Volume 9, Chapter 628 – Who Exactly Is the Traitor?

“It happened in a small county town near Yongning Prefecture. A family surnamed Chen took in the last surviving member of the Jiang Clan. They were descendants of loyal officials of the Great Qi Kingdom. However, when the imperial enforcers arrived, they massacred the entire Chen family. This happened thirty-four years ago.”

General Li replied.

“Hmph! One day, this Crown Prince will make the Lin Clan pay a heavy price!”

Jiang Feng vowed solemnly. Though he had already known about this matter, hearing it again reignited his fury.

Qi Huang frowned slightly at his words. The main members of the Lin Clan had already been slaughtered by her, more than seventy to eighty percent of them. Now, only a few who did not deserve death remained. Among them, Lin Ran, whom she herself had helped ascend the throne, had been governing well for the sake of the country and its people. If Jiang Feng truly sought revenge, how should she handle it?

“Then let’s start investigating from this family,” Mu Ruoyi decided decisively. “As long as there are old trees near their house that are over thirty or forty years old, we should be able to confirm the authenticity of this incident.”

“There is,” General Li explained in detail. “The Chen family once planted a walnut tree in their courtyard. By now, it should be around sixty or seventy years old. I went to check recently, and that old walnut tree is still alive and thriving. The new owner takes great care of it. After all, in these times, food is incredibly precious, and such a large walnut tree brings a considerable income.”

“General Li is quite capable, investigating everything so thoroughly.”

Mu Ruoyi expressed admiration.

“Holy Maiden, you flatter me. This is merely my duty,” General Li said humbly.

“In that case, there’s no problem. Let’s go.”

With a wave of her jade-like hand, Mu Ruoyi called everyone to action, taking on the attitude of a confident leader. Although she was the weakest among them in terms of strength, she was the only one who could wield the Wooden Exquisite Art, which gave her a sense of pride.

The group then rushed toward the small county town. Thanks to their impressive abilities, they only needed half an hour to reach their destination.

Qi Huang had been matching her pace with the others. If she were traveling alone, this distance of several hundred miles would only take her two or three breaths.

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“Your Highness, there’s something I’ve always wondered about,” Mu Ruoyi suddenly asked midway. “Why did you go to Pingshan Mass Burial Ground back then?”

“Hehe, we were forced by circumstances. We had no choice,” Jiang Feng gave a bitter smile, then began to explain the situation back then: “In those days, malevolent spirits ran rampant. Women flocked to immortal sects seeking protection, but those sects, in order to preserve their bloodlines, rarely accepted ordinary men. This led to a severe imbalance in the ratio between men and women in the mortal world, triggering many problems like safety concerns, as well as a declining birthrate. These were issues every dynasty’s rulers had to consider, and the Great Qi Kingdom was no exception.”

“To solve this, my father, the Emperor, came up with three plans.

First, provoke our neighboring countries recklessly, using wars to reduce the male population and achieve gender balance.

Second, eliminate the immortal sects within the country so that women would have nowhere to go.

Third, eradicate the Source of Yin Miasma in the land. Once malevolent spirits dwindled, women would naturally return to the mortal world.”

At this point, Jiang Feng’s expression grew slightly unnatural, knowing full well how disgraceful these plans were.

“Hmph, the same despicable tactics. As expected of so-called royal families, birds of a feather!”

Cheng Hongling couldn’t help but scold furiously.

“What do you mean by that?”

Jiang Feng asked, puzzled.

“The Western Radiance Dynasty fell into constant warfare back then for the same reason,” Qi Huang explained calmly. “Lin Tu tried to use war to reduce the number of men, sending people to provoke conflicts everywhere. It’s exactly the same as your father’s thinking.”

“Hmph! Then he deserved to die!”

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Jiang Feng didn’t defend his father; instead, he cursed angrily, then continued: “After much deliberation, I realized the first two plans were unacceptable. The first was easy to execute but inhumane. The second was not only difficult but also unjust. So I advocated for the third plan: eliminating the Source of Yin Miasma.”

“Now that’s more like a proper Crown Prince,” Qi Huang praised openly.

“However, most opposed the idea,” Jiang Feng admitted with a self-deprecating laugh. “They believed clearing the Yin energy was far harder than eliminating all the immortal sects, thinking I was focusing on the trivial while neglecting the essential.”

