“Uh, Grandmaster Zhuo, I do not understand. How can I hope to see into Huangpu Qingtian’s faction’s movements?” Swallowing dryly, Liu Yizhen froze, stammering and darting his eyes anywhere but Zhuo Fan.
Grinning, Zhuo Fan shook his head, “My dear Grandmaster Liu, you’re saying that even now? How would you leak our info if you didn’t know his position?”
His heart beating out of his chest, Liu Yizhen panicked as he explained, “Grandmaster Zhuo, I don’t understand what you…”
“It’s fine. You don’t have to say it. I won’t make it hard on you either. Just deliver a message for me and put that oh-so-great and stuck-up Heaven-shaking Dragon Lord on the spot.” Zhuo Fan brushed his panic off.
Liu Yizhen’s beard shook, his face haunting. Zhuo Fan’s inscrutable smile unnerved him the more he saw it.
[Is he faking it or omniscient? This is disturbing!]
Zhuo Fan’s laugh came as an answer to his thoughts, “Grandmaster Liu, you should know by now of my character. If not by seeing, at least from rumors. I don’t need to justify myself when I want to kill someone. I just do it. On the other hand, if I want one alive, regardless of how vile and deceitful that person is, I won’t lay a finger on him.
“Anyway, I’ve had my suspicions on you from the start. I could’ve killed you whenever I wanted too. But I think it’s safe to say my actions prove there will be no killing from my part. Coming out clean won’t make much of a difference either at this point. Who doesn’t yearn for glory and power? But didn’t I let Cai Xiaoting walk free?” Zhuo Fan’s daunting eyes stared Liu Yizhen down.
Liu Yizhen was in a quandary, but nodded in the end, “Grandmaster Zhuo is sharp beyond any man. I admit, it was Unwonted Contriver Leng Wuchang who ordered me to get close to Grandmaster Zhuo. I do not know how he knew but he found out you and I were once acquaintances. So he made me spy on you. I refused at first, but then…”
“Fine, fine, the reasons are pretty much typical for any spy. If not out of glory and power, then from a threat. I totally get it.” Zhuo Fan’s nonchalant wave cut him off.
Liu Yizhen hung his head. [Zhuo Fan is incredible. He knows everything!]
It was one thing to say power, glory or constraint, but how many could escape their clutches?
Zhuo Fan stared at him, “Now that that’s out of the way. Send a message to Huangpu Qingtian.”
“What message?” Liu Yizhen was stunned.
Zhuo Fan’s conduct was baffling. He just got a hold on the enemy’s spy and he wasn’t going to tear him asunder? And instead he was taking a step further, leaving the spy alive to send word to the enemy. It was as if they were on the same side!
It totally floored the calm alchemist Liu Yizhen.
Ahe-he-hem!
Zhuo Fan’s straight face revealed a haughty air, “Grandmaster Liu, when you see Huangpu Qingtian, this is how you’ll behave. You’ll curse him. Stupid head Huangpu pup, ignorant and trifling clown, your’s truly has seen through it all. So tone down the drama and your petty tricks! I’ve been playing this game from before you were even born!”
Face twitching, Liu Yizhen sweated buckets. He ventured, “Uh, Grandmaster Zhuo, could you perhaps maybe ease on the rancor? I won’t be able to imitate you.”
Was this a joke? Zhuo Fan was having a blast here cursing and wailing like he owned the place. But when the guy met Huangpu Qingtian face to face, was he going to stick to the real message? Not if he wanted to come out alive.
“Ha-ha-ha, fine, as you wish. Just make sure he catches my drift.” Zhuo Fan looked uncaring but his face turned deadly the next, “However, this line you must say it word for word!”
His hand flashed and was now holding four Brimming Sacred Pill vials.
Liu Yizhen was slackjawed. Zhuo Fan easily read his shock and smiled coldly, “Tell him this. Huangpu Qingtian, you call yourself insidious and brilliant, but not even you would’ve imagined the last Brimming Sacred Pill was with me all along. And you even laid out the stage to trap me? That’s rich!”
Liu Yizhen blinked, counting the vials. It was clear as day there were four, but the absurdity of it all made him second-guess it.
He’d been next to Zhuo Fan all this time yet never knew where the guy got all the Brimming Sacred Pills. So he always assumed Zhuo Fan only had the three, yanked from Huangpu Qingtian’s very hand too. That there never was a fourth.
