Star Trace Gate

Chapter 974 The Whereabouts of the Huge Star Source, Brother Niu's Little Secret

In the dimly lit cell, Wang Anquan listened to Ren Ye's aggressive words and saw his unwavering expression. He then lost all the strength to argue.

He lowered his head, sighed deeply, and said in a hoarse voice, "You must have used the Bewitching Incense to completely determine that I took this huge amount of Star Source, right? Before you saved Wenping, I was very anxious and worried... so I gave you the incense without thinking, hoping that it would help you save my son. But I never expected... it would completely expose me."

Ren just looked at him indifferently, revealing an expression that neither admitted nor denied.

Wang Anquan slowly raised his scarred face and speculated again, "I thought that since you, as a spy of the Fulong Pavilion and a person personally sent by the Second Prince, were willing to take such a risk to find me and even try to turn me against him again, it meant that you were in a difficult situation in Beifeng Town. Otherwise, if you had any other choice, you wouldn't have acted so rashly. So I concluded that you know very little about the things in Beifeng Town, and you have no way of knowing the truth about some complex events."

“I underestimated you. You should have already investigated the case of the monks killing each other in this underground vault very carefully and obtained crucial evidence. That is, someone used some kind of magic artifact or poison that amplifies desires and makes people lose their minds... That is why you were able to lock onto me so accurately after I gave you the mind-controlling incense.”

"To be honest, the infighting in this underground vault is directly related to Niu Dali. He certainly didn't want what happened there to be discovered, so he must have secretly sent people to strictly control the area around the vault. Under such circumstances, you were still able to find clues... that truly impresses me. Honestly, you are smarter and more capable than I imagined."

His words were full of emotion, and he also quickly deduced how he had been exposed. This shows that Old Wang was a meticulous and shrewd man.

Ren listened to the other party's speculation without offering any explanation, and replied with an air of authority: "It's not that I'm particularly smart or capable... but rather that someone who doesn't meet these two requirements cannot become a top secret agent of the Fulong Pavilion, nor would they be sent here by the Second Prince."

“No, I have to correct you. Even princes of the Divine Court often make mistakes in personnel selection and misjudge people. Otherwise… the First Prince would never have sent that idiot Yu Tiange to Beifeng Town.” Wang Anquan said through gritted teeth, “I have always suspected that Yu Tiange’s arrival in Beifeng Town was actually a conspiracy carefully planned by the First Prince to get revenge on me.”

“No, no, that’s not necessary…!” Ren Ye waved his hands repeatedly, replying with a sarcastic tone, “You have to understand, given Yu Tiange’s abilities, he is incapable of executing such a complex revenge plan.”

“That makes sense.” Wang Anquan nodded firmly. “He’s only single-minded and can’t even understand human language… He’s really not suited for such complicated things.”

At this point, Ren Ye frowned and looked at Wang Anquan, abruptly asking, "Old Wang, Old Wang. I've seen countless people, but why can't I understand you...!"

"What does that mean?" Wang Anquan looked bewildered.

Ren Ye, with his hands behind his back, said with a focused expression, "Since you have already decided to surrender to Tianzhao Temple, why did you act like a weathervane and secretly pocket such a large sum of Star Source? If Tianzhao Temple finds out about this, even if your whole family dies ten thousand times, it won't be enough to vent their anger!"

"You seem very strange to me in this matter. It's like you're trying to please both sides, and you're also trying to deceive both sides. So, are you looking for an opportunity to take your whole family and run away with this Star Source? Or do you have a deeper purpose? For example, to leave a way for yourself and the Divine Court to 'reconcile'?"

Upon hearing Ren Ye's question, Wang Anquan's eyes instantly dimmed: "...If I were to say that I never intended to surrender to Xiancheng, would you believe me?"

"Honestly, I don't understand you... I don't even know if I'll believe you." Ren Ye truthfully revealed his thoughts.

Wang Anquan knew that he had left Ren Ye with an impression of being too smooth and too calculating, even in his current predicament, he hadn't immediately revealed that he had stolen a huge amount of Star Source. Therefore, he was also very clear that if he wanted to rebuild trust with Ren Ye now, he had to be honest.

"call……!"

Wang Anquan slowly exhaled a breath of stale air and suddenly said, "Actually, I not only stole a huge amount of star energy from the underground treasury, but I also secretly kept all the precious materials needed to repair the six teleportation arrays. If I were just running away for money, would I have needed to keep these items for repairing the arrays, which would have been punishable by death if caught?"

Upon hearing this, Ren Ye immediately showed an extremely astonished expression. He gradually recalled that when Yu Tiange forced Wang Anquan to gather the materials to repair the great formation, he had personally asked him, "Can you get these precious materials?"

Wang Anquan's first reaction was to "pause" and he showed a clear expression of thinking, which shows that he was carefully considering how to respond to Ren Ye before giving the "deceptive" answer: "I definitely can't get it."

He didn't tell Ren the truth at the time, because the precious materials used to repair the great formation were one of his last trump cards. And at that time... he and Little Bad King certainly didn't have any absolute trust, so naturally he wouldn't tell the truth.

"The teleportation array in Beifeng Town can determine the city's survival at crucial moments, making it a strategically vital military stronghold. Therefore... it's impossible not to have various precious repair materials prepared in advance in case the array is destroyed. These materials were previously stored in the Ministry of Works of the government office... As the commander of the town, I am naturally very familiar with them. So, before the city fell, I went to the Ministry of Works to retrieve these materials and properly stored them, to be used when I launch a full-scale uprising in Beifeng Town later..."

