So who was actually fishing in troubled waters?

It had always been Li Jing who had led the Iron Dragon Stockade in exploiting the Lu Family.

If there was anyone the Lu Family hated most among the Iron Dragon Stockade...

It was undoubtedly Li Jing.

In the distance, the Deputy Helm Master froze. Then, humiliated and enraged, he shouted, "Who told you to kill Li Jing? Are you crazy? I told you to spare his life!!"

Gao Han's death had been a tremendous loss for them, but Li Jing's defection could have more than made up for it.

But now Li Jing was dead too, making their losses as great as they could be.

"Go to hell! Who the fuck are you to order me around?"

Lu Yuan's gaze turned cold as he replied indifferently, his Killing Intent pressing down on everyone.

The Killing Intent of someone who had just killed more than a dozen people, including a master like Li Jing, was chilling. One glare from him made the Deputy Helm Master take two involuntary steps back, as if he stood at the edge of an abyss. It seemed that if he said one more word, he would follow in Li Jing's footsteps.

Only then did he remember that this man had just killed Li Jing, and that he seemed to be a master secretly invited by the Helm Master. He wasn't someone the Deputy Helm Master could order around.

The man didn't know that if Lu Yuan hadn't feared becoming the target of everyone's ire, he would have killed him too.

"The Third Boss is dead!"

More and more bandits noticed that Li Jing was dead.

The Iron Dragon Stockade had lost its Second Boss not long ago, and now its Third Boss was dead too?

But just then, Li Zongming shouted, "Everyone, retreat!"

The Taiping Sect had been unable to break through despite its prolonged assault, locked in a fierce battle at the pass's walls. Even Li Zongming himself had failed to defeat Yi Zheng. The Iron Dragon Stockade was far more difficult to deal with than he'd imagined.

If the fighting continued, more and more Taiping Sect followers would die. If too many died, he wouldn't be able to cover it up or explain himself to his superiors. He had no choice but to retreat.

As for the Secret Key he wanted, he would have to find another way to get it.

At Li Zongming's order to retreat, the Taiping Sect followers all breathed a sigh of relief.

They had surged in like a tide, and now they withdrew like one.

The Iron Dragon Stockade took the opportunity to kill many Taiping Sect followers who were focused on retreating, but they didn't dare pursue them. They could only watch as several thousand Taiping Sect followers left the pass and the Iron Chain Bridge, disappearing from sight.

Without a doubt, both sides had suffered heavy losses in the battle.

Judging by the outcome, the Iron Dragon Stockade had come out slightly ahead. After all, they had held their ground and kept the Taiping Sect from breaking in.

But Yi Zheng, Tang Gui, and the others showed no sign of joy. Two or three thousand Taiping Sect followers had been killed or wounded, while the bandits had lost four or five hundred, a casualty rate of forty percent. It was a crushing loss.

"Where's Li Jing?"

Yi Zheng looked around. When he couldn't find Li Jing, he frowned and asked.

Ma Shan soon heard a rush of footsteps approaching. A few bandits came into view, carrying Li Jing's corpse. They reported the news in grief:

"Boss, the Third Boss... he... fell in battle!!"

"What!!"

Yi Zheng's pupils contracted. He strode over to Li Jing's body, his deep, abyss-like eyes sweeping over it.

"Who killed him!!"

Yi Zheng's gaze swept across the crowd. His words were as cold as knives in a winter wind, piercing straight into their hearts and making their backs go cold.

The bandits who had carried over the body felt as if a top predator had fixed its gaze on them. Their throats went dry.

"The... the person who killed the Third Boss was wearing a mask... Nobody saw his face clearly..."

"Did anyone see how the Third Boss was killed?"

Yi Zheng crouched to examine Li Jing's body, his expression dark. He wasn't visibly enraged, but to the people watching, he seemed like a volcano on the verge of eruption.

