Wu Hei gestured to the lounger and asked Lin Mu to sit while he sat on one end as well.
"Is it fine for us to just talk here like this? Won't the others find out, or will there be a problem?" Lin Mu asked, feeling a bit unsure.
"That won't be a problem. The Gu Legion members don't come here and have orders not to as well. And neither can they spy in here because of the isolating formation set up.
"That's good." Lin Mu felt a bit relieved.
~tear~
Wu Hei tore off the paper talisman that sealed the lid of the jar before opening it.
~whoosh~
Dense aroma of wine spread out from it along with strong spirit Qi.
~clack~
Wu Hei put down two cups and poured the wine into both.
"Have a toast with me. I reckon it's worth it for this meeting." Wu Hei said.
"That does seem right." Lin Mu said as he picked up the cup.
"To Uniting!" Wu Hei toasted and drank the entire cup in one go.
"To Uniting!" Lin Mu did the same and downed the wine.
'Oh?' But when he did, he was surprised.
'This doesn't have the same burn as normal wine… this is pretty much like a spirit Qi elixir.' Lin Mu thought as he felt the dense spirit Qi coming from the wine in his stomach.
It let off a cooling feeling, completely unlike normal wine would. It was evident that this was no normal wine. Lin Mu could even tell that consuming this one cup was almost the same as using a high grade pill.
"Good wine!" Lin Mu couldn't help but praise.
"It is indeed. Father has been keeping it for decades." Wu Hei said as a hint of sorrow appeared on his face.
"Well then, what happened this entire time?" Lin Mu asked.
"Once you disappeared from the Tri Cauldron Peony sect, hell broke loose. The Tri Cauldron Peony sect lost a large amount of its stores of resources to you and ended up having to join the Zither Wind alliance.
Of course, this was all just on the surface, while in reality, this was the intention of the patriarch from the start. Though it did work as a legitimate excuse for the other elders who weren't under Gu Yao's control and also the other sects.
Gu Yao took the opportunity to increase his influence more and more." Wu Hei replied.
"This much I knew, but what happened to your father? Why did you kill him so suddenly?" Lin Mu finally questioned.
Hearing this, an astounded expression appeared on Wu Hei's face.
"I didn't kill my father. Those were all rumors." Wu Hei answered, much to Lin Mu's surprise.
"Why? I mean, we were supposed to kill him eventually, right?" Lin Mu asked, feeling confused.
"Yes, we did. But that was not the right opportunity after all. I wouldn't kill him then and compromise my situation even more. I was going to wait till I had a bit more power and freedom before trying that." Wu Hei replied.
"Then who killed your father?" Lin Mu asked.
"An assassin." Wu Hei replied.
"An assassin? How did that happen?" Lin Mu questioned.
"One day we heard father's shout in the night. The guards rushed to check and so did I, but when we got there, we found the Father and another man fighting. The man was unknown to me and was very strong.
With just a wave of his hand, he pushed back the guards along with me, killing some in the process. Father couldn't dodge his attack either and ended up dying.
The assassin madly laughed before breaking through the roof and flying away." Wu Hei explained.
"That… is very strange and dangerous." Lin Mu replied.
"What's even more strange is that that assassin didn't even bother to hide his face. His mannerisms made it feel like he was doing it all on a whim." Wu Hei spoke.
The more Lin Mu heard, the more he felt that there was another party that was working in the shadows other than them.
"Why do you think it was an assassin, then? An assassin would be someone sent by another party, wouldn't it? This makes me think it was all that man's own doing." Lin Mu replied.
"I thought that at first, too. Until we learned that it wasn't just father who was killed. Over the months, more influential people died." Wu Hei added. "All killed by the same man."
"This… how did we not know this? I mean, the Long Cloud alliance should have known." Lin Mu said in disbelief.
"You are part of the Long Cloud alliance?" Wu Hei asked.
"Yes, I am the alliance leader." Lin Mu replied.
"Of course… I should have expected. Their actions were far too precise in going against the Gu Legion. Even before they came into light fully. I thought it was someone else that had discovered the truth, but it was actually you." Wu Hei replied.
"What did you think happened to me?" Lin Mu questioned.
"I had thought the worst at first, that you died. But then considering that you successful escaped and had still not appeared after all these years, I reckoned you were badly injured and still recovering in hiding.
I didn't dare search for you for the fear of that either. I thought that if Gu Yao caught on he would try to kill you in your time of weakness." Wu Hei answered.
"No… I was building power. I knew going against Gu Yao would be impossible alone. So I gathered some allies." Lin Mu replied.
"That makes me relieved." Wu Hei said, his body visibly releasing.
"Tell me about the assassinated people more? How did no one find out?" Lin Mu questioned.
"Well, we simply suppressed the news. All those that died were influential members of sects and other kingdoms being controlled by Gu Yao. Thus, we couldn't let this be revealed and comprise our situation even more." Wu Hei answered.
