Meng Qi was dressed like a warrior, talking with assurance and composure. He really had the demeanor of a healthy version of Master Wang. The only thing that was not right was that he was not carrying a long sword in his hand, but a big machete that weighed 50 kilograms.
"What a good plan. On the surface, you used yourself as a chess piece to move the chessboard, confuse the situation, keep Tower Lord Ren in check, and divert attention. You invited so many masters from the Ranking List of Young Masters to come here and why you were competing with Master Wang. Secretly, you used Old Zhong, who seemed to have nothing to do with you, as well as Snake King's intelligence channel. You killed Eight-armed Flying Dragon and Three Eagles of Cloud Ridge in secret and coveted Brother Qiu. Even if someone found out that it was related to the Dongyang Villa, they would have overlooked it because the three Opportunities had not been gathered."
Mengqi praised him with a smile. "After entering the villa, you used the excuse of working together to deal with the devil to deceive me, Brother Qiu, and the Life-changing Sect disciples into letting down our guard. Then you used all kinds of excuses to kill me. In the end, even if you couldn't kill me because of the Soul-pledging Oath, you still had Old Zhong."
Hearing this, Qiu Fei sucked in a breath of cold air. This scheme was too vicious!
Jiang Hengchuan flicked his lapel. "Indeed. In fact, I wanted Old Zhong to keep hiding so that no one would find out about his existence. But Master Wang seemed to have sensed it and used you as a knife to lure us to Snake King. So I beat him at his own game and decided to kill the devil myself to draw a line with Old Zhong. Then, I used him as an excuse to make a follow-up plan."
Mengqi sighed. "Brother Jiang, I still have something I don't understand. You look mediocre on the outside and act naturally. But in fact, you are arrogant and refuse to submit to others. You said, 'I didn't cultivate myself to find a master'. It was so sincere, but in the end, didn't you become someone else's dog?"
"No, our organization is equal. There are only conveners and participants. All tasks are voluntary. There is no coercion." Jiang Hengchuan retorted seriously, his eyes full of gratitude. "Brother Su, you were expelled from the Shaolin Temple and became a Rogue Cultivator. Your path is difficult and you can't compete with aristocratic families or sects. Why not join our organization?"
He did not summon Old Zhong directly because he wanted to recruit Mengqi. He wanted to see Mengqi's ability to analyze and judge.
"Everyone wants to recruit me …" Meng Qi suddenly felt a little smug. He raised his head slightly and looked at the misty rain, looking like a lonely master. "I only believe in my blade and sword."
Upon hearing Meng Qi's tactful refusal and sensing a powerful Devil Qi slowly approaching, Jiang Hengchuan revealed a regretful expression.
"As expected, the strong are always proud. Those who have the potential to become strong are also proud."
"Unfortunately, you found out too late. Without the breath of the fragment of Dongyang Seal, even if someone secretly follows you, they won't be able to enter the villa. Even if you have an Exterior helper, they won't be able to do anything.
"Old Zhong is an outstanding Half-step Exterior Scenery master and has a Precious Weapon. The two of you can only protect yourselves if you join hands. With me, you won't be able to escape even if you have wings."
Mengqi suddenly laughed and pointed at Qiu Fei, who was sighing about the layout. "Brother Jiang, didn't you notice that Brother Qiu's mood is off? He only has surprise, shock, regret, and lingering fear. If he wasn't so confident, why would he be like this? "
"Moreover, it's the first time a core disciple of the Life-changing Sect has roamed Jianghu. He has little experience, so it's normal for him to be ambushed and assassinated. But Brother Qiu is experienced in Jianghu. How could he not be on guard against anyone approaching? Maybe he also wanted to kill the two Life-changing Sect disciples. "
The smile on Jiang Hengchuan's face froze. He looked at Qiu Fei. "Is that so?"
He seemed to understand something.
Qiu Fei stopped sighing and said with a smile, "Civil Star's plan is exquisite. I'm not as good as you. If we meet again in the future and become your opponent, I won't even know who my enemy is until I die. However, I've been in Jianghu for many years and I've lived to this day because I've judged the situation and attached myself to the strong. I don't do things beyond my ability …"
Before he finished speaking, a small boat floated down from upstream. A man sat cross-legged at the bow of the boat. In front of him was an incense burner, a chessboard, and a shark-skin long sword. Behind him stood an elegant middle-aged man.
Sandalwood fragrance wafted in the air. The man sitting cross-legged was dressed in clothes whiter than snow. His face was pale as if he had not recovered from a serious illness. His facial features were delicate, gentle, and arrogant. He kept coughing. It was Wang Siyuan, Master Wang!
"Wang Siyuan … Wang Buchi …" Jiang Hengchuan seemed to be chewing on these words. His pupils contracted and he clenched his fists.
The man behind Wang Siyuan was the Exterior expert of the Wang family who guarded the Su Garden of Maoling. "Just in time", Wang Buchi!
"I'm not late!"
The strong and the weak had changed positions again!
Qiu Fei chuckled. "Therefore, when Master Wang came to me and promised to clear my name of colluding with the Life-changing Sect, I agreed without hesitation. These days, I went out several times under the pretext of gathering information. Finally, when they were careless, I secretly brought Master Wang and Senior Wang here. "
"You're not stupid," Wang Siyuan stopped coughing and wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. He did not look at Jiang Hengchuan, but at Mengqi.
