Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 92 - Eighty-Six: The Cause

Chapter 92: Chapter Eighty-Six: The Cause

The crimson afterglow filled the sky, dazzlingly beautiful as it scattered across the ice crystal coating, reflected in her dark pupils.

Xu Yuan fell silent for two seconds before continuing to ask softly,

"Are there other reasons?"

"Other reasons?" Ran Qingmo queried.

"Reasons for wanting to protect the Sect, like for the Sect itself, or for your fellow disciples?"

Ran Qingmo’s beautiful eyes looked somewhat puzzled as they flitted about,

"Fellow disciples?"

After a brief recollection, she gently shook her head,

"I’ve always been on Tianfeng Mountain, seldom seeing them."

Upon hearing this, Xu Yuan seemed to realize something, his gaze growing increasingly strange as he asked,

"Ran Qingmo, how have you lived from childhood until now?"

Ran Qingmo’s reply was very simple,

"Cultivating."

"And besides cultivating?"

"Practicing swordplay."

"Besides practicing swordplay?"

"Hmm... Before, there was also sleeping and eating."

"Anything else?"

"Does practicing calligraphy count?"

"..." Xu Yuan.

No wonder Big Ice Lump has this personality.

Clearing his throat softly, Xu Yuan took a breath and asked again,

"Are you doing this just because you will be the future Sect Leader?"

Ran Qingmo’s eyes showed a hint of confusion,

"...Otherwise?"

"...."

Xu Yuan cast his gaze downwards in silence.

A pure reason, devoid of any impurities.

Not because of a sense of belonging, not because of fellowship with the Sect, simply because that’s how it’s always been.

Ran Qingmo was born for the Tianyuan Sword Sect.

Ran Qingmo watched Xu Yuan, her eyes flickering with a certain light as she tentatively probed,

"Xu Yuan, you said you could help me, is that true?"

For this question, Xu Yuan did not answer immediately this time.

The fall of the Tianyuan Sword Sect was a major event in Cang Yuan, but the plot of Cang Yuan had long since veered off the predestined path, like a wild horse that had broken free, careening towards an unknown direction far from Xu Yuan.

The main advantages Xu Yuan now had were the fortunes that had not yet appeared and some characters’ personalities and pasts.

As for saving the Sword Sect, he no longer had the certainty he once had.

Ran Qingmo, seeing him lower his eyes without speaking for a long time, watched as the brightness in her beautiful eyes gradually dimmed,

"Is it not possible...?"

"It’s not that it’s not possible."

"....." Her beautiful eyes widened slightly.

Xu Yuan looked up at her, smiling as he said,

"I now wish to travel, and the desire to help you is one of my reasons for doing so."

Ran Qingmo, instinctively stepping forward, grabbed the gold-trimmed hem of his blood-colored garment,

"...Really?"

Xu Yuan glanced at the hem she was holding, meeting her gaze as he asked seriously in return,

"But, do you trust me?"

Could she trust him?

He was currently the Third Young Master from the Prime Minister’s Mansion, a core figure of the force that would cause the fall of the Tianyuan Sword Sect.

If he chose to deceive her, the Sword Sect would collapse all the quicker under the manipulation of various pieces of information.

Ran Qingmo hesitated, her gaze fixed on Xu Yuan for several breaths,

"But you are Xu Yuan."

"I am also Xu Changtian." Xu Yuan.

"....."

Ran Qingmo bit her lip lightly, her eyes downturned in prolonged silence, yet her hand that clutched his hem did not let go,

"I... I have no other choice...."

"...."

Hearing this, Xu Yuan sighed softly and raised his hand to brush aside the loose strands of hair beside her temple, tucking them behind her ear, and smiled gently at her:

"Ran Qingmo, I can try to provide you with an opportunity, but even I cannot be certain if I can secure it, and even if I do, ultimately, it still depends on your master’s decision.

"Of course, his decision isn’t necessarily the final word either."

The name of the Prime Minister’s Mansion determined that all its power was concentrated in the hands of his father alone, but the Sects didn’t work the same way.

