Time flew by.
In the blink of an eye, five days passed. Ye Cangtian finally discovered Xiao Feng's signal and retrieved the map of the secret passage from the teahouse.
For safety, he personally inspected the secret passage.
The secret passage was decent and essentially met his requirements.
However, the secret passage was a combination of passages from various factions, making the connection points between them particularly obvious.
But this did not hinder its use for escape.
Therefore, Ye Cangtian dedicated a day to specifically set up a maze within the secret passage, which would greatly increase the chances of escaping pursuers.
After completing all this, Ye Cangtian returned to his room.
After several days of recuperation, Manduo Luo had absorbed the medicinal effects and walked out of her room, healed.
Seeing this, Ye Cangtian quickly brought her to his side and asked, "What exactly happened? How did you fall into Kongling's hands?"
Manduo Luo had no reason to hide anything from Po Xiao and directly explained the situation.
She had been gathering information in Xiyin City when she inadvertently noticed two suspicious individuals. Thinking they were connected to the Bright Squad, she followed them.
To her surprise, she was quickly discovered and knocked unconscious by them.
When she woke up, she found herself in a secret room.
At that time, she did not know the identities of the Black and White Impermanence, but through their interrogation, she realized they were targeting Po Xiao.
This was because the main questions they pressed were related to Po Xiao, and they had even openly stated that if she could provide evidence of Po Xiao's rebellion, they would release her...
As expected!
Upon hearing this, Ye Cangtian's expression turned grim. It was indeed aimed at him.
But when had Kongling become suspicious of him?
Ye Cangtian vaguely remembered that when he first met Kongling, Kongling had regarded him highly and even wanted to recruit him.
If that were the case, even if he had refused Kongling then, Kongling wouldn't have sent people to investigate him, nor would he have acted against those around him.
At most, he would have made things difficult for him and urged him to carefully consider his allegiance.
Could it be...
Suddenly, Ye Cangtian thought of a possibility: Xue He. Xue He had been suspicious of him all along that day and had even discovered his secret in the end.
However, Xue He had been killed by him before he could spread the secret.
But this did not mean that Xue He's earlier suspicions had not been leaked!
Therefore, in his opinion, it was likely that Xue He's suspicions had leaked out, and coupled with Xue He's death, it would easily lead Kongling to connect it to him.
After all, Xue He had died while investigating him, so Kongling had become suspicious because of this.
Understanding the entire situation, Ye Cangtian sighed helplessly. It seemed he would have to be more cautious in his actions from now on.
"My Lord!"
Just then, a voice was heard, and Feiyan walked into the room.
She came directly before Ye Cangtian and said, "My Lord, we have just received news that Gu Hai, Hong Mo, and Zi Long have returned and are currently reporting back in the main hall!"
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian's expression sank again.
Although Gu Hai could not snatch the credit, he was sure that Gu Hai would resent him and would instigate discord with Kongling.
Therefore, Kongling would likely trouble him again.
As expected, not long after receiving this news, Kongling sent someone to relay a message, summoning Po Xiao and Lan Yue to the main hall to see him.
There was no choice. What was fated to happen would happen. Ye Cangtian had no choice but to take Lan Yue to the main hall.
Upon arriving at the main hall, Ye Cangtian immediately saw the figures of Gu Hai and the other two. Gu Hai had a hint of smugness in his eyes.
From this, it could be seen that he had spoken ill of him quite a bit.
In response, Ye Cangtian showed a cold smile and then cupped his hands in a salute to Kongling, saying, "Greetings, Lord Kongling. May I ask why you have summoned your subordinate?"
"I have summoned the two of you here to discuss merits and rewards."
Kongling smiled faintly, then swept his gaze over Po Xiao and continued, "However, before we discuss merits and rewards, there are some disputes that need to be resolved."
Disputes?
Ye Cangtian frowned. What kind of disputes could be related to discussing merits and rewards?
Sensing Po Xiao's confused gaze, Kongling did not beat around the bush and directly stated, "It's like this. Gu Hai has some objections regarding the attribution of credit, so he wishes to confront you in person."
Heh heh!
