Chapter 1072: Night Meeting (II)

"..."

The mysterious, knowing look on Sha Rulai's face froze instantly.

If Niu Youdao had only said he knew Gongsun Bu was a Misty Pavilion spy, Sha Rulai might still have suspected that Niu Youdao was following his hint and merely pretending to be composed.

But Niu Youdao had even named Baili Jie, the man who had recruited Gongsun Bu. That was tantamount to proving that he had known long ago that the man responsible for his own intelligence hub was one of Misty Pavilion's ears.

As it happened, Sha Rulai had only just taken over the rotating term at the time Gongsun Bu was recruited. He had been the one presiding over Misty Pavilion when the recruitment was completed.

The arrangement itself had not been made by Sha Rulai. It had been ordered by the previous Presiding Administrator of Misty Pavilion. When Sha Rulai took over and comprehensively reviewed the Pavilion's situation, he happened to notice the matter.

By then, Niu Youdao had already supported Shang Chaozong in taking Nanzhou and had drawn considerable attention from Misty Pavilion.

Unfortunately, the handover of authority at Misty Pavilion had been approaching. The outgoing term was nearly finished. At such a time, the incumbent generally avoided launching new moves and tried to minimize complications. Both sides of the transfer wanted a smooth transition and neither wanted to create trouble for itself.

Then Niu Youdao forced Shao Pingbo to flee Beizhou.

After helping take Nanzhou, he had now caused Beizhou to change hands as well. These consecutive major upheavals finally prompted the outgoing Presiding Administrator to issue a direct order establishing surveillance around him.

There was no choice.

One man had created such enormous changes during that administrator's term. If the Pavilion had done nothing at all and some problem emerged later, the outgoing administrator would be held accountable.

With surveillance in place, at least there would be an explanation afterward and future blame could be avoided.

Precisely because of that, Sha Rulai remembered the affair clearly. And because it concerned Niu Youdao, he had gone back more than once afterward and reconstructed the details surrounding him.

Yet Niu Youdao had somehow known all along.

At that moment, Sha Rulai felt as though he had stepped into empty air at the edge of a cliff.

After a stretch of silence, he slowly said, "Developing and placing spies throughout the world is one of Misty Pavilion's highest secrets. Counting by time, the person planted at your side could only have been known to the Pavilion's previous Presiding Administrator, then me, and now Ding Wei. No one else could inspect such classified records without a Sacred Venerable's authorization."

"Who told you? Or are you saying Gongsun Bu never truly worked for Misty Pavilion from the beginning and informed you immediately?"

Niu Youdao said, "Why would I need someone to tell me? Baili Jie went directly to Maolu Villa to meet Gongsun Bu. Do you take everyone at Maolu Villa for blind fools?"

That was what he said aloud.

In truth, Yuan Gang deserved the credit. If Yuan Gang had not been skilled in reconnaissance and counter-reconnaissance and maintained strict surveillance over every abnormal movement around Maolu Villa, they very well might never have discovered it.

"Gongsun Bu never told you?"

"I've been waiting for the day he comes to his senses. The opportunity has been placed in front of him. Whether he can seize it is up to him."

"You've known for years that he's a Misty Pavilion spy, yet you still let him control your intelligence hub?"

"You yourself just said you didn't warn me because you didn't want to alert certain people. If Mr. Sha could understand that principle, naturally I understood it too."

"In other words, the information Misty Pavilion has gathered about you all these years was never your true secret information."

"It should all be information I was willing to let Misty Pavilion know."

Sha Rulai narrowed his eyes slightly. "You didn't want to beat the grass and startle the snake. Instead, you used Gongsun Bu to lull Misty Pavilion into complacency, deliberately letting him report some of your secrets so the Pavilion would believe you remained under its control?"

"If I hadn't done that, I probably wouldn't be alive today. Without lulling Misty Pavilion into complacency, how would I have dared act freely all these years?"

Sha Rulai nodded faintly, genuine approval in his expression. "Not bad. It seems I truly didn't misjudge you."

"But I don't know whether Misty Pavilion planted anyone else beside me, or whether it has other information in its hands. That's why I'm asking you. Are there any other Misty Pavilion spies around me?"

"Other spies? You could say yes, and you could say no."

"How could there not be? Among the Wuliang Mountain disciples handling intelligence for your side, naturally there are still people belonging to Misty Pavilion. There are people inside Liuxian Sect, Fuyun Sect, and Lingxiu Mountain too. There are people around Shang Chaozong, and inside Zijin Cave as well."

"Any force beneath Heaven that has grown into something substantial, or that possesses a certain degree of influence, will have Misty Pavilion eyes and ears inside it."

Niu Youdao's expression turned grave. "If there are, why say there are and there aren't?"

"They're all on your outer perimeter. They should have no access to your core secrets. Originally, we believed Gongsun Bu was someone capable of reaching your core intelligence."

"You only have so many true confidants around you. Misty Pavilion can't simply recruit every single person at your side. Besides, the people capable of becoming someone's real confidants are usually the hardest to turn."

"If an attempt fails, the person approached has to be silenced. So unless there's absolute confidence, no one would recklessly beat the grass and startle the snake."

"According to Gongsun Bu's reports, some of your messages seemed to bypass his hands. Because of that, I did consider planting someone else beside you back then, and the people below me made attempts. But they never found a suitable opportunity."

