The Betrayal 

Pomelo never imagined that this shameless man would rope it into his schemes for wooing a woman. It was still just a child!

Then, after some wolfish consideration and a brief interrogation of its own conscience, Pomelo decisively nodded its agreement. That mistress is so fierce, it thought, she’ll definitely have a hard time finding a mate. I might as well help out. It’s rare to find someone so willing to fly into the flame.

Ard sighed internally. As expected, this wolf is no saint either. But I like it.

“Ah, our boy here is a handsome wolf who understands the flow huh. Come, come, have some roasted meat.”

Under Ard’s hospitality, Pomelo ate until its mouth was slick with grease. Though it wasn’t enough to be completely full, it was much better than the strict, limited portions Yexi had instituted.

“From now on, when I give you the signal, you create an opportunity for me. Or you can just play it by ear. By the way, do you even know how to woo a girl?”

Ard felt that placing his hopes in a husky… wolf was a bit of a long shot, but Pomelo’s intelligence was, at least, far superior to a husky’s. It would be a shame not to make use of it. This was a creature that even gave Yexi a headache; who knew what unexpected results it might produce?

Pomelo nodded with certainty. During its captivity, the two idiots who had guarded it—men with no looks, no money, and no status—had spent their days dreaming of wooing a pretty girl. They had read a book, “The 36 Stratagems of Seduction,” every day, hoping to one day catch a prize far out of their league. Pomelo suspected those two were a lost cause, but it had, through sheer proximity, practically memorized the contents of the book. It had originally planned to use the knowledge to find a nice she-wolf for itself in the future, but it never expected to get a chance to practice so soon.

The man and wolf, having reached an agreement, finished their momentous lunch and headed straight for the mountain where Sixth Master was being held.

At the foot of the mountain, the drake Ard had been riding was waiting for them as expected. Ard stroked its head and fed it the roasted meat he had painstakingly saved from Pomelo’s maw before heading up the mountain.

When he reached the cave, he found Sixth Master fast asleep, completely unaware of his arrival. Imprisoned here, Sixth Master had fallen into a leisurely life of eating and sleeping, as carefree as a pig.

Ard kicked him awake. Sixth Master groggily opened his eyes and, seeing Ard standing before him, lazily sat up. “What do you want me to write now? Bring it here. You speak, I’ll write.”

It seemed Sixth Master had figured out the way to survive this situation: do whatever Ard said. He felt no guilt at all for selling out his master.

But this time, Ard neither gave him paper nor a pen. Instead, he just looked at him thoughtfully.

Seeing Ard’s grim, unreadable expression, Sixth Master began to panic, thinking there was a problem with the letter he had written. “My lord, my lord! I swear I didn’t play any tricks with the letter! I wrote every word exactly as you instructed! I truly did not betray you!”

Ard began to slowly circle him. “I was just thinking about something else. I’ve made another connection now, and it seems I no longer need you to write letters to win that fat pig’s trust.”

Sixth Master asked cautiously, “Then, my lord, according to your promise, shouldn’t you let me go?”

“Oh?” Ard raised an eyebrow. “When did I ever say I would let you go once you were no longer useful? I only promised to give you the antidote after seven days. I just didn’t expect you to become useless before the seventh day.”

Sixth Master’s face turned pale. He thought he was a dead man. But Ard’s next words gave him a sliver of hope.

“Hmmm, no. You still have a little bit of value.”

As if grasping at a life-saving straw, the Sixth Master asked eagerly, “What.. value?”

Ard’s gaze turned to ice. “The connection I’ve made is with the old steward of the Baron’s manor. And one of the conditions of my surrender to him is your head. That, perhaps, is your final value.”

“That… that old bastard!” Sixth Master flew into a rage. “That old coot! I was the one who exposed him for secretly selling the manor’s jade artifacts, and he was the one who turned it around and framed me! And now he wants to kill me! That inhuman beast! @#%&!”

Ard cut off his curses impatiently. “Enough. Your personal grudges have nothing to do with me. Since you have no other use, then give me your head.”

Sixth Master grabbed Ard’s leg, crying, “No, no, no! Please, spare me! Spare me!”

Ard frowned. “I heard you’re a cousin of that fat pig. Don’t you have any useful information?”

Sixth Master’s mind began to race. “Information! Information! I have information!”

“Speak. I’ll see if it’s of any use.”

“I know where the Baron’s treasury is.”

“I already know that.”

“Not the one at the manor, or the one hidden in the town near Sunstone Peak. The Baron’s most secret treasury.”

“You mean the one hidden in the rift valley on the plains.”

