Meng Tai stayed in Silver Moon City for three days. He met Shangguan Hen and the officials working busily in the zither pavilion. After exploring Silver Moon City a little, he immediately returned with the four decrees.
Above the vast sea:
“Milord, why does the decree that His Majesty gave you feel like a harsh warning?” one of the Embroidered Uniform Guards asked worriedly as he looked at Meng Tai.
Meng Tai revealed a bitter smile as he looked at the shimmering sea. He shook his head and replied, “His Majesty guessed all my thoughts. Even without seeing me, he knew what I was thinking. This is his last warning to me.”
“Ah?!”
“Alright. Enough of this. I left a group of Embroidered Uniform Guards in Silver Moon City. We just need to do our jobs. His Majesty has already bestowed great authority upon us. If we do not treasure it, we would just be seeking trouble,” Meng Tai said.
“Yes!”
The flying ship flew over the vast sea for half a month before eventually reaching the Thousand Islands Sea.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
As the flying ship passed a certain island, three figures flew from the island into the sky.
“Mister Meng, you’ve finally returned. The casino that our six islands planned is nearly complete,” one of the long-robed men said.
Meng Tai looked at the other party coldly.
“Mister Meng, rest assured. Our casino is even larger than Gu Hai’s and even more majestic. All we await is for Mister Meng to bring the Han Royal Dynasty officials who are preparing to defect to us,” another man said with a smile.
Meng Tai smiled coldly and laughed, “Haha! Everyone, I have already locked up the officials of the Han Royal Dynasty’s imperial casino that you bribed. You want me to bring them to defect to you? Haha! Hahahahaha!”
“What’s wrong? With Mister Meng’s authority, that should be easy, right?”
“Everyone, there’s no need to even think about it. Those who collude with others to betray the nation will face capital punishment. When I return, I will immediately execute them,” Meng Tai said coldly.
“What? Mister Meng, what do you mean? Didn’t we come to an agreement? You still want to follow Gu Hai? What does that Gu Hai have? It is just a Han Royal Dynasty. How can it be as incredible as the alliance of our six islands?”
“How laughable!” With a cold smile, Meng Tai waved gently.
Whoosh!
The flying ship left, ignoring the three and flying in Nine-Five Island’s direction.
“Meng Tai, you will regret this!” the three roared as they watched the flying ship leave.
Meng Tai stood at the deck, looking back at the three distant figures coldly.
“Regret? I will end up regretting if I follow you instead. Humph!” Meng Tai sneered. Then, he turned his head away, ignoring these three clowns.
After seeing everything in the Han Royal Dynasty and Silver Moon City, Meng Tai finally verified one fact. The Han Royal Dynasty was building momentum with Gu Hai.
Below just one, but above everyone else.
Meng Tai would only rise higher by following Gu Hai. In the grand scheme of things, his small tricks would be nothing compared to Gu Hai’s game. Right now, what he should do was not to resort to small tricks and traitorous thoughts. Instead, he should work hard and protect his authority.
“After we return, recruit more into the Embroidered Uniform Guard. Tighten the patrol and monitoring of the various cities in Nine-Five Island!” Meng Tai ordered solemnly.
“Yes!”
——
Silver Moon City:
“Mister Mo, when are we going to the frontlines? How much longer do we have to wait?” Lu An frowned as he watched Mo Yike play Go alone.
“Mister Mo, the duke is fighting relentlessly on the frontlines. There is nothing else to do here. Why is Mister Mo staying in Silver Moon City?” Jiang Tianyi asked out of curiosity.
Mo Yike remained in Silver Moon City. Even if he had nothing to do, he waited quietly.
Finally, three days later:
“I have a report! The scouts from the Thousand Islands Sea have returned!” a subordinate said as he rushed into the hall.
“Oh?” Mo Yike’s eyes suddenly lit up as he tossed aside the Go stone in his hand.
