Chapter 2886: A Paper Cut-out  

Lu Tianyi was surprised by Lu Yin’s request, but he joined him in visiting Virtue Archives.

But when they arrived at Virtue Archives, they learned that Prof. Wei had already left.

"Prof. Wei left? When?" Lu Yin looked solemn.

Headmaster Wen replied, "It's been some time."

"Headmaster, please show us where Prof. Wei lives."

Headmaster Wen hesitated briefly, but he still led the two men to Prof. Wei’s quarters.

Prof. Wei was a woman who disguised herself as a man. She had never explicitly resigned from the academy, but had rather taken a leave of absence for a while. It was not exactly appropriate for Headmaster Wen to show the two men to the woman’s quarters, but it was clear from Lu Yin’s expression that something was not quite right.

After all, even Senior Lu Tianyi had tagged along.

They soon ascended one of the stone columns and arrived at Prof. Wei's residence.

Lu Yin had visited this place many times in the past, but he had always spoken to Prof. Wei with the identity of Yu Hao. During those visits, they would often speak about history and current events.

Lu Yin had a good impression of Prof. Wei from his interactions with her, and he had never dreamed that the woman would be connected to the Lu family’s exile, or be somehow related to Bai Xian'er.

Upon opening the door, they were greeted by the sight of a very simple room with nothing special about it. There was not even the smallest sign that a woman had lived here. It had also clearly been cleaned up, as the only thing out of place was a paper cut-out.

On the table lay a single piece of paper that had been cut to form the character for Wei.[1]

"There’s nothing here. Prof. Wei is a very tidy person. This paper cut-out may be her gift to the academy, as she quite enjoys making paper cut-outs," Headmaster Wen said with a sigh.

Lu Yin glanced around, only to find that there was something wrong with Lu Tianyi’s expression. "Ancestor?"

Lu Tianyi picked up the paper cut-out. "Let's go."

The two men quickly left Virtue Archives and returned to the Lu Sanctum. Along the way, Lu Tianyi continued to stare at the paper cut-out in a daze.

Once they had returned, Lu Yin asked, "Ancestor, is there something wrong with this paper cut-out?"

Lu Tianyi took a deep breath. "When I was a child, someone gave me a paper cut-out, and it was exactly the same as this one."

Lu Yin's expression changed. When had Lu Tianyi been a child? That was a bit extreme, as it meant that it had happened during the Heavens Sect era.

"Ancestor, are you saying that you saw this same paper cut-out during the Heavens Sect era?" Lu Yin asked.

Lu Tianyi finally turned to look at Lu Yin. "Are you certain that you saw Prof. Wei come out of Bai Xian'er's body?"

Lu Yin nodded. "Absolutely."

Lu Tianyi's expression grew solemn. "You asked before if the seal on your back had any connection at all to Bai Xian'er. I can no longer give you an answer. If Prof. Wei was the one who blocked me that day, then it is not impossible for her to have also interfered with your seal. It’s certainly possible. Xiaoxuan, we need to find Bai Xian'er."

The two of them did not dally for even a moment, and they immediately made their way to the Cyclic Universe to find Bai Xian'er.

When Chu Jian saw the two men arrive, he instantly felt a headache approaching.

"Where is Bai Xian'er?" Lu Yin asked bluntly.

Chu Jian was instantly on edge. "Lord Lu, Senior Tianyi, what do you want with my senior sister?"

"I need to ask her something," Lu Yin replied. "You don’t need to worry. I won't take any actions against her. If I was going to do anything like that, I’d go find Bai Wangyuan or one of the others, not Bai Xian'er."

Chu Jian considered the matter, but then he realized that Lu Yin’s words made sense. If the Lu family wanted to eliminate traitors, they really should go after Bai Wangyuan first. Taking revenge on Bai Xian'er would be seen as a joke by everyone. "My senior sister volunteered to serve on the Endless Frontier."

"Which parallel universe is she in?"

"I don't know. She simply told me that she was heading to the Endless Frontier, which is good enough. There’s no need for her to report her whereabouts to me. Also, there’s no need to bother asking anyone else, as no one knows where she went."

"When did she leave?"

"Just now."

The two men left the Cyclic Universe.

