Chapter 130: Reactions From All Sides
Now it could be said that Jiang Ce’s whole body was numb.
He really hadn’t expected Wei Lao to pull this stunt. Originally, telling the false information to Song Yuntian was to lower their guard and catch them off guard to eliminate Bai Qing, but this way around, it had backfired, turning cleverness into a blunder.
Here he had just told Song Yuntian about the action tonight, and over there it was said to be false intelligence deliberately leaked to the mole.
What the hell? Acting like a fool here?
I thought you didn’t know I was a traitor either, so how did you trick me into this?
Not only that, Wei Lao also issued an order that no one was allowed to go out.
What does this mean?
This means Jiang Ce now has no way to pass the message out at all.
Calling Song Yuntian over would be pure self-exposure.
Thinking of this, Jiang Ce took a deep breath.
Forget it, tired, just like this.
At the same time, in a secret dark chamber, Bai Qing was sitting in an armchair with his eyes closed, resting his mind.
Not long ago his disciple died, a couple of days ago his brother died, and yesterday he received the message that the gatekeeper was preparing to take advantage of his illness to take his life. This moment could be said to be the darkest time in his life.
But what troubled him was that he had two pieces of information on the exact time of the gatekeeper’s move.
One was from his own informant, saying the gatekeeper would act tonight.
The other was the Holy Envoy who suddenly came to inform him last night that the gatekeeper would strike tomorrow night.
On one side was his own person whom he had cultivated for years providing intelligence, on the other was the Holy Envoy with supereminent status within the Gluttonous Ghost. He didn’t know whom to believe.
Helplessly, he could only have his subordinates stay alert at all times.
And just then, one of Bai Qing’s trusted aides entered the dark chamber and bent down to report: “Helmsman, sure enough, some suspicious people have entered our territory.”
Bai Qing frowned: “How many people?”
“About a dozen people.”
“Just this few? Is Xiao Lin there? How many in Unity of Heaven and Man?”
The trusted aide shook his head: “Xiao Lin isn’t there, and as for Unity of Heaven and Man, only one.”
“Has he gone mad?” Bai Qing was somewhat puzzled: “Dare to act with just this few people?”
But in just an instant, Bai Qing realized something.
“No, it should just be a feint attack, the purpose is to harass, not real combat.”
The trusted aide held a different opinion: “No, Helmsman, isn’t this superfluous? Won’t this make us more alert instead?”
Bai Qing sighed: “Xiao Lin knows we have an informant there.”
“Then how do we respond? Since it’s harassment, just leave them alone?”
“No.” Bai Qing shook his head: “The premise of harassment is that they will be blocked by us. If we don’t let them encounter obstacles, they might turn fake into real and act recklessly. This is an open scheme, all brought to the surface, yet impossible to crack.”
“So… we still have to deal with it?”
“Not only deal with it, but must show certain strength. The people you saw are probably ready to retreat at any time. There’s no point in fighting them to the death; just repel them. But I estimate tonight is just the beginning. After repelling these, there will be a second batch, a third batch.”
The trusted aide understood Bai Qing’s meaning and probed: “Helmsman, does that mean… use different people to intercept each time?”
Hearing this, Bai Qing suddenly smiled gratefully: “You’ve grown a lot.”
The trusted aide’s head bowed even lower in deference.
“Although I don’t know where the Holy Envoy got the intelligence from, it seems more accurate than our own. This is an advantage; we must make good use of it.”
Bai Qing’s fingers lightly tapped the armrest of the armchair, pondering:
“If we only had our own information, we would probably respond all-out to the gatekeeper’s attacks one after another despite doubts, with no choice but to wait for reinforcements.
But taking the information of their formal attack tomorrow as premise, it’s a different story.
This is to consume our physical energy: strike while the iron is hot, then weaken, and exhaust on the third. Tonight they had no intention of really acting, even deliberately releasing false intelligence for this. If not for the reliable channel of the Holy Envoy, we would really have fallen for it.
Since they plan this, we might as well play along: if they want us exhausted, let them see our exhaustion.
Tell the people below: when acting, don’t go all out, just pretend to exert effort, conserve strength, but afterward must appear exhausted. However many waves they send, we switch waves of people to respond.
