouyi, what do you plan to do?"
Yan Shouyi pondered for a moment. "Since Li Genmiao sent the 'Si' character to guard us in the lotus grand formation, Master Miaohui must also be watching us from outside the formation. Therefore, I want to try a simple and direct approach—use the truth we have uncovered to try and lure out Master Miaohui!"
Master Miaohui knew the locations of all the lotus array eyes. As long as they captured her, breaking the grand formation would be as easy as flipping a hand!