Then let them offer their loyalty!

Page 634

It will either split into two factions, or it will be a war between superhumans, with one side's leaders being targeted for decapitation strikes.

As for ordinary soldiers and ordinary troops, they are far too insignificant in the face of battles of this level.

Therefore, if we can defeat Qiu Tu, this civil war can be won easily.

If they can't defeat Qiu Tu, even breaking through Princess Xi's defenses won't help. It will only force Qiu Tu to come out and join the war.

It would be better to preserve some of the remaining forces to help the Kou family maintain their power during their escape.

Therefore, at the end of this internal meeting, almost all five of them were focused on how to stabilize the defense line at the lowest possible cost.

And so, the meeting ended, and Hou Yu, Han Dong, and Kou Tianyou, the three of the Ten Outstanding Individuals, got up to say goodbye.

Kou Xuan didn't get up, but simply nodded to the three of them and then waved slightly to his younger brother, Kou Yu.

Kou Yu understood and stood up to see the three off.

After the four people left, Kou Xuan sat quietly for a while, until he finished the last sip of tea, before getting up and leaving the reception room.

Back in his study, Kou Xuan sat down behind his desk, and a maidservant quickly and obediently made him a cup of tea.

The aroma of tea wafted through the air. Kou Xuan glanced at the clock on the wall opposite his desk; it was 11 p.m.

Then he lowered his head, picked up a piece of intelligence, and began to read it.

Since there was no one else in the room, the only sound in the study was the rustling of his pages turning.

I don't know how much time passed; it might have been 10 minutes, or it might have been half an hour.

Suddenly... the hands in Kou Xuan's study, which had been ticking quietly, began to spin wildly, the "tick-tock" sound gradually becoming a continuous, rapid drumbeat.

Soon, the hour hand pointed to the mark of 9, the minute hand to 4, and the second hand to 3.

As the three hands of the clock were fixed in place, the light in the entire study seemed to be deflected, creating a new area.

Kou Xuan seemed unfazed by all of this. So, holding the intelligence report in his hand, he looked up.

What caught his eye was Kou Tianyou, who had returned.

Upon seeing Kou Xuan, Kou Tianyou respectfully clasped his hands in greeting and said, "Brother Xuan."

Kou Xuan gave a light "hmm," then pointed to the desk opposite him and said, "Sit down."

Kou Tianyou grunted in agreement and walked over to sit down.

It was clear that this wasn't the first time the two had engaged in such a secret exchange, so Kou Tianyou naturally began to chat, "Brother Xuan, the Misty Hidden Society has summoned me for the fourth time for a meeting."

"Shouldn't I go?"

Upon hearing Kou Tianyou's words, Kou Xuan's gaze returned to the intelligence report in his hand, and then he shook his head, "I'm not going."

Kou Tianyou clearly didn't understand.

He asked, "Why have I been missing all the recent meetings of the 'Hidden Mist Society'?"

As Kou Xuan turned the page, he replied indifferently without looking up, "You're so eager to serve an evil god?"

Upon hearing this, Kou Tianyou quickly replied, "Of course not. My heart is with the Kou family."

"I just really don't understand why I keep refusing to attend meetings."

At this point, Kou Tianyou recalled for a moment and then said, "I remember the first time you didn't want me to go to the meeting, it was because you were worried that my identity would be exposed."

"Because at that time, many people in both our Kou family and the royalists had things to do, so if I went to the meeting, it would be easy for other members to figure out my identity."

"The second time, you said that Princess Xi's offensive was strong and asked me to lead the troops to the front line to oversee the situation."

"The third time, you said the rapeseed flowers in your backyard had bloomed, but no one was taking care of them..."

At this point, Kou Tianyou looked helpless. "Brother Xuan, you have to tell me what happened."

Upon hearing Kou Tianyou's words, Kou Xuan finally looked up at him and then handed him the intelligence in his hand.

Kou Xuan reached out and took it, only to find that it was a secret intelligence report from the 4th Shelter.

According to intelligence from the 4th Sanctuary, the near-7th-tier Great Evil God "Nine-Headed Lion" and the 6th-tier Great Evil God "Jackal," who were guarding the perimeter of the 4th Sanctuary, disappeared yesterday and are suspected to be missing. Their whereabouts are still unknown.

After reading this intelligence, Kou Tianyou's eyes revealed a thoughtful expression.

He was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties. He had an ordinary appearance and build, and he didn't even have the aura of a prominent family like the Kou family.

