Star Trace Gate

Chapter 981 The Trusted Undercover Agent, Potato's Internal Team Building

If it weren't for the battle at Du Village, Niu Dali would definitely have thought the young marquis was bragging. The other man was clearly just a desperate prisoner, yet he insisted on calling himself a peerless genius. But when he recalled the young marquis's invincible figure that night, breaking through the Locking Void Formation with a single spear thrust, he truly admired him…

This young man may love to show off, but he's really no ordinary person.

Niu Dali reached out and tore off a piece of the fattest lamb leg, then sprinkled it evenly with salt and seasoned it with some chive blossoms before personally handing it to the young marquis: "Brother, have a piece."

"Thank you, brother." The young marquis suddenly realized that he was becoming a bit perverted, and that he actually quite enjoyed playing the role of a lackey or lapdog. He even found it very interesting to stick out his tongue when talking to people, and that it could also help him improve his emotional intelligence.

He took a big bite of the lamb leg, his mouth dripping with oil.

Niu Dali looked at him with a smile and said in a low voice, "Good brother, I've assigned detailed tasks to all the military officers in the manor these past few days, but you, this fifth-rank genius... I haven't used you at all. Do you know why?"

The young marquis replied in a muffled voice, "I don't know, but I'm sure you have your own plans, and I trust your wisdom."

"Moro wants that huge sum of Star Source, and Zhenyi wants Wang Anquan... and both of these things are irreconcilably at odds with me. If Wang Anquan is lost, then naturally we won't be able to find the Divine Court's spies; if the Star Source is lost, then my merit in redeeming myself will be gone, and I'll only have sin left. Therefore, I must gamble everything on these two and fight them to the death." Niu Dali drew a circle on the table and solemnly said, "Before Master He Hong arrived, only one of us could survive... To be honest, brother, although I am somewhat confident about this matter... I dare not say that I will definitely win a great victory."

"Therefore, I must consider both victory and defeat."

"If I lose, I will surely die. But that's the cruelty of power struggles; once both sides fight to the death, there's no way to have a win-win situation. So, if I lose, I can only accept my fate. However, in this martial monk's residence, there are still many of my women and children, as well as some relatives from my clan. They are all outsiders and should really not be implicated in this matter...!"

"Ugh."

Niu Dali sighed deeply: "Brother, you saved my life, so there's no need to say more about our friendship. Therefore, the task I'm assigning you is... if something drastic happens in Beifeng Town and my situation becomes dangerous, you must take my family and flee this place quickly, help them find a safe and secluded place to settle down, and live in anonymity from now on, never to return."

Upon hearing this, the young marquis was extremely surprised and looked somewhat bewildered. He said, "Brother, I am a fifth-rank official. If I can help you directly at a critical moment, I will certainly play a greater role... But if I only help you protect your family, wouldn't that be... wouldn't that be a waste of my talents?"

“Brother, this is a matter of direct combat, and it’s not something that one person can change the situation with. Besides… I’ve made thorough preparations. Whether I have one more or one less fifth-rank official, the difference isn’t that big.” Niu Dali shook his head and said, “But being able to get my family to escape from here is… the real big deal that will give me peace of mind.”

The young marquis was speechless, extremely unwilling to accept this task, but since Niu Dali had already said so, he couldn't refuse. He could only reply with deep emotion, "Brother, this is a heavy responsibility entrusted to me. I sincerely thank you for your trust... Don't worry, as long as I'm alive, no one can touch my sisters-in-law!"

“Brother, I’m entrusting this matter to you. Tomorrow I will send you a hundred personal guards. These are soldiers who have fought alongside me for over a decade. They will obey your orders and commands. You should also discuss with them in advance and devise a plan to escape from this place. If things really don’t go well, on the day of the incident, I will open a separate city gate for you and send you out first,” Niu Dali whispered his instructions.

"Yes, I understand. I will discuss it with those personal guards and officers." The young marquis nodded emphatically.

"Come on, let's drink!"

Having said that, the two stopped talking and simply drank and chatted.

About 15 minutes later, all of Niu Dali's important generals arrived and began to discuss matters with him behind closed doors.

The young marquis had a few drinks and sat beside Niu Dali listening the entire time. Although he never interrupted, anyone could see that Niu Dali already considered him a loyal confidant, someone worthy of respect.

Niu Dali seemed to have gotten the information from somewhere and was very certain that Moro would join forces with Zhenyi to launch an attack soon. Therefore, the main purpose of his meeting today was to mobilize troops.

……

Supply depot.

After Ren cleverly dealt with Liu Wei, he kept thinking about how to send a message to Long Er in Tiandu, so that he could mobilize the Divine Court's troops and prepare to cooperate with him from the inside.

As night fell, he saw Master Chu hurrying back and casually asked, "Hey, still no news from the young marquis? Has Niu Dali not heard a thing?"

Master Chu took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, then laughed and said, "Hehe, you asked very accurately. I went to that rendezvous point this evening, and the young marquis really did send a message."

"What did he say?" Ren Ye immediately stood up and asked.

“Niu Dali is secretly mobilizing troops. Starting tonight, monks from several government offices will approach the Martial Monk Mansion under various pretexts after nightfall to protect Niu Dali’s safety.” Master Chu said confidently, “Without a doubt, Niu Dali already knows about your alliance with Moro and is mobilizing troops to guard against it.”

“Oh, this must be the Spirit Cat working again, starting to help Niu Dali with his plans.” Ren Ye considered it carefully for a moment: “Moro had already calculated his move to mobilize troops to protect the Martial Monk’s Mansion, so we don’t need to worry about that. What I’m concerned about now is how the young marquis is doing. Hasn’t Niu Dali asked him to do anything? After all, he’s a fifth-rank official, and he can be very useful at crucial moments.”

