Chapter 84: Heavenly Secrets
“Hmm? Speak,” Chen Yan said.
“The most suspicious thing isn’t the crimes that people claim Chen Jue committed. Those accusations are mere illusions, baseless rumors—no, the true mystery lies elsewhere.
I have spent three years investigating, yet I cannot trace a single step of Chen Jue’s path after he was transferred from Falling Goose Town. It is as if, from the moment he left, he vanished from this world entirely. That… that is simply impossible!”
You Su Yi’s breath grew heavy, her teeth clenched tightly. “Back when he was transferred from Falling Goose Town, I was a scribe in the Town General’s Residence. I personally examined the decree from the War Department, and it bore the celestial seal of the Venerable One who governs it!
I was certain that after leaving Falling Goose Town, he must have been reassigned to another command. But when I sought out my comrades in the army to investigate, we found nothing—nothing at all.
Among the celestial records and the official war edicts of all Three Platforms, Eight Passes, and Sixteen Towns, Chen Jue’s name was nowhere to be found!
There was no trace of where he had gone, no record of his deeds—he simply ceased to exist on the battlefield, as though his very presence had been erased from history!”
She let out a shaky breath, her expression turning grim. “And this proves that all those accusations—claims that he embezzled military supplies, murdered his deputy—are sheer nonsense.
But the truly chilling thing is that Chen Jue, a man whose existence had seemingly been wiped away for decades, suddenly resurfaced—only to be infamous. Overnight, he became a criminal known throughout the entire Domain Realm, despised by all.”
Chen Yan’s expression darkened.
Indeed—this was far too bizarre.
A flicker of fear passed through You Su Yi’s eyes. The cunning old fox took a cautious glance around, despite knowing they were hidden deep within a mountain cave, untouched by daylight.
“Fellow Daoist,” she murmured, lowering her voice as if fearing the gaze of some unseen force, “only because we are beyond the Domain Realm’s jurisdiction do I dare to speak of this. If we were still within the Domain Realm, I would never, ever utter such words.”
Chen Yan’s heart tightened at her words.
“Tell me,” she continued, “for someone to be universally reviled, despised by the masses—what is the necessary precondition?”
Chen Yan pondered for a moment. “They must have committed great crimes?”
“No!” You Su Yi shook her head firmly. “The prerequisite is that this person must first be famous—renowned across the realm!”
Chen Yan’s expression changed abruptly.
He was not a fool—he had simply not thought deeply about it at first. But with just a single phrase from the old fox, the puzzle suddenly became clear.
If a person is to be loathed by all, they must first be known by all.
If a person is to be hunted by the masses, the masses must first recognize who they are.
A mere village rogue being caught for some crime—who would even care? But if a figure of immense renown were to fall, it would shake the heavens.
In the modern world, with its vast networks and media platforms, even the unknown can become notorious overnight through a single viral post. But the Domain Realm had no such networks, no spreading of rumors through flashing screens—only the slow, relentless tide of word-of-mouth over long years.
For someone’s name to be known across the entire Domain Realm, it would take decades of reputation-building, legends passed from one mouth to another.
Yet Chen Jue, a man erased from existence for decades, had no recorded presence, no stories, no traces.
A man with zero recognition had, all of a sudden, become the most despised villain, his infamy reaching its peak instantly?
That was terrifying.
“The only explanation I can conceive,” You Su Yi said, “is that the people of the Domain Realm already knew of Chen Jue’s past deeds—he was once a figure of great renown! But when I sought out both humans and demons, ghosts and spirits, nobles and peasants, none could recall what he had done to earn that renown.
All they could say was that he was an evil man, a villain deserving death. They spoke of crimes committed only in recent years, as if his entire past had been erased.
The more I thought about it, the more horrifying the realization became.
What if…” She pointed a trembling finger at herself. “What if I, too, once knew the truth of Chen Jue’s past? What if, at some point in time, I had knowledge of his deeds, his life—
And yet, those decades of memory have simply… vanished?
Now, I remember only that he is evil. I recall rumors of his crimes, but not his true past.”
Silence hung in the air.
Chen Yan’s eyes flickered. He took a slow breath and murmured, “Conceal Heavenly Secrets?”
A shudder ran through You Su Yi’s body.
She stared at Chen Yan for several moments before finally sighing. “You truly live up to your lineage as a scion of the great families. Such keen perception—you saw through my fears so swiftly. Yes! After much deliberation, I have come to the same conclusion.
Someone has erased Chen Jue’s existence from the annals of history. Not merely wiping records, but tampering with the very minds of all who once knew him!”
Chen Yan thought to himself, [It’s not that I am particularly insightful, nor am I a great noble’s descendant.]
[It’s just that I’ve read similar plots in old tales from across the seas.]
“To conceal heavenly secrets on such a scale… to make the entirety of the Domain Realm forget the past of one who was once a legend… this is not something any ordinary Venerable could achieve.
Only a Great Heavenly Venerable could wield such unfathomable power!”
You Su Yi’s voice turned cold, a shiver running through her words. “No mere cultivator or noble could do this. Only a Great Heavenly Venerable, one who wields the supreme laws of the cosmos, could rewrite the very fabric of the world!”
Chen Yan exhaled slowly.
A Great Heavenly Venerable?
Chen Yan furrowed his brow. “What exactly did Chen Jue do to make even the Great Heavenly Venerable personally intervene, concealing the workings of fate, and distorting the memories of all beings?”
“That, I do not know,” You Su Yi said grimly. “But such a technique of concealing fate cannot deceive everyone. Those above the rank of Venerable—those who have merged their Dao with the Heavenly Dao—are beyond such illusions. This means that within the Domain Realm, only forty-two individuals remain who know the truth.”
Chen Yan nodded. “Thirty-six Venerables, four Earthly Venerables, and two Heavenly Venerables.”
“Yes, only those forty-two beings, standing at the very peak of existence, remain unaffected and retain knowledge of the truth. But I am of too low a rank—secrets of such magnitude, ones that require the direct hand of the Great Heavenly Venerable, are far beyond what I could ever be told.”
Chen Yan fell silent, pondering deeply. Yet, no matter how he searched his thoughts, he found no clear answer—only a suspicion.
Chen Jue had once sworn an oath: should he one day ascend to sainthood, he would cut down the Heavenly Dao itself.
Could his eventual fate have been tied to that oath?
The Great Heavenly Venerable’s actions to obscure fate and alter the world’s memory of Chen Jue—could it all be connected?
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