Chapter 166

===================

The man's laughter stopped abruptly.

"What did you say?"

Lian Yun didn't care at all about the danger in his tone.

"I say, since you want us to see that room so much, is there your autobiography in it?"

man:……

"Some villains are like that. They like to write down their dirty deeds in a diary, hoping that one day it will leak out and shock the world."

Lian Yun raised his eyebrows, pretending to hesitate: "...You are not that kind of person, are you?"

The man was silent for a while, then suddenly sneered, "You're still stubborn even when you're about to die..."

"Pa!" Lian Yun clapped his hands solemnly. "Not bad, the lines are classic."

The man's wide sleeves seemed to tremble a little, but he soon thought of something, pulled out a dagger from his sleeve, and handed it to Mogo who was kneeling on the ground.

From the time Lian Yun appeared until this moment, Mogo has maintained the same posture, but Lana knew that he was not being manipulated.

Mogo took the knife respectfully, looking as if he was waiting for instructions, and never looked at the two men from beginning to end.

The man's tone became relaxed again: "You are very powerful, but unfortunately, your minds are not clear."

"What aspect are you talking about?" Lian Yun asked quickly.

When the other party thought they were doomed to die, they would not hide too much, so she would seize this opportunity to ask as much as possible.

"I'm a person who's not stingy with praise. To be honest, I'm very optimistic about your town. Its development has completely exceeded my imagination. If we work together, I'm sure there will be a very bright future."

"It's just that you are too stupid to want to overthrow me."

Lian Yun caught the meaning of his words.

"You're wrong. I don't intend to overthrow you." Lian Yun pretended to explain. "If I'm not mistaken, you're the patriarch of the Hewlett family. But even if we wanted to overthrow the rule of the Magicians' Association and the nobles, it wouldn't have much impact on you."

"Those two sides haven't gotten angry yet, why are you so anxious?"

The man laughed twice: "You guessed right, but you're only half right."

"Guess again, why are these two major forces restricted by my Hewlett family?"

Lian Yun frowned slightly.

She had initially suspected he might have leverage over the two major factions, but then she looked at Mogo, who lay unresponsive on the ground. Suddenly, she realized how powerful this man's ability to manipulate people was. Perhaps even the top figures in the Magicians' Association and the nobility had been controlled by his rhetoric...

However, the next second, a bigger conspiracy theory appeared in Lian Yun's mind.

This may have made her afraid to even think about it.

Can the man in front of me really do that?

Lian Yun's gaze was fixed on the man's cloak, and he couldn't help but make an almost impossible guess -

"The president and the noble elder...are both of them you?"

The man didn't say anything, but Lian Yun noticed his obvious joy and realized that he had guessed right.

No wonder he had never seen the president of the Magicians' Association, nor had he ever seen a member of the upper class of the nobility show up.

Even if they were caught and interrogated, they would be brought to this castle separately by people from both sides.

Because the Hewlett family lives here, the patriarch of this family, whose name is only passed down, is the one who truly controls all power in the main city.

The three forces in the eyes of outsiders converge at the top, but are actually in the hands of one person.

He is the president of the Magicians Association.

He is also a senior figure who participates in the decision-making of the upper class of the nobility.

Magicians and nobles are usually incompatible, but they have been able to live in peace for so many years. Lian Yun has long been puzzled by this, but he just regarded it as a negotiation between the top leaders of the two forces.

It’s no wonder that the Sun and Moon Sect led by Lian Yun has become so famous, and he is the most nervous about it.

"It's not easy for you to rule as one person and yet have your subordinates split into three factions, and they all look down on each other."

It’s hard to tell whether a girl’s words are good or bad, and the man doesn’t care.

He was delighted that someone finally knew the secret he had buried for many years. The comfort and relief he felt at that moment was indescribably wonderful.

"It's certainly not easy for me," he said, his voice rising slightly, revealing a false sense of righteousness, "but for this continent, it's worth it."

Lian Yun: "...There are so many complaints that I don't even know where to begin."

The man looked at him unkindly: "What do you mean?"

Lian Yun used the same tone he had used to judge himself and the town earlier, and tilted his head: "Even though you praised me and the town, it doesn't mean I will compliment you back against my will."

"To your honest assessment, I can only respond with a sincere response—your rule, whether in agriculture, the economy, or the material well-being of your people... is truly abysmal."

