Chapter 859 - 858: Everyone Is Dumbfounded! Feng Shiyu Starts Analyzing Again!

"What?!" Zheng Chenguang shot up from his chair so violently that the sand table in front of him shook. He glared at the Li family servant kneeling below, his eyes bulging as if they were about to pop out of their sockets.

"Gu Yuexi not only held the Southwest Defense Line, but she actually took that wretched mosquito of hers and launched a counterattack against the Sea Demon Army?!" Zheng Chenguang roared. "Are you sure she’s alone? There are no other reinforcements?"

The Li family servant bowed at the waist, burying his head low with a miserable expression.

"Young Master Zheng, every word this servant says is true! How would I dare deceive you?" he cried. "I saw it with my own eyes. It was only Gu Yuexi and her mosquito beast pet. Oh, right, there were also several dozen mosquito clones and a few hundred flying insects of an unknown species. They didn’t even wait for the Sea Demon Army to attack; they just directly launched a counter-offensive against them! By now, they’ve probably already clashed!"

Zheng Chenguang gripped the armrests of his chair so tightly his knuckles turned white and the veins on the back of his hands bulged.

"How is that possible? That’s absolutely impossible!" he muttered frantically. "Gu Yuexi is just a junior cultivator in the Divinity Transformation Realm. Even if she has some ability to kill enemies above her level, she couldn’t possibly stop the powerhouses of the Sea Demon Army! I’ve seen the strength of the Flying Shark Brothers myself; they once held their own against an expert in our True God Realm. To think that even they died at Gu Yuexi’s hands?! How on earth did she do it? What gives her the right to achieve such a thing?!"

Letting go of the chair, Zheng Chenguang began tearing at his hair in frustration. His once-slicked and neat hairstyle was instantly reduced to a rat’s nest. However, no one paid any attention to his maddened state, because the condition of everyone else in the room wasn’t much different.

Everyone was completely stunned by the sudden news, unable to recover their senses for a long time.

Yang Qingyang slumped in his chair, his back pressed tightly against the seat. His face was ashen as he repeatedly muttered the same phrase over and over.

"It’s over. It’s over. It’s over..."

The biggest thing they had relied on when daring to plot against Gu Yuexi was the certainty that she would die amidst the chaotic battle. Once she was dead, even if someone later discovered clues, a simple "dead men tell no tales" would completely clear them of suspicion. No one would investigate further. Much less would anyone cross the Eight Great Clans for a Divinity Transformation Realm cultivator with an unknown background.

But if Gu Yuexi not only survived but also held the Southwest Defense Line and achieved great merit... the situation they would have to face would be entirely different.

Once the sea demon assault was repelled, their plot to assassinate Gu Yuexi would likely be exposed. If she demanded accountability, the City Lord’s Mansion would be forced to take a stance to appease public outrage. When that time came, not a single person sitting in this room would be able to escape punishment.

They would certainly not be able to keep their military uniforms; they would be stripped of their ranks entirely. They might even be charged with treason and colluding with the enemy, and thrown straight into prison! Even with the monstrous influence of the Eight Great Clans, they wouldn’t be protected!

Just thinking of those consequences sent chills through everyone’s bodies, leaving them paralyzed in their chairs, unable to even stand.

Sitting at the head of the table, Li Zi’an’s expression wasn’t much better. He stared intensely at the servant below, his fingertips turning slightly pale.

"Let me ask you, the intel you were ordered to send out earlier—are you absolutely sure it was delivered into the hands of the Sea Demon Commander?"

The Li family servant nodded forcefully, his tone resolute.

"Young Master, this subordinate is certain the Sea Demon Commander received our intel. After receiving it, the Sea Demon Commander indeed changed its attack strategy. It began ordering sea demon squads