Chapter 593: Everybody's Got a Secret
Translator: flycrane01 Editor: Millman97
Xiong Wuji lowered his head and pondered for a moment. "You said earlier that the Great Horn Exo Society had to flee to the Iron Plateau Space Zone trying to escape from the hunting of Storm Prison, who assaulted them suddenly.
"Never did they know that it was exactly what Storm Prison had planned.
"Storm Prison had also hoped to make the best use of the complicated terrain of the Iron Plateau Space Zone to run away after the Great Horn Exo Society was destroyed!
"Therefore, they set up traps in the periphery of the Iron Plateau Space Zone and waited for the Great Horn Exo Society to come close. Then, the Great Horn Exo Society fell right into the traps as expected and was almost exterminated."
The muscles on Li Yao's face was shivering nonstop, as he mumbled to himself, "That is what I thought previously.
"I thought that Fengyu Zhong drove the Great Horn Exo Society to the Iron Plateau Space Zone before he launched the fatal strike because he wanted to make use of the terrain in this area, and that my abrupt appearance had disrupted all the schemes of the Temple of Immortals.
"I've never doubted that until this afternoon!
"But after I heard the discovery of the Oasis Tribe…"
Li Yao took out a piece of paper from his pocket.
The paper was meant for him to draw structural designs on. But now, he drew a simple map of the Flying Star Sector in several seconds.
"Look, this is the Old Dragon Space Zone where Storm Prison ambushed the Great Horn Exo Society in the beginning. There are two forsaken space zones and one world fragment between this particular space zone and the Iron Plateau Space Zone. The journey is too long, and there are bound to be a lot of variables!"
Li Yao pointed at the map of universe and explained, "In the end, it was exactly because Fengyu Zhong wasted too much time on the road that he failed to eliminate the Great Horn Exo Society!"
Xiong Wuji raised his eyebrow. "What's the problem?"
Li Yao narrowed his eyes, with coldness beaming out. He replied, "The problem is, I know Fengyu Zhong very well, and this is definitely not his hunting style!
"He is a viper that has been nesting on Spider Den for decades. His hunting style is simplicity and sharpness. He always tries to shorten the time of his hunting and reduce the unnecessary procedures!
"For him, the simpler a hunting plan is, the better. One more procedure means one more thing that can possibly go wrong!
"Therefore, after the meeting today, I returned to my room and tried to walk in Fengyu Zhong's shoes.
"I discovered that, according to his style, he could definitely have launched the fatal strike in the Old Dragon Space Zone and blown the horn of the final battle there!
"It is true that the environment of the Old Dragon Space Zone was not favorable for his escape, but such a plan would've bought him at least one extra day for his getaway!
"One day was more than enough for him to flee!
"Why did he give up the easiest choice and change his habit by going through so much trouble to drive the Great Horn Exo Society to the Iron Plateau Space Zone?
"An old, cunning, experienced space pirate would never have done such a redundant thing.
"I can only speculate that it was not Fengyu Zhong's will, but the hint or command from someone above him, or to be more exact, someone from the Temple of Immortals.
"For some reason, the Temple of Immortals needed the final battle to break out in the Iron Plateau Space Zone!"
Xiong Wuji gasped. "That's just your speculation."
Li Yao sighed. "I hope it's just my speculation and I am being paranoid, too. But sadly, my instincts are hardly ever wrong. When I foresee danger, danger is very likely to occur.
"I thought that the game was concluded in the periphery of the Iron Plateau Space Zone and I was the winner.
"But now I realize that the game only began at that moment, and I don't even know who my opponent is or what he wants.
"In the hands of my real opponent, Fengyu Zhong is merely a chess piece on a board and a chip in a casino even though he is in the Core Formation Stage!"
Li Yao finished his speech, only to find that Xiong Wuji was not focused on him at all. The chief's eyes were hollow. There was no telling what was on his mind.
"Chief Xiong?"
Li Yao called him gently. Xiong Wuji was suddenly back to himself from the trance, and his eyes were focused again.
Li Yao asked, "Chief Xiong, is there something bothering you?"
Xiong Wuji coughed and said, "I'm alright. Just a bit tired."
"Please do take a good rest, Chief Xiong. I will calculate everything carefully when I return. Logically, the Temple of Immortals did not know of my existence in the beginning. So, I was definitely not the target of the scheme. I must rule out all the interfering factors resulting from my appearance and deduct the entire event from the starting point with the hypothesis that I don't exist. I'll see whether or not I can find why our enemy had to set the Iron Plateau Space Zone as the battlefield!
"I believe that, as long as I find their motivation, we will know what they are really up to!"
Li Yao rose up and bid farewell to Xiong Wuji, but Xiong Wuji seemed to be hesitating about something. It was not until Li Yao reached the door that he suddenly called out.
"Li Yao!"
Li Yao turned around, confused. He felt that Xiong Wuji was getting weirder and weirder.
Xiong Wuji clenched his fists so hard that his artificial arm was emitting cracking noises. He gnashed his teeth. "Believe me. Whatever I did, I did for Iron Plateau! You must believe me!"
Li Yao frowned "What do you mean, Chief Xiong?"
Xiong Wuji, however, seemed to regret saying what he'd said. He waved his hands lethargically and said, "Nothing. I'll see you tomorrow."
Then, he added, "If anything goes wrong in the future, please take care of Sha Yulan and Wu Mayan for me. Send them back to the space if possible."
Li Yao was dazed. He was planning to pursue further, but he found that Xiong Wuji had turned into a frozen statue again.
Li Yao returned to his own room in bafflement. The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became. Pondering for a moment, he released Neltharion in stealth mode and hid it in the trunk of a giant tree in the yard.
