“Why did I not know about such a big matter?” Ren Baqian placed his hands on his knees and looked calmly at the two men in front of him.

“Your Highness, the news Her Majesty received was directly sent from the Protectorate of the Northeast. It takes us one and a half days for a messenger bird to relay the message,” one of the men explained.

“Directly from the Protectorate of the Northeast? Who are you? What are you responsible for? What are you doing? How could you not hear of any rumors regarding such a big matter? Didn’t you notice any traces at all? What use are you people? Are you useless?” Ren Baqian’s voice grew duller, but his face remained calm. However, his words were relentless, and the sweat on the two people’s heads grew heavier.

“Calm down, Your Highness. We have done poorly! Give us another chance and we will thoroughly investigate this matter!” The two didn’t dare to argue further.

“Calm down? Her Majesty is angry. What can I do to appease her anger?” Ren Baqian grumbled as he glared at them.

“We have done poorly!”

“Hmmm.” He sat in the seat of honor and looked down at them for some time before saying, “Investigate! Find out every piece of news and every trace. Nothing shall be missed! There is no next time!”

“Yes!”

Ren Baqian rubbed his eyebrows after the two left. This matter didn’t just concern the Yun Nation, but also the harmony between the aboriginals and the other ethnicities.

Even the Jing Tribe was included.

After all, the aboriginals considered them to be outsiders as well. It had only been less than five years since they were able to walk openly on the streets of Lan City.

Although this matter concerned the Jing Tribe, Ren Baqian didn’t mention it.

He didn’t want to leave others with the idea of a division between the Jing Tribe and the aboriginals. He couldn’t allow them to harbor such a thought.

Even though the Jing Tribe wasn’t able to integrate with the aboriginals and the others felt this way, he couldn’t allow such words to come out of his mouth.

As a superior, he had to pay attention to everything he said.

…

With the empress’s fury, the violent machine in Dayao was immediately turned on. Out of the 2,000 winged cavalry warriors, 500 stayed to protect Lan City while the rest followed Qin Chuan to the Yun Nation under the orders of the empress.

Hong Wu had also sent 10,000 soldiers and experts from the Protectorate of the North.

Ren Baqian didn’t set off with Qin Chuan. Instead, he continued to stay in Lan City. On one hand, he had to settle some things, including matters pertaining to the academy, the research institute, the Department of Commerce, and even the protectorates.

Most importantly, he was still waiting for the experts who were returning from the Sixty Thousand Mountains.

If he wasn’t around, problems might occur when they returned and heard about this piece of news.

After all, these experts definitely wouldn’t just stand and watch from the side. The Yun Nation had always been affiliated with Great Xia, and all of the Yun Nation’s ancestors were people from Great Xia as well. It would be difficult to cut ties between the two parties. There wasn’t much that Great Xia could do when Dayao conquered the Yun Nation.

However, if Dayao was going to massacre the people of the Yun Nation, many would definitely oppose it.

With the empress’s current situation, they couldn’t afford to have anyone rebel.

In this case, Ren Baqian could only try to mediate the situation himself.

Besides, there was something that he suspected. Could the people of the Yun Nation really have done this? Could all the experts of the entire Yun Nation have abandoned their lives? How was this possible?

There must be a problem somewhere.

Previously, Su Xianxian was poisoned and Luohua Sect was exterminated. What was the objective of the culprit? Were they trying to target Luohua Sect or Dayao?

Although there wasn’t any evidence, Ren Baqian felt that there was an invisible link between these two incidents.

The consequences of these two incidents were that the relationships between the experts in Dayao, Great Xia and the Yun Nation were agitated. If these events, especially the current one, weren’t handled properly, the entire Yun Nation would become turbulent. In addition, the aboriginals would be isolated from and hated by the warriors of the other nations.

It would be even more difficult for the public welfare organization to achieve its original purpose and recruit all of the experts of the human race.

Ren Baqian felt a little suspicious and wondered whether the foreign races had undercover agents in the human race.

After waiting for four days in Lan City, the experts finally returned.

Next to him were Lin Yue, who was snacking on melon seeds, and Lin Qiaole, who was sucking on a lollipop.

Ren Baqian had no idea what Lin Yue was thinking about… She had been snacking on melon seeds for ten months in Lan City and walked around the city cheerfully every day… She even bought two copies of The Golden Lotus[1.The Golden Lotus: an erotic novel from the Ming Dynasty]… One for her own consumption, and one for her collection!

As for Lin Qiaole, he felt that he couldn’t let her go on eating and sleeping all day long anymore. Since he was about to head to the Yun Nation, he had to take two experts along with him and dragged her out of that infinite loop.

