Hint

The alliance with He Nu had not been formed in vain. Gu Shenwei was probably one of the outsiders who understood Moonlight Hall's secret arts best, on a par with Old Man Mu, but he was more vigilant.

Han Fen had just exhaled a plume of green smoke when Gu Shenwei blew out a breath at the same time.

Han Fen cried out and tumbled backward several times, disappearing into the grass. A moment later, like a startled bird, she shot into the air, hopping and running as she giggled.

Gu Shenwei decided to take her alive. The woman was peculiar: she was fiercely loyal to He Nu, yet had no clear concept of keeping secrets. With the right methods, he could pry plenty of information out of her.

The information might be false, but it would still be a lead.

Gu Shenwei approached the bonfire again.

The ambushers sent by several princes had lost their cover, so they simply joined the martial contest in the open. Seven or eight corpses lay in the grass behind them.

The melee had ended quietly, which puzzled Gu Shenwei. He moved as close to the crowd as he could and listened to their conversation.

"He has a point. If we keep fighting like this, we'll all die, and no one will benefit."

"We can settle our grudges later. There's no need to fight blindly here and die without even knowing how."

"Exactly. We're all here for a hundred thousand taels. Why do we have to fight to the death?"

"We're all heroes of the jianghu. How did we get tricked into slaughtering one another by a few words from... her?"

Everyone nodded, some even cupping their hands to one another, as though the battle had actually forged a measure of camaraderie.

These simple