cooperate

The shadowy figure said, "This is the villa that my brother built based on when he was a child."

Brother? Cang Jingmo is dead, and Cang Jingye is in the hands of the rebels. Who will call Cang Jingqi "brother" now?

The figure realized he had let something slip and sat down away from Han Jiang. He seemed unwilling to reveal his identity, still wearing a black robe that covered his face.

Since he was unwilling to show his face, he must have his reasons. Han Jiang didn't intend to expose him, but instead leaned closer to Cang Jingqi and asked softly, "Is he Cang Jingjue?"

Cang Jingjue, the one who should have died.

Cang Jingqi gave Han Jiang an affirmative answer with his eyes.

If Cang Jingjue is not dead, then could Cang Jingxing also be alive? Before Han Jiang could ask, Cang Jingqi had already foreseen her question: "Only A-Xing is dead."

The four people sat down around the round table.

Hanqi was most confused: "What exactly is going on now?"

“Let me explain,” Cang Jingjue said slowly. “At the beginning, the Third Prince only said that he would cooperate with someone to study the matter of human-demon transformation. Our role was merely to use spiritual power to acquire hostages and to find information about human-demon transformation.”

That person offered Cang Jingye an extremely tempting condition, but only Cang Jingye knew the specifics; she hadn't told anyone.

Cang Jingjue probably knew that it was related to the deceased Cang Jingxing, so he chose to help Cang Jingye.

However, this was just an underground transaction and did not escalate into a rebellion.

The real rebellion began two years ago.

The original two-party cooperation has turned into a three-party cooperation. Another group has joined in, and they are making significant moves.

Those people were a group of demons who had originally been banished from the demon realm.

Cang Jingye harbored a deep prejudice against the previous Demon Lord, and therefore had no intention of supporting his actions. When she met the group of demons, she did not intend to report them. Instead, she listened with great interest as they talked about their utopian dream of overthrowing the Demon Lord's rule and establishing a unified world under the demon race.

Cang Jingye watched with amusement, hoping these people would make a name for themselves, and ideally, make that Demon Lord suffer a crushing defeat.

The rebels quickly grew in strength in Anju and confronted the imperial court, demanding Anju's independence.

That person involved Cang Jingye in the rebel operation, placing him in charge of demon transformation in Anzhou. The cooperation between the three parties proceeded smoothly, except that the human-demon transformation was stalled.

Cang Jingjue did not express his opinion, but simply followed Cang Jingye's arrangements.

The two men tried to recruit Cang Jingqi, but he remained an observer and refused to participate. In Yinzhou, they hoped to awaken Cang Jingqi's guilt towards Cang Jingxing through an illusion, but unexpectedly, Cang Jingqi became trapped within the illusion himself.

Left with no other option, Cang Jingjue had to send Han Jiang into the illusion.

The death of Cang Jingxing is a knot in everyone's heart.

As three major immortal sects, the Four Continents Sect could not remain indifferent; however, they could only intervene after the Vermilion Bird Pavilion gave a clear signal.

Cang Jingye's actions were too obvious; she made no attempt to disguise herself. Once all sides begin dealing with the rebels, she will undoubtedly be the first target.

Cang Jingqi covered for them, altering the contents of the forbidden book for Cang Jingye, all to dispel the Four States Sect's suspicions about Cang Jingye.

Strangely, the Vermilion Bird Pavilion remained completely silent for a long time. Even the imperial court did not send troops to suppress the rebellion.

At first, they guessed that the imperial court was trying to pin the blame on the demon realm.

The Demon Realm has developed rapidly in recent years, and the opening of the barrier is a major blow to the human realm. The imperial court has long been dissatisfied, but the Demon Lord's attitude is tough and he will not budge an inch, so the emperor can only swallow his anger.

Therefore, in the matter of Anzhou, the imperial court hoped that the demons would step in to quell the situation.

After all, Anzhou is only one realm away from the Demon Realm, while Jingzhou is quite far from Anzhou. If it is affected by the rebels, the Demon Realm will be in more trouble.

