Yin Yang Soul Searcher

On the outskirts of Beijing, at Shanhuguan.

Under the moonlight, the Taoist temple with its red walls and green tiles sits atop the mountain, its beams outlined in pale silver by the moonlight.

Below the mountain, the pines stretched as far as the eye could see. Those dark green pine needles, gleaming in the daytime, were now tinged with a moonlit white. Dewdrops dripped from the needles, striking the pine cones with a soft, echoing sound...

At this moment, in a small courtyard of the Taoist temple, under the moonlight, a crooked peach tree stands quietly in the courtyard. As a gentle breeze blows, the petals on the branches float lightly, like a dream.

Inside the room, a voluptuous woman in a Taoist robe sat on a chair, her full, pert buttocks taking up most of the space. Although the robe was loose, the woman's full, shapely figure was still clearly visible through it.

At this moment, the beautiful woman looked at the spirited young girl in front of her as if she were looking at her own child.

The girl's eyebrows were like distant mountains, unlike the gentle and delicate eyebrows of ordinary women. Her eyebrows had a touch of heroism, and her nose was high and straight with clean lines, like the mountains and rivers, adding a touch of firmness and strength to her beautiful face.

The young girl's posture was even more upright and sturdy; she looked like a soldier just standing there! This formed a stark contrast with the beautiful woman in front of her.

The beautiful woman couldn't help but sigh inwardly whenever she saw the girl's well-proportioned figure.

"Xiaoxue, are you getting used to staying in the Yin-Yang Palace?" The beautiful woman pulled the girl's hand and sat her down next to her.

Han Xueshan laughed heartily and sat down next to the beautiful woman. "It's alright, Master. I go out with that group of people every day to investigate cases and collect clues. It's quite fulfilling. It's just..."

"Just what?" the beautiful woman asked with a concerned smile.

"But I haven't had a chance to show off my skills. It's always cases that require me to use my brain. I feel like my cultivation has been neglected... and I don't even have time to hunt anymore..." Han Xueshan said somewhat embarrassedly.

Since joining the Yin-Yang Palace, I haven't had a proper sparring session with anyone of the same rank; all my opponents are of a different rank.

It seems the only time we sparred was with Bai Jueming, where the two sealed their cultivation levels for a duel. But that bastard was easily charmed by me, so beating him didn't feel very satisfying.

Upon hearing this, the beautiful woman frowned, her gentle face contorted, and she sharply poked Han Xue's forehead: "You brat, how many times have I told you? All you ever think about is fighting and killing. Did I send you to the Yin-Yang Palace for training so you could fight and kill?! What girl would enjoy hunting?!"

"But I don't know how to investigate cases," Han Xueshan said with a hint of grievance. "All I know is how to be a martial artist to protect others."

"Why did Master insist on sending me to the Yin-Yang Hall? When they're investigating cases, I feel like I can't help at all; I just listen to them nodding and analyzing. This isn't suitable for me..."

The beautiful woman sighed with a hint of helplessness: "I don't want you to learn how to solve cases. On one hand, I want you to be more gentle and use your brain more. Don't just resort to fighting when you encounter problems."

"Oh," Han Xueshan nodded, "I learned a lot too. I helped analyze the cases while they were investigating. And on the other hand?"

"On the other hand," a hint of reminiscence flickered in the beautiful woman's eyes, and she finally sighed softly, looking at the girl before her, "the other thing concerns your father..."

"My father's matter?" Han Xueshan's voice was tinged with sadness. "Didn't my father die three years ago when he suffered a qi deviation while practicing martial arts? What does this have to do with my going to the Yin-Yang Palace?"

"I lied to you." A sadness appeared on the beautiful woman's face. "You were too young then, and I didn't want you to know too much, as it wouldn't be good for your cultivation. You won't blame your master, will you?"

Han Xueshan held the beautiful woman's hand tightly and gently shook her head.

The beautiful woman reached out and gently stroked Han Xueshan's hair. Her voice was filled with sorrow: "Xiao Xue, do you know? Your father, Han Jiang, and the current Imperial Advisor were once close friends."

Han Xueshan was clearly unaware of this news, her sorrowful face showing a hint of surprise: "My father is actually friends with the Imperial Advisor? I don't think I knew anything about this; he never told me anything."

"Not to mention you, even my senior brother has never mentioned it to me." The beautiful woman sighed with a worried expression.

After saying this, the beautiful woman got up and walked to the window, looking at the peach tree under the moonlight, its red and white blossoms possessing a unique beauty.

"Xiaoxue, do you still remember Chen Shiyu, the infamous evil cultivator and master of the Shadow Pavilion?"