Upon hearing this, Master Chu shook his head: "These past few days, Niu Dali hasn't arranged anything for the young marquis. He's so idle, spending all his time drinking with those arrogant soldiers and fierce generals at the Martial Monk's Mansion...!"

“A fifth-grade expert, and he doesn’t even need to use Niu Dali?! Hiss…!” Ren Ye pondered for a moment: “Does he not quite trust the young marquis yet?”

"Let me finish...!" Master Chu waved his hand, looking somewhat annoyed. "That bastard Niu Dali, it's not that he doesn't trust the young marquis... it's that he trusts him way too much. Today, the young marquis said in a secret letter that Niu Dali gave him a task... to do everything in his power to protect his entire family on the night of the upheaval in Beifeng Town. He even specially assigned a hundred personal guards to command him, and equipped him with his most trusted military officer to assist him. He also told the two of them to start working on an evacuation plan right now...!"

"Huh?!" Ren was dumbfounded upon hearing this.

"I think it's that idiot young master... who overdid it. He's so perfect at playing the role of a traitorous lackey that Niu Dali was willing to entrust his family's safety to him." Master Chu said with a sigh, "However, the job he took on isn't very helpful to us! What we need is for him to play the role of someone who can deliver a fatal blow in a direct conflict. Taking full charge of managing his sister-in-law... that won't be of much help either."

Ren also fell into deep thought, his eyes looking very unfocused.

Master Chu waited for him for a while, then frowned and asked, "What are you thinking about? Why aren't you saying a word? Are you in despair again?"

"…!" Ren Ye's eyes gradually regained their light, and then he said in a calm tone, "The young marquis's infiltration was originally an unintentional move, just a casual pawn. We shouldn't have had too high expectations of him in the first place… To win the Beifeng Town matter, we can only make moves from our own perspective, because all external factors are uncontrollable… Tell the young marquis not to be anxious, and even more so, not to foolishly show any resistance by applying for other tasks from Niu Dali… Let him look after his family. What he needs to do is to do everything Niu Dali instructed him to do well and reliably… including his sister-in-law and children."

"In addition, you and he should devise two new secret codes for communication on the day of the operation... because we'll both be very busy that day and definitely won't have time to go back to that place to get the letter."

"Okay." Master Chu nodded, then asked, "And what about Jiu Zhi? This person was taken by Wang Tudou, so how do we get him back?"

"You'll have to keep an eye on this, because I really don't have much time that day…!" Ren thought carefully for a moment, then whispered, "That day, I'll find an excuse to send you away, and you need to keep a close eye on Wang Tudou… Remember, this group is not to be trifled with; in my mind… they might be even more troublesome than Moro. So, once you've got your sights on them, don't make any rash moves. We'll wait until things in Beifeng Town are settled before we…!"

Master Chu listened attentively, taking notes and interjecting occasionally to help Ren refine his strategy.

……

Inside the inner palace, in an extremely quiet courtyard.

Wang Tudou personally prepared a table of delicious food and wine, along with priceless fine wine, for an internal dinner with his team members.

According to the original plan, after successfully taking control of Jiuzhi, the team would return to Tianzhao City as soon as possible to report to the Divine Monk's Mansion, because their task was very simple: to successfully escort Jiuzhi back.

This task is the prologue to the series of quests at the Divine Monk's Mansion. Successfully completing a certain number of quests will unlock higher-level tasks from the Divine Monk's Mansion, and could even be the starting point for entering the Heavenly Capital. Therefore, Wang Tudou values ​​it highly. In addition, the nature of this task is relatively simple, which is why he doesn't get involved in any of the power struggles in Beifeng Town throughout the entire process. He remains an outsider, focusing on how to handle his own affairs well.

However, this task took a huge turn when... Yu Tiange, that idiot, suddenly jumped out and acted recklessly, taking action against Jiuzhi ahead of time, which allowed Wang Tudou to seize Jiuzhi earlier than he had expected.

This completely disrupted Wang Tudou's plans.

He originally intended to play the role of a cicada stalking the cicada, waiting until the dust settled in Northwind Town before striking suddenly and seizing Jiuzhi. This approach had many advantages, as it would allow him to gain a clearer understanding of the situation and the true intentions of various factions…

But Yu Tiange suddenly made a move, so if he didn't take action, there was a risk that Jiuzhi would be completely lost... Therefore, he had no choice but to act in advance outside the garrison.

Thus, the naturally cautious Wang Tudou realized that the situation was not yet clear, and he might have already replaced Yu Tiange's previous position, becoming a lamb in the open, while someone might still be watching Jiuzhi in the dark... Therefore, his situation was actually more dangerous than before he obtained Jiuzhi. He had changed from the oriole to the mantis, and needed to be more cautious and patient in dealing with what might happen next.

This is why he didn't take Jiuzhi away immediately. If he didn't move, the hidden forces might just keep watching; but if he was determined to leave, they would definitely launch a thunderous attack on him.

He was unaware of how many other forces were secretly plotting to seize Jiuzhi, so he didn't want to become the next Yu Tiange, the target of everyone's attacks. He needed time to prepare and plan for the future.

Besides, there are actually two uncontrollable external factors that prevent them from leaving.

First, after Niu Dali returned, he not only sent troops to keep a close watch on the inner palace, but also sent a message to Wang Tudou himself, telling him directly: "There are spies from the Divine Court in Beifeng Town. You were fighting outside the town's headquarters and killed two people and forcibly seized Jiuzhi. This case has not yet been investigated. Therefore, before Master He Hong arrives in Beifeng Town and before Wang Anquan completely exposes the spies from the Divine Court, you cannot leave Beifeng Town."