Chapter 458: Hard to Tell True from False

I had never imagined I would encounter such a scene. From the moment I entered this broken game, it had never happened that my companions didn't trust me.

Throughout this journey, I had been suspecting this one and that one, and now it was finally my turn to be suspected? No. That absolutely cannot be. If my companions no longer trust me, then I have nothing left to rely on in this mystery. I immediately said to Fatty: "Ask me questions. Don't be fooled by him. If you have any doubts, ask me questions."

Fatty looked at me, then at the other Wu Xie, and I said: "Let him answer first. The truth will come out immediately."

Fatty's grip on the gun slowly relaxed. He walked over to me and said: "No need. Fatty believes his first instinct. Let's continue." Then he went up to that guy and said: "I'll ask you one question. Let's be straightforward. If you can't answer, then you honestly tell the truth. How about it?"

The man looked at me and Fatty, then suddenly shook his head. "No need. You're right. No need to waste time."

Fatty grinned at me. The man suddenly said: "Send this fatty away, and I'll tell you what's going on."

Fatty laughed scornfully and cursed: "You coward. Fatty thought since you could pull off this disguise, you must be a tough guy. But you caved so fast."

That guy laughed. "It's not that I can't hold out. I just think it's not worth it, because I'm on Third Uncle's side. However, I can only tell Third Uncle. If you're here, I definitely won't talk. If you don't believe me, try torturing me. If you kill me, once you learn the truth, you'll definitely regret it."

I glanced at Fatty. He still wanted to curse him, but I thought it was too much of a waste of time, so I made a gesture to Fatty, telling him to step aside for a while. Knowing the truth sooner is what matters. Fatty snorted and walked off into the woods.

I turned to "Wu Xie." "Don't try to fool me. Stalling is pointless."

He watched Fatty walk away and said, "Little Third Master, I'm not that simple, and things aren't as simple as you think."

I was taken aback. Then I saw "myself" looking at me with a half-smile, and the atmosphere suddenly changed.

I didn't reply, pondering what was going on. Had he noticed some clue and was bluffing me, or did he actually know my true identity? But I only stayed silent for a moment. He said: "You don't need to think. Your prolonged silence already says enough. Besides, I really do know what's going on."

I didn't show anything, just tossed away the stone in my hand and found a place to sit down.

This man watched Fatty slowly leave and crouch in the bushes nearby before speaking: "Little Third Master, I'm one of Hua'er Ye's people."

"Xiao Hua?"

He nodded. "Little Third Master, do you remember another person wearing Third Uncle's mask who went to raid Wang Baqiu's lair from behind? That person was me."

"Oh." I remembered. Indeed, in the Changsha incident, the decisive factor wasn't me at all, but someone I had never met—Xiao Hua's man. Xiao Hua said that in executing the entire scheme, he never placed his bet on me.

"I participated in all of Hua'er Ye's plans," he said. "You might not remember me well, but actually this isn't our first meeting. To a large extent, we could be considered old friends." He spoke with remarkable calmness. "I used to work at Third Uncle's operation. Every time someone came to your shop to check inventory, it was me. But you usually don't look people in the face, so you don't remember me well. Your shop assistant Wang Meng is a good friend of mine."

I felt a bit uneasy hearing this. Something felt off. He continued: "And the reason I was arranged like this was to observe you carefully."

"I don't understand," I shook my head. "I absolutely trust Xiao Hua. Don't try to drive a wedge between us. If you keep talking nonsense, I'll beat you to death."

"I understand it's hard for you to believe, but Hua'er Ye designed this not for himself, Little Third Master. Many things are passed down from previous generations." That guy smiled, and his smile was incredibly similar to mine.

Engaging in a battle of wits with someone who looks exactly like me was an extremely bizarre thing. My train of thought kept stalling. I realized that although this Wu Xie looked very similar to me, he was definitely not as easy to deal with as I was. However, his words didn't stir up any more troubling ripples in my heart. After all I'd been through, I could no longer easily believe anything. Even if Xiao Hua himself told me these things face to face, I could only trust what I saw with my own eyes. That had become basic common sense.

I stared coldly at him, still wondering what he would say next. I knew that the calmer I was, the easier it would be to find loopholes in his words. Only by finding his flaws could I obtain more information.

"This position Hua'er Ye is in isn't something he willingly chose. He just had to carry it out. I put on your mask and came here a step ahead of you, infiltrating Boss Qiu's team."

"What was the purpose of doing this? I want to know the purpose."

"Little Third Master. Boss Qiu knows many things you don't. Your Third Uncle has been working his whole life, and his goal is very clear. Hua'er Ye is just after the same goal. However, since I had already infiltrated Jude Kao's team, you yourself could no longer appear. If Hua'er Ye were ruthless, he could have killed you. But when it comes down to it, Hua'er Ye still values fairness, so he gave you a disguise and let you come."

Everything this person said seemed logical, but I noticed that he was vague on many details.

I am also someone who likes to bluff. I knew that in such a conversation, there were two possibilities: one, this person himself liked to flaunt his depth, wanting others to think he was very deep; the other, this person completely didn't know the details of the matter and deliberately used this manner of speaking to avoid discussing key points.

In this situation, no one would have the mind to pretend to be a trickster. This wasn't flirting with girls.

He was talking nonsense, I judged in my heart.

After he finished speaking, I looked at him quietly and asked: "I said, I asked: what is the purpose?"

He looked at me, not flustered by my pressing question, nor showing any comfort in his body language, but obviously he was a bit at a loss for words. After a long silence, he said: "I really have to see you in a new light."

"If you don't answer, I'll call Fatty back. I said stalling is pointless. I don't want to chat about this. I only want to know the answer to my question. Everything you said before was all lies," I said. "Last chance."

He bowed his head and smiled, then said: "Alright, I'll tell the truth." As he spoke, he glanced at his left trouser pocket. "My phone is in my pocket. Take it out. You can see the text messages inside. After you read them, you'll know what's going on. No matter what I say now, it's useless. Just see for yourself."

I looked at his trouser pocket, thought it made sense, so I walked over and reached in to feel. But when I touched it, I found his pocket was empty.

I glanced at him, and saw him smile at me. Instantly, his hands, tied behind his back, had slipped free of the rope. He grabbed my neck, and at the same time his legs hooked around my feet. With that hook, I lost my balance and fell onto him. He rolled over and pinned me hard to the ground.

My throat was tightly pressed, and I couldn't utter a single word. He stared coldly at me. His face, so similar to mine, made me scream inside: What the hell is this? Am I about to be choked to death by myself?

"You were right. I was indeed talking nonsense all along. Although you've improved compared to before, you're still too trusting," the other said. As he spoke, he picked up the stone I had tossed aside earlier and struck me hard on the forehead.

I didn't even feel the pain, just a wave of dizziness. Then I clearly felt another strike.

"There is only one sentence I didn't lie about—I really am on your Third Uncle's side," he continued. "Too bad you're not as important as you think you are. On the road to the underworld, guess who I really am."

The third blow came crashing down again. I lost consciousness.