The man's mood suddenly turned gloomy, causing the air in the entire castle to become stagnant and cold.

"You don't believe it? Why don't you just name something that you think is good enough?" Lian Yun smiled.

The atmosphere around the man grew even colder. "As an outsider and a natural traitor like you, you naturally don't understand my good intentions."

Lian Yun suddenly realized: "This level of skill actually took a lot of effort to create?"

She shook her head and sighed, "You might as well let them survive in the wild on their own instead of interfering with them 'intentionally'—at least they'll have a better chance of survival."

"Shut up!" The man waved his hand, and his sleeves rose up without wind, causing the air around him to condense rapidly. Invisible wind blades appeared out of thin air, and dozens of them pointed at the two people at the same time.

"This is just the beginning. As long as you keep going, soon... the whole world will be different!"

As the man's voice suddenly rose in pitch, the wind blades all stabbed towards Lian Yun.

"You're anxious!" Lian Yun said quickly while stretching out his hand to hug Lana's neck tightly. Lana hugged Lian Yun's waist tightly, jumped down from the stairs, and used the momentum of the stairs under his feet to dodge flexibly.

In the blink of an eye, the two of them were already not far in front of the man.

Lian Yun didn't know what he meant by "different", but it was obvious that this ruler was very clear about what was happening in the city below.

"You praise my town's rapid development, but you don't want me to overthrow your rule. You keep saying you're doing this for your people, but you're leaving them in dire straits."

Lian Yun folded his arms across his chest, looked at him calmly, and gave a sarcastic laugh: "What you said is different. Are you talking about letting monsters rule the continent?"

"After all, judging by the state of those weeping beasts, it doesn't seem like you're going to push the world in a positive direction."

Combining the information he had obtained before, Lian Yun understood that the man in front of him was the one who instructed the village to tame the weeping beast.

Before, she only thought that the person who did this was hiding in the main city. She never expected that the instigator was the one who controlled the entire city and even the lifeline of all human beings.

He wanted to tame the ferocious beasts and use them for his own purposes.

I don't know what his intentions are, but they are definitely not good.

If Lian Yun didn't know this, perhaps she would still believe that the man in front of her was truly caring about humanity.

But the man who could treat these trusting weeping beasts so cruelly and tame them into the form they were just now, his mind and methods were so vicious and cruel that it made people shudder. It was hard to imagine what he had done.

What is most puzzling is his suffocating method of selecting his successor.

It is definitely not a coincidence that Alicia and Mogo's parents disappeared at the same time.

Alicia herself also went through such a selection system.

Lian Yun sensed the man before him possessed a strong desire for control. He would not allow his heir, at least not in name only, to act in any way that went against his will. Just like Mogo, who now knelt behind him like a soulless puppet, this must be the "heir" he most desired.

Lian Yun even felt that there was something seriously wrong with his mental state.

He was a very contradictory person.

He clearly knew that everything he did was extremely detrimental to his rule and humanity, but for certain ideas in his heart, he still insisted on doing so and had great hope for the future.

This kind of "hope" is beyond the understanding of normal people.

Seeing them easily avoid his attacks, the man actually laughed with satisfaction: "Lanna, you have indeed grown a lot. It seems that only in this kind of environment can you hone your true strength."

Lian Yun's pupils shrank slightly.

She didn't expect that the man in front of her actually recognized Lana, and his tone was so familiar.

The man also noticed Lian Yun's subtle expression and looked at the two of them as if he was watching a show. "Why, you didn't expect that? Could it be that Lanner hasn't told you about his past yet?"

Lian Yun subconsciously looked at the person next to him. Lana looked at the man dangerously.

Lian Yun had always known that Lan Na was afraid of nothing except getting hurt. He found it difficult to talk about the past, but when facing Lian Yun, he still confessed everything he knew.

But Lanna didn't know what happened in his childhood and his own origins.

Why on earth did the people who raised him die one after another?

This was a blow and a lingering curse for Lanner throughout his life.

The man in front of him brought up all this again, disrupting his life, which had finally calmed down. The man knew him, but he was completely unaware of his existence.

Lanna couldn't help but think of his mysterious life experience.

Even though Lana knew that even if Lianyun knew his past, she would still stay with him as the "family" she said, just like he protected Lianyun.

