Chapter 1364: Lack of Evidence
After leaving the Medicine God Society, Yang Haoran immediately used a Communication Talisman to send the information he had obtained from Bai Xue to Tang Shi and Shui Ling separately.
With this information, it was clear that the Tong Continent Great Emperor was involved in the matter. However, strictly speaking, the Tong Continent Great Emperor wasn't the true mastermind, as he hadn't concealed his identity at all.
Furthermore, when the Tong Continent Great Emperor was about to kill Bai Xue, the Black-Robed Man's intervention actually proved effective, successfully dissuading the Tong Continent Great Emperor from the idea. From this perspective, the true mastermind behind all of this should be the Black-Robed Man.
Since the plan was devised by the Black-Robed Man, he would naturally know better who was useful and who wasn't, who could be killed and who couldn't, for the time being. If not for this, how could the Black-Robed Man, an Earth Soul realm Underworld Office agent, possibly stop a Great Emperor, and why would the Tong Continent Great Emperor listen to his advice?
Therefore, in Yang Haoran's view, the abduction of Bai Xue and the disruption of his wedding with Xu Meijing were, in all likelihood, the work of this Black-Robed Man.
As for Xiujuan's tragic death and Xiao Kang's disappearance, Yang Haoran suspected they might also be the Black-Robed Man's doing, given that the incidents occurred around the same time.
To say that Yang Haoran had no conjectures about the Black-Robed Man's identity would obviously be impossible.
Even before seeing Bai Xue today, he had speculated about the mastermind's identity, but due to the limited information he possessed, the scope of his guesses was quite broad.
It was precisely because the scope of his conjectures was too vast that the matter struggled to make significant progress in a short time. Finding the true mastermind was like searching for a needle in a haystack, which explained why Tang Shi and Shui Ling, despite investigating simultaneously, had also seen little evident progress.
However, after meeting Bai Xue today, the situation immediately underwent a dramatic, earth-shattering change.
Although Bai Xue didn't know the exact identity of the mastermind and couldn't give Yang Haoran a precise answer, the information she provided allowed Yang Haoran to significantly narrow down the possibilities.
The Black-Robed Man was undeniably a member of the Underworld Office and an Earth Soul realm Underworld Office agent. This single piece of information drastically reduced the scope of his investigation.
Furthermore, the Black-Robed Man had a cooperative relationship with the Tong Continent Great Emperor, which meant he absolutely couldn't be from the Tong Continent Underworld Office. This information further narrowed the investigation.
An Underworld Office agent who wasn't from the Tong Continent Underworld Office yet consistently sought to eliminate him—while not unheard of across the entire Underworld Office, such individuals were certainly few. Thus, he already had an answer in his heart as to who the mastermind truly was: Huo Laoban.
Years ago, when he and Huo Laoban first became enemies, aside from their initial incompatibility, there was a crucial reason: he had perceived Huo Laoban's improper designs on Xu Meijing. Although he and Xu Meijing weren't yet a couple at the time, he harbored feelings for her, and he naturally wasn't willing to see anyone else set their sights on Xu Meijing. Huo Laoban, in turn, harbored similar intentions, leading to the animosity between them.
Initially, this animosity was confined to just him and Huo Laoban. However, after Xu Meijing made her stance clear to Huo Laoban and sided with Yang Haoran, the enmity between them transformed into a conflict between two opposing parties: Huo Laoban's side, and his own side with Xu Meijing.
Over the years, the animosity between the two sides had not faded with the passage of time. On the contrary, as their confrontations grew more frequent and intense, the enmity deepened to an irreparable degree. Both parties were actively seeking an opportunity to destroy the other.
Huo Laoban's absence from his and Xu Meijing's wedding, combined with the long-standing feud between them, meant Huo Laoban possessed both the timing and the motive. Therefore, in his eyes, the mastermind was very likely Huo Laoban.
