Chapter 457: 457. Enemies and Opportunities

Translator: 549690339

After this year’s “proactive assault”, the biggest change on Starfall Island was that there were fewer people.

Previously, the island was full of elderly people who were all top-notch masters, making up the main force on Starfall Island. However, those main forces, who followed He Wei to the capital city of Qian Country, were all wiped out, leaving only He Wei alive. Later, the old men who followed Sheng Yue to capture Gu Ling also died in the cold river water that night.

Hidden for many years, Starfall Island emerged as a formidable force but returned in defeat, suffering considerable losses. Moreover, Gu Ling led the troops to bomb the island, rescuing all the hostages like it was a land without people, and immediately blocked the nearest route from the island to shore.

The morale on the island is now low, and the atmosphere is weird. Everyone walks with their heads down in haste, no longer possessing the “confident happiness” that once was part of their belief that “we live in a paradise, just waiting for the right time to go out and achieve our desires.”

Once, Mo Yan was the absolute ruler of the island and considered a “god” by all. Some masters were even willing to become Death Soldiers to accomplish Mo Yan’s grand cause and ensure a better future for their descendants.

However, a god is only safe when worshipped. Once discovered to be nothing but an ordinary person or even a single failure, admiration will turn into doubt.

As Sheng Yue followed He Wei through the woods, they saw several corpses hanging from the trees. Some were already dried up, and some had just died not long ago. All of them were people they knew.

When they encountered the first corpse, He Wei said to Sheng Yue, “All traitors! Those who want to betray and escape only end up like this!”

The so-called betrayal was merely due to some people losing faith in Starfall Island and Mo Yan and thinking that staying on the island offered no promising future. They wanted to return to the mainland and live like normal people. After all, most men here were masters, and they could find a place to live a decent life at the very least, and it would surely be safe.

In the past, people stayed on this island because of hope and faith. Now, they are being controlled by the corpses hanging from the trees. How long this control through intimidation will last is hard to say.

After He Wei brought a group of people into the City Lord Mansion, only he and Sheng Yue went to meet Mo Yan while the others returned to patrol the shore. The two subordinates brought by Sheng Yue were asked to wait outside the City Lord Mansion.

After the previous incidents, they had no choice but to believe that Gu Ling would lead the troops to bomb the island again, so they had prepared a fleet of ships and sent people to patrol the waters around the island day and night. Once anything unusual was discovered, they would immediately sound the alarm, and the island’s fleet would quickly set sail to intercept the enemy. This is exactly what Gu Ling and Su Liang had predicted.

Mo Yan was still in the forbidden area, where he lived.

Although it was winter, the island was still blooming with flowers. Looking only at the environment, it was not wrong to describe it as a paradise, but it was impossible for people who had seen the vast outside world to be willing to stay on this island for their entire lives, living the same life day after day. The purpose of the people here was to hide and wait for the right opportunity to strike.

“Sheng Yue, let me kindly remind you that the Master is currently not in a good mood. You better think carefully about what you should say and what you should not say.” He Wei lowered his voice, his gaze threatening. He had once blown himself up, leaving his face half covered in scars, but he did not wear a mask.

Sheng Yue’s gaze fell on He Wei’s scars and he nodded slightly, “Thank you, Elder He, for the reminder.”

Entering Mo Yan’s courtyard, a large banyan tree with dense foliage blocked out the sun, casting large shadows on the red walls.

Mo Yan, dressed in a brown robe with white hair, sat quietly in the shade. Only his fingers were moving as he played chess against himself.

A gentle breeze brought a leaf fluttering down onto the chessboard. As Mo Yan touched it with his finger, the leaf instantly disappeared, and Mo Yan placed a chess piece where the leaf had vanished, leaving the board as clean as before.

Sheng Yue and He Wei both knew that the leaf had been taken away by Mo Yan’s magic treasure. This was also Mo Yan’s greatest ability: to make anything disappear.

Mo Yan did not hide this from his closest subordinates, He Wei and Sheng Yue. Displaying this “miracle” was meant to conquer their hearts and make them revere and loyal to him.

Mo Yan said that the magic treasure was one with him, and no one else could use it.

Whether this was true or not was still uncertain, but it was enough to deter He Wei and Sheng Yue from taking any rash actions.

“Master, Sheng Yue is back,” He Wei respectfully reported.

Only then did Mo Yan look up and his gaze fell on Sheng Yue, carrying a touch of vicissitudes and a hint of coldness.

Sheng Yue knelt down on one knee, lowered his eyes, and said solemnly, “This subordinate is incompetent and failed to complete the mission.”

He Wei reminded Sheng Yue to be cautious but couldn’t help but speak out, “You should explain why all the elders who went out with you never returned, and where the strangers you brought back came from.”

