Chapter 836

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Main Character:

Shen Yao

Backstab?

How can you call it a backstab? Everyone is acting for their own interests; tell me, if they could get something better, how could these people not want to fight for it?

System: ……

"Host, that's sophistry, isn't it?" How can you confuse right and wrong like that? Although what the Host says isn't exactly wrong either — the great clans able to participate in these matters are none of them easy to deal with; it's perfectly normal for them to keep a few tricks up their sleeves against each other. After all, nobody wants to busy themselves working for nothing.

"Look for yourself — is the current melee within their expectations or not?"

Shen Yao pointed casually, and the System happened to see a scene of spells flying everywhere and blasting a whole area to death.

System: ……

"Tsk, Host, they really can hold back," the Sima Clan and Xuan Yuan Clan are under attack from front and rear; although their followers have many thoughts of their own, these people really can pinch it in. "If both the Sima Clan and Xuan Yuan Clan fall, won't Zhongzhou and Chen Zhou fall into chaos as a result?"

Shen Yao raised a hand to prop her chin, indicating the System should drop the words "won't" from its speech. "Zhongzhou and Chen Zhou will inevitably fall into chaos because of this.

Only, unlike the Floating City's intensity, Chen Zhou's upheaval won't stir up too great a commotion."

Because the Sima Clan brought manpower to the Floating City to duel with magic, Chen Zhou's side is empty of forces; once any accident occurs in the Floating City, Chen Zhou changing hands is but a moment's work.

The Xuan Yuan Clan in the Floating City won't be so simple; most of the followers dragged into this are Zhongzhou great clans. These clans won't leave unless absolutely necessary, and after the Xuan Yuan Clan falls, they will surely fight among themselves to decide a new pecking order.

Therefore, "the followers won't go all out for now; just wait and see."

Who knows, the Sima Clan and Xuan Yuan Clan might join hands first and press all the followers down.

System: ……

Isn't this circling back again? So after all that talk, it's still the followers who get screwed first; the Sima Clan and Xuan Yuan Clan's lives are just too hard, aren't they?

"A great clan's foundation isn't just talk. Moreover, the trump cards Lu Yan and I found among these small clans are different from those of the Sima Clan and Xuan Yuan Clan. You can't seriously expect them to overturn the two great clans that have been stepping on their heads all this time."

The System thought: Why not? Everyone's on the same level. The Sima Clan and Xuan Yuan Clan have a blood feud that can't coexist under the same sky. No matter whether these small clans strike at the Sima Clan first or the Xuan Yuan Clan first, they'll get the other clan's support. One plus one greater than two, hehe.

Shen Yao: ……

As expected, never expect an artificial intelligence to understand too much. Calling it a naive simpleton would be praise; this is basically a retard.

Turning away from the battle zone behind her, Shen Yao did not return to the residence outside the city, but went to the small courtyard Lu Yan had previously been caught up in and blown up.

When she arrived, Lu Yan was in the small courtyard receiving a collaborator who had come over.

Oh

It was that young man from last time, surnamed Chang. He had contributed greatly to the plan of inciting the followers to rebel and backstab, but the situation has now entered a stagnant phase. The young man couldn't maneuver on his own anymore and came running back to seek Lu Yan's guidance.

"Brother Chang, you people have too many petty thoughts. Now that the Sima Clan and Xuan Yuan Clan haven't been completely defeated yet, why not unify your forces and continue targeting them?"

The Sima Clan and Xuan Yuan Clan can afford to drag it out, but can these followers hold out?

It's not that Lu Yan looks down on these people; it's simply that the interest entanglements inside are too heavy. If the Sima Clan and Xuan Yuan Clan put aside past grievances and once again use profit to lure them, there will certainly be quite a few who grow hesitant and choose to flip sides.

This thing called a bottom line — once broken, it can just keep on being broken.

The young man scratched his head embarrassedly, hemmed and hawed to say this matter wasn't up to him. Even within the follower clique, the ones whose words carry weight are still those old geezers.

What are old geezers best at? Naturally, being timid, conservative, and overthinking.

The young man wants to stake it all. After all, he's already fallen out completely with the Sima Clan and even the Xuan Yuan Clan. Even if he chooses to bow his head, he can't return to the previous relationship.

Besides, the Sima Clan and Xuan Yuan Clan can barely protect themselves. Weren't they just used as cannon fodder and thrown in before? Now they've barely jumped out, and the result is they still have to choose to cling to the Xuan Yuan Clan and Sima Clan. Tsk tsk tsk. "Brother Lu, do you have any good method?"

"Grandfather and them are too conservative. I, we don't want to give up."

Lu Yan: ……

Lu Yan didn't speak, but raised his head to look at Shen Yao, who had just walked in from the doorway.

