The sun rose.
As Ye Cangtian stood up and walked out of his room, he saw Lan Yue already waiting in the living room.
Looking at her travel-worn and slightly exhausted appearance, Ye Cangtian knew she had only recently returned.
The next moment, Ye Cangtian poured a glass of water, handed it over, and then sat down. "Senior Sister, how did the investigation go?"
After arriving at the Imperial Dragon Villa, since Lei Ming's attention was focused on him, Ye Cangtian had entrusted the task of finding the members of the Hidden Organization to Lan Yue.
He aimed to understand the situation of those Hidden Organization members who had been sent over.
On the other side, Lan Yue shook her head helplessly and said, "Junior Brother, I've searched almost the entire Imperial Dragon Villa, except for the inner palace where Lei Ming resides. I found nothing."
After a pause, Lan Yue spoke again, "Junior Brother, do you think it's possible that those people were tricked by the Imperial Dragon Villa and ended up joining it?"
After all, having found no trace of the Hidden Organization members, this was the only possibility Lan Yue could think of.
Huh?
If they had joined the Imperial Dragon Villa and been transformed into its guards, it would indeed be difficult to determine if they were previously members of the Hidden Organization unless one interacted with them.
But this was a covert investigation; how could one interact with anyone?
Moreover, even if the members of the Hidden Organization were not strong-willed, it was impossible for all of them to defect to the Imperial Dragon Villa!
Thinking this, Ye Cangtian spoke again, "Senior Sister, did you search the Imperial Dragon Villa's prison? Did you check if there were any mass graves nearby?"
"I went to the prison, and there was nothing unusual."
Lan Yue replied, then remained silent for a moment, as if recalling something, before continuing, "As for mass graves, I didn't find any. However, I did find some burial grounds, but those were all for people of the Imperial Dragon Villa."
Hmm?
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian's brows furrowed deeply. Could Lei Ming really have found some way to make all the Hidden Organization members loyal to him?
"Senior Sister, you should rest first. I will figure out the rest," Ye Cangtian said to Lan Yue after a long silence. He then left the room.
He avoided all the hidden surveillance and directly infiltrated Zhan Wufeng's room.
At that moment, Zhan Wufeng was cultivating when he suddenly sensed someone entering, immediately becoming vigilant.
Upon seeing that it was Ye Cangtian, he let out a sigh of relief and said, "Death God, is there something you need?"
Ye Cangtian nodded and said, "There's one more thing."
Ye Cangtian did not hide anything. He directly explained the matter of the Hidden Organization members and asked if the other party had any clues.
Upon hearing this, Zhan Wufeng fell silent for a moment, then said, "I apologize, Death God. I did hear about the matter of the Hidden Organization members being sent over, but I truly don't know where they ultimately went."
Alas!
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian sighed. He had already anticipated this outcome before coming here.
After all, Zhan Wufeng was not Lei Ming's subordinate, so if Lei Ming intended to do something, he would definitely try to avoid Zhan Wufeng as much as possible to avoid leaving any room for criticism.
Seeing Ye Cangtian sigh, Zhan Wufeng quickly stepped forward and said, "Sir, although I don't know, there is someone who might. You might as well go and try!"
"Who?" Ye Cangtian asked subconsciously.
Zhan Wufeng did not hide anything and directly replied, "One of the current guard captains of the villa, Feng Jun."
Hmm?
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian's brow furrowed. Even without anyone telling him, he could tell that Feng Jun was Lei Ming's man.
Given such a position, it was normal for him to know some of Lei Ming's secrets.
But the problem was, why would Feng Jun tell him these secrets?
Thinking this, he looked at Zhan Wufeng and asked, "Why do you think Feng Jun would tell everything?"
Zhan Wufeng quickly replied, "I was previously appointed as a commander by Lei Ming. Yet, he has only been a captain for so many years. I suspect he harbors some dissatisfaction..."
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian immediately understood.
He patted Zhan Wufeng on the shoulder and said, "Thank you. I'll go and meet Feng Jun first!"
...
Night fell.
A dark shadow flickered within the Imperial Dragon Villa, avoiding all guards.
Not long after, this dark shadow arrived in a room in a side hall.
Inside the room, Feng Jun was drinking alone, his face filled with anger, muttering something under his breath.
"I've followed you for so many years, and I haven't received any rewards. Now, Zhan Wufeng just pledged allegiance and hasn't achieved anything, yet you directly made him a commander. Where do you place me..."
Feng Jun was extremely dejected. In the past, he had no grievances with Zhan Wufeng, but he simply couldn't stand Zhan Wufeng's smug attitude.
