A Storm Is Brewing

"Don't go." Qin Yi immediately stopped the order.

Yu Shang looked at him strangely. "Husband?"

"Once the monitors are discovered, it's like alerting them, which means their conspiracy has been exposed," Qin Yi explained. "The real approach, of course, is to remain calm and pretend you know nothing. First, subtly smooth over everyone's mental suggestions, and when they use this as an important foreshadowing, they suddenly find it completely useless, which would be a fatal miscalculation."

Yu Shang was very impressed. "My Husband is wise."

Qin Yi really wanted to say that you were too inexperienced, and that the High Priest shouldn't be as clueless as you.

Turning to look at the High Priest, she indeed smiled slightly, finding the way the young couple were exchanging words quite amusing.

Qin Yi felt that the old fox seemed quite happy to see him and Yu Shang together. Although he had previously claimed that he was "bringing shame upon himself," he was actually pushing things along.

"We truly didn't know about the Uwabami Bird's scheme against us beforehand." The High Priest smiled. "You've done my tribe a great favor."

Qin Yi smiled and said, "Of course, now the affairs of the Feathered People are my affairs too."

"I'll handle the removal of psychological suggestions from everyone," the High Priest sighed, muttering to himself, "I just wonder if the other races have been completely infiltrated as well."

Qin Yi said, "It shouldn't be that bad. If they had so many treasures to control, they would have been invincible ten thousand years ago. This shows that there aren't many of these things... at least not many that can be effective against high-level cultivators. It wouldn't make any sense for them to control the ordinary people of each race. As long as the leaders of each race know what's going on, that's fine."

The High Priest shook his head and said, "The old Uwabami Bird) didn't have a Gu Shuanglin who could so easily gain people's trust..."

Qin Yi was startled.

This is indeed a problem... Most people know what kind of attributes the Uwabami Bird, and they were initially on guard. But Gu Shuanglin's qualities can make people trust him and lower their guard; the combination of these two factors might create a chemical reaction.

"Furthermore..." the High Priest sighed, "There isn't much conflict between the various races. Most of the time, everyone is too peaceful, and their schemes are rather crude. Gu Shuanglin's method isn't particularly sophisticated, but almost no one from the Winged Human Race escaped it, not even I noticed. We might not be good at these kinds of things, so you'll need to put in more effort."

Qin Yi cupped his hands and said, "It is my duty."

He paused, then chuckled, "Actually, I also think Gu Shuanglin doesn't really have any strategy; it's just that his personality makes him easy to deceive. It would be truly terrifying if someone with real strategy combined with his personality were to act like that. Luckily, his intelligence is only so-so. For example, he readily believed I was a son-in-law without even doing his research. He's not very bright... far inferior to some of my former fellow disciples. Perhaps what the High Priest said is true: you all revere ancient traditions, but you have too little experience with conspiracies and tricks."

The High Priest's gaze was deep and unfathomable. "Then we must not allow him to grow any further, or he will surely become a major threat."

"I'll handle this more," Qin Yi said, turning to Yu Lan. "Have all the invitations been sent out?"

Yu Lan walked over carrying a large stack of invitations. "No, there are still many invitations we haven't sent out yet."

Qin Yi reached out his hand. "Give me the Double Eyed Bird. I'll go there myself."

Yu Shang asked, "Should I come along?"

Qin Yi laughed, "Wouldn't you be reopening Xiang Ming's wounds by going? I'll go, you get some rest."

Watching Qin Yi leave, the High Priest smiled at Yu Shang and said, "You may have unexpectedly found a very good husband this time, which is countless times better than the result of the previous attempts to arrange a marriage."

"That's right." Yu Lan's eyes sparkled. "The First Bond of Our Clan, which has been longed for for millennia..."

Yu Shang murmured to herself, "It's not because of our initial connection, it's just because of him."

In the territory of the Double Eyed Bird, Xiang Ming unexpectedly received Qin Yi, who had come to visit.

"Sending out invitations? You need to do that yourself?" Xiang Ming asked curiously. "You're not just here to freeload off me, are you?"

Qin Yi didn't even enter the Living Room, but stood outside and asked, "Who drank your wine? I want to know, are there any special formations or similar things in the city to deal with the enemy? I didn't sense anything when I entered the city, and Yu Shang didn't know much either."

Why are you asking this? Is there an enemy?

"Hard to say, there are some signs."

Xiang Ming's expression turned serious, and he slowly said, "Yu Shang just arrived and hasn't had much contact with most matters before she started busying herself with uniting the various races against the Netherworld. It's normal that she doesn't understand Xun Wood City... Do you know why so many races suddenly want to propose marriage?"

Qin Yi was speechless. "Could it be because she's stupid?"

"Haha, a little," Xiang Ming laughed. "It's not entirely foolish. First of all, it proves that she's different from the previous Feathered Ones. She has no desire to control this city; she only values her own mission. Brother Qin, do you know what that means?"

"This means that if you marry her, you'll basically be in charge of this city, and she won't be interested."

"That's right. So several clans were interested, but when our three clans got involved, the others realized they had no chance and withdrew from the competition. Otherwise, there were more than a dozen families proposing marriage at the beginning."

Qin Yi: "... like a fly seeing... that..."

Xiang Ming glared at him. "You can call me a fly, but you're not allowed to call Yu Shang!"

Qin Yi scratched his head.

Dog: "I'm a total simp..."

Liusu knocked the second half of his sentence back down with a single blow.

"As for the city's treasures, they do exist," Xiang Ming said. "To prevent this city from becoming a one-man show, our Xun Wood Grand Array has been managed by each member of the Moon Wheel Clan since long ago. To activate it, one only needs to use the Xun Wood Heart."

Xun Wood Heart! Liusu, who was beating the dog, suddenly pulled her bones back, almost hitting her own head.

Qin Yi's eyes lit up. "Which clan is in charge of the Xun Wood Heart this month?"

"Uwabami Bird".

"..." Qin Yi's expression became very serious.

"What's wrong, Brother Qin?"

"Brother Xiang, you'll definitely just drop off a gift and leave at our wedding; you won't be sitting there, right?"

Xiang Ming said irritably, "Are you trying to say you understand this feeling very well?"

Qin Yi smiled ingratiatingly, "So on that day, go and find the heart of the wooden array to clear your mind; you're sure to gain something from it."

Xiang Ming narrowed his eyes.

Qin Yi sighed and stood up, "Brother Xiang, your seemingly peaceful City of a Hundred Birds seems to be quite different from what I imagined."

After bidding farewell to Xiang Ming, Qin Yi left the territory of the Double Eyed Bird and sighed deeply as he looked at the stars and moon in the sky.

It seems we've arrived at a very delicate juncture... If I hadn't been involved, the Winged Human Race and even the entire Xun Wood City might have been completely wiped out this time.

Unfortunately, it's impossible to go door-to-door to explain things; not only might people not believe you, but you might also alert them.

Now we can only take it one step at a time, hoping the other party really isn't that smart.

Fortunately, there was some good news: Liusu's Xun Wood Heart, which she had almost given up, still remained.

As for alchemy, scraping some wood shavings is enough and shouldn't affect the core effect of the Xun Wood Heart array... but the prerequisite is that this battle must be won.

Whether for Yu Shang, for herself, or for Liusu.