Stranger Danger

“In that case, can you hear a plea of mine before you kill me?” Fang Muyun asked, “Please.”

“You mean the Four Seas Dragon Palace’s conspiracy to massacre the Four Seas and slaughter our geniuses?” Ye Qing asked.

“You know?” Fang Muyun was caught off guard.

“I know far more than you think, Mister Farseeing,” Ye Qing replied indifferently.

“I see. You used Long Ao to kill me. Of course you would know about their conspiracy,” Fang Muyun exclaimed in realization. “In that case, on behalf of our shared race and the millions of innocents residing in the Four Seas, I beseech that you inform the four nations about this crisis. I beseech that you save the Four Seas from the incoming massacre, quell the dragon threat, and secure peace for humanity.”

“You are moments away from death, Mister Farseeing. I did not think you would care about such things,” Ye Qing commented curiously. “Besides, if the Four Seas Dragon Palace’s conspiracy succeeds, countless geniuses would die, and your journey to the underworld would be anything but lonely. Wouldn’t you like that?”

“You jest, Brother Ye.” Fang Muyun chuckled. “I am selfish, yes. I am not a good person either. But I am a human before anything else, and I am a reader of the book of the sages, a student of benevolence, righteousness and faith, and servant of my homeland.”

“There is a threat against humanity where millions of lives are at stake. No matter how selfish and cold-blooded I am, I will never allow the peace my esteemed forefathers gave everything to earn to be broken, millions of innocents to die, or the Strangers to ravage our world.”

“Don’t you hate me, Mister Farseeing?” Ye Qing asked.

“Of course I hate you,” Fang Muyun answered, “but no matter how much I hate you, how can my grudge possibly take precedence over my country’s well being or the safety of millions?”

“In this regard, you are a righteous and moral man,” Ye Qing replied. He meant it because he could tell that Fang Muyun was telling the truth.

“I don’t think my decision is particularly righteous or moral. I think that it is the natural decision of any human being.”

Fang Muyun said sincerely, “So, will you do this?”

“You are a human, and I am too. Even if you haven’t asked me to do this, I would’ve done it anyway,” Ye Qing replied.

“Thank you, Brother Ye.” Fang Muyun said, “On behalf of the human race and the people of the Four Seas, thank you!”

“No need to thank me,” Ye Qing’s tone suddenly grew amused. “I will do what needs to be done and only that, so you best don’t get your hopes up, Mister Farseeing.”

“What do you mean?” Fang Muyun asked.

“Haha, nothing. Just pretend that I’m talking nonsense.” Ye Qing chuckled.

He wasn’t. Fang Muyun really did want to save the Four Seas, but that did not mean he didn’t have an ulterior motive. And what was this ulterior motive? He wanted Ye Qing to be the one to tell the Four Seas about this.

If Ye Qing actually went and informed the Four Seas about this like an idiot, some people would absolutely suspect that foul play was afoot.

After all, Fang Muyun wasn’t just backed by Fang Zhiyong, Grand Mentor of Chu. He was also backed by the entire nation of Chu and the Sage, the Art Buddha.

If someone harbored suspicions, if someone actually seriously looked into those suspicions, then someone was going to find something no matter how well he cleaned up his mess.

Never underestimate the power of a Sage, much less a nation.

Long story short, Mister Farseeing might sing better than a superstar when he talked about the greater good, but he was also digging a hole for him to jump in.

It was very Mister Farseeing of Mister Farseeing to try to trick him even when he was moments away from death.

After waiting for a long time and seeing no action from Ye Qing, Fang Muyun finally couldn’t help but ask, “Are you… going to inform the Four Seass about the crisis, Brother Ye?”

“Can’t get started unless I’m at the right place,” Ye Qing answered carelessly.

It was only now Fang Muyun realized that Ye Qing had been traveling in a specific direction throughout their conversation, and that direction… was White Fish Island.

White Fish Island?

Fang Muyun blurted as realization struck him, “You plan to pin my death on Long Ao?!”

“As expected of your intelligence, Mister Farseeing.”

