Coercion

Li Yan answered quickly, as though he had long known the other party would ask this.

In truth, that was indeed the case. As long as those two were not fools and knew that someone like him had gone to the Feng family together with Fang Guangjun—

Then the fact that he had returned safely in the end was absolutely not something as simple as coincidence or good fortune.

Moreover, the reason fabricated by the Feng family patriarch could not withstand close scrutiny. It was only because everyone had heard Tang Tian and Wu Yizhen recount it firsthand that they had been led by preconceived notions into believing it.

"So you deliberately waited until Tang Tian and the others were killed before laying out your scheme step by step?"

The red-robed youth saw through the crucial point of Li Yan's scheme at a glance. When he spoke, his expression showed neither joy nor sorrow, making it impossible to tell what he was thinking.

"Reporting to Senior, that was not the case. I first went to the lair of the Foundation Establishment ghost creature to see whether I could wait for something there. It was only on my way back that I encountered Fang Guangjun. Afterward, he suddenly attacked me from behind, and only then was he captured by me.

"As for the later plan, I only came up with it on the spur of the moment after discovering the two soul-collecting bottles.

"In order to avoid having suspicion fall upon me and thus continue remaining in 'Falling Star Valley,' I created the illusion that he had been killed by the Feng family patriarch."

Li Yan looked utterly sincere, but he could not possibly tell them truthfully that he had long discovered Fang Guangjun's malicious intentions.

When Li Yan mentioned the