Chapter 68: Terrifying Allies

Inside the sleeping quarters.

Ren Ye, dressed in a crimson robe, had his hands tucked into his sleeves as he paced back and forth in the hall, deeply engrossed in thought.

He was reflecting, recalling the various actions of Chief Historian Li Yan.

First, in the first act, right after Ren Ye entered the Star Gate, Li Yan brought a group of officials to force his hand. His stance was extremely aggressive, leaving no room for negotiation with Prince Huai.

At the time, his attitude seemed to say, “Not only am I going to take down Wang Jingzhong today, but I’m also going to humiliate you, this useless prince, leaving you no choice but to fall into despair.”

After that incident, Chief Historian Li Yan stopped taking further action. Soon after, Liu Ling’er appeared, and the two sides began a covert struggle centered around the secret chamber.

During the battle at the Hall of Tranquility, Li Yan once again led the civil and military officials to pressure Ren Ye, maintaining the same aggressive stance. However, due to Old Daoist Xu’s Strength Corpse’s tragic death and Ren Ye’s display of power through soul-gathering techniques, Li Yan ultimately relented and was “forced” to hand over Wang Jingzhong’s family.

Judging purely from the previous act, Li Yan appeared to be a staunch supporter of the Court Faction, a loyal watchdog of the emperor tasked with keeping tabs on Ren Ye.

Now, in the second act:

Before entering the Princess’s Tomb, Li Yan once again initiated the “Sow Banquet,” inviting the players to reveal themselves and confirm each other’s identities. When the Qingzhou Guard’s Thousand-Household caused a disturbance, Li Yan was even forced to display his supernatural powers, saving everyone and ensuring that the players’ identities were not exposed.

From these actions alone, who could doubt that Li Yan was an insider for the Court Faction?!

However, after reading the secret letter, Ren Ye replayed Li Yan’s behavior in his mind and uncovered an entirely different… logic.

The attempt to force his hand was to win the trust of the Court Faction players.

As the Chief Historian, if leading the coup was a task given by the court, it would be highly suspicious if he didn’t take the lead. If he appeared hesitant, that would only invite further doubts.

When Imperial Inspector Liu was cut down, Li Yan showed no emotional response, nor did he express a strong desire to protect him. Most importantly, after Liu was imprisoned, Li Yan made no effort to rescue him.

Why?

It must be noted that Li Yan had already known in advance that Imperial Inspector Liu, was an Opportunist Faction player.

If it had been a regular gate spirit, then their death might not have mattered much. But a Opportunist player who could be swayed to join the Court Faction? That was an invaluable asset!

Every player in the Star Gate possessed powerful supernatural abilities. Adding one more person would bring extra strength and an increased chance of victory.

Looking back now, Imperial Inspector Liu’s ten days of languishing in the dungeon seemed more like… a gift from Li Yan to Ren Ye, allowing him to detain Imperial Inspector Liu lawfully.

There was another detail.

At the Hall of Tranquility, after Ren Ye killed Old Daoist Xu’s Strength Corpse and used his soul-gathering techniques to intimidate the officials, Li Yan said two identical sentences to him:

“If His Majesty could make use of me, then so could Prince Huai in the future.”

Li Yan repeated this statement with a solemn tone twice. At the time, however, Ren Ye was riding high on adrenaline and paid no attention to this detail, let alone closely observing Li Yan’s expression.

As for the second act’s “Sow Banquet,” it was held in an obviously rushed manner, as if planned on a whim.

Notified in the afternoon, the banquet was held by evening.

Why was he so eager to hold this banquet? Ren Ye couldn’t figure it out, no matter how much he thought.

This aspect revealed a blind spot in Ren Ye’s information.

He had no idea that Li Yan decided to host the Sow Banquet only after Imperial Inspector Liu, had escaped. Nor did he know that before Imperial Inspector Liu’s escape, Li Yan had written another secret letter—though he burned it after they met…

Why did he burn it? Because the letter was actually addressed to Ren Ye.

