Chapter 266: Chapter 266: Endurance in Secrecy
The identity of Qin Yanyang caused a huge shock throughout the Tong Family.
After the members of the Binhai Martial Alliance brought by Li Zhengyi paid tribute to Tong Yan, they came to stand by Qin Yanyang’s side, not leaving her.
Qin Yanyang said with a stern expression, "Deacon Li, as a Binhai Martial Alliance Deacon, did you not know about the major incident that happened at the Tong Family yesterday evening?"
Sweat immediately broke out on Li Zhengyi’s forehead. He cleared his throat and said with his head bowed, "I apologize, Elder Qin, I have been negligent in my duties. Indeed, I didn’t know about this matter. If it weren’t for seeing the obituary message from the Tong Family this morning, I would still be unaware."
Qin Yanyang snorted but did not punish Li Zhengyi, because she had heard about yesterday evening’s events from Yang Fei and knew that even if Li Zhengyi had known, nothing would have changed.
Those people are well-known figures in the Divine Continent Martial World, and one of them is even a major figure whom she would have to pay respectful greetings to on sight.
Yet Tong Yan’s death infuriated Qin Yanyang beyond measure.
Those people were too reckless, too lawless.
Tong Yan had such a good reputation in the Martial Arts World, was kind to others, never made enemies, and had made significant contributions to both the Martial World and the nation. Yet those people laid hands on him, which was really too much.
The Martial Artists in the Late Stage Internal Strength are very precious and shouldn’t be killed easily. Those in the Energy Transformation Realm are the main force of various countries’ Martial Worlds.
And a Unique Tier expert like Tong Yan is a treasured resource of martial force in any country or power, extremely precious.
But now Tong Yan is dead.
The audacity of those people is getting bigger and bigger, more and more unrestrained.
For their selfish desires, they actually dared to strike down an old senior like Tong Yan so brazenly.
It was indeed excessive.
As a Martial Alliance Elder and a person full of righteousness, Qin Yanyang would not let Tong Yan die in vain.
She stared at Li Zhengyi and said, "I don’t know the ins and outs of this matter, but I am very clear about the people who came to kill Elder Tong Yan. These people violated the laws of the Martial Alliance and took it upon themselves to strike down a high being of the Martial World, which is a grievous crime. The Martial Alliance should capture them and hold them accountable."
Li Zhengyi began to tremble like he was sifting chaff, and the fine sweat on his forehead turned into large droplets.
How could he, a mere Deacon, handle such a big incident?
Although he didn’t know why Tong Yan died, the fact that the killer was able to take down a Unique Tier powerhouse like him showed that the assailant’s power was far beyond his imagination.
Such people, was he in a position to judge and arrest?
But the misfortune had happened right under his jurisdiction.
He truly felt as if he had been cursed with bad luck for three generations.
While wiping sweat, Li Zhengyi nodded like a pecking chick, saying, "Yes... that’s right. But the matter is of great importance, and my authority is limited. I can only report to the Provincial Martial Alliance as soon as possible, and let the upper echelons of the Martial Alliance take care of it, I... I..."
Seeing his state, Qin Yanyang sighed internally, and instead of making it hard for him, she said, "I understand your difficulty, but as a local Deacon of the Martial Alliance, you have the responsibility and obligation to uphold and promote the laws of the Martial Alliance, so you just need to report the events exactly as they happened yesterday and post the facts through the local Martial Alliance forum."
Li Zhengyi felt relieved, but also extremely troubled at the same time.
He no longer had to personally confront the murderers. However, was it not just as troublesome for him to issue a condemnation of those murderers? Wouldn’t this also offend those powerful beings to death?
But now Elder Qin Yanyang, an elder from the Martial Alliance Headquarters, was watching him, instructing him to do so. Could he shirk his duty?
When immortals fight, the mortals suffer.
Li Zhengyi inwardly lamented, but he dared not defy Qin Yanyang’s will to his face and nodded, saying, "Yes, Elder Qin’s teachings are correct. Your subordinate will take care of it right away."
