Chapter 86: The Dark Truth

Yan Bo not only knew about the Black Temple, but he seemed to know far more than Qi Yan himself... Instinctively, Qi Yan patted himself down, glancing around. The Yin Token lay right beside his pillow.

"The Yin Palace... Yin Token?" Qi Yan held the token in his hand, frowning deeply.
"You... That mysterious temple—it's appeared more than once? And each time it appears, it gives out a Yin Token? So... besides the one I have, there are others like it?" Yan Bo nodded.
"Counting the one in your hand, there have been seven appearances so far—seven Yin Tokens revealed to the world."

Tokens like the one called "Mother"—there were actually six more? Qi Yan was stunned. He wasn't the only "fated one" chosen by that mysterious Black Temple? At the same time, everyone present turned to look at the Yin Token, wariness plain in their eyes.

Qi Yan pressed further.
"But you still haven't explained—who exactly are you all? And why are you so invested in this Black Temple and these Yin Tokens?" Yan Bo took out his phone from his jacket pocket, scrolling as he spoke.
"In fact, we weren't the first to investigate the Yin Palace and these tokens. There was another group who discovered them before us. If you want to understand who we are, you must first understand those people."

He found a photo on his phone and held it up for Qi Yan to see.
"This woman... do you know who she is?" Qi Yan looked closely. The woman in Yan Bo's photo seemed familiar.
"Um... her... I've seen her before... Where was it? Not long ago..." He couldn't quite recall.

Yan Bo introduced her himself.
"Xiao Yihong... now the chairwoman of the Dingtai Group."
"Yes, that's her! I saw her at an art exhibition before!" Qi Yan exclaimed in realization. "What's going on? Why bring her up?"

Yan Bo's expression darkened, his tone grave.
"Now... I want you to remember this woman's face well, Qi. I imagine, because of the Yin Token, you've also seen your share of ghosts and sinister spirits by now? I know—any normal person would feel fear in the face of the supernatural... But no matter how terrifying you think those evil spirits are, this woman... she is far more frightening than any actual ghost!"

At this, not only Yan Bo, but also Li Ruoke and Xuanxuan standing beside him, their faces twisted with deep resentment.

Qi Yan took careful note of their expressions.

"The lady boss of Dingtai Group—what does she have to do with all of this?" Qi Yan asked.

Yan Bo let out a long sigh, shaking his head with a somber voice.
"When I met her, I was about your age and Ruoke's now."
"She's originally from Heilongjiang. I met her when I went northeast. Back then, we were as young as you are now—there was some friendship between us..."
"But now, we're mortal enemies. This woman destroyed my family, nearly cost me my life several times, and..."

At this point, Li Ruoke gripped the bedsheet tightly, her eyes red as she interrupted,
"She was also the mastermind behind my and Lan's parents' murder!"

She couldn't control her emotions; her voice rose.

Qi Yan jerked his head toward her.
"Wait... your parents didn't die in a car accident?"
"They did! For a long time, that's exactly what I thought. It was six years ago, and at the time, I didn't suspect otherwise. Only after meeting Yan Bo and the others did I gradually learn the truth..."

Yan Bo motioned for her to calm down and continued the story.
"Ruoke and Lan's parents were business rivals of hers. Back then, Dingtai Group wasn't as powerful as it is now. The reason she's managed to dominate the business world for so long is because of the countless shady dealings she's orchestrated—so many, even she probably can't remember them all..."

"Dingtai Group started as a trading company, built from the ground up by Xiao Yihong herself, with operations spanning the entire southwest region. But do you know about her other identities?"

"Besides her legitimate business front, she runs numerous illegal operations in secret... drug trafficking, even arms smuggling. More terrifying still—she's involved in dark, supernatural research."

"In the underworld of Europe and America, some mafia circles call her 'Madam Red'. In fact, domestic police and even the FBI in the United States have had their eyes on her for a long time."

"You might find it strange—a woman this criminal, an international felon, how can she still stand tall here, acting with impunity? That's because Madam Red is extraordinarily cunning. Dingtai Group itself is spotless, a perfectly legitimate business. She is the mastermind behind it all, but whenever she engages in illicit activities, she never uses her own people directly. Instead, she hires all sorts of covert criminal organizations as her 'claws'..."

Li Ruoke wiped away the tears threatening to fall.
"Do you remember the man named Zhao who kidnapped you and Lan? He was one of her 'claws.'"

Qi Yan sucked in a cold breath, lost for words.

Yan Bo continued,
"She always keeps herself clear of any direct involvement, evading countless official investigations with ease. And that's not all. Her greatest asset is her abilities that defy scientific explanation."

"She's gathered a group of individuals skilled in esoteric and supernatural arts and, using their sinister techniques, orchestrates crime after crime. The living using the power of spirits—we call this 'offering to spirits.' It includes Southeast Asian ghost-rearing, or the now-faded Japanese onmyodo... Under Xiao Yihong's leadership, these people have abandoned all morality and humanity, using all manner of supernatural arts as their greatest weapons in crime. Even with today's advanced technology and surveillance, these powers render law enforcement helpless..."

At this point, Yan Bo pulled up another photo on his phone and showed it to Qi Yan.

"This person—you must know him even better, don't you?"

Qi Yan recognized him instantly—how could he not?

"His name is Shinji Watanabe, half-Chinese, half-Japanese. His father was Japanese, his mother from China. He's Xiao Yihong's adopted son, her most trusted confidant and chief executor of all her dark dealings. I believe you've already seen his abilities firsthand. Even if any of this ever came to light, the one to take the fall would be this Japanese devil—Xiao Yihong herself would never be implicated. She always remains behind the scenes, pulling the strings."

"In fact, Qi, you should understand how people use supernatural powers to achieve their goals. On the surface, there's no trace—it's like magic..."

Qi Yan couldn't deny it. Though he hadn't used the Yin Token's power for evil, he had a sense of what it could do.

Like that time in the bathhouse, when the thug who confronted him almost lost his life—the true culprit was the Yin Token! Yet no one would ever suspect, it looked just like an accident. How could anyone trace it to him? This was just an example—if someone truly wanted to use these powers for crime, it would be impossible to investigate.

Just like the incident at Yang Han's house—the shikigami with the ghostly face must have been unleashed by this Watanabe, but with standard investigative methods, how could anyone find proof? The man himself wasn't even at the scene! And besides, no law in any country charges people with murder by ghost—such things are considered pure fantasy.

To go even deeper, Southeast Asia has a sorcery called "Jiangtou," and in China, there are "witchcraft curses." Setting aside the frauds, for those who truly possess these powers, if they wanted someone dead, they wouldn't even need to leave their homes!

What's more, from Yan Bo's words, it was clear that for Xiao Yihong to have built such a successful business empire, she must have secretly used these mystical arts to "cheat" her way to the top. And the kind of "cheating" she did was completely beyond the reach of modern science or law.