Chapter 146 A Two-Pronged Approach

"Your analysis is correct." Sword Demon nodded after listening to Lu Ke's words.

"But you should know that I don't want you to do this at all," Lu Ke said.

"I know... so, just treat it as me completing my daily task!" Sword Demon said, turning to look into the depths of the forest, already preparing to step in, but suddenly stopped again. "Oh right, there's no need to tell those brothers of mine about this."

"I refuse..." Lu Ke said after that, walking away from Sword Demon.

Gu Fei walked on the muddy streets of Lin Yin City (Forest Shade City). This main city was surrounded by greenery, having a reclusive tranquility, and the air was incredibly fresh, invigorating to breathe. What a great place, yet he had encountered such an annoying thing. What was even more annoying was that this matter mainly concerned Sword Demon. If it was just Gu Fei's own trouble, he could have dealt with it indifferently, but because it was someone else's, he was so anxious yet felt powerless.

"Sir, freshly forged equipment, would you like to buy one?" Suddenly someone said near Gu Fei's ear, making Gu Fei suddenly regain his senses. Someone had actually approached him without him noticing, he really was distracted. But this flower-selling girl-like sales method was unprecedented! Gu Fei thought, turning his head, but saw a familiar face.

"How is it you..." Gu Fei said.

"I was about to ask you the same thing." Standing next to Gu Fei was none other than Xi Xiao Tian.

"What are you doing here?" Gu Fei said, while looking around, to see if there were any victims within a few hundred meters who were about to come and start a chase.

"It's rare to take a trip so far, and now there's no need for collective action, of course I have to linger in the main cities for a while." Xi Xiao Tian said.

"No main city will welcome a menace like you." Gu Fei said.

"That's not necessarily true, I often contribute to the prosperity of the game's market economy! But you, since you went out this time, there have been huge changes in the top five and top ten of the level rankings, and it seems that many level drops are related to you, right?" Xi Xiao Tian said.

"My conscience is clear." Gu Fei said.

"Me too!" Xi Xiao Tian smiled.

Gu Fei was speechless. A liar didn't think his behavior was shameful, so of course he could say his conscience was clear. This was sophistry, but there was no way to argue with it. Gu Fei had the urge to beat her up.

"Speaking of which, your emotions are very obvious, oh, that's very dangerous, it will give people like us an opportunity." Xi Xiao Tian suddenly said this. The greasepaint on Gu Fei's face had also been wiped clean after leaving the tavern. Since it was no longer necessary, no one wanted to smear their face like that.

"Is that so? I don't need you to worry about it." Gu Fei replied indifferently, already preparing to leave, but heard someone shouting "Wah wah wah" from the other end, getting closer and closer.

"Wah! That's really too much! It's so troublesome now, and you're still in the mood to pick up girls here!" Lu Ke, walking out of a narrow street, pointed directly at Gu Fei and ran over.

"Where's Sword Demon? Isn't he with you?" Gu Fei scanned around, not seeing Sword Demon nearby.

"I was just about to find you to talk about it! Sword Demon is preparing to kill Duan Shui Jian (Severing Arrow)." Lu Ke said.

"That's great!! Where is he? I'll go help!" Gu Fei immediately became high-spirited.

"Great your head! Think about the consequences of this." Lu Ke scolded.

Gu Fei frowned. He and Han Jia Gong Zi had already analyzed the consequences of going to kill Duan Shui Jian. But Sword Demon himself had decided to do this, so was he willing to sacrifice friendship to help Shui Shen (Deep Water) maintain his guild?

"This guy..." Gu Fei didn't know what to say. Should he be moved by this guy, or should he say he was stupid!

"We must think of a way out, a win-win solution!!" Lu Ke looked at Gu Fei.

"You mean, a way that Sword Demon doesn't have to make a sacrifice, and also prevent Duan Shui Jian's plot from succeeding?" Gu Fei said.

"Yeah!" Lu Ke's eyes were full of expectation.

"I'm not Ikkyu..." Gu Fei replied.

"Hey, why are you still joking! What time is it!!" Lu Ke was annoyed by Gu Fei's indifferent attitude.

"If you leave it alone, your guild may be destroyed by Duan Shui Jian, but Shui Shen will understand Sword Demon's friendship for him; if you chase after Duan Shui Jian, you can prevent him from subverting your guild, but you will completely lose Shui Shen as a friend. This is a choice, Sword Demon has already made his choice, and I know he must have made it without any hesitation. He won't regret it, he knows clearly what outcome he wants most. Perhaps acting in accordance with his wishes is the best thing to do." Gu Fei said.

"What are you talking about? He's being forced to make this choice, do you think he's willing to do this?" Lu Ke shouted.

"Girl, you need to know that it's because there's no win-win solution, so he can only choose. If there was, we wouldn't be standing here like idiots, would we?" Gu Fei said.

"There's always a solution!" Lu Ke said.

"Reality is sometimes cruel." Gu Fei said helplessly.

"Um, excuse me..." Xi Xiao Tian, who had been listening, finally couldn't help but speak. "Your topic seems very profound... Do you mind telling me what's going on? Maybe I can help."

