Two days passed in the blink of an eye.
Ordinarily, Ye Cangtian would take Medicine Bao'er and the other two to wander around Jilong City. This served to confuse any observing eyes and also to wait.
His probing of Du Chuan had begun. Although his traps had yielded no results in two days, Ye Cangtian had not given up.
After all, the suspiciousness surrounding Du Chuan and his subordinates remained unresolved. Moreover, as a newcomer, it was still uncertain whether he had been targeted.
Therefore, he chose to wait patiently.
"Boss, just waiting like this isn't a solution, it's wasting too much time," Medicine Bao'er whispered beside Ye Cangtian as they strolled through the city.
Probing was necessary, but there was no point in a contest of patience. She was also growing bored and restless with nothing to do in Jilong City.
"Hmm, you have a point," Ye Cangtian nodded in agreement.
He had sent messages to Gale Tower and Fiery Court a while ago. Based on the timeline, Gale Tower and Fiery Court should have already attacked the strongholds of the Five Poisons Sect. If he delayed any longer, news from several strongholds might reach the Five Poisons Sect headquarters sequentially. At that point, the Five Poisons Sect headquarters would face two choices.
The first was to retaliate fiercely for the loss of their strongholds. The second was for the headquarters to go into hiding and escape. The former, with the Five Poisons Sect's potent poisons, would undoubtedly result in heavy casualties for various factions and ordinary citizens alike. As for the latter, if the Five Poisons Sect headquarters chose to flee, it would be difficult for him to annihilate them. Once the commotion died down, the Five Poisons Sect would continue to threaten the ruins.
With this thought, Ye Cangtian slowly spoke, "It seems it's time to put some pressure on them."
As he spoke, Ye Cangtian looked at Xue Qi and said, "Xue Qi, go inform Du Chuan. Tell him that we will depart tomorrow and begin our operation against the Five Poisons Sect headquarters!"
Ye Cangtian's intention was simple. If Du Chuan had any issues, he would undoubtedly leak the information. Consequently, either someone would directly fall into his trap, or they would be ambushed outside the city. Either scenario would indicate a problem with Du Chuan. If neither of these situations occurred, it would mean they had overthought things.
"Alright, I'll go now." Xue Qi responded and turned to return to the branch.
As soon as Xue Qi left, Bing Yao spoke, "Death God, won't it be dangerous for senior sister to go alone?" Bing Yao was worried about Xue Qi's trip. If Du Chuan was fine, then so be it. But if Du Chuan truly had problems, things might not be so simple. They might even detain Xue Qi and use her as a hostage to threaten Ye Cangtian.
"Heh, even if he has problems, he wouldn't dare to be so blatant!" Ye Cangtian understood Bing Yao's concern and replied with a smile. The reason was simple: if Du Chuan truly had issues, his first thought would be to protect himself, not to rashly capture Xue Qi. In other words, if Du Chuan were to capture Xue Qi and force him to abandon his mission, it would not be beneficial for the Five Poisons Sect or Du Chuan. Because in doing so, Du Chuan would be exposed, and his only option would be to retreat, otherwise, the Hidden Bureau would surely eliminate him. And if that happened, the Hidden Bureau would send a new leader, which was certainly not what the Five Poisons Sect headquarters desired.
Hearing Ye Cangtian's explanation, Bing Yao slowly nodded, her doubts and worries dispelled.
...
In the evening, in the room.
Ye Cangtian was in the room, chatting with Medicine Bao'er and the others. Suddenly, Ye Cangtian's expression changed, and he made a gesture for silence. The next moment, a figure sneaked into the room. Upon seeing the person's appearance, Ye Cangtian and the others relaxed their guard. The person was none other than Zuo Bai from Yulong Mountain Villa.
On the other hand, Zuo Bai quickly bowed to Ye Cangtian and then said, "Villa Master, someone came earlier following the signal you left. They are at our place now..." Since Ye Cangtian had asked Zuo Bai to come secretly, Zuo Bai had not brought the person along to avoid being discovered.
Ye Cangtian nodded upon hearing this and said, "Alright, I'll go with you." He then looked at Xue Qi and said, "You three stay put in the room. If Du Chuan sends someone to look for me, find an excuse to fob them off..." Seeing Xue Qi nod, Ye Cangtian then quietly left the room with Zuo Bai.