Until a travelogue was found.

That travelogue recorded a considerable amount of information about the transformation between humans and demons, but unfortunately, only half of it was in their possession, while the other half was taken by Cang Jingmo.

It was at this moment that Cang Jingye realized something was wrong.

She encountered people from the Vermilion Bird Pavilion on her way to Anzhou.

She thought it was a three-way collaboration, but it was actually a four-way collaboration.

The other side is the Vermilion Bird Pavilion.

Strictly speaking, it is a part of the Vermilion Bird Pavilion.

Besides the transformation between humans and demons, there is also the fusion of humans and demons. The travelogue mentions the secret of immortality, and the Vermilion Bird Pavilion came specifically for this part.

Privately, Cang Jingye and Cang Jingjue mocked the hypocrisy of the Vermilion Bird Pavilion, while outwardly maintaining a good cooperative relationship. She didn't care about the number of parties involved in the cooperation; she only cared about whether she could ultimately get what she wanted.

To everyone's surprise, the Vermilion Bird Pavilion turned against them.

The imperial court suddenly dispatched troops to suppress the rebels.

Before the end of the year, the Vermilion Bird Pavilion gradually withdrew from the cooperation, cleaned up what needed to be cleaned up, and left everything on the Demon Clan, thus making a clean getaway.

"Why didn't you report the Vermilion Bird Pavilion?" Han Qi interrupted.

Han Jiang said, "I'm afraid it's not that simple." She knew clearly that the Vermilion Bird Pavilion had participated in the rebellion. In her memory, she had met two leaders of the Vermilion Bird Pavilion: one was the deputy pavilion master, Li Fang, and the other was the Lord Liu that the Vermilion Bird Pavilion disciples had mentioned before.

Cang Jingjue said, "I don't know anything else, but I guess the court has two purposes: one is to frame the demons and suppress the demon realm while eliminating the rebels; the other is for what that person promised. The Third Prince said it was the art of immortality."

"The art of immortality!" Han Jiang exclaimed in surprise. She only knew that people who cultivated and attained enlightenment in this world could extend their lifespan to a certain extent, but there was no such thing as immortality.

Cang Jingjue continued, "I don't know the specifics. I haven't met the contact person. I'm just acting according to what the Third Prince said, so I have very little information. However, I found someone a few days ago, Xia Chan."

"It should be time by now," Cang Jing said.

Both of them looked out of the courtyard, as if they were waiting for someone.

I was getting sleepy from waiting for Hanjiang to arrive, so I couldn't sit still.

Cang Jingqi moved his stool closer to Han Jiang, so that Han Jiang could lean against him: "How about we go back to the room and get some sleep?"

Han Jiang shook her head; this is an important plot point—how could she be sleeping?

"I'll call you in a bit," Cang Jingqi said gently.

The two stood close together, their heads close together, speaking in a way that only they could hear.

Han Jiang snuggled against Cang Jingqi's shoulder, finding a comfortable position. She was just too tired. Every time there was an important plot point, she couldn't sleep for several nights. Even the most resilient person can't endure several nights without sleep!

My eyelids were drooping, half-closed and half-open.

Han Qi tried to take Han Jiang from Cang Jingqi: "I'll help Senior Sister back to her room to rest."

Cang Jingqi put one arm around Han Jiang, refusing Han Qi's advances, and said, "I'll carry her back."

"No need, I'm not asleep..." Han Jiang poked his head out of Cang Jingqi's arms, forcing himself to stay awake, and pinched his thigh. "Why doesn't it hurt? Aqi, am I dreaming?"

“You’re pinching my thigh…” Cang Jingqi grabbed Han Jiang’s hand.

Cang Jingjue ignored the interaction between the two. He had heard Cang Jingye mention earlier that Han Jiang's arrival at Cang Jingqi had an unusual significance.

He wasn't exactly clever, but over the years, whether Cang Jingqi arranged for him to live in this secluded place or Cang Jingye dragged him into their cooperation, he had always been obedient and dutiful. He always felt that his older brother and sister wouldn't harm him.

