Chapter Thirty-Four: A Hundred Secrets, One Flaw

For the sake of safety, halfway through his journey, Zhang He decided to log off first.

He was clearly up rather late that night. After removing the gaming helmet, his phone displayed the time: 1:20 AM. He hurried to the bathroom to splash his face with cold water, finally sobering up. As he lay on the bed, replaying the night’s adventures in his mind, he still felt a bit frustrated.

On the Central Plains of “Dynasty,” he was still just a greenhorn. Perhaps “greenhorn” was putting it mildly, but the fact remained: he was not yet strong enough to stand his ground against formidable opponents. In the future, diligent cultivation was one approach, but following the philosophy of Jun Ruo Jian, one ought not to rush recklessly out of momentary anger. Steady progress laid the real foundation. Only by building a solid base could he hope, when the time for the fourth or fifth class transition arrived, to best even the prominent orthodox sects.

This made Zhang He recall the bloody battle deep in the peach grove earlier. Back when he was still practicing alchemy in Yuhua Village, he could do nothing but look up in awe at the first-class disciples of the Tang Sect. Yet, since arriving at Hui Ma Town, through diligent thought and hard practice in fundamentals and martial arts, even though his level was still low, he could now handle a group of Tang Sect disciples.

Such was the power of the basics. Though it seemed unremarkable, he had already built a certain depth in martial arts. At this thought, Zhang He grew excited again. He increasingly felt “Dynasty” was no mere game, but a discipline worthy of deeper study.

After this burst of excitement, Zhang He noticed that the chubby guy downstairs hadn’t slept yet either. From the second-floor window floated the sound of music from his wooden stereo. Listening closely, it turned out to be Teresa Teng’s “When Will You Return?”

Taste—truly, brother, you have exquisite taste.

But did you have to blast music this loud in the middle of the night? Did you really think that just because no other tenants had moved in, you could ignore your only neighbor?

Yet Zhang He soon understood the real reason for the volume. The sounds from the second floor—between the fat guy and Xiao Lingling—were only slightly quieter than the music. First came the kind of cries heard only in certain movies, then the rhythmic creaking of the bed, shaking the very walls of the building, all in time to the refrain: “When will you return after tonight’s parting…”

“This is a textbook case of trying to cover one thing with another. You think turning up the music will fool everyone? That no one can hear what you two are up to?” Zhang He was, after all, a vigorous young man of twenty-five, at the peak of his vitality. He had little resistance to those sounds from upstairs, his blood pounding, mouth dry.

“Bastard!” he cursed, stomping back to the bathroom. Only after forcing down a glass of cold water did the racket upstairs finally cease.

That night, Zhang He slept poorly. By the time he arrived at the company the next day, his eyes were red and swollen, laced with bloodshot veins.

But he noticed that Manager Chu’s panda eyes looked much the same as his. Could it be that this guy, too, had “listened to the spring rain all night in a lonely loft”? Luckily, Yu Yan provided the answer: “Hey, did you guys hear? Something big happened in ‘Dynasty’ last night!”

“What big thing? Shaolin fighting Wudang? The Demon Sect invading the Central Plains?” A chorus of colleagues began to gossip.

“Tsk, don’t you check for yourselves? Look!” Yu Yan swiveled her laptop for everyone to see. On the screen was the player forum, and Zhang He joined in the crowd.

A blazing hot thread from the Yizhou district had been pinned to the top:

“All districts, take note: the annual Blood Parrot Flower of Huawu Snow Mountain in Qingzhou has finally fallen to Tang Sect in Yizhou. Last night at 2 AM game time, a group of mysterious thieves ambushed the Tang Sect’s Grand Alchemist returning with the flower at Qingmu Bridge outside Tang Family Fortress…”

Such incidents happened daily across the various districts in “Dynasty,” hardly newsworthy. But everyone in the office knew Manager Chu was a Tang Sect hall master, so all eyes turned to him.

Chu Bo managed a strained smile. “Actually, I was grinding levels outside town last night and didn’t make it back in time. Only found out this morning.”

A classic lie. Every sect had its own channels, and players in senior positions could send notifications to all sect members via the control panel, visible anywhere, anytime.

His performance only made everyone more curious about the rest of the post, with Zhang He mingling in the crowd, feigning indifference:

“The thief, disguised as a Tang Sect disciple, slipped into the Hundred Refinements Hall’s alchemy room and stole the annual Blood Parrot Flower. Despite being chased by hundreds of Tang Sect disciples, he successfully broke through their lines, killed twenty-four experts in the Peach Blossom Grove, and escaped unscathed…”

The office erupted—this really was a big deal.

The Blood Parrot Flower had traveled all the way from Qingzhou to Yizhou, coveted by countless factions, yet none succeeded. Now a single thief had brazenly infiltrated the Tang Sect and snatched it? And to kill over twenty Tang Sect experts—this was a massive humiliation.