Of course, this was merely his conjecture. He couldn't be a hundred percent certain of its truth at the moment, as he lacked strong evidence to prove his suspicions. Nevertheless, he felt no one else had a greater motive than Huo Laoban.
Logically, given the animosity between him and Huo Laoban, in such a situation, regardless of whether Huo Laoban was the mastermind, one should first pin the blame on him, then seize the opportunity to eliminate him. Even if it later turned out he killed the wrong person, it wouldn't matter; they were enemies anyway, so a death was a death.
The reason he wasn't planning to do so was that Huo Laoban was not only his peer but also a trusted confidant personally promoted by Luo Yao. If he were to rashly strike down Huo Laoban without any evidence, he would undoubtedly find himself in serious trouble should Luo Yao learn of it.
Furthermore, Huo Laoban wasn't someone he could simply kill on a whim. If the true mastermind was indeed Huo Laoban, then the closeness of Huo Laoban's connection to the Tong Continent Great Emperor would be apparent. Killing Huo Laoban certainly wouldn't be simple; he might even fall into a trap Huo Laoban had prepared in advance, waiting for him to leap right in.
It was precisely because he considered these factors that he decided to gather evidence first. As long as there was sufficient proof that all of this was Huo Laoban's doing, then he would certainly make Huo Laoban pay a painful price!
His simultaneous sending of Communication Talismans to Shui Ling and Tang Shi was intended to give the two bewildered investigators a clear direction, urging them to collect strong evidence. Even if he didn't explicitly state it, he believed they would absolutely understand.
For impulsive individuals, once they had a suspicion about the mastermind, they would undoubtedly rush to their doorstep immediately, either to confront them, engage in a brawl, or simply kill them outright.
He was not such an impulsive person, so even with his suspicions, he didn't lose his rationality. What he sought was not momentary satisfaction followed by a mountain of intractable problems. What he desired was to legitimately eliminate his opponent, incurring not a speck of trouble for himself, and perhaps even gaining significant benefits!
With a clear direction and a target narrowed down to a specific individual, Yang Haoran believed that, with Shui Ling and Tang Shi's capabilities, they would undoubtedly provide him with a satisfactory answer within a short time. At that point, he would launch a swift, thunderous assault, striving to take down his opponent in the shortest possible time to prevent any unforeseen complications.
To ensure the plan proceeded flawlessly, he immediately summoned all his trusted subordinates to the operations conference room. He intended to arrange deployments according to his internal strategy, ensuring that action could be initiated the moment evidence was collected.
Yang Haoran spent two hours deploying his trusted subordinates. After the meeting, he once again headed to Xu Meijing's Guardian District. The reason he chose to go there at this particular time was, of course, his desire to gain Xu Meijing's forgiveness by continuing his apologies.
As for how to move Xu Meijing, Yang Haoran was already prepared. He would tell Xu Meijing all the information he had obtained from Bai Xue, as well as his own conjectures regarding the matter.
In his opinion, if Xu Meijing knew that Huo Laoban was likely manipulating everything from behind the scenes, with the explicit goal of deliberately breaking them apart, perhaps she would appear to see him. Even if she didn't forgive him immediately, their relationship could at least be somewhat eased. That was why he rushed to Xu Meijing's Guardian District so eagerly.
Arriving at Xu Meijing's Guardian District, without any surprise, Yang Haoran was still stopped by the guards outside the district gates. Yang Haoran did not force his way in; instead, he stood respectfully outside the gates with a smile on his face.
This time, the smile on his face was considerably more natural than during his previous visit, as he held a certain confidence in today's endeavor, at least significantly more than before.
This newfound confidence made him feel much more cheerful, and his smile naturally appeared a bit more genuine.
Activating a Communication Talisman, Yang Haoran conveyed all his conjectures to Xu Meijing through it. Then, he lit a cigarette at the entrance of the Guardian District and waited quietly. His mood having slightly improved, he even smiled and offered a cigarette to a guard, leaving the guard somewhat bewildered.
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