Not long after, Ye Cangtian and Zuo Bai arrived at a farmhouse on the outskirts of Jilong City. As they entered the room, they first saw Hei Cheng, completely covered in black attire. That's right, it was Hei Cheng. After subduing Hei Cheng, Ye Cangtian had instructed him to return to the Five Poisons Sect headquarters to gather intelligence for him. Currently, the people from Yulong Mountain Villa were unable to leave the city due to the Five Poisons Sect's surveillance, which was why Ye Cangtian had asked him to come. After all, Hei Cheng was an elder of the Five Poisons Sect headquarters.
At the same time, Hei Cheng saw the two of them. He paused slightly, then froze on the spot. Through the slight connection generated by the soul imprint, he immediately recognized that the Death God before him was, in fact, Yin Long. He truly hadn't expected Yin Long to be the new Villa Master of Yulong Mountain Villa. The next moment, he quickly knelt on one knee and said, "Subordinate Hei Cheng greets Lord Yin Long. Lord Yin Long, are you the Dragon King?"
"Mmm." Ye Cangtian nodded and did not conceal anything. He directly went to a seat and lit a cigarette. Seeing this, Hei Cheng quickly stepped forward and respectfully asked, "Sir, do you have any instructions for summoning me here?"
"Yes." Ye Cangtian glanced at him and said faintly, "First, tell me about the situation within the Five Poisons Sect!" Hei Cheng organized his thoughts and then quickly began to recount. In the past two days, the Five Poisons Sect had received news that the Death God was leading a team to attack the headquarters. However, the Five Poisons Sect had not made any preparations. The reason was simple: there were many eyes and ears around, and Jilong City was essentially under the control of the Five Poisons Sect. As long as the people from Yulong Mountain Villa left Jilong City, someone would notify the Five Poisons Sect immediately, and then it wouldn't be too late to prepare. This was only one reason. Another reason was the operational personnel of Yulong Mountain Villa. Apart from the Death God, the rest were trash, and it was uncertain whether they could even leave Jilong City alive.
"Hmm?" Hearing this, Ye Cangtian's expression turned completely grim. Apart from the people from Yulong Mountain Villa, only Medicine Bao'er, the other two women, and the Hidden Bureau branch knew about his presence here. He had not concealed these matters at the bonfire banquet, and those around should have heard them. Although it could not directly prove that Du Chuan was problematic, it at least indicated that people from the Five Poisons Sect had infiltrated the Hidden Bureau, which was not good news.
Thinking to himself, Ye Cangtian looked at Hei Cheng and asked, "Do you know how many people from the Five Poisons Sect are within the Hidden Bureau?"
"I'm really not sure about that," Hei Cheng shook his head. This was not his responsibility, so apart from the person specifically in charge, only the Sect Master of the Five Poisons Sect knew about the situation here. However, despite this, Hei Cheng believed that there should be quite a few of his people within the Hidden Bureau. The reason was simple: in the past, when the headquarters attacked Jilong City, their losses were considerable, and their actions were ruthless and brutal. But in recent years, the situation had gradually changed. The headquarters still attacked Jilong City, but the two sides seemed to be playing house. After the people from the Hidden Bureau were driven out of Jilong City, the Five Poisons Sect people would give up the pursuit and retreat to the headquarters. They were no longer relentlessly pursuing and trying to eliminate them completely as before. Moreover, the number of people killed by the Five Poisons Sect was also decreasing, and the vast majority were merely guards, not key personnel of the Hidden Bureau. From this point of view, it seemed that quite a few people within the Hidden Bureau had been corrupted by the Five Poisons Sect.
Hearing Hei Cheng's account, Ye Cangtian's expression grew even more somber. Everything was truly developing in the worst possible direction. He had initially thought that Du Chuan, by holding Jilong City, had achieved remarkable feats and was a promising candidate, but now it seemed everyone had been deceived. If one or two people within the Hidden Bureau were corrupted by the Five Poisons Sect, it might have nothing to do with Du Chuan. However, if there were many such people, then Du Chuan must be problematic. It was simple: with so many people being corrupted, Du Chuan could not be unaware. The only explanation was that Du Chuan had also been corrupted.