Lu Yin's response briefly stunned Sage Yajna. "I thought that you knew for sure that she is a traitor."
Lu Yin replied, "That’s just a logical deduction."
"And if she isn't?"
Lu Yin looked over at the older man. "Then she isn’t. So what?"
Sage Yajna wanted to say something, but ultimately, he just gave a bitter smile. Yes, so what? Would Lu Yin apologize? That was impossible. Who would even dare to suggest that Lu Yin apologize? There would be no need for Lu Yin to say anything to such a suggestion, as countless people would stand up and do it for him. Lu Yin was alive, and as long as he lived, no one would dare to act recklessly towards him.
Even Aeternus had only taken action because they had thought that Lu Yin was dead.
That was the measure of Lu Yin's influence.
There were times when being forceful was necessary. There was no denying that Yao Lan had fought on the Endless Frontier and done much for humanity as a whole, but that did not excuse her actions.
Her failure to prevent Sovereign Lotus’s disciples from antagonizing the Heavens Sect and creating a rift was more than a mistake. Had Lu Yin not returned, the situation could have escalated quickly, and there had to be consequences.
Sage Yajna led the way, and Lu Yin soon met with the Great Sovereign.
When she saw Lu Yin, the Great Sovereign was quite surprised. "Child, what happened to your strength?"
Lu Yin remained solemn. "What is happening with Sovereign Shao Yin? If you don't explain things, I’ll create an opportunity to kill him."
…
While Lu Yin was meeting with the Great Sovereign, Bi Teng was at the Merchant Exchange’s headquarters. The man felt as though his heart had been set on fire. He had first felt a sense of schadenfreude when he heard that the Heavens Sect had been attacked by Aeternus, but then news had quickly arrived; Lu Yin had appeared and single-handedly driven Di Qiong off. Bi Teng was still stunned from hearing that report. Lu Yin was not dead? How had he managed to return?
Bi Teng immediately sent people to investigate matters in the Origin Universe.
Their subsequent reports caused Bi Teng’s blood to run cold. Lu Yin had returned and was indeed alive. The man had not died.
This news sent Bi Teng into the abyss. He’s not dead… Not dead?
Bi Teng stared out into the Decaying Diablo Universe from the Merchant Exchange’s headquarters but saw nothing. Lu Yin wasn’t dead? This was bad. Very bad.
More reports were soon delivered, and Bi Teng quickly learned that Lu Yin had gone to make trouble for Sovereign Lotus. The man had single-handedly suppressed the Lotus Realm and overpowered Sovereign Lotus, Yao Lan, Chu Jian, and Arrow Sage at the same time before arresting a large number of Sovereign Lotus’s disciples, including Sage Yao Lan.
Bi Teng grew terrified. As soon as the Heavens Sect had dealt with their own crisis, they had started arresting people from the Sixverse Association. Even Yao Lan had been captured, and right in front of Sovereign Lotus and in the Lotus Realm at that.
Bi Teng did not even consider whether Yao Lan was a traitor. The man was absolutely certain that Lu Yin was simply taking revenge for the fact that Sovereign Lotus’s disciples had antagonized and insulted the Heavens Sect.
If Sovereign Lotus’s disciples received such treatment, then what would happen to Bi Teng and the Merchant Exchange?
He had fired Liu Fuxue and announced that she would never work with the Merchant Exchange ever again. What was Bi Teng supposed to do after Lu Yin returned? What should he do?
“Hurry! Send Bi Lan to see me,” Bi Teng urgently ordered.
Bi Lan quickly arrived, her expression also quite grim. As a member of Merchant Exchange, news of Lu Yin’s return concerned her as well. While she admired Lu Yin for the many victories he had won for humanity against Aeternus, Bi Lan was well aware that the Merchant Exchange had irredeemably offended the Heavens Sect.
As soon as Bi Lan arrived, Bi Teng suppressed his nervousness. When he spoke, his voice was quite hoarse. "Have you heard about Lord Lu?"
Bi Lan felt disgusted. Bi Teng had previously referred to the man as "Lu Yin" while firing Liu Fuxue. But as soon as Lu Yin returned, Bi Teng called him "Lord Lu." Bi Lan had never realized how revolting her boss was.
She then suddenly remembered that Bi Teng was nothing more than one of Lord Bi Rong’s servants. The man was just a servant, and he was not the true master of the Merchant Exchange.
"I've heard," Bi Lan replied flatly.
Bi Teng stared at the woman. His eyes were filled with anxiety and stress, no matter how calm he tried to look. "What should we do?"
Bi Lan pretended not to understand the question. "What do you mean?"
"About Liu Fuxue."
"Liu Fuxue? Wasn't she fired? What does she have to do with us anymore?" Bi Lan responded bluntly.
Bi Teng twitched, he snapped back. "Lord Lu is back, and he’s not dead as was previously reported. Liu Fuxue is one of his people, and yet we fired her. How do we explain ourselves to Lord Lu?"
Bi Lan corrected the man, "Not 'we.' You. You fired Liu Fuxue and announced that she would never work with us again. That matter has nothing to do with me or the rest of the Merchant Exchange."
Bi Teng gritted his teeth. "It has nothing to do with you? Don't forget that you are also a member of the Merchant Exchange! If Lord Lu decides to destroy us, neither of us will escape unscathed. Besides, why didn’t you stop me back then? You could have stopped me from firing Liu Fuxue, but you didn’t. You wanted to fire her too, didn’t you? You’re just as responsible as I am."
Bi Lan was furious. "Don't try to twist things around! I did try to stop you, but you refused to listen to me!"
Bi Teng glared at the woman as his features warped. "Regardless, if Lord Lu decides to destroy the Merchant Exchange, neither of us will escape. Don’t you know that Lord Bi Rong disappeared long ago?"
The moment the words slipped out, Bi Teng regretted them. How could he have revealed that information to anyone?
Bi Lan was startled. "What did you just say? Lord Bi Rong has gone missing?"
Bi Teng took a deep breath, though he refused to meet the woman’s eyes.
Bi Lan pressed, "Is that true? Is Lord Bi Rong really missing?"
Bi Teng let out a long breath before nodding. "Yes. Long ago, Lord Bi Rong disappeared."
"Why didn’t you ever say anything?"
"How could I? If word got out, how would our Merchant Exchange still be standing?"
Bi Lan’s face paled. She could not recover from her daze.
Bi Teng continued. "In fact, I wasn’t even the first to discover that Lord Bi Rong disappeared. Rather, it was the Lord of Lightning.
"Lord Bi Rong has remained in seclusion for too long, and the Lord of Lightning noticed that something was wrong. He went and checked, only to find that Lord Bi Rong was missing. The Lord of Lightning searched for a long time, but he couldn't find him anywhere. How can we hope to find him?"
Bi Teng looked up at Bi Lan. "With Lord Bi Rong missing, we lost our leverage with Whitecloud City. The Lord of Lightning might help us once out of respect for Lord Bi Rong, but that will not continue indefinitely. That’s why I’ve never asked Whitecloud City for any help, but now it’s too late. This is my fault, but we need to get through this, or else the Merchant Exchange will be done for.
"You know how Lord Lu is. He didn’t even spare the Lotus Realm! How could we hope for him to spare the Merchant Exchange? Bi Lan, if I go down, so will the Merchant Exchange, and you too! Do you understand now?"