Chapter 198: Who Is It?
That was what Yu Lanfeng said, but inwardly, he still had not completely ruled out Zhou Yun as a suspect.
After all, Zhou Teng... wasn't he an only child? He actually had a biological brother?
Zhou Yun was quickly sent away, while Yu Lanfeng kept Zhou Changwu behind.
"Zhou Teng has a biological brother?"
At this, Zhou Changwu's expression became somewhat strange, but he still explained some of Zhou Teng's family circumstances.
"Their family's situation is a little unusual..."
"Zhou Yun and Zhou Teng really are biological brothers, but they have different mothers. Zhou Teng's mother is his father's wife, his legally recognized wife. It's just that Zhou Teng's mother has a bad relationship with his father, and they've been separated for a long time. Zhou Yun's mother currently lives with his father. Supposedly, they're genuinely in love, but when that man got married, he married into his wife's family. Many of his financial interests are tied to that family, and if he divorces, he'll lose his source of income, so..."
So he had simply dragged things out without getting divorced, directly separating from his wife and living with his lover instead.
And his lover had even given birth to a son for him—Zhou Yun.
"If that's the case, shouldn't Zhou Teng and Zhou Yun have a terrible relationship? Why are they so close?"
Could it really be that the grudges of the previous generation had not affected the children of this generation at all?
Yu Lanfeng's first reaction was that it was unlikely.
But perhaps there really were one or two oddities like that in the world?
"Have you finished investigating? Is Zhou Yun the person who helped Zhou Teng alter those surveillance videos and fabricate evidence? If he has that kind of ability, why wasn't it discovered during his assessment?"
"And as for him cooperating with Zhou Teng and Hu Fei, are these three the only masterminds?"
If that really was the case, then Zhou Changwu had truly suffered quite badly at the hands of these three kids.
Or perhaps this had happened precisely because Zhou Changwu had indulged Zhou Teng too much.
Suddenly, Yu Lanfeng thought of something that did not quite add up.
"Didn't you say Zhou Teng only got a chance to take the assessment because his parents came together to beg you? So how is it that his parents have a bad relationship and are separated, yet they still came together to..."
At the mention of this, Zhou Changwu felt like there had to be something wrong with his own brain.
"Actually, I only just found out about this myself. I always thought Zhou Yun was a child they'd adopted, but I didn't expect..."
"You never investigated them?"
Zhou Changwu looked somewhat embarrassed.
"Marshal, I don't think anyone would casually investigate their own family, relatives, friends, and so on... Usually, you listen to what they tell you and believe it. Of course, you still need a certain degree of judgment, but you wouldn't actually investigate them."
Yu Lanfeng thought that made perfect sense.
He would not casually investigate his own family either.
"That's true. Then what's going on with Zhou Yun looking like Bai Zhouyun? They look incredibly similar. If Zhou Yun weren't older and didn't look considerably more mature, someone definitely would've mistaken him for Bai Zhouyun and killed him on the spot."
Zhou Changwu said, "Actually, he's already been at this military base for several years. Everyone here knows him and is familiar with him. So even though people noticed that he looks like Bai Zhouyun, at most they just joked about it. No one took it seriously. Besides, he's been at this military base the entire time, and his identity is extremely clean."
That was the biggest reason.
And precisely because Zhou Yun had remained at the military base all this time without casually going outside, people in the outside world had never encountered or seen him.
Yu Lanfeng said, "Could the reason he looks so much like Bai Zhouyun be because..."
The first thing Yu Lanfeng thought of was actually Old Master Bai's illegitimate son.
However, according to the investigation, Old Master Bai's illegitimate son had only recently been born. How much time had passed since then?
So Zhou Yun could not possibly be him.
Then what exactly was going on with Zhou Yun?
Zhou Changwu hesitated before saying, "Actually, the issue should be with that woman. Supposedly, Zhou Yun takes after his mother."
So...
Yu Lanfeng said, "So that woman is actually from the Bai family, but she hasn't contacted them all this time? She secretly ran away and doesn't want to go back?"
