Ying Zheng's Invitation (I)

Lü Buwei's choice had long been within Ye Qingcang's expectations.

Because Lü Buwei was the head of the School of Miscellaneous Thinkers.

He was a pragmatist.

Since it was clear that Netherworld could not be controlled, and an internal investigation would only cause Netherworld to collapse, with no way to distinguish its own people from Faceless Men masquerading as its own people, repeated purges would instead filter out and kill all their own people while leaving behind Faceless Men who could corroborate one another's lies as the backbone. Rather than let such an absurd outcome occur, it was better to be decisive, hand off this hot potato in exchange for a favor, and avoid futile resistance and unnecessary losses.

This was also what most smart people would do.

If it could be kept.

Lü Buwei would certainly keep it.

At worst, he would go to war with the Faceless Men and with Ye Qingcang.

Netherworld had an internal surveillance system.

If all else failed, he could carry out a major purge.

But the problem was that it was plainly impossible to keep it now. Netherworld had no means of determining whether someone was one of its own. These Faceless Men possessed the original host's appearance, cultivation, and memories. Even if they were interrogated with martial arts targeting the soul, all that could be extracted were those flawless memories, with no way to reach the Faceless Man hidden within. Of course, there was another way to identify them: kill the person, or burn them alive in a fire. Once deprived of the body, the Faceless Man's flesh tumor inside would have to flee in order to survive, seeking something else to possess. The same went for cutting someone down with a blade—the flesh tumor inside would flee to find another living