Chapter 936: Identity Exposed, the Terrifying Intuition of the Night Guard

"Secret..."

Murong Ying repeated the word softly, pausing for a long time, as if hesitating about how to broach the subject.

He hadn't noticed his team member Wang Chao's subtle movements. To him, bringing this Wang Zuo along wasn't for assistance; it was simply to offer some words of caution.

"Wang Chao,"

Murong Ying said, his voice emerging from the darkness, sounding somewhat guilty and lacking confidence,

"I've got a few heartfelt words I want to share with you..."

Xu Xiaoshou furrowed his brow inwardly, detecting an unusual tone.

Based on Murong Ying's demeanor,

perhaps this guy

didn't have those murderous intentions he'd imagined after all.

But Xu Xiaoshou didn't dare lower his guard, fearing it might be a ploy to feign weakness. So, adopting Wang Chao's tone, he said with a hint of pain,

"Murong, my brother, it's just you and me here now. Whatever you have to say, go ahead. But... your hesitating like this is making me really uncomfortable. Did I, Wang Chao, ever do something to wrong you?"

"Hey, not at all!"

Murong Ying rubbed his hands together, chuckling awkwardly in a way that left Xu Xiaoshou stunned, as he leaned in and said,

"About that earlier incident,

weren't we both watching from under that big rock?"

"Hmm?"

Xu Xiaoshou nodded,

"What's the big deal?"

"Of course there's a big deal!"

Murong Ying raised his voice a notch, scoffing,

"You haven't become a captain yet,

so you don't know how high Rao Jianxian's standards are for all the team leaders. If..."

He paused, glancing around to ensure no one was nearby, then lowered his voice before continuing,

"If Rao Jianxian finds out that we stayed under that big rock for so long and only notified the higher-ups when the situation changed, we'll be in trouble! That's delaying the battle!"

Xu Xiaoshou was taken aback by this.

He stared at the other in shock.

What time is it now? Captain, how can you be talking about this? Aren't we on the trail of enemies?

Shouldn't the priority be to capture as many enemies as possible? How can we waste time on such trivial matters?

So, you're that kind of captain...

Xu Xiaoshou's worldview was instantly shattered, and he relaxed his vigilance,

feeling that his Four Swords wouldn't need to be drawn after all.

"Say something!"

Murong Ying urged anxiously when Wang Chao remained silent.

Xu Xiaoshou's mouth twitched,

realizing it was time to play along, so he said righteously,

"Captain, what are you talking about? We waited there because we thought our team could handle them on our own!

"Then the Eighth Jianxian showed up, along with Yan Wang's Huang Quan—those were unexpected developments. Even if..."

Xu Xiaoshou hesitated briefly before continuing: "Even if you, as captain, hesitated a bit before sending the highest alert, it's completely understandable. After all, I was frozen in thought at the time, and for you to still send the alert was truly impressive!"

Murong Ying finally heard what he wanted, letting out a sigh of relief. Soon, his expression turned serious as he said, "What I wanted to tell you, brother, is exactly this."

"Which part?" Xu Xiaoshou was puzzled. What did I even say? It was all just flattery...

"Delayed communication!"

Murong Ying emphasized heavily: "You saw it yourself—we delayed the communication, which meant Rao Jianxian couldn't arrive in time, letting that Yan Wang leader and the Eighth Jianxian escape. That's a serious mistake, a big one. If it's discovered later..."

He stopped, his face filled with dread.

It was you who delayed the communication, not us—I was just on a one-way combat channel... Xu Xiaoshou silently grumbled to himself, then responded, "How could it possibly be discovered?"

He acted nonchalant.

At that time, Murong Ying had indeed been mentally disoriented, and the delay wasn't long. With everything over, why would Rao Yao Yao bother with such minor details?

"You're underestimating Rao Jianxian's abilities. Time reversal or something like that is possible!"

Murong Ying was deeply worried.

