After Laozi entered Dragon Tail City, he would openly and boldly search for the remnants of the Demon Sect in Dragon Tail City and surrounding counties! At that time, Laozi could investigate wherever he wanted, arrest whoever he wanted! Investigate the Prince Mansion? Investigate the Tusi? Investigate those noblemen flirting with the Prince Mansion? Humph! Who dares to stand in the way? Whoever stands in the way is colluding with the Demon Sect! Doesn’t the Prince Mansion want stability? Don’t they want the nation? They can only watch with open eyes, not daring to utter a single word!... Dumb man eats coptis chinensis, the bitterness is hard to speak."

"So it is, your excellency is wise."

Yang Chongwei snorted with satisfaction, then lowered his voice and instructed, "Also, the trusted aide by the side of the Prince of Annan, I believe you can tell, is the expert who escorted the refugees before. Send our most competent spies to keep a close eye on his movements. Laozi always suspects that this person has a deep connection with the Prince of Annan, keeping an eye on his movements is akin to keeping an eye on the Prince Mansion."

"I understand, I’ll make arrangements immediately." The deputy took the order and hurriedly left.

......

That night, Chen Yi returned to the Prince Mansion’s other estate.

The days of travel, scheming, and bloodshed had already strained him to the limit, coupled with an inexplicable feeling of depleted yang energy recently, leaving him deeply exhausted.

After a simple wash, he lay on his bed, falling asleep almost as soon as his head touched the pillow.

Perhaps due to gambling too much lately, he had a dream, where he returned to that noisy and filthy gambling den amidst weird scenes. Dice crazily spun in the bowl, dominoes flipped and collided with harsh sounds, chips piled up like mountains and collapsed in an instant.

Twisted, greedy faces swayed in the smoke, Yan Kan’s ingratiating smile, the heretic messenger’s cold metal mask, Yang Chongwei’s cunning eyes, Gongsun Guan’s mysterious demeanor, Qin Qingluo’s cold phoenix eyes, Zhu E’s tired face of worry... finally, it all froze on Donggong Ruoshu’s innocent yet stubborn face as she was sucking yang energy for him under the table, hiss...

The gamble was still ongoing.

A huge roulette was spinning, cards shuffled and dealt, dealt and shuffled, he was apparently at the center of the gambling table, both a gambler and seemingly a chip...

He suddenly thought, if this was a gambling game, who exactly was the dealer?

............

Various government officers conducted overnight search and arrest, after a whole day of thorough investigation, the entire Dragon Tail City was in turmoil, not to mention during the curfew, even fewer pedestrians were out during the day, afraid of being implicated.

In one place, the Prince Mansion’s officials searched for the West Factory Battalion Commander, while on the other side, Forbidden Army soldiers arrested members of the Demon Sect, whispers of repression filled the alleys, Dragon Tail City was like the calm before a storm.

Chen Yi, holding a secret letter, turned a street corner and entered an alley. He wasn’t wearing official attire, dressed simple and unassuming, heading directly to a certain tavern by the room number indicated in the letter.

It was an elegant room facing the street.

Outside the window was Dragon Tail City’s oppressive street, the footsteps of City Patrol Soldiers were clearly audible.

Chen Yi pushed the door and entered, inside the elegant room sat only the Chief Envoy, his aura like a withered tree.

He was about to speak.

However, at the moment he rose, a sharp and unparalleled Sword Qi suddenly swept towards him, aiming straight for the Chief Envoy’s throat.

The Chief Envoy’s pupils contracted sharply, his body leaned back in an extremely strange manner, while his hands rapidly crossed in front of his chest, an immediately visible layer of protective Qi Force with dark golden runes appeared.

The Sword Qi clashed against the Qi Force with a dull thud.

The Chief Envoy grunted, sliding back several feet along with the chair and stopping only when crashing against the wall, a trace of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth under the mask. Though barely blocking it, it was clearly a struggle.

"Battalion Commander, hold your hand!" the Chief Envoy’s voice was urgent, "A misunderstanding! This is a misunderstanding!"

Chen Yi did not pursue, he just stood where he was, Sword Qi still surrounding him, locking onto the Chief Envoy as he said, "A misunderstanding? You promised absolute secrecy just before, then immediately leaked my identity to the world, leading the Prince Mansion and the Forbidden Army to hunt for me like mad dogs! Is this your notion of secrecy? Is this your notion of trust?"

