Chapter 310: Who is the Stalker?

Meng Qi, dressed in tight martial attire, exuded a heroic aura. Speaking eloquently and composedly, he truly resembled a healthier version of Young Master Wang, except for one detail—he was holding not a long sword, but a massive broadsword weighing one hundred and fifty jin.

“What an incredible plan indeed!” Meng Qi exclaimed in admiration. “On the surface, you used yourself as a decoy to stir up the entire chessboard, creating chaos to counterbalance Master Ren while diverting everyone’s attention. People were left wondering why so many experts from the Ren List had been invited and what the true nature of the contest between you and Young Master Wang was. Meanwhile, behind the scenes, you employed Old Zhong—someone seemingly unrelated and inconspicuous—as your hidden assassin, backed by the intelligence network of the Snake King. You quietly eliminated the Eight-Armed Celestial Dragon and the Three Yunding Eagles, setting your sights on Brother Qiu. Even if someone suspected a connection to the Dongyang Secondary Mansion incident, they would still overlook it due to the absence of the three required opportunities.”

Meng Qi continued smiling. “Then, once inside the secondary mansion, you used the excuse of teaming up against a fiendish foe to make me, Brother Qiu, and the disciples of the Life-and-Death Impermanence Sect let down our guard. You then proceeded to secretly strike us down with various pretexts. In the end, even if you were bound by your Yuan soul oath and couldn’t personally harm me, Old Zhong would still be there.”

Qiu Fei listened, his breath catching again. What a ruthless and cunning scheme!

Jiang Hengchuan flicked his sleeve. “Indeed. Originally, I wanted Old Zhong to remain hidden, unnoticed. But Young Master Wang seemed to sense something and used you as a blade to lead us to seek out the Snake King. So I played along, deliberately exposing the fiendish figure myself and drawing a clear line between Old Zhong and me. Then, using the pretext of opposing him, I laid the groundwork for the subsequent plan.”

Meng Qi sighed. “Brother Jiang, I still have one question. Outwardly, you appear mediocre, giving the impression of someone who enjoys nature’s simplicity, yet in truth, you’re proud and aloof, unwilling to serve under anyone. Remember your words, ‘I diligently cultivate myself not to place a master over my head’? They rang so sincere. Yet in the end, you still became someone else’s hound?”

“No,” Jiang Hengchuan replied seriously, his eyes filled with gratitude. “Our organization is based on equality—there are only organizers and participants. All missions are undertaken voluntarily, with no coercion at all. Young Brother Su, having been expelled from Shaolin and becoming a wandering cultivator, your path is arduous and cannot rival those from noble sects and families. Why not join our mutual-aid organization?”

He rambled on, not directly summoning Old Zhong yet, because he had been trying to recruit Meng Qi all along. The previous conversation was just to test Meng Qi’s analytical abilities.

They all want to recruit me, huh… Meng Qi suddenly felt a bit smug, slightly lifting his head and gazing into the hazy rain like a lone martial arts master in solitude. “I only believe in my own blade and sword.”

Seeing Meng Qi politely decline and sensing a powerful demonic aura approaching, Jiang Hengchuan showed a look of regret.

“Indeed, the strong are always proud, and those with the potential to become strong are equally proud.”

“Pity you found out too late. Without the Dongyang Seal’s fragment to connect the trail, even if someone secretly follows you, they still won’t be able to enter the secondary mansion. Even if you have an Outer Scenery ally, it might still be helpless.”

“Old Zhong is among the elite of the Half-Outer Scenery realm, and he wields a treasure weapon. Even if the two of you join forces, you can barely ensure your own safety. Add me into the mix, and even with wings, you won’t escape.”

Suddenly, Meng Qi laughed. He pointed at Qiu Fei, who was still marveling at the scheme. “Brother Jiang, didn’t you notice Brother Qiu’s strange emotions? He only shows surprise, shock, admiration, and hindsight—but no fear. Unless he’s fully prepared, how could he act so calmly?”