“Let’s go. We will return to the frontlines now and gather with the duke!” Mo Yike smiled.
“Huh? Yes!” Lu An appeared confused.
The group quickly left Silver Moon City.
After exiting Silver Moon City and boarding the flying ship, Mo Yike immediately said, “Where is the information? Quickly hand it to me.”
“Yes!”
A few travel-worn subordinates stepped forward and proffered a stack of paper filled with information.
“That is all?” Mo Yike frowned.
“Milord, we have already done our best. Furthermore, this is a lot already. It is more than what anyone else had previously collected,” those subordinates said bitterly.
“Alright. Go collect your reward, rest up, and wash up. After I look through the information, come and explain it to me,” Mo Yike said sullenly.
“Yes!” The group of subordinates immediately withdrew.
Lu An looked curiously at the thick stack of information in front of Mo Yike.
The cover page of this report had the words “Gu Hai’s background.”
“This is…Mister Mo sent people to investigate Gu Hai’s background?” Lu An exclaimed.
Mo Yike ignored Lu An in favor of the report.
The information was very detailed. Mo Yike felt entranced the moment he started reading.
——
At the same time, in the city lord’s official residence of Silver Moon City:
Sima Changkong also had a stack of information pertaining to Gu Hai in front of him.
“Gasp! The strongest of great strategists, Gu Hai? He appeared out of nowhere at the age of thirty. The moment he appeared, he swept through the world by commanding troops? Those fools. I sent them to search for talent. Just this is already sufficient for us to take an interest in this Gu Hai, yet they actually overlooked such talent?
“Oh? He gave up on politics and went into business, becoming the wealthiest man of six nations?
“He managed to become the wealthiest man of six nations in such a short time. That is not something an ordinary person can do. He developed so quickly.
“He is not just the wealthiest man of six nations. He essentially started a seventh nation, a seventh nation hidden within the six nations.
“As he remained in the Acquired Realm, he got rejected by the immortal sects that he tried to enter?
“Are those sect masters of Nine-Five Island fools? This is such a talent, such an intelligent person, and they looked down on him?
“He cultivated physically and reached the consummation of the Acquired Realm through that?
“There are no spiritual fruits in such an impoverished place. To think that he managed to cultivate to the peak of the Acquired Realm in such a manner!
“Hey! There is a cultivation technique. Huh? This one? He managed to reach the peak of the Acquired Realm with such a lousy cultivation technique? What strong willpower!”
——
Mo Yike was also looking through the information in his hands while riding on his flying ship.
“If not for Long Wanqing’s impulse, such a talent would have been buried in that desolate land. Hmm? There a dedicated section here for a Song Extermination Plan?” Mo Yike started reading through the Song Extermination Plan.
As Mo Yike read the Song Extermination Plan, his eyes no longer showed just the initial admiration that he had. Instead, his eyelids twitched wildly.
Gasp! Mo Yike inhaled sharply.
“Mister Mo, what shocked you so much?” Lu An exclaimed.
Mo Yike reread the information. Then, he handed the Song Extermination Plan section to Lu An before closing his eyes and mentally simulating the Song Extermination Plan.
Naturally, the Song Extermination Plan that Mo Yike received was not comprehensive. However, it did not prevent him from figuring it out.
Mo Yike simulated the gathered information and made up for the gaps in the Song Extermination Plan he received. Although his eyes were closed, great waves surged in his heart.
——
At the same time, Sima Changkong did the same thing in the city lord’s official residence of Silver Moon City. Although his eyes were closed, others could still see his eyeballs rolling around. He frowned heavily, evincing shock.
Huff! Sima Changkong opened his eyes.
“Incredible! An incredible Song Extermination Plan. What a terrifying Song Extermination Plan! Interlocked stratagems? There are ten-odd stratagems chained into each other, agitating the heart, controlling the people’s hearts, killing the military’s confidence, killing the citizens’ confidence, killing the officials’ confidence, and finally killing the sovereign’s confidence. To think that this could be written out so casually, destroying a nation! This Gu Hai is a terrifying person!” Deep shock flashed in Sima Changkong’s eyes.
