Afterlife Department

Hao Baiyun sharply inhaled as he looked at Gu Xingfeng's face with his eyes wide in disbelief. "What…" he muttered under his breath.

"I believe in your subordinates' skills in investigating. So, it puzzled me that you didn't find a trace of Jie Yao nor his family that called him back." Gu Xingfeng spoke. "According to your personality, since you find that Jie Yao is a loyal subordinate, then you would definitely had continued investigating where did Jie Yao or his family go until you found a clue, then follow it until you finally find the answer." He explained. "But, not only did you find nothing, you also stopped looking for him." he said.

Hao Baiyun gaped at Gu Xingfeng in shock. Lan Tian and Zi Chen were also dumbfounded. Mu Li was surprised, while Zhuo Xia's eyes widened in disbelief.

"Then, you were surprised to find that Jie Yao was actually alive." Gu Xingfeng continued. "Since Jie Yao was alive, then why didn't you find any clue about him before?" he asked as he squeezed Hao Baiyun's cheeks. "This means that you must have found Jie Yao before, including his family, but Jie Yao caught you off-guard and hypnotized you to stop looking for him." he said.

"This…" Mu Li frowned. His expression looked complicated.

"Jie Yao, since he is a loyal subordinate, hypnotized you and your subordinates to not look for him since he doesn't want to implicate you with his problems." Gu Xingfeng said as he held Hao Baiyun's hand that is now trembling. "Jie Yao must have known that the problems that he will face would either implicate you or put you in a tight spot as the director of the Yao Committee, thus he made you stop looking for him." he explained. "This explains why he was helping us on dealing with the monsters." He added.

"Then… then why did he helped the monsters capture or kill my clan and the Golden-Haired Monkeys?" Zhuo Xia asked with a pale face.

Gu Xinfeng turned to him. "Didn't you hear what I said earlier?" he asked. "Combining with what I said just now, then there is only word that could describe the answer." he looked at Zhuo Xia in the eyes.

"'grudge'." Mu Li muttered with widened eyes.

Gu Xingfeng looked at him.

"'grudge'… so there was actually a grudge between Jie Yao and the Golden-Haired Monkeys and Sunflower Clan?!" Lan Tian exclaimed in shock.

"This is just my guess, but this is not impossible." Gu Xingfeng said. "And, this is actually the most probable guess." He added.

Silence fell upon them. Now that Gu Xingfeng had laid out all the possibilities of Jie Yao's actions, they now have found a direction to think things through. Even Zhuo Xia who didn't believe Gu Xingfeng before can't refute what Gu Xingfeng said, since what Gu Xingfeng said are also facts, and is rational.

"But… but if it is a grudge, then what grudge could it be?" Zhuo Xia asked in confusion.

Mu Li also wanted to know. After all, the Sunflower Clan is a clan of healers, so what grudge could Jie Yao have with them? Then there are the Golden-Haired Monkeys. Based on what Mu Li can remember, the Golden-Haired Monkey clan is a low-profiled clan and are pacifists. So, how did they fell into this situation where their clan members were hunted one by one? And the Sunflower Clan, too… they were directly killed!

Mu Li felt his head hurt just thinking of the possible grudges.

"Xiao Yun." Gu Xingfeng called Hao Baiyun. "Is there something or an event that the Snake Clan and the Golden-Haired Clan, as well as the Sunflower Clan, were involved?" he asked.

Hao Baiyun thought about it. "As far as I can remember, there wasn't." he answered as his brows knitted. "But, I will have Lan Tian and Zi Chen check." He said and looked at the two.

Lan Tian and Zi Chen nodded in understanding. "We will immediately investigate it – " they said and were about to leave when three figures in black suddenly appeared inside the room silently.

"No need to investigate it." It was Huo Ling.

Hao Baiyun's gloomy expression disappeared as his eyes brightened when he saw Huo Ling returned. "Xiao Ling!" he cried in joy.

Huo Ling turned to him and smiled. Then, he lowered his gaze.

Gu Xingfeng noticed that there is something wrong. "What happened?" he asked. "And, you just said to not investigate it? Why?" he added.