Qin Yanyang nodded with satisfaction, "Hmm, go and take care of it quickly. I will be watching."
Just as Li Zhengyi was about to leave, Tong Yunshu suddenly spoke up, "Old Li, please wait a moment."
Li Zhengyi halted his steps and turned to look at her.
When Yang Fei had a falling out with the Situ family, he had helped Yang Fei because of a phone call from Tong Yan, so he was already acquainted with Tong Yunshu.
Seeing Tong Yunshu call out to him now, he couldn’t help but feel puzzled and asked, "Yun Shu, do you have something you want to say?"
Tong Yunshu nodded and said, "Yes, indeed I do."
She looked toward Qin Yanyang with an expression of gratitude and spoke, "Thank you, Miss Qin, for standing up for justice on behalf of the Tong family and for upholding fairness. However, this is a private matter for our Tong Family, and we don’t want to cause trouble for the Martial Alliance or to put Old Li in a difficult position."
Qin Yanyang frowned and said, "Although this is your Tong family’s private affair, Tong Yan had a special status as one of the Martial Alliance’s patrons. His murder is a matter of great importance, and the Martial Alliance cannot fail to give an explanation to the people of the world."
Tong Yunshu nodded and replied, "I understand. But this was the dying wish of my Third Grandpa. He said that after his death, Miss Qin and many members of the Martial Alliance would seek justice for him. Yet, he mentioned that since he is already dead, he does not want to trouble the Martial Alliance or to plunge the Tong family into an even more dangerous situation. Therefore, he asked us not to seek revenge for him, not to investigate yesterday’s incident, and even chose to conceal everything that happened and not to speak of it."
Qin Yanyang listened with a furrowed brow, emotions welling up slightly in her.
She understood well the advice Tong Yan had given.
The old man had seen through everything and thus made his own arrangements.
If this matter were to come to light, the Tong family would be powerless to take revenge, and the Martial Alliance would face great trouble, even possibly causing chaos throughout the Divine Continent Martial World.
Tong Yan had thought first and foremost of the Tong Family’s wellbeing, and even more so of the stability and unity of the Divine Continent Martial World.
But the more he did so, the more intense the fire of anger in Qin Yanyang’s heart grew.
The Martial World is not a place outside the law, and since the Martial Alliance has its own rules and regulations, its members must abide by them.
Even the Unique Tier and National Guardian Level martial artists with their special statues must adhere to them; otherwise, what is the point of the Martial Alliance’s rules?
If this persists, where will justice and fairness be found in the Martial World?
"No, Elder Tong cannot die in obscurity like that, he..." Qin Yanyang said, her gaze resolute, shaking her head.
Before she could finish, Tong Yunshu interrupted, "Thank you, Miss Qin, for your care for the Tong family, but this was the last wish of my Third Grandpa. I hope you can respect his final decision."
Qin Yanyang opened her mouth, wanting to say more, when Yang Fei took hold of her hand.
Her feelings of agitation and indignation gradually calmed.
Yang Fei said, "Let’s honor Elder Tong’s last wish for now. Keep it a secret temporarily, and when the time is right, it will not be too late to make it public."
Qin Yanyang took a deep breath and looked at Yang Fei.
Yang Fei gave her a reassuring smile, "The decisions made by Elder Tong after deep contemplation can’t be wrong; you and I still need some time."
Qin Yanyang slowly calmed down, no longer insisting.
But deep in her heart, the anger grew even stronger.
She had dedicated her life to cleansing the Martial Alliance of lawlessness, refusing to allow it to become a place above the law for some. She would fight tenaciously for this cause all her life.
"Alright."
In the end, Qin Yanyang softly spoke a single word.
Li Zhengyi breathed a sigh of relief and looked gratefully at Tong Yunshu and Yang Fei.
Tong Yunshu silently clenched her fists.
The patience she was forced to exhibit now was necessary. Once she attained understanding of Third Grandpa’s Great Yellow Court insights and her cultivation advanced, no matter the dangers, she would seek justice for Third Grandpa’s death from those four individuals of yesterday.