Ye Cangtian chuckled upon hearing this. He glanced at Gu Hai and said indifferently, "Gu Hai, since you have objections, then tell me, which of the three Bright Squads did you annihilate?
Or do you have objections to the destruction of which squad?"
"I have objections to all of them!"
Gu Hai stepped forward to stand before Ye Cangtian upon hearing this and then stated his objections.
Firstly, the annihilation of the Belock Squad was done by him and Xue He. The location was a tomb near Nantong City, where Belock and his group were killed!
Secondly, the captain of the Kuxi Squad, Kuxi, was also personally killed by him.
Finally, for the Eugene Squad, although Hong Mo and Po Xiao had attacked together, Eugene was heavily injured by Hong Mo before committing suicide.
Therefore, the credit for the Eugene Squad should largely go to Hong Mo.
After saying this, Gu Hai looked at Po Xiao playfully, as if to say, I'm just spouting nonsense, what can you do to me!
In his opinion, since these Bright Squads were all dead and there were no witnesses, whoever he said killed them was indeed killed by them.
Most importantly, he had Kongling backing him, and Kongling would surely favor him.
On the other hand, after Gu Hai finished speaking, Kongling immediately looked at Po Xiao and asked, "Po Xiao, do you have any refutations to his statement?"
"Nonsense, utter drivel!"
Ye Cangtian's eyes showed deep disdain, and he uttered eight cold words.
Beside him, Lan Yue was slightly agitated. She quickly cupped her hands to Kongling and said, "Lord Kongling, I was present when Po Xiao annihilated the three Bright Squads. I can testify that everything..."
"Hmph! You and Po Xiao are in cahoots, and your relationship is unclear. Your words are not credible!"
"If we're talking about witnesses, I have witnesses. Xuan Si Qi from Nantong City and Xuan Si Jiu from Dongjiang City are my witnesses!"
"If you need them, I can invite them to Ghost City, but it will require you to wait for some time!"
Before Lan Yue could finish, Gu Hai coldly snorted and interrupted her.
"You are so shameless!"
Lan Yue immediately became agitated upon hearing this, her entire body trembling with anger.
However, at this moment, Ye Cangtian shook his head at her. Arguing now was meaningless.
The next moment, seeing that Lan Yue had calmed down, Ye Cangtian glanced at Gu Hai opposite him and said indifferently, "There's no need to invite them. These people are sycophants; I believe they will testify for you!"
On this point, Ye Cangtian did not say much. After all, Gu Hai represented Kongling.
And Kongling currently controlled the Dark Association, so Xuan Si Jiu and Xuan Si Qi, for their own future prospects, would bind themselves to Gu Hai's chariot.
Therefore, having them come forward for confrontation was utterly meaningless and would only be a nuisance to him.
"Haha, right and wrong are clear at a glance. Since there's no need for them to confront, you should have nothing to argue, right?"
Gu Hai laughed heartily, appearing extremely smug at this moment.
He knew that by bringing up Xuan Si Qi and Xuan Si Jiu, Po Xiao would have nothing to say.
After all, the entire Dark Association was under Kongling's control, and Xuan Si Qi and Xuan Si Jiu would not dare to oppose Kongling.
And Po Xiao was not foolish; he would naturally realize this.
Alas!
Looking at Gu Hai's smug demeanor, Kongling sighed inwardly.
To be honest, he knew very well what the truth was, and it was precisely because of this that he felt helpless with Gu Hai's behavior.
He found it regrettable that Gu Hai, instead of openly competing for credit, resorted to such despicable means. He looked down on him for it.
But there was no other way. Since Po Xiao was from Xingyuan and had shown him considerable disrespect, how could he give benefits to Po Xiao?
With that thought, he swept his gaze towards Po Xiao and asked indifferently, "Po Xiao, do you have anything else to say?"
"Does what I say still matter?" Ye Cangtian's gaze met Kongling's directly, with a hint of mockery in it.
This was clearly a ploy by Kongling and Gu Hai. In essence, one lied about military achievements, and the other tacitly agreed.
Anything else he said would probably be superfluous and meaningless.