“Did they not consider,” Mu Ruoyi frowned, “that if there were no immortal sects, who would deal with the malevolent spirits plaguing the Western Radiance Dynasty? Even if women returned to the mortal world, they’d have no good outcome. That’s basically indirect slaughter.”

“Indeed,” Jiang Feng sneered coldly. “But some in power only cared about balancing the gender ratio, not the lives of commoners.”

“And the immortal sects had no enmity with the royal family,” Cheng Hongling added sharply. “What right did you have to purge them?”

“Exactly. That’s why I called it unjust,” Jiang Feng admitted openly. “Because of this, I firmly pushed for the third plan. To boost morale, I personally contacted the Immortal Alliance and persuaded the Honghua Sect’s sect master. Together, we formed a force of several thousand people to assault Pingshan Mass Burial Ground.”

“And what happened afterward?”

Mu Ruoyi pressed curiously.

“Afterward? I personally led the team into Pingshan Mass Burial Ground. At first, everything went smoothly, since the outer malevolent spirits were weak. But as we ventured deeper, they grew stronger. Our casualties mounted rapidly, yet no one thought of retreating. Everyone advanced with the resolve to die.”

Jiang Feng’s expression briefly showed pride, but then his face twisted into a snarl. “But then, a traitor appeared in our ranks. Someone stole several bottles of Cat’s Tears, which we had stored together.”

“What?!”

All the women were shocked.

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“You cultivators know better than anyone how vital Cat’s Tears are. Among our forces, only a handful of cultivators had reached the Unity Realm. Most relied on Cat’s Tears to even see malevolent spirits. As for martial artists, no matter how strong they were, without Cat’s Tears they couldn’t see a thing. The result was a complete massacre.”

Jiang Feng shook his head helplessly.

“A mission like that, fighting for the country and the people, how could there be a traitor?”

Cheng Hongling was baffled.

“Who knows? To this day, I still don’t understand.”

Jiang Feng frowned deeply.

“You never found out who it was?”

Mu Ruoyi asked urgently.

“Do you think it’s that easy?” Jiang Feng replied bitterly. “When my subordinates revived as zombies, it was already centuries later. How could we investigate after so long?”

“Then this has basically become a cold case,” Qi Huang said darkly. “That traitor truly got away with it.”

“Exactly. Without a miracle, we died in vain,” Jiang Feng said with a bitter smile.

“In fact, the fall of the Great Qi Kingdom is directly tied to this incident,” General Li interjected. “After the Crown Prince’s death, several princes fought fiercely for the throne, causing devastating internal strife. That gave the Lin Clan the opportunity to seize power.”

“So there was such a hidden story,” Qi Huang murmured, surprised.

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“Wait, no… I forgot something important!”

Jiang Feng suddenly slapped his forehead, eyes lighting up. “That White Dog once said it knew who the traitor was!”

“White Dog? Who’s that?”

Everyone looked confused.

“It’s Bai Yun, Zhen Feiyan’s pet,” Jiang Feng explained quickly. “She’s incredibly strong and a native zombie of that region. She probably knows everything!”

He turned to Qi Huang, pleading: “I remember Bai Yun is… working under you now, right? Could you please ask her for me? Please!”

“No need to beg. It’s no trouble,” Qi Huang agreed readily. This zombie prince might seem lecherous and arrogant, but his character was solid, so she was willing to help.

Qi Huang retrieved Bai Yun from her spatial ring. It wasn’t that she mistreated her; the Yin energy in Huangtian County was dwindling, and it was uncomfortable for malevolent spirits to stay outside.

“What is it? I was sleeping!”

Bai Yun yawned impatiently, sounding disgruntled. She considered herself a “wolf-being”, not a pet, so she saw no need to humble herself.

“This man led an expedition to Pingshan Mass Burial Ground back then,” Qi Huang said concisely. “There was a traitor in the team. Didn’t you claim to know who it was? Can you tell him?”

“I’m a Four-Eared Wolf,” Bai Yun replied lazily, a mocking grin curling on its face. “My hearing is exceptional, so of course I know who the traitor was. But why, exactly, should I tell you?”