Han Xueshan walked to the beautiful woman's side, looking puzzled. "What's the relationship between my father and Chen Shiyu?"

However, he still nodded and said, "Of course I remember. Back then, this evil cultivator killed many disciples of righteous heroes and was despised by all the righteous people in the world. In the end, many righteous sects gathered together to attack Shadow Pavilion."

"Could it be that my father was also involved in that war?" Han Xueshan was puzzled. It seemed that my father did not have any disciples.

"Of course not. Our Mountain Tiger Temple is backed by the imperial court. We only need to focus on studying Taoist magic and will never get involved in the fighting and killing in the martial arts world." The beautiful woman shook her head.

"That year, many righteous heroes of the martial world besieged the Shadow Pavilion, which resulted in the Shadow Pavilion Master, Chen Shiyu, being seriously injured, and the Shadow Pavilion was almost destroyed as a result." At this point, the beautiful woman sighed, "Unfortunately, the righteous people still failed in the end."

"Chen Shiyu, this evil cultivator, is incredibly powerful. He single-handedly fought against half of the martial arts sects and yet he wasn't wiped out!"

"Later, in order to restore his cultivation and enhance his evil arts, Chen Shiyu began to slaughter the people."

"The Great Xia Dynasty could no longer tolerate this, so it had no choice but to send experts to uproot the Shadow Pavilion and finally capture its leader, Chen Shiyu, alive."

"The man who was entrusted with the critical mission and captured the Shadow Pavilion Master alive back then was none other than your father, Han Jiang!" The beautiful woman said, looking into Han Xueshan's eyes and enunciating each word clearly.

"Ah!" Han Xueshan looked surprised, clearly unaware of the matter.

At this point, a bitter look appeared on the beautiful woman's face. Yes, such a big matter was unknown not only to the still young Han Xueshan, but even to her junior sister.

"But what does this have to do with my father's death?" Han Xueshan asked.

"Your father was probably killed by the remnants of the Shadow Pavilion," the beautiful woman said, enunciating each word clearly.

"What?!" Han Xueshan exclaimed in shock. "My father could even capture Chen Shiyu alive, how could he be killed by that rabble?"

"These words were told to me by the Imperial Advisor," the beautiful woman said with a bitter smile, then continued.

"After your father captured Chen Shiyu alive, Yingge was basically destroyed, and the matter should have ended there. Later, General Wu Yong, who was guarding the border of Leizhou, went to war with Western Shu."

"The Imperial Advisor again sent your father to provide support. In that battle, your father was seriously wounded and had to withdraw from the battlefield. He needs to return to the capital as soon as possible to recuperate."

"But ever since your father said goodbye to Wu Yong and left Leizhou, he seems to have vanished without a trace." At this point, the beautiful woman frowned, her face showing confusion.

"How could my father have suddenly disappeared?"

The beautiful woman shook her head and continued, "The Imperial Advisor is furious about this and suspects that your father was secretly murdered. He has given orders to the spies and Yin-Yang masters embedded in various states of Great Xia: they must see him alive or dead!"

"At that time, all the secret agents and Yin-Yang masters in the various states of the Great Xia put down their cases and came out in full force! Starting from Leizhou, they began to investigate along the route your father took back to the capital."

"During that period, whether in remote mountains or bustling towns, the figures of Onmyoji could be found everywhere, making everyone in the martial arts world feel insecure and afraid of getting into trouble."

"My father and the Imperial Advisor are actually that close? Is it worth all this fuss?" Han Xueshan was clearly quite surprised, as she had never known about the relationship between her father and the Imperial Advisor.

"Your father's relationship with the Imperial Advisor goes far beyond that," the beautiful woman said, gently shaking her head.

"Because of this matter, the Imperial Advisor personally went to Leizhou. He was afraid, and he suspected that General Wu Yong of the border had framed your father."

"After arriving in Leizhou, he personally interrogated Wu Yong, who had a second-grade cultivation level, and finally confirmed that Wu Yong had not framed your father. Because of this, the Imperial Preceptor and Wu Yong had a very unpleasant falling out."

"This was also the only time he personally investigated a case since becoming the Imperial Advisor. Unfortunately, he ultimately failed to find your father's whereabouts. Those Yin-Yang Palace spies who failed to uncover any clues were also severely punished, and in the end, the matter was dropped."

"How could this all just fizzle out?" Han Xueshan asked. "Did all this mobilization only result in this?"

The beautiful woman nodded: "That's how it appears on the surface."

"We dispatched so many spies to search, but in the end, we found no clues. I also thought the Imperial Advisor had given up."