Huo Ling looked at him. "Because there is no need to. We have the answers that you are looking for, or maybe more." He answered. His voice is laced with a sigh.

Everyone was surprised. "What?!" they exclaimed.

Yi Bing ignored them and sat on a single-seater sofa. Xiao Hualing felt tired and yawned, but she remained and sat beside Zhuo Xia.

Huo Ling looked at them all before he took a deep breath. "Indeed, it was as chief Gu guessed." He said. "There really was a grudge between Jie Yao, and the Golden-Haired Monkey and Sunflower Clan." He told them.

They were stunned. Although they had already heard this from Gu Xingfeng, they only that that this was just Gu Xingfeng's guess. So, naturally, they will be shocked since the guess became the truth.

"Xiao Ling… what was the grudge of Jie Yao towards the Golden-Haired Monkey Clan and Sunflower Clan?" Hao Baiyun asked. He felt his heart became heavy due to sadness. He now realized what Gu Xingfeng meant earlier of Jie Yao not wanting to implicate him or put him on a tight spot.

If Jie Yao remained Hao Baiyun's subordinate, with Jie Yao's grudge towards the Golden-Haired Monkey Clan and Sunflower Clan, Hao Baiyun will be forced to choose among them on which to side. And Jie Yao, as loyal as he was, wouldn't want this to happen to Hao Baiyun just because of him. He is just one of the many subordinates of Hao Baiyun while there is only one director of the Yao Committee, which is Hao Baiyun.

Thus, he chose to leave and disappear from Hao Baiyun's life. But, he must not have expected for his face to be caught by Yi Bing's camera before, thus revealing his existence to Hao Baiyun.

"Their grudge… it is a deep-seated one." Huo Ling spoke. "But, before I will tell you about this, can you answer some of my questions first?" he asked as he looked at Hao Baiyun.

Hao Baiyun knows that these questions must be related to the Snake Clan, Golden-Haired Monkey Clan and the Sunflower Clan. "I will. What do you want to ask?" he looked at Huo Ling.

"Then, the first question: which among the three clans have existed the longest?" Huo Ling asked.

Hao Baiyun's brows knitted because he didn't expect for Huo Ling to ask this. Lan Tian and Zi Chen were also taken aback.

"The Snake Clan." Hao Baiyun nonetheless answered. "You should know that the yao were originally beasts and plants but because we have cultivated, we became yao." He said. "And snakes have existed before the monkeys, and the snakes also cultivate faster due to their double cultivation, thus they became yao faster than the monkeys. And since there was no distinction of the monkeys before, then the Golden-Haired Monkey Clan appeared only later." He explained.

Huo Ling nodded in understanding. "Second question: enumerate the three clans' powers." He said.

"I can answer this one." Lan Tian raised his hand. "The Snake Clan's power is hypnosis. The Golden-Haired Monkey Clan's power is space. And the Sunflower Clan's power is healing." He said.

Mu Li and Zhuo Xia speechlessly looked at the adults. Mu Li suddenly felt de ja vu. Isn't this question and answer similar to colleges? He thought, then shook his head. But, since this is crucial, he didn't dare speak.

"Okay. Then, the last question." Huo Ling looked at them. "Is it possible for a yao to steal another yao's power?" he asked.

Everyone felt their minds became blank before they sharply inhaled, realizing what Huo Ling wants to tell them. The grudge between the Snake Clan, and the Golden-Haired Monkey Clan and Sunflower Clan, is related to stealing powers?! They thought, shocked.

"Please answer." Huo Ling said. His face is serious.

They looked at him. They know that Huo Ling already knows this since this was the reason why the monsters wanted to capture him. But, nonetheless, they have to answer.

"It is possible." It was Zi Chen. "If a yao was willing to give its power to another yao, then it is a transfer of power. But, if that yao was unwilling and the other yao forced to seize its power, then that is called stealing." He explained. "There are many ways to steal a yao's power, but the most direct one is devouring the yao that you wanted to steal the power from." He said.

A long silence fell upon them.

Then, Huo Ling took a deep breath. "So, there, you already guessed it." He said. "There was thievery that happened, and it was the Golden-Haired Monkey Clan and the Sunflower Clan who were the thieves.." He told them.

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