Chapter 974: Tripartite Talks

The two chatted sporadically as they walked, and after another half hour on the road, they finally arrived at the prison gate.

A man with very long hair tied in a braid was standing guard at the door. After some introduction, they learned that his code name was "Mao Mu" Liu Ershiyi.

He seemed somewhat familiar with Jiang Ruoxue, but had no impression of Chen Junnan.

After the two stated their purpose, "Mao Mu" led them inside the prison and settled them in a meeting room. He then got up and went out to fetch someone.

Chen Junnan stood up and leaned against the door to listen outside, discovering that tonight's "Mao" was quite lively—it sounded like there were at least twenty to thirty people in the building.

It seemed everything was just as Qi Xia had said... the entire "Mao" had been revived.

"It's a live Mao..."

Their liveliness tonight was probably a celebration of new life, since from everyone's perspective, it would take a while to figure out why they had come back to life.

Back then, Qi Xia had only told Qian Wu and Zhou Liu that his ability was "Sheng Sheng Bu Xi," but could they have imagined that "Sheng Sheng Bu Xi" could enable such a large-scale revival?

"Lao Qi... what exactly did you do..."

The two sat in the room for a few minutes when the sound of boots echoed outside the door. In just a few seconds, Zhou Liu's figure appeared in the doorway.

She had heard that the visitors were a man and a woman, and she had made all sorts of guesses, but no matter what, she never expected it to be this man and this woman.

Her gaze wandered between Chen Junnan and Jiang Ruoxue for a moment, and Zhou Liu's expression quickly turned troubled.

"Well!" Chen Junnan said with a smile to Jiang Ruoxue, "Big sister, the person I'm looking for is here. You should step out for now—we have an important meeting to hold here on schedule."

Jiang Ruoxue frowned slightly upon hearing this, then quickly laughed.

"But the person I'm looking for is also Zhou Liu, so why don't you step out first?"

"What do you mean?" Chen Junnan was stunned. "We're not only heading to 'Mao' by chance, but we're looking for the same person? Hey... Jiang Dajie, you should have told me earlier. If you had, I could have come for you and saved you the trip. Look at the trouble this has caused."

Zhou Liu walked slowly into the room and closed the door behind her.

The situation was a bit complicated for her now.

Jiang Ruoxue was naturally here representing "Ji Dao," while Chen Junnan was likely representing Qi Xia, but her own identity was now the deputy leader of "Mao."

Having three different identities gathered together wasn't a big issue in itself, but the problem was that she had some connections with both of their factions. She could manage a conversation if she met either of them alone, but with both here at the same time, her identity became awkward, and many things weren't easy to say directly.

"Tsk..." Zhou Liu clicked her tongue. "You two... came together?"

"Yeah." Chen Junnan nodded. "Any advice?"

"Tsk, no advice, really. I just can't figure out why you two showed up together." Zhou Liu sat down with a troubled expression.

"Don't listen to his nonsense." Jiang Ruoxue interjected from the side. "We just happened to run into each other."

Zhou Liu nodded, fell silent for a moment, and then said, "Tsk, I know you both probably have things to discuss with me privately. Otherwise, why don't you two decide who goes out first to give the other some space..."

"I've got an idea all of a sudden." Chen Junnan interrupted Zhou Liu. "Mei Jie, there's a question I want to ask you first."

"Go ahead." Zhou Liu replied.

"Have all the brothers in 'Mao' been revived?" Chen Junnan pointed toward the door. "Including your leader, Qian Duoduo."

Zhou Liu nodded.

"That's right."

"Good, then I'll be straight with you. This whole thing was pulled off by Lao Qi." Chen Junnan said with a smile. "Him going to such great lengths to bring these people back proves we're at some critical moment."

Jiang Ruoxue and Zhou Liu were both a bit stunned after hearing this.

"You're saying Qi Xia revived these people...?"

"Let's set that aside for now. You should both know that even though we're on different sides—I'm with the gourd kids, while you're with the snake spirits and the old man—but..."

"Tsk..." Zhou Liu frowned. "Who the hell are you calling snake spirits and the old man?"

"My bad, my bad." Chen Junnan laughed. "What I mean is, although we're each in our own camps, we all have one ultimate enemy—the one at the very top."

"So what?"

"That's why we should put aside our camp differences and share our plans. Only then can we unite and achieve our goal."

Zhou Liu fell silent for a few seconds, then slowly stood up, opened the door, and said to someone outside, "Tell Shi Jiu to drop what he's doing and come see me."

After that, she returned to the table and sat down. "Tsk, this moment is indeed critical for all 'participants.' But 'Mao' has always been neutral, so I can't guarantee anything. All I can say is, as 'Zhou Liu,' I'll do my best to help you both."

"I don't agree with that." Jiang Ruoxue interjected. "First, I want to correct something—this isn't just a casual talk among three factions. The three of us here are all second-in-command in our respective forces, so our words can represent our leaders."

"I might be third-in-command..." Chen Junnan muttered quietly.

"Doesn't matter." Jiang Ruoxue continued. "So, for this conversation, I'm fine with being completely open. Even though 'Mao' has always maintained a neutral stance, if I remember correctly, 'neutrality' is ultimately for 'survival,' and 'survival' is for the plan, right?"

Zhou Liu nodded slightly.

"Yes..."

"In other words, we all carry important 'tasks' on our shoulders, so there's no need to pretend and divide ourselves into 'participants' and various 'camps' at this point." Jiang Ruoxue said seriously to the other two. "Whether you admit it or not, we're all people of 'Bai Yang.'"

"Hey, don't say that..." Chen Junnan quickly interjected. "Our Lao Qi isn't part of that."

"You know better than anyone if he is." Jiang Ruoxue said. "We're all working toward the same plan. The leaders have their roles, and as the second-in-command, we need to handle our own responsibilities and share their burdens."

Zhou Liu sighed deeply.

"Tsk, so it's really come to this today?"

"Zhou Liu, I know you have deep feelings for 'Mao'..." Jiang Ruoxue added, "but you have to understand that if you truly want them to live better... we don't need those 'gods' from above."

As the three were lost in their own thoughts, a faint knock came at the door.

Yun Shijiu walked into the room, bowed slightly to the three of them, and then said to Zhou Liu, "Liu Jie... what do you need?"