[Is this another pill he robbed?]
Liu Yizhen showed his shock, “Grandmaster Zhuo, if you already took Huangpu Qingtian’s last pill, why make me a messenger?”
“Shhh…” Zhuo Fan put a finger on his lips, “The last pill wasn’t taken, but slipped off of him. He’s still oblivious. He knows what I can do so telling him my message will make him understand. Make sure you get a clear view of his blind rage when he flips out and comes back to me, he-he-he…”
Blinking, Liu Yizhen sighed.
They both knew Huangpu Qingtian was gruesome and yet Zhuo Fan swiped his pill without the slightest indication? Unreal!
[Zhuo Fan doesn’t look to be lying either. He wants me to shame Huangpu Qingtian further with that message.]
By all accounts, it didn’t look fake at all. Zhuo Fan actually swiped the oblivious Huangpu Qingtian’s Brimming Sacred Pill from right under his nose.
Taking a deep breath, Liu Yizhen’s face hardened, “Grandmaster Zhuo is incredible. There’s nothing you can’t do. I will pass on Grandmaster Zhuo’s words, although the wording might not be as… taunting.”
“I get it. What matters is the essence. He will surely be pissed when he hears it, ha-ha-ha…” Zhuo Fan chortled.
Liu Yizhen took two steps away before stopping, “Grandmaster Zhuo, could you please clarify something for me?”
“Shoo.”
“Uh, since when have you doubted me?” Liu Yizhen asked.
Grinning, Zhuo Fan said, “From the moment I laid my eyes on you in Beast King Mountain.”
“That fast?” Liu Yizhen was stunned. He couldn’t for the life of him see what gave him away.
Zhuo Fan shook his head, “One, I never believe in coincidences. The Esoteric Debate is held on Beast King Mountain, yet it just so happened for you to be here looking for herbs? Highly unlikely. You must’ve got here thanks to Huangpu Qingtian’s storage ring. Two, when I accepted you as a disciple, all you showed was respect and not joy. It was a complete contrast from how you reacted the first time you asked.”
“I had my suspicions right then. And using apprenticeship as an excuse to help Luo clan, sealed it. All combined made your purpose in getting close to Luo clan obvious.”
Liu Yizhen looked long at Zhuo Fan in shock, “Sigh, I failed as a spy. You saw through me the moment we met. But why didn’t you get rid of me then?”
“To figure out Huangpu Qingtian’s plans of course!” Zhuo Fan sneered, “Each time you used the sending jade, I figured it was to leak our numbers, position and members. This gave me an easy time figuring out what Huangpu Qingtian was cooking, that he was aiming for those around me.”
Liu Yizhen’s face twitched in shame.
He not only failed as a spy, but was an utter disgrace. The info he sent was faulty and went as far as exposing his lord’s master plan.
Liu Yizhen’s face was scorching, “Grandmaster Zhuo, you truly are cunning. No wonder Leng Wuchang stepped in personally.”
Liu Yizhen flew away, leaving Zhuo Fan in shock. It was his first time hearing it, even considering that the mastermind wasn’t Huangpu Qingtian, but Leng Wuchang!
In such a case, [I have to hurry up!]
Zhuo Fan flew after Liu Yizhen, in the shadows.
A day later, a light flew nearby. Zhuo Fan caught the sending jade, which wrote, “The soldiers return, the dragon king is at peace.”
“Sure enough, the array map is a trap.” Grinning, Zhuo Fan shot three sending jades to his three allies.
He then looked at the one in his hand and praised, “Perfectly done!”
He resumed tailing Liu Yizhen.
Letting Cai Xiaoting off wasn’t out of the goodness of his heart or, like he put it, out of indifference. But to use them and gauge Huangpu Qingtian’s reaction.
If Huangpu Qingtian raged, the three exits would be safe. If Huangpu Qingtian didn’t blame the two, then it all went according to the man’s plan and he needed to change the routes of his three allies.
This was all made possible thanks to the spy he meticulously placed near Huangpu Qingtian.
Zhuo Fan wasn’t beneath Leng Wuchang’s capacity for treachery when it came to covert ops. While the factions looked subdued at a first glance, the darkness revealed a tangled mess…