Chapter 28: Eastern Thirty-Three

Fan Tiantiao had no other choice but to explain clearly: "Elder Huang, this matter is of vital and far-reaching importance. The upper-level leaders we can reach are very few, and it is difficult to determine whether they are reliable... Ahem... In case the secret leaks, the grand, centuries-old or millennia-old master plan we originally laid out will be completely ruined in an instant..."

Huang Yifan deeply agreed: "Indeed, we must be cautious. You are entirely right."

Unable to hold it in, Fan Tiantiao rolled his eyes right then and there, and finally decided to spell it out directly: "What we mean is... Elder Huang, if you do not have a concrete strategy for this, could you find a high-ranking big shot... to take charge of this matter and point out the direction?"

Sigh, we know you don't have the brains for this, and to be honest, we never counted on you anyway.

We just didn't know who would be more reliable to approach, so we wanted you to introduce someone to us, or report it directly up through your channels!

Yet we never expected you to be so brainless that after hinting at it seven or eight times, you still utterly failed to understand.

This time, Huang Yifan finally understood. Frowning in deep thought, he suddenly slammed his hand onto the table: "Are you implying that I am brainless?"

Fan Tiantiao was struck dumb with astonishment!

What the hell, why did you suddenly become so perceptive this time?

You react and catch on the moment the words leave my mouth?

Of all things, this was precisely the sentence you should not have understood!

"Humph!"

"Smack!"

Huang Yifan slapped Fan Tiantiao down to the ground, then stood up, pacing back and forth while stepping on him, muttering thoughtfully: "Since you describe this matter as so crucial, it seems I must make a trip to the headquarters."

"Creeak, creeak..."

Fan Tiantiao's entire body bones were being crushed and groaning under Huang Yifan's feet, forcing him to clench his teeth and endure the pain.

Finally, unable to hold back any longer, he cried out: "Elder Huang, Boss Huang... spare my life, I... I... this place won't do!"

His cries were heart-wrenching.

Because Huang Yifan had suddenly parked his foot right over his kidney and was increasing the pressure.

Hearing the plea for mercy, Huang Yifan let out a cold hum and said, "It seems you are just a spineless coward as well. If you ever get captured, you'd probably turn into a traitor!"

Only then did he step off him.

Clutching his lower back, Fan Tiantiao wore a face full of bitter grievance.

Damn it, you were stepping on a fatal spot, how could I not beg for mercy? If I were directly stepped into a eunuch by my superior just for offending him, how utterly unjust would that be?

What on earth does this have to do with being spineless?

Could it be that you, Huang Yifan, manage to remain so tough whenever you meet a high-ranking big shot at headquarters?

That is absolute nonsense!

I should have known that Chen Ruhai's old superior would be just as unreliable as Chen Ruhai himself, and true to form, it turned out this way. I was simply too careless after all...

...

Huang Yifan told Fan Tiantiao to wait for news tomorrow, and then took off in a flash.

No matter how crude he could be, Huang Yifan was, after all, a man capable of holding the position of a Vice Mountain Master. How could he possibly fail to understand subtext?

However, this Fan Tiantiao was rumored to frequently clash with Chen Ruhai, and since Chen Ruhai was his own former subordinate from back in the day, a little bit of tempering was certainly in order.

Sure enough, this fool had taken the bait hook, line, and sinker.

Facing the wind, Huang Yifan hurtled across the vast sky.

As a seasoned veteran of the pugilistic world, he actually thought much further and deeper than Fan Tiantiao.

If this matter was true, then... there would be far too many things he could manipulate and exploit.

Therefore, he traveled through the night to reach the headquarters.

Moreover, bypassing several levels of command, he directly requested an audience with the Chief Strategist, Ninth Master!

Ninth Master was the Grand Strategist of the Protectors, and his real name was Dongfang Sansan.

The name Dongfang Sansan sounded somewhat comical at first hearing, yet he was a figure whose schemes never missed a single detail and whose plots always hit their mark.

For so many years, it was precisely Dongfang Sansan who, through his brilliant deployments, single-handedly sustained the prolonged warfare against the All-In-One Orthodox Cult.

