A Successful Deception
Jiang Wei's frown had been there from the start. Ye Zichen had noticed it earlier, but he'd been busy introducing them to the Upheaval Alliance and discussing the transfer of members. As a result, he hadn't had the time to talk about it.
Now that he'd entered a period of free time, he'd just casually asked.
However, what he didn't notice was that when he mentioned Jiang Wei, the faces of the others, who'd just been chatting cheerfully with him, suddenly changed. They instinctively glanced in Jiang Wei's direction. Murong Xue bit her lip and clenched her fists.
"It's …. It's nothing."
For some reason, Jiang Wei paused for a moment.
Ye Zichen couldn't help but be astonished. As far as he could remember, this man, who'd been bestowed the title of Sword Immortal, had always been cold, arrogant, and intimidating.
Why had he paused for a moment?
Ye Zichen glanced at the others. Although they'd hidden it well, he could still sense that something was off about them. Especially Murong Xue. He felt ….
He was nervous.
As soon as Jiang Wei arrived, Ye Zichen had sensed something strange.
He could understand why Jiang Yong and the others had come to visit, but Jiang Wei was the type of person who didn't care about anything else.
Would he be curious enough to come visit?
Was that even possible?
No matter how big Ye Zichen's Upheaval Alliance was, it had nothing to do with him. All he wanted to do was immerse himself in the Dao of the Sword.
And yet, not only had Jiang Wei come, his behavior was so strange that it was hard to ignore him.
"You didn't just come to see the Upheaval Alliance, did you?" asked Ye Zichen after a moment's hesitation.
Pang Zheng and the others instinctively averted their gazes. Jiang Yong grinned, clenched his fists, and laughed.
"Brother Ye, you really are meticulous. In truth, we did come here to discuss something else with you."
"Then just say it. What's there to be secretive about? You even invited Brother Jiang over. From the looks of it, he's definitely unwilling," laughed Ye Zichen.
"We're here because of what happened at the tavern," said Jiang Yong.
Ye Zichen was puzzled. What happened at the tavern was long over. Although he'd found them strange, they'd started chatting on the spot.
A few days ago, he'd personally asked Xuan Ji and learned that Anti-Upheaval was fine. The only thing he didn't understand was why Xue Mo hadn't responded to his messages.
After a moment of silence, Jiang Yong finally said, "We lied to you that day."
"What do you mean?" Ye Zichen frowned.
All of them looked at Jiang Wei. Ye Zichen looked over suspiciously.
Obviously, there was a trace of struggle in Jiang Wei's eyes, and the rusted sword in his arms trembled slightly. After a while, he calmed himself down and said with a sigh.
"In truth, your Anti-Upheaval Society wasn't eliminated. You just went to a secret realm along the way."
"Arcana Land?"
"Yes, the arcane realm!" Jiang Wei nodded affirmatively. "Anti-Upheaval discovered the secret territory during the Battle of Geniuses. Xue Mo decided that it was a great opportunity for them, so she withdrew from the competition and brought Anti-Upheaval with her. However, you also know that the Arcana Realm is unknown, and the unknown has a certain degree of danger. "
"Then …" Ye Zichen's expression darkened.
Danger!
Could it be that Xue Mo and the others encountered some sort of mishap?
But if that was the case, why did Xuan Ji tell him that Anti-Upheaval's members were all good people? Could she have lied to him too?
These were just Ye Zichen's guesses. He'd have to wait for Jiang Wei to tell him the truth.
"Before leaving, Xue Mo said she didn't want you to worry, so she told Jiang Yong and the others to keep it a secret from you. But you also know that I don't like to lie to others, so I didn't participate. Besides, I thought they were enough on their own, which is why I wasn't there that day. Jiang Yong and the others lied to you too, but I heard them say that their acting was a bit over the top, which aroused your suspicions. You just happened to mention elimination, so they agreed. "
"Then why are you telling me now?" asked Ye Zichen.
"It's a coincidence!" Jiang Wei frowned. "You also know that Xue Mo had to tell Great Emperor Xue Yang about her trip to the secret territory. Right after the tavern lied to you, Jiang Yong and the others received news of the Sea of Innocence's arrival. "
"What news?"
"Great Emperor Xue Yang and the Wish God personally performed divinations and determined that the secret territory would be a daunting experience for Xue Mo and the others. When Jiang Yong and the others heard this, they sighed in relief. They also felt bad for lying to you, so they shamelessly asked me to tell you all this. "
"So that's what happened?"
When Ye Zichen heard this, he relaxed and let out a long sigh.
Just now, when Jiang Wei told him all this, he suspected that Xuan Ji had lied to him. Now, it sounded like Anti-Upheaval's brothers had simply found a place of good fortune.
This secret territory was full of unknown factors, and they didn't want him to worry, so they lied to him.
Earlier, Xuan Ji had said that Anti-Upheaval's members were good people. She must have divined their situation in the secret territory as well.
He knew it! How could Xuan Ji lie to him?
"No wonder Xue Mo didn't reply to all my messages. So she ran off to the secret territory."
By now, Ye Zichen finally understood why Xue Mo hadn't replied.
The secret territory was definitely isolated from the outside world, so there was naturally no way to send messages. It was just like cell phone reception. Back in the basement, it was easy to lose signal.
Ye Zichen's suspicions were finally resolved, and he smiled in relief.
"Why didn't you guys go?"
"Xue Mo was the one who discovered the secret territory. How could we just go?" laughed Jiang Yong.
"Is there anything you'd be embarrassed about?" Ye Zichen laughed teasingly, then patted Jiang Yong on the shoulder and shook his head. "Old Jiang, I can tell that you're pretty smart. You knew I'd trust you, so you went to Jiang Wei and told me. "
"What? Are you saying you won't believe me if I tell you?" Jiang Yong glared at him.
"I can't say for sure!" Ye Zichen said half-jokingly.
"Brother Jiang, it seems you don't have much faith in Brother Ye!" The Xu Brothers also joked about Jiang Yong.
For a moment, everyone laughed at Jiang Yong's lack of faith, but they didn't notice that Murong Xue and Jiang Wei glanced at each other.
Murong Xue's gaze was filled with gratitude, while Jiang Wei's expression seemed conflicted, but he also relaxed.
Ye Zichen's suspicions were all resolved, and when he thought about how these societies were sending people over, he felt like today was his lucky day.
After strolling around the Upheaval Alliance for a while longer, Ye Zichen's jade slip flashed.
He took it out and probed it with his divine sense. To his surprise, it was Liu Jing's reply.
“？”
It wasn't a transmission reply, but a question mark written on a piece of paper.
Tsundere!
When he saw the question mark, Ye Zichen couldn't help but shake his head.
"Cutie, what are you doing?"
Ye Zichen felt goosebumps rise all over his body. However, he still sent it over with an evil grin on his face.
He could almost imagine the cold, aloof Liu Jing's expression when she heard this.
He smiled and put the jade slip back into his pocket. Jiang Yong and the others had just managed to trick Ye Zichen, and when they saw his smile, they couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong, Brother Ye?
"Brother Ye, what's wrong? Why are you so happy?"
"It's nothing." Ye Zichen waved them off and laughed. "You know Liu Jing, right? She's from the Four Directions Palace. I'm just sending her a message!"
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