Sixth Master was stunned. He looked at Ard in disbelief. “Who in the world are you?!”

Ard’s face was grim. “That’s none of your business. What you should be thinking about now is how to stay alive. Don’t you have any other valuable information?”

Sixth Master wracked his brains. Finally, a flash of inspiration. He said hesitantly, “There is one other secret matter, but I don’t know if it will be of any use to you.”

“Let’s hear it.”

“When I first came to serve the Baron, because of our family connection and my own cleverness, I was quickly given an important position, responsible for his finances. In the course of my duties, I discovered that every month, a large sum of money was transferred from the manor to a ‘Gaiker Merchant Guild’. But I found that the Baron had no business dealings with this guild. He was just unilaterally sending them money. I was bored one day and checked the books; this money wasn’t being sent to any of the Baron’s treasuries.”

Ard was intrigued. “Does he have some underground business you don’t know about?”

“Unlikely. Even underground businesses have to be recorded. But this was just money going out, nothing coming in. And the Baron specifically instructed me that this fund transfer was not to be recorded anywhere.”

“Do you know where this merchant guild comes from?”

Sixth Master shook his head awkwardly. “I was only responsible for transferring the funds. As for what the guild does, where it’s from, or who they are, the Baron never told me, and he forbade me from asking.”

Ard’s smile froze. “No wonder he didn’t have you killed. And you think you can live with just that?”

“No, that’s not all! Although the Baron never told me, I did secretly find out a few things.”

Ard frowned. “Then spit it out! Do you want me to run you through and have you tell me as a ghost?”

Sixth Master said in a panic, “The time of the fund transfer is fixed every month. It’s tomorrow. And the location of the transaction is in the Baron’s rear court, likely in the abandoned courtyard at the very back. And the merchant guild always sends people two days in advance to prepare.”

The rear court again. Ard suddenly thought of the Desire Gene Amplifier. Could it be that these are the people who brought it?

“How do you know this? Didn’t you say you were only responsible for transferring the funds?”

Hearing Ard’s question, Sixth Master looked embarrassed and whispered, “I had… an affair with one of the Baron’s concubines. She told me about it when we were bored after… you know. It seems the Baron had put her in charge of the miscellaneous affairs of the rear court.”

“…” This guy actually cucked that fat pig. Ard was surprised. He didn’t look particularly handsome, but compared to the fat pig… Ard could understand. Anything is better than a pig.

“Did that concubine tell you anything else?”

Sixth Master shook his head. “Nothing. Not long after our affair, she was… disposed of, for having a loose tongue. Luckily, she didn’t expose me.”

Ard glanced at the heartless man. His old flame is dead, and he considers himself lucky?

Seeing that Ard was very interested in this matter, Sixth Master’s eyes darted around. Old man, if you’re not going to play nice, then don’t blame me! He said fawningly, “That old steward definitely knows more. The Baron usually has him receive any important visitors first. Why don’t you capture that old bastard? I can confront him face-to-face and make sure he doesn’t play any tricks on you.”

Ard thought it was a good idea. He had been wondering how to get more information, and Sixth Master had just handed him a solution. But the matter required some thought. The old steward was an important figure in the mansion; kidnapping him would not be easy.

Ard’s eyes glinted. He said deliberately, “He’s the old steward of the mansion. You can’t just capture him like he’s a chicken.”

In the face of a life-or-death crisis, Sixth Master’s intelligence soared. Seeing Ard’s tone soften, he said quickly, “My lord, it’s very doable! I worked with that old bastard for several years. He’s always been secretly selling off the manor’s jade artifacts. For these shady dealings, he has to act by himself. I already investigated him back then. Every night, at three in the morning, he sneaks out of the manor and goes to his black market shop. At that time, he’s alone, with no guards or attendants. My lord, you just have to wait for a moment at the back gate of the manor at three in the morning, and you can easily capture that old bastard.”

“You investigated him that thoroughly huh. Then why were you the one who was kicked out of the manor in the end?”

“Hah,” Sixth Master sighed. “That old bastard is a thoughtful one. He discovered I was investigating him, so he struck first. He reported my shop, and had all the jade artifacts in it replaced with the Baron’s. I couldn’t defend myself. If it weren’t for my family’s connections, the Baron would have had me killed. In the end, I was spared but sent to the Sunstone Stronghold as a spy.”

“Your information is interesting enough. Alright, here’s three days’ worth of rations.” Ard emptied his backpack of food. “If your intelligence is accurate, you should have some company soon.”

With that, amidst Sixth Master’s profuse thanks, Ard left the cave.