"This brother, perhaps you should privately discuss with like-minded colleagues."

Shen Yao's sudden interjection startled the young man, but right now he wasn't in a position to quibble over such things. He thought: what use is finding colleagues? They're all guys with no real power in their hands.

"Extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures." Shen Yao began helping offer crooked ideas. Besides, this isn't a time when the Head of the Family can just say one is one and two is two.

"A matter that costs your head — all participants should be made aware of the situation."

Lu Yan silently poured a cup of tea for the young man and pushed the tea cup in front of him. "The taste of being helpless — Brother Chang knows it best of all.

So why are you still hesitating now?"

Young man: ……

As if making a tremendous resolution, the young man abruptly stood up from before Lu Yan, then drank down all the tea leaves in the cup.

Shen Yao watched the young man leave, then sat down opposite Lu Yan. "The plan isn't going smoothly. Want us to actively lend a hand?"

Lu Yan: …… Hm?

Shen Yao raised her hand and gestured at the empty air. "The war isn't fierce enough; all sides are holding back."

Probably afraid they'll end up as the snipe and clam, not the fisherman who profits.

"Let's watch a bit more." Lu Yan isn't a slaughterer. Mainly because their entry chips aren't enough right now.

Lu Yan doesn't want his affairs to make Shen Yao bear risk and responsibility. Moreover, the young man who just left had clearly been swayed somewhat by his words.

Shen Yao had no objection to this. However, before that, she felt she could first settle the old grievances from before.

For example

The Lu Family

…………

"Who are you? What do you want? I, I'm Lu Jin! The Lu Family's in trouble, the Sima Clan won't ignore it!"

The moment Lu Jin's voice fell, he was met, unsurprisingly, with piercing mockery.

This is like a person walking down the street suddenly shouting that they have some connection to the richest man; anyone who hears it will only feel speechless.

"Lu Family Head, alright alright, the Sima Clan nowadays has long been unable to take care of itself; where would they find the energy to mind you?"

"Right, Lu Family Head, be obedient and cooperate with us; we won't let your Lu Family suffer a loss."

"If the Lu Family Head won't cooperate, then the Lu Family's Young Master Two is also willing to cooperate; we aren't dead set on finding the Lu Family Head either."

"Sigh, truly envious of the Lu Family Head; Young Master Two at such a young age can already decide matters alone — the Lu Family Head's education deserves full credit."

"..."

Lu Jin was provoked by these people's back-and-forth yin-yang barbs to the point he nearly coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Lu Sheng! Truly his good son!

Unexpected, truly unexpected — the one who betrayed him in the end was actually the good eldest son he had meticulously raised; it really made Lu Jin feel not the slightest bit surprised.

After all, Lu Jin had always known what virtue the Lu Second Young Master possessed; it was just that Lu Jin disliked Lu Yan, while the Lu Family's other children all received affection surpassing that given to Lu Yan.

Now Lu Jin could be said to have lifted a stone only to drop it on his own foot; forced by circumstances (mainly wanting to live, not die), Lu Jin chose to agree to these people.

The Lu Family was kidnapped onto the battlefield, becoming the vanguard platoon at the front — commonly known as cannon fodder.

"These followers all grab people like this?" One might say the youth has execution ability and boldness, or that high skill makes one bold and unafraid of capsizing. Shen Yao watched those Lu Family silk-trouser young masters fall before her, thinking the Lu Family died quite unjustly — who could have imagined the chicken flies and the egg smashes.

There are many cannon fodder similar to the Lu Family; this battle situation is like a large meat grinder — no matter how strong the capability, once inside there is no coming out.

The originally restrained two sides became filled with murderous aura, especially the Xuan Yuan Clan.

A perfectly good situation turned into today's state — all the fault of the Sima Clan and those greedy little worms.

"Kill, kill them all for me! Leave no survivors!"

What the Central State lacks least is people; what is there to fear if the Floating City is lost? With such a large territory, we can just relocate people over later.

The Xuan Yuan Patriarch's eyes were red to the point of dripping blood; he suppressed the final impulse in his heart, sending his bloodline away just before his reason collapsed.

Leave a thread of life as a person, so one can stage a comeback later.

"Xuan Yuan Patriarch, don't you want to save your grandson? This is your Xuan Yuan Clan's direct bloodline."

A small child was thrown onto the battlefield as a chip; to win this victory, humanity has already begun to stop at nothing.

Xuan Yuan Patriarch:...

When he saw the blood relative who should have left but was instead caught by the Sima Clan appear before him, the Xuan Yuan Patriarch's shock can be imagined.

But everything is already a settled game; the Xuan Yuan Patriarch cannot give up his confrontation with the Sima Clan because of a blood relative, just as the Sima Clan knows this child secretly delivered to them is a hot potato, yet they have no choice but to accept it — they have no retreat route.