His evaluation of Gu Hai rose further.
——
On a flying ship:
Huff! Mo Yike also opened his eyes in shock.
“Huh? This is nothing much. Isn’t it just a mundane nation? Why spend so much time thinking about it? There’s nothing incredible about this.” Disdain flashed in Lu An’s eyes as he read through the Song Extermination Plan.
Mo Yike felt startled as he looked at Lu An. He gaped for a long time, at a loss for words.
“Mister Mo, aren’t I right? Why are you showing such an expression?” Lu An asked out of curiosity.
“There’s no saving you,” Mo Yike said while shaking his head.
“Ah?” This somewhat startled Lu An.
Then, Mo Yike snatched the Song Extermination Plan in Lu An’s hands and started carefully rereading it. After a while, he extremely gravely and extremely carefully set it aside.
Lu An looked at Mo Yike speechlessly. Is it really that important?
Ignoring Lu An, Mo Yike continued to read about Gu Hai’s background. Every event described greatly shocked him.
“Ninth Young Master?” Mo Yike raised his eyebrows.
“The Twenty-Eight Line-Pair World Ritual Array? The Twenty-Nine Line-Pair World Go Puzzle? Old Mister Guan Qi?” Mo Yike turned increasingly graver.
Lu An looked at Mo Yike from the side. Seeing Mo Yike ignoring him, he felt worried. He thought for a while before trying to butter Mo Yike up. “Mister Mo, although that Gu Hai is quite capable, he is definitely not comparable to you.”
Mo Yike continued to ignore Lu An.
At Mo Yike’s lack of response, Lu An added carefully, “I just got careless and let Gu Hai trick me. That’s why I ended up making a wager with Gu Hai in Silver Moon City. While Gu Hai is excellent at Go, he definitely is not as good as Mister Mo. After all, Mister Mo has played the Twenty-Nine Line-Pair World Go Puzzle with Ninth Young Master. Although you did not solve it, you gained Ninth Young Master’s acknowledgment. The Twenty-Nine Line-Pair World Go Puzzle is not something that Gu Hai can even imagine. At that time, had you played Go against Gu Hai—”
Thud!
Mo Yike tossed the stack of information at Lu An and said, “See for yourself.”
Lu An’s expression turned slightly stiff. His expression stiffened further after he picked up the information and read it.
“That’s impossible, right? Gu Hai solved the Twenty-Nine Line-Pair World Go Puzzle?” Lu An’s expression darkened.
——
The city lord’s official residence of Silver Moon City:
“What about Gu Hai’s information from before he turned thirty? What about the information on his family? What kind of education did he receive before he was thirty? Why do you only have information from after he turned thirty?” Sima Changkong looked at the crowd in front of him.
——
Back on the flying ship, Mo Yike asked the same question as well.
“What do you mean there is none?” Mo Yike glared at the subordinates who returned after washing up.
“There just is none, Milord. Gu Hai seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. We searched around for any information, but there were no traces of Gu Hai before he was thirty,” one of the subordinates said bitterly.
“Trash! This is all you collected of Gu Hai’s background?” Mo Yike demanded coldly.
“Milord, we already did our best!” the subordinates said bitterly.
“Dismissed,” Mo Yike said while suppressing his anger.
These subordinates left. Then, Lu An looked at Mo Yike and said, “Mister Mo, there’s no need to get angry, right? That Gu Hai is just a little smart and good at Go. Grandfather has plenty of such advisers.”
Mo Yike glared at Lu An.
“Huh? Mister Mo, why are you looking at me like that?” Lu An asked worriedly.
“The duke has plenty of such advisers? Hah…” Mo Yike shook his head and smiled bitterly. He no longer had the energy to rebut Lu An.
