Chapter 1530: Leave a Way Out

Jin's eastern campaign might be the beginning of the storm? Shao Sansheng was startled. "After nearly half a year of reorganization, Gao Pin is already showing signs of preparing for an eastern campaign. Doesn't that mean it will happen soon?"

Shao Pingbo turned his gaze toward the happy figures among the fields and said nothing.

Sometimes, no answer was an answer. Shao Sansheng asked again, "Once this storm strikes, how long will it last?"

Shao Pingbo resumed his slow walk, reaching out to brush the heads of wheat that touched his fingertips and feeling them slide past. "The decisive battle is close. Nothing has happened for nearly half a year. There is only one reason both sides have stayed quiet: they are waiting. Why wait? What could make them hold their tempers and wait in silence? Both sides are waiting for an opportunity, waiting for the decisive battle to arrive. Either they do not move at all, or once they move, one side must die."

"The Three Sacred Venerables stand in the open. The reason Jia Wuqun does not dare expose himself openly must be that he lacks sufficient strength. Once the decisive battle begins, his hidden cards will be revealed and he will fall completely into a passive position. So if he does not act, then fine—but once he does, it will certainly be a fatal strike against the enemy."

"You ask how long this storm will last? Both sides are quiet because they should both be waiting for a chance to strike a fatal blow. I even suspect the Three Sacred Venerables may already have uncovered some of Jia Wuqun's hidden foundation. Otherwise, how could they remain so composed? A world-shaking collision is imminent. How long could something like that possibly continue? Once they collide, one side is bound to be smashed to pieces. The chance of returning to the old entanglement is very small. So it will be fast. Very fast. The storm will arrive suddenly and then vanish just as suddenly, but the aftershocks will inevitably scour the whole world."

Shao Sansheng listened intently as he followed. "Who does Young Master think will win?"

Shao Pingbo gave a cold snort. "An open spear is easy to dodge; a hidden arrow is hard to guard against. Usually, the man hiding in the dark has the advantage. Don't you know Jia Wuqun by now? Would he enter a decisive battle without confidence? With his methods, he has already brought down six of the Nine Saints. Do you think the remaining three still have any chance of victory? Barring an accident, the Three Sacred Venerables will lose!"

Shao Sansheng nodded slowly in thought. Then, watching Shao Pingbo stroll along at his leisurely pace, an odd realization suddenly rose in his heart.

Young Master had been pinned down by Jia Wuqun.

He had to admit it. Faced with the storm that was about to arrive, Young Master had already become a spectator. He had no power to intervene.

From the moment Jia Wuqun came to Jin and began making his moves, step by step, all the way to tossing Lan Ming into Young Master's hands, Jia Wuqun had pushed Young Master onto the opposite side of the Nine Saints. Once Young Master stopped contacting the Nine Saints, or was unable to contact them, he lost access to the highest level of information. Without enough intelligence, he had been reduced completely to a spectator.

The players themselves are often blind while the onlooker sees clearly. Shao Pingbo had not even realized the problem himself, yet in a sudden flash of understanding, Shao Sansheng saw it clearly. He simply did not know whether his feeling was correct.

...

Inside the secret chamber, Lü Wushuang, Yun Ji, Guan Fangyi, and Yuan Gang were all present. These four people closest to Niu Youdao had been summoned together by him.

All four found it unusual. For nearly half a year, apart from occasionally paying attention to intelligence from various sides, Niu Youdao had seldom bothered with other matters. He had spent almost all his time immersed in cultivation, giving the impression that he cultivated day and night without pause.

His behavior had even put inexplicable pressure on Guan Fangyi, who had somehow found herself cultivating more diligently as well.

Once everyone had arrived, Niu Youdao got down from the couch, went behind the desk, and sat. Looking at the four standing before him, he asked, "His Highness is mobilizing troops and preparing military supplies?"

Yuan Gang said, "Jin is gathering supplies and forces. Reports from Xiping Pass show that Jin has intensified intelligence collection on the forward Yan and Han armies. There are already signs that Jin intends to march east, so His Highness has no choice but to prepare in advance. It isn't only His Highness. Han is preparing as well."

Niu Youdao said, "Looks like we've reached a critical juncture."

Guan Fangyi hated it when she could not follow this man's train of thought. She especially hated how often he made her feel like an idiot. Even so, she could not resist asking, "What do you mean?"

Niu Youdao said, "We have bait hanging in front of Wu Chang. Wu Chang does not want Jin's army launching its eastern campaign this quickly. Now that Jin is showing signs of moving east, it means he can no longer hold Du Wuxu and Lan Daolin back." He lifted his eyes toward Yuan Gang. "Monkey, the observation period is over. Those three people we've brought under control can begin making contact with Hei Shi, Qing Jiu, and Si Shaodong."

Yuan Gang asked, "Use the Wuliang Fruit to turn them?"

"No." Niu Youdao said, "The main target is Hei Shi. The purpose of making contact is to give Wu Chang a reasonable excuse to contact us, to establish a channel through which he believes he can reach us without alerting the snake by striking the grass."

Even Lü Wushuang did not quite understand. "Establish a channel to contact Wu Chang?"

Niu Youdao nodded. "Du Wuxu and Lan Daolin do not care how badly Jin's national strength is damaged. They only care about achieving their objective. So long as they can achieve it, that is enough. You can see it from how they disrupted Gao Pin's strategy before and forced him into launching a head-on attack on Qi. Jin has strong soldiers and powerful cavalry. For matters to have dragged on this long, long enough for Jin to complete a full reorganization and even leisurely finish relocating its capital, is actually somewhat abnormal. Wu Chang must have been responsible behind the scenes."

