Chapter 575 - 575 | Truth (I)

"Who… are you? Fang Chen? Crown Prince Ye?" 

Ye Tian Yun smiled upon hearing this question.

Without beating the bush, he answered without hesitation, "I am Crown Prince Ye Tian Yun."

"Crown Prince Ye Tian Yun…." Jun Xie frowned. The name felt familiar, but he couldn't point out where he had heard of this name.

"Are you from the Middle Heavens?" Jun Xie asked, "And where's Fang Chen?"

"Yes, I am from the Middle Heavens. It shouldn't be hard to guess since the Lower Heavens only have two crown princes, and none of them are Ye." Ye Tian Yun replied, "As for Fang Chen… he's dead."

"Fang's dead!?" Jun Xie took a deep breath, "How…?"

Ye Tian Yun said in response, "I killed him."?ℯ

"You… killed him…" Jun Xie frowned, a hint of anger appearing in his eyes, "When did you kill him? It shouldn't be recent since you knew I was coming, and you also… wait… you knew about me ever since we met in the banquet at that time… that means, you had already killed Fang Chen by then."

"That's correct." Ye Tian Yun nodded, "I encountered him when I was trying to infiltrate the Gracious Sword Sect."

"You…" Jun Xie gritted his teeth, "You killed him, used his disguise, and now you're even eating at the same table of your victim's family! Don't you feel… ashamed!? Don't you feel any guilt?"

Ye Tian Yun shook his head, "I would be lying if I said yes. Fang Chen was not a random person I encountered. It was a fateful day, because Fang Chen is a huge enemy of mine."

"Enemy?" Jun Xie frowned, "How is he your enemy? He's just a young master of a clan in the Lower Heavens, and you're the Crown Prince of the Great Ye Empire, am I right?"

"Well, I won't go into the details," Ye Tian Yun replied, "But he was someone I wouldn't have left alive at any cost. Jun Xie, there are many things which you're unaware of, and Fang Chen was someone who was responsible for the death of two of my closest people."

"Two…?" Jun Xie frowned.

"Well, I won't tell you the details on how and when," Ye Tian Yun shook his head, "But one of them was your father."

"My father!?" Jun Xie was taken aback, "How can he harm my father? Don't tell me you can't tell me the details? Is someone stopping you?"

Ye Tian Yun shook his head, "No one's stopping me. But honestly, it's just not worth it. But you can trust me on a few things; if Fang Chen were alive, you wouldn't be his friend right now, you wouldn't have any clue about your father, and you definitely wouldn't have received the spatial ring which your father prepared."

Jun Xie frowned, "Why should I trust you?"

"You don't have to," Ye Tian Yun shrugged, "Jun Xie, let me make this very clear before you start judging and making decisions - it's not me who needs help, but it's you. Also, why do you think I would reveal anything to you about your father or give you that spatial ring?"

"To use me… against my clan?"

"Bah!" Ye Tian Yun rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Don't overestimate yourself. To me, your status and standing mean nothing. I did it because of two reasons - I owe too much to your father, and the second reason is I don't want you to go around aimlessly looking for your clan."

Jun Xie pursed his lips, "Crown Prince Ye, are you pitying me?"

Ye Tian Yun shook his head, "There's nothing to pity you for. You're a grown-ass young man with good talent. Your clan is still alive; you have high cultivation talent and huge potential as an alchemist. You also have someone you love and who loves you back. Why should I pity you? Just because you don't know who your father is? No, that's not enough to earn my pity."

"Then?" Jun Xie asked, "You gave me those two reasons, but were they enough for you to help me this much?"

Ye Tian Yun nodded, "Not both, but the first reason - your father. He's the only reason why I even consider you, even though I promised myself not to trust anyone in my life."

"You said you have known my father since the day you were born…" Jun Xie said with a lowered gaze, "Is he related to the Great Ye Clan?"

"Kind of," Ye Tian Yun nodded, "You see, our fathers are like brothers. But officially, your father is my Butler."

"Butler…." Jun Xie's eyes twitched.

Ye Tian Yun smiled, "Don't underestimate your father. Earlier I didn't used to think much about him either but in recent months… I know for sure that he's hiding his real identity."

"He's hiding?"

"Yes." Ye Tian Yun nodded, "I don't know the reason why, but for that same reason, he couldn't take you to the Middle Heavens when you were injured a few months ago."

"What!?" Jun Xie was even more surprised, "What do you mean? My father actually came to see me!?"

Ye Tian Yun nodded his head, "Yeah. Weren't you injured in the Silver Mist City? How do you think you were able to recover so fast? How do you think you even survived that attack?"

"This…" Jun Xie opened his eyes wide in surprise, "Wasn't it because of the pendant… wait! How do you know about Silver Mist City? Did my father tell you?"

"No," Ye Tian Yun shook his head, "Why would he tell me if I was there too. I witnessed everything with my own eyes."

"You…" Jun Xie ended up even more confused, "Were you not in the Gracious Sword Sect?"

Ye Tian Yun shook his head, "I wasn't. I was with you the whole time."

"What… but I didn't see you…"

Ye Tian Yun smiled, and without any other word, he put the palm of both hands on his face and rubbed his face. He then moved them and turned his head towards Jun Xie.

"You… you… you are Kai Yang!?"