Chapter 73 Everyone’s a Mole

In that instant, Li Tianming was utterly stunned.

He never could have imagined that Xie Shenhong would transform into Hai Zhu right before everyone else’s eyes!

Had Xie Shenhong just deceived him?

No, Xie Shenhong was not that kind of person.

So, was this the anomalous situation Duanmu Yun had mentioned?

Could it be that transformations occurred during periods of low spirits, with the untransformed time accumulating and then triggering a random transformation later?

That must be it. Damn it, what was he to do now?

No, calm down!

Everything could still be salvaged!

He simply needed to eliminate all the witnesses!

After a swift round of thought, Li Tianming immediately turned and darted into an alley, then leaped onto a rooftop, heading in the exact opposite direction of the battle.

This was neither an escape nor an attempt to aid Xie Hai Zhu.

Rather, he was confident that Xie Hai Zhu would prevail, annihilating the enemies until not even a speck remained.

The problem, however, was that those were merely puppets created by the enemy.

The magical puppets currently employed by Xu Zun of the Sakura Nation were a hundred times more advanced than those of the Wu Nation; even if destroyed, their true forms could safely transfer elsewhere.

Indeed, he was heading to their pre-arranged rendezvous point, designated for when things went awry.

“What in the world was going on? This wasn’t what they had agreed upon—Xie Shenhong, the Crimson Hawk, was also a puppet, and she even said she was… Gwaah!”

Without giving the other party a chance to send a message, Li Tianming decisively ended their life.

Of course, even if the opponent had been on guard, their strength was merely that of a Silver-tier after losing their puppet; he could have annihilated them with a snap of his fingers.

After erasing all traces, Li Tianming returned to the original location, quickly finding the withdrawn Xie Hai Zhu in an alley where a somewhat clumsy concealment spell had been cast.

“Greetings, Lady Hai Zhu!”

Regardless of how pathetic or cowardly Xie Hai Zhu appeared, Li Tianming’s demeanor remained unwavering.

Yet, much like moments before, Xie Hai Zhu remained silent, consumed entirely by her despondency.

Just then, within his range of perception, Yin Qinggang seemed to be approaching.

“Lady Hai Zhu, please leave here!”

“Lady Hai Zhu, someone is coming!”

After several earnest attempts to persuade her, Xie Hai Zhu finally swayed and flew into the sky.

Li Tianming let out a sigh, then turned and walked outside to intercept Yin Qinggang, who was dressed rather like a hooligan.

“Where did the enemy go?” Yin Qinggang asked, glancing anxiously from side to side. “I just sensed a powerful aura, and there are clear traces of fire magic on the street where the battle took place…”

“One of our nation’s puppet masters intervened. There’s no need to worry; the enemy has been eliminated. More importantly, I need you to investigate if there were any witnesses. As you know, our puppets are all modeled after Lady Hai Zhu…”

The rumor that someone within the country was manipulating puppets to impersonate Hai Zhu had gradually spread, though everyone’s understanding of the information was incomplete. For instance, most people assumed that any Hai Zhu using fire magic was an imposter.

Thus, after dealing with the initial Sakura Nation remnant who had been a witness, this became Li Tianming’s perfect excuse to provide cover for Xie Hai Zhu.

“I’ll get right on it. Please convey my gratitude to that puppet master.”

“Yes, I will.”

After Yin Qinggang hurried away, Li Tianming merely shook his head.

He knew he would not be conveying that gratitude.

Not only that, he would attribute the battle losses to fire magic and then report them to the person concerned.

****

Past

The tide of war had turned.

This was due to the arrival of one particular person.

“What era are we in that you’re still fighting like this? You’re all too backward; tear it all down and start over!”

Initially, everyone assumed he was merely a well-connected individual there to gain experience. After all, he was only an eleven or twelve-year-old child, and all matters of troop management were left to Li Tianming. His role was limited to issuing commands and occasionally firing a few shots.