In short, if you threw him into a crowd, you probably wouldn't be able to tell the difference.

However, to become one of the ten outstanding members of the Kou family, he must have had extraordinary abilities.

He quietly examined the intelligence report before him once, twice, three times... then looked at Kou Xuan with some hesitation and asked, "Brother Xuan, do you mean... the 'Mist Shadow Society' has completely lost control in the Northwest region?"

"And the 'Hidden Mist Society' also suspected this, so they sent people here to investigate?"

Kou Xuan gave a faint "hmm" and finally looked up from the intelligence report.

He said, "Don't you find these recent meetings of the 'Hidden Mist Society' strange?"

"The 'Hidden Mist Society' has only two regional leaders in the Northwest region: one is Yaksha, and the other is Meirenfeng."

"If they both died at the same time, then who can convene the meeting?"

A thoughtful look appeared in Kou Tianyou's eyes, and then he hesitated before answering, "Could it be... there's a hidden regional manager?"

Kou Xuan nodded and responded with a "Hmm..."

Then he said, "It's not necessarily a hidden regional head; it could also be a regional head who is about to take office."

He tapped the table three times and said, "The 6th, 7th, and 8th shelters. Normally, each shelter should have an area manager in charge."

Upon hearing this, Kou Tianyou suddenly realized, "So you suspect that there is actually a member who has the authority but has not yet been promoted to regional manager who is holding the meeting on behalf of the group?"

Because his mind was opened, Kou Tianyou immediately connected the dots of the whole matter.

His gaze grew increasingly profound as he said, "And there are only a handful of peak fifth-tier Great Evil Gods in the entire 'Mist Shadow Society.'"

"Of those...only...Muye was in Shelter 8?"

Mu Ye's identity had obviously already been analyzed by the Kou family.

So Kou Xuan nodded slightly again.

Having gained Kou Xuan's approval, Kou Tianyou's mind continued to race, and he analyzed, "And Mu Ye was captured by Qiu Tu some time ago. After that, he suddenly and mysteriously escaped from prison."

"Brother Xuan, do you suspect that he has already been turned by Qiu Tu?"

Kou Xuan only gave a hint, and Kou Tianyou had already guessed everything. Kou Xuan's smile became much wider.

He smiled faintly, "Yes. Mu Ye's strength and identity make him the most likely candidate to become the person in charge of that hidden area."

"His current stance is unclear. If you go there rashly, he may test or scheme against you."

"In that case, it's better not to go."

At this point, Kou Xuan continued, "Furthermore... Qiu Tu is currently the most powerful figure in the Northwest region. The 'Mist Shadow Society' is his enemy, so why get involved in the affairs of the 'Mist Shadow Society' at a time like this?"

Kou Tianyou nodded slightly, then asked, "So... Brother Xuan, do you think the 'Nine-Headed Lion' and the 'Jackal' are after Qiu Tu?"

Kou Xuan gave a faint "hmm," and said, "It's probably pretty close."

"The 'Hidden Mist Society' is one of the four major organizations in the 'Boundless Sea of ​​the Heart - Core Area,' but its strength is not particularly strong in the peripheral areas."

"Yaksha was originally a promising talent they were grooming, but now he's inexplicably perished in the 'Northwest Region.' The 'Hidden Mist Society' must be taking this very seriously."

"Plus, there's the 'Yaksha's' father, so it's perfectly normal to bring in powerful evil gods from other regions to investigate."

"I even suspect that the 'Mist Shadow Society' might deliberately plant some smokescreens for Mu Ye and Qiu Tu."

"Just to lower their guard."

"And you..." Kou Xuan paused, then looked at Kou Tianyou and added casually, "When those evil gods arrive, you should take the initiative to appear and contact them."

"Don't get involved in the current affairs of the 'Hidden Mist Society'."

After listening to Kou Xuan's analysis, Kou Tianyou showed a look of sincere admiration, then bowed his head and replied, "Yes."

After giving Kou Tianyou a few more instructions, Kou Xuan waved for him to leave.

As Kou Tianyou slowly disappeared and the clock returned to normal, the smile on Kou Xuan's face slowly faded.

He picked up another intelligence report from the table and looked at it.

That intelligence was... the identity of a member of the "Hidden Mist Society".

The document not only lists the true identities of several evil gods, such as "White Mist" and "Fox Face," but also records the true identities of all human members.