Time reversal? Does Rao Yao Yao even have time powers... Xu Xiaoshou looked doubtful. He didn't think Rao Yao Yao had such abilities, since her main focus was on emotion-based sword techniques.

Murong Ying saw Wang Chao's disbelief and sneered, "This involves Sheng Nu and Yan Wang, so it's bound to cause major issues. Even if Rao Jianxian doesn't have time powers, headquarters will send someone to trace the scene afterward."

Is that so... Xu Xiaoshou suddenly understood.

At that moment, Murong Ying lowered his head, rubbing his hands as he said, "That's what I wanted to discuss with you, brother..."

He abruptly stopped, his face full of embarrassment.

Xu Xiaoshou, quick on the uptake, inwardly scoffed, knowing this guy wanted to get their stories straight. So, he followed up,

"Murong, my brother, when the Eighth Jianxian and Huang Quan appeared, I was directly controlled by some mysterious mental force. It wasn't that I didn't want to warn you; I literally couldn't move a muscle!

"I'm sure you were the same back then, right?"

Murong Ying's eyes lit up as he exclaimed, "Oh, yes, yes! That's exactly how I felt, so..."

"So that's why we delayed the battle!" Xu Xiaoshou chimed in, chuckling.

Murong Ying took a deep breath, sizing up his team member Wang Chao as if seeing him in a new light: "You little rascal, you're pretty sly. I never realized you were this sharp before!"

"Heh..." Xu Xiaoshou gave a dry laugh, "You're no different, brother— you've got plenty of skills I've never seen."

The two locked eyes for a moment, then burst into laughter amid the space fragments.

"Received disdain, passive value +1."

"Received contempt, passive value +1."

Goodness... Xu Xiaoshou glanced at his info panel, his expression unchanged, but inwardly, he looked down on Murong Ying even more.

What kind of people are these? Among the red-clothed enforcers, there are folks with such petty mindsets?

He's afraid of Rao Yao Yao's blame, so he drags a team member along just to align our stories—and only brings it up in the space fragments, where it can't be traced.

With major events at hand, he's still fixated on these trivial details...

Xu Xiaoshou felt he'd overestimated Murong Ying before.

He felt ashamed for his earlier precautions, even nearly drawing his Four Swords to guard against Murong Ying discovering his true identity and trying to silence him.

Not every enforcer is like Rao Yao Yao.

Not every red-clothed member can be like Shou Ye, exuding immense pressure even without the Taixu realm.

In such a vast red-clothed organization, the ones he'd encountered before were probably the elites.

People like Murong Ying are likely the majority, right?

"Let's go!"

Murong Ying, having finished the discussion, suddenly remembered their mission and pulled out the array disk.

"Let's go."

Xu Xiaoshou smiled in response, allowing Murong Ying's spiritual energy to envelop him as they left the space fragments via the teleportation array.

In Area 42,

the enforcers launched a full search, trying to find more traces left by Yan Wang and Sheng Nu.

Nearby, in a dense forest, Lei Xi'er was holding Tan Shen, watching everything from afar.

Suddenly, a black figure plummeted from the sky.

Lei Xi'er's pupils contracted as she tensed up—this was clearly an enforcer's attire.

"It's me, Xu Xiaoshou."

The falling Shou Ye painting clone immediately identified himself and got straight to the point: "My main body was taken by Murong Ying, Wang Chao's team captain, but there's no danger. He's planning to cross the space fragments to search for the dean's traces."

The dean...

Ye Xiaotian?

Lei Xi'er understood. She had watched the battle from a distance and witnessed everything Xu Xiaoshou had done as Wang Chao, so she had no doubts. She asked, "Do you need me to go over?"

"Meow."

Tan Shen also lifted its gaze and meowed, as if inquiring.

Before a response came, it leaped onto Shou Ye, affectionately licking the painting clone's cheek.

This put Lei Xi'er completely at ease.

Only Xu Xiaoshou's spiritual intent would make Tan Shen act so familiar, confirming that this "Shou Ye" wasn't an enforcer in disguise.