Soon enough, however, his revolutionary approach, far ahead of its time, became apparent.

“Since you all know that war intelligence is more crucial, why do you persist in such inefficient, foolish acts? What about new warfare methods? Where are your radars? Your thermal imaging? Seriously, the enemy has maximized their counter-reconnaissance magic; why are you foolishly trying to go toe-to-toe with them using magic?”

“The explosive spells are ready, aren’t they? Load them all onto the drones… Be careful not to throw them indiscriminately. This is a surprise, one-time tactic, so we must deploy it during the most critical battle and at the most crucial moment.”

“Therefore, to hesitate is to fail. To catch the thief, first catch their king… For commanders in these backward feudal kingdoms, seventy percent will hide in the back, while another twenty percent, the brainless ones, will charge to the front, making themselves targets… Don’t be superstitious, believing that subordinates will still resist fiercely if their general dies. In reality, ninety percent of armies, once they lose their command, descend into utter chaos.”

“If an exception occasionally arises, do not pursue a cornered foe. Military geniuses certainly exist, but if they only emerge after their army has collapsed, it indicates they were never truly utilized. Send them back, and let them be consumed by their own people’s infighting.”

Under that person’s leadership, the kingdom became invincible, with reports of continuous victories pouring in.

The end of the war was clearly in sight.

Li Tianming couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.

Although he had no interest in whether this war was won or lost, he no longer wished to see anyone else sacrifice their lives.

However, a certain incident occurred that brought about an earth-shattering change in the situation.

He then understood—for that person, this war, with its countless casualties, was nothing more than child’s play.

He was instantly enraged.

“What do you take human lives for?”

****

Present

“Brother Tianming, what’s wrong?”

Xie Shen’ai’s clear and melodious voice pulled Li Tianming’s thoughts back to reality.

“My apologies, I was just lost in thought,” Li Tianming said, quickly forcing a gentle smile.

“Were you thinking about Brother?”

Xie Shen’ai asked, her expression growing somber.

After the Li family’s departure two days prior, the Duanmu family had arranged for Xie Shen’ai to reside in Li Tianming’s temporary dwelling.

Everything else remained unchanged; she still attended school as usual, and the Duanmu family’s bodyguards continued to escort her to and from.

Li Tianming had no intention of genuinely comforting Xie Shen’ai.

However, for the past few days, she had been perpetually gloomy, showing no improvement regardless of Li Tianming’s feigned attempts at comfort. Indeed, even letting her stay at his home now was merely an execution of Duanmu Yun’s orders. Furthermore, Li Tianming was overtly compliant but covertly defiant, sneaking out every evening and completely neglecting his duty to protect her. Not to mention—

“Yes, but you needn’t worry. Everything is still according to plan. You just need to stay here.”

It was he who had instigated Xie Shen’ai to run away from home. To Li Tianming, this pink-haired girl was merely a tool to provoke Xie Shenhong into recovering his memories; beyond that, she held no meaning in existence.

“Brother Tianming, is this truly real? Wouldn’t it be better if I just went back?”

Her kind of indecision was utterly superfluous.

“There’s no need. Everything is getting better, and if you go back now, all our previous efforts will be for naught.”

“But…”

Seeing Xie Shen’ai so conflicted, Li Tianming could only suppress his disgust, stepping forward to pat her head.

“I know, Shen’ai, you want to do something, but sometimes, doing nothing is the best approach. Besides, it’s not yet your turn to act. Please trust me, trust us, and trust Lord Shenhong… alright?”

The girl in the wheelchair gradually relaxed her posture.

“I understand. I’ll be obedient.”

Yet, apart from feeling annoyed, Li Tianming harbored no other thoughts.

No.

Annoyance was precisely the right feeling.

After all, all this trouble stemmed from her. If not for her, perhaps there wouldn’t be so many complications. Gazing at the girl’s head, which he felt he could crush with a single squeeze, Li Tianming’s eyes grew increasingly vicious.