Zhou Changwu said, "That possibility is very plausible, but none of us have investigated it. After all, this involves the privacy of our personnel's family members. We aren't allowed to casually investigate or disclose those matters in private."
Only under certain special circumstances were such investigations permitted.
For example, the investigation the Marshal had previously ordered in order to verify all personnel's basic information and so on.
Yu Lanfeng said, "So Zhou Yun's mother is from the Bai family on the Capital Star. When did she leave the Bai family? Or was she thrown out by them? Or did she run away herself?"
Zhou Changwu said, "I'm not very clear about that either. We can investigate it and ask around. Maybe we'll be able to find something."
Yu Lanfeng said, "Then we'll leave it at that for now. Focus on investigating Zhou Yun. Also thoroughly investigate Zhou Teng's contacts with the Bai family, including their chat records and everything else. I want to see exactly how many people they've gotten killed so far and what wonderful things they've done."
Zhou Changwu nodded, then hurried off without stopping to deal with his next task—the spies.
Because they did not possess an ability as powerful as Yu Lanfeng's, dealing with the corpses was relatively troublesome for them.
In particular, everything left behind had to be carefully sorted and categorized one by one. The belongings of each person ultimately had to be sealed together with that person's uniform so they could be sent back later.
There was no doubt that Zhou Teng must have relied on Zhou Yun to establish contact with the Bai family.
Perhaps they had been too slow in keeping up with current developments, so they still did not know the Bai family's present circumstances.
Yu Lanfeng, however, knew them very clearly.
In truth, the Bai family had not lost very much, but they had already lost the single most important thing—the extremely significant favor the Emperor owed the Bai family.
Now that the favor was gone, it meant the Emperor would no longer protect them.
As a result, many people would take advantage of future opportunities to move against the Bai family.
For the Bai family to still maintain a stable position among the second-tier families was already quite difficult.
Old Master Bai did not have that much energy to spare either. In short, there were many difficulties they now needed to confront.
Yu Lanfeng could not understand why they still had the energy to interfere in the internal affairs of the legion.
Moreover, these outsiders they controlled did not even possess particularly high combat strength.
Yu Lanfeng thought about the person lying on the bed and fiercely added another mark against the Bai family in his heart.
While Zhou Changwu busied himself dealing with the people on the list, he also continued working hard to investigate the connections between Zhou Yun, Zhou Teng, Hu Fei, and the Bai family.
Yu Lanfeng, meanwhile, hid away all the information he had previously obtained.
This information was not something that could simply be handed out casually.
He had already decided to tidy it up a little and send it to the Imperial Family. After all, the information he had sent them previously had not been complete.
On top of that, most of what needed to happen here had already happened, and everything that needed to be dealt with had been dealt with.
So now it was time to report everything that needed to be reported.
Once they left this base, the matters here could basically be considered concluded.
For someone with Zhou Yun's talent, wasting it here really was a pity.
How good would it have been if he could find his way back from the wrong path, or if they had recruited him to their side from the very beginning?
Someone like this either had to wholeheartedly devote himself to the good of the base, or else, if a talented person harbored malicious intentions, then no matter how outstanding he was, no one would dare employ him.
Yu Lanfeng quickly sent Zhou Changwu away and returned to the room once again.
This time, however, Yu Lanfeng did not immediately enter the bedroom. Instead, he sat on the sofa beside the coffee table outside and sank into thought, staring unblinkingly at the empty table.
Only then did he suddenly remember to pour himself a glass of water.
As he drank, he looked toward the bedroom door.
Nan Yu was still lying unconscious on the bed inside.
Although Yu Lanfeng knew Nan Yu would recover, there was no definite timeframe.
No matter when he thought about it, his heart remained restless because there was no exact time.
Even if it took two or three years, that would be fine.
Just give him a definite timeframe, and then he would at least have the motivation to wait.
But now...
Although the Mental Power circulation between the Nianshen Grass and Nan Yu had already formed, even though Yu Lanfeng was not a Mental Power User, he could still sense it.
The Mental Power circulation completely led by the Nianshen Grass was truly weak.
At this rate, perhaps it really would take three to five years.
But that was impossible.
