Chapter 68: The True Identity of the Mysterious Stranger?!

But Li Yi had no good method to probe or approach either Miss So-and-so or Liangyin. All he could do was sigh and listen to his subordinates’ reports: today the two of them had been invited by the Prime Minister to his mansion; tomorrow they attended a ball hosted by him; the day after, they accompanied the Prime Minister to visit the false emperor—on and on, endless updates. All of this sounded full of treacherous potential, yet Li Yi couldn’t help but hold onto a sliver of hope—that perhaps these two favored ones had seen through the usurper's tricks.

He waited from dawn till dusk, and finally, when the candlelight was trembling on the brink of extinction, someone burst into his garden. There were two people—a man and a woman—the leader of whom had even managed to unravel all the intricate traps he had laid out, at least from what Li Yi could gather from the woods.

But this wasn’t right, Li Yi thought. Weren’t Miss So-and-so and Liangyin both girls? He was utterly confounded. At that moment, the subordinate he had assigned to protect him (though, truth be told, this man was more for peace of mind than any real defense) suddenly burst in with his usual deadpan expression. “Sir, Sang Qing and those two are about to start fighting.”

If one thought carefully, this simple sentence was actually brimming with the subtle philosophies of life. First, it succinctly addressed the audience—“Sir.” Then it introduced the parties—Sang Qing and those two. It merely stated that two people had arrived, without specifying exactly what kind of people they were. Finally, it conveyed the event and timing—“about to fight”—with the word “about” conveniently absolving him of all responsibility. They might indeed fight, or maybe they’d end up just chatting away.

After all this seemingly pointless explanation, one had to admit—the deadpan messenger was, in his own way, rather wise.

Li Yi was evidently accustomed to this subordinate’s oblique cleverness. He quickly sifted out the keywords he needed and constructed his own summary: Those two have arrived.

With a grand wave of his hand, Li Yi sent the deadpan fellow—who could only feign urgency with reluctance—to fetch Lance and So-and-so from Sang Qing's grip.

What happened next, as the author suspects, should be well known to everyone present, including So-and-so and Lance, so there’s no need to pad the word count by repeating it here—ahem.

“So, after all our trouble rushing to Marshal Jiang, even Marshal Li Yi himself isn’t quite clear about what happened in the palace?” After hearing the whole story, So-and-so summed up their experiences with one concluding sentence.

“Ahem,” Li Yi replied, a little embarrassed.

“If you’d come any earlier, we’d have been sure of nothing at all.” The long-discussed but never-seen Sang Qing finally pushed the door open and entered in the nick of time. “Only two days ago did I finally uncover a major piece of information.”

“That’s right,” Li Yi set aside his earlier embarrassment and grew serious at last. “There’s something I’ve never been able to understand about this coup: how did a civilian prime minister acquire so many troops, and how were these soldiers powerful enough to subdue the entire palace—even after we had reinforced the guards?”

“We only found the answer these past two days,” Sang Qing continued. “The Prime Minister must have enlisted outside help.”

“What?” Was that truly the so-called crucial intelligence? So-and-so felt her worldview shatter. This deduction was so elementary it was like concluding that if your money is missing, there must be a thief; or if your eyes can’t stay open, you must be sleepy. Did it really take so long to reason out something so obvious?

Had her own intelligence suddenly soared, or had everyone else’s plummeted?

So-and-so was left deeply puzzled and adrift.

Lance, speechless, watched So-and-so spiral into self-doubt, and gently patted her shoulder to bring her back to herself.

“And it’s not just ordinary outside help,” Sang Qing said, catching his breath. “The Prime Minister now completely controls the palace, yet he hasn’t made a move against the King or the Marshal. Such uncharacteristic forbearance must have a reason. The reason is that the outside help he’s enlisted is beyond his control—because what he’s called upon are the ancient enemies of humanity: the demonic beasts!”

“What?!” Instantly, So-and-so’s mind conjured up a vision of the entire palace commandeered by a pack of uniformed, furry monsters. She quickly snapped out of it and challenged Sang Qing: “Impossible. Last time Lance and I were at the palace, all the guards and soldiers were clearly human!”

She shot a questioning look at Lance, expecting him to confirm her words. To her surprise, Lance did not give her the reassurance she sought; instead, he stared at her as if he were meeting her for the first time.

“Uh, did I say something wrong?” So-and-so asked, determined not to let her ignorance go unchallenged.

“Don’t you know that demonic beasts can take human form?” Li Yi looked at her in bewilderment.

“Indeed, most demonic beasts can transform into humans. It’s almost an innate ability—only some are too lazy to bother,” Sang Qing added.

“What you saw in the forest were just some monsters,” Lance said, and then, sensing something was off, turned to ask, “Don’t tell me you can’t tell the difference between monsters and demonic beasts?”

So-and-so scratched her head and grinned sheepishly. How was she supposed to explain her instinctive confusion about the term “demonic beast”…?

“That’s what happens when you don’t pay attention in school. Ignorance is truly terrifying…” she could only mock herself.

There was no point belaboring So-and-so’s confusion. Sang Qing shifted the topic back: “One of my trusted soldiers saw with his own eyes the Prime Minister’s strange new troops sneak off and revert to their beast forms to slack off. He also heard that ever since the Prime Minister seized control of the palace, he’s been accompanied in and out by a mysterious, cloaked figure whom he treats with great deference. It’s likely that this is the strategist behind the demonic beasts’ assault on the Kingdom of White Tower.”

A mysterious figure?! In So-and-so’s mind flashed a host of shadowy figures: the one who lured Andy into a trap and exhausted Aikacia’s strength; the one who gave Bud the secret to subduing mages; the one who, after these two incidents, appeared to advise the towns and countryside…

“This time, something truly catastrophic is coming,” So-and-so said, staring blankly at Lance—who, she noticed, was just as tense, his pupils contracting. “How can we, a patchwork of last-minute stand-ins, hope to match the demonic beasts' careful planning and relentless advance?”

“I never expected this,” Lance murmured.

“What’s wrong?” Sensing the gravity of the situation, Li Yi quickly grabbed So-and-so’s arm and asked.

So-and-so’s eyes locked onto Li Yi’s, and her mouth could only manage the simplest of statements: “The Battle of Scacia, Bud’s aftermath, and this palace coup—they were all orchestrated by a single person: that mysterious figure!”