Ilena: Once You're on My Turf, You Don't Get a Say (Seeking Monthly Votes)

Hearing Ilena's words, which seemed somewhat ambiguous yet also loaded with implication, Qiu Tu could not help but glance at her.

The breeze of the Wine God Kingdom gently stirred Ilena's date-red skirt and tousled a few strands of her languid curls. This temptress of a woman simply curled the loose hair by her cheek around her fingers and tilted her head as she looked at him.

Her face bore its usual seductive charm, but beneath the shifting light in those beautiful eyes lay a trace of probing.

Though he did not know what Ilena was thinking, seeing her like this gave Qiu Tu a ninety-percent certainty that she had noticed some flaws in his words and now wanted to speak with him alone.

But that was fine. Qiu Tu had always liked working with clever people, and he truly needed Ilena's support right now.

So Qiu Tu nodded firmly. "Of course, no problem."

As he spoke, a smile appeared on his face. "Perfect. I was just thinking of taking a soak in Your Excellency's Wine Pool."

Ever since the three High-level God Kings had descended, the Wine God Hall had been occupied by them. As a result, the place Ilena spent most of her time now was her Wine Pool.

Since it was not his first time going to Ilena's Wine Pool with her, Qiu Tu made his way with ease to the small garden shrouded in white mist.

After changing into their clothes, Qiu Tu passed through the archway carved from white jade in the changing room, followed the jade path, and arrived at the Wine Pool.

Warm wine filled the pool, amber in color and giving off a hazy, intoxicating aroma. Strange plants grew along its edge, their leaves beaded with crystalline wine dew, their fruits plump like grapes and gleaming invitingly.

"Tap. Tap. Tap."

At the sound of footsteps behind him, Qiu Tu turned around. He saw Ilena approaching gracefully, barefoot upon the smooth jade path.

She wore only a nearly transparent gauzy robe. Dampened halfway by the water, it clung tightly to the exquisite curves of her body.

Her snow-white skin flickered in and out of view amid the wine mist. Her towering peaks and deep valley formed a breathtaking sight, while the hem of her dress swayed with every step, revealing endless scenery.

Perhaps it had been too long since he had indulged in women; even with Qiu Tu's self-control, he was distracted for an instant.

Ilena was clearly very pleased with his reaction, and an almost imperceptible, captivating curve lifted at the corner of her lips.

Then, on her bare jade feet, she stepped into the Wine Pool. The warm wine rose over her calves and waist, finally stopping beneath her heavy breasts.

She found a comfortable spot and leaned against the pool wall. Casually plucking a large leaf from one of the plants beside the Wine Pool, she scooped up a pool of amber wine.

"Come, try my newly brewed 'Truth Wine.'"

As she spoke, she gestured toward Qiu Tu with the leaf and said lazily, "Once you drink it, you won't be able to lie."

Hearing Ilena's words, Qiu Tu could not help but smile.

Naturally, he did not believe in the wine's effects, but he did not mind playing along with Ilena's little flirtation. So he stepped into the Wine Pool and walked toward her.

The wine was warm and carried a refreshing fragrance. Mist curled between them, making the atmosphere even more ambiguous.

He took the leaf holding the wine and, without the slightest hesitation, tilted his head back and drained it in one gulp.

The wine slid down his throat, smooth and mellow. A warm current instantly spread through his limbs and bones, and even his Soul Fragment seemed to have been cleansed, becoming incomparably clear.

"Lady Ilena, when have I ever lied to you?"

Qiu Tu set down the leaf and met her gaze openly.

The smile on Ilena's face deepened. Her languid eyes now resembled two deep pools, crystal clear yet unfathomably profound.

"Is that so?"

Her pale arm rested against the jade edge. With her legs crossed, her skirt slipped down to reveal a stretch of snow-white calf. Then she slowly said, "Actually... before I became a Garrison God King, someone once placed a Silence Divine Skill similar to yours on me."

"That was probably seven or eight hundred years ago."

She paused, as though sinking into an old memory. "Yet even now, I still remember it vividly."

"Because after being afflicted by the Silence Divine Skill, forget about revealing Details or keywords related to the matter—even giving someone the slightest hint was impossible."