"Bai Xian'er most likely isn’t deliberately avoiding us. She couldn't possibly know that I learned the truth of what happened. Still, the fact that she just left is too much of a coincidence," Lu Yin commented.

Lu Tianyi frowned. "I was careless."

Lu Yin felt confused for a moment, but then a realization startled him, and he smiled bitterly. "Yes, we were careless."

While it was certainly impossible for Bai Xian'er to know that Lu Yin had seen the truth through Ye Bo's memory, it was possible for her to have put an early warning system in place.

Prof. Wei had emerged from Bai Xian'er's body, and that same woman had deliberately left a paper cut-out in Virtue Archives. It was possible that the paper cut-out had been some sort of warning system; Bai Xian’er might have been alerted the moment that paper was touched. It was even possible that she had instantly known who had touched the cut-out.

Lu Yin and Lu Tianyi had gotten so caught up in their search for Prof. Wei that they had never considered what she might be capable of. They had indeed been careless.

"If we’re right, then it's basically impossible for us to find Bai Xian'er. She might have even deliberately lied to Chu Jian about going to the Endless Frontier. He would have no reason to suspect her or question what she told him." Lu Yin felt rather helpless.

Lu Tianyi looked very serious. "Don't worry about her for the time being. She will show up one of these days. Let's be sure to protect the Origin Universe and deal with matters one by one."

Lu Yin agreed. There were too many matters that needed to be dealt with, and there was no need to rush through them.

Step by step, they were getting closer to the truth. Once everything became clear, they would be able to resolve such matters.

As soon as Lu Tianyi returned to Lu Sanctum, Lu Yin went to the Middle Realm, to a very ordinary city on a coast. This was the location of the last person that Ye Bo had possessed, and Lu Yin had also Possessed that man.

Within the city, in an ordinary house, a middle-aged man was holding a scroll, staring at it with a joyful expression. There were also several people standing in front of the man’s desk, anxiously waiting.

After a while, the middle-aged man lowered the scroll. "Alright, go back. I will accept your children."

"Thank you, Senior! Thank you!" The people quickly thanked the man.

Satisfied, the middle-aged man picked up his tea cup and took a sip.

"Will the students that you teach all have the same extreme personality as you?" a voice suddenly asked from behind the man.

The middle-aged man was startled, and he spun around to look.

Lu Yin was staring at the man with open interest.

"Who are you?" the middle-aged man shouted.

"Ye Bo, I’ve found you."

The middle-aged man's pupils shrank, and he reflexively attacked. However, Lu Yin easily took control of the situation. The man looked at Lu Yin, and his consciousness erupted. Ye Bo wanted to possess Lu Yin's body, but he was rejected by Lu Yin.

"You?"

Lu Yin casually forced the middle-aged man to the floor and looked down at him. "I feel sorry for you. You were clearly very talented, but you were taken advantage of. Your extreme personality did not even allow you to die in peace. Ye Bo, go now in peace.”

The middle-aged man struggled against Lu Yin. "I simply want to spend this time peacefully. Who are you? How did you find me? Release me!"

Lu Yin sighed. If not for seeing Ye Bo’s memory of the Lu family's exile, the remnant consciousness would have died without ever being able to say a word.

"You can give me your last words," Lu Yin calmly stated.

The middle-aged man ground his teeth. He looked over at the scroll that had fallen to the ground, and shouted, "There is too much injustice in this world! I simply desire fairness! Is that so wrong?"

Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "What you consider fairness is not fair to those who have worked hard."

After those words were spoken, the man’s body disappeared.

At the same time that the middle-aged man’s consciousness was destroyed, so was Ye Bo’s.

Lu Yin could have left Ye Bo to live out the rest of his days. The consciousness was fading, and it was almost entirely gone. However, Lu Yin had made it a point to find and destroy Ye Bo because the identity was very useful. After all, Ye Bo had been in contact with Cheng Kong.

Lu Yin’s Senior Brother Mu Xie had learned about Ye Bo through Origin Tracer, and he had told Lu Yin that, while Aeternus had wanted to recruit Ye Bo, they had never been able to really contact the person. But from his recent Possession, Lu Yin had learned that this was not actually accurate.