It is no exaggeration to say that without Dongfang Sansan constantly patching holes here and there, improvising defenses against every single plan of the All-In-One Orthodox Cult with defensive measures tailored to every offensive, given the Cult's meteoric rise in power, the Protectors would have long since collapsed.

However, under Dongfang Sansan's meticulous planning, the Protectors managed to repeatedly exploit the vulnerabilities of the Demonic Cult to launch concentrated attacks with superior forces.

Having accomplished such feats time and time again, the Protectors had managed to maintain their overall advantage in the mainland's overt political landscape right up to the present day.

One could truly say he had exhausted all his mental and physical efforts.

As for why Dongfang Sansan had such a bizarre name, the reason was... Dongfang Sansan's old man lacked cultural refinement, possessed exceptionally robust physical health, and had married seven or eight wives who collectively gave birth to seventy-nine children.

By the time the twenty-fifth child arrived, basically all the decent names one could possibly think of had been completely exhausted.

Names referring to great seas, towering mountains, white clouds, clear skies, dark clouds, howling winds, torrential rains, and so on... all of them were completely used up.

Furthermore, the old man of the Dongfang family was rather formidable—referring strictly to his martial prowess rather than his intellect.

Consequently, the old patriarch felt that naming his subsequent sons and daughters things like "Dog Egg" or "Duck Egg" seemed somewhat undignified.

At the same time, asking outsiders to choose names for them was a loss of face he simply could not stomach.

Having his wives choose the names... was even more out of the question. The old patriarch was deeply traditional: how could women possibly have the right to name children?

If women were allowed to name them, where would the dignity of a family head remain?

Hence, from that point onward, regardless of whether they were boys or girls, starting from "Dongfang Twenty-Six" all the way up to "Dongfang Seventy-Nine," all of them were given such numerical names.

As for the grand explanation the old patriarch of the Dongfang family offered to the outside world, it sounded quite lofty and grand: to avoid duplicate names!

Ah, I almost forgot to mention: Dongfang Sansan's old man was none of other than Dongfang Chongming, the wielder of the Heaven-Mixing Hammer who ranked fifth on the previous generation's Empyrean Weapon Codex!

Dongfang Sansan, as the name implied, was born thirty-third in order!

Later on, after Dongfang Sansan achieved renown and fame, he devised a clever explanation to cover up the true origin of his name, giving rise to the saying: "Heaven possesses ten shares of plotting intent, yet I only require nine."

Alternatively, another version went: "Heaven's will is complete at ten shares, but my schemes account for three and three!"

After all, three times three makes nine.

There was simply no flaw in that logic.

Therefore, aside from the older generation who knew the true origin of Dongfang Sansan's name, the younger generations—regardless of what realm their cultivation had reached or how high their status had climbed—had always addressed him respectfully as "Ninth Master"!

Huang Yifan waited for a full two double-hours before Dongfang Sansan finally finished handling the tasks at hand and summoned him inside.

When Huang Yifan entered, Dongfang Sansan's desk was still piled with dozens of opened documents waiting for his attention.

"Ninth Master is still working as hard as ever." In front of Dongfang Sansan, Huang Yifan behaved as obediently as a little rabbit.

His voice even trembled slightly.

His heart was filled with excitement, carrying a sense of pilgrimage.

With no other choice, the gap in their status and standing was simply too vast.

"You have only one quarter of an hour."

Wearily picking up his teacup, Dongfang Sansan reminded Huang Yifan not to waste time on polite pleasantries: "After a quarter of an hour, I have other matters to attend to."

Not daring to be negligent, Huang Yifan snapped to attention.

He knew all too well just how precious Dongfang Sansan's time was.

Thus, in one breathless, straightforward rush, he laid out everything concerning Fang Chen, the Shadow, his own deductions and discoveries, the arrangements he had made below...

As well as his long-term plans, all were rapidly poured out in succession.

From the moment he began recounting the specific details, Dongfang Sansan's expression immediately grew focused.

He listened with undivided attention, uttering not a single word.

Within his eyes, starlight flickered and shifted continuously.

Once the entire account was finished, Dongfang Sansan first pressed a bell. Someone immediately entered, and Dongfang Sansan instructed them: "Postpone all subsequent matters for one full double-hour."

"Understood."

"Close the doors, soundproof the room, and seal off the surroundings!"

"Yes!"

A moment later.