"Host, they're fighting really fiercely," as the Xuan Yuan Patriarch silently shot a spell forward, both sides inevitably killed until their eyes turned red.

The two-faced lackeys on the side were also dragged in; they even suffered intentional targeting by the Sima Clan and Xuan Yuan Clan, and the death count rose in a straight line.

Shen Yao hid to one side, cast a Concealment Array, and watched the spectacle with the System; because of the good view, she could pretty much take in the entire battlefield at a glance.

"Fierce is good; the fiercer, the more it proves the contradiction is irreconcilable."

Mm

But both sides can still restrain their out-of-control instincts in this situation and drag those followers down with them — looks like my previous preparations still weren't enough. Although the Xuan Yuan Clan's retreat route wasn't cut by me, I did provide intelligence in the process, more or less contaminating myself with quite a bit of karma.

"Let's leave first; today's harvest is not bad. Tomorrow early morning I'll deliver the Sima Clan's retreat route to the Xuan Yuan Clan." The old saying goes well: to come and not reciprocate is improper. Today the Sima Clan threatens the Xuan Yuan Clan; tomorrow the Xuan Yuan Clan counters the Sima Clan — this is the true turn-based game.

The empty corner had nothing; Shen Yao appeared and left without anyone knowing.

Just as Shen Yao said, the Sima Clan and Xuan Yuan Clan receive news from each other every day.

Even a stupid egg knows they are being used and targeted, but they have no way to retreat; they can only brace themselves and eliminate the opponent first — only then might there be another way out.

"What way out? It's just the illusion of being able to escape."

Shen Yao understands these aristocratic families' minds too well; if they could truly escape they wouldn't be jumping up and down like this. Don't look at the pleasant-sounding words they say every day — in reality they hate that they can't arrange all the retreat routes for themselves.

System:...

The turning point of the matter, mm, should say the development of the matter appeared on those people arranged by the Sima Clan in the city outskirts.

There are many with relationships similar to Lu Yan and the Lu Family; Lu Yan could make the Lu Family die out because his capability is strong, but others don't have a helper like Shen Yao, nor Lu Yan's methods — they can only choose to rely on others.

To these people the Sima Clan is both righteous and evil; after all, without the Sima Clan's arrival they wouldn't have been betrayed by family, but also because of the Sima Clan's arrival they could hide outside the city and live quietly when the Floating City fell into chaos.

Not everyone has the mind to directly blow up with their family to save trouble; most still think to be peaceful for a moment is a moment. Even if finally framed by the Sima Clan, they at most complain in their hearts, then die silently, fulfilling the Sima Clan's reputation.

A small portion are more paranoid; they don't want the family that betrayed them to have it easy, nor do they want to cheaply let the Sima Clan reap the fisherman's profit.

"Meaning they directly ran out and defected to several forces, then went to be two-faced lackeys?"

"Right, selling intelligence to each other, exaggerating, fanning the flames."

The System is truly convinced by these unafraid-to-die bombs; the Sima Clan only said to make the Xuan Yuan Clan look bad, then turned around and told the Xuan Yuan Clan that the Sima Clan wants to grind their bones and scatter their ashes.

Mm

Not wrong to say that either; after all, the grudges are this deep one by one — no matter how good it looks, how good can it look?

Shen Yao's eyes shone; she thought these people also count as stumbling into luck — then in the future she won't have to pass information through those followers' hands, and won't have to worry about timid followers taking the news but unwilling to act.

The melee spread; several forces all struck black hands while mutually guarding against each other.

The battlefield's cruelty was displayed to the fullest at this moment.

The Floating City became the city with the thickest system blood smell; the ordinary people inside had long since mostly left; those remaining were mostly ambitious types wanting to pick up bargains.

Shen Yao and Lu Yan no longer lived outside the city; they began roaming throughout the entire Floating City — their figures could be seen everywhere around.

Compared to Lu Yan who still had to show his face occasionally to give those followers suggestions, Shen Yao's life was much more carefree; she was mostly in a free-and-easy mode. Occasionally needing to act wasn't troublesome — it's just that the Sima Clan and Xuan Yuan Clan at the end were a bit neurotic; Shen Yao not only had to deliver messages, but also had to ensure that after they knew the messages, the execution steps matched what she had envisioned.

The morning breeze blew away the night's restlessness, and also carried off the blood smell in the air.

The battlefield was full of severed limbs and wreckage; the Xuan Yuan Patriarch's eyes revealed despair — in the end he still walked the step he could least accept.

The Sima Clan Head rarely didn't dodge; instead he faced the Xuan Yuan Patriarch eye to eye.

The two were similar in age, both the absolute authority holders of their clans; their appearance marks one thing — this war involving the ownership of two states will draw its curtain.