"Secondly, ten years ago Ye Xiu encountered Er Gouzi at the Xipoloya training camp. Five years ago, Er Gouzi suddenly defected and nearly blew Ye Xiu to smithereens. Clearly, Er Gouzi was sent to the Xipoloya training camp by Jiang Yuan, and it was also Jiang Yuan who ordered Er Gouzi to kill Ye Xiu.

"Thirdly, Er Gouzi is still alive.

"Fourthly, Er Gouzi didn’t fake his death again. He pushed Jiao Fuping into the limelight to deliberately let Ye Xiu deduce through Jiao Fuping that he is the Totem Inheritor. This way, Ye Xiu would go to Seven Killings Valley to kill him, and he must have arranged a trap there capable of killing Ye Xiu."

After hearing Qin Qing’s analysis, Jiao Fuping was stunned. How can this woman’s mind be so sharp? Her analysis is completely accurate. He said, "You’re right. Er Gouzi wants Ye Xiu to go to Seven Killings Valley to kill him, and he said that Ye Xiu is certain to die if he goes."

"Er Gouzi definitely isn’t in Seven Killings Valley," Qin Qing stated with near certainty. "There’s no signal deep inside Hundred Flowers Valley. If he were hiding in Seven Killings Valley, he’d be cut off from his intelligence network. Since he’s so eager to kill Ye Xiu, he must be somewhere with a signal."

This reminded Ye Xiu of something. He asked, "Jiao Fuping, Er Gouzi doesn’t know that the three Du Long brothers are still alive, does he?"

Jiao Fuping was bewildered. Ye Xiu’s leap in logic left his mind struggling to keep up. They were having a perfectly good conversation about Er Gouzi, so how did the topic suddenly switch to the Du Long brothers?

Nevertheless, he answered, "He told me that during the Fire Seed Company’s night raid on the Xu Family in Han Jin City, Du Long, Du Hu, and Du Hang were killed in action, and that the Fire Seed Company lost most of its test subjects."

Ye Xiu nodded and said to Mo Luo, "Call Gong Jin and ask her to bring Hua Niang here."

Mo Luo was completely baffled. Now why are Gong Jin and Hua Niang being brought into this? He couldn’t follow Ye Xiu’s train of thought either, but he did as he was told.

"There’s one thing I can’t figure out," Qin Qing said. "Er Gouzi is clearly from Medicine King Valley. Why did he go undercover in the Long Family? And for five whole years, at that."

"Could it be that he learned about the grudge between the Long Family and the Young Master before you did? So he went undercover in the Long Family to wait for the Young Master to come and take revenge?" Chloe guessed.

Qin Qing immediately dismissed her theory. "That doesn’t make sense. Ye Xiu prepared for ten years and built such a vast intelligence network, yet even he didn’t uncover the Long Family’s connection. Er Gouzi just returned to the country five years ago without a single helper. How could he possibly have discovered the link between Ye Xiu and the Long Family? Besides, he’s very familiar with Ye Xiu’s strength and knows full well the Long Family is no match for him. What would be the point of him going undercover there? I think his infiltration of the Long Family must have a much deeper purpose."

Chloe swore to herself that she would never try to show off her intellect in front of the Young Madam again. The Young Madam’s logic was far too meticulous, even more formidable than the Young Master’s. Trying to look smart in front of her was just asking for humiliation.

"Er Gouzi’s infiltration of the Long Family is likely related to what the Long Family and Medicine King Valley are guarding." Ye Xiu finally spoke, not giving Qin Qing the chance to ask what it was they were guarding. He turned to Jiao Fuping and said, "Alright, now tell me everything you know about Er Gouzi—Seven Killings Valley, his intelligence network, everything. Be detailed. I want to know the things he said, his expressions, the look in his eyes, everything."

"Understood!" Jiao Fuping took a moment to organize his thoughts and then launched into a long-winded account.

Ye Xiu listened intently, meticulously analyzing every word Jiao Fuping spoke.

「Half an hour later.」

Gong Jin arrived with a beautiful woman of about twenty-four or twenty-five. She carried herself with an elegant air and was dressed in a cheongsam.

"Young Master, I’ve brought Hua Niang," Gong Jin said.

"Hua Niang pays her respects to the Young Master." Hua Niang bowed deeply to Ye Xiu, her voice filled with emotion. "It’s been three years. Has the Young Master been well?"

"Do you hope that I’ve been well, or that I haven’t?" Ye Xiu asked calmly.

His words were jarring, leaving Qin Qing, Gong Jin, Mo Luo, and Chloe bewildered. They sensed that Ye Xiu’s attitude toward Hua Niang was anything but friendly.

"The Young Master is my savior. Of course, I hope the Young Master has been well," Hua Niang replied with a beaming smile.

"I think you’d rather I were dead," Ye Xiu said coldly, his face hardening as he stood up. 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

Hua Niang’s pretty face fell. "What do you mean by that, Young Master? I don’t understand."

Qin Qing, Gong Jin, Mo Luo, and Chloe didn’t understand either.

Du Long and Jiao Fuping didn’t know Ye Xiu was Huang Quan, nor did they know about his history with Hua Niang, so they had no idea why he was treating her this way. Of course, both of their gazes were fixed on Gong Jin; the woman was simply breathtaking.

"You don’t understand?" Ye Xiu scoffed. "Establishing an intelligence network that covers all of Hexia Road requires more than just a massive amount of funding. It requires training agents, vetting their identities, and conducting background checks on their families.

"Er Gouzi went undercover in the Long Family the moment he returned to the country five years ago. Where did he get the money to build an intelligence network? Where did he find the time to train agents? Where did he find the energy to vet every single agent and their families?

"The intelligence network covering Hexia Road that Er Gouzi commands is, in fact, all the branches of Ming Feng Tower in Hexia Road. More precisely, it’s *you*—the director responsible for all Ming Feng Tower branches in Hexia Road."

After hearing Ye Xiu’s accusation, Qin Qing, Gong Jin, Mo Luo, and Chloe all fell silent, unable to comprehend how his suspicion had fallen on Hua Niang.

As for Hua Niang, she looked so wronged she was on the verge of tears. "Young Master," she said, her voice trembling with panic, "ever since you saved my life ten years ago, I have been nothing but loyal to you. What could have possibly caused such a grave misunderstanding?"

"You put on a convincing act," Ye Xiu sneered. "First, long before Er Gouzi’s betrayal, I noticed the two of you were close. You liked him, you admired him, so it was easy for him to turn you against me.

"Second, the Ming Feng Tower headquarters for Hexia Road is in Han Jin City. When you learned I was heading to Guoyang, you actively requested a transfer to the Guoyang branch.

"Third, when I was in Han Jin City, I ordered Gong Jin to have all intelligence from the Ming Feng Tower branch there reported directly to her, bypassing you. That’s why you didn’t know the details of the Fire Seed Company’s night raid on the Xu Family, and you didn’t know the Du Long brothers survived. You only learned they were ’dead’ and that the Fire Seed Company’s test subjects were decimated from the false information I fed to Long Xiaoyun.

"Fourth, if Er Gouzi truly had an intelligence network covering all of Hexia Road, why didn’t he make a move against me when I was in Han Jin City? Because the Ming Feng Tower branch there was out of your control, leaving him completely in the dark about my whereabouts.

"Fifth... Hua Niang, do I even need to state a fifth reason?"