"Mm."

The Shou Ye painting clone nodded, picked up Tan Shen, and tossed it back to Lei Xi'er, saying,

"Murong Ying might not be much of a threat, but he's still a Zhan Dao expert. I need your help. For now, don't reveal yourself—just observe.

"I already know his destination. Follow me, and we'll find the right moment to act."

"Assuming the dean isn't foolish enough to wait at the space channel exit, once the search yields nothing, I can use this Shou Ye painting clone to distract Murong Ying, and then we can slip away."

Lei Xi'er caught Tan Shen and pondered for a moment before nodding.

"Lead the way."

With that, she followed behind the Shou Ye painting clone, swiftly leaving the area.

Not long after Xu Xiaoshou left with Murong Ying, Area 42 finally felt the presence of Zhan Dao experts.

One, two, three...

In just a short while, over a dozen Zhan Dao experts arrived. The various team leaders had finally made it.

Rao Yao Yao attached great importance to the matters in Yunlun Mountains and Void Island.

Essentially, from Dongtian Realm and even Dongyu Jian Shen Tian, as long as it didn't affect the red-clothed's core operations, she had mobilized everyone available.

Shou Ye landed among the Zhan Dao group, listening to Murong Ying's team member Zhu Mi'er's event report and personally examining the scene.

"Huang Quan, the Eighth Jianxian, and another space-attribute expert, possibly mastering spatial mysteries..." Shou Ye pondered inwardly, finding it incredible.

How did so many terrifying smugglers suddenly gather here?

The others might be one thing,

but based on his understanding of Sheng Nu and the Eighth Jianxian over this period,

Shou Ye felt that Ba Zun An, who had secretly orchestrated the saint battle above Yunlun Mountains and then vanished, wouldn't reappear so quickly just to save one person.

His style didn't seem like someone who'd personally intervene.

Unless that space-attribute expert was real,

but Ba Zun An was fake?

The situation was starting to resemble Xu Xiaoshou's style...

"Did you see the Eighth Jianxian make a move?" Shou Ye asked.

Zhu Mi'er paused, thought for a moment, and shook her head. "No, but Yan Wang's leader Huang Quan had that space-attribute smuggler on the ropes, showing his strength. Yet, someone that powerful still gave face to the Eighth Jianxian, so it's unlikely we'd mistake him—Huang Quan probably wouldn't, right?"

Zhu Mi'er carefully probed.

She vaguely grasped what Shou Ye meant—whether they might have misidentified some people.

Shou Ye didn't respond, but inwardly, he strongly disagreed with Zhu Mi'er's view.

If it were Xu Xiaoshou, that guy could deceive even Yi—anyone who hadn't suffered at his hands wouldn't anticipate his tricks.

Yan Wang's leader Huang Quan? The same applied!

Shou Ye had suffered before and knew Xu Xiaoshou's deceptive skills were nearly on par with the semi-saint level. After a brief thought, he said, "Give me the image of that space-attribute smuggler."

Zhu Mi'er immediately complied, taking out a jade slip and engraving what she had seen with her spiritual intent.

"White hair, short stature, space attribute..."

Shou Ye took the jade slip and scanned it with his spiritual intent, instantly analyzing the key information.

As for "youth" or whatever, which smuggler entering Yunlun Mountains would dare show an aged appearance?

Being saved by the Eighth Jianxian meant a connection to Sheng Nu, even if weak, and even if this Eighth Jianxian might be fake...

From this angle, combined with the image in the jade slip...

Most importantly, space attributes were rare in the world, making the suspect's identity easy to verify.

As a Shou Ye from the Bai Ku red-clothed guard team, unlike enforcers from other places, he was more familiar with Xu Xiaoshou's background and past connections.

In less than three breaths, a figure emerged in Shou Ye's mind.

This person matched the information he'd speculated without basis, with an astonishingly high compatibility of nearly 99 percent.

"Ye Xiaotian!"