The Chief Envoy took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing his unstable Qi and blood, "Battalion Commander calm your anger! This was not my intention, nor was it Supreme’s directive. It was truly someone in the main altar... suspicious of the Battalion Commander’s identity, fearing it was a trap set by the Prince Mansion. Thus they leaked the news, one to test the Prince Mansion’s reaction, two to... force the Battalion Commander to sever any possible ties with the Prince Mansion. It was an... unavoidable strategy!"

"A fine unavoidable strategy!" Chen Yi sneered, "The actions of your sect truly chill the heart!" 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

His sword finger did not retract, seeming ready to strike again.

Just then, several figures emerged from behind a screen within the elegant room.

They were the three masked individuals seen before in the gambling den’s room, silently standing behind the Chief Envoy, their aura calm and steady, clearly in a protective stance.

Soon after, a figure slowly walked out from the shadow of the screen.

This person was also wearing a mask, but it was made of neither gold nor iron, more like a kind of warm jade, intricately carved with ancient flame and star patterns.

Their physique was not tall, somewhat slender even, wearing a simple black robe with dark golden embroidery at the hem.

Their aura was even more restrained than the Chief Envoy, like a deep pool or ancient well, unperturbed yet giving off a sense of boundlessness, incomprehensible depth.

"Battalion Commander Chen." A calm, even slightly warm voice resounded, indistinguishable in gender, penetrating the mask clearly into Chen Yi’s ears, "The Chief Envoy speaks true, this kind of probing is not my decision, but the doing of stubborn conservatives within the sect. On behalf of the Divine Sect, I apologize to the Battalion Commander."

Chen Yi glanced over the five people present, and finally fixed his gaze on the speaker, who was the Supreme mentioned by the heretics.

"Supreme’s personal visit, surely not just to apologize?"

"The Battalion Commander is straightforward." Supreme’s voice remained gentle, "Today our unexpected invitation is indeed for a request."

"Speak."

"Our sect’s Guardian Elder, Wu Meng." Supreme’s voice carried a hint of gravity, "Captured by the Prince Mansion hounds last time, enduring excruciating torture, now secretly imprisoned deep within the Prince Mansion’s dungeon. This elder is crucial to our sect’s legacy and knows many secrets, we... implore the Battalion Commander to assist us in rescuing Elder Wu Meng."

This request from the Divine Sect heretics, prioritizing both the rescue and as a token of alliance, was clear to Chen Yi.

Because the news of Wu Meng’s capture was purposely leaked by him.

Chen Yi remained silent for a moment, his gaze moving between Supreme and the Chief Envoy, and after a long while, he slightly nodded.

"The Prince Mansion dungeon, Dragon’s Lair." Chen Yi slowly spoke.

"Precisely because it is a Dragon’s Lair, without the Battalion Commander’s capabilities, it cannot be breached. We will fully support the operation, and upon success, the Battalion Commander will be our honored guest in the Divine Sect, joining us in our grand cause."

"I will do my best." Chen Yi said: "If there’s nothing else, I won’t stay longer."

"We plan to act within the next couple of days, we entrust it to the Battalion Commander then." The Chief Envoy stepped forward, saluting as he said, "Now the situation is extremely favorable for us, with the court’s Forbidden Army and the Prince Mansion counterbalancing each other, rescuing Wu Meng is just one step away."

"I understand."

Chen Yi left the tavern, his figure blending into the sparse crowd of Dragon Tail City’s afternoon. His steps were leisurely, as if just strolling after a meal, intentionally slowing down a bit.

Before turning a corner, through the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a cook resting under an old banyan tree opposite the tavern, who nonchalantly got up and walked off in another direction.

He turned down several streets, finally ducking into a narrow back alley and slipped into a low, small house, reporting, "That Prince Mansion trusted aide was in the tavern for a while today, not sure who he saw, but sensed... collusion with the Divine Sect."

"I’ll report to the Assistant General immediately."

.........

That night, Chen Yi dreamt again.

Once more he found himself in a gambling den.

He was still seated at the center of the gambling table, the scene in the den became even more distorted, the bustling sounds elongated and deformed, dice tossed in mid-air, refusing to fall, dominoes hovering as if they were headstones.

Turning around, a new face arrived at the gambling table, it was the Supreme of the heretics.

As the noisy chaos continued, the atmosphere grew increasingly fervent, each person’s pile of chips building ever higher.

But...

The winner takes all.