The mastermind behind all of tonight's events was none other than Yue Wen.
Knowing full well that six people were taking part in the branch-master selection, he'd had the Supervision Bureau send only five captains to ambush them. His plan was to kill four of the other five and leave one alive.
In a way, Meng Yan had been very lucky.
He'd happened to be the only heretic who never encountered a Gang Realm guard. He could search for Xuan Sha Fruits at his leisure, then leave safely once he'd picked one. The Supervision Bureau agents wouldn't stop him; they'd even alert one another to steer clear of him.
But the moment he emerged, he'd have to face Yue Wen, who had fought his way out with a Xuan Sha Fruit in hand, overcoming one obstacle after another and covered in the blood of Supervision Bureau captains.
Meanwhile, Meng Yan had strolled out as casually as someone returning from a farm to pick strawberries, despite the raging storm around him.
Anyone would have grown suspicious at such a contrast.
The fruits in Xuan Sha Forest had been tampered with in advance. Several of the nearby Xuan Sha Fruits had been picked and then reattached using a secret technique. The one Meng Yan had taken was an old fruit.
All he had to do was hand it over and compare it with Yue Wen's. That would almost prove he'd been given a fruit in advance.
It would be obvious who the mole was.
Even saving Tang Yan had been part of Yue Wen's scheme. He'd picked the strongest captain, Fang Qingcang, and let him choose an unlucky target. Fang Qingcang had destroyed that person's main combat corpse puppet and badly wounded him, then spared his life so he could escape.
That