Ye Qing smiled. “You want to inform the Four Seas about the Four Seas Dragon Palace’s conspiracy, right? If you die in Long Ao’s hands, then they will surely trace it back to the Four Seas Dragon Palace and question them about this. When that happens, they will naturally discover the conspiracy.”

“This way, I would be fulfilling your wish and save myself a round trip. Don’t you think that’s wise, Mister Farseeing?”

Fang Muyun was silent for a few breaths. Then, he laughed loudly, “Hahaha… it is. It really is.”

Fang Muyun knew then that Ye Qing had seen through his ploy. On the surface, it looked like Ye Qing was taking off his pants before farting—going through extra work to achieve the same outcome. After all, it was obviously faster and simpler to just inform the Four Seas regarding the conspiracy in person.

In reality, Ye Qing’s way was the smart way. If Ye Qing chose to inform the Four Seas Dragon Palace’s conspiracy in person, even if he went through the effort to pass the message through multiple people and hide his tracks perfectly, he would have become involved. A person who was involved was a pawn on the board, and once Ye Qing became a pawn on the board, there was no escaping the fate of a pawn no matter how strong or intelligent he was. It was only a matter of time before people discovered his actions and used him like the pawn he was.

When that happened, his vengeance would be complete.

However, Ye Qing was planning to blame his death on Long Ao. Long Ao and Fang Muyun encountered each other by accident, and Long Ao killed Fang Muyun in the end. Nowhere in this equation was there a nobody named Ye Qing. Instead he was the ghost writer who calculated and wrote the equation; the player who manipulated the pawns.

When the time came, everyone would think that Long Ao was the one who killed him. They would think that it was he who accidentally stumbled upon the Four Seas Dragon Palace’s conspiracy and got himself killed. No one would ever suspect that it was a premeditated plot.

After all, this was the result of their own investigation and findings. It wasn’t some anonymous tip that they heard from someone. People always believed what they saw more than what they heard.

That was why Fang Muyun knew that he had lost. It was a complete and utter defeat.

“You’ve won, Ye Qing.”

Fang Muyun let out a long sigh.

“Yes, I won.”

Ye Qing grinned at him. “And you better believe that I will keep winning until the very end.”

Fang Muyun did not say anything. There was nothing he could say anyway. He could insult Ye Qing, curse him, beg for mercy, so on and so forth… but what did it matter? Whatever he said, it all ended with his death, and his vengeance unfulfilled. In that case, why say anything at all?

So, he kept quiet.

Ye Qing paid Fang Muyun no attention. It wasn’t long before he reached the gigantic whirlpool that looked like a black hole from above and Feng Qingyou floating on top of it.

“How did it go?” Feng Qingyou asked him after he reached her side.

“Perfectly.” Ye Qing smiled and revealed Fang Muyun’s mind in his palm. Of course, the scholar could not hear their conversation. In fact, he couldn’t sense anything beyond the boundary of his Purple Ink of Beneficence at all. They could say or do whatever they wanted without worry.

“I thought he would have Purple Ink of Beneficence,” Feng Qingyou remarked smilingly. “It is unfortunate of Fang Muyun that you are his enemy. Otherwise, there was a real chance he might have lived to tell the tale.”

“I know right?” Ye Qing shook his head. If the Profound Yellow Mother Qi wasn’t a karmic qi with the power to protect one’s fate, Fang Muyun could definitely have slipped through his grasp.

Ye Qing asked, “Where is Long Ao?”

“Over here.”

Feng Qingyou waved her sleeve, and Ye Qing vaguely saw an infinitely wide land inside her sleeve. Lying at the center was a purple true dragon, unconscious.

“What do we do now? Do we kill Fang Muyun and Long Ao?” Ye Qing asked.

“We can kill Fang Muyun now, but not Long Ao.”

Feng Qingyou answered without hesitation, “Long Ao is the third crown prince of the Eastern Sea Dragon King. They are connected by blood. If Long Ao dies, his father will notice, and he will know that something is terribly amiss. That would be bad.”

“True.” Ye Qing nodded. He was thinking, however. For whatever reason, he hadn’t killed Fang Muyun yet.