Sure enough, before long Huyan Lie appeared at Xiahou Cang's manor, his face streaming with sweat, arriving in secret.
In the quiet secret chamber there were only two people: Xiahou Cang and Huyan Lie.
This chamber was not inside Xiahou Cang's study.
"Castellan Xiahou truly has a deft hand..."
"To stage such a grand play before everyone without a whisper of it getting out — you had me fooled completely."
Huyan Lie wiped at his sweat, picked up the teacup, and drained it in great gulps.
He was even perched on the edge of the chair.
The tide had turned. If Beizha City did not come seeking cooperation, it might well be swallowed up by the other houses in an instant!
Xiahou Cang was secretly delighted. An incense stick's time ago, this man had been speaking to him with his nose in the air.
Now he could not even meet his eyes, sitting before him like a junior full of unease.
Xiahou Cang said nothing the whole time, only sipping his spiritual tea, an unfathomable smile on his face.
"This Li Congxin really is a clever one... such a tangled situation, and in a single night, with one trip out, he turned it all around!"
"I truly did underestimate him."
At that thought, Xiahou Cang smiled and said quietly,
"Brother Huyan, have some tea and rest a while. There's no hurry."
Huyan Lie had no mind for tea now. He shifted in his seat and spoke uneasily.
"Brother Xiahou, I... ahem... I was indeed somewhat arrogant and foolish before."
"I hope Brother Xiahou, in his magnanimity, won't hold it against me."
"Rest assured, Beizha City will absolutely stand with Xialin City!!"
Xiahou Cang smiled without a word and slowly rose. The chamber door was pushed open.
Creak!
Li Guanqi, dressed in white, walked slowly in, and nodded with a smile when he saw Huyan Lie.
"Castellan Huyan, we didn't meet during the day. I never expected we'd meet now."
The rough-featured Huyan Lie remembered at once — this must be the fellow who had come asking for an audience with him during the day today!!
Seeing Xiahou Cang rise to welcome him, Huyan Lie finally understood what was going on.
Most likely... all of this had been this young man's plan!!
He had assumed it was Xiahou Cang's wife, Yu Su, scheming on his behalf behind the scenes.
Now it seemed it was all the doing of this fellow before him.
Huyan Lie was a True Immortal, yet he hurried to his feet and gave Li Guanqi a slight nod.
"I take it this talented young man is the member of your household I had no chance to meet today."
Once the three were gathered and the door was shut, Xiahou Cang spoke.
"Since young friend Li has arrived, then you tell us the plan for what comes next."
Even facing two Castellans, Li Guanqi remained unruffled.
He picked up his teacup and said with a light smile,
"It's nothing much. Castellan Huyan will of course stand with us."
"But... not on the surface."
Xiahou Cang was taken aback too; he frowned slightly but said nothing.
Huyan Lie grew anxious at once.
"Young friend, young friend... that won't do."
"If Beizha City doesn't declare itself now, I'm afraid the two southwestern cities will attack me tomorrow!"
"The two southwestern cities have already sealed their gates today, and quite a few cultivators have begun leaving the city. That means they can barely hold back any longer!"
Li Guanqi's gaze flickered. He had not expected the two southwestern cities to be so sharp — they were already laying their pieces.
He had only gone to East City during the day, and already the two southwestern cities were preparing to strike!
Li Guanqi glanced at the man and said quietly,
"If... I had Castellan Huyan go join the two southwestern cities, would you be confident you could pull it off?"
Huyan Lie's brows knit tight at once, and he did not speak.
His eyes shifted, and he found he had no idea what Li Guanqi was thinking.
Li Guanqi went on of his own accord.
"As everyone knows, the two southwestern cities are the strongest, and they don't fear Xialin City and Beizha City joining forces in the slightest."
"But..."
"If East City and Donglin City were to join with us, do you think the two southwestern cities would still care about Beizha City?"
Huyan Lie's heart pounded violently. If it truly went as Li Guanqi said, the two southwestern cities would surely grow anxious as well.
Three against three would be one thing, but four against two, openly...
Huyan Lie's eyes lit up.
"If that's how it is, I can certainly get the two southwestern cities to take me in!"
Li Guanqi clapped his hands and laughed.
"Good. Since Castellan Huyan agrees."
"Then we won't hide anything either — we ought to show a little sincerity."
"The plan is simple: when the chaos erupts, we strike from within and without and deal the two southwestern cities a heavy blow!"
"After that, we'll discuss how to carve up the two clans between us!"
At this, Li Guanqi paused briefly.
"For now, though..."
"We're going to take a look at the Cold Soul Jade Glaze's Secret Realm Rift!"
Huyan Lie's pupils contracted, and he looked at Xiahou Cang in disbelief!
Xiahou Cang's eyes held a hint of bewilderment as well. He frowned and said by voice transmission,
"Take him there now?!"
"Don't you know what the situation is over there? If anyone looks closely now, there will surely be flaws still visible!"
Li Guanqi answered by voice transmission: "Do you think dragging it out will help?"
"If we go now, we may even catch Chu Yuan and Chen Ce..."
At those words, Xiahou Cang's heart sank!
After a long silence, he rose and smiled.
"Let's go!"
This time, though, the three merely concealed their auras and their movements.
A teleportation array appeared in the secret chamber, and it led straight to the patrol camp.
Huyan Lie watched the two men's expressions shift as they conferred by voice transmission and said nothing, only observing them offhandedly.
The teleportation array lit up, and a sharp gleam flashed suddenly through the depths of Huyan Lie's eyes.
The friction among the six cities today was all over the Cold Soul Jade Glaze. Whoever obtained it would grow greatly in power and break the balance among the six cities...
But now — he had never imagined Xiahou Cang actually had it!
Buzz!!
The array's glow faded, and the three silently appeared in a tent of the patrol camp.
And the tent with the rift stood a hundred zhang away!
On the surface, the patrol camp looked the same as ever inside and out, but in truth the patrols were far more frequent.
Concealing themselves, the three hurried toward that tent. Before they had even drawn near, Huyan Lie sensed an unusual fluctuation of aura.
That fluctuation was extremely, extremely faint. Had he not possessed a special perception, he likely would never have noticed it.
Just then, however, Li Guanqi suddenly stopped and spoke to two armored soldiers in the distance.
"You two, come along as well."
Both Xiahou Cang and Huyan Lie started and turned abruptly toward the two soldiers, who had halted several dozen zhang away.
Clatter!
The two removed their helmets and flashed over to them.
Chu Yuan asked, puzzled,
"How did you spot us, young friend?"
"By rights, both our appearance and our auras have been altered."
"With your cultivation, you should never have been able to sense us!"
By now Li Guanqi truly did look down on these six Castellans from the bottom of his heart.
Each one thought himself cleverer than the last.
Li Guanqi pointed at the ground nearby — not a single footprint.
And then Li Guanqi pointed at Chu Yuan and said,
"The way you walk is far too different from these soldiers who patrol every day..."
At those words, both Chu Yuan and Chen Ce looked a little embarrassed.
They had done this sort of thing rarely and had little experience of it.
Chapter 1742