He had tried his best to suppress most of his emotions, but he still couldn't control himself and believe that he could face the past completely calmly.

At least at this moment, he was not willing to stand beside Lian Yun but have anything to do with the person opposite who would be dangerous to Lian Yun.

The hand holding the holy sword trembled slightly. If it weren't for Lian Yun's cold hand covering it, he would probably have immediately raised the sword to chop off the head of the man in front of him to prevent him from saying something he didn't want to hear.

The man's tone was more interested. "Don't you want to know your own life experience? From what I know, you seem to have been pursuing it. Now that a great opportunity is in front of you, don't you really want to know?"

What he said is true.

Before being expelled from the main city, Lanna had been searching for his own life experience. He wanted to know who had killed the noble who had just adopted him. He also wanted to know whether the old man's death was an accident.

But when he was about to lose all hope, he met Lian Yun, and since then, he didn't want to think about anything else.

Lian Yun gave him new hope and a new life. He didn't care about his past and brought him into a whole new world.

If he had not met Lian Yun, he would have given up everything and only gained a little information about his life experience.

But now he doesn't want any other risky things to interfere with his relationship with Lian Yun.

These months were the happiest he had ever experienced in his life.

Lana remembered every promise Lian Yun made. He remembered Lian Yun wearing the slightly withered golden wreath, the embrace that was about to fade away, the tears that flashed in Lian Yun's eyes when he talked about his past, and the light in his eyes that made people smile unconsciously when he imagined the future of the town.

Lana knew very well that the man in front of him would never say anything nice. His attitude and tone now seemed like he was waiting for a comedy climax to happen. When the drama developed to his favorite part, he would definitely clap and laugh.

Does he really not want to know?

At least now he didn't want his life story to be told by the man in front of him, and he was even more afraid that Lian Yun would hear about his even more unbearable past.

The past few months have been wonderful for him, but he doesn't feel greedy enough and wants more. He wants to accompany Lian Yun to see the world develop in the direction he hopes for.

He doesn't want any risk.

Lana gently pulled out the hand that Lian Yun was holding and smiled at her.

Before Lian Yun could react, he raised his sword and rushed in front of the man in an instant. He grasped the hilt of the sword with both hands and slashed at the waist. The sound of sword breaking through the air arose.

After such a long period of high-intensity training combined with actual combat, Lana has made a qualitative leap in both speed and attack.

No normal person can withstand such a full-strength attack.

However, the man remained calm and did not even try to hide.

Lanna was cautious and experienced. When he fought, he did not, like others, get caught up in the action and ignore many details about the enemy.

Lanner's move was intended to force out his true strength. If he could dodge, his speed would at least be faster than his; if he could meet the attack head-on, the attack power would be evenly matched.

He noticed that the man's cloak didn't offer much defense.

But he didn't move, as if he was completely sure of himself.

The moment Lanner swung his sword, he suddenly had an unknown premonition.

The man didn't take action, but he was obviously not the kind of person who would sit there and wait for death.

Mogo, who was kneeling on the ground, was no match for Lanna, and there were no one of his men around...so what was his confidence?

Lanna quickly calmed down.

Attacking rashly is the biggest taboo in combat. He has made this mistake out of panic and cannot continue to make the same mistake.

Lanna stopped in time, changed direction instantly and slashed straight to the ground.

He looked coldly at the man's dark face, as if he could catch some amusement from the darkness.

"Why did you stop?"

Lanner took a few steps back, his brows expression calm. "I just didn't think it was necessary. Your abilities are inferior to mine, so you can only rely on me to hurt yourself."

"I don't know how you did it, but I won't risk my life."

The man sighed, seeming to feel regretful: "You are too cautious. You missed such a great opportunity?"

Lana remained silent. Lian Yun walked over to him, looked at the man and smiled faintly: "For someone like you, the mental blow is definitely greater than the physical blow, right?"

The man laughed. "Still being stubborn? Is it because the feeling of betrayal is so bad that you've selectively forgotten that Mogo told me everything?"

"No."

The smile on the man's lips froze.

He slowly lowered his head, looked at the dagger and bloody hole in his chest, then turned around and looked at the person who was speaking behind him.

Mogo looked at him quietly.

“Not everything.”

--------------------

The author has something to say:

Hehehe, did you guess it?

Mogo: I betrayed! — I didn’t betray! — I really betrayed!