Chapter 385

Li Run appeared extremely composed, as if completely free of guilt, and he regarded his own life and death as irrelevant, only wishing that his retainers could be kept safe.

His demeanor made Chen Wuji also change his mind.

No matter what, at least Li Run appeared to be speaking the truth.

Chen Wuji was still willing to give him a chance to verify.

Chen Wuji summoned Chen Li to his side and quietly gave him a few instructions.

Chen Li then left the camp tent, taking several personal guards to the Li family's retainers not far away.

Nothing untoward happened; he smoothly brought over ten or more of Li Run's subordinates.

"Commandant, the people have been brought."

Chen Wuji raised his hand to point at Li Run's subordinates outside the camp tent and said to Li Run, "I will use them to verify the truth of what you just said; do you have any objections?"

"Please, Commandant, as you wish," Li Run said calmly.

Chen Wuji nodded and gave Chen Li a look.

These people were just randomly selected by Chen Li.

This is the most direct and simple way to verify Li Run's words at present.

With over a thousand subordinates, Li Run could not make every single one absolutely loyal.

Simply offering some silver should yield a correct answer from among these dozen or so people.

"Please sit; the questioning will take some time. Have a drink first, and we can chat about your Li family along the way." Chen Wuji gestured for Li Run to sit nearby and had Chen Wushuang serve the drinks.

Li Run clasped his hands, turned and sat down, but did not touch the cup of wine, saying, "Regarding our Li family, you, Commandant, should already have a thorough understanding; I wonder what else you would like to know?"

"I don't know much; just say whatever, hit the main points," Chen Wuji said.

That statement was naturally false.

The Gu, Li, and Xue families all have clansmen in the city; from them Chen Wuji had already learned a great deal.

Anyway, we're idle, so we might as well chat casually.

Li Run's demeanor was so frank that Chen Wuji wanted to hear how his account of the Li family differed from others'.

"The person currently heading the Li family is Li Linguo; as for our generational relationship, I won't go into detail—I'll just mention the important points." Li Run said without hesitation, getting straight to the point.

"What sets our Li family apart from other clans is that several branches compete for the position of leader; I rose to that position this way, and now, aside from Li Linguo's branch, I am the only one who still holds some actual authority."

"Since Li Linguo became family head, our small Li family has shifted from a system of abdication to hereditary rule; now the Li family's power is almost entirely concentrated in the hands of Li Linguo, his two sons, and those uncle-brothers."

"The other branches previously had strong objections, but now they've been silenced by killings; my own life is now precarious—precisely because I once held some people through the family's farming and trade, he has not dared to act against me lightly."

Chen Wuji nodded, indicating Li Run should continue.

These matched exactly what he already knew.

Li Run adjusted his sleeves, sat upright, and continued: "Li Linguo himself now oversees the Li family's estate; his two sons—one is out raiding, the other follows Gu Wenjie of the Gu family."

"By the way, this person deserves special mention—he is the current mastermind of the Gu family, and he has a teacher of unknown surname whose nickname is Snake Staff Elder."

"It is also because of this person that our Li and Xue families agreed to take the Gu family as lord and raise troops in rebellion. I am not clear on what exactly was discussed, nor what benefits the Gu family promised to the Li and Xue families, but in my view, their scheme cannot achieve anything significant; it is nothing but laughable chaos."

"Searching through history, one cannot find a case where relying on this method achieved great success."

Chen Wuji heard something somewhat different.

Snake Staff Elder.

This person has never appeared in his intelligence.

"What do you mean by a teacher of unknown surname?" Chen Wuji interrupted.

Li Run said: "Li Linguo seems to know this person's specific background and trusts him greatly, but they have never openly stated his identity to outsiders, always referring to him by the nickname Snake Staff Elder. I have also probed indirectly, but got no answer."

"This person is quite old, looks extremely unsavory, and always carries a snake-shaped cane. Moreover, his legs are fine; leaning on such a cane is probably just for show."

Chen Wuji's expression tightened slightly: "In other words, this person is actually the strategist behind the Gu family?"

"One could say that."

Chen Wuji glanced at Xu Zengyi, unexpectedly discovering that the opposing side also had a strategist.

The way this battle is shaping up, it seems increasingly like that.

Xu Zengyi gave a light, indifferent smile, disdainful.

"When did this Snake Staff Elder arrive at the Gu family?" Chen Wuji asked.

"It's probably been a few years, but I'm not entirely sure, since this is also what I heard from others. Before, I had no idea the Gu family even had such a person; now he suddenly appeared, and his status in the Gu family is not low." Li Run spoke matter-of-factly, truly saying what he knew without any sign of concealment.

Actually, by this point Chen Wuji believed about eighty percent of what Li Run had said.

Li Run hesitated a moment, then added: "Actually, I have been suspecting that the Gu family's ruthless plundering of Yunan County is meant to quickly amass strength to seize Hezhou. They likely have someone in Hezhou who can sway part of the local troops."

"Of course, this is merely my speculation, with no concrete evidence; you, Commandant, can take it as you will."

Chen Wuji was somewhat surprised; Xu Zengyi had said something similar earlier.

"Why would you have such a supposition?" he asked.

"The Gu family's purpose in turning Yunan into a dead zone is threefold: amassing wealth, forcibly conscripting able-bodied men, and trapping the commandant. Yet this also cuts off the retreat of our three families; with no way back, we can only go forward, and that forward path can only be Hezhou." Li Run explained.

"But Hezhou city has high, thick walls and no fewer than five thousand troops; with our limited numbers, a direct assault is absolutely impossible. Even if the commandant defended the city with a thousand men, he could cut down thirty percent of our forces—let alone Hezhou's higher walls and greater numbers."

"But it is strange that the Gu family rushes to plunder yet does not hurry to devise a counter for Hezhou. This contradiction suggests some hidden collusion; I reasonably suspect it might be some kind of inside‑outside cooperation."

Chen Wuji suddenly recalled the news he had received just a couple of days earlier.

The troops sent from Hezhou to exterminate him encountered a change of command in Qing County and have remained there, unmoved.

Could these two be connected? Let's make a reasonable guess.

Li Run's analysis makes a lot of sense.