Chapter 131: “i’ll Say A Few Fair Words”
Those who also felt something was off like Jiang Ce included Wei Lao and Xiao Lin.
A group of blue talisman members and You Sha Branch’s purple talisman members, as long as they were not part of the feint attack teams, basically all attended this meeting. Everyone was exhilarated by the news coming from the front lines, but Wei Lao sat solemnly in the main seat without saying a word, and Xiao Lin in the second seat also showed no reaction. Though staring straight ahead, his eyes were clearly somewhat dazed, obviously his mind was not here.
Jiang Ce secretly glanced at the two, then quickly looked away and stared blankly at the cup in front of him.
Finally, the continuous good news reports still made some cultivators who had fought the gluttonous ghosts start muttering.
The atmosphere in the venue gradually turned from initial joy to numbness, and then to silence.
A purple talisman Daoist priest spoke up, hesitantly voicing his doubts: “Wei Lao, this doesn’t seem right. How could the gluttonous ghosts be so vulnerable? I’ve fought them before. Their evil cultivation methods, even when used by people with average aptitude, are extremely bizarre and very hard to deal with.”
But if someone questioned it, naturally others firmly believed otherwise and immediately retorted: “What do you mean? Are our orthodox cultivators not as good as their evil cultivators? After all, they are unorthodox paths; isn’t it normal for them to be vulnerable?”
The Daoist priest helplessly explained: “That’s not what I mean. You’ve always been responsible for handling ghosts and monsters, and you’ve never dealt with the gluttonous ghosts, so you don’t understand.”
“What? Are you all superior?”
“Don’t make it personal.”
Seeing the people in the meeting room dividing into two groups, chattering with signs of an argument breaking out, Jiang Ce felt bored and prepared to leave.
But by a twist of fate, Wei Lao looked at Jiang Ce: “Jiang Ce, what do you think?”
Jiang Ce had just lifted his butt when he heard Wei Lao call him, so he sat back down as if nothing happened, casually taking the melon seeds he had just put in his pocket and putting them back in the plate in front of him.
“I was looking out the window.”
Before Wei Lao could respond, the people around him had already slightly furrowed their brows.
In the You Sha Branch, aside from Xiao Lin, Tian Yongle, Xuan Qing, Ku Zhen, Qin Shen Bo, Liang Zhi Che, and others, no one knew Jiang Ce’s capability, nor what he had done. They only vaguely knew that Jiang Ce had some relationship with Wei Lao, and Xiao Lin intended to promote him.
Even so, at such an important meeting, letting a newbie who had just joined not long ago attend already made these veterans somewhat dissatisfied. Now being called upon by Wei Lao to speak, those who wanted to perform in front of Wei Lao felt even more unconvinced.
They had privately looked into it: Jiang Ce had conflicts with Liang Zhi Zhou and several sixth rank members right after joining the gatekeepers. At that time, he claimed to be sixth rank, and now only a little over a month had passed—not even two months—could he have reached the edge of fifth rank?
Not even fifth rank, what qualification did he have to participate, or even just listen in?
The most infuriating was Jiang Ce’s nonchalant attitude. Asked for his view, what did “looking out the window” mean?
So the purple talisman Confucian cultivator who had just confronted the purple talisman Daoist priest targeted him: “Could it be that even Liang Zhi Zhou, that Confucian path newbie with extremely good cultivation, was forced to desperation by you? Seeing it today, indeed extraordinary.”
He emphasized the four words “extraordinary” heavily, which made Jiang Ce feel very uncomfortable.
“Where did this sarcastic person come from? Has the feudal dynasty been restored? How come eunuchs are popping up?”
Hearing this, the Confucian cultivator instantly broke down: “Talking to you is truly insulting to civility!”
“It wasn’t me who started talking to you.” Jiang Ce rolled his eyes, actually lifting both feet onto the table, looking even more like Wei Lao than Wei Lao, causing another round of sidelong glances.
But his output didn’t stop; he kept outputting!
“You shamelessly come up close, and you’re not allowed to be slapped, huh?
This Daoist priest just raised an opinion, and you immediately escalate it to departmental discrimination. You should go hit the ring on Xiaohongshu instead of wasting your boxing skills.
Too lazy to argue with you, so be happy about it, but you insist on coming up to get scolded. Isn’t this Sword Tomb? Isn’t this Sword Tomb? Isn’t this Sword Tomb?
Daoist priest, don’t stoop to his level. Pure trash contrarian. If I were Cao Gong, I’d definitely make you get lost. Right, Wei Lao?”
