A Possible Existence

Xu Yuan had long been speculating whether Yue Niang, this woman, might also possess cultivation.

It was clearly unrealistic for a mere woman to hold up the massive Drunken Immortal Pavilion on her own.

Seeing her now, she was indeed an expert.

The mystery of why the original body couldn't even last three moves against her was now solved.

Most likely, this Yue Niang had been circulating a dual-cultivation technique at the time.

How unsportsmanlike.

Because Yue Niang's throat was being gripped, she was naturally unable to answer Xu Yuan's question.

Staring at Yue Niang's pale little face for two seconds, Xu Yuan raised his hand slightly as a signal.

Grandmaster Zhou gave him face, releasing his grip immediately. He cast a deep look at Yue Niang before slowly retreating behind Xu Yuan to stand with lowered eyes.

Unlike other experts who loved to put on airs, Zhou Chen had climbed up step by step from the very bottom.

Being a Grandmaster was something he could do.

But being a lackey? He was a professional at that, too.

In the garden alley, with its green bricks and blue tiles, silence reigned. A small crater had already been smashed into the smooth courtyard wall by Yue Niang's slender frame.

Once Zhou Chen let go, Yue Niang immediately slumped down weakly. Paired with her pale complexion, she looked rather pitiful.

Xu Yuan was surprised by the sight and glanced sideways at Zhou Chen.

Did you hit her that hard?

Zhou Chen shook his head with a helpless look in his eyes.

Yue Niang had only intended to appear suddenly to block the Third Young Master and give him a show of force.

Since there was no actual attack, he had simply returned the favor with a show of force of his own.

Xu Yuan understood and looked back at Yue Niang, his eyes carrying a hint of amusement.

She was truly a woman who had survived the rough tides of the pleasure quarters; she could act so convincingly.

"Yue Niang, why go to such lengths?"

Yue Niang lowered her eyes for a moment, bit her thin lips, and when she looked up, her eyes were already brimming with a hint of grievance:

"Third Young Master, if... if this Drunken Immortal Pavilion were my own property, how could I refuse if you wanted it? It is just that these rules were set by Mr. Qin, and I can only follow them."

"Mr. Qin?"

The unfamiliar name made Xu Yuan murmur to himself.

Although Xu Changtian acted without restraint, he was quite generous in places like the pleasure quarters.

While jealousy and competition were common, his status and willingness to throw money around meant he had never caused any major trouble.

Therefore, this was the first time Xu Yuan had heard the name Mr. Qin.

He must be the man behind the scenes at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion.

Xu Yuan tried to find a character in the plot of Cangyuan who could match this Mr. Qin, but he came up empty.

The title "Mr. Qin" sounded familiar, but he didn't think it appeared in Cangyuan.

Regardless, To be able to support an enterprise like the Drunken Immortal Pavilion from the shadows, this Mr. Qin's background could not be small.

After all, in Xu Yuan's memories, a Drunken Immortal Pavilion existed in the Imperial Capital as well.

After a pause, Xu Yuan glanced sideways at Zhou Chen, his eyes filled with inquiry.

Zhou Chen hesitated slightly before transmitting his voice into Xu Yuan's ears.

Hearing this, Xu Yuan roughly understood what kind of person this Mr. Qin was.

A scion of a noble family, born with a sword-bone, he had long enjoyed a great reputation in the Jiangnan region. Over a decade ago, there were even rumors that he could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Prime Minister's eldest son.

A strange look couldn't help but flash across Xu Yuan's eyes.

If this Mr. Qin was truly as Zhou Chen described, why had he never seen him in the plot?

"..."

Yue Niang could not hear the voice transmission, but she could see the expressions on their faces. After weighing her words for a second, she continued softly:

"Third Young Master, the new girl I have here was sent by Mr. Qin himself, and he personally gave instructions regarding her affairs. You surely wouldn't want me to go against Mr. Qin's wishes, would you?"

Xu Yuan snapped back to reality upon hearing this and immediately raised an eyebrow.

He didn't care about the latter half of Yue Niang's sentence.

That woman was sent by this Mr. Qin?