Mengqi laughed. "You deliberately let Owner You of the Sky-first No.1 Casino put on a show. Didn't you want us to guess that it was you? That way, we would think that you deliberately led us to the Eight-armed Flying Dragon and then slowly brought up the matter of Old Zhong. Naturally, we would be attracted to this place and Civil Star would neglect the most problematic 'Wind-chasing Stick' Qiu Fei. "
"Actually, the people Brother Qiu met at the casino were not only the leader of the Money Sect, but also you, Brother Wang, right?"
"He went to see the Life-changing Sect outside the city for several days. I'm afraid you ordered him to deliberately expose himself and 'fake his death' to fade away."
Hearing this, Qiu Fei sweated a little. This group of evildoers really acted as if they had seen it with their own eyes!
Wang Siyuan smiled indifferently. "Actually, I didn't have to do it so deliberately. I just wanted you to see through it and see if you could surprise me and go beyond my control. Unfortunately, you didn't."
"You did it on purpose … That's crazy …" Mengqi was a little dumbfounded.
"You were right. The core of the plan is to hide the purpose." Wang Siyuan looked at Jiang Hengchuan with a faint smile. "So, as long as I have a few purposes, no matter how chaotic the situation is, I can stand still and wait for you to walk into the trap. Whether it was Owner You, or leading you to North Street to see the collusion between Snake King and the Devil, it was just a fake story. After all, if I did nothing, you would be suspicious. As for diverting attention and covering up the real plan, it was just a side effect."
After saying so much in one breath, as Mengqi expected, Wang Siyuan coughed violently. He coughed so hard that the white handkerchief in his hand was dyed red.
"It would be great if I coughed to death like this …" Mengqi cursed.
Jiang Hengchuan sighed. "I didn't expect you to have already guessed it."
"You did a good job. It wasn't until Su Meng went to the Hero Tower that I was sure you were Civil Star." Wang Siyuan stopped coughing. "Your failure is that your possible purposes are not related to each other. You don't have to focus on one. I can deal with them calmly. If one of your purposes is to sneak into the Su Garden and spy on the secret of the formation while the Tidal Bore of Jin River is in danger, I'll be in a bit of a pickle."
Jiang Hengchuan smiled bitterly. "I did plan to do that, but the premise is that I'm in Daxing and I won't be a pawn. Otherwise, if I go too far, Master Wang, I'm afraid you'll take action in advance. I won't even have the chance to sneak into the villa."
"That's true." Wang Siyuan said cheerfully, as if he was happy to meet someone who could talk with him about the layout. "Another reason is that you're short on manpower, right?"
Jiang Hengchuan's face became more and more bitter. "Earlier tonight, Fire Lord and Snake King should have exposed themselves outside to attract your attention and make the other purpose seem real. In the end, when Old Zhong asked him to test Brother Su, he was killed on the spot …"
Snake King couldn't do anything alone, so there was no need for him to "show up".
"So it's my fault?" Mengqi thought to himself. "Who asked him to meet me when my strength has greatly increased?"
Wang Siyuan looked around. "None of you Exterior masters participated?"
"This is a test …" Jiang Hengchuan said in a self-deprecating manner. "Unfortunately, I failed."
There was no anger, remorse, panic, or fear in his words. He seemed to think that there was still hope for him to escape.
"Test …" Wang Siyuan repeated these two words thoughtfully. Then he looked at Mengqi. "I'm a little disappointed. I deliberately gave you a few hints, but you didn't surprise me. There were no unexpected changes."
"Is your identity as a Secret-searching Nark fake?
Apart from Qiu Fei, the Life-changing Sect disciples, and me, who else in Maoling knows that you're a Secret-searching Nark? It's normal to keep this secret when you're confident of escaping at the beginning. But why didn't you use it at the last stage? Didn't you find the Silver-badge and Green-ribbon of the Six Fan School?
Although Mengqi didn't use the Eight Nine Mysteries from Yangxia to Maoling, he still disguised himself. Qiu Fei and the Life-changing Sect disciples recognized him because they fought with him and saw the bladesmanship of "Triple Combination of Yin and Yang, which is Yin and which is Yin". After all, they sent another non-core disciple to test the situation with the Swordsman of Ning Province. Old Zhong, who was disguised as a dead man, didn't dare to use Will-projecting to spy on the situation. As for Jiang Hengchuan, he didn't even know about Su Ziyuan. How could he know that Mengqi was a member of the Six Fan School?
Because of this, Wang Siyuan used Mengqi as a variable.
Mengqi said with a faint smile,
"Why do you say that?"
Before his voice died away, a corpse flew over from the other side of the river and fell to the ground. It was Bai Wuchang, followed by a figure wrapped in black gas.
Jiang Hengchuan was delighted at first, but then his expression changed. Bai Wuchang's corpse hadn't been absorbed!
The black gas dissipated and the figure looked up. It was wearing an elegant and heavy dress. His white hair was tied up in a bun, and his facial features were kind. He held a dragon-headed crutch in his hand. His appearance was worlds apart from Old Zhong's!
Wang Siyuan was surprised for the first time. "Senior Ruan …"
