Chapter 2165: Broken Finger
Tian Dou was too cunning and paranoid, and with Blackless God thrown into the mix, Lu Yin was absolutely certain that the two were not in the Human Domain at the moment.
On top of that, given the two’s strength, if they hid themselves, it would be incredibly difficult to find them again.
Lu Yin looked at Tong Yu, who was still in front of him. "You should be quite clear on the actions that your Specter clan have taken. Very few will be able to safely pass these investigations, and that includes you, Judicial Commissioner.”
"While I’m not sure about many of your activities, I do know that you helped the Neohuman Alliance with their attack on Gaia's Swamp and that you also killed Lǜ Yan. He was once a Judicial Commissioner, which makes your crime even worse."
Tong Yu looked around. She felt completely trapped. "Could you ask these Semi-Progenitors to not stare at me? I'm scared."
"Are you saying that the Judicial Commissioner of the Dark Supreme Court is afraid?" Lu Yin mocked the woman.
Tong Yu blinked. "Everyone fears something, Alliance Leader Lu. I know that you want to find our patriarch, but I can promise you that I really don’t know where he is."
Lu Yin’s eyes grew sharp. "Do you have anything from Tian Dou? Hair, blood, anything at all?"
As he spoke, something else occurred to him. "Does Tian Dou have any family members?"
Tong Yu shook her head. "He's always remained alone and has no family. In fact, we rarely ever see him at all."
Lu Yin looked around as he said, "The Specter Clan may end up being completely exterminated because of Tian Dou’s actions."
Tong Yu's golden eyes grew dim as they stared at Lu Yin. "The Specter clan follows the God of Death. You are the God of Death’s heir, so my Specter clan will always be loyal to you."
"Don’t bother telling me that stuff. If you were actually loyal to me, you wouldn’t have been as willing to serve Jue Yi for the past twenty years. You aren’t loyal to me, Lu Yin, but rather to the God of Death’s power. Your loyalty simply lies with whoever represents the God of Death, and I’ll never be comfortable with followers like that," Lu Yin retorted.
"If your death hadn’t been verified, our patriarch wouldn't have led our entire clan to ask Jue Yi for protection. I was the first among the Specter clan to seek you out and tell you that we wanted to follow you, Alliance Leader Lu. But unfortunately, you never believed us, even when I offered my life and death if it would help you," Tong Yu said.
Qing Ping turned to stare at Lu Yin, his gaze growing increasingly heavy.
Lu Yin's eye twitched, and he moved a bit further away. He did not want his senior brother to hear what was said.
Qing Ping was too rigid with his morals and would always take the higher road. If the man ever learned that Lu Yin had accepted gifts from the Specter clan, there might be trouble between the two of them. Even if the chance was tiny, Lu Yin’s greatest fear was that one of the Seven Skygods would contact him openly or even give him some assistance. Things would become very tricky if that ever happened.
It was even possible that the Specter clan might be aware of Shaman God’s plan.
"Alliance Leader Lu, I can tell you more, but please send the others away first. There are some things that should not be spread," Tong Yu asked with a smile. Her golden eyes never left Lu Yin.
Lu Yin replied in a flat tone, "Don't try to toy with me. You should already know that I can make you disappear whenever I wish. Right now, all I want is to find Tian Dou. There’s no reason for the rest of you to suffer because of him."
Tong Yu shrugged helplessly. "I really don't know where he is, and I honestly don’t even know what’s happened. Judging by the current state, it seems like our patriarch has escaped, and protecting him will not help me or my clan. There’s no reason for me to protect him, and it’s better for me to rely on you and wait for you to one day become the next God of Death. If that happens, maybe I’ll even become the matriarch of the Specter clan.”
Lu Yin already knew from Tian Dou's memories that Tong Yu knew nothing about Blackless God, and there really was no reason for the woman to protect Tian Dou. It was absolutely impossible for the man to ever show himself in public again, and Lu Yin knew that the man even had plans to rebuild Aeternus’s power.
"Who can help me find Tian Dou?" Lu Yin asked quietly.
Tong Yu considered the matter for a bit. "Silver."
This caught Lu Yin off guard. "Silver? He can find Tian Dou?"
