Inside the tunnel.
Weng Sanren ate his dry rations and drank fine wine as he said softly, "Brother Poison Wine Flask, you should stop making wild guesses. Here in this secret realm, we need to work together to uncover the truth and find the rewards. Once this journey ends, we'll all go our separate ways. Whether we scheme behind each other's backs or try to kill each other then will depend entirely on where we stand."
Poison Wine Flask looked at him and asked, "If I may be so bold, where do you stand?"
"What I intend to do has nothing to do with you." Weng Sanren replied calmly, "And judging by what you just said, you and I probably aren't close, but aren't too distant either. In any case, whatever you do or don't do, please leave me out of it."
Poison Wine Flask pondered for a long while and indeed stopped probing. He merely raised the wine flask and replied, "Heh, fine wine. Fine wine."
"Drink a little less. I only brought one flask." With that, Weng Sanren continued eating and said no more.
Poison Wine Flask returned to his seat, his mind racing.
He felt that Weng Sanren most likely came from the Great Qian Dynasty and had some connection to the Imperial Court. The way he had rolled up his sleeves to eat, along with the wine he had brought, were inadvertent glimpses of his everyday habits. Such habits could only have been formed in Great Qian's official circles, not among the rough folk of the martial world.
Borderland Turmoil involved Qingliang Prefecture, the Thousand-Mile Green Battalion, the hidden powers of the Southern Border's martial world, and possibly even the Court of the Wuyao Kingdom. Add someone from Great Qian's Court to the mix, and things