Chapter 1234: The Conspiracy
In Yang Haoran's opinion, the reason Luo Yao summoned all five of them for this operation was probably not merely to prevent traitors from escaping. It might also be to "kill the chicken to warn the monkey," a demonstration meant for all five of them, or perhaps for certain individuals among them.
Of course, this was merely Yang Haoran's unilateral guess, and he couldn't be certain if it was true. But regardless of Luo Yao's true intentions, he felt it was highly necessary to be cautious, as it would only benefit him and cause no harm.
Luo Yao personally tore through space because, among the six people present, only Luo Yao knew the destination. Thus, this task, which should have been handled by his subordinates, was performed personally by the Great Emperor Luo Yao.
Today, the First District of the Jingling Continent Underworld was as usual, neither particularly busy nor particularly peaceful. But this was merely a facade, for beneath the surface, it was anything but calm.
Within the Guardian District of the First District, there was a secret meeting room. This room was not accessible to all high-ranking officials of the First District; some, even if they were high-ranking officials, were still not qualified to enter this secret meeting room.
High-ranking officials who were not qualified to enter this secret meeting room didn't even know such a secret meeting room existed. If everyone knew about it, then this meeting room would not be worthy of being called a "secret" meeting room.
Those who knew about and could enter this secret meeting room were, without exception, individuals of special status. Besides certain high-ranking officials of the First District, there were also some who were not from the First District.
However, this secret meeting room was rarely used, but every time it was, the matters discussed were of extraordinary importance.
Inside the secret meeting room, Wen Hexuan, the Guardian of the First District, sat in the main seat. Besides him, there were three other people. Long Yan and Ye Xianglan, both Guardians of the Jingling Continent Underworld, were conspicuously present. And there was a man who, although not a Guardian of the Jingling Continent Underworld, was able to sit in this meeting room and showed no trace of fear when facing Wen Hexuan and the other two. From this alone, one could tell that this person was far from ordinary.
This man, when facing Wen Hexuan and the other two, not only showed no fear, but subtly exuded an air of arrogance. Although this arrogance wasn't overtly displayed, a careful observer could still detect this subtle pride in his demeanor.
This man's name was Chuishui. He was, in fact, also a Guardian of the Underworld, but unlike Wen Hexuan and the other two, he was not a Guardian of the Jingling Continent Underworld, but came from the Tong Continent Underworld.
The True God battle at Snow Fox Mountain had shaken the entire New Beginning Realm, and many masters from both the Underworld and the Spiritualists had lost their lives. Wen Hexuan and the other two, as Guardians of the Jingling Continent Underworld, had also participated in that great war. However, none of the three had lost their lives in that war; though they had suffered severe injuries, their lives were successfully preserved.
The three of them managed to survive that great war for three reasons. One reason was that their individual strengths were exceptionally formidable, and to kill them was neither a simple task nor something just anyone could accomplish.
The second reason was that the three had made extensive preparations beforehand; these preparations mostly consisted of life-saving measures, which proved quite useful during the war.
The third reason was that during the war, the three of them had cunningly and proactively avoided many powerful combatants. In other words, in that great war, the three had not fought with their full strength; everything was focused on preserving their lives, engaging opponents they could defeat, and evading those they couldn't. This kind of behavior, under those circumstances, would absolutely have been considered treason against the Underworld. After all, the three of them were Guardians of the Underworld, high-ranking officials; for high-ranking figures to choose such opportunistic tactics to deal with enemies, it would have been strange if they weren't deemed traitors.
However, the three managed to control the extent of this perfectly and acted with extreme caution. Thus, few people at the time noticed their passive fighting. Furthermore, given their status as Guardians, some, even if they suspected the three were merely going through the motions, dared not speak out, lest they invite a calamitous death.
It was precisely because of these three reasons that the three were able to preserve their lives in that great war. If even one of these three reasons had been absent, it's not to say that the three would certainly have lost their lives, but the chances of their successful survival would undoubtedly have been significantly reduced.
Three years later, with the aid of various precious medicines, the three's injuries had almost fully recovered. Although there were still some minor issues that hadn't been completely resolved, these minor issues were of no great consequence to them and would not significantly impact their strength. With enough time and suitable medication, completely eliminating these minor issues would be no problem.
Precisely because their three-year-old injuries were no longer a major concern, the three now didn't appear sickly. However, their current expressions were far from optimistic, though the grimness of their faces had nothing to do with their past injuries.
"Our previous two operations were thoroughly prepared, and we even invested a considerable amount of resources into them. Yet, in the end, they concluded in failure. This time, can you guarantee that there will be no problems?"