Just now, Ren Ye couldn't completely believe Wang Anquan's words, but now that he heard that he had prepared precious materials for repairing the great formation in advance, he was already inclined to believe that... he might indeed be feigning surrender to Tianzhao Temple.

After all, hiding these precious materials for repairing the great formation would be of no benefit to a traitor who truly wants to rebel. On the contrary, if any clue is found, the entire clan will be implicated.

He listened quietly, without rushing to ask any questions.

“Yu Tiange asked me for these things, and although I have them, I will absolutely not give them to him. I think he is unreliable, and these precious materials cannot be replenished; every bit used is a bit less… So, if I foolishly hand them all over, and Yu Tiange’s plan fails, I will never be able to reopen the gates of Beifeng Town and welcome the Divine Court army to retake this place. For me, its value far exceeds that huge amount of star resources.” Wang Anquan urgently explained patiently, “Moreover, Yu Tiange’s insistence on forcing me to gather these things was, in my opinion, a test. He comes from Tiandu, and if he just inquires a little with the First Prince, he can clearly know that these things were stored in the Ministry of Works… So, if I can produce these items, it means that I may be feigning to surrender the city; on the contrary, if I cannot produce them, it is highly likely that I have completely betrayed the country and there is no possibility of being turned against me.”

"However, I don't trust him. I'd rather give him the impression of being a staunch traitor than gamble with all the precious materials used to repair the grand formation. His plan is too hasty... Moreover, I'm quite certain that he prepared these items before he came, so... even if I don't hand them over, he can still repair the grand formation without affecting the overall plan. Like I said, he came from Tiandu. Even if he's as stupid as a pig, the First Prince's advisors... shouldn't make such a big mistake in such routine preparations."

As Wang Anquan spoke, he shook his head helplessly.

Ren looked at the other person with a very impressed gaze: "You're quite the shrewd old fox, aren't you!"

"What a cunning old fox! After thinking so much, he's still ended up like this... a death row inmate with his life hanging in the balance. And he's dragged his whole family down with him...!" Wang Anquan's tone was full of self-reproach.

Ren pondered for a long time, then asked with a deep gaze, "You opened the gates and surrendered the city without resistance... leaving tens of thousands of people outside the Red Mansion homeless, naked, and starving... Many people starved to death every day. Then you imprisoned your former comrades in the Nanshan Illusionary Realm, subjecting them to inhuman torture every day, and implicated many innocent people who were also imprisoned... Did you foresee this outcome? Do you regret it?!"

“If you had chosen to fight back desperately, you might have been able to receive timely support from the Divine Court through the teleportation array in the city, and then stop the Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon’s attack on the same day. In that case, North Wind Town would not have been lost, and you wouldn’t have had to go through such a long detour… to ‘save the country through a roundabout way’! Surrender first, then rebel… that’s really too difficult.”

“Sigh.” Wang Anquan shook his head: “You know nothing about the situation in Beifeng Town at that time. The monk He Hong I mentioned earlier only communicated with me once and met with me once. During the communication, he clearly wanted to persuade me to rebel and surrender the city, but I ignored him. Then, three days before Beifeng Town was completely occupied… He Hong actually came to the city in person and stood swaggering outside the town garrison, wanting to see me.”

“At that time, the city was full of Divine Court troops, so… I’m very curious where he got his courage from.”

"I agreed to let him come into the mansion for a talk, but can you guess... what He Hong said to me?"

"I can't guess." Ren shook his head.

“After I met He Hong, he told me clearly that there were informants among the soldiers stationed at all the teleportation arrays in the city. If the war started, these informants, in cooperation with the Tianzhao Temple spies in the city, could destroy all the teleportation arrays within a quarter of an hour to cut off the Divine Court's reinforcements.”

"Then, hundreds of thousands of mighty heavenly dragons will surround this place from eight directions outside the city after a group of Dao-touching experts open the Void Path. Under the overwhelming divine magic, the town will be filled with mountains of corpses and not a blade of grass will grow."

"...I suspect he's just bragging," Ren replied honestly.

“Yes, I had my doubts too. But while I was talking to He Hong, a general from the North Tower teleportation array came to report… that a spirit stone beneath the array's core had suddenly loosened and peeled off, and it would take at least half an hour to put it back in place and completely repair it.” Wang Anquan replied blankly, “He Hong didn’t come here to talk to me… but rather to deliver a confident message. He was telling me that the loosening of the core spirit stone was just a warning, and if I remained stubborn… the teleportation array could be reduced to dust at any moment…!”

Ren was speechless for a long time after hearing this.

"I don't know how long Tianzhao Temple prepared for the attack on Beifeng Town. But I do know that Beifeng Town has been thoroughly infiltrated. I don't know how many bald men are hiding in the town, or how many mid-level or even high-level officials have been bribed."

"So, for me, I didn't have a choice at the time!"

As Wang Anquan spoke, his voice grew increasingly agitated: "Defeat is inevitable. Beifeng Town has become an isolated city. If I don't surrender, once the monks of Tianzhao Temple storm the city, there won't just be tens of thousands of refugees outside the Red Mansion... but corpses that will take months to cremate, and severed limbs strewn everywhere!!! My soldiers will die meaninglessly, my family will be humiliated, and even enslaved; and Tianzhao Temple, in retaliation for Beifeng Town's desperate resistance, will inevitably slaughter the people to establish its authority... You've seen Niu Dali's character; such a violent person, if his monks suffer too many casualties, he might even resort to extreme measures like a killing contest...!"