"I don't know what method Wu Chang used to steady Du Wuxu and Lan Daolin, but now he can no longer keep them steady. We have to leave him a way out. Otherwise, once he is forced into a corner, he may very well move against us. Give him a way out, and we eliminate that risk."

"The reason we're giving him a communication channel is not because we intend to contact him. After the person under our control makes contact with Hei Shi, we continue to remain silent, continue to present ourselves as observing, and continue dragging things out. I need time. I want to buy another three or four months."

"Once he has a way out, if Wu Chang still has some means of stabilizing the situation, he will remain patient and will not rush to contact us. If he truly can no longer control matters, he will take the initiative to contact us himself. I hope he does not. In short, we must leave Wu Chang a retreat. Otherwise the game may break apart and we will be in grave danger. We have to eliminate any possibility of that kind of absolute danger."

Lü Wushuang frowned in thought.

Yun Ji and Guan Fangyi looked at one another, seeming to understand and yet not entirely understand.

Whether Yuan Gang understood was hard to say. In any case, he nodded, turned, and went to carry out the order.

...

Atop the mountain tower, on the uppermost floor with every door and window shut, Wu Chang had sealed himself inside and was pacing back and forth in thought.

Recently, he had often been in this state. The situation was gradually pressing down on him, and he knew he did not have much time left.

He could see that Maolu Villa was acting with extreme caution, afraid to make too much noise and proceeding slowly for the sake of safety. He too had been waiting patiently.

But the situation before him was becoming difficult to endure. Back when he had needed to steady Du Wuxu and Lan Daolin and could find no other reason, he had told the absurd lie that Shang Chaozong was his man.

Now he had to bear the consequences of that lie.

Before, he could still say that Jin had not finished reorganizing and use excuses of that kind. Now Jin had already completed its reorganization. What else was there left to reorganize? If he tried to keep using that argument, Du Wuxu and Lan Daolin would never accept it. The two were already pressing for troops to move.

Wu Chang had made no statement. He had also made no statement when they forced the Jin army to attack Qi, so remaining silent this time was not entirely unreasonable.

But once Jin attacked, the Yan forces led by Shang Chaozong would inevitably counterattack.

And that counterattack would inevitably draw Du Wuxu and Lan Daolin's question: Didn't you say Shang Chaozong was your man?

Those two were no fools. If Wu Chang tried to make up another excuse, they would never believe him. They would absolutely begin suspecting Wu Chang himself of having a problem, of harboring some scheme. They would almost certainly act immediately and exhaust every means to uncover the truth, which would immediately alert the snake by striking the grass.

Because of what Wu Chang had said before, those two old fellows had probably already set their eyes on Nanzhou.

And the consequence of alerting the snake would be frightening the people of Maolu Villa into fleeing. How could Wu Chang allow them to escape?

If matters truly reached that point, he could only reveal the truth. But that was the last thing he wanted. Fine, they might eliminate the hidden people surrounding Maolu Villa—but then how would he deal with Du Wuxu and Lan Daolin? How many years would that drag on?

The perfect chance to sweep away every restraint was already in his grasp. How could he let it pass?

Yet Maolu Villa's steady, unhurried movements were driving him mad. He could hardly run over and remind them. How would he even do that? Those people could not withstand the slightest disturbance!

Heavy footsteps sounded on the stairs. Wu Chang knew from the sound alone that it was Hei Shi.

Sure enough, Hei Shi knocked. "Sacred Venerable."

"Enter." Wu Chang stopped his restless pacing.

Hei Shi opened the door and came in, cupping his hands. "Sacred Venerable, Maolu Villa has made a move. According to the intercepted letters we've deciphered, they are already urging the people they secretly control to make contact with Qing Jiu, Si Shaodong, and me. I believe Zhao Ba will come to contact me soon."

Zhao Ba was one of the Misty Pavilion personnel stationed at Qiyun Sect. He was also the man Maolu Villa had secretly brought under control by holding leverage over him.

Wu Chang's spirits lifted. He had waited nearly half a year and finally received another response. With neither joy nor anger showing on his face, he said, "Very good. Remember: the other side is cautious. Once he contacts you, he will certainly probe first. You need to show signs that you're willing to be turned."

Hei Shi nodded. "Understood. This subordinate will wait for him to make contact."

...

Zhao Ba returned from outside looking normal on the surface, yet his heart was filled with anxiety and regret.

He lived up to his name: he was indeed handsome and upright. And sometimes, a handsome man came to rely too much on his looks. In the end, many relationships in this world came down in one way or another to relations between men and women. Zhao Ba had failed to control himself in that respect and had become involved with the woman of one of his superiors, only for a friend who came looking for him to stumble upon the affair.

He had thought that during the previous turmoil in Misty Pavilion, that friend had been killed and the matter had died with him. Who could have known someone would later come to him using that secret as leverage?

At first, the other side had asked only for a small favor, claiming a grudge against one of Elder Hei Shi's subordinates. Forced by circumstances, Zhao Ba had helped them take revenge.

After doing it, he knew he had sunk deeper into the mire.

Sure enough, they came looking for him again and demanded another favor.

This time, what they asked made Zhao Ba understand what sort of people stood behind them, and his heart filled with terror.

That night, while on duty and patrolling the area under his responsibility, he suddenly caught the scent of wine. Following the aroma, he discovered someone sitting on a pine tree growing out from the cliff face, drinking alone.

[End of Chapter 1530]