Star Gate

Chapter 736: You Have Bad People Working For You (III)

The Inspectorate.

The inspector general was reading a book when sounds of discourse traveled into his ear. He swept a look at those standing a little below him. “So he’s back,” the inspector general said indifferently. “Are we to throw him a welcome party?”

“Sir, we heard that Li Hao wishes to take over the Night Watchers, and there’s even rumors from the palace that he wishes to establish a tenth ministry...”

“Will it be that easy?” laughed the inspector general. “He won’t reach that goal even if he starts another battle. The nine ministries aren’t just formed on the basis of military strength. You guys wouldn’t understand it if I spoke of it.”

The man shook his head. “He doesn’t stand much of a chance in annexing the Night Watchers. It also depends on the Night Watchers themselves. They are kindly disposed toward him at the moment because Yao Si helped him before. But once Yao Si recoils from the demand, the rest will swiftly sever their ties with Li Hao. The young man will know then how erroneous this impulse was!”

Yao Si had finally revitalized the Night Watchers that he’d painstakingly built up. Would he agree to just handing over the fruits of his labor?

The inspector general felt that Li Hao was playing with fire. The young man had finally pulled some people to his side, why was he in such a rush? Ah, the young. They can’t keep their impatience in check!

The nine ministries were waiting to watch a show! The royal family didn’t care about these either way. If Li Hao succeeded, that was a slap at the nine ministries' face. If not, failure wouldn’t lose them anything either. So therefore, they were happy to build up Li Hao’s reputation for him.

......

Everyone on all sides discussed Li Hao’s return.

In the tattered yard of the Skystar commander’s temporary office. Li Hao had just brought Deputy Zhou and the others inside when Yun Yao’s eyes widened among the Demon Hunters. She seemed to have seen someone special.

There was a tiny figure standing at a corner, sneaking looks around like it was a thief. Yun Yao was dressed in armor and didn’t reveal her true face. Her expression shifted when she looked in the corner and she whispered to Liu Long next to her, “Troop leader, I need to take care of some business. I’ll be right back.”

“Now?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t run off and be careful!” Liu Long frowned slightly.

“I know.” Yun Yao didn’t say anything else before walking off. Liu Long looked solemnly after her, but didn’t say anything. The martial masters of Silver Moon all had their own stories. He was powerless to do anything at times. Although Li Hao was strong now, he didn’t wish to create too much trouble for the young man. Some matters were not so easily resolved.

......

Yuqi was sizing up the situation. Li Hao had left right after taking her in and departed for a week. She was feeling very anxious lately as her younger brother was outside. She couldn’t stay here forever. What if he starved to death while she was in here?

Although she’d given her savings to Yuming when she left, he liked to waste money and help whoever he ran into. He never considered that he was in dire straits as well. She had to leave! Now that Li Hao was back and she wasn’t sure when he would help the Yun family air their grievances, she should go back first instead of continuing to wait here.

She watched Li Hao lead people into the hall, thinking that she would go to him as soon as he emerged again. As she thought through what she wanted to do next, she suddenly sensed another presence beside her. Yuqi tilted her head to find a soldier in black armor next to her. A wary look immediately entered her eyes as she was still cautious of these soldiers. The Black Armaturas of the royal family also wore similar equipment.

Granted, these soldiers didn’t seem to have anything to do with the royal family. They wore Battle Heaven armor.

The soldier in black armor stood still, simply watching her. As minutes dragged on to the point in which Yuqi wanted to run, a voice suddenly rasped by her ear. “What is your name?”

Yuqi looked at the soldier doubtfully.

“You are sixteen this year and you have a younger brother who is one year younger than you. Am I right?”

Yuqi’s expression shifted drastically and she whirled around to run. Only a few kids in the slums knew about her younger brother. Had something happened to him??

“Do you not know me anymore, Little Qi?” The visor vanished to reveal Yun Yao’s face.

Yuqi turned for a look, confusion on her face as well as uncertainty. She didn’t make a sound as she stared cautiously at the soldier.

“It’s me!”

Yuqi was still mute. She recognized the face—although there’d been some changes, it was mostly the same as before. However, the owner of the face was dead! She’d seen it with her own eyes! Liar... this must be an imposter...

It was said that some supernaturals could change their appearance, so this must be a fraud! Yuqi remained on high alert and looked at the hall in the distance. “What do you want? This is the Skystar Commander Office, Commander Li is just inside!”

“Ai!” sounded an emotional sigh of anguish. “Aren’t you and Yuming... dead?”

“What’s Yuming?” Yuqing’s expression shifted again.