There was no way he could hide this for five years!
And to make matters worse, Qin Wenxing's communication request came through again.
Yu Lanfeng had already rejected it three or four times. If he rejected this one too...
Actually, it was not Qin Wenxing who troubled him.
It was the person who had Qin Wenxing contact him.
Nan Yu's father, Nan Ming!
Perhaps because something had happened to his eldest and second sons earlier, Nan Ming was paying particularly close attention to the condition of his youngest son.
Yu Lanfeng thought for a moment, then finally opened the bedroom door and looked at Nan Yu lying on the bed.
Nan Yu currently looked as though he were merely sleeping deeply. If someone did not know he was unconscious, there was no way they would notice.
Only then did Yu Lanfeng relax.
Since that was the case...
He directly accepted the communication request.
On the other side, Qin Wenxing immediately sighed in relief.
Finally, he had answered.
Now Qin Wenxing would not need to keep finding this excuse and that excuse to change the subject whenever Nan Ming asked.
"Marshal, Major General Nan has arrived. He said he can't directly contact Nan Yu and has to reach him indirectly through you..."
Before Qin Wenxing could finish, Yu Lanfeng saw someone squeeze him out of the frame.
It was the person Yu Lanfeng currently needed to curry favor with.
"Dad."
Nan Ming, on the other side of the communication, visibly choked.
His face twisted for quite a while before he forcibly calmed himself.
"Marshal."
He no longer bothered arguing about the Marshal calling him "Dad."
There was no point.
He had already said it was not allowed, yet Yu Lanfeng continued doing whatever he wanted as though he had never heard him.
In any case, Nan Ming definitely still felt somewhat awkward about it.
"Marshal, where is Xiaoyu right now? I want to see him. I'm contacting you through Adjutant Qin's optical computer, so that shouldn't count as breaking the rules, right?"
Yu Lanfeng nodded. "It indeed doesn't count as breaking the rules, but please don't do something like this again in the future, Dad. Everyone else has had to follow the same rules. As for Xiaoyu, he's still sleeping. Should I wake him up?"
Nan Ming hurriedly raised his hand to stop him.
"Don't wake him. If he's still sleeping now, he must be exhausted. Just let him continue sleeping. I only need to see him."
Yu Lanfeng did not say anything else.
He simply used the communication feed as he opened the bedroom door.
The quiet scene immediately made Nan Ming feel much better.
Xiaoyu was currently lying on the bed, sleeping soundly. He looked like he had been utterly exhausted.
They should not wake him before he naturally woke up, lest they disturb his sleep.
Yu Lanfeng naturally thought the same.
After letting Nan Ming look at him for a while, he gently closed the door again.
The lights inside had already been turned off anyway, and there was nothing particularly important happening.
Once the lights were off, the room appeared even quieter.
Because there was insufficient light, Nan Yu could not be seen very clearly, making it even harder for Nan Ming to discover that something was wrong.
Once the bedroom door closed, Nan Ming, who could no longer clearly see the person on the other side of the communication, immediately began sternly lecturing Yu Lanfeng like an immovable rock.
"How could you let Xiaoyu get this tired? Let him rest more. How is he supposed to work properly in this mental state? And it's already afternoon. How did he get so exhausted that he's still sleeping at this hour? Did you make him work for several days without letting him sleep?"
"Can Mental Power Users be treated the same way as Ability Users like us? He needs enough sleep and rest every single day. That's absolutely necessary, understand? We're all human. We all need proper care and time to recuperate. If you blindly..."
And so Nan Ming, who was usually a man of few words, rambled on for a full half hour before suddenly realizing what he was doing.
Only then did he remember that the person on the other side of the communication was his direct superior.
The Marshal.
But then he thought about how this Marshal would eventually become his junior by marriage and even intended to steal away his youngest son.
He decided there was nothing wrong with lecturing him a little.
"All right, that's all I'll say. In any case, thank you for dealing with the matter involving my other two disappointing sons, Marshal. Once everything settles down, please come to our home for a meal."
Yu Lanfeng said, "Thank you, Dad. I haven't told him about what happened to those two, so be careful not to let anything slip later. It would be best if they simply acted as though none of it ever happened."