Complete silence descended, and Dongfang Sansan began to sink into deep contemplation.

Then, he spoke in a soft voice: "We were already aware of the news that the All-In-One Orthodox Cult utilizes the Five-Spirit Gu for communication. Moreover, we have consistently attempted to imitate and crack it, but have remained entirely incapable of doing so. Therefore, apart from the top echelons of the Protectors who are aware of it, we chose to keep it concealed from those below. Thus, everyone beneath the Protectors' core leadership, including all Garrison Commanders, remains ignorant of the underlying reason. They only know that the All-In-One Orthodox Cult communicates with extraordinary speed, far more conveniently than us, which is why they have constantly studied how to catch up with or surpass the enemy using human manpower."

Huang Yifan asked in a daze: "Why?"

A tangled look of hesitation appeared on Dongfang Sansan's face as he slowly said: "Because the Five-Spirit Gu are living creatures. Utilizing such living creatures, concealing them within the human body to achieve free communication... such a feat cannot be accomplished through mere human manpower. Yet the All-In-One Orthodox Cult can achieve it, while we cannot."

Saying this, he let out a long, heavy sigh and continued: "If my guess is not mistaken, in certain places unknown to us, a victor may have already been decided, but those are existences beyond our reach. There is likewise nothing we can do about it; we can only save ourselves."

Huang Yifan was lost in a fog of incomprehension.

I can understand the phrase 'cannot be accomplished through human manpower,' but I don't understand the meaning behind it.

What on earth is the Strategist implying?

"You need only know this: once this matter is completely sealed and suppressed, that will be sufficient."

Dongfang Sansan sighed and said: "The intelligence is good, and it is accurate as well. However, once it is exploited by others, it is likely to provoke a major disaster of unsettling people's hearts."

Huang Yifan understood even less now.

Yet, remembering to obey orders above all else, he replied: "Understood. I will not speak of this to anyone, and I will immediately issue a strict gag order."

"Mmm."

At the mention of this matter, Dongfang Sansan's brows knitted even tighter together.

In the depths of his eyes, there was even a faint trace of despondency.

He fell silent for a brief moment before finally speaking: "Vice Mountain Master Huang, do you feel that this Fang Chen... does not resemble a bad person?"

Dongfang Sansan spoke at a very slow pace.

It seemed as though every single word was the result of careful deliberation.

Huang Yifan grew nervous as well. Turning the matter over in his mind meticulously once more, he replied: "I... I cannot see through him."

He desperately wanted to confess: *I really feel that he doesn't look like a bad person at all.*

However, standing before Dongfang Sansan, he dared not utter such a definitive claim.

"You cannot see through him... not being able to see through him is a good thing."

Frowning, Dongfang Sansan muttered to himself, drew several round and smooth-polished copper coins from his bosom, and rattled them briskly in his palm for a moment.

Then, he cast them in a scatter across the desk.

Fixating his gaze and steadying his mind, he listened to the sound and observed their shapes.

After a brief moment, he let out a soft exclamation of surprise, his brows furrowing even more deeply as he said: "Heavenly secrets are obscured; divination is impossible."

His gaze instantly turned sharp and piercing.

Huang Yifan did not even dare to draw a full breath; he simply stared wide-eyed with a bewildered expression.

"Heavenly secrets obscured... could he truly be a member of the All-In-One Orthodox Cult after all?"

Dongfang Sansan let out a long, drawn-out sigh.

"This... Ninth Master, how... how should this be interpreted?" Huang Yifan felt somewhat puzzled.

"Because we are incapable of disturbing or influencing heavenly secrets, whereas the All-In-One Orthodox Cult can."

Dongfang Sansan sighed deeply.

Huang Yifan remained equally clueless regarding this statement.

Yet Dongfang Sansan did not proceed to explain further.

He simply frowned and fell back into bitter contemplation.

"Heavenly secrets obscured, fortune and misfortune remain undetermined. Since heavenly secrets are obscured, why should fortune and misfortune remain undetermined? It ought to be entirely ominous instead—where does the auspicious fortune come from?"

"Could it be that there is something within this that works to our advantage?"

"Then where does this advantageous aspect lie?"

............

[A plot patch regarding the Five-Spirit Gu has been applied in this chapter. How do you guys like it?]