One of the bandits cautiously recounted what had happened. Tang Gui was suddenly startled. "Boss, that man did it on purpose. I suspect he wasn't a Taiping Sect follower!"

"That's right. He wasn't a Taiping Sect follower. He slipped in to fish in troubled waters. His target must have been our Iron Dragon Stockade—or, more precisely, Third Brother."

Yi Zheng murmured to himself:

"His strength was far greater than Third Brother's, and he meant to crush him outright. When Gao Han saw an opening, he joined in and attacked Third Brother with him. So the man feigned weakness, and Third Brother unknowingly became his tool, killing Gao Han for him."

"After Gao Han died, he stopped hiding his strength and crushed Third Brother."

"This man seems hostile to both our Iron Dragon Stockade and the Taiping Sect. Who could he be?"

"Tang Gui, where do you think Third Brother might have offended a master like this? Could he also be behind Second Brother's disappearance?"

Tang Gui thought for a moment and shook his head.

"There are many people hostile to our Iron Dragon Stockade, but few have that kind of strength. We'll need to investigate."

"Very well, Tang Gui. Go investigate and see who might be responsible. Better to kill the wrong person than let the right one go." Yi Zheng said expressionlessly.

Tang Gui nodded, then cautiously added, "Boss, if I may say one more thing, Li Zongming..."

"You've said enough."

Yi Zheng stared at him indifferently for several seconds, until Tang Gui's back went cold, then turned and walked away.

He needed to tend to his injuries and, while he was at it, take a good look at what Li Zongming wanted. What kind of treasure was it to make him go to such lengths?

"Helm Master, who was that master you invited to help us?"

After descending Black Dang Mountain, the Deputy Helm Master's eyes shifted as he tried to put Lu Yuan in a bad light.

"He's powerful. Li Jing could hardly put up a fight against him... but he's far too arrogant..."

The plan had failed and the losses were heavy, leaving Li Zongming in a foul mood. At the question, he frowned and turned to the Deputy Helm Master. "Is your brain broken? When did I ever invite a master to help us?"

"Huh?"

The Deputy Helm Master was stunned. "You didn't invite one?"

"Why the hell would I invite one!"

The Deputy Helm Master: "..."

By then, Lu Yuan had already slipped away from the Taiping Sect's ranks amid the chaos. He took off his coarse white robe and tossed it into the wilderness. Rather than take the road down the mountain, he made a wide detour, planning to return to Lingbao County through the south gate.

When he'd left, he had gone out through the north gate.

"My fishing in troubled waters today was pretty sloppy, with plenty of holes in it. But everyone was swept up in the battle, caught up in the heat of the moment and the chaos. Nobody could tell I was a fake. Once the battle ended and both sides went their separate ways, though, they'd realize someone had impersonated a Taiping Sect follower and fished in troubled waters."

As he hurried along, Lu Yuan retraced the day's events, looking for anything he might have missed.

"It's a shame I only killed Li Jing and one of the Taiping Sect's masters. I didn't manage to kill Yi Zheng or the Taiping Sect's leader. Both of them are quite a bit stronger than me. I'm no match for them, and neither of them is stupid enough to fight until we both go down."

"I'm still too weak. If I were strong enough, I'd pull them up by the roots, wipe out the Iron Dragon Stockade, and kill the Taiping Sect's leaders too, so there'd be no trouble later!"

Lu Yuan couldn't help sighing.

But for now, this was the best he could manage.

"I have to get stronger! At the very least, I won't have to hold back like I did today."

Lu Yuan clenched his fists. Today had been a golden opportunity, but he'd let it slip away because he wasn't strong enough.

On his way down from the mountainside, Lu Yuan saw, in the distance, a village reduced to rubble, still smoldering. His heart turned cold.

In this damned world, human lives were as cheap as grass. An entire village had been slaughtered, yet hours later, not a ripple had been made. The authorities hadn't sent a single person.

As if a few weeds by the roadside had been trampled. Nobody cared.