Nan Ming nodded.
"All right. I'll end the communication for now. I have another mission later and need to head out again."
Yu Lanfeng looked at the communication screen after it disconnected.
Actually, even if they said nothing, everyone on the Capital Star knew about the matter.
If they were careless later and just about anyone happened to mention one or two sentences about it in front of Nan Yu, wouldn't he still find out?
So when the time came, Yu Lanfeng might as well tell Nan Yu privately.
That way, Nan Yu would not suddenly learn about it from someone else in the future and experience a massive emotional fluctuation.
It would be better for Yu Lanfeng to tell him personally.
He could at least phrase it more tactfully and give Nan Yu some time to digest it.
That would give him a buffer instead of having him suddenly learn everything at once and immediately rush home to demand answers.
That was something Yu Lanfeng did not want to see.
However, all of that would have to wait.
The most important thing was still when Nan Yu would wake up.
If he could regain consciousness quickly, naturally everything would be fine.
But if he remained in this condition and could not wake up within a short period, then it would become a truly enormous problem.
Yu Lanfeng needed to think carefully about how he would explain this to the rest of the Nan family.
After all, this would undoubtedly be a tremendous blow to them.
After thinking it over repeatedly, Yu Lanfeng ultimately decided to set up traps made from his flames throughout the room, then go see how Zhou Changwu was handling those spies.
After all, if all of them had to be dealt with, disposing of the corpses was the most troublesome part.
Interrogation and the like were secondary.
Generally, when spies and other infiltrators were captured, they assumed they would not be killed so easily. Because of that, they believed they could hold out a little longer and wait for their companions to rescue them.
But they would never expect that if they refused to answer even one or two questions, they would simply be dragged away, killed, and their corpses destroyed.
If they did talk, then everything they said would be recorded, and later someone would sort through it to determine which information was useful and which was not.
As for the people providing this intelligence, most of them were actually lying anyway.
How could so many people possibly know so much information about the organization?
So nine and a half out of every ten statements were half true and half false.
Clearly, Yu Lanfeng had been driven nearly frantic by this matter and suddenly wanted someone else's opinion.
But he could not directly explain the situation.
So Yu Lanfeng thought of the person who had been called over to examine Nan Yu on the first day after they arrived at this military base.
"That person does seem to have some genuine ability, but with things like this right now, it obviously isn't very suitable..."
After all, Nan Yu was holding the Nianshen Grass.
Even taking his hands out would not work, because thin threads of Mental Power used for circulation connected both of his hands to the Nianshen Grass.
If those were damaged, it could cause unnecessary and serious trouble.
Yu Lanfeng thought about it for a while, then decided to call that person over anyway.
Even now, he still had not remembered the man's name.
But that did not matter.
If he did not remember it, then he did not remember it.
Once the man arrived, he would remember.
Yu Lanfeng had long wanted to find someone to examine Nan Yu and determine exactly what condition he was currently in.
He had only delayed it until now because of the Nianshen Grass.
In any case, it did not matter if the man discovered it.
If he dared reveal anything, Yu Lanfeng would personally kill him.
Even if he was a Mental Power User...
If the true existence of the Nianshen Grass was leaked, even ten thousand deaths would not be enough to absolve him of the crime!
Actually, through this incident, Nan Yu had also come to understand one thing.
It was not appropriate to assume that only people who were not citizens of the Empire could be spies.
Leaving aside those who had forged their identities, many people were actually right about one thing.
Within the legion, being a genuine citizen of the Empire did not mean someone could not possibly be a spy.
Quite the opposite.
People who were native citizens of the Empire had far more convenient identities. If they were adopted from the very beginning and then deliberately trained, they could infiltrate many important positions throughout the Empire.
And precisely these people were the most hateful.
Spies from other countries were not native citizens of the Empire in the first place. Even if they died after committing evil deeds, everyone considered dealing with them perfectly normal.
After all, they were enemies.
But some native citizens of the Empire directly cooperated with the enemy.
When they fought side by side with comrades and friends who trusted them completely, they would suddenly stab them viciously in the back!
