Supreme Tamer

Chapter 576: Chapter 447: The Hidden Hand Behind the Scenes, The Defecting Girl

Chu Mu knew that accessing the records of the Di Sheng Domain was not something a seventh-level Hall Executor like himself could easily do, so he deliberately sought out Lord Yu in order to gain the access.

Without any questions, Lord Yu gave Chu Mu a token of access. Armed with this token, the Holy Guard arranged for Chu Mu to review the records of the past twelve years.

Despite a long search, Chu Mu didn’t find any record of Liu Binglan’s entry into the Di Sheng Domain, which left him perplexed.

“Could it only be recording the time?” Ye Qingzi pointed at the only record which didn’t contain any name or identity.

Liu Binglan could freely enter the Di Sheng Domain without her soul contract being sealed. Maybe this anonymous record indeed denoted her entry time.

Upon comparison, Chu Mu swiftly discovered that the exact moment Liu Binglan had led him into the Di Sheng Domain was during the World Decree twelve years ago.

“The timeline aligns perfectly, so this could definitely mean something.” Ye Qingzi calmly uttered, while scrutinizing the record.

Chu Mu nodded in agreement, though he was left puzzled over the link between the defecting girl and the World Decree.

“There can be many possibilities at this point, rashly speculating now won’t lead us to any conclusion.” Ye Qingzi continued.

“Let’s go back to the Healing Hall to check it out. I have given some items to Teacher De, perhaps he could unearth something from them.” Chu Mu said.

…

Soon, Chu Mu took Ye Qingzi back to the Healing Hall, where Teacher De had just completed his appraisal on a bunch of miscellaneous items and had them all laid out in front of Chu Mu. And then, he pointed at them and said, “Those leaves belong to the Ghost Spider Flower Demon. They have been specially enhanced, thus they had not decayed in the soil for quite a long time. The ores are somewhat rare, which could be used to create soul armours. As for those petals, I don’t know what they are. They might be too eroded to identify, or they could be some Plant Spirit Beasts that have not been striven for in the Pet Compendium yet.”

” Anything else noteworthy? Could those corroded petals be the petals of Di Sheng Flower?” Chu Mu inquired.

“No, they could possibly be from other biological creatures.” Teacher De shook his head.

Disappointment flashed across Chu Mu’s face. After a moment, he seemed to recall that there were some metals among the items. He asked, “What about the metals?”

“Oh, that’s Sun Gold, a ridiculously expensive metal on the market. It is usually fashioned into exquisite ornaments, like rings, bracelets, badges, and the like.” Teacher De replied.

“The Glory Badge of the World Decree is also forged from Sun Gold.” informed Ye Qingzi, who as a Spirit Master, was quite versed in all sorts of materials.

Ye Qingzi’s comment brought about a realization for Chu Mu.

“Teacher De, approximately for how long has this piece of Sun Gold been corroded?” asked Chu Mu.

“Somewhere between ten and fifteen years, why the sudden interest in this? Shouldn’t a young man like you be more concerned about powerful Soul Pets?” replied Teacher De.

After Teacher De finished speaking, Ye Qingzi and Chu Mu both fell deep into thought. After a while, it seemed they both found the answer in their heart!

At least, the owner of this badge could possibly give Chu Mu the clues he needed!!

“At the World Decree twelve years ago, was the Di Sheng Domain open to the contestants?” Chu Mu asked the elder Spirit Master.

Being senior among Soul Hall members, surely Teacher De would know about such past happenings.

“I believe it was.” Teacher De replied with uncertainty.

“Was there ever an instance of a contestant, specifically a girl, going into it and never coming out?” Chu Mu continued to ask.

Chu Mu’s current theory was that the defecting girl could likely be a female Soul Pet trainer who, like him, had entered the Di Sheng Domain for an Honor Challenge during the World Decree twelve years ago. However, due to some special circumstances within the Di Sheng Domain, she had turned into a half-human and half-pet.

Due to certain reasons, her identity might have been easily exposed by the Holy Guards, so she had been waiting in the Di Sheng Domain for someone else to join her in the hope that they could help her escape.

“I’ll have to check my records for that. Remembering such long-past events is not easy for an old man like me.” Teacher De responded willingly.

After Teacher De left, Chu Mu shared his speculations with Ye Qingzi.

Initially, Ye Qingzi too had the same thoughts. Nonetheless, she felt that the situation might not be that simple. The main reason was that if the girl really was a contestant of the World Decree, she should have known it was almost impossible to find someone to sign the soul pact within the Di Sheng Domain… All in all, this theory seemed plausible, but there were also some points that couldn’t be clearly explained.

Teacher De, the old spirit master, soon walked out, his expression quickly becoming more solemn.

Both Chu Mu and Ye Qingzi could see the change in the old spirit master’s expression and suspected that there must be more to the story.