"Possibly. He was an abandoned baby who was picked up by our patriarch. While our patriarch has no family of his own, Silver’s the closest thing to a relative that Tian Dou ever had.
"The rest of us know very little about Silver, and his powers are a mystery to us. Even though I am the Judicial Commissioner of the Dark Interstellar Supreme Court, I have no idea how Silver cultivates.
"On top of that, Corpse Beast was only given to Silver. Our Specter clan is not without other talented youths, but our patriarch focused the vast majority of the available resources into Silver. His favoritism has caused many people to believe that Silver might really be related to the patriarch."
Lu Yin turned and looked across the distance to stare at Silver.
Silver had been dragged along to the death energy site in the Astral Wilderness, and then also to Gaia’s Swamp with Lu Yin and the Semi-Progenitors. Lu Yin did not actually have any real reason for bringing Silver along. The simple truth of the matter was that Lu Yin had a feeling that Silver might cause some sort of miraculous effect when dealing with the Specter clan.
It seemed that Silver was able to sense Lu Yin’s gaze, and his smile grew larger than ever, even as he deliberately made himself appear weaker.
"What are your feelings about him?" Lu Yin asked Tong Yu as he stared at Silver.
Tong Yu remained silent for a time before somberly replying, "Disgust."
This caught Lu Yin off guard, "Why’s that?"
Tong Yu explained, "There’s something dark about him. The bigger his smile is, the more revolting he feels. Honestly, I would have never been willing to deal with him if not for how highly our patriarch regards him."
Lu Yin felt rather curious about this. "Weren’t you the one who sent him to guide us to Aeternus Nation?"
"That was the patriarch’s request, and I was simply the one to deliver the orders to Silver. That way, if the Aeternals looked into the matter, I’d be the first one that they dealt with." Tong Yu sounded upset by the admission.
Lu Yin nodded. He then stepped forward to speak with Silver.
"Captain, what can I do for you?" Silver asked with a blinding smile.
Lu Yin's eyes flickered. "I want to find Tian Dou."
Silver fell silent for a bt. "That’s going to be a bit difficult, but I should be able to find him."
"You can actually help me with that?" Lu Yin had not expected such a straightforward response from Silver. From Tian Dou’s memories, Lu Yin knew that Silver had been found in a pile of corpses. Tian Dou was someone who could at least be regarded as Silver’s savior, and possibly even viewed as a parent figure.
Silver smiled. "If I can find him, how will you pay me back, Captain?"
"What do you want?" Lu Yin retorted.
Silver eyes turned cold, and surprisingly enough, his smile disappeared as a cruel glint flickered in his eyes. "I want Tian Dou's limbs."
Lu Yin frowned. "Limbs? What does that mean?"
Silver laughed again, but this time it sounded very dangerous. "He never treated me like a human being. I’m just the last bone grafter. Do you have any idea what that man did to me, Captain? He tore off my flesh, strip by strip, and drained my blood again and again. Even though it couldn’t kill me and changing my flesh and blood is like changing clothes to me, I still experience the same pain as any normal person."
Lu Yin's pupils shrank. Even though Silver was speaking in a casual tone, if anyone was paying attention to his words, their hair would stand on end.
Forget having their flesh and blood removed from their entire body—a normal person would be in excruciating pain just from having their arm of leg flesh removed. Having all the flesh on a person’s entire body torn off was an agony that could only be imagined.
"He removed every last one of my bones to implant and test them in other people, including members of the Specter clan and even Aeternals, though most of his test subjects were just normal people. He was hoping to create more bone grafters like me, and he even wanted to change himself to become a bone grafter. Because of that, he dismantled my entire body," Silver smiled as he spoke, and then he turned to Lu Yin. "Captain, do you think that I want his limbs? I don’t want just his limbs. I want to take him apart like he did to me."
Lu Yin nodded. "If you help me find him, I promise he’s yours."
Silver maintained his smile. "Thank you, Captain. Honestly, looking back on things, being a bone grafter who can use death energy is quite the interesting combination, isn’t it? It's rather a pity that he didn't succeed."
"Alright, point the way and find Tian Dou." Lu Yin started to lose his patience, and he did not want to hear what Silver had to say, as it was too cruel.
