Once, I wanted to be a good person
Chapter 886 - 886: 225. The true culprit behind the downfall of the Si Family is...

Moreover, the key point is that those secrets are intricate and multifaceted, adding immense difficulty to Fang Ze's efforts to unravel the entire event's sequence.

Fortunately, Dahei Jialuo, in his bid to extract some intelligence from Fang Ze, crafted his lies meticulously, recalling many details and clues from those years in his mind. After three hours, Fang Ze roughly pieced together the truth behind the Golden Sparrow Flower incident. He also discovered some of He Weidao's manipulations within.

According to Dahei Jialuo's memories, during the Golden Sparrow Flower incident, he did participate, but... actually, he didn't have much of a "role". It could even be said he was merely a pawn who benefited:

After the great war fifty years ago, the Extreme Star Federation was established, and the Outer Realm Demigods ceased their actions. However, Dahei Jialuo did not give up.

Over the years, he has been attempting to influence the human Demigods and insert his followers into the Real World.

Due to the uniqueness and concealment of his abilities, his success has been considerable. In thirty years, he successfully gained the trust of the human Absolute Pinnacle Demigod: Garo Houde, who carried his bloodline.

With the help of Garo Houde, Dahei Jialuo's "business" expanded more rapidly, beginning to infiltrate Yunlan State and Sida State, which border Tuo Ye State, creating more conditions for the Demigods' arrival.

Originally, in Dahei Jialuo's plan, this scheme was on a hundred-year cycle. But who would have thought that a turnaround came more than a decade ago.

Four months before the Golden Sparrow Flower incident, Dahei Jialuo suddenly received a message from Garo Houde asking for an urgent discussion.

Dahei Jialuo projected himself into the Real World through a medium and had an in-depth conversation with Garo Houde, learning an earth-shattering secret:

Recently, a rumor suddenly spread in the eastern administrative district, claiming that the Si Family, one of the three major noble families in Sida State, was hiding a secret technique known as the "God-Imprisoning Method". (Chapter 164)

This secret technique was said to imprison a Demigod's Divine Soul and consciousness, completely shattering their indestructible golden body, and was a crucial secret technique capable of reversing the entire battlefield situation.

It was said that the Si Family's ancestors fell due to researching this technique back then. However, it was rumored that a usable version of the technique was already in their hands.

After this news emerged, the Federation wanted to obtain this technique, so they sought several meetings with the Si Family. However, the Si Family consistently refused and evaded.

Later, the Federation's investigation found that the Si Family possessed a powerful "creation of extraordinary beings" ability, which inclined them towards disaster creatures and Outer Realm Demigods, showing them sympathy.

These years, the Si Family has been quietly introducing disaster creatures to Sida State, resulting in Sida State becoming the most disaster-stricken area in the entire Federation in recent years.

Thus, the Federation believed that the Si Family likely harbored disloyal intentions and had possibly reached some agreement with the Outer Realm Demigods, deciding to impose a brutal crackdown on the Si Family.

After receiving this information, Dahei Jialuo doubted a little: after all, in the forty years since the Federation was formed, they've been unable to do anything to the various noble families. Although the human world was unified, it was essentially still divided among local nobles. Under such circumstances, the Federation had no real clout to act against any particular noble family.

Besides, if the plot was unveiled, a great disaster was likely to happen. Nobles were no pushovers; they could change the heavens and the earth.

Additionally, Dahei Jialuo had inquired about other Outer Realm Demigods eyeing the eastern administrative district but received no news of any connection to the Si Family.

Furthermore, if the Federation truly intended to act against the Si Family, keeping it so secret that even Demigods in the neighboring state wouldn't know was impossible. Therefore, after much analysis, Dahei Jialuo and Garo Houde felt this event was very possibly false or fishy and planned to stand by, observing the changes.

The turning point occurred three months after this conversation.

Just a month before the Golden Sparrow Flower incident, unexpectedly, a mysterious person found Dahei Jialuo at Spirit Realm Mountain, proposing a deal with him.

The content of the deal was... the other party could assist the Outer Realm Demigods' arrival. But Dahei Jialuo had to provide the other party with a "slot" for a Demigod.

Initially, Dahei Jialuo thought the other party was joking. Although he had seen many people wanting to join the Outer Realm Demigods, helping them to descend, he had never encountered someone blatantly claiming they could facilitate the Demigods' arrival.