Initially, Li Yan had planned to reveal his identity and ask Ren Ye to cooperate with him in staging a play to give Imperial Inspector Liu an opportunity to escape. Once freed, Imperial Inspector Liu would naturally come to him. After all, Imperial Inspector Liu had been dealt a heavy blow right from the start, and he didn’t know any other players. Aside from Li Yan, no one else could provide him with a safe hiding place within Prince Huai’s residence.

So, as long as Imperial Inspector Liu, could escape, Li Yan could use him to set a trap, continuing to plant spies within the Opportunist Faction. This way, once they entered the Princess’s Tomb, he could secretly learn the movements of players from both factions.

However, Li Yan never anticipated that Ren Ye would arrive at the same conclusion. Before the letter could even be sent, Imperial Inspector Liu, had already escaped.

What’s more, he hadn’t expected Ren Ye’s staged play to be so extravagant. Not only did the dungeon guards learn of it, but the entire Prince Huai residence knew as well, and discussions began circulating in the Disc Command, with some even speculating that Imperial Inspector Liu had come to seek him out.

Since the matter had become so big, Li Yan saw an opportunity to capitalize on it. He changed his approach, first muffling his voice in the Disc Command and publicly stating that it was Li Yan who saved Imperial Inspector Liu, and that Imperial Inspector Liu was currently hiding in the Chief Historian’s residence…

The intent was clear: to make others believe he was a staunch Court Faction player. After all, Imperial Inspector Liu had been cut down in such a brutal way, and even though Imperial Inspector Liu was a sworn enemy of Prince Huai, he had trusted Li Yan. Naturally, others would also be inclined to trust him.

Li Yan had decided on short notice to have the steward host the Sow Banquet, intending to invite all players except those from Prince Huai’s faction and, using the Ink World’s supernatural abilities, confirm the identities of those present.

However, he didn’t expect his luck to be so bad. In the first round, he ran into Tang Feng, and the other… was just so unbearable that Li Yan couldn’t tolerate it…

…

In the sleeping quarters, after Ren Ye replayed Li Yan’s logic, he suddenly turned to Tang Feng and asked, “You mean to say that Li Yan was charmed by you when he met you and lost his objectivity?”

“…Yes.” Tang Feng nodded awkwardly.

“And then?” Ren Ye asked.

“Then, then… I ran away,” Tang Feng scratched his nose, appearing nonchalant.

“Ran away? Didn’t he do anything else?!” Ren Ye asked urgently.

Slap!

Tang Feng suddenly slapped the table, his little face turning purple with anger as he exclaimed, “What do you mean?! What could happen between us? What could there be?!”

“What’s with the yelling?” Ren Ye was a bit confused. “I’m just asking, what else did he do?”

“What do you expect him to do?!” Tang Feng said, looking pitiful, tears brimming in his eyes. “I didn’t have to come, right? I came for the Vigil Keeper, for the people, for the greater good… and you’re asking me what it means? What… what are you trying to prove?!”

The two locked eyes, and Ren Ye instantly understood. This was a painful spot for Tang Feng, a secret that could never be openly discussed.

But Ren Ye had already figured it out. After being charmed, Li Yan probably didn’t manage to accomplish anything.

He likely only…

Ahem, let’s not talk about it.

But with that, everything started to make sense.

Ren Ye could roughly guess Li Yan’s intention behind the Sow Banquet. He probably wanted to confirm the identities of the Court Faction players and pretend to be familiar with everyone, but his desire to kill wasn’t particularly strong…

Court Faction players had the Disc Command for communication, so openly attacking someone, even if it resulted in a kill, would only lead to the victim exposing the attacker’s identity as a wolf before they died. Li Yan couldn’t be that foolish. He probably wanted to first secure his leadership position within the Court Faction, and then, inside the Princess’s Tomb, wait for the right moment to completely wipe out the opposing faction.

Even after the faction’s annihilation, they might not even realize Li Yan’s true identity.

Once Ren Ye thought all this through, a bone-chilling coldness spread from the soles of his feet.

Li Yan was terrifying—his acting skills were impeccable, his thoughts meticulous, and his heart extremely sinister…

What does it mean to be a player?

This is what it truly means to be a player, the kind of skill a seasoned Star Gate veteran should have.

