"Huh?" I wore a blank expression. "Am I supposed to know what happened next?"

"If you're a man, you should be able to guess what happened, right?"

"Uh? Is Yan Ji very pretty?"

"Pretty, very pretty. The Sect Leader deliberately left Shi Hui's mother in the Wan Shi Valley for her sake, watching his wife of thirty years fight the hordes of corpses until she was exhausted and died.

"The Sect Leader has been able to maintain his grip on power and eliminate dissidents, and this beautiful Yan Ji has also contributed greatly. In fact, five years ago, many elders were suggesting that he step down. Not only did they discuss it behind his back, but many elders also mentioned it to his face. Some elders would even deliberately say when he was meeting with important figures from other sects that this was the last time the current Sect Leader would represent the Corpse Control Sect to receive them and that the Corpse Control Sect would soon be taken over by a new Sect Leader.

"But five years have passed, and the Sect Leader of the Corpse Control Sect is still that person. However, fewer people are mentioning the Sect Leader's change of term. Tell me, why is that?"

"Why?" I asked cooperatively.

Shi Tu smiled wryly, shook his head, sighed heavily, and said, "Because those elders couldn't resist Yan Ji's temptation and did disgraceful things with her. The Sect Leader seized their weaknesses. If they continued to fight the Sect Leader, the end would be utter ruin."

"Oh," I responded again, cooperatively.

Shi Tu seemed helpless with my indifferent reaction and could only continue,

"Yan Ji is the Sect Leader's trump card. To frame me, he sacrificed this trump card again. So, there's no need to say what I was doing that night, right? The two of us avoided everyone, hid in the secret chamber, and did some pleasant but publicly unacknowledged things. When we came out, Shi Hui was already dead.

"Shi Hui's time of death was exactly when we were doing our business. Yan Ji also admitted that the Sect Leader had sent her. The Sect Leader not only occupied her body but also shamelessly used her. She was tired of this kind of life. She wanted to find someone who truly loved her, someone she could spend her life with. She hoped I could be her hero.

"Then, Yan Ji left. She didn't return to the Sect Leader's room but hid in the Wan Shi Valley (Ten Thousand Corpse Valley). Before leaving, she left a message: If I really loved her, then go to the Wan Shi Valley to find her. As long as I went, everything she had would be mine, including all the Sect Leader's secrets she knew, which could be shared with me and made public to expose the Sect Leader."

Hearing this, I finally understood a bit, but I still had questions.

"She should have done that kind of thing many times before. She's been working for the Sect Leader for so long. Why did she suddenly decide to stop with you? Maybe I'm being too direct, but I really want to know what you relied on to fascinate Yan Ji. Since she's been with so many men, you must have something special about you to make her decisively choose to break away from her past reliance, right?"

"Because she fell in love with me," Shi Tu said, word by word.

From his eyes, I could see that he really believed it was love, pure and unadulterated love.

"Then, why did she fall in love with you in particular?"

Shi Tu looked at me for a while and then laughed directly. "Are you planning to say that I'm already over fifty years old, not young, and my figure and appearance aren't the kind that can immediately fascinate young girls? My temperament is also a bit sinister. I don't seem like someone who can stand out in the eyes of women, right?"

"That's right, I do have that question," I admitted very frankly.

"That's right, you're right to consider that. If someone else told me this kind of story, I would also be skeptical, wondering if this old geezer was a little too self-absorbed, if he was bewitched by Yan Ji and started daydreaming.

"The Sect Leader not only sent Yan Ji to manipulate those seventy- or eighty-year-old elders but also sent her to manipulate many talented young men.

"Although I don't want to admit that I'm old, I definitely don't have what it takes to attract women like those talented young men, and I'm not a man who would take the initiative to please women.

"In terms of handsomeness and thoughtfulness, I can't compare to those young people. In terms of power and influence, I can't compare to the current Sect Leader. There's no way Yan Ji would choose me from the crowd.

"However, as long as I have one decisive advantage, then everything becomes normal."

"Oh, what's your decisive advantage?" I asked with a curious expression.

Shi Tu suddenly smiled suggestively: "Because I'm capable."

"Capable?"

"Yes, capable."

Uh, okay, you're capable, so women like you.

"Then, why didn't Yan Ji just cooperate with you directly, and the two of you could have overthrown the Sect Leader together? Why did she have to leave? Why did she have to ask you to find her? Isn't that a bit redundant? She wouldn't be doing it for the sake of a wedding ceremony, would she?"

"Of course, she had reasons for having to leave. The environment at the time wasn't safe. Both of us needed to prepare. We didn't expect the Sect Leader to act so quickly.

"Frankly speaking, we underestimated the Sect Leader. Originally, my plan with Yan Ji was very thorough. According to our original plan, the two of us would have already joined forces. But the reality is that Yan Ji is hiding in the Wan Shi Valley, afraid to show her face, and my freedom of movement is restricted.

"Yan Ji is a very cautious person. She won't take too much risk unless I demonstrate enough ability to give her enough confidence in victory. Only then will she stand up to help me.

"I must break through the encirclement, find capable helpers, and go to the Wan Shi Valley to see her and bring her back. Only then can she continue to implement the next step of the plan. Otherwise, if she waits in the Wan Shi Valley for a while, she will go off to find a new life for herself."

Okay, a very realistic woman who isn't willing to bet everything on Shi Tu. Once she discovers that Shi Tu is unreliable, she'll immediately run away.

Shi Tu also understands this very well, but in order to compete for the position of Sect Leader, he still has to cooperate with Yan Ji.

Reality is so dirty, it has nothing to do with love or anything like that. It's just a transaction, and Shi Tu's ability is also part of the transaction.

"So, you need me to go to the Wan Shi Valley and bring Yan Ji back to see you, is that right?"

"Yes."

"Where is the Wan Shi Valley?"

"It's in the mountains behind the town. Just find Gouzi (Dog), and Gouzi will take you there."

"After I find her, how do I contact you again? Do I still have to use Gouzi?"

"No, after you find Yan Ji, just tell her a string of numbers. When she hears that string of numbers, she'll know that you're the one I sent to find her. She'll know that I can still move around and will come out of the valley to cooperate with me from the inside out to overthrow the dark rule of the current Sect Leader."

"I don't think your arrangement is appropriate at all." After listening to Shi Tu's plan, I suddenly put on a straight face and said that.