“Besides, it’s understandable for a core disciple of the Life-and-Death Impermanence Sect, a novice in the martial world, to be ambushed and assassinated. But Brother Qiu, a veteran of the Jianghu, surely would be cautious of anyone approaching him. Yet when you attacked earlier, he didn’t even have time to intervene. Does that seem normal? Perhaps, he also wanted those two disciples of the Life-and-Death Impermanence Sect eliminated.”

Jiang Hengchuan’s smile slightly stiffened as he turned to Qiu Fei. “Is that so?”

He seemed to understand something.

Qiu Fei stopped his admiration and smiled. “The Star Lord of Literary Brilliance’s scheming is indeed masterful—Qiu can only feel ashamed of my inferiority. If we meet again in the future as enemies, I might not even know who killed me. But having survived in the Jianghu for many years, Qiu owes it all to knowing when to adapt, attaching to the strong, and never overreaching my abilities…”

Before he finished speaking, a small boat drifted down the river. Sitting cross-legged at the bow was a figure with an incense burner, a chessboard, and a sharkskin sword before him. Standing behind him was a refined middle-aged man with a slightly weathered look.

Incense smoke curled in the air. The figure in white robes, pale-faced as if recovering from a serious illness, had delicate features, exuding gentle elegance and quiet pride, yet coughed continuously. It was none other than Young Master Wang Simian—Wang Siyuan!

“Wang Siyuan… Wang Buchi…” Jiang Hengchuan muttered the names, his pupils constricting, his fists clenching tightly.

The figure behind Wang Siyuan was actually the Outer Scenery powerhouse guarding the Wang Clan’s Maoling Susuyuan—Wang Buchi!

So he truly wasn’t late!

The balance of power had shifted once again!

Qiu Fei chuckled. “Therefore, when Young Master Wang approached me, promising to clear my name of any collusion with the Life-and-Death Impermanence Sect, I accepted without hesitation. These past few days, under the pretense of gathering intelligence, I repeatedly left the city. Finally, when they were careless, I secretly brought Young Master Wang and Senior Wang inside.”

“Not too shrewd,” Wang Siyuan interrupted his coughing, wiping his mouth with a handkerchief. He didn’t look at Jiang Hengchuan but turned to Meng Qi.

Meng Qi grinned. “You deliberately let Master You of the Tianzihao Gambling House act too obviously, just so we’d guess it was you. That way, we’d think you were intentionally leading us toward the Eight-Armed Celestial Dragon, then gradually drawing attention to Old Zhong, naturally shifting all focus there and making the Star Lord of Literary Brilliance overlook the most vulnerable piece—’Zhoufeng Gun’ Qiu Fei.”

“In fact, when Brother Qiu met someone at the gambling house, it wasn’t just the leader of the Jin Qian Gang, was it? It was also you, Brother Wang?”

“He went to meet the Life-and-Death Impermanence Sect outside the city for several days, probably under your orders, deliberately exposing himself to feign death and fade from view.”

Qiu Fei listened, breaking into a slight sweat. These devils truly seemed to have witnessed everything firsthand!

Wang Siyuan smiled faintly. “Actually, originally, there was no need to be so deliberate. But I always wanted you to see through it, to see if you could give me a surprise, exceed my expectations and control. Unfortunately, you didn’t.”

It was intentional all along… truly insane… Meng Qi was momentarily stunned.

“Earlier, you said it correctly—the core of a scheme is concealing its purpose.” Wang Siyuan turned to Jiang Hengchuan, his smile ambiguous. “So as long as I grasp the key objectives, no matter how much you try to confuse the situation, I can remain unmoved, waiting for you to walk right into my net. Whether it was Master You, leading you to the Northern Street to expose the collusion between the Snake King and the fiend, it was all just going through the motions. After all, if I did absolutely nothing, you would suspect me. As for diverting attention and hiding the real scheme, that was just a side effect.”

