Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 701 - Four Hundred Thirty-Six: Exposed

Chapter 701: Chapter Four Hundred Thirty-Six: Exposed

Years of habituation had led Taishiran to distrust any words uttered by an enemy, unless it was during an interrogation.

Yet as Lou Ji’s words fell, his bloodstained fingertips uncontrollably quivered slightly.

Because of the current situation, he had no choice but to believe.

In his battle against Lou Ji, he didn’t have enough leeway to peer into the deepest part of the mists where Xu Changtian’s and Luo Bingli’s battle unfolded, but the two beams of light that almost dispelled all the mists enveloping the entire city were hard to ignore.

Clearly, those were the killing moves Luo Bingli used against Xu Changtian.

The fact that they were deployed twice in a row could explain a lot.

Taishiran rose from the ground, looked up, and asked with a light chuckle:

"Chief Lou, if Luo Bingli has fled, why don’t you pursue her?"

With the mists dispersed and sensing the events in the deepest part, Lou Ji relaxed completely, her voice lazily rising:

"I can’t catch up. If she wants to flee with the cultivation technique and Dao Charm she has mastered, even Saints might find it difficult to hold her back."

After a moment of silence, Taishiran looked towards the deepest part where the mists were gradually gathering again and suddenly asked aloud:

"Chief Lou, before I die, I want to ask you a question."

At these words, Lou Ji’s bloodstained, seductive red lips curved slightly:

"Hmm... I’m in a good mood right now, so I’ll allow you to ask one question."

"What do you plan to do with Xu Changtian now?"

"I believe I have already answered that question earlier."

"...."

Silence.

Lou Ji, looking down at Taishiran who was almost at his last, chuckled softly:

"Alright, let me ask you a question. At this point, do you people of Jiatiange have any regrets?"

"Regrets?"

Taishiran’s expression flickered oddly for a moment before he took a deep breath and said distantly, "Indeed, I have many regrets, but they’re not about the assassination attempt. It’s that we didn’t give it the attention it deserved."

Lou Ji’s beautiful eyes narrowed slightly:

"You really won’t shed tears until you see the coffin, will you?"

Taishiran shook his head and murmured in a hushed voice:

"Before this, in Jiatiange, there were actually two opinions regarding Xu Changtian.

"The first was that he was merely a harbinger to a great calamity, not the calamity itself, while the second believed that he was the calamity.

"The former view overshadowed the latter, limiting the resources I could mobilize."

Lou Ji raised her eyebrow:

"Isn’t Jiatiange supposed to be a force that exists for the sake of the human race? If so, why would the former opinion prevail over the latter?"

Taishiran answered crisply:

"They dreaded your Prime Minister’s Mansion and didn’t want to take the risk."

Lou Ji ask inquisitively:

"But isn’t Jiatiange internally ruled by the word of the Pavilion Master, who claims ’heaven’ as their authority, making it an absolute dictatorship? How could there be dissenting opinions?"

Upon hearing this, Taishiran gave Lou Ji a deep look and asked softly in return:

"Isn’t your Prime Minister’s Mansion ultimately ruled by Minister Xu’s absolute authority? Yet when it comes down to facts, don’t other voices emerge?"

"..." Lou Ji laughed softly at this but did not speak again.

The Prime Minister’s Mansion was vast, so large it was almost cumbersome.

Although the subordinates would obey the Prime Minister on the surface, when it came to practical matters, due to vested interests, more or less deformation would occur.

Such was the case with the choice of the Mansion’s heir.

Before Changtian revealed his talents, most supported Xu Changge, for although the elders found this young upstart displeasing, they couldn’t deny his capabilities, and his style of handling matters, though stubborn and self-reliant, was decisive and ruthless.

However, a significant minority also supported Xu Xinyao, the adopted daughter.

The reason was simple: not everyone wanted war.

War meant the breakdown of order, a reset of everything.

Some could not bear to witness chaos across the land.

Others, due to the power conferred by their high positions over the years, had long forgotten why they initially followed Xu Yinhè.

"See, you’re the same."

Taishiran’s voice carried a sigh of amusement, "But now it seems, incompetence has caused trouble. If the Pavilion could have given me more resources, on this mission we would have likely nipped this disaster in the bud."

Lou Ji exhaled softly. The Energy Mechanism, taking advantage of the dissipating mists before they could regather, swept over the now stupefied Xu Yuan, following Luo Bingli’s departure, and she asked softly:

"Have you ever considered that before all this, Changtian was just an ordinary person with decent talent and some luck, and that it was your assassination attempt that transformed him into the calamity you speak of?"

"Chief Lou jests."

Without any hesitation, Taishiran’s voice was calm and steadfast: "A calamity will not change course because of some people’s actions; at most, those actions can only hasten the process."

Lou Ji’s eyes flashed uninterested at his response:

"You’re indeed obstinate."

While speaking, Taishiran quietly countered:

"Chief Lou, there’s no need to rush to refute my words. You, who have often accompanied him, must know that even before our assassination, he already exhibited some special signs, didn’t he?"

"......" Lou Ji’s eyes narrowed slightly, her mind flashing through many thoughts.

After the trip to the Northern Frontier, Changtian’s unknown methods of investigation, Luo Xiran’s peculiar fungal technology, the Cultivation Technique that absorbed the Celestial Fates Divine Soul and the Saint Level Yin Source ...

"Indeed, there were some signs."

A moment of silence led Taishiran to chuckle lightly, "If he continues on the cultivation path he’s on, even if we hadn’t come today, Xu Changtian becoming what he is now was only a matter of time."