### Chapter 9: The Onlooker Is Clear
==============================
“Ahhh! You j*rk!”
“You owe Linglong for the flowers!”
In the midst of a flower patch, the joyfully flitting Linglong watched in horror as a hefty figure crashed down and flattened a whole swath of blooms, scattering countless petals into the air, making her heart ache and her voice shriek.
“Ow ow, my b*tt, my poor b*tt…”
The groaning Fatty had no idea what just hit him until a little spark of light zoomed by, startling him even more.
“Ahhh….”
No one expected that Linglong could pack such a punch! That two-hundred-pound tub of lard was sent flying around like a volleyball by the small but fierce flower spirit, until he finally landed heavy on the ground, looking like a pig’s head with puffy cheeks.
“Sorry, Fatty, my bad. Just a little slip of the hand!” Lin Nan said flatly, shaking his hand as if nothing happened.
Fatty whimpered, “Boo… boo… (I believe you, not!)…”
“What a pity. I was going to invite you to Yihong Courtyard. With your condition, I’m not sure…”
Fatty immediately sprang up like a fish out of water, “What are you talking about? That little punch from Linglong can’t do anything to me, I was just being nice!
By the way,
When do we leave? Fatty’s big kn*fe is raring to go!”
Lin Nan thought, “…”
I was feeling a bit guilty, but now… heh.
Seeing Fatty suddenly full of energy, Lin Nan almost wondered if he had secretly taken some all-encompassing elixir.
So, the duo headed down the mountain together.
On their way to the teleportation point, Lin Nan took a moment to browse the second trending post.
【Floating City Struck by Earthquake, Cold Moon Witch Suspected to Be Behind It, Revenge for Thousand Bird City’s Pursuit!】
Posted by “Upgrade Maniac.”
Him again?
This guy seems to enjoy riding on his female character’s popularity.
Oh well, let’s see what actually went down in Thousand Bird City before deciding anything.
【I believe everyone has a thorough understanding of the Heavenly Sword Sect incident after checking out Firefly’s post next door. (Don’t tell me you only looked at the pictures.)】
【Before officially analyzing it, let me briefly summarize what happened with the Thousand Bird City incident.】
【……】
【As you can see, these two events show a high degree of similarity.
A sudden invasion by large monster beasts triggered chaos on site.
Once everyone’s attention was drawn, another team would quietly sneak in, aiming straight for their real target.
Over at Thousand Bird City, if Master Brother Gongsun Ding hadn’t arrived in time, they would have opened the last barrier of the forbidden area.
On the other side, at Heavenly Sword Sect,
After the monster beast attack failed,
The mastermind, Cold Moon Witch, personally made an appearance, using a jaw-dropping skill to stun everyone in seconds.
Then, she even popped the secret alias of the acting sect leader, Wang Qianshan, as “Wang Xiao Er,” leaving Wang Qianshan so terrified he wouldn’t dare pass gas, obediently handing over the monster beast Yan Zhike.
Fellow players,
If you think the Cold Moon Witch’s purpose in showing up was just to rescue the monster beast, you’re too naive.
We have an unexpected attack on Heavenly Sword Sect and Thousand Bird City,
And coincidentally, both sects’ high-level powers were absent from the Immortal Gate.
I just asked a few other inner sect players from different sects.
The responses were the same.
It seems something big happened over at Half Moon City, prompting all the high-ups to rush over to investigate.
What if I say this is the beginning of the Witch’s scheme?
First, luring the upper levels of major sects away from the Immortal Gate, then utilizing this chance to send monster beasts to disturb the situation, covering up their true objective.
But over at Heavenly Sword Sect, the Witch miscalculated with Wang Qianshan. No one expected him to show up that night after being in seclusion for so long,
which led to the monster beasts being defeated before they could hold out for long.
To keep the plot going,
The Witch had to take matters into her own hands to buy more time.
I suspect that over at Heavenly Sword Sect, the Witch must have already achieved her goal.】
At this point, Lin Nan halted in his tracks.
Fatty, walking ahead, immediately turned around, giving him the “I took a hit, you can’t just brush me off” look.
“Uh, continue…”
Lin Nan outwardly remained calm,
but internally, waves of panic were surging.
Of course! The onlooker is clearer than the participant.
He was just focused on how to quickly complete the mission and hadn’t even considered the hidden details he overlooked.
Combining what Upgrade Maniac discussed regarding the Thousand Bird City incident, he suddenly had a revelation.
The monster beasts, as a target for firepower,
were essentially just meant to be sacrifices, as long as they could buy time for others to act.
After Yan Zhike was captured by Tan Ziyan, the monster beast would rather commit s*icide than live on, indicating they had long prepared for no return.
As for the “Yan Zhike” from Heavenly Sword Sect, it was simply because he had barely made an entrance when he ran into the formidable enforcement hall elder Wang Qianshan,
and after a futile struggle, he was forced to surrender.
Around the same time, he also encountered Ru Yu, who was being chased by Master Sister.
Near d*ath, Ru Yu told him,
there was a cave on the Main Peak cliff worth exploring, promising that as a monster race, they would surely gain opportunities and powers.
Moreover, they had just come out of that cave.
After Ru Yu died, unbeknownst to him, she somehow used magic to issue him a hidden main quest through the system.
The first task was to rescue the monster beast Yan Zhike.
At the time, he didn’t think much of it, believing it was just Ru Yu’s dying wish, and didn’t want to watch his companion d*e.
But now it seems,
Ru Yu had calculated everything perfectly.
Just like Upgrade Maniac speculated, there may even be a third team in the Small Thousand World.
Releasing a mission for him to save Yan Zhike was merely to delay time again.
Whether he could actually rescue someone was of little significance.
And Ru Yu, fearing he might not go save the monster, threw out the enticing cave that could boost his power.
Surely there would be something to pique his interest.
This way, even if he only delayed Heavenly Sword Sect for a moment,
it would make their plan more perfect.
Not to mention, in the end, he really did rescue Yan Zhike, and kept Wang Qianshan and Luo Ying detained near the Main Peak.
Ultimately, the organization behind Ru Yu, “Ji Shen,” obtained what they desired.
Heh, what a great scheme.
That hidden main quest was likely just a spur-of-the-moment idea from Ru Yu right before her d*ath.
But why did the system accept it so seriously and issue it to him?
Lin Nan was puzzled.
Perhaps, when he reached Yihong Courtyard, he would have further discoveries.
At this moment, the duo had arrived at the teleportation gate leading from the Small Thousand World to Heavenly Sword City.
Fatty rubbed his hands like a fly, grinning as he asked, “Bro, you’re sure I won’t have to pay for this trip to Yihong Courtyard, right?”
Lin Nan nodded.
“But… I haven’t seen you making any money these past couple of days! You’re not trying to scam me, are you?”
Lin Nan snorted coldly and started to walk away.
“Wait, bro! I didn’t mean it like that! I was just suggesting a possibility, not saying you’re scamming me! Hey, hey… wait for me!”