However, after Zhan Wufeng was appointed commander, he became a laughingstock among others.
Moreover, he himself felt that he had been neglected by the Villa Master.
Therefore, while resenting Lei Ming, he also wished he could tear Zhan Wufeng to pieces.
Creak...
Just then, the room door opened silently. Feng Jun's drunken eyes immediately filled with vigilance.
Upon seeing that the visitor was the Death God, he immediately drew his long sword.
The reason was very simple: the other party was dressed in a night-blooming outfit, and his appearance here was certainly not for anything good. He might even be here to eliminate rivals!
Most importantly, even Zhan Wufeng was no match for the Death God, so he was even less likely to be a match.
Therefore, he didn't even dare to shout. After all, the other party hadn't made a move yet. If he shouted and angered the other party, it would be more of a loss than a gain.
Thinking this, he lowered his voice and asked, "Death God, why are you here?"
"Heh heh, I was just taking a stroll this evening and smelled the wine here, so I came to sit for a while."
"Would you be willing to share a drink with me?" Ye Cangtian asked with a smile, signaling the other party not to be nervous.
Huh?
Feng Jun's gaze shifted to Ye Cangtian and he said, "If I say no, will you kill me?"
"No, I never said I would kill you."
Ye Cangtian waved his hand and said, "If you let me leave, I'll leave immediately. But if you do, you'll have to drink your sorrows alone!"
"I'll drink alone if I have to! You..." Feng Jun said instinctively, but then his voice stopped abruptly.
In the past, he would have chosen to avoid trouble and drink alone, and it wouldn't have mattered. But now that he was being neglected, what was the point of avoiding trouble?
Besides, the Death God was now Lei Ming's biggest threat, and it wasn't impossible for him to replace Lei Ming.
If he could build some rapport with the Death God at this time, it would be much easier to defect to him when the Death God became powerful in the future.
With this thought, he quickly forced a smile and said, "Since the Death God is in good spirits, let's have a few drinks."
As he spoke, Feng Jun made a gesture of invitation, then took out wine cups, poured the wine, and offered it to Ye Cangtian.
As they clinked glasses and drank, they talked a lot.
As Zhan Wufeng had guessed, Feng Jun was indeed feeling down and resentful towards Lei Ming.
"Do you know why you've always been overlooked?" Ye Cangtian lit a cigarette and looked at him.
"Why?" Feng Jun looked up dejectedly and asked subconsciously. This was what he wanted to know the most.
"It's very simple. This is a common problem for everyone. The easier something is to obtain, the less it is cherished!"
"Think about it, hasn't it been a day or two since Lei Ming wanted to bring Zhan Wufeng under his wing? He only succeeded recently, so naturally, he has to win him over and take good care of him!"
"Moreover, honestly speaking, Zhan Wufeng's strength is greater than yours, so it's natural for him to be a commander."
Ye Cangtian exhaled two rings of smoke before giving the answer.
This...
With just a few words, Feng Jun's face turned red. Everything the other party said made sense, and he truly didn't know how to refute it.
So he raised his wine cup, took another gulp of wine, and then said, "Even if my strength is not as good, I have something that Zhan Wufeng cannot compare to, and that is loyalty!"
"Loyalty? How much is loyalty worth?"
"And in my opinion, so-called loyalty is simply because the price of betrayal is not high enough!"
"Besides, what have you ever done for Lei Ming!" Ye Cangtian said, seeing that the other party was becoming drunk, and thus tentatively trying to elicit information.
"Hmph! I've done a lot for Lei Ming..."
At this point, Feng Jun's voice suddenly stopped. His eyes widened, and he said sternly, "Death God, don't think I'm drunk and try to trick me. No way!"
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian's eyes darted around, and he then said, "You've already fallen out of favor. Don't you want to find another way out? Do you want to be suppressed by Zhan Wufeng for the rest of your life?"
This...
One sentence seemed to strike Feng Jun's heart, causing him to swallow the words that were about to come out.
He was naturally unwilling to be suppressed by Zhan Wufeng.
The next moment, he looked at Ye Cangtian and said, "Death God, do you mean for me to defect to you? But how much confidence do you have in taking the position of Villa Master?"
"How much confidence I have is not important to you."
"What's important is that if you want to live, you'd best cooperate with me!"
"You know, I'm not threatening you. Given everything you've done following Lei Ming, if Lei Ming falls, or if you completely fall out of favor, I'm afraid you'll die a terrible death!" Ye Cangtian said slowly to him.