Just as he was about to dismiss this lunatic, the other party revealed the same information as Garo Houde: the Si Family was to be exterminated, and he had access to their corpses and blood to offer Dahei Jialuo as materials for the Demigods' descent.

Hearing this, Dahei Jialuo was both skeptical and intrigued, so he tentatively inquired about how the other party intended to steal the corpses.

However, the other party seemed confident and didn't care whether Dahei Jialuo would refuse. He merely asked Dahei Jialuo to provide a follower serving in the state council so that he could work through this follower when the time came.

Given Dahei Jialuo's special abilities, even the Special Task Force found it challenging to extract valuable clues from his followers. Moreover... betting a follower's life against such a tremendous opportunity felt worth it to him.

Therefore, Dahei Jialuo ultimately agreed to this deal.

After making this deal, Dahei Jialuo anxiously waited for the outcome.

And so, he waited for a month.

Then came the absurd Golden Sparrow Flower incident that shocked the entire Federation and the Outer Realm.

Because of a hairpin, a noble family who had made outstanding contributions to the Federation was wiped out.

In this incident, the Federation also tore off their guise of laying low and unveiled fifty-seven Demigod-level military bases, suppressing discontented nobles everywhere.

And after the incident, sure enough, Dahei Jialuo's follower: Councilor Xu handled the Si Family's corpses and their transport.

Under Dahei Jialuo's orders, Councilor Xu found other bodies to substitute the Si Family's corpses for cremation, while the real corpses and blood were secretly transported to Tuo Ye State through a special channel.

Dahei Jialuo didn't expect that such an absurd affair and bizarre transaction would genuinely occur. This also piqued his curiosity about the mysterious person he dealt with.

Thus, for the past few decades, while taking care of his "business", Dahei Jialuo has been investigating the Golden Sparrow Flower incident, gradually narrowing down the suspect to: He Weidao.

Dahei Jialuo suspects He Weidao because he discovered many suspicious points over these decades of investigation.

For instance, the biggest beneficiary after the Golden Sparrow Flower incident was He Weidao. The Golden Sparrow Flower incident allowed him, as a council president whose policies previously didn't extend beyond the council, to grasp the power in Sida State truly.

For example, the leak of information about the "God-Imprisoning Method"...

The old master of the Si Family rose to become one of the three giants of Sida State through military merits from being a mere infantryman, so his influence and prestige in the army were unmatched. After the Federation's establishment, Sida State's army was disbanded and split into the Federation Guard, which also allowed the old master's influence to seep into the Federation Guard. Thus, before their downfall, the Si Family's foundation was essentially the Federation Guard.

As for He Weidao, he joined the Federation Defense Force at around the age of 20, during the late stage of the dark era, and gradually rose through its ranks. (Chapter 43)

It is said that the old master of the Si Family greatly admired his abilities and his unwavering dedication to the human race. Therefore, even though He Weidao was not a vassal of the Si Family, he was consistently promoted beyond his rank.

Some insiders revealed that He Weidao's ascension to the position of Speaker had the genuine, selfless support of the Si Family's old master.

So, if anyone might know about the Si Family's old master's research on the [God-Imprisoning Method], it would most likely be He Weidao, the Federation's agent in Xida State, and a person trusted by the Si Family's old master.

For example, the Si Family was secretly bringing in disaster creatures from the Outer Realm with bad intentions...

During Dahei Jialuo's investigation, there was indeed a proliferation of disaster creatures in Xida State at that time, and they were evenly distributed near various cities.

This incident was indeed the sort of thing that would be easiest for the Si Family, which controlled the Federation Defense Force, to accomplish.

But don't forget.... He Weidao's fundamental base is also the Federation Defense Force. He climbed up step by step from the Defense Force, had many subordinates in the force, later served as the Speaker, and had his own allies within the Defense Force.

So, whatever the Si Family could do, he could do as well.

For instance... the information about the Si Family's impending extermination that Galan Houde received.

In Galan Houde's subsequent investigation, he discovered that other demigods and forces hadn't even heard of this news before the Golden Sparrow Flower incident.

This information seemed to have been intentionally leaked to Galan Houde by someone. And the person who leaked it, although not He Weidao, was one of the very few civilian faction councilors of that time.

