Chapter 161: Traitor

A gentle sea breeze swept across the shore as a bright full moon hung high in the boundless sky, casting its silvery reflection far out across the distant ocean.

In the distance, the figures of Xiao Ye and the others could be vaguely seen gradually fading away. Ye Feng stood alone on the sandy beach, quietly listening to the rhythmic sound of the waves.

Everything was proceeding step by step according to his arrangement. Yet, deep within Ye Feng's heart, a faint trace of unease lingered. Was it... perhaps a bit too smooth?

Walking slowly along the shoreline, he silently recited the clarity and concentration chant in his mind, forcing himself to remain in the sharpest state of awareness. He took step after step without any specific destination, not even paying attention to where his feet were carrying him.

"Would the people of the Sacred Land really be naive enough to believe that Xiao Ying would actually follow their agreement and dump the bone-corroding powder into the well?"

Unwittingly, the slowly rising tide washed over Ye Feng's insteps, but he remained entirely oblivious, muttering to himself as he paced forward.

"If I were the person in charge on the Sacred Land's side, I would be damned if I ever entrusted such a crucial task entirely to an outsider! At the very least, I would assign someone to keep an eye on her, making sure to witness with my own eyes that she threw the bone-corroding powder into the well."

Lost in silent contemplation, Ye Feng carried out a rigorous deduction.

To outsiders, Ye Feng always seemed to anticipate the enemy's moves beforehand, finding their weaknesses at the critical moment and launching the most devastating counterattacks. Yet no one knew how many hours of painstaking deliberation went into those seemingly spontaneous ideas of his.

"Wait a moment. During the Heavenly King Alliance's recruitment drive, could those new members really all be people with spotless backgrounds? Perhaps, much like Xiao Ying, there are others among them whose weaknesses are firmly held in the grip of the Sacred Land."

Suddenly, Ye Feng's eyes lit up. He finally understood the source of that inexplicable sense of dread.

***

The night passed without incident. The following day, Ye Feng quietly summoned the founding batch of Heavenly King Alliance members. The actions to follow would be the most critical of the critical; if even the slightest error occurred in any link of the chain, not only he himself, but all the brothers who followed him would be plunged into an abyss of eternal damnation.

Inside a secluded chamber, Ye Feng stood quietly at the very front of the formation, facing the gathered crowd, and spoke:

"The reason I have summoned all my brothers here today is because our Heavenly King Alliance has fallen into the most perilous situation imaginable. Whether we can successfully survive this catastrophe depends entirely on all of you."

Most of them assumed that what Ye Feng was referring to was the impending showdown with the Sacred Land scheduled for tomorrow night. As his voice trailed off, everyone rolled up their sleeves, looking eager and spoiling for a fight.

Only Jialuo and a few others who understood Ye Feng the best had their expressions shift dramatically upon hearing these words, staring at him with a look of sheer disbelief.

"The Heavenly King Alliance may currently appear infinitely glorious, but who among you knows that every single day we are walking on the edge of life and death? Perhaps one day, all of us could be utterly destroyed over some seemingly trivial matter in our daily routine!" Without offering too much explanation to the crowd, Ye Feng said with a stern expression.

Silence descended. The entire chamber fell into absolute stillness the moment Ye Feng's words fell. Almost everyone wore a look of utter shock, gazing toward Ye Feng at the front, trying to find even the slightest hint of a joke on his face...

"From now on, every single water well within the entire compound must be watched vigilantly twenty-four hours a day. No one is permitted to approach them except for those we trust absolutely." Seeing the silent crowd below him, Ye Feng stopped beating around the bush and continued:

"If any newly joined brother inquires about the reason, tell them that poisoning incidents have occurred in several other cities, and we are simply stepping up security."

"For anyone who persists in asking for the reason, assign a brother to shadow every single move they make around the clock."

Ye Feng's words fell one by one. At first, some in the crowd inwardly blamed him for making a mountain out of a molehill, but the latter part of his statement broke everyone out in a cold sweat.

Ye Feng's intention was already crystal clear: there were spies among the new recruits, and they might attempt to poison the drinking water wells used by everyone daily.

Generally, once cultivators reached the Spirit Emperor realm, they could go without food for months, but if they lacked water, no one could endure for more than seven days unless their cultivation had reached the Spirit Monarch level.

No one questioned him, and no one dared to take it lightly in their hearts. Once Ye Feng finished giving his instructions, dozens of core members departed the chamber first, immediately moving out to secure the seven water wells scattered across the courtyard.

Inside the room, only Jialuo and six or seven other core members of the Heavenly King Alliance remained. At this moment, the looks they cast toward Ye Feng were rather bizarre, as if he were some kind of spirit beast capable of foreseeing the future.

"Don't look at me like that, I'll blush!"

"I really want to know, how on earth did you figure all this out?" Xiao Chong pulled a chair over from the side and plonked himself down onto it casually.

However, under Xiao Ye's trademark look of "have you no respect for seniority," the second brother Xiao had no choice but to stand back up, glare blankly at his own elder brother, and watch him sit squarely down in the seat instead.

Everyone was long accustomed to this routine. Smiling, they each pulled over a chair and sat down.

"Put yourself in their shoes!"

Drawing a chair closer, Ye Feng picked up the teapot from the square table, poured himself a cup of tea, and spoke with concise brevity.

Silence fell over everyone once more, and those monster-judging gazes were simultaneously cast his way again.

"Does that mean all our previous arrangements are completely useless now?" Kong Kong asked persistently.

"If my calculations are correct, the Sacred Land will release fireworks again tonight. At that moment, the first spy will naturally surface."

"Oh, oh, oh... Give you an inch and you take a mile! Do you really think you're some kind of omniscient spirit beast that knows all secrets?" Xiao Chong mercilessly punctured his ego. Of course, whether there was any jealousy or other motives behind it was impossible to tell...

***

Sure enough, following the implementation of Ye Feng's measures, within a mere half-day, three newly joined youths attempted to approach the water wells under various pretexts.

Although they pretended nothing was amiss when the guards blocked them, the operatives assigned to monitor them reported back to Ye Feng:

"After returning, the three of them spent nearly a quarter of an hour in the same room with two other individuals who had not attempted to approach the wells."

Hearing this news, the heavy rock that had been suspended high in Ye Feng's chest finally settled back down.

As long as one could seize the initiative in any situation, the subsequent course of events would remain firmly within one's grasp.

"Have someone continue watching those five individuals, and don't let up on the guard around the wells either!" Stretching his back lazily, Ye Feng continued, "Oh, right, have Xiao Ying take a stroll around the wells as well, just to keep up appearances."