The Scheme Exposed!

*Buzz!!* "My affairs have been exposed!" "Huang Bin's death still wasn't enough to dispel his suspicions." Jiang Yi's voice rang in Yuan Hongyi's ear. The voice was chilling, making no attempt to conceal its murderous intent. Moreover, for some reason, whenever Jiang Yi sent private transmissions to Yuan Hongyi, he always maintained a condescending attitude. Yuan Hongyi narrowed his eyes into slits. He had nowhere left to retreat now... If he failed to deliver the wealth on schedule by this time next year, tomorrow might very well become the day of his death. It wasn't that he hadn't considered resisting, but when the other party's strength far exceeded his own... Hearing Jiang Yi's words, Yuan Hongyi spoke in a dark tone. "What do you plan to do?" "Hire someone to kill him!" "Only with him dead can everything return to how it was!" Yuan Hongyi's heart leaped. Though he had anticipated such a day coming, he had never expected it so soon... Gritting his teeth, Yuan Hongyi said coldly, "Where are you? I'll come find you!" *** Meanwhile, Li Guanqi was listening to a report from the Dark Pavilion Guards. Cold light flickered in his slightly narrowed eyes as he murmured softly, "Tu Yongsi is training deathsworn soldiers of his own?" "Interesting... The person in charge of the Tianji Guards went and established an independent assassination organization of deathsworn." "Colluding with the Red Tower, using its intelligence network to accept commissions." "Jiang Yi of the Red Tower relied on Tianji Pavilion's intelligence network to establish his own intelligence outfit..." "And the Yellow Tower became the personal vault for the four of them, plundered at their whim." Li Guanqi unconsciously tapped his finger against the void, flecks of spiritual light sparkling forth. Yet even now, he still hadn't figured out what role Ji Yuchuan played in all this. Ji Yuchuan had taken his share of the Yellow Tower's wealth as well. Yet the others had all left traceable tracks, each plotting something—or rather... They were all working toward their own personal ends. Ji Yuchuan, by contrast, seemed completely uninvolved. Or perhaps he simply hid himself too deeply to be discovered. Suddenly, Li Guanqi started slightly. He turned toward where his clone stood, where a particularly unusual jade slip rested. In a flash, Li Guanqi took the jade slip into his hand. "Fulong Village!" The mere three words sent a chill through Li Guanqi's heart. Though he did not know who had left the jade slip, he understood beyond doubt that they were warning him: someone intended to strike at Fulong Village!! As for that small mountain village, under no circumstances did Li Guanqi want those villagers dragged into danger. Back when he and his grandfather had first arrived there, they had eaten many meals generously offered by the village households. Li Guanqi took out a jade slip and immediately contacted Lu Kangnian, after which Lu Kangnian personally went to Fulong Village. Throughout the wait, Li Guanqi gripped the jade slip without uttering a single word, until it lit up and Lu Kangnian's voice abruptly came through. "Rest easy, everything is fine!" "I've already brought everyone from the village into the Great Xia Sword Sect and settled them in." Hearing this, Li Guanqi finally let out a breath of relief. Yet his expression immediately darkened. He hadn't expected someone to truly try targeting those close to him. And it wasn't his three brothers or the Great Xia Sword Sect—it was Fulong Village!! With a single step, Li Guanqi vanished from the courtyard. When he reappeared, he was already at the top floor of the White Tower. Terrifying divine sense flooded forth like an overwhelming tide, pulling up recent intelligence records. At last! He caught a clue hidden within an inconspicuous piece of information. The message appeared on the surface to concern a certain sect in the Xuanmen Domain, but in truth, information about Fulong Village had been concealed within it. And this hidden trail ultimately led straight to the Red Tower! Li Guanqi's pressure spilled out uncontrollably. Through gritted teeth, he hissed, "Jiang Yi!!" What Li Guanqi loathed most now was anyone using those close to him as leverage!! Within the entire Tianji Domain, the skies churned, and thick, dark clouds blotted out the sun. Fierce winds howled as everyone felt an intensely suffocating aura spread outward. Word of what happened here quickly reached the ears of Jiang Yi and the others. Yet this terrifying pressure vanished as swiftly as it had come. Li Guanqi returned alone to the courtyard. He looked down at the faintly glowing jade pendant at his waist, his gaze indecipherable. *** Sitting in his study, Jiang Yi slowly set down the jade slip in his hand, a gloating, sneering smile playing at his lips. "Impudent greenhorn." The space behind Jiang Yi rippled slightly, and Yuan Hongyi said in a deep voice, "Killing him will likely demand a steep price. At the very least, we'll need to hire an old monster of the Body Integration Realm." Jiang Yi did not look back, cold light glinting in his narrowed eyes. "One isn't safe enough. Someone like him is bound to have contingency plans. We must ensure there is zero margin for error." "You know what happened in Mingchuan as well as I do—Long Hou may very well be standing behind him!" "Furthermore... Five Yang Ghost Emperor Meng Jiangchu is not someone to be trifled with!" Yuan Hongyi nodded and murmured, "Indeed!" "What do the other two think?" Jiang Yi slowly stood up and said darkly, "Regardless of what those two think, Tu Yongsi will definitely stand with us." "I just received word that everything we've done in secret seems to have been discovered." "Though I don't know who this force belongs to, I'm certain it's his doing." "After all, the genuine Tianji Chart is in his hands!" Yuan Hongyi's pupils shrank. He had already felt lately as if a pair of eyes were constantly watching him from the shadows. "Enough. Later we'll go confer with the other two. Once it's settled, we'll all be grasshoppers tied to the same string. If we go down... we all go down!" Li Guanqi did not yet know that a web of death had already been cast. Back in the courtyard, a sharp glint flickered in Li Guanqi's eyes as he murmured softly, "You probably won't be able to hold back much longer, will you..." "Come on then. If you don't make your move to kill me now, your chances will only grow slimmer." Li Guanqi was on guard at every moment for their strike, yet until now, there had been no movement. Over the days that followed, Li Guanqi noticed that fewer and fewer jade slips were being delivered. In the end, all four branch divisions sent over barely a dozen slips combined!! This was an overt message to him: even if they were no longer tower masters, the Four Towers remained under their control!! Furthermore, this state of affairs was loudly publicized by those with ulterior motives, reducing Li Guanqi once more to a Pavilion Master in name only. Looking at the jade slips before him, Li Guanqi chuckled coldly, a sharp glint flashing across his eyes. "Is that all?" Li Guanqi paid no heed to any of it. He merely took out the Tianji Chart in silence. Then, leaving a clone behind in the courtyard, he quietly slipped into the void. This state of affairs persisted for seven full days. Throughout those seven days, Li Guanqi appeared to remain inside the courtyard without going anywhere. Meanwhile, his true body roamed everywhere. He saw the dark-gold threads in Jiang Yi's hands connected to a tiny human puppet. A wry, amused smile touched the corner of Li Guanqi's lips before he faded out of sight. During those seven days, Li Guanqi let the rumors and gossip throughout Tianji Pavilion run wild and escalate. Yet he remained as unmoving as a towering mountain. Until the eighth day... Watching the jade pendant at his waist glow with faint fluorescence, Li Guanqi set down his wine cup, a peculiar smile playing across his face as he picked up the pendant. From within the jade pendant came Jiang Yi's airy, unhurried voice.