Cheng Kong had made contact with Ye Bo in the form of bubbles. At the time, Ye Bo had been possessing someone’s body, but Cheng Kong had been certain that he had not met the real Ye Bo. Even so, Cheng Kong had not been able to find the true Ye Bo.

Without Possessing Ye Bo or tracing him through time like Mu Xi had done, it would be hard for anyone to imagine that Ye Bo had been a consciousness that relied on resentment and hatred as a means to persist.

Ye Bo had not known who Cheng Kong was. Ye Bo had not had any ambition, and he had only lived to target humans. It was impossible for such a being to join Aeternus, but they had managed to manipulate Ye Bo and align their goals.

However, the fact that Cheng Kong had made contact with Ye Bo meant that Cheng Kong had visited the Origin Universe. Cheng Kong had not limited himself to the Sixverse Association, as had been previously assumed.

Lu Yin returned to the Heavens Sect and secretly sent out orders to all of the Heavens Sect’s Progenitors who were helping to protect the Sixverse Association. As soon as any of them found any trace of Bai Xian'er, they were to immediately report it to the sect.

A few days later, a man arrived at the Heavens Sect and requested to meet with Lu Yin. He was Zuo Lao.

Zuo Lao had arrived as the Transcendent Universe’s representative in a bid to purchase materials from the Origin Universe.

Lu Yin did not even meet with the man. The request had been made, as the Transcendent Universe wanted to purchase materials from both the Origin Universe and the Voidforce Universe. However, Lu Yin intended to speak with Lord Wei in person.

Given that Zuo Lao was unable to even see Lu Yin, the man had no choice but to return.

He proceeded to the Voidforce Universe to meet with the Xu Yang and Xu Yin clans, again to purchase materials, only to receive the same welcome.

Lu Yin's influence throughout the Sixverse Association was so extensive that it had surpassed even Lord Wei’s.

Lord Wei had never had any interactions with Xu Heng or Xu Leng, but they both viewed Lu Yin as their junior brother.

Desperate, Zuo Lao could only return to the Transcendent Universe and deliver Lu Yin's message.

Lu Yin soon received word that Lord Wei had left seclusion and wanted to meet with him.

Lu Yin left the Heavens Sect and entered the Transcendent Universe. Finally, he was going to meet Lord Wei. Lu Yin was very curious about just what the man was thinking.

In the Transcendent Universe, Lu Yin met with Lord Wei on a very ordinary planet. The only thing unusual about the planet was the massive bestowal art carrier off in the distance. This planet was just a short ways away from the Transcendent Universe’s warfront, and it was easy to see the warfront.

Lu Yin saw Lord Wei.

This time, Lord Wei looked completely different from what Lu Yin had seen during the Tea Ceremony. This time, Lord Wei was a woman.

"Lord Lu, I heard that you wished to see me." Lord Wei had a clear and ethereal voice that was very pleasant to hear.

However, Lu Yin felt a little odd, as he knew this was not Lord Wei's previous body.

"Lord Wei, you had a rather decent appearance at the Tea Ceremony, so why did you change it?" Lu Yin asked calmly. While he was quite angry with Lord Wei, Lu Yin would not show that.

Lord Wei gave a small smile. "I am neither male nor female. Lord Lu should understand that there is no need for me to maintain a particular image."

As she spoke, the woman stared at Lu Yin. "Why do you wish to see me, Lord Lu?"

Lu Yin replied with his own question, "As the ruler of one of the Sixverse Association’s universes, do I need a special reason to meet the ruler of the Transcendent Universe?"

"Yes. Bai Qian rules this universe for me, as did He Ran before her. They are able to make any of the decisions necessary, and I have not met with Lord Xu or any of the other rulers for a very long time. I did not even attend the previous Tea Ceremony," Lord Wei calmly replied. There was no denying that the woman was stunningly beautiful. Even if she was not as impressive as He Ran, Lord Wei’s current form had no need for any arrogance. Her aura was different from that of a domineering man.

Lu Yin apologized, "So that's the case. I thought that Lord Wei was deliberately avoiding me."

Lord Wei gazed at Lu Yin with a hint of a smile.

Lu Yin continued, "That’s a fault of mine. The more that others avoid me, the more determined I become to meet with them. I’ve greatly inconvenienced you this time, Lord Wei. I apologize."