Long Yan first cast a dark glance at Chuishui, then shifted his gaze to Wen Hexuan, and asked in a deep voice.
"I'm also somewhat worried about this problem. The failures of the previous two times have already 'beaten the grass and startled the snake'—the other side must be prepared. This operation, I'm afraid. . ."
Ye Xianglan said, frowning; both her expression and tone of voice were filled with apprehension.
The two operations Long Yan and Ye Xianglan referred to were precisely the assassination attempts targeting Great Emperor Luo Yao. The three of them were never aligned with Luo Yao, and when Luo Yao had just become a Great Emperor, they had already wanted to secretly eliminate him and take his place. They knew very well that Luo Yao also wanted to eliminate the three of them, so they sought to strike first.
It was just that at that time, the conflict between the Underworld and the Spiritualists had reached a fever pitch, and both the three of them and Luo Yao were "willing but powerless. " They were preoccupied with handling various attacks from the Spiritualists and couldn't spare the effort, and Luo Yao was also troubled by the Spiritualists. Moreover, Luo Yao still needed to leverage their strength. Therefore, neither side made a move against the other.
During the war, although the three had no opportunity to act against Luo Yao, their plotting for this matter had continuously been underway.
After the war ended, because Luo Yao's injuries were far more severe than theirs, his recovery speed was slower than theirs. This presented an opportunity to the three of them, and thus, their first assassination attempt on Luo Yao occurred. However, in the end, the three of them did not succeed.
Failing once, none of the three gave up. After a meticulous plan, they launched a second assassination attempt on Luo Yao. To achieve their goal, this assassination was quite close to success, but ultimately they failed to achieve their objective. This left the three of them filled with regret and reluctance. After all, victory was right before their eyes, yet something went wrong at the last moment, causing the operation to end in failure. The intensity of their reluctance and regret was easily imaginable.
This time, it was their third planned assassination of Luo Yao. Because the failures of the previous two times were still vivid in their minds, this time, neither Long Yan nor Ye Xianglan had much confidence, which was why they spoke the words they did now.
Wen Hexuan naturally detected the doubt in Long Yan and Ye Xianglan's tones. In response, a cold sneer appeared on his face.
"Hmph, this time is vastly different from the previous two. I am confident that this operation will definitely succeed!"
Wen Hexuan let out a cold snort, then spoke. Long Yan and Ye Xianglan saw that Wen Hexuan was so confident. Ye Xianglan's face showed suspicion, while Long Yan's was filled with disbelief.
Wen Hexuan knew that if he couldn't completely persuade the two and make them believe that this operation would definitely succeed, then the subsequent work would be very difficult to carry out, because the two of them played a crucial role in this operation. If they didn't cooperate due to their inner worries, this operation, let alone succeeding, wouldn't even be feasible to commence normally. Therefore, he had to exhaust all means to persuade them, making them full of confidence in this operation.
However, Wen Hexuan hadn't even had a chance to speak. After Ye Xianglan's voice fell, Long Yan spoke again in a deep voice.
"Although we were extremely careful in our previous two operations—outwardly, our identities weren't exposed, nor did we leave any clues—but I can sense that Luo Yao has already grown suspicious. If this operation fails again, what our fate will be, I believe you all understand without me needing to say more."
Hearing this, Ye Xianglan also spoke up in agreement.
"I have this feeling too. I even suspect Luo Yao has already taken secret action against us; it's just that we haven't discovered it yet. If my feeling is correct, then our situation is truly perilous. Sigh, if I had known it would be like this, we shouldn't have. . ."
Ye Xianglan sighed; a hint of regret appeared on her face. Although she didn't finish her sentence, Wen Hexuan knew what she intended to say.
"Heh heh, are you trying to say, if you had known this would be the outcome, you shouldn't have assassinated Luo Yao before, right?"
Ye Xianglan didn't answer, but her silence had already given Wen Hexuan the answer.
"Heh, it seems you're truly afraid. Otherwise, with your intelligence, how could you possibly utter such childish words? Do you think if we hadn't attempted to assassinate Luo Yao earlier, he would have let us go? Have you forgotten that Luo Yao was once our peer? Now that he has become a Great Emperor, would he spare us, his competitors for the Great Emperor position?"
Wen Hexuan already had the answer to this question in his heart, and he believed Ye Xianglan also had a definitive answer in hers. The reason he was asking Ye Xianglan such a question now was primarily to remind her, so that Ye Xianglan would make the correct decision. In his eyes, participating in this operation no matter what was the most correct decision!
Comments