It could see the door of Xiong Wuji's ward clearly from that angle.
Xiong Wuji was still in low spirits because of the heavy wounds, and therefore did not notice anything wrong.
Li Yao had no idea why he was spying on a friend, but when he looked at Xiong Wuji at the end of their conversation, he had felt that the chief's eyes were extremely strange, and some deeply buried secrets seemed to be hidden in them.
After the deployment, Li Yao sat cross-legged and gradually increased his brain cell activity, while he ruminated on every detail from the moment he'd boarded the carrier of the Temple of Immortals.
Such deduction was even more exhausting than drafting structural designs for magical equipment. Li Yao felt dizzy and drowsy by the time he reached the 7th day of the event.
Suddenly, a black shadow blinked in his vision.
A man in a black cloak had snuck into the yard behind the hospital quietly.
Something is indeed wrong!
Li Yao was refreshed. He pretended that he was breathing in a fixed frequency. Also, he had turned off the lights when he started his meditation. Therefore, anyone passing by would only think that he was sound asleep.
White hair could vaguely be seen below the cloak. Under the moonlight, Li Yao could see a face as red and healthy as that of a baby.
It was Yan Zhengdong, chief of the Burning Sun Tribe!
What's he doing here? Li Yao was greatly confused.
Zigzagging forward secretly, Yan Zhengdong went to Xiong Wuji's ward and pushed open the door.
The door was not locked. Xiong Wuji seemed to have known that a visitor was coming.
After he went inside, the door was locked after a click.
Neltharion could not capture the sound inside the room. Li Yao was so curious that he was scratching his head hard. He felt that his brain was about to explode with interest.
The door of the room was not opened again until half an hour later, when Yan Zhengdong stormed out of the room in fury.
His cloak was awry, yet he was too anxious to sort it out. He was somewhat pissed and yelled at the room in a low voice, "Yes, I don't believe in you! Whoever brings up the motion is fine, except for you! Absolutely not you!"
Xiong Wuji's voice came over from the room intermittently. He was talking about something like 'swear to god' and 'punished by the heavens if not', but it was impossible to distinguish exactly what he was saying.
Yan Zhengdong, on the other hand, snorted and said, "Cut the crap. The qi-trainers believe not in the deities or the heavens but our weapons and fists. Your vows do not mean a damn thing!
"Anyways, in the interests of the six tribes, I will not reveal who you are, but you'd better stop concocting your evil plans. Just be the chief of the Furious Bears Tribe and behave!
"If you've made up your mind to talk to the space residents, you will have to wait until I die! I will not allow you to do that as long as I'm alive!"
Finishing his words, Yan Zhengdong waved his sleeve and strode away.
Li Yao felt his heart pulsating with curiosity. He wondered whether or not to let Neltharion follow, but he eventually gave up the idea after some hesitation.
The Burning Sun Tribe was stationed in an independent camp at the corner of Furious Bears City together with the Feathered Snakes Tribe and the Giant Axe Tribe. There were many experts inside the camps. If somebody discovered traces of the magical equipment, it would be hard for him to explain.
After Xiong Wuji shut the door of the room again, Li Yao had Neltharion return and fell into deep thought again.
This time, he was pondering the relationship between Xiong Wuji and Yan Zhengdong.
Xiong Wuji had a big secret, and Yan Zhengdong was not as unreasonable as he appeared to be in the meeting in the afternoon. He seemed to know Xiong Wuji's secret and had good reasons for his objection.
What a mess!
Li Yao pondered for a whole night, yet he failed to figure anything out. When dawn came, he finally couldn't help it any longer and took a nap on the bed.
But shortly after he fell asleep, he was woken up by hasty horns.
There were also vague drumming noises in the distance.
Battle drumming.
Incoming enemy?
Li Yao was greatly surprised because he could tell that it was the war horn of the highest level in Furious Bears City. Generally speaking, it was only blown when the apocalyptic beasts were attacking the city in full strength!
What's going on?
Li Yao hurried to put on the Sky Scorpion Armor that he had just repaired and rushed out of the hospital.
The streets were in chaos. There was not the slightest ceremonial ambience left. Everybody was hustling and bustling like headless flies. The qi-trainers were shouting, yelling, and running toward the east of the city.
"Uncle Sand Scorpion! Uncle Sand Scorpion!"
Wu Mayan appeared out of nowhere. One of his shoes had been knocked off in the crowd. He snatched Li Yao's arm, and his body curled like a shrimp because he was out of breath.
"What happened?" asked Li Yao solemnly.
"The thousands of qi-trainers of the Burning Sun Tribe are rioting! War! They are declaring war against us!" Wu Mayan shrieked.
That's impossible!
Li Yao was greatly shocked. He asked in disbelief, "For what?"
Although there were conflicts among the six tribes of Iron Plateau, they were not severe enough for a war. Opinions had differed in the meeting yesterday, and there had been quarrels, but all the chiefs were smart and rational people. The chiefs of the Giant Axe Tribe and the Feathered Snakes Tribe, for example, had both agreed to get in touch with the space residents despite their hatred against the deserters.
Even when the secret conversation between Yan Zhengdong and Xiong Wuji ended on bad terms last night, Yan Zhengdong had mentioned that he would keep the interests of the six tribes in mind.
How come a war was breaking out?
"Yan Zhengdong, chief of the Burning Sun Tribe, has been killed!"
Wu Mayan was almost crying. He panicked and exclaimed, "The Burning Sun Tribe seems to have proof that Father Xiong killed him to keep his mouth shut. They are trying to avenge their chief!"