"Because the moment you wanted to leak the secret, you would realize... even with the words at your lips, you wouldn't know how to arrange them."

Her voice was soft, carrying a hint of casual indifference.

"It was as though you had lost the ability to speak."

After saying that, she tilted her head toward Qiu Tu and asked, "So... I'm actually very curious."

"Why is it that you, who were likewise 'silenced,' could still use indirect hints to reveal the 'truth' of the matter to us?"

"Could it be... that the Divine Skills nowadays are less effective?"

"Or is Princess Hui Ming, who commands the Destruction Royal Court and holds overwhelming power, actually even weaker than the ordinary God King who acted against me back then?"

Ilena's words were delivered masterfully. She did not question him directly, yet she precisely pointed out the greatest flaw in Qiu Tu's story.

But upon hearing her, Qiu Tu merely smiled.

In fact, from the moment he had settled on this plan, he knew that his account could not possibly fool the Ink God King and Ilena.

Or rather, even if he could fool the Ink God King and Ilena, there would certainly be a God King in the Order Shrine who saw through his lies.

But that was precisely the effect he wanted.

He had his own purpose for returning to the Order Shrine. To achieve it, he could neither admit his current strength nor deny it. What he needed was precisely this ambiguous state.

Even the flaw involving the Silence Divine Skill had been deliberately left behind for others to speculate over.

So, faced with Ilena's questioning, Qiu Tu did not deny it outright. Instead, he rose from the water, moved behind Ilena, and gently placed both hands on her smooth, rounded shoulders.

At that moment, Ilena's body stiffened almost imperceptibly, but she soon relaxed again. Clearly, she had not chosen to refuse.

Qiu Tu's technique was highly professional, neither too light nor too heavy, precisely kneading her shoulders and easing the fatigue she had accumulated.

And with those warm palms pressed against her skin, that strange sensation she had not experienced in a long time stirred countless unfamiliar feelings within her.

"Of course Princess Hui Ming's methods aren't weak."

At the same time, Qiu Tu's voice sounded beside her ear, his warm breath brushing against its rim.

"The reason I could tell you was because she lifted some of my restrictions."

"She lifted some of your restrictions?" Qiu Tu's answer clearly caught Ilena off guard, making her forget all about enjoying his massage. She turned her head and asked curiously, "Why?"

Seeing this, Qiu Tu gently pressed her head back into place before continuing, "Because their plan has already reached its final stage. She stopped caring long ago whether this matter would be exposed."

Qiu Tu's hands slid down from her shoulders, slowly pressing along the curve of her spine.

"Did you forget? Even Chaos West Capital was personally conquered by Hui Ming herself."

"If she hadn't made thorough preparations, how could she have escalated the conflict to this extent?"

Hearing Qiu Tu's words, a pensive expression appeared in Ilena's eyes as she silently analyzed whether what he had said was true or false.

But before she could sort it out, Qiu Tu spoke again.

"Besides, I pretended to defect to her."

Hearing Qiu Tu's words, even Ilena, with all her composure, could not help but freeze as her heart shook violently.

Defect to the Destruction Royal Court?

Was that even something one could do? Or rather, having done it, was that something one could say?

What exactly was Qiu Tu trying to do?

Ilena had originally thought she had seen through Qiu Tu, but after hearing his words, she felt as though she could no longer understand him again.

She even felt that she was beginning to lose grasp of the truth itself.

And while Ilena was growing increasingly bewildered by Qiu Tu, his massage continued.

His hands began to wander over Ilena's body, his movements growing increasingly bold. His fingertips even deliberately—or seemingly accidentally—brushed across certain sensitive areas, sending faint currents rippling through her.

Ilena's body trembled instinctively, and even her cheeks flushed crimson. Yet at that very moment, her thoughts became clearer and calmer than ever before.

She suddenly realized that she seemed to have fallen into Qiu Tu's "narrative trap" from the very beginning.

Qiu Tu had thrown out far too much information, some true, some false, some substantial, some hollow, causing her to unconsciously follow his train of thought—analyzing, deducing, and distinguishing.

But now that she had calmed down, Princess Hui Ming's plan, Mad War's fake death, his defection—those pieces of information were all nothing more than Qiu Tu's one-sided claims.