"You and most of your confidants stay behind the scenes and rarely show yourselves. Even when you move, you go quietly and return quietly. There was never enough reliable advance information to make arrangements in time."

"And Maolu Villa is extremely vigilant. Misty Pavilion has had very few openings. According to Gongsun Bu, even your food and drink are prepared exclusively by a group of monks who almost never leave the Villa, giving outsiders no opportunity to tamper with anything."

On that point, even Niu Youdao had to admit Sha Rulai was right.

Ever since Gongsun Bu's betrayal came to light, Niu Youdao had heightened internal vigilance. Yuan Gang personally designed their counter-infiltration measures. Yuan Gang's people even calculated the precise timing of every important person's trips outside so they could verify certain details afterward.

In this chaotic age, with conflict on every side, holding stable ground and supporting an entire power required attention to far too many things. Niu Youdao alone could never manage it.

No matter how formidable one man's fists were, that changed nothing. One person could not guard against every detail. Without a supporting structure beneath him, he might be sold out one day and never even know it.

"Turning the man who controlled your intelligence hub into a spy was already tremendously significant for monitoring you. Without certainty, Misty Pavilion didn't dare force its way toward anyone else close to you, because a failed attempt might provoke a purge and expose Gongsun Bu."

"Afterward, people on our side analyzed the structure around you as well. Beyond what I've already said, the people directly around you are few, but they divide into separate groups."

"Inside, the people from Fufang Garden form one group, while Yuan Gang and his people form another. Those two sides counterbalance and watch one another."

"On the outer perimeter, Liuxian Sect and the other two sects form one bloc, while the demon cultivators from Duyun Mountain form another..."

Sha Rulai stopped.

The mention of Duyun Mountain, combined with the fact that Baili Jie's identity had already been exposed, seemed to make something suddenly occur to him.

He slowly asked, "What exactly happened when those demon cultivators from Duyun Mountain suddenly went over to your side?"

Niu Youdao's gaze flickered. He had followed Sha Rulai's train of thought and could roughly guess what the man was thinking. With a smile, he asked, "What does Mr. Sha want to know?"

"You knew Baili Jie's identity. Not long after Baili Jie made contact with the Duyun Mountain demons, that whole group suddenly went to your side to help you. Are the reasons Misty Pavilion knows really the whole story?"

Niu Youdao smiled. "Why did Misty Pavilion send Baili Jie to make contact with Duyun Mountain in the first place?"

"The quantity of Spirit Essence Pills being used for cultivation at Duyun Mountain suddenly became abnormal. Naturally, Misty Pavilion sent someone to investigate why."

"Isn't an occasional fluctuation in pill use perfectly normal?"

"They suddenly purchased a massive quantity, yet Misty Pavilion's spies inside Duyun Mountain didn't know why. You call that normal?"

Niu Youdao laughed. "Then what were you trying to investigate?"

"You should know what the Nine Saints are guarding against."

"Oh." Niu Youdao nodded as though understanding. "I see. Nothing more than worrying that someone might break through to the Nascent Soul Realm and threaten their rule. Still, to refuse to overlook even that little irregularity seems excessively cautious."

"That caution isn't without reason. The world is vast, and nothing is too strange to occur. In the past, people have broken through before. The Nine Saints joined hands and strangled them before they could rise."

"Take a more recent example. Just before the State of Zhao fell, Qiyun Sect sent three veteran experts of Supreme Elder standing to lead a raid on the Zhao imperial palace. Yet all three Supreme Elders vanished without a sound."

"With fighting on that scale inside the palace, men of their strength disappeared and no one even knows how. Either some accident occurred, or an expert powerful enough to crush all three appeared. There may very well have been a Nascent Soul Realm expert hidden inside the Zhao imperial palace!"

Niu Youdao's expression changed. "Can that be confirmed?"

"Not yet. But it's highly suspicious. The Nine Saints already suspect it, and they've even fixed on a possible individual."

"Who?"

"They combed through every person associated with the Zhao imperial palace. Judging by age and every other trace they could investigate, only one man stands out as truly suspicious: an elderly eunuch at Hai Wuji's side who had served close to the throne through several reigns. His name is Zhuge Chi."

"At present, the Nine Saints are secretly hunting for Hai Wuji and the others. Hai Wuji's mother, former Zhao Empress Dowager Shang Youlan, has already been placed under secret surveillance by the Nine Saints."

Niu Youdao's eyes flickered. "Meaning that if we find Hai Wuji, there's a good chance we'll find Zhuge Chi?"

"That should be the case."

Niu Youdao's voice suddenly sank. "If Zhuge Chi truly is a Nascent Soul Realm expert, he'd be a powerful asset in any future struggle against the Nine Saints. We absolutely cannot let him fall into their hands."

"We need to find him before the Nine Saints do. Later, I'm afraid I'll have to trouble Mr. Sha to pass another message outside for me. I want my people mobilized to search."

"Do not act recklessly." Sha Rulai's warning was immediate. "We don't know whether Ding Wei has recruited additional eyes among your people."

"By custom, whoever takes control of Misty Pavilion rarely trusts the agents handed over by his predecessor. Most of those old hidden lines become dormant pieces. The new administrator will secretly develop people of his own, both for secrecy and for ease of use."

"You have already drawn Ding Wei's close attention. It's entirely possible he has taken action."

"If you move rashly and word leaks, a thunderous blow will fall. No one will be able to protect you."

[End of Chapter 1072]