Moreover, Ren Ye realized another terrifying truth. Initially, he thought his background in anti-fraud work, both in thinking and deduction, made him exceptional. But now, thinking about it more carefully… in this Star Gate, there wasn’t a single player who could be underestimated.

The secret letter Li Yan had just sent did not include any clear identity information about the Court Faction players. Although Tang Feng had caused some disruptions, this also suggested that… the Court Faction players were being extremely cautious. Despite Li Yan’s help, no one was easily showing themselves or making contact.

A brutal battle was inevitable once they entered the Princess’s Tomb.

In the sleeping quarters, Tang Feng wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes, sat down heavily in a chair, and said, “Li Yan… is very smart, but… I don’t know how to deal with him in the future. So, anything related to communicating with him, you’ll be in charge of.”

Ren Ye turned to face him and cautiously asked, “The desire is gone, right? Is the illness better now?”

Tang Feng sprang to his feet, glaring and pointing at Ren Ye’s nose as he shouted, “…Ren Ye, if you’re a decent person, and if you think me accompanying you here is a great act of love and righteousness… then you shouldn’t be making wild guesses, understand?!”

“I’ll stop my imagination right now.” Ren Ye immediately nodded, looking at him gently. “Li Yan’s note says there are six players in the Court Faction. Excluding you and him, that leaves four on the other side. What do you think they’ll do next?”

Tang Feng thought for a moment before answering casually, “Li Yan said that the Left Thousand-Household of Qingzhou Wei might have a teammate, and both of them are suspected to be from the Bell Society. I think, after entering the Princess’s Tomb, they won’t make a move easily. They’ll probably feel that after the forced Sow Banquet, they’ll be isolated by the Court Faction players and will keep a low profile, observing secretly. However, our situation is still not optimistic. We can confirm there are three of us on our side: you, me, and Li Yan, with a possible addition of the Princess. As for the Court Faction and the Opportunists, there are seven of them, nearly double our numbers! So… it’s still a situation where we’re outnumbered. Li Yan plays a crucial role. If necessary, we can even put on a show to make their players trust him more. If he can lead the Court Faction, then there’s a chance we could wipe them all out in one go.”

“I think they’ll still try to win over the Opportunists… Overall, winning still seems difficult.” Ren Ye slowly nodded. “Forget it, we have less than an hour until we enter the Princess’s Tomb. Get ready, we’re leaving.”

Tang Feng paused, his eyes slightly evasive. “I’ll go wash up…”

Ren Ye was about to ask what he needed to wash, but when he saw Tang Feng’s killing gaze, he wisely kept quiet.

…

At the Chief Historian’s residence,

Li Yan sat in the grass hut, smiling as he looked at Imperial Inspector Liu. “Tell me the truth, who saved you today?”

Imperial Inspector Liu, gave him a sidelong glance. “If I say it was Prince Huai, would you believe me?”

“Heh.” Li Yan smiled and nodded. “I believe you.”

“…You’re crazy.” Liu muttered under his breath.

“Shall we make an agreement?” Li Yan set down his teacup and asked.

“What kind of agreement?”

“You and I gather information about our respective factions,” Li Yan said as he looked at Imperial Inspector Liu. “We’ll exchange it frequently. If I can take control of the Court Faction, then you’ll join my side. What do you think?”

Imperial Inspector Liu, thought for a moment. “Doesn’t that mean I’d be betraying my own faction’s interests?”

“You haven’t even found any teammates yet, and you’re worried about your faction?” Li Yan asked softly. “Besides, who has a relationship as strong as ours? Who else can match the trust we have between us?”

“Heh!”

Imperial Inspector Liu, sneered, the image of the towering figure who had saved him today flashing in his mind.

How could an old veteran like you guess if I have teammates or not?

“Fine.” Imperial Inspector Liu, said. “But what if you can’t control the Court Faction?”

“Then we all die together,” Li Yan said seriously. “The plot here is already very clear: Opportunists + Court Faction, two against one, with the Court Faction in the central position. If we start infighting, we’ll definitely lose.”

“That makes sense.” Imperial Inspector Liu, nodded wisely. “But right now, I’m less interested in winning.”

“You’re lying!”

“To be honest, right now, all I want is to kill Prince Huai,” Imperial Inspector Liu, said seriously.