When analyzing something, one had to follow the principle: "Do not multiply entities beyond necessity." Set aside every assumption and look only at the simplest, most fundamental chain of logic.

The few confirmed facts currently known were: first, footage of Qiu Tu killing the Mad War God King had been circulated; second, the Destruction Royal Court had not denied it; third, Qiu Tu had Returned to the "Temple" completely unharmed.

That was enough.

How valuable would Qiu Tu have to be for the Destruction Royal Court to deliberately send more than a dozen God Kings to cooperate with him in putting on a show, allowing him to "kill" the Mad War God King?

And though the Mad War God King was powerful, that was only among Garrison God Kings. Once one reached the realm of High-level God Kings, he could not alter the course of the battle at all.

Letting him fake his death as a trump card?

Ilena did not think the Mad War God King was qualified for that.

So, after stripping away all that messy information, the most likely truth remaining was this: Qiu Tu truly possessed the strength to kill the Mad War God King in a single move!

Thinking of this, Ilena secretly spat at Qiu Tu in her heart.

You said you would never lie to me. Pah! What a shameless man!

Perhaps because her thoughts had finally cleared, after secretly "spitting" at Qiu Tu, Ilena suddenly guessed why he had concocted such a flawed bundle of nonsense.

She raised her eyes and looked toward her own Wine God Hall, standing amid the clouds in the distance.

He was deliberately keeping a low profile, to avoid being plotted against by certain people? Did he want to pass steadily through the period between Garrison God King and High-level God King?

At the same time.

While Qiu Tu and Ilena were getting their massage.

In the main hall of the Wine God Hall, the phantoms of three High-level God Kings gathered once more.

Yet compared with daytime, the atmosphere was now even more oppressive, almost as though it had frozen solid.

Even though he was merely a phantom, it still could not conceal the cold severity of the Mitchell God King's face.

As he quietly listened to the Ink God King's account, he cursed inwardly.

Because events were developing in a direction he did not like.

Not only had Qiu Tu successfully Returned to the "Temple," he had indeed brought back news that there was a mole within the "Temple."

And that alone would have been one thing, but Qiu Tu had even pulled the firewood from under the cauldron, directly claiming that his strength was fake.

Just a few hours ago, Mitchell had been telling the Star Founder God King and the Heavy Stone God King that he planned to play along with Qiu Tu's scheme, using Qiu Tu's current prestige to find a way to send him away and leave the Star Founder God King some room to maneuver.

He had even worked out how to get Qiu Tu to carry out those missions.

Yet now, Qiu Tu had pulled the firewood from under the cauldron, claiming that the footage was fake and that he did not possess strength second only to that of a High-level God King?

That instantly threw all of Mitchell's arrangements into disarray and cut off the Star Founder God King's last sliver of hope for a comeback.

However, Mitchell God King was not an indecisive man.

So, once he realized the situation was beyond saving, he promptly made his decision.

Looks like... I can only abandon Star Founder.

Then I have to draw a clean line. I can't let this matter implicate me—preferably not Heavy Stone either.

Otherwise, the losses this time will be far too great.

At that thought, Mitchell God King's expression darkened several shades further.

But perhaps because he had accepted that the situation could not be salvaged, his thoughts became clearer, leaving him somewhat puzzled.

Could Qiu Tu have anticipated that I would try to scheme against him like this?

Otherwise, why would he have kept such a low profile?

At the same time.

Within the Wine Pool, mist curled through the air.

Ilena leaned against the pool wall, allowing Qiu Tu's hands to roam over her body.

Like Mitchell God King, she was considering the same question.

Why exactly has Qiu Tu been keeping such a low profile?

Is it really just to scheme against Mitchell?

But... something about this feels strange.

After pondering for two minutes, Ilena came to a decision.

Who cares who you're trying to scheme against—or why you've been hiding your strength!

Now that you're in my Wine Pool, whether you keep it hidden or not is no longer up to you.

She could take this opportunity to feel him out and see whether he was truly all show, or whether he was unfathomably powerful.

With that thought, she stopped passively accepting Qiu Tu's massage and slowly turned around to meet his gaze.

Perhaps because of the rising scent of wine, her cheeks were tinted with an alluring flush amid the hazy mist.

"Qiu Tu~~"

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