After a thousand years of evolution, the Sects had long become a complex compound of intertwined interests.

The Elders Council, various major Sect families underneath, and even burgeoning grassroots factions at their peak could all influence the final decision-making of a Sect.

What Xu Yuan could do, at most, was to seek an opportunity on behalf of Ran Qingmo from his father.

Whether the matter could ultimately be accomplished remained an unknown.

Listening to his equivocal response, Ran Qingmo nodded without hesitation:

"Okay, good!"

Xu Yuan withdrew his hand and chuckled, shaking his head.

It seemed that Big Ice Lump was indeed out of options and had likely tried everything she could think of before coming to him.

Since the promise had been given, he needed to know the corresponding intelligence.

Xu Yuan asked:

"Ran Qingmo, let me ask you a question."

"What is it?" Ran Qingmo’s mood seemed to brighten considerably.

Xu Yuan asked in an unhurried manner:

"What have you been up to since we last parted?"

"I went to Qingfeng Mountain and Biluo Valley, and... I also returned to Tianyuan Mountain once," Ran Qingmo disclosed her itinerary honestly.

Thinking back,

Xu Yuan remembered that Qingfeng Mountain and Biluo Valley were the locations of the Sect gates for two major Sects in the region:

"Did you go there to lobby them?"

"Yes, but they didn’t believe what I told them."

"..." Xu Yuan fell silent.

If these people had been convinced, that would have been surprising.

Over these days, Xu Yuan had learned a lot through reading internal reports within his family.

The relationships between the Prime Minister’s Mansion, The Imperial Court, and the Sects all had discrepancies from what he knew in his previous life.

The State Preceptor didn’t believe the Prime Minister’s Mansion intended to eradicate the Sword Sect, not for the superficial reason that the older gentleman was friends with his father, but because such events had happened before.

It was the matter Zhou Chen had mentioned, the establishment of the Tian’an Martial Hall.

It was a preliminary trial conducted by the Prime Minister’s Mansion together with the current Emperor, but the Sects weren’t fools and reacted vehemently.

At the peak of the tension, the Protective City Formation of the Imperial Capital was activated, and Marquis Wucheng was ordered to be ready to lead his troops back to the capital at any moment.

But in the end, no battle took place.

Because the Emperor fell ill,

Because the chairman of the Tian’an Commerce Assembly passed away,

And since then, over so many years, the Prime Minister’s Mansion, indeed, had been continuously proposing to regulate the Sects, but in reality, it was all a lot of sound and fury achieving nothing substantial, ending abruptly and inconclusively.

The Sects would never compromise; reform could only be enforced through military might.

But who would dare?

Now the influence of the Sects had grown deep and intricate, almost permeating every vein of the Dayan Empire.

At this time, whoever dared to rashly move military forces would be committing a grave and heinous offense.

Under such circumstances, if Ran Qingmo suddenly appeared claiming that the Prime Minister’s Mansion was planning to move against Tianyuan Sword Sect and all the Sects across the realm, if Xu Yuan were one of these Sect members, he would treat it as a joke, or might even think Ran Qingmo came to spread frightening rumors and sow discord.

After all, the relationships between Sects were far from harmonious.

Therefore, Xu Yuan was very curious as to why Ran Qingmo was so certain about believing this matter, and where her source of information came from.

This issue had been weighing on his mind for a long time.

With that thought,

Xu Yuan didn’t hesitate any further and asked directly:

"How did you come to know about the Prime Minister’s Mansion planning to destroy Tianyuan Sword Sect?"

Ran Qingmo’s expression changed slightly, she hesitated for two seconds, and then softly asked in a probing manner:

"Is it possible to leave this matter unspoken?"

"No," Xu Yuan replied succinctly.

Ran Qingmo asked in a low voice:

"Is this matter important?"

Xu Yuan’s response was non-committal: "It might be important, but it might also not be."

Ran Qingmo stared at Xu Yuan for a few moments before finally saying softly:

"Alright, I’ll tell you.

"Um... a little girl named Tianyan told me about it."