People like that were the most disgraceful of all.
Under ordinary circumstances, even if such a person was a Mental Power User, they would still be despised and reviled.
Just like Nan Yu in his previous life.
Back then, this was precisely the accusation Bai Zhouyun had used to frame Nan Yu.
And Nan Yu had clearly understood that once this crime was firmly pinned on him, there would never be any chance for him to clear his name.
Just look at it.
Even Nan Yu, who had been a High-Tier Mental Power User in his previous life, could end up like that.
There was even less need to mention anyone else.
That was why traitors and those guilty of treason were even more hated and despised within the Empire than spies and undercover agents.
Even if people like that died a thousand or ten thousand times, their deaths would not be enough.
"Marshal... Marshal?"
This was the same person who had been called over to examine Nan Yu when Yu Lanfeng had first brought him to this military base.
Supposedly, he was the best Mental Power User among all the military bases.
Yet after examining Nan Yu, he had merely said a bunch of ambiguous things.
Yu Lanfeng's gaze settled on him.
Thinking back on it, the man had probably wanted to say that Nan Yu was beyond saving.
However, everyone present at the time had been powerful and influential, and one of them had even been the Marshal!
So he had lost his nerve.
He had not dared say it too clearly and could only express himself indirectly and tactfully.
Usually, however, he always spoke with complete certainty. So when he had spoken that way, everyone assumed his assessment was probably correct.
No one had doubted him.
When the man later realized what had happened, he had been so anxious that he had even wondered whether he needed to run away.
But unexpectedly, there had been no follow-up afterward.
Only then had he gradually relaxed.
So why had he suddenly been called over again now?
If there really was a problem, finding him would not help!
There was nothing he could do!
Yu Lanfeng asked, "What's your name?"
The corner of the newcomer's mouth twitched.
Wonderful.
The Marshal did not even know his name.
But...
"Marshal, this subordinate is Feng Chengyu."
Feng Chengyu?
Yu Lanfeng seemed to have heard the name before.
But that was only natural.
After all, Feng Chengyu was quite famous within the legion.
It was simply that his Mental Power was still far inferior to Nan Yu's.
After everyone learned that Yu Lanfeng had brought the extraordinarily powerful Mental Power User Nan Yu back with him, discussions naturally began revolving around Nan Yu.
As time went on, fewer and fewer people talked about Feng Chengyu.
"I wonder why the Marshal called me here? If it's about that person from before, then I really can't do anything..."
Yu Lanfeng shook his head.
"I didn't call you here to treat him."
Feng Chengyu immediately perked up.
"I'm not treating him? Then that's fine. But... don't misunderstand me. I just know I don't have the ability, so I can't accept this job. If I make grand promises when accepting it and then can't accomplish anything afterward, I'd lose all face."
"Since that's the case, come over and examine his Mental Sea. Compare it with what you sensed when you first came into contact with it and see whether it's about the same as before or whether anything seems different."
Feng Chengyu patted his chest.
"That? Of course there's no problem. Leave it to me."
He slowly walked to the bedside and looked at Nan Yu lying there.
Nan Yu's entire body was wrapped up tightly, as though he were disguised like this because he was trying to avoid being hunted down by his enemies.
Feng Chengyu felt somewhat awkward.
This...
Wasn't he wrapped up a little too thoroughly?
Who did this?
Was Nan Yu some kind of terrifying monster?
Still, Feng Chengyu conscientiously and slowly placed his hands beside Nan Yu's head.
Then his Mental Power gradually approached the outer edge of Nan Yu's Mental Sea.
He had been extremely, extremely cautious last time, so naturally he had to be just as careful this time.
If he accidentally used even slightly too much force, wouldn't everything be over?
However, when he timidly extended the tiniest thread of his Mental Power and touched the outermost edge of Nan Yu's Mental Sea, he suddenly felt that it did not seem quite as terrifying as before.
Although the amount of Mental Power inside this Mental Sea still felt terrifyingly vast, the situation was somewhat better now.
It no longer seemed as though the slightest mistake could cause it to directly self-destruct.