Speaking so much at once caused Wang Siyuan to cough violently, as expected by Meng Qi. He coughed so hard it seemed to tear his insides, staining the white handkerchief red.

If only he’d cough himself to death… Meng Qi silently cursed.

Jiang Hengchuan sighed. “I never expected you to have figured it out so early.”

“You did well too. It wasn’t until Su Meng went to the Hero Hall that I was certain you were the Star Lord of Literary Brilliance.” Wang Siyuan stopped coughing. “Your failure lies in the fact that your possible objectives didn’t connect with each other, nor was there a sense of urgency where only one could be pursued. I could calmly handle them all, keeping them in my grasp. If one of your objectives was to take advantage of the Jinshui Great Tide and infiltrate the Susuyuan now to uncover the secret of the grand formation, I would have been in a real dilemma.”

Jiang Hengchuan smiled bitterly. “That was indeed part of the plan, but only if I remained in Daxing and didn’t personally enter the game. Otherwise, if I acted too obviously, Young Master Wang would have struck early, and I wouldn’t even have the chance to secretly infiltrate the secondary mansion.”

“Indeed, that makes sense.” Wang Siyuan nodded happily, as if delighted to find someone who could discuss schemes with him on equal footing. “Another reason was probably your lack of manpower?”

Jiang Hengchuan’s face grew even more bitter. “Earlier tonight, Fire Virtue and the Snake King were supposed to expose themselves externally, drawing your attention to make another objective seem real. But when Old Zhong had him test Young Brother Su, Su killed him on the spot…”

With the Snake King gone, there was no need for him to “appear” anymore.

Was it my fault? Meng Qi muttered silently. Who told him to run into me at the peak of my power?

Wang Siyuan looked around. “You didn’t involve any Outer Scenery experts?”

“This was a test…” Jiang Hengchuan said bitterly. “Unfortunately, the test failed.”

He showed no anger, regret, panic, or fear in his words, as if he still believed escape was possible.

“A test…” Wang Siyuan repeated the word thoughtfully, then turned to Meng Qi. “I’m a bit disappointed. I gave you several hints, yet you still didn’t surprise me or create any unexpected twists.”

Your identity as a Wind-Catching Agent was fake?

Who in Maoling, besides Qiu Fei, the Life-and-Death Impermanence Sect disciples, and myself, could know you were a Wind-Catching Agent? Such a trump card, it was normal to keep it secret at first when you still had a chance to escape. But why didn’t you use it in the final stage? Didn’t you contact the Six Ministries’ Silver Seal and Green Ribbon?

—Meng Qi, from Yangxia to Maoling, though he hadn’t used the Eight-Nine Mystical Arts, had still changed his appearance. Qiu Fei and the Life-and-Death Impermanence Sect disciples recognized him only after fighting him and witnessing his “Yin-Yang Trine, Which is the Root and Which the Branch?” sword techniques. After all, they had sent another non-core disciple with the Ningzhou Hero inside to test him. As for Old Zhong, disguised as a corpse, he dared not extend his spiritual sense to observe the situation for fear of being discovered. As for Jiang Hengchuan, not even knowing of Su Ziyuan’s existence, how could he possibly know Meng Qi was from the Six Ministries?

Precisely because of this did Wang Siyuan treat Meng Qi as a variable piece.

Meng Qi smiled faintly. “Why do you say that?”

Before his words finished, a corpse flew from the other side of the river, landing heavily on the ground. It was clearly the White Reaper. A figure cloaked in black mist followed swiftly.

Jiang Hengchuan first showed joy, then his face changed drastically—White Reaper’s corpse hadn’t been absorbed!

The black mist dissipated, the figure raised his head. Dressed in elegant, heavy robes, with white hair tied in a bun, a kind face, holding a dragon-headed cane, he looked nothing like Old Zhong!

For the first time, surprise appeared on Wang Siyuan’s face. “Senior Master Ruan…”