Zhang He, however, found it amusing. Clearly, this post was written by someone with a grudge against Tang Sect, twisting the facts. Twenty-four experts? They were all first-class disciples at best. As for why the flower made it from Qingzhou to Yizhou unscathed, it was only because the great hero Meng Wuchang personally escorted it. Otherwise, a hundred Zhang Hes wouldn’t have managed to intercept it.

But his laughter soon faded, as he read the post’s ending:

“After a night’s investigation, the thief’s identity has been uncovered. He is known as ‘Conquer All by Force,’ a resident of Hui Ma Town. This individual has a long record of misdeeds: killing Qingcheng Sect players, stealing the Spark Sect’s silver cart, robbing Wei Yuan Security’s red cargo, murdering Tang Sect members. Tang Family Fortress is now offering a 500-tael silver reward for information leading to his whereabouts…”

At the bottom was even a rough sketch of “Conquer All by Force.”

“Wow, is this a new expert in Yizhou? The name is so bold, I love it!”

“Expert? I bet he’s from the Demon Sect.”

“Manager Chu, your Tang Sect didn’t catch this guy last night?”

“Was it really this person who stole the flower?”

…

As his colleagues chattered away, Zhang He’s heart sank. The poster was utterly irresponsible, painting him as some notorious criminal. But that wasn’t the worst of it. The real disaster was that despite all his precautions, his identity had been exposed. How had Tang Sect found him out?

He glanced at the exhausted Chu Bo and ventured cautiously, “I think I might have seen this ‘Conquer All by Force’ last night.”

“Oh?” Chu Bo’s spirits instantly revived. “Where did you see him, Xiao Zhang?”

Zhang He, inwardly amused at Chu Bo taking the bait, maintained a poker face as he lied, “I was grinding outside Yizhou City last night and saw someone covered in blood running toward Qingcheng Mountain, around 5 AM game time.”

His lie was almost too believable. Chu Bo knew most of the inside story—he had hurried back to Tang Family Fortress last night as a hall master to chase the thief, but hadn’t even glimpsed his shadow. Instead, the elders had flown into a rage, suspending this month’s sect rewards, and all the hall masters had been scolded mercilessly.

The disciples who died were all first-class newbies. From Zhang He’s skill, it was clear he was no fourth or fifth-class master, which only made Elder Wanshui Yimeng angrier. So when Zhang He mentioned “someone covered in blood,” Chu Bo half-believed him.

The battle in the peach grove ended near 3 AM. If one rode hard, reaching Qingcheng Mountain by 5 AM was plausible. Zhang He had calculated the timing well—spinning a convincing lie was its own skill.

“You’re really sure that was our sect’s most-wanted, ‘Conquer All by Force’?” Chu Bo stared intently.

Zhang He shivered inwardly. All he did was steal a flower, yet now he was on Tang Sect’s blacklist? Their sect was certainly petty.

Though fuming inside, Zhang He’s face radiated utter sincerity: “It was him, absolutely. I’m sure I didn’t mistake it—‘Conquer All by Force.’ Manager Chu, if I’m wrong, may I have zero sales for the next three months.”

His shamelessness was legendary; he’d gone three months without a sale before, and at this rate, another three months of “duck eggs” seemed likely.

“Damn it!” Chu Bo roared, startling everyone in the office. “So it was a Qingcheng Sect spy all along! No wonder our sect rewards are canceled this month. I’ll log in at lunch and report to the elders—it was those Qingcheng bastards who stole it! No way could twenty Tang Sect disciples fail to stop him unless he was from Qingcheng. And they call themselves Yizhou’s greatest sect…”

Zhang He seized the moment to shift the blame: “Exactly. Didn’t they also steal the Wei Yuan Security’s Deer Blade blueprint last time?”

“I’d almost forgotten!” Chu Bo raged. “I have to log in soon before the elders are deceived.”

Zhang He kept up the act: “Those Qingcheng scoundrels are truly cunning, using diversion tactics to make you mistake him for someone from Hui Ma Town.”

Chu Bo grew even angrier. “Precisely! Last night, after the battle, the elder found the thief had been extremely crafty—he used coin darts, and the coins bore the mark of Hui Ma Town’s Liyuan Bank. We took the evidence to Hui Ma Town and, sure enough, it was ‘Conquer All by Force’ who’d exchanged them. He deliberately misled us with false clues—truly a master of deception. But now, he’s been exposed.”

Zhang He sighed inwardly. If he hadn’t donned the Tang Sect robes and revealed his face, if he hadn’t used the coin darts in that desperate moment, his identity wouldn’t have been compromised. But what use was “if” for things already done?

It seemed that no matter how meticulous one’s plans, there would always be a flaw or two. This time, he had learned a painful lesson.