Chapter 419

Chen Wuji and Xu Zengyi wondered what Gu Wenjie would do next, they had speculated for several days but still couldn't reach a similar conclusion; upon seeing this female spy today, Chen Wuji suddenly understood somewhat.

This operation indeed matches the urine-like nature of that dog Gu Wenjie.

"I've said it, can you spare my life?" the female spy stared at Chen Wuji and asked.

"I've said it, you have no room for bargaining!"

"I know more than you imagine; Gu Wenjie is just an ambitious youth, he is not your opponent, your true opponent is actually Gu Wenjie's master, the Snake Staff Elder."

Chen Wuji added two pieces of firewood to the red clay stove, "Your words have indeed piqued my interest; as long as what you say is valuable enough, I can spare your life."

"You will definitely be interested." The woman stared straight at Chen Wuji, her gaze unwavering, her words spoken forcefully and resonantly.

"I have been by the Snake Staff Elder's side for three years; nominally I am his disciple, but essentially I am more like his slave—how I came to be by his side needs no explanation, right?"

"Why not say it? Are you pressed for time?" Chen Wuji glanced lightly.

"Fine, I'll say it." The female spy struggled to prop herself up and crawled up from the ground.

The long sword in Qin Zhanhong's crossed arms suddenly unsheathed, and he said coldly, "You'd better not harbor any ulterior motives."

"Lying down is too uncomfortable, I'll sit up to speak." The female spy's demeanor was calm, her eyes showing no emotion.

Chen Wuji was very familiar with that gaze.

When he first met Shen Youwei and Xue Hongdou, both of them had that same gaze.

There was a feeling that the world had already died in their eyes.

Shen Youwei and Xue Hongdou appeared that way because their lives had just suffered a huge change; both were in a state of utter hopelessness about life—what does it mean for a female spy to show such an appearance?

The female spy sat cross-legged on the ground and began to recount her experience following the Snake Staff Elder: "My family was poor; my parents sold me when I was young. The first home I was sold to was very good; in my heart, they were my true parents."

"They bought me with no other motive, purely out of kindness. Unfortunately, they both died of illness when I was ten, leaving me homeless again; I begged for a living, was later kidnapped and sold several times, and finally ended up sold to a brothel."

"I could accept being sold as a concubine to someone else, but being forced to do that kind of work in a brothel I could not accept; they beat me, and I still refused, so I later killed two people and escaped."

"After that I met the Snake Staff Elder; he treated me well, and I always regarded myself as his concubine, but later I realized it wasn't so—he treated me as a killer and a plaything. Still, I am grateful to him; I have seen few good people, and in my heart he is a good one."

Chen Wuji lifted the boiling kettle on the small clay stove with a cloth pad, poured a cup, and set it aside, saying, "Someone like you probably isn't rare around the Snake Staff Elder—how many are there?"

"I don't know." The female spy shook her head.

"The Snake Staff Elder is very cautious; even though I often sleep beside his pillow, he never says much. If I tell you something you surely won't believe, I still don't know his real name to this day, but that's the truth."

"However, people like me have seen about ten or so in total; besides me and another six who attend the Snake Staff Elder personally, the others are outside, and I'm not sure exactly what they do. Once, out of curiosity, I chatted with a few of them, but I felt what they told me wasn't genuine."

Chen Wuji's curiosity was completely aroused.

Such a mysterious Lao Deng, yet he chose to assist that petty Gu Wenjie.

That sounds somewhat contradictory.

"How did they answer you?" Chen Wuji asked.

The female spy frankly said, "Their story is all about doing business abroad, managing the Snake Staff Elder's affairs. By the way, they call him foster father, while we few are required by him to call him master."

"The difference in titles likely also indicates the closeness of the relationship."

Chen Wuji nodded, "What purpose does the Snake Staff Elder have in staying by Gu Wenjie's side?"

"To help Gu Wenjie contend for supremacy over the world; that's what the Snake Staff Elder told Gu Wenjie himself." The female spy said.

Chen Wuji snorted in laughter.

It's not that he looks down on Gu Wenjie; looking through ancient and modern times, someone like him who has exhausted all heavenly goodness and whose ambition is wrong from the start cannot possibly have a good outcome—even the Heavenly Dao will not aid him.

"I want to hear your thoughts; even what the Snake Staff Elder said himself may not be true." Chen Wuji said.

The female spy was somewhat surprised, "The Snake Staff Elder values you so highly—indeed there must be a reason."

"If I had to say… I actually can't say much, but I feel… that isn't truly the Snake Staff Elder's purpose; in my view, his attitude toward Gu Wenjie is more like exploitation."

"But what he wants to do by exploiting Gu Wenjie, I can't figure out. He's too mysterious—mysterious to the point that someone like him appearing beside Lu Ping'an might be more fitting; he shouldn't be beside Gu Wenjie."

Her words were vague, but Chen Wuji chose to believe her.

"Since he's mysterious, let him stay mysterious; let's talk about the Snake Staff Elder's layout in Hezhou—what will he do next, and how will he deal with me?" Chen Wuji asked.

For problems you can't figure out, don't stubbornly keep thinking about them; setting them aside is also a way to solve them.

In this world there are many people, a thousand faces, thoughts as tangled as skeins of yarn; not being able to see through a person's intentions is nothing.

The female spy continued, "Lu Ping'an recently sent someone to deliver a military order, commanding Gu Wenjie to launch a campaign against Yunan; the Snake Staff Elder had Gu Wenjie send Lu Ping'an a letter detailing his upcoming plan."

"This plan includes us spies who have already infiltrated, as well as a 'small-to-large' ambush tactic; Lu Ping'an agreed to the plan and told Gu Wenjie that he would order the Bīngmǎ of San Yuan and Ning Yuan to cooperate."

Upon seeing this female spy, Chen Wuji guessed that Gu Wenjie's next plot against him would likely be in this regard.

"In more detail." Chen Wuji said.

"The infiltration plan centers on me, plus another ten or so men and women selected from beggars and brothels; the women mainly persuade and induce surrender, while the men are bought with Silver." The female spy was indeed a straightforward person; having decided to speak, she spilled everything at once.

Chen Wuji was quite satisfied with her attitude, nodded and asked, "You should be able to find these people, right?"

"Of course."

"Tell me how the Snake Staff Elder does 'small-to-large'."

The female spy frankly said, "I don't know the specifics of this plan, but roughly it involves sending elite infiltrators into Lingnan, waiting for the right moment, coordinating inside and outside, and crushing your forces."