"Was that a sudden stirring of intuition?"
"Was someone plotting against me?"
Hong Yuan looked in the direction that had stirred his senses. Perhaps because the distance was too great, the sensation lasted only an instant before vanishing.
But he would not doubt his own perception.
After a moment's thought, Hong Yuan set the matter aside.
Between his public and hidden identities, whether as leader of the Sea-Calming Alliance or as the Myriad Calamities Daoist, he had offended no shortage of factions.
Even those he had never offended might still want to scheme against him. Hong Yuan had risen far too quickly. Perhaps some factions suspected that he possessed some great stroke of fortune and had begun coveting it.
Hong Yuan felt no fear at the prospect. On the contrary, he looked forward to it.
"Could it be the Green Coin Organization?"
Hong Yuan rubbed his chin, his eyes flickering.
He had made the Hundred-Poison Corpse Puppet the Sea-Calming Alliance's hidden trump card. In truth, he had not handled the matter particularly discreetly, though he could keep it from ordinary factions.
But given the vast reach of the Green Coin Organization, if it possessed even a tenth of its rumored capabilities, it could probably connect the puppet to the Red Lotus Cult's corpse puppet that had attacked the Vajra Temple with ease.
That raised a question.
Why had that corpse puppet appeared in the Sea-Calming Alliance?
Their next step might be to connect the alliance leader with the Myriad Calamities Daoist.
Hong Yuan chuckled and pressed a hand against his horse's back. Amid the clatter of hooves, he galloped away.
Songyang Commandery's capital remained bustling, and the upheaval sparked by the Myriad Calamities Daoist continued to spread. Hong Yuan returned to the Vajra Temple like a wisp of shadow.
Inside