Trap Within a Trap

Chapter 565: Trap Within a Trap

Feeling the strange changes in his body as he watched the national preceptor’s actions, Ji Lin was visibly panicked.

“What exactly is…” Ji Lin had barely started speaking when he froze. His voice was no longer a man’s but a slender woman’s.

Then more changes began to manifest. The lines of his face softened, the Adam’s apple on his throat gradually smoothed, and he eventually turned completely into a woman.

Just as the grim-faced Huangfu Tiangang was walking toward the exit, Li Huowang, clutching his head, blocked his path. “National Preceptor, don’t panic! There’s still a way to fix this! The root of Great Liang’s dragon vein isn’t broken yet!”

“You child don’t understand what’s happened at all! This doesn’t just concern the dragon vein! Hmph! You don’t know anything!!”

Containing the fury in his heart, Huangfu Tiangang strode quickly toward the hall.

Li Huowang opened his mouth to stop him, then suddenly paused, his thoughts sluggish as he turned to Zhuge Yuan. “Brother Zhuge, what was that method you mentioned just now?”

Zhuge Yuan closed his eyes, took a deep breath, then slowly opened them again.

“Great Qi! We can borrow the royal bloodline of Great Qi to connect to Great Liang’s dragon vein. That way, the dragon vein will be reconnected.”

“Brother Zhuge, what nonsense are you talking about? There is no Great Qi bloodline now! Don’t you remember? I killed the last emperor of Great Qi myself!”

“He can’t die! Back then, the Great Qi Empress Dowager, in order to let her son ascend the throne, even went so far as to defy fate and refine him into a body woven from a hundred souls. He’s not that easy to kill! The Great Qi emperor has been sent to Great Liang by you now. As long as we find him! Connect him to Great Liang’s dragon vein, we can break Dice’s scheme!!”

“Really?! That’s great!”

Li Huowang was about to chase after the national preceptor, but as he ran, his steps gradually slowed. “Brother Zhuge… did you already know about Dice’s scheme?”

“Brother Li, let’s talk about this later. Hurry and tell the Grand Liang national preceptor!”

But Li Huowang didn’t pursue. Instead, he continued, “Brother Zhuge, is it really that urgent to find the Grand Liang national preceptor in Grand Liang? Or are you changing the subject? You know, I’ve been feeling something was off for a while, but I always thought I was overthinking it.”

“How could I suspect you? I’m too paranoid. Zhuge Yuan, what a good man he is. We’re even sworn brothers!”

“But ever since I accepted Hong Zhong’s memories, the more I think about some of my previous suspicions, the more they add up. For example, you told me the Supreme Extremity Confluence was in Great Qi, and what a coincidence that I just happened to run into the Great Qi emperor? And just happened to send him to Great Liang?”

“And as it turns out, Dice’s scheme was precisely to sever Great Liang’s roots, and the Great Qi emperor just happens to be the one who can reconnect them? How is that all so coincidental? It’s as if it was all designed!”

Hearing this, Zhuge Yuan let out a long sigh. “You’re right. I saw through Dice’s trick long ago.”

“Then why didn’t you stop it? Even if you had just hinted at it to me before! If any of those other eight claimants for the throne had survived, even just two or three, it wouldn’t have come to this!”

“Because I have to save Great Qi!!” This was the first time Zhuge Yuan had shouted at Li Huowang.

His lips trembled slightly as he spoke. “Do you know how many living people there are in Great Qi? Do you know how many will die if Great Qi is completely destroyed? Think of that little girl who cried until her voice went hoarse, clutching at your clothes! Those are all living, breathing people!”

“You have friends. You have people you care about. Do you think I don’t have any in Great Qi? Yes! I did all of this! When I said I wanted to leave a message for a friend earlier, that was the Void Nian! She was my friend!”

“She was my kindred spirit. I also had her lure the Great Qi emperor here. She went along with this whole act with you, and in the end, we found a way to send the Great Qi emperor to Great Liang. Dice had just set his trap, and that little emperor just happened to be able to break it while also saving Great Qi.”

“Don’t worry. Even if we let the Great Qi emperor connect to Great Liang’s dragon vein, it won’t harm Great Liang in the slightest. Because Great Qi is nearly gone now. I just want to give the remaining people of Great Qi a way out…” Zhuge Yuan’s voice grew quieter and quieter until it was almost inaudible.

After a moment, Li Huowang let out a laugh, but it was bitter and hollow. “Why? Why didn’t you just tell me? Why did it have to be like this? Even if you had told me directly, would I have opposed it? I would have given my life for it! I would have helped you! In this world, I never trusted anyone one hundred percent, except you, Zhuge Yuan! I genuinely considered you a friend!!”

Zhuge Yuan said nothing, standing there in silence.

But Li Huowang guessed the answer. He walked up to Zhuge Yuan step by step, staring at him with reddened eyes, and shouted, “Because you suspected I was Hong Zhong? Or did you think I was a madman? You didn’t even drop a single hint. You never really trusted me, did you?”

“Yes.”

That single word struck Li Huowang’s chest like a hammer. The pain in his heart rapidly turned into a blazing fury. “I’m a madman! I’m Hong Zhong! And what about you? Maybe you’re not even Zhuge Yuan! You’re just a hallucination!”

As soon as he said this, Zhuge Yuan’s form began to flicker in and out of clarity.

But in contrast to his body, Zhuge Yuan’s gaze at that moment became more resolute than ever. “Whether I am the real Zhuge Yuan or a fake one, what does it matter? Though poor, my ambition remains firm! I will never lose my lofty aspirations!”

Li Huowang gritted his teeth, thrusting a finger toward his face. “Shut the fuck up with your classical quotations! I don’t understand them!! Let me tell you! I’ve been putting up with you for a long time!!”

“Brother Li!” Zhuge Yuan stepped forward, looking at Li Huowang’s face with utter seriousness. “Brother Li, does it really matter who we are? What does it matter if I am a phantom? What does it matter if you are Hong Zhong? What matters is our original intent!”

“Original intent… hah… original intent…” Shaking his head with a bitter smile, Li Huowang staggered backward and bumped into the great dragon-coil pillar behind him.

After a moment of silence, he looked at Zhuge Yuan again, his voice numb. “Brother Zhuge, since you suspected I was Hong Zhong, then what if I really am? Do you honestly think that I, a Zuowandao Red Center, would help you sabotage Dice’s plan?”

As soon as he said this, the Zhuge spine-sword on his back began to move on its own. It tore off the purple talisman from its own head, threw itself to the ground, and used its skeletal fingers to carve characters deep into the stone floor.

After a brief moment, the spine-sword slapped its single hand down on the characters. The words carved into the ground detached from the surface, trailing afterimages as they shot off in the direction the Grand Liang national preceptor had gone.