Clearly, this was deduced by Kou Xuan bit by bit from the clues gathered at each meeting.

After quietly observing the four traitors in the 7th shelter for a while, Kou Xuan closed the intelligence report and placed it on the table.

Then he got up, took the cup of tea that the maid had prepared, and walked to the window.

Gazing at the dark night view outside the window, Kou Xuan's expression did not ease; instead, it was filled with deep sorrow, as if he were worried about something...

.....

And so, the night passed without further incident.

The next day, Qiu Tu, who had been fed soy milk by the princess and had also drunk a lot of the princess's own milk, got out of bed feeling refreshed.

As soon as he got up, Tao Yaoyao rushed in, "Speaker, something's happened. The delegation we sent to the 6th Shelter a couple of days ago encountered thugs after entering the 6th Shelter's territory, and they... they've all been killed!"

Tao Yaoyao was clearly unaware of Qiu Tu's plan, so her expression was extremely unpleasant.

After all, the delegation represents the face of the sanctuary when it is out in the world.

All parties tacitly agreed not to make things difficult for the delegation.

Just like the delegation from the 6th Sanctuary who came to Dongye Prefecture, they received a full welcome.

As a result, the delegation sent by the four states to the Sixth Sanctuary was massacred! This was nothing short of a provocation!

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Sigh, only one chapter today. I'm really struggling, guys. My condition has been getting worse these past two days; the more I try to hold on, the less I feel like I can manage...

My chest is feeling tight again, I have tinnitus, swollen eyelids, and I'm getting increasingly sleepy. I'll ask for leave from work tomorrow and the day after, go home to rest, and try to keep up with the updates. I'll see how things go when I get back.

I'm too embarrassed to ask for monthly votes... If anyone's interested in winning a PS5, games, or other prizes, please vote with your monthly votes and participate. As for the rest, I'll vote when I reach 10,000 votes tomorrow...

Chapter 574 Tang Feifei Advances to the Fifth Rank! (Last 2 days for the monthly ticket lottery!)

During this period, Tao Yaoyao's status and position have grown explosively as she stayed by Qiu Tu's side.

Even the prime minister's door is frequented by officials of the seventh rank, let alone his personal secretary.

Qiu Tu is now the true head of the sanctuary, and also the governor of four prefectures who obeys orders but not proclamations, a vassal king who can be granted land and fiefdoms.

Such power almost caused Tao Yaoyao's status in the four states to expand infinitely.

To give a simple example, when Qiu Tu was the Speaker of the Tung Yip State Assembly, Tao Yaoyao's uncle, Jiang Zhenpeng, the First Committee Member of the New Territories City Council, could only politely call Tao Yaoyao if he wanted to see Qiu Tu.

Qiu Tu has now become the garrison commander of the four prefectures and the head of the shelter.

Jiang Zhenpeng, who is now the Deputy Speaker of the New South Wales Parliament, has also risen in status, but he has to be humble and polite when he calls Tao Yaoyao.

It was with Qiu Tu that Tao Yaoyao received ample respect and realized her dream.

From the day he accepted Tao Yaoyao, Qiu Tu never did anything inappropriate with her, nor did he ever make any lewd jokes to her.

—This doesn't include the fact that Tao Yaoyao accidentally stumbled upon Qiu Tu and other women.

Just as she had initially envisioned, Tao Yaoyao wholeheartedly served Qiu Tu, handling all sorts of trivial matters, intelligence, and even political affairs for him.

Qiu Tu's secretariat team now consists of more than 30 people, with Tao Yaoyao as the director of the secretariat and Shen Lingshuang as the deputy director.

It can be said that Tao Yaoyao's current life, wealth, and power are all tied to Qiu Tu and the Four States.

Therefore, even though she never "dedicated her loyalty" to Qiu Tu, she had already considered herself Qiu Tu's most loyal subordinate.

This led to her reacting even more strongly than Qiu Tu when the mission from the four states encountered trouble at the 6th shelter.

Qiu Tu clearly noticed Tao Yaoyao's unusual behavior, and he subtly glanced at Tao Yaoyao's loyalty level.

88 points.

A very high number, even ranking him in the second tier under Qiu Tu.

Besides the women Qiu Tu was close to, there were also his earliest brothers like Lao Ying, A Tai, and Chen Feng, whose loyalty was among the highest.

Thinking this through, the perceptive Qiu Tu instantly understood the reason for Tao Yaoyao's emotional outburst.