For example... the matter of Councilor Xu cleaning up the Si Family's corpses.

According to Councilor Xu, nobody fought for him to get the task. Instead, an executive councilor directly decided on it without any discussion.

And afterwards..... the councilor who leaked information to Galan Houde, the executive councilor who arranged for Councilor Xu to handle the corpses, and some low-ranking officers from the Federation Defense Force all passed away due to various accidents and unexpected situations within the following years.

These coincidences left Dahei Jialuo feeling eerily uncomfortable and focused suspicion on He Weidao.

After all, only He Weidao, the Speaker from Xida State, could manage so many different aspects....

And after forming his suspicions, Dahei Jialuo did not make a fuss. Besides a few discussions with Galan Houde, he kept the matter to himself.

After all, even if they couldn't confirm whether the mysterious person was He Weidao, even if they could confirm it, it wouldn't have any effect.

They, too, were involved in the matter from the shadows. If they exposed He Weidao, they would expose themselves as well.

However, regardless, the [Golden Sparrow Flower Incident] indeed accelerated the progress of their plan, allowing them to initiate what was originally a hundred-year plan in just over fifty years.....

...

Having recalled all the information gleaned from Dahei Jialuo's inner thoughts, Fang Ze wore a grave expression.

Although Fang Ze had previously speculated that He Weidao might be behind the [Golden Sparrow Flower Incident] and even the current [Galan Rebellion Event], the confirmation still weighed heavy on his heart.

The results now clearly showed that He Weidao had orchestrated a grand scheme, manipulating several demigods, several noble families, and even a Federation Speaker in the palm of his hand.

Furthermore, the scheme he devised was flawless:

He used the information he had to betray the Si Family, suppressing the nobles. He took the opportunity to showcase a demigod-level military base, announcing the Federation's military might to the entire Federation, which significantly altered the entire political landscape.

Afterwards, he sold the Si Family's corpses and blood to Dahei Jialuo in exchange for a "demigod slot". During his dealings with Dahei Jialuo, he confirmed the rebellion of the Galan Family.

Then he naturally pinned the blame for the [Golden Sparrow Flower Incident] on Dahei Jialuo and the Galan Family, gained the trust of Old Master Bai, and successfully formed an alliance with him, using Old Master Bai to plot against Galan Houde.

In the following years, he systematically silenced the other participants, patiently amassing power and waiting for the Galan Family's rebellion.

When the Galan Family rebelled, he seized the moment as a pretext to weaken the nobles, reclaim federal authority, and used Fang Ze and Old Master Bai to eliminate Galan Houde and Dahei Jialuo's followers.

By this point, the noble forces were weakened, the Federation flourished, and the traitors had fallen. Almost all those involved in the past, except for Dahei Jialuo, had met their demise. Others, lacking understanding of the matter's intricacies, saw everything as mere illusion, struggling to piece together the facts. All his conspiracies remained hidden in the fog, unknown to others.

In addition, he had now reached the Absolute Pinnacle, and held the demigod "slot" from the deal with Dahei Jialuo, ready to become an Absolute Pinnacle Demigod at any time, making him well-positioned to advance or retreat, rendering him invincible.

Even if the Federation discovered the truth, they dared not pressure him excessively.

The demigods from the Outer Realm would be even more afraid, given that he could ascend to Absolute Pinnacle Demigod status at any moment, strike into Toye Province and Yunlan Province, which no longer had intact Absolute Pinnacle Demigods for protection, and directly expel the Outer Realm demigods from the Real World. This would ruin the Outer Realm demigods' decades-long plans.

After sorting everything out, Fang Ze found the situation incredibly tricky.

He Weidao had plotted for over a decade, his actions seamless, having even ensnared Dahei Jialuo and Galan Houde, leaving no loose ends. How could Fang Ze turn the tables....

With these thoughts, Fang Ze fell into deep contemplation.

And so, ten minutes, twenty minutes, thirty minutes passed....

Fang Ze remained in deep thought for over an hour before finally arriving at a decision: he felt that, since He Weidao hadn't revealed any flaws, he could take the initiative to make him reveal a flaw! He decided to take a gamble!

——

The next chapter, Chapter 226, will be updated around 2 a.m. on December 14 in the "Qi" "Dian" app. Looking forward to your reading~