C29 The Mastermind

"Impossible!" Lin Guang was in utter disbelief.

How on earth could Su Yun, a mere eighteen-year-old, wield such power?

It wasn't just him; Yun Yan and Yun Yilan were equally astounded.

True, Su Yun had demonstrated remarkable abilities before, but that was only against peers during the High Sect's selection.

And now...

He was facing someone at the Great Perfection level of the Soul Controlling Stage!

How could he be struck down without a chance to react by a single blow from Su Yun?

Was this really the same Su Yun they knew?

"New grudges and old!" Su Yun's eyes were icy as he stared at Lin Guang and spoke with detachment, "Now, let's settle them all!"

With a whoosh, he was in motion the instant his words fell. Like lightning streaking across the sky, he closed the distance to Lin Guang in a blink, his speed making Lin Guang's pupils shrink.

The wooden hammer, crackling with lightning, came crashing down!

"Boom!"

Lightning erupted, tearing a half-meter fissure into the earth.

Lin Guang narrowly escaped.

Still, the splintering lightning shredded his robe, forcing him to retreat several paces before he regained his footing.

Whoosh!

Su Yun wasted no time, charging forward once his hammer missed, ready to strike again.

Lin Guang's face twisted in panic; he couldn't dodge and instead drew a long saber from his waist, attempting to block.

Boom!

But the force behind Su Yun's hammer was beyond his wildest thoughts. The luxurious fabric of Lin Guang's robe was blasted into tatters, and his skin was lacerated with bloody lines.

Puff! Blood spewed from his mouth as he collapsed to the ground.

Shua!

Undeterred, Su Yun coldly hoisted his hammer for another blow.

Yet Lin Guang's survival instincts were fierce; he rolled away just in time to evade the strike.

Boom!

The hammer's impact on the ground still sent him tumbling through the air, crashing down in the martial arts field over ten meters away.

He vomited another gush of blood.

"I know you're out there. How much longer will you hide!?" Lin Guang bellowed, his voice echoing around him, pain forgotten as he scanned the crowd for his unseen adversary.

"Hmm?"

Su Yun halted, a flicker of surprise crossing his face as he was about to step forward.

"Master, be careful!"

The Hammer Spirit's urgent warning exploded in his ears.

Whoosh!

Simultaneously, a pitch-black arrow, barely visible in its speed, emerged under the cover of night, closing in on Su Yun at less than half a meter's distance.

Su Yun's pupils shrank as he spun around in the quickest reflex his body could muster.

But he wasn't quick enough to fully evade.

Puff!

The arrow, dark as ink, grazed his left shoulder, tearing away a piece of flesh the size of a fingernail and trailing fresh blood in its wake.

A sharp pain ripped through him, causing Su Yun's brow to furrow momentarily before he composed himself.

Compared to the intense agony he'd endured from the Divine Hammer's energy feedback, this pain was almost negligible.

But that wasn't the point. The real issue was...

"Quite the quick reflexes!"

He looked up, narrowing his eyes at a figure on the pavilion overlooking the martial arts field, a presence that had appeared without notice.

Shrouded in a black robe and wielding a black longbow, the figure seemed to blend seamlessly with the darkness.

"So, after watching for so long, you decide to show yourself... Hmm!"

Yun Linguang couldn't contain his words upon witnessing the scene, but his statement was cut short as his eyes bulged in shock.

Whoosh!

Another arrow, as black as the first, pierced his neck in an instant, its passage marked by a fierce whistling through the air.

"Annoying vermin, you're not worth the air you breathe!"

The black-robed figure's voice was cool and detached, and with those words, Yun Linguang's eyes flashed with a mix of rage and despair before he collapsed, lifeless.

Su Yun, Yun Yan, and Yun Yilan all watched, their pupils constricting at the sight.

They were uncertain of the black-robed man's identity, but it was clear he was allied with Yun Linguang.

To think he would coldly dispatch his own ally...

Su Yun's frown deepened.

While the man's actions had spared him some trouble, it was hardly a cause for celebration.

What he needed to know now was the identity of the man in the black robe.

His gut told him that this very person was behind the orchestrated attacks—sending assassins after him, Yun Linguang, and Lin Zongshan under the veil of night.

"It's high time we put an end to this commotion," the black-robed figure stated coolly, his eyes settling on Su Yun in the pavilion with a hint of a smile. "What do you think, little one?"

Those few words sent a shiver through Su Yun, his pupils narrowing sharply.

Yun Yan and Yun Yilan were similarly struck, their expressions turning to stone as they craned their necks to look up at the pavilion.

"The Old... Old Family Head?" Yun Yan's voice quivered as he gazed upward.

In that moment, the black-robed man drew back his hood, revealing a weathered face that Su Yun and the others knew all too well.

The Old Family Head of the Yun Family!

"Grandfather... Grandfather..." Yun Yilan's voice trailed off, barely above a whisper.

Su Yun himself took a deep breath, his suspicions now taking solid form. It seemed impossible that the Old Family Head of the Yun Family could have been oblivious to the night's scheming by Yun Lin Guang and Lin Zongshan, yet his absence was palpable. Now, faced with the Old Family Head himself, Su Yun was grappling with disbelief.

Could the mastermind truly be him?

Why would he orchestrate such a plot?

"Why?" Yun Yan echoed the confusion gnawing at Su Yun, "Why would you do this?"

In that instant, Yun Yan's understanding deepened, recalling the pity in Yun Lin Guang's eyes. Yet, the rationale behind the Old Family Head's actions eluded him.

The motives of Lin Guang and Lin Zongshan were clear enough: vengeance. But the Old Family Head of the Yun family...

It was incomprehensible!

If he had wanted to kill Yun Yan and Yun Yilan, there was no need for such elaborate machinations.

The Old Family Head of the Yun family might not have been Yun Yan's biological father, but he had raised him from childhood. If his intent was murder, he could have done so countless times before Yun Yilan was even born. Why wait until now?

"Why?" The question hung heavy in the air.

The Old Family Head of the Yun family responded with a smile, his gaze affectionate as he looked at Su Yun. "It was all for this young one."

"Huh?" Yun Yan and Yun Yilan exchanged puzzled glances.

"For me?" Su Yun's astonishment was palpable as he turned to the Old Family Head, seeking answers.

The Yun family's Old Family Head offered no further explanation; instead, he simply retrieved an arrow and deftly set it upon the dark longbow in his grasp.

"Not good!"

Su Yun's face contorted with alarm at the sight.

Whoosh!

In the same instant, the jet-black arrow, blending seamlessly with the night, zipped forth from the pavilion, its presence known only by its sound.

Reappearing under the moonlit stage, it made a beeline for Yun Yan.

Yet Yun Yan remained oblivious to the incoming arrow until it was almost upon him.

Only when the piercing scent of impending doom assailed his senses did he snap to attention. By then, it was too late to evade; he was too weak, too slow.

Boom!

Just as the arrow was about to impale his neck, a streak of yellow lightning surged from the side, striking the arrow and skewing its trajectory. It whizzed past Yun Yan's neck and struck the stage's edge, blasting a fissure into the surface.

Yun Yan, jarred into awareness, lifted his gaze to the attic, locking eyes with the Yun Family's Old Family Head in bewilderment.

The man was trying to kill him!

The Old Family Head, the elder he had held in the highest regard, was truly intent on taking his life!

"Father-in-law!"

Su Yun's voice snapped him out of his stupor, "I must ask you to step inside for a moment..."

Yun Yan blinked in confusion.

Su Yun approached, and a tremendous force of suction erupted, pulling Yun Yan in before he could even react.