Sheng Yue recounted the process of capturing Gu Ling: Gu Ling was already on guard and had Qiao Jing posing as him, turning their plan against them, while he ambushed them on the way.

“My hand was severed by Gu Ling that night,” Sheng Yue raised his right arm, missing his forearm and hand, with only a hanging sleeve remaining from the elbow joint.

“That was already a few months ago. Why didn’t you come back after that?” He Wei asked coldly.

“This subordinate suffered severe injuries and was left alone, so I decided to find a place to heal my wounds and try to continue the uncompleted mission,” Sheng Yue said. “This subordinate went to the north, where it was easy to carry out my tasks, not expecting Gu Ling to bring soldiers to the island to rescue people.”

“What did you do in the north for so long? Don’t tell us it was just to recruit two subordinates,” He Wei sneered.

“The two men were originally assassins of Yanyun Building. Due to internal conflict within Yanyun Building, the assassins fled with their money and belongings. When they encountered me, they chose to pledge allegiance to Starfall Island,” Sheng Yue explained.

He Wei snorted lightly, “Just like that? They have money and martial arts skills, so why would they still follow a cripple like you?”

Sheng Yue appeared indifferent, “They are used to living a life of bloodshed and cannot adapt to the life of ordinary people. They no longer trust Yan Shiba, but they couldn’t live a normal life either. Does Elder He think that Starfall Island doesn’t deserve their loyalty?”

He Wei’s face changed, “What nonsense are you talking?”

Sheng Yue ignored him and continued, “After this subordinate recovered from the injury, I went to the capital city, captured Duanmu Chen’s daughter and then Lin Shuzhi’s eldest grandson, trying to force Gu Ling to comply, but all efforts failed.”

“You had children hostage, how could you possibly fail?” He Wei questioned again.

With a faint sigh, Sheng Yue said, “Taking Gu Ling away wasn’t that simple.” He raised his stump of a right arm, “I almost lost my life.”

“That’s it? You have never accomplished anything, and you keep saying that Gu Ling is so powerful, but you’ve managed to escape from him time and time again. I don’t think it’s as simple as you say.” He Wei spoke with a hint of sarcasm.

Unexpectedly, Sheng Yue nodded, “Yes, there’s one more thing.”

He Wei suddenly felt that something was wrong, then listened to Sheng Yue saying, “The last time, I was actually caught by Gu Ling. I thought I was going to die for sure, but a few days later, he let me go.”

He Wei’s eyes narrowed as he drew his sword and placed it on Sheng Yue’s neck. “In that case, every word you’ve said is untrustworthy!”

Mo Yan’s expression remained unchanged, neither stopping He Wei nor giving any instructions.

Sheng Yue continued, “Gu Ling let me go, asking me to bring a message to Master.”

“Regardless of what message it is, it must be a trap, a lie!” He Wei became anxious. He knew what it was about – it concerned Su Liang’s identity, something he had intentionally kept from Mo Yan.

Mo Yan’s icy gaze swept over He Wei’s face, and finally, he spoke, “Continue.”

Sheng Yue bowed his head and said, “Gu Ling asked me to inform Master that his wife, Su Liang, is Master’s granddaughter and that they will meet Master twenty miles to the east of Jiaye City on the first day of next year’s lunar March.”

He Wei’s face stiffened! He had not worried about Sheng Yue revealing Su Liang’s identity before, because he and Sheng Yue had conspired on this. However, against his expectations, Sheng Yue had spoken after all.

All it took was for Mo Yan to check Su Liang’s appearance to find out. Denial at this point would be pointless.

Mo Yan’s face darkened drastically, and his gaze was like sharp swords aiming at He Wei. No need for Sheng Yue to say anything further, He Wei’s previous performance already revealed that he had known about this long ago but had deliberately kept it hidden.

He Wei’s sword fell to the ground, and he knelt beside Sheng Yue, “Master, please forgive me. When I went to Qian Country’s capital city, I had suspicions about this matter but couldn’t confirm it, thinking it was a coincidence. I was afraid of complications and being used by Su Liang and Gu Ling, so I didn’t say anything.”

Mo Yan turned to Sheng Yue, “Did you know about this long ago?”

Sheng Yue nodded, “Yes, that night outside Xuanbei City, Min Rou told me. I wasn’t aware of Master’s daughter, so I didn’t dare believe Min Rou’s words. He Wei said it was impossible, so I took his word for it and didn’t mention the issue.”

He Wei became furious upon hearing this, “Bastard! You knew it was true, but you hid it from Master for your own benefit.”