“I’ve checked and made comparisons. That piece of metal is indeed a badge from The World Decree Honor Challenge. Indeed, a Soul Pet Master did enter there that year, but there were no records of anyone dying or disappearing…” After the old spirit master finished speaking, he deliberately looked up, fixing his gaze behind Chu Mu and Ye Qingzi.

Chu Mu and Ye Qingzi realized someone else had entered the room. They turned around to find Lord Yu, who looked solemn and serious, standing there.

“Lord Yu?” Chu Mu said in surprise.

Standing behind Chu Mu and Ye Qingzi was indeed Lord Yu, who maintained his serious demeanor the entire time!

“I found the matter you were investigating peculiar, so I decided to check it out,” Lord Yu said.

Old Spirit Master De glanced at Lord Yu and said, “Why don’t you ask Lord Yu for yourselves.”

With those words from Master De, Chu Mu’s eyes widened, his gaze fixed on Lord Yu…

A bitter smile appeared on Lord Yu’s face as he slowly began to speak, “The person you’re looking for from twelve years ago probably is one of my friends. In fact, when you insisted on entering the Di Sheng Domain, I guessed that you might be going for that matter, even though I only had a vague idea…”

“Then why didn’t you just tell me what I wanted to know directly?” Chu Mu was confused, and he couldn’t even understand how this matter could possibly relate to Lord Yu.

Lord Yu sat down, took the badge from the old spirit master, stared at it for a while before saying, “Don’t read too much into it. I was just an outsider who stumbled upon the scene. I only vaguely sensed that there was something terrible hidden in the Di Sheng Domain from my friend’s situation.”

“My friend’s name was Hao Ting. He was 29 at the time, his last opportunity to participate in The World Decree. Without hesitation, he chose the Di Sheng Domain during the hunting segment. He wasn’t from our Soul Hall and didn’t know about the Di Sheng Domain, so he especially came to ask me about it, hoping to successfully traverse the domain.”

Chu Mu and Ye Qingzi sat down, listening intently to Lord Yu’s account, feeling there might be an even bigger event hidden behind this.

“Hao Ting returned without any incidents, but after his return, he hardly communicated with me. At first, I thought he was upset because he didn’t capture any high-difficulty soul pets, so I didn’t pay much attention. But later, I gradually noticed a more serious problem.”

“What problem?” Chu Mu asked.

“His character changed, it was no longer the Hao Ting I knew. He and I had been brothers all along. I knew him better than anyone else. He could deceive others but he definitely couldn’t fool my eyes.” When it came to the situation back then, Lord Yu’s emotion clearly changed.

Change of character? Chu Mu immediately thought about the Defecting Girl’s Flower Demon Technique. Since Lord Yu’s friend’s Honor Challenge ended there, it implied that the person named Hao Ting most likely encountered the Defecting Girl.

Hao Ting’s soul contract was sealed, so it’s impossible for the Defecting Girl to take her out of the Di Sheng Domain through him. It’s very likely that she bewitched Hao Ting, implanted some frightening thoughts into his mind, and completely changed this person.

“Then what? Where is Hao Ting now, and has he done anything strange? Otherwise, how would you notice his change? What did you discover in the Di Sheng Domain?” Chu Mu immediately asked.

“Actually, I have no idea what happened in the Di Sheng Domain. I just know that he must have experienced something there that led to subsequent events,” Lord Yu said.

“The subsequent events?” Chu Mu really wanted to know what exactly Hao Ting did and whether he had indeed been controlled by the Defecting Girl.

If Hao Ting was indeed controlled by the Defecting Girl, then when the Defecting Girl entered the human world, she would definitely exploit him to carry out her intentions.

“What he did…” Lord Yu took a deep breath.

Looking at Lord Yu, even though the middle-aged man’s face didn’t reveal a trace of sorrow or bitterness and was still as serious and solemn as before, his presence now exuded a forlorn and helpless feeling.

“Let’s not talk about the earlier matters. This event you’re actually familiar with…” Lord Yu finally started talking.

“I know?” Chu Mu was even more puzzled.

“The death of my son, Yu Lang, was probably orchestrated by him…” Lord Yu said with a calm tone, yet he couldn’t hide the emotions within his heart.

Lord Yu’s words stunned Chu Mu once again!

Seeing the shock on Chu Mu’s face, Lord Yu didn’t deliberately conceal anything. He said, “Hao Ting, or the one who has been opposing me from behind the Business Association, is the person behind Shen Yicheng. He has done a lot of things only I am aware of. Initially, out of brotherly affection, I didn’t expose him. Later, his actions became more and more reckless, and in the end, I couldn’t find any flaws, only being able to covertly hinder his conduct…” Lord Yu articulated.

Chu Mu felt a tremor in his heart! What Lord Yu meant was that the person behind the puppet master, who had been stirring up conflicts between Soul Hall and Elemental Gate – these two major powers, might be his First Spirit Soul, the Defecting Girl!! (.)