He's not good at making decisions on his own, so he'll have to see what his older sister says. Whenever Cang Jingye calls Han Jiang "sister-in-law," he'll follow suit.

Hanjiang fell asleep. However, she didn't go back inside; she just rested against Cangjing.

As night began to fall, Amai led a middle-aged man into the courtyard.

Hanjiang rubbed his eyes: "Amai escaped too?"

“If the emperor could trap the two of us, he wouldn’t have gone to all that trouble just to weaken the demons.” Amai’s words were loaded with meaning.

"Who exactly is Amai?" Han Jiang couldn't contain her curiosity and asked Cang Jingqi. At first, she suspected that Amai had some secret identity, perhaps related to the rebels, or was one of Cang Jingye's men? But judging from Cang Jingjue's reaction, he didn't seem to know Amai well.

Cang Jingqi had long since given up on hiding it from Han Jiang, and said, "Actually, Amai is Amo—"

“Secret Guard.” Amai coughed and spoke before Cang Jingqi could, “I was originally the Second Prince’s secret guard.”

"Ah, I see... My condolences..." That makes sense now. Han Jiang sorted through her thoughts. In the original plot, Cang Jingmo and Han Qi solved the problem, so it was perfectly reasonable for Cang Jingmo to bring his bodyguards as support. Now that Cang Jingmo is dead, Cang Jingqi has taken his place as the male lead, Han Jiang is assisting Han Qi in the female lead's storyline, and Amai, as the original male lead's support, has become a member of the team. In this way, the original team has appeared in a different form.

Han Jiang was lost in her own analysis, ignoring the exchange of glances between Cang Jingqi and Amai.

"Let's focus on the present." Amai was the first person present to advance the plot. "This is the man I found in a secret room in the palace. He is Xia Chan, the deputy head of the Vermilion Bird Pavilion."

"Your Highness." Xia Chan only bowed to Cang Jingqi, indicating that he only knew Cang Jingqi's identity and was unaware of Cang Jingjue.

"Lord Xia Chan, it's been quite a while since we last met," Cang Jingjue said, adding that he had seen Xia Chan before.

The master and deputy master of the Vermilion Bird Pavilion do not usually reveal their true identities; they both wear red and black robes and conceal their faces.

The identities of the three are now clear: Pavilion Master Li Yuan, Deputy Pavilion Master Li Fang, and Xia Chan.

“Yes, and the situation is much more serious now than it was back then. I’m afraid Li Fang has also realized this, and I wonder how Li Yuan will deal with his own younger brother.” Xia Chan turned to the others, “Let me explain to you all this farce that was directed and acted by the Vermilion Bird Pavilion.”

Hanjiang pressed his temples; he had only dozed off for a short while, but his head still felt heavy.

Everyone made room for Xia Chan and Amai and brought everything to the table.

"In the beginning, it was only the Third Prince cooperating with a wandering sorcerer."

Cang Jingjue added after Xia Chan: "That sorcerer made a promise to the Third Prince, in which the Third Prince would help that person find the human and the demon to perform the human-demon transformation. This is not easy to find. She did not want to harm ordinary people, so she had to kidnap serious criminals from prison."

“That’s how we met for the first time,” Xia Chan said. “Li Fang was curious about the Third Prince’s behavior, so he followed her and learned about her cooperation with that person. Li Fang reported this to His Majesty, who seemed very pleased. A few days later, he ordered Lord Liu to meet with that sorcerer. Lord Liu was His Majesty’s liaison with the Vermilion Bird Pavilion, responsible for relaying imperial decrees. Afterwards, they seemed to have reached an agreement, which neither Li Fang nor I knew. His Majesty only told us that the Third Prince would not be coming again.”

Han Jiang: "So the original three parties weren't the Third Prince, the sorcerer, and the demon rebels, but rather the Third Prince, the sorcerer, and His Majesty?"

"That's right."