Sheng Yue calmly looked at He Wei, “He Wei just said that he thought it was fake, and I simply followed his words, thinking that I misunderstood him that night. In that case, it seems He Wei already knew it was true.”

He Wei’s face stiffened, realizing that he had been set up by Sheng Yue. He was too impulsive, and he should have followed Sheng Yue’s words, insisting that he thought the similarity between Su Liang’s appearance and Mo Yan’s daughter was just a coincidence, not wanting to create extra trouble…

Mo Yan picked up the sword from the ground and pointed it at He Wei, his tone low, “Is this your loyalty?”

Thinking of those who had recently betrayed Mo Yan and later found hanging from trees, He Wei broke out in a cold sweat, “Master, please forgive me! I merely thought that even if Su Liang knew she was Master’s granddaughter, meeting with Master would only ruin Master’s grand plans, and it’s impossible for her to be on our side. I took a risk in hiding the truth, but it was all for Master’s sake! Master once personally said, after his daughter left, it’s as if he never had a daughter. What good would it do for Master to know about his granddaughter? It’s better to be carefree!”

“It’s my decision how to handle this,” Mo Yan said, cutting off He Wei’s right ear with one swift motion as He Wei screamed.

With the bloody sword pointed at Sheng Yue, Sheng Yue remained motionless and did not beg for mercy. Mo Yan asked him coldly, “Can Gu Ling truly predict the future?”

Sheng Yue answered, “I asked him, and he denied it. But from what happened before, I think he must have some special abilities, maybe not predicting all possible outcomes.”

“Su Liang,” Mo Yan’s aging eyes narrowed, “Is she really my granddaughter? And her father, is he really Su Yuanzhou’s son?”

“Based on my investigation, it appears so. Su Liang’s father, Su Hongzhao, was a businessman dealing in medicinal herbs. Before that, he had even earned a scholarly title and is said to have some martial arts skills. He was intelligent and well-traveled,” Sheng Yue explained. “As for Su Hongzhao’s wife, I could find nothing about her, only that she was an orphaned girl he saved during one of his trips. They died at the hands of a group of Escort Masters who conspired with bandits to rob and kill them. Su Liang was hidden by one of the Escort Masters and was later found by the Government Office. That man later tried to leave the gang and was killed. As for the others, it seems they had internal conflicts over dividing the spoils, and most of them died, with the survivors going into hiding.”

He Wei’s hand trembled. Sheng Yue’s investigation had revealed the truth, but behind those Escort Masters and bandits, there was another person – He Wei. He Wei had not acted personally, but had paid a large sum to tempt those Escort Masters to take the risk. He Wei later found and silenced the survivors. It would be impossible to uncover his involvement now.

“You go back first,” Mo Yan said to He Wei.

“Yes,” He Wei picked up his bloodied ear, accepted Mo Yan’s sword, glanced at Sheng Yue who was still kneeling on the ground, and turned to leave. He had conspired to keep the secret with Sheng Yue, but in the end, he had lost an ear, while Sheng Yue had gotten away unscathed. As he left the courtyard, He Wei saw Sheng Yue rise and sit opposite Mo Yan, seemingly preparing to play chess… His eyes flickered coldly, and he hurriedly left.

“Whether my daughter’s death had anything to do with the island, I could not find any information, and I dare not make wild guesses,” Sheng Yue said, all but pointing a finger at He Wei and accusing him of killing Mo Yan’s daughter.

Mo Yan didn’t bring up his daughter again, picking up the chess pieces and resetting the board. He asked Sheng Yue a question, “What do you want?”

He Wei wanted the world, and he wanted his descendants to enjoy eternal glory.

Sheng Yue’s face remained calm, “I want to follow Master’s footsteps and see another world.” That’s what he had said before.

“Do you think Su Liang would want to go if she knew about that world?” Mo Yan asked Sheng Yue.

Sheng Yue shook his head, “Based on my understanding of her, she wouldn’t. She is a sentimental person, and everyone she cares about is here, she also has a child.”

“What if Gu Ling is already there?” Mo Yan asked.

Sheng Yue pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly, “If Gu Ling is there and confirms it’s safe, Su Liang might choose to follow him and bring their child. The couple’s relationship is deep, and they can’t accept being apart.”

Mo Yan sighed deeply, “Do you think Gu Ling can truly go there?”

Sheng Yue nodded, “We’ll know if we try.”

“Gu Ling is indeed my greatest enemy, and the opportunity I’ve been waiting for all my life. I believe that if there’s one person in this world who can achieve this, it must be Gu Ling,” Mo Yan’s gaze was slightly narrowed, and a smile suddenly appeared on his lips, but his woodenly cold face showed no warmth, “He is actually my granddaughter’s husband, since we have such a connection, I will take good care of him.”