"Who would have thought that the Imperial Preceptor had not given up on this matter at all. He handed over his power to the Deputy Hall Master and then secretly went to Leizhou alone to investigate the matter, which eventually led him to discover clues about your father."

"Could it be that my father is still alive?" Han Xueshan asked, her voice trembling with emotion.

The beautiful woman looked at the little girl before her and shook her head with a hint of sadness: "Your father is dead. The Imperial Advisor told me this himself."

"I once asked the Imperial Advisor, 'Who killed your father?'"

"The Imperial Advisor told me that it was very likely that remnants of the Shadow Pavilion killed your father. When I asked him who the specific murderer was, he told me that he didn't know either."

"He doesn't know either?" Han Xueshan asked疑惑地, "Then what clues did the Imperial Advisor find?"

"The Imperial Preceptor told me that he discovered a battle site in a remote part of Weizhou. There he found traces of the Taoist magic your father used. You may not know this, but your father had reached the level where he could create his own Taoist magic, and his magic was unique. Based on this, the Imperial Preceptor concluded that your father was framed."

"So my father was this powerful." Han Xueshan seemed to be seeing her father for the first time; he was incredibly strong. Back then, her cultivation level was too low, and she had no idea of ​​her father's strength.

"He also found traces of the Shadow Pavilion's unique evil arts at the scene. In addition, your father once captured Chen Shiyu alive, and the two had a deep-seated hatred between them. Therefore, the Imperial Preceptor believes that your father's death must be related to the Shadow Pavilion."

"But he couldn't understand why Chen Shiyu, the Shadow Pavilion Master with the highest cultivation, was no match for your father. How could he have killed your father?"

"Therefore, the Imperial Advisor believes that someone else is behind your father's death. Or perhaps the traces of Shadow Pavilion's evil arts left at the scene were simply a setup to frame Shadow Pavilion!"

"I see. Did the Imperial Advisor finally find the murderer?" Han Xueshan asked somewhat uneasily.

The beautiful woman shook her head, her face slightly bitter: "No, all these years, the Imperial Advisor hasn't found even a single clue."

"Even the Imperial Advisor's methods can't uncover the mastermind behind this?" Han Xueshan was somewhat skeptical.

Indeed, who would have thought that this number one Yin-Yang Master, who once used every trick in the book to help the current Emperor Taikang ascend the throne and was the Grand Preceptor of the Great Xia Dynasty, who was second only to the Emperor, would now be unable to find out the real culprit who framed his senior brother for death.

"It's ironic, really," the beautiful woman said with a bitter smile. "The Imperial Advisor said he was just an ordinary person, and there were no clues about the murderer at the scene. So he didn't know who the murderer was either."

"Then my father died under mysterious circumstances! It was he who sent my father to Leizhou to help! Otherwise, how could my father have suffered such a calamity?" Han Xueshan's spirited face showed anger: "Does this kind of person deserve to be my father's close friend?"

"He's the Grand Preceptor of the Great Xia Dynasty. Even if he tries to fob us off with such words, what can we do about it?" The beautiful woman shook her head. "However, I don't think the Grand Preceptor is that kind of person."

"Otherwise, the Imperial Preceptor wouldn't have gone to such lengths to have the Yin-Yang Masters investigate the truth, thus offending Wu Yong and secretly going to Weizhou to investigate clues about your father."

"If he really wanted to hide the truth, or if he didn't care about your father's death at all, he wouldn't have needed to explain so many things to us."

The beautiful woman sighed: "The Imperial Advisor told me that he will spend his whole life investigating your father's case, and no matter who the murderer is, he will personally kill the murderer to avenge your father."

"I think the Imperial Advisor has no reason to deceive us with something like this."

Han Xueshan fell silent for a moment, the anger on her face gradually fading. Yes, why would the Imperial Advisor need to lie to them? If he wanted to fob them off, would he have said he would dedicate his life to investigating the murderer?

Moonlight streamed through the small window, illuminating Han Xueshan's cool profile. Suddenly, the beautiful woman turned around and placed her hands on Han Xueshan's shoulders.

"Xiaoxue, this is another reason why I sent you to the Yin-Yang Palace."

"Your father has been dead for three years. I want to know why the Imperial Advisor has not yet found out who killed him? Has he forgotten about it?"

"I sent you there so that the Grand Preceptor would see you, see the descendant of his former close friend, and be reminded of your father."

"Has the Imperial Advisor forgotten what he once said?"

Han Xueshan's face was bitter as she gently shook her head: "I've been in the Yin-Yang Palace for so long, and let alone seeing the Imperial Advisor, even the Imperial Advisor might not know whether I've come to the Yin-Yang Palace or not."

A look of sadness crossed the beautiful woman's face, and the two remained silent in the room for a long time.