No need to worry; they won’t really go all out. Prioritize defense, absolutely don’t do anything extra. Wait until Lord Yan arrives tomorrow, and everything will be fine.”
“Understood.”
In an abandoned temple, Song Yuntian was waiting alone inside, playing Genshin Impact on his mobile phone.
Not long after, Yan Yi entered through the main gate.
Song Yuntian immediately stood up to greet him.
“Boss Yan, how did it go?”
“The Protector wants us to head to Luocheng immediately.”
Hearing this, Song Yuntian asked: “Why so urgent? It doesn’t take long from here to Luocheng. I don’t like the look of that Bai Qing; going so early and staying there might make me feel uncomfortable.”
Yan Yi seemed to have heard some news, his expression a bit strange.
“The Protector seems… not very trusting of Jiang Ce.”
Song Yuntian was stunned: “Isn’t Jiang Ce the Protector’s junior brother? If distrustful, why go to such lengths to lay out a plan for him?”
“You don’t understand.” Yan Yi shook his head: “Precisely because the Protector understands Jiang Ce, he doesn’t trust the information he gave us.”
“What do you mean?”
“How to put it.” Yan Yi chose his words carefully: “Simply put, the Protector thinks the intelligence Jiang Ce gave you is probably false, though not entirely. Since he said the gatekeeper will act, they really will, but the timing probably isn’t accurate.”
“No way? What’s in it for him?” Song Yuntian didn’t understand.
“I don’t know, but since the Protector says so, there must be his reason. We just follow.”
Yan Yi urged:
“Let’s move out, first go see the situation in Luocheng now.”
Song Yuntian nodded, just turned off the game, but suddenly noticed a message from Bai Qing two minutes ago.
“Wait.” Song Yuntian called to Yan Yi who had started moving; the latter turned back and looked at Song Yuntian.
Song Yuntian looked at the message, carefully glanced at Yan Yi, then relayed its content:
“Boss Yan, Bai Qing sent a message saying the gatekeeper really made a move.”
Yan Yi’s expression suddenly turned serious: “Looks like it really is as the Protector predicted. We need to hurry over, or Bai Qing probably won’t hold out long. I suspect Wei Wen Zheng is there too.”
“No, listen to me finish.”
Song Yuntian licked his lips and continued:
“Bai Qing says his own informant’s intelligence is that the gatekeeper will act tonight, but that’s false information released by the gatekeeper. Tonight they’re just harassing with feint attacks, seemingly just to consume their physical energy, no intention of going all out, all thunder without much rain.
He plans to play along, pretend to be continuously consumed while actually conserving strength, then tomorrow put on an Empty Fort Strategy. When the gatekeeper launches a major attack, sneak into Xiao Lin’s lair: openly repair the plank roads, secretly cross the Chencang Pass, pull the firewood from under the pot.
He says he owes it to me telling him the real intelligence, otherwise he would really have fallen for it, and when the gatekeeper goes all out, he probably couldn’t hold.”
Pausing, Song Yuntian put down his mobile phone: “In other words, the intelligence Jiang Ce gave us is the real one.”
“This…” Yan Yi suddenly felt a bit confused and fell into thought.
How could this be real?
After a long silence, Song Yuntian suddenly asked: “Then do we still rush over today?”
Yan Yi waved his hand: “No rush then. I’ll first report this to the Protector and wait for his instructions.”
Song Yuntian nodded, his opinion of Jiang Ce rising quite a bit.
Betray when he says betray, what a straightforward guy.
In the farmland, the young man came before the old farmer again.
“Master, what’s up with this kid? This isn’t like him.”
The young man’s tone was full of self-doubt.
The old farmer lifted his conical hat slightly with his finger, revealing his slightly narrowed eyes, looking as if he had just woken up.
He asked lazily: “What’s wrong?”
“He gave us real intelligence.” The young man sat down on the ground somewhat dejectedly.
“How so?” The old farmer chuckled: “Isn’t sincere and genuine good? You just have to assume the worst of him?”
“No, if he can come around, it’s naturally what I want. This way the showdown can come sooner. I just don’t understand how he changed.”
The young man was full of frustration: “By my estimate, his intelligence should be half true half false. Though I don’t know his plans, he must benefit from it.
He can’t not know the threat Bai Qing poses to him. If it were me, I’d find a way to eliminate Bai Qing. Why is he saving him instead?