With Jiang Ce redirecting the fire, everyone subconsciously looked at Wei Lao.
That Confucian cultivator’s face was pitch black, looking exactly like he had taken a trip to Guangzhou and caught the nigger virus.
He looked at Wei Lao with hopeful anticipation, hoping he would punish Jiang Ce.
But Wei Lao did not reprimand or angrily scold Jiang Ce as they imagined. Instead, in a flat tone: “Don’t be rude. Every gatekeeper deserves respect. No matter what kind of work they are responsible for, they shouldn’t be belittled and insulted by you like this. Apologize!”
Jiang Ce “oh”ed, reluctantly saying: “Sorry, I shouldn’t have called you a eunuch, shouldn’t have called you Sword Tomb, shouldn’t have said you’re a pure trash contrarian. Please don’t get lost; stay here.”
Wei Lao’s mouth twitched slightly, but he didn’t get angry. Instead, he comforted the purple talisman Confucian cultivator: “Don’t get angry. Right now is the time to unite against the outside. We absolutely cannot have any mishaps internally. Once everything is over, I’ll make him come apologize in person.”
Everyone present was astonished, but after Jiang Ce’s disruption, plus Wei Lao’s final words that faintly carried a warning, it prevented the previous conflict from escalating further.
There were no shortage of people in the venue who were well-versed in officialdom. With a little thought, they saw that Wei Lao was putting on an act with Jiang Ce—one playing the good cop, the other the bad cop.
They had even set up a stage to perform together; Jiang Ce’s true value was already obvious. Those who had chosen to stay neutral and observe in the previous conflict now looked at the Confucian cultivator with sympathy.
Apology? Probably not happening.
The purple talisman Daoist cultivator sat down, gratefully glancing at Wei Lao.
He saw it: Wei Lao was also on his side. Perhaps Wei Lao had the same idea as him.
Xiao Lin timely clapped his hands: “Alright, back to the topic. Jiang Ce, Wei Lao just asked for your view, not where you were looking.”
“Fine then, I’ll say a few fair words.” Jiang Ce slightly straightened up, but clearly still lacked enthusiasm: “How to put it? Actually, my idea is similar to that Daoist priest’s. I feel something’s not right.
In an offensive-defensive battle, the defending side actually has a great advantage, not to mention they are defending territory they have operated for many years. Logically, unless the quality of our dispatched people far exceeds theirs, it’s impossible to achieve such results.
But the gluttonous ghosts can’t be just this level, or they would have been pushed over long ago; no need to wait until today.
I’ve fought gluttonous ghosts of the same level. How to say it? Although the opponents were elites too, neither Martial Uncle Xuan Qing nor the likes of Qin Shen Bo would dare say they can steadily overpower them.
It’s not that they can’t match up, but their tricks are too many. If you’re not used to fighting them often, it’s easy to suffer losses. As far as I know, probably only three or four out of ten gatekeepers have truly fought the gluttonous ghosts; it’s unlikely to comprehensively crush them.”
After hearing this analysis, everyone fell into deep thought.
That Confucian cultivator subconsciously retorted without thinking: “Why boost others’ morale and extinguish our own prestige? Aren’t you overestimating them? They are evil cultivators; how could they be stronger than our orthodox cultivators?”
“Am I giving you face? How about you let me curse for five minutes, save up an hour, and apologize together next time?”
The Confucian cultivator wisely shut up, but his expression was clearly very unhappy.
Xiao Lin gave that Confucian cultivator a warning look with his eyes, then casually continued: “So, do you have any ideas?”
Jiang Ce thought for a moment: “I think Bai Qing, being able to rise to helmsman and offend the Celestial Master’s Mansion to death yet remain free until now, is definitely not stupid. I’m wondering if he has seen through it.”
“Seen through it?” Xiao Lin’s eyes turned slightly, but before turning to Wei Lao, he forcibly turned back: “How so?”
“He saw that we’re not going all out. Although every team has a purple talisman leading and giving full pressure, I think for an old fox like Bai Qing, after a few rounds, he can probably detect some clues.”
Seeing that aside from Wei Lao who was deep in thought, the others were all confused, Jiang Ce explained:
“Look, at the beginning we didn’t gain much, but after a few rounds, they clearly couldn’t hold on, starting to constantly rotate people to resist. I think there are two possibilities. If it’s not that they really can’t hold on, then it means Bai Qing wants to create the illusion that they can’t hold on.
Although the reports say the enemy has suffered heavy casualties, not a single corpse was brought back. The battlefield changes rapidly, so they can only roughly check. The injuries are real, but how many actually died is hard to say.
