Chapter 385: Ran Lin’s Insightful Analysis

Chapter 385: Chapter 385: Ran Lin’s Insightful Analysis

Rumors spread like wildfire, sweeping through the entire city overnight. It wasn’t just Cage City; even the common people and the Blue Wolf Army camps encircling the Blue Sea had heard about it.

Walking through the streets and alleys, Chu Fan heard the rumors and knew that Daru had made his choice.

Although Daru was Enke’s legitimate son, he was the one who had fallen out of favor. Chu Fan worried, ’Can Daru really kill Enke?’

But as the rumors spread, they grew wilder and more outrageous.

Chu Fan had a general idea of Daru’s plan. ’But is five days really enough?’

’Or maybe I should help him get rid of Enke?’

’I’ll just watch and see for now.’

With such rumors flying all over the city, if Enke, the Clan Leader, didn’t know about them, he wouldn’t be the Clan Leader.

He was in his royal hall, sitting behind his desk with an ashen face. The floor before him was a mess of shattered teacups, spilled tea, and scattered ink, brushes, and paper.

A few people stood there with their heads bowed, their expressions hidden.

"Have you found the source of these rumors?" Enke asked after his outburst.

One of the men shook his head. "First thing this morning, many people were discussing it in private. It’s impossible to trace the source."

Enke had considered Daru. After all, Daru had just returned from Vast Sea City. The talk of the White Wolf King was so vivid and detailed, and it would have taken some time for the news to travel from there to here.

But over the years, Daru had been out of favor. Among his brothers, he was the least ambitious, lacked ability, and had no drive. Even his children were the most inconspicuous of their generation.

There was no benefit for him in doing something like this.

If one were to say he was vying for power, his lack of influence over the years meant that no one with any real power in the Cage Race was close to him.

Besides Daru, the only other suspects were the few who had accompanied him to Vast Sea City.

However, after Enke sent people to investigate, he found that those men had kept a low profile since returning to Cage City and hadn’t met with anyone.

"Investigate the merchant caravans coming from the northeast," Enke ordered.

A man acknowledged the order and left immediately.

"Send out a notice. Starting today, within the territories ruled by the Cage Race, no one is to privately discuss the White Wolf King. Anyone who defies this order will be arrested immediately. You can also kill a few as a deterrent to stop these rumors," Enke said.

As Enke’s order was carried out, countless heads rolled in Cage City, and even more people were arrested.

In a single day, the entire city was terrorized into silence.

But this was Enke’s worst possible move, a step that would push him into the abyss.

Unfortunately, he had grown accustomed to being stubborn, autocratic, and ruthless over the years. Whenever he encountered a problem, his only solution was to use slaughter to turn the tide.

He didn’t realize that this time, it was the last straw that breaks the camel’s back.

Although on the surface no one dared to speak of it anymore, the hatred many felt for Enke was buried even deeper.

Ultimately, the "appearance of the White Wolf King" had planted the seeds of rebellion in their hearts.

"An expert. This Huo Er is a formidable enemy. He’s now qualified to be my opponent."

In an ordinary felt yurt across the Blue Sea from Cage City, Ran Lin, dressed as a woman from the Northern Domain, murmured softly after hearing the news from the city.

"Saintess, you think that Huo Er is the one who spread this?" the Half-Saint Elder standing beside her asked.

Ran Lin replied with an air of confidence, "Who else could it be? Enke has the courage and ambition of a tyrant, along with a tyrant’s despotism and arrogance. But he lacks a tyrant’s finer qualities, such as magnanimity, even if it’s just for show. Huo Er targeted these very strengths and weaknesses, using these rumors to throw Enke into disarray."

The elder seemed to understand, yet at the same time, he seemed to have understood nothing at all.

Ran Fei walked in from outside. "What effect can Huo Er hope to achieve with this? Does he want to take control of the Cage Race?"

Ran Lin smiled. "His goal is the Profound Iron Order, of course. But Enke has already made his decision. Regardless of whether he believes the White Wolf King is real, he’s unwilling to hand over the Profound Iron Order. He’s even tightening his investigations with the aim of killing Huo Er. Under these circumstances, how can Huo Er possibly get the Profound Iron Order?"

"Can’t he just have the White Wolf King appear again?"

"That’s the fundamental issue here," Ran Lin said.

"What is it?" Ran Fei and the elder both looked at Ran Lin, confused.

Ran Lin stood up, casually picked up a wine cup from the low table, and brought it to her nose to smell as she spoke. "The White Wolf King is either fake, or his strength is not even a tenth of what it once was. The White Wolf King’s appearance in Vast Sea City was a surprise to everyone. Huo Er used some unknown technique to instantly kill two of our Mahayana Realm experts, which is how he intimidated everyone else. But Enke has already made his choice. If the White Wolf King appears but fails to subdue Enke, then even if they survive, they’ll never be able to use the White Wolf King’s name to do anything again."

"If I’m not mistaken, Huo Er’s plan is to stoke the hatred many in the Cage Race feel for Enke. It’s like a pile of tinder that’s been baking in the sun for a long time; all it needs is a single spark to ignite."

Ran Fei asked, "Then what’s the spark?"

"Daru," Ran Lin said faintly.

"Daru?" Ran Fei was still confused.

"Daru saw the White Wolf King in Vast Sea City. Huo Er can make promises to Daru in the White Wolf King’s name, list Enke’s crimes, and force Daru to make a choice. Faced with the prospect of power, Daru will surely submit. Once Daru raises the banner of righteousness to eliminate his own kin, many will rally to his cause."

Here, Ran Lin sneered and continued, "Heh, whether Daru succeeds or not, Cage City will descend into chaos. Once it does, and after they’ve killed each other for a while, won’t Huo Er have a much better chance of taking the Profound Iron Order?"

"Saintess, should we muddy the waters even further? Or perhaps we should just intercept Huo Er and take it for ourselves?" Ran Fei suggested, tempted by the idea.

Ran Lin glanced at her and retorted, "Why would we do that? Isn’t it better to stand aside and enjoy the show? The more I see of his performance, the better I’ll understand all of his methods. Those Profound Iron Orders he obtains will just be paving the way for us. This is also a perfect opportunity to get a good look at their true strength."

"Saintess, there is still one thing I do not understand," the Half-Saint Elder said with a frown.

Ran Lin smiled. "You’re wondering how, even if all the common people in the city rebel, Enke won’t suffer great losses since he controls the Cage Race’s high-level Combat Power and his sons control the Blue Wolf Army, right?"

The Half-Saint Elder nodded.

"You underestimate the place the White Wolf King holds in the hearts of the Grassland Tribes. For a thousand years, the Dahar Khan Kingdom has promoted this belief, and faith in the White Wolf King now flows through their very veins. That is the core purpose of the rumor Huo Er spread."

"To obey the White Wolf King is to uphold righteousness. Yet Enke dares to defy the White Wolf King and even wants to kill the Envoy sent by him. Once the people confirm that the White Wolf King and his Envoy are real, Enke’s death won’t be far off."

It had to be said that Ran Lin’s thinking was far deeper than Chu Fan’s. He hadn’t considered the final point she made, or perhaps he knew but had overlooked it.

But in the end, everyone had underestimated Daru.