“I’m your youngest aunt, have you forgotten?” Yun Yao hesitated, but spoke her mind in the end, “There’s a small scar on your waist from when I babysat you when you were young. You were accidentally burned...”

Yuqi looked skeptically at the woman, uncertain and incredulous. She shook her head after a long moment. “No, you’re not... Auntie is dead...” She quickly ran toward the great hall.

Yun Yao blinked, paused, and chose not to pursue the girl. Incredulity also filled her heart, as well as confusion. So her niece and nephew were alive??

......

Inside the great hall.

Li Hao was conversing with Deputy Zhou and the others when someone stormed in. The young man furrowed his brows at the interruption, then quickly smoothed them out. Could she not wait any longer? But the matter of the Yuns was not easy to take care of. The little girl was impatient.

Of course, anyone would be in a hurry to avenge a debt of blood. He wanted to rush to the Red Moon headquarters at times and take out Ying Hongyue. But since his strength did not permit such a course of action, he had to wait.

“Milord, you have bad people working for you!” Yuqi’s words caused Li Hao to blink. Bad people?

Yun Yao appeared at the door in the next moment; she didn’t say anything. Li Hao stared at her, then looked at Yuqi, then back at Yun Yao.

Yun Yao...

Surely not?

Yun Haoran... Yun Yao... was there a connection between them?

Li Hao’s frown deepened. Liu Long walked in moments later. He looked at Yun Yao, but the latter was silent. She simply looked at Yuqi, as if contemplating something. On the other hand, the girl was noticeably nervous. She looked at Yun Yao, then at Li Hao, not knowing what to say. She was worried that this person was a supernatural in disguise. If she started talking, she would reveal more secrets.

Yun Yao spoke as she hesitated, “She should be my niece, the daughter of my second brother.” The look in Yun Yao’s eyes was complicated. “I’m not sure if she is... If she is, then this matter is very complicated.”

Li Hao’s frown remained. Yun Yao seemed both agitated but perfectly calm. Why was that?

“You are Yun Haoran’s youngest daughter?”

“Yes.” Yun Yao was as calm as usual and looked at Deputy Zhou. “I am. I escaped from this place five years ago and went to Silver City because I heard that there are secrets in Silver City that can overturn this world.”

She hadn’t traveled to Silver Moon on a whim. She’d purposefully gone to Silver City to search for such a secret. It was a sad pity that she didn’t discover anything.

“Deputy Zhou, Martial Uncle He, please leave for a moment. I’d like to speak to them!” Li Hao suddenly asked the people he’d been conversing with to leave.

He Yong was curious and wanted to know more gossip, but had to leave without a word upon seeing that Li Hao was looking at him. What secrets are there that I cannot know of? Isn’t it just Yun Haoran’s daughter and granddaughter? Pfft!

He truly didn’t care. So what if he’d known Yun Haoran? The guy was dead! There weren’t that many who cared about the Yuns now. Even if people knew these two were alive, what else about them was worthy of attention other than the ruins that the family had controlled?

Deputy Zhou also slowly plodded away, not saying anything after glancing at Yun Yao.

......

There was only Li Hao, Liu Long, Yun Yao, and Yuqi left after everyone else cleared out.

“Commander Li, is she... not transformed from a supernatural?” Yuqi asked with trepidation.

“No.”

Yuqi immediately grew agitated and wanted to say something, but became nervous again when she saw Yun Yao’s calm expression. Her auntie did not seem moved at all—she’d seemed emotional at first.

Yun Yao looked at her, then said after a while, “Little Qi, you should leave for now!”

“You...”

“I have matters to discuss with the leader.”

Although questions swirled in Yuqi’s heart—for example, she didn’t know why her auntie had risen from the dead or wanted her to leave at the moment—she still did as she was told. She kept looking at Yun Yao, trying to determine if she was the Yun relative that Yuqi knew.

......

Yun Yao sighed after Yuqi left, first regarding Li Hao, then Liu Long. “I told the chief this when I went to Silver City five years ago. I come from Skystar City and many people wanted to kill me. I owe deep gratitude to the chief for taking me in and not abandoning me just because people were after me.”

“I’ve heard of Headmaster Yun’s name,” Liu Long rumbled. “And didn’t say much before. So it looks like his matter is not yet over?”

“Mmhmm.” Yun Yao inclined her head. “Of course not. I took the key to the ruins that my father controlled. That’s part of it as many parties are highly concerned about those ruins.” She turned to Li Hao and said slowly, “The ruins that my father grasped were far from ordinary. There were many powerhouses in the ancient civilization and endless heavyweights. The ruins that the Yun family controlled did not belong to a supreme powerhouse and perhaps did not leave much of a mark in ancient history. However, my family knew that this person must be extraordinary...”