"Who are you?" Lu Ke asked.

"A liar." Gu Fei answered抢答.

Lu Ke was surprised, but Xi Xiao Tian didn't take it to heart, and even said in a proud tone: "And a professional one."

"Tch..." Gu Fei scoffed. It was already shameful to be a liar, but it was even more shameful that this guy was proud of it, it was really unbearable.

"I'm saying..." Xi Xiao Tian pointed at Gu Fei and said to Lu Ke, "Even he is helpless, it's obvious that you've encountered something that violence can't solve, maybe you'll need some other kinds of knowledge and brains!"

"Do you really have a way?" Lu Ke asked.

"Don't grasp at straws when you're sick!" Gu Fei said.

The two women glared at him together, their killing intent strong.

"The thing is like this..." Lu Ke quickly described the whole story to Xi Xiao Tian in a concise way.

"Too unprincipled." Gu Fei muttered on the side.

"I see..." Xi Xiao Tian nodded, "Obviously, the other party has completely grasped that fool guild leader's personality, so he created such a very targeted conspiracy. He used your eager desire to win the main city battle, providing you with very valuable abilities, to win your favor and expectations of him; then he entered the guild, upgrading this favor and expectation, raising it to trust, obedience, and admiration. When the time is right, he will replace that idiot guild leader's position in one fell swoop. Originally, this kind of plan would take a long time to implement, but in the game, everything develops very quickly, and people's abilities are directly manifested, I think a month is enough."

"Your analysis is very insightful." Lu Ke said.

"Of course, showing off his abilities, gaining favor and trust..." Gu Fei reminded from the side.

No one paid attention to him, and Lu Ke added, "Also, the idiot guild leader you're talking about is my husband."

"Is that so? Your husband is able to establish the largest guild in Lin Yin City, that's really amazing." Xi Xiao Tian said.

"Wow, are you kidding me?" Gu Fei was astonished, the idiot instantly became amazing, wouldn't that be too obvious?

"But one thing, you said this kind of plan takes a month?" Lu Ke said.

Xi Xiao Tian nodded: "This is already considering the game environment, it's considered fast."

"But if the main city battle starts within a month, he won't have time to destroy our guild, right? Wouldn't he be wasting his time?" Lu Ke said.

"You're wrong. What he wants to do is not to destroy, but to replace, he won't even reveal his true intentions before the main city battle starts. He will use your guild's manpower, resources, and wealth to win the main city battle. Just imagine, who will be the most meritorious person in the entire guild for the victory of the main city battle?" Xi Xiao Tian said.

Gu Fei and Lu Ke couldn't help but look at each other.

"Trust is there, popularity is there, and merit is also there. Wanting to be the guild leader is a natural thing. Then, using this to control the main city guild to seek benefits probably won't have anything to do with you." Xi Xiao Tian said.

"Indeed, that's the most perfect plan." Lu Ke said.

Xi Xiao Tian shrugged and continued: "Also, you said he discovered you when you were tracking him? It's possible that the one who discovered you wasn't him, but his accomplices."

"Accomplices?" Lu Ke was shocked.

"This kind of plan, especially in the relatively simple environment of entering a guild in the game, he shouldn't run in alone to stir things up. He will join with a group of people to mix in together, and in many cases, these people will spread some remarks to enhance his status. If he is very cautious, it is not impossible to borrow a few pairs of eyes to pay attention to his surroundings." Xi Xiao Tian said.

This surprised Gu Fei. When tracking, Duan Shui Jian walked through the areas where the Ji Du Shen Han (Extremely Cold) various groups were practicing, everywhere was full of people, it was really impossible to avoid the gazes of all these people. So the two could only try to avoid being noticed by Duan Shui Jian, as for the gazes of others, they could only pretend to be passing by calmly, or to be practicing. If there were Duan Shui Jian's eyes hidden among these people, it wouldn't be surprising to find out that the two were tracking him.

Speaking of which, the two were careful enough, and the distance was kept at ten meters away, Gu Fei had never understood how Duan Shui Jian discovered the two. This explanation was reasonable.

"There doesn't seem to be anyone who joined the guild with Duan Shui Jian!" Lu Ke said.

"Joining the guild at the same time would be too conspicuous, he shouldn't operate like that, but those who joined around the time he did are all very suspicious." Xi Xiao Tian said.

"Hey!" Gu Fei suddenly thought of something, "Could it be Fan Tang (Rice Soup) and Bai Sha (White Sand)?" These two were new, and if they were Duan Shui Jian's accomplices, then that went without saying, right? It must have been exposed the first time Lu Ke introduced them to Duan Shui Jian.

"No, it can't be these two." Lu Ke flatly denied it.

"Actually, it might not be the newly joined members, maybe the other party has been planting someone in your guild all along, or, bribing someone." Xi Xiao Tian said.

"Bribing someone?" Gu Fei felt that this matter was getting more and more complicated and exaggerated.

"That's right, if the mastermind is a profit-driven group like a studio, bribing is also a possible operation." Xi Xiao Tian said.