Anyway, I can’t figure it out.”
After a brief silence, the old farmer sighed: “He probably noticed the anomaly on himself. He probably can’t stay with the gatekeeper anymore.”
“He trusts the Holy Cult more than the gatekeeper?”
“I didn’t say that.” The old farmer shook his head: “He’s seeking a way out. He never trusts anyone; he only trusts himself.
So rather than saying he’s seeking a home, it’s better to say he’s just looking for a place to stand. He wants to thrive between the forces, to make himself his own backer. Everyone else is just a temporary stepping stone.”
“That’s also where I differ from him.” The young man felt a bit lost.
“Of course you have to know how to use resources; you’re not wrong.” The old farmer comforted.
The young man stood up, looking at the moon overhead, reminiscing: “When I was little, I once told him I wanted to inherit your mantle in the future, to save all beings as my life’s goal.
But he said, wait until he becomes Buddha, then he’ll arrange it for me.
I’ll never forget that sentence. From then on I didn’t like him, thought he was too arrogant, too arrogant. But thinking back now, even then his realm was already above mine.
So Master.”
He looked at the old farmer:
“You don’t need to comfort me. I understand, whether potential or mentality, I’m far inferior to him.
What I always think about is retracing others’ successful paths, but from childhood he thought about forging a new path. We two are complete opposites.
You can say he relies on himself because he currently has no power to rely on, but ask yourself honestly: even if he knew everything, would he really accept everything I have now with peace of mind?”
The old farmer remained silent.
After venting, the young man felt much better.
“But this is good too. I originally thought it’d cost a lot to bind him to us, but looks like he’s grown up, sees the situation clearly, saving quite a bit of trouble.”
He sought his opinion:
“Since so, then we can relax the observation on Jiang Ce a bit.
The plan can be advanced, right? For Yan Yi’s side, I plan to move him elsewhere.”
The old farmer thought for a moment, slowly shaking his head: “Wait a bit more, until this matter ends.”
“Then for Bai Qing’s side, do we need to start looking for a replacement?”
The old farmer stroked his stubbly beard, asking meaningfully: “How long have you been preparing?”
The young man didn’t hide: “From when Bai Qing’s disciple nearly killed Jiang Ce, I’ve been looking for a new helmsman.”
The old farmer frowned slightly, soon relaxing: “Up to you, just handle it well.”
“Mm.”
Jiang Ce boredly sat in the corner of a conference room full of over twenty people, yawning as he listened to the intelligence reports coming from the front.
From the reports from the front, the Gluttonous Ghost resisted with full force each time. In just half a night, the defenders had rotated many batches, and perhaps due to the sudden incident, many of them were injured or even killed, unable to recover combat power in a short time.
While the gatekeeper’s cost was only some minor injuries and a few serious ones, most of whom could fight again tomorrow.
Hearing this news, most people were jubilant, only Jiang Ce looked listless.
He felt Bai Qing might be hard to kill this time.
The ferocious appearance of that Ghost Disciple of the Gluttonous Ghost was still fresh in his memory. Though that was elite among elites, the other Gluttonous Ghost people didn’t seem easy to deal with in Jiang Ce’s view.
At least for the low-tier cultivators in the gatekeeper, they were better at cruel close combat, and on average in the same realm, they could steadily suppress the gatekeeper.
And yet they gained so much?
Anyway, Jiang Ce thought it unreasonable.
Moreover, with a guilty conscience, he knew by lucky coincidence he let them grasp the real intelligence. He reckoned Bai Qing was playing along, and from the current situation, not only could he survive this, but might counterattack and make the gatekeeper pay a heavy price.
But Jiang Ce could only worry anxiously, unable to do anything. Could he really tell the truth to Wei Lao?
As for the high-end forces deciding the outcome, he wasn’t optimistic either. Even with Yan Yi and them arriving tomorrow, Xiao Lin plus Zhang Ze Xing in hiding might not be handleable, and who knows if there are other Gluttonous Ghost experts behind.
The worst case is it turns into total chaos, perhaps dragging in more powerhouses.
The degree of chaos probably no less than the Ping’an Geler Campaign fired by Li Yunlong that changed the situation and course of World War II.
And all this because he gave false intelligence.