She then fought Lin Yue. After the fight, their relationship had never been better.

They fought because Lin Qiaole felt that the milk candies were the best, whereas Lin Yue felt that melon seeds were the best.

Just as how Ren Baqian didn’t understand why the two fought because of that incident, he also didn’t understand how these two stupid people could become such good friends that they even shared a meal from the same bowl just two days later.

Lin Yue had always carried a wooden bowl with her and never allowed anyone to touch it!

However, there was one thing that he wanted to tell her several times, but he didn’t know whether he should. He had never seen Lin Qiaole wash that bowl before! (TLC. If it’s Lin Yue’s bowl, why does Lin Qiaole need to wash it?)

The three of them waited for an hour at the city wall and finally saw the returning people.

The crowd wasn’t as confident as they had been when they first set off. Even though they weren’t exactly dejected and depressed, they weren’t in good spirits either.

Imagine dozens of top experts besieging one individual, but ending up suffering heavy casualties and even one fatality.

If it wasn’t for the enemy missing opportunities and failing to escape, these experts would probably be too ashamed to come back!

In addition to the many experts who returned, there were two carriages covered with cloth that carried a few members of the Serpent Race.

“This trip has taken almost a year. It’s been tough on you guys!” Ren Baqian greeted them with a smile.

“It’s nothing.” With gloomy smiles, the crowd waved their hands and said, “It was only during this trip that we realized how ignorant and narrow-minded we were!”

“Everyone, take a rest in the city. Her Majesty has prepared a banquet for you.” He led the crowd back into the city. It wasn’t a good time to speak yet.

However, before they reached the Beihong District, someone commented, “The atmosphere in the city seems a little weird. The people are looking at us differently from last time. What’s the matter?”

These experts were truly sharp. They were able to detect a slight change in the city’s atmosphere this quickly even after being away for ten months.

“The Yun Nation is facing some problems. About 40 Spirit Wheel experts and thousands of Earth Wheel experts killed the Deputy Protector General of the Northeast, two lieutenant colonels, and ten groups of 100-man patrol teams! They even cut the corpses into pieces and piled them up for others to see!”

“How is this possible?” Everyone was surprised at the news.

The entire Yun Nation only had a few thousand Earth Wheel experts.

Were all of them involved in the massacre?

And furthermore, they used such brutal methods?

Everyone reacted the same as Ren Baqian and felt that this was impossible!

He frowned as he explained, “If I was not waiting for all of you to return, I would have already left for the Yun Nation. This incident has left a great impact, and Her Majesty is also very angry. A bloodbath has started, and the culprits must be taken out to prevent a disaster!”

“Qi Zixiao…” Everyone could sense something different and unusual about his words.

“This is Dayao’s internal affair. Not only is Her Majesty enraged, but I am too. I’m going to the Yun Nation this time to give one last chance to those who didn’t participate in this incident. It will have to depend on them whether or not they can grasp this opportunity!”

Everyone frowned. Ren Baqian immediately said that this was Dayao’s internal affair and explained the things that were about to happen. This couldn’t have happened for no reason.

Everyone understood what he meant!

“Go back and discuss this matter with the old beggar. He’s pretty familiar with that area and can help to ask if there have been any misunderstanding or if someone is creating trouble. It’s impossible for all of the Yun Nation’s practitioners to be involved in this incident!” said the wrinkly Gluttonous Duke.

“I have a junior disciple who settled down in the Yun Nation. I can write a letter that you can deliver to him,” Gao Yi added straightforwardly.

These experts would naturally oppose Dayao if Dayao were to kill all of the Yun Nation’s practitioners.

Since Ren Baqian was interested in investigating the matter, it showed that there was still a possibility for a better outcome; at least there wouldn’t be too many people who would be wronged. All of these experts were willing to lend him a hand as well!

“I don’t have any pressing matters to handle, so I shall follow you on this trip. Will I be welcome?” Li Yuanzhu gently nodded at him.

Apart from him, she also immediately thought about the incident where Su Xianxian was poisoned and Luohua Sect got exterminated.

What these two incidents had in common was the shocking methods that were used as well as how terrifyingly strong these hidden culprits were. Whether it was the life and death dilemma of Su Xianxian’s poisoning or the extermination of Luohua Sect, these weren’t outcomes that ordinary people could achieve.

The impact of both these incidents wasn’t good for the martial arts circle of the entire human race, and the objective of the culprit might be related to this.

Li Yuanzhu once promised Su Xianxian that Luohua Sect would be left unscathed, but it got exterminated the moment she left. She had to investigate this matter to the end.