Li Guanqi Sets a Little Scheme!

Li Guanqi raised his hand and drew the few scattered jade slips into his grasp. Clasping his hands behind his back, he took two steps toward Yuan Hongyi's upstairs study before coming to a halt. Turning back to Yuan Hongyi, he smiled. "Tower Master Yuan has many official duties to attend to, so I'll just take these back to read." Yuan Hongyi breathed an inward sigh of relief. He had feared Li Guanqi would insist on reading them right here in his tower. Hearing that Li Guanqi planned to take them away, he felt an instant surge of delight. "Haha, wonderful, wonderful! If anything is unclear later on, just ask me." At this moment, Yuan Hongyi only wanted to send this jinx on his way as fast as possible, terrified that the young man might stir up some unforeseen disaster in his territory. A faint, inscrutable smile played on Li Guanqi's lips, looking particularly chilling in his eyes. "Don't worry. If there's anything I don't understand, I will definitely ask you." With that, Li Guanqi's figure flickered, and he reappeared outside the Yellow Tower. His movements were observed by many watchful eyes. Seeing Li Guanqi emerge so soon after entering, onlookers entertained all sorts of conflicting thoughts. Furthermore, densely hovering behind Li Guanqi were several hundred jade slips! It looked as though Yuan Hongyi had prepared an enormous amount of information for him. In reality, Yuan Hongyi had only given him three. Li Guanqi had pulled out all his blank jade slips, various map jade slips, and even communication jade slips from Lu Kangnian, Ye Feng, and others just to put on a grand show. Li Guanqi even muttered with deep distress, "Sigh, with so many things, how long will it take to read through them all? In a little while, I'll have to call Old Yuan over for a good chat..." His voice was neither loud nor soft... It was just loud enough for the few people nearest to him to hear. Immediately afterward, Li Guanqi's figure vanished from the spot. By the time Li Guanqi returned to his courtyard, everything he had said and done had already reached the ears of the other factions. Fearing that informants might be watching him, Yuan Hongyi had sealed the entire Yellow Tower within a barrier. Yet this also prevented messages inside the Yellow Tower from getting out, and news from outside from getting in... At this moment, Yuan Hongyi sat in his study gulping spiritual tea, his brow knitted tightly. The fat man frowned deeply in his chair, utterly unable to fathom who could have known that his aura had vanished inside the Yellow Tower, and who had informed Li Guanqi. Yet while he was racking his brains, the communication jade slips Jiang Yi sent him were nearly bursting with frantic inquiries. Outside the Yellow Tower, the barrier's light flickered incessantly. Ever since Li Guanqi left, Jiang Yi had been unable to reach Yuan Hongyi. Furious, Jiang Yi crushed Yuan Hongyi's communication jade slip on the spot and cursed aloud. Meanwhile, Li Guanqi took out the Pavilion Master jade pendant and said with a smile, "Oh, Tower Master Yuan, the contents of these jade slips are a bit too obscure. Why don't you come over and explain them to me?" *Hum!* The Tianji Pavilion Master's jade pendant was entirely unaffected by the Yellow Tower's barrier; the voice rang directly in Yuan Hongyi's ear. Hearing Li Guanqi's voice, Yuan Hongyi's heart began to pound like a drum. Remembering how hastily he had promised earlier to answer any questions, he wished he could slap himself twice across the face. In the end, he had no choice but to rise and vanish from the study. Appearing outside the barrier of Li Guanqi's courtyard, he bowed deeply. "Yuan Hongyi pays his respects to the Pavilion Master!" *Hum!* The courtyard barrier parted, and Li Guanqi smiled. "Brother Yuan, please come in." Even as he spoke, Li Guanqi had already arrived at Yuan Hongyi's side and guided him into the courtyard. With a surge of his divine sense, a cold sneer touched Li Guanqi's face the instant he closed the barrier. *Continue monitoring the others, and bring me the information on these few individuals.* *Swish!* A faint ripple flashed past, and Li Guanqi walked into the courtyard with an unperturbed expression. Yuan Hongyi looked nervously at the jade slips on the table. He knew better than anyone what was inside those three jade slips... They contained only a superficial overview of the Yellow Tower, with almost nothing of real substance. "Uh... Pavilion Master, if you have any questions, feel free to ask. Old Yuan will hold nothing back and tell you everything I know." Li Guanqi smiled, put the three jade slips directly away, and placed a jar of strong liquor on the table with a laugh. "Ah! What questions? There are no questions at all!" "I'm a newcomer here, after all, and I'll have to rely on you a great deal in the future, Brother Yuan." "I didn't call you here for anything serious. I mainly wanted to share a drink with you and get to know each other better." Yuan Hongyi looked at Li Guanqi with half-doubt. Seeing that Li Guanqi truly was just savoring the wine, he breathed a sigh of relief. Though rather puzzled, he was happy to indulge and simply drank freely. He had already made up his mind: once he was dead drunk, Li Guanqi wouldn't be able to question him anyway! What Yuan Hongyi did not know was that after he left the Yellow Tower and entered Li Guanqi's courtyard... The factions of the other three Tower Masters erupted in an uproar. Jiang Han slammed his fist onto the table, sending the teacups bouncing. The man snarled furiously, "Humph! To think the first traitor to emerge would be that old bastard Yuan Hongyi!" "Several hundred jade slips, Father!" "He's practically handing over all the Yellow Tower's deepest secrets! And as if that weren't enough, he brazenly went to hold a secret meeting with Li Guanqi!" "It's already been an entire shichen, and he still hasn't come out!" Inside the antique hall, the elder seated in the place of honor wore an exceedingly dark expression, remaining completely silent! With a grim face, Jiang Yi tucked his hands into his sleeves, his mind churning with calculations. A sharp light flickered in the elder's eyes as he stared blankly at the white jade floor tiles not far away, lost in thought. He did not believe Yuan Hongyi was so foolish... Yet he had been unable to contact the man from the very beginning, right up until now... "I thought Tu Yongsi was the guardian left behind by the Old Pavilion Master." "Yet Li Guanqi appeared out of nowhere, drank and chatted right beside Ji Yuchuan..." "And now he's tangled up with Yuan Hongyi!" At this point, the elder's voice grew exceptionally solemn. "This fellow Li Guanqi might be sharper than any of us anticipated!" With his hands tucked into his sleeves, the elder lifted his shoulders slightly, his expression turning cold. He spoke with indifferent eyes, "If that's the case... then I'll play along with you." "Let's see who is mightier: you, the dragon crossing the river, or me, the entrenched serpent!" With those words, the elder pulled out a silver scroll, took up a brush, and penned several orders upon it. *** Top floor of the Red Tower. Tu Yongsi sat beside a desk, gazing at the jade slip before him, a slight curl at the corner of his lips. With his head bowed, his features remained obscured, and only faint murmurs could be heard. Meanwhile, seated cross-legged at the center of a grand formation, Ji Yuchuan's lips curled into a faint smile as he said softly, "In this game of chess... everyone has entered the board!" "In that case, I might as well play along." "Old Yuan, oh Old Yuan... he is no mere figurehead... he won't be as easy to handle as you think!"