After pondering for a few breaths, Xu Yuan asked with a smile:

"Yue Niang, you say Jinxuan was sent by this Mr. Qin—is that the truth?"

Yue Niang's eyes flashed with a hint of confusion, but she still spoke truthfully:

"This servant would naturally never deceive the Third Young Master. Jinxuan was indeed brought here personally by Mr. Qin half a month ago."

"..."

Thoughts flickered in Xu Yuan's eyes.

If it were truly as Yue Niang said, and that woman was sent by this Mr. Qin, then this piece of information was worth pondering.

Back when he was in Cangyuan, controlling the plot protagonist to kill the original body of this Third Young Master across several world lines, while it wasn't exactly easy, he had never encountered any insurmountable powerhouses.

The strongest boss was merely a guard like Xue Yong, at the peak of the Sixth Grade Iron Body realm.

Now that the plot had turned into reality, the issues hidden within were far too significant.

After taking down a boss of Xue Yong's caliber, the original body was promptly throat-slit by the protagonist Xu Yuan was operating.

At the time, Xu Yuan hadn't paid much attention to it.

After all, a brainless villainous young master sending his subordinates to their deaths one by one was already a deeply ingrained trope, and that Iron Body peak boss was indeed difficult to fight.

Thinking about it now, with both Zhou Chen and Ying'er—two Grandmasters—watching from the sidelines, how could the protagonist, with his current strength, possibly kill the original body?

If a master like Yue Niang approached even a little too quickly, she would be insta-killed by a single move from Zhou Chen; if the protagonist at this point in the timeline wanted to kill Xu Changtian, do you believe Zhou Chen could stare him to death with a single glance?

Admittedly.

Perhaps the butterfly effect caused by his Innate Dao Body had led Xu Changge to reinforce the guards around him.

But after the incident where Ran Qingmo kidnapped him, Xu Changge should have at least left one Grandmaster behind to protect him, right?

Yet, in the plot, there was none.

Thinking about it, the Grandmaster protecting the original body in the plot must have been tied up by something else.

At this thought, Xu Yuan's expression turned somewhat strange, and a slightly absurd notion gradually crept into his heart.

Or perhaps, this segment of the plot was simply a bug?

After all, no matter how perfect a fictional worldview might be, there would always be logical inconsistencies, especially since games had to cater to the player's experience.

Once this thought emerged, the strangeness in Xu Yuan's heart grew even more intense.

Since transmigrating, Xu Yuan had already grown accustomed to the world filling in its own gaps.

If this were truly the case, then he could fully understand this Mr. Qin who had suddenly appeared.

Because there was a bug in the plot where the protagonist killed the Third Young Master, the world had filled in a person to patch that bug.

Assuming the premise held, he continued to follow this line of thought.

Then, what was this Mr. Qin's motive? And which faction from Cangyuan did he belong to?

The Marquis of Martial Achievement?

Although the relationship between this Marquis and the Prime Minister's Estate was tense, he had always acted with integrity and would not resort to moving against a mere Third Young Master.

The Crown Prince's faction?

His old man held the rank of Prime Minister, was one of the Three Ducal Ministers, and was the Crown Prince's mentor. With the Emperor critically ill, the Prime Minister's faction had always been supporting the Crown Prince.

At this point in the timeline, the Prime Minister's Estate and the royalist faction of the Crown Prince were still in their honeymoon period.

Those regional sects?

If they had made a move, why would Ran Qingmo, the only disciple of the Sword Sect Master, have risked kidnapping him earlier?

"..."

The intricate web of factions in Cangyuan flashed rapidly through Xu Yuan's mind, but in the end, he found nothing.

The factions with the motive lacked the strength.

The factions with the strength lacked the motive.

Factions that had both strength and motive, such as the Ancient Abyss, could not reach their hands into a provincial capital as important as Jingjiang City.

Sticking to his old habit, if he couldn't figure it out, he would stop thinking about it for now. It wouldn't be too late to speculate once he met this Mr. Qin in person and obtained more information.

Just as Xu Yuan was preparing to put this question aside, the corner of his eye suddenly twitched.

A stray thought suddenly crawled into his mind.

If the world could fill in a Mr. Qin, Then, could it also fill in a faction hiding in the shadows?