Every person had their own morals and limits. Normally, people would not be willing to hurt another human, and this was a line that would not be crossed without just cause. However, Silver was someone who had no morals or limits. He had been tortured and driven insane. It was no wonder why his smile was always so disturbing.
However, the same could be said for Tian Dou. He had been the patriarch of the Specter clan for long, and yet he had studied and researched Silver in an attempt to create more bone grafters. At present, Tian Dou wanted to obtain the Aeternals’ True God’s divine energy. Lu Yin could not allow someone who would do anything it took to achieve their goals to live.
As for Silver… Lu Yin glanced over and paused. Should this person be pitied or hated?
Silver raised his left hand and pointed his index finger out. He then snapped it off his hand and handed the finger over to Lu Yin. "I can't find him myself, but Tian Dou studied my bones extensively, and my bones should allow Divinity Heavenly Gate’s Destina to find him."
Lu Yin stared at Silver for a long moment. "Wait here."
He then sent Destina a message and asked her to come to Gaia's Swamp.
Even though Lu Yin was the Dao Chosen who represented the heavens, it did not mean that he had the authority to order about the gatemasters of the Heavenly Gates. Even during the Heavens Sect era, the Dao Chosen did not have that right, as the Dao Chosen and the gatemasters had fallen under different divisions of the Heavens Sect.
After obtaining Progenitor Chen’s power, Cosmic Stomp, Lu Yin had the power to dominate the Fifth Mainland. Without that strength, how would Jue Yi have ever accepted the order to go to the Astral Beast Domain? How could Jiu Yao have ever been willing to listen to Lu Yin?
While Lu Yin was waiting, Tong Yu was about to be led away to her own trial. These trials were only happening because the times had changed. If this incident had occurred twenty years earlier, everyone from the Specter clan would have simply been executed without ever being given the opportunity to defending themselves.
"Wait." Lu Yin suddenly remembered something, so he called for Leng Qing to stop.
The Semi-Progenitor felt puzzled, but Tong Yu looked at Lu Yin expectantly.
He looked back at the woman. "Come with me somewhere. You might be able to redeem yourself with your actions there."
Tong Yu was thrilled at this opportunity. "Thank you, Alliance Leader Lu!"
Lu Yin intended to take the woman to the Perennial World with him. Putting a seven-tribulation powerhouse on trial was too much of a waste. On top of that, Tong Yu had a misleading appearance, which allowed her to easily trick both men and women, which would be quite helpful.
Given the combination of the woman’s strength and appearance, Lu Yin felt that she would likely prove quite useful in the Perennial World. Another detail was the presence of Specter Abyss in the Perennial World, which was essentially the Perennial World’s Specter clan. Having someone like Tong Yu from the Specter clan would be quite helpful in getting in touch with Specter Abyss.
Of course, it was also impossible for Lu Yin to actually trust Tong Yu, so he placed a death seal within her body so that he would have control of her.
Tong Yu was amazed when she sensed the death seal in her energy vortex. "Is this made from death energy? I’ve never seen such a thing before."
"If you betray me, that seal will kill you, and not even a Semi-Progenitor will be able to save you from it. Well, if you find a Progenitor, that will probably change things," Lu Yin said.
Tong Yu rolled her eyes. "Where would I ever find a Progenitor who would save me?"
One day later, Destina arrived at Gaia's Swamp. However, she was once again hidden within a white cloud, hiding herself from people’s sight.
"Dao Chosen Lu, I'm here as you requested, fulfilling my promise to unconditionally support the Dao Chosen. However, that pledge of support does not mean that I will do any divination that you request. You need to first prove that whatever you are asking me to investigate will not harm me." A woman’s voice drifted out of the white cloud.
Lu Buzheng heard Destina’s comment, and he was startled so badly he could not remain silent. "Are you saying that he asked you to do a divination that injured you? That’s impossible! Given your strength, that would mean that you were investigating a Progenitor!"
In the midst of the white cloud, Destina was glaring at Lu Yin. She was still terrified of the backlash that she had suffered from the last set of divinations that this young man had demanded. After those incidents, she had decided that she would never again casually agree to divine anything for Lu Yin. He asked about dangerous matters that could easily kill her.
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