Chapter 306: The Master Behind The Ambush

Ye Tian Yun cracked a smile and glanced at Jun Xie, he said, "Now you can go and ask him all you want."

Seeing Jun Xie's hesitant expression, Ye Tian Yun remarked, "Well, don't complain later if the pill loses its effect."

Jun Xie slightly frowned and moved towards Mo Da.

Mo Da, as if not noticing someone approaching him, continued to stare at Ye Tian Yun.

This confused everyone, including Jun Xie, however, he continued to walk forward, and once he came close to Mo Da, he asked, "Mo Da, who is your master?"

Mo Da, who had been blankly staring at Ye Tian Yun, slowly turned his head towards Jun Xie, and without any change in his expression, he replied, 

"Xin Xue Jian."

The name confused many, but a few had their eyes open in shock.

"Who's Xin Xue Jian?" Xiao Ming asked.

And looking at the deep frown and shock on Yuan Shuchun's face beside him, he had a feeling that their enemy was definitely someone formidable.

'Oh wait, Xin Xue Jian… is he part of the Xin Royal Clan? But who? I have never heard of anyone with that name… could it be some low profile Prince?'

While Xiao Ming wasn't sure who this person was, Ye Tian Yun was surprised after hearing this name.

'I thought this guy would try to kill everyone after the mission succeeded… isn't it dumb to kill everyone right now?'

Everyone who knew the identity of this person was silent, and a hundred questions were floating through their minds… 

The most important of them -

"Why?" 

Jun Xie's words rang out.

His tone showed his confusion and disbelief over the reveal.

Mo Da replied, "It was to frame someone else in this."

"Frame whom?"

"Prime Minister Fang Yuan."

"Oh?" 

After a slight pause, Jun Xie asked, "Tell me how everything transpired. Don't miss a single detail."

Mo Da replied, "One month ago, I received a sudden mission and was told to prepare for an ambush."

"The target was the entourage of disciples from the Gracious Sword Sect who would be going on a secret mission to assassinate someone."

"But before we could depart, I received an order that the ambush was postponed till further notice."

"When asked for the reason, I was told that something big happened in the Gracious Sword Sect, and now it was under lockdown. Therefore I needed to wait for sometime before everything settled and the disciples could head out."

"After about a month, I finally got the second call and was told to ambush the disciples when they were returning."

"But yesterday, one more order came, and I was told to ambush you after a few hours of your meeting with the Crown Prince."

"This time, though, there was a small change in the plan - unlike the earlier one in which I had to decapitate your caravans and injure most of you, I was now told to kill everyone and not let any of you escape, except for two disciples."

"These two disciples, unaware of the truth, would then frame the Prime Minister due to the clues I have shown you."

Jun Xie frowned at his words, "Why did your master want to frame Prime Minister Fang Yuan? Aren't they on the same page?"

"I don't know the truth," Mo Da replied in his monotone, "I didn't dare to ask something like this."

"Hmm, fair enough." Jun Xie nodded, and then pointing at the two corpses at the tree nearby, he asked, "You didn't mention them. Who are these people?"

"These are Prime Minister Fang Yuan's people."

"What?" His words confused everyone at the scene.

"If they are Prime Minister Fang Yuan's people, wouldn't they betray you and prove his innocence?"

"No. Even though they work under Prime Minister Fang Yuan, we all three serve the same master."

"Oh, then how were you planning to frame the Prime Minister?"

"The Prime Minister usually uses all this kind of setup. Just two men can control the bow and arrow mechanism that is spread through the forest. And this is the signature ambush attack of Prime Minister Fang. However, not many know about this, except for the higher-ups."

"Hmm," Jun Xie frowned, and then looking at the disciples behind him, he asked, "Is he speaking the truth?"

"Yes."

It was Qing Shen who replied to him.

And Fu Kai standing beside him, nodded his head.

Both of them had been in the capital and had been close to some of the higher-ups of the kingdom. Thus they were aware of the Four Hands- Thousand Kills array.

Jun Xie let out a sigh and asked Mo Da, "Do you know why there was a change of plan? What made your master change his mind and decide that it was better to kill us?"

"It was mainly because of the Crown Prince. Crown Prince Xin changed his mind at the last minute and called the meeting to change the objective of your mission. My master didn't like this, but he couldn't stop the mission - thus, he changed his mind and asked me to kill the disciples using the Four Hands. Thousand Kills Array - that is the bow and array mechanism."

"Oh?" Jun Xie turned to the disciples and asked, "Do you guys want to ask anything else from him? I don't know how much time we have, so it's better to ask everything right now."

Ye Tian Yun thought for a moment and asked, "Mo Da, what is the standing of the Fang Clan as compared to the Xin Royal Clan?"

"Both are… equally matched."

"Oh…" Ye Tian Yun nodded his head.

'This will make a lot of things easier for me. It's as if my target is sitting right in front of me… I wish I could fast forward the time."

"Who is Xin Xue Jian?" 

It was Xiao Ming who asked this question. Again.

Yuan Shuchun let out a sigh, "The most powerful man in this kingdom."

"The King."