If we think in this direction, his purpose is obvious: at the cost of some acceptable casualties, show weakness to deceive the enemy, make us think the overall situation is settled and relax our vigilance, then he starts a frantic counterattack, catching us off guard.”
Xiao Lin looked at the others: “What Jiang Ce said is also the issue Wei Lao and I are worried about.”
“But how did he see through it?” someone asked. “Wei Lao sealed the information; even we don’t know. If he figured it out just from this bit of news, then Bai Qing’s ability far exceeds our past understanding. Why then has he always lurked in a corner all these years without any achievements?”
Wei Lao glanced at the speaker, calmly saying: “Only Xiao Lin and I know about this.”
That person’s expression changed dramatically, immediately explaining: “I didn’t mean that; I was just talking about Bai Qing.”
Wei Lao didn’t pursue it further, instead sighing: “In short, it’s absolutely impossible for them to have received advance wind of the reference information.
However, this does differ from the intelligence I have. In the past, Bai Qing was cunning but lacked foresight, easily blinded by immediate matters, and lacked boldness, being overly cautious.
Perhaps he could detect something wrong; that was within my expectations. But how dare he bet on it? If we really went all out, wouldn’t he fear that deliberately exposing flaws turns fake into real?”
Each bit of confusion was like needles stabbing into Jiang Ce’s heart.
He subconsciously avoided others’ gazes, his eyes flickering uncertainly.
Don’t look at me; I don’t know either.
“So what should we do now?”
Facing this question, everyone looked at Wei Lao, waiting for his final decision.
Wei Lao didn’t hesitate much: “Change the plan. Move tonight to avoid prolonged delays bringing endless troubles.
If it’s really as we suspect and he wants to turn the tables on us, then their preparations now are definitely not sufficient yet, and there’s still time.”
“But guesses are just guesses. What if it’s the opposite? Suppose he’s preparing for a desperate fight, and we go now, wouldn’t we run right into their most frenzied and ferocious moment, missing the chance to wait at ease for the exhausted enemy?” Xiao Lin suddenly said.
A rare hesitation appeared on Wei Lao’s face.
This was the first time in the past few decades that he felt things slipping out of his control, and he didn’t know where the problem lay.
This feeling was very hard for him to accept.
It even made him doubt his own ability a little.
With his methods, he could dig up anyone’s ancestral history. Since Bai Qing wasn’t shielded from heavenly secrets by the gluttonous ghosts’ cult leader, logically, his judgment on Bai Qing shouldn’t have issues.
But the problem had arisen.
“Can we think differently?” Jiang Ce suddenly thought of something, and everyone’s gazes shifted to him.
“Look, suppose he really has other intentions, he could have just responded normally without being so deliberate; we wouldn’t notice anything.
But we detected something wrong; that’s the key issue.
Too obvious.
So this leads to two possibilities. First, he has a reason that forces him to do this, which is easy to understand: quickly pretending to be defeated avoids prolonged battle, ends the fight soon to preserve strength, or creates mystery to make us fight wits with air, aiming to delay time for reinforcements, which fits our suspicions.
The second possibility is that our suspicion is wrong; he noticed nothing and is just focusing on tonight. That means they really can’t hold on, they are inferior, so no need to worry if they’re doing a cornered beast fight now; it’s all the same anyway. Though personally I think it’s unlikely.
So no matter what, if we follow Wei Lao’s idea and go all out soon, we will definitely take them down. But if we delay, the cost might be smaller, but more likely total failure.”
After speaking, Jiang Ce shrank back.
Although on the surface he was just being reasonable, he was very anxious, really very anxious.
Every extra day Bai Qing lives means a bigger hidden danger for him.
If his killing of Bai Qing’s disciple is exposed, who knows how many buddies Bai Qing has. Then how could he blend seamlessly with the gluttonous ghosts or carry out work?
This is very detrimental to unity.
For a bad element like Bai Qing who destroys unity and the collective, he must be eradicated.
As for reconciling with Bai Qing, he had never even considered it.
No matter how desperate, he never thought of saying in front of someone’s disciple’s portrait: It’s all a misunderstanding, all trash bro, no big deal, don’t mind it.
But in fact, Jiang Ce didn’t know that if he really tried it, the situation might not be as difficult as he imagined.
But then again, Jiang Ce wasn’t one to like taking risks. Why guess someone’s thoughts and keep a time bomb nearby when you can just eliminate them to keep the secret forever?
When similar situations arise, the little devil and little angel on Jiang Ce’s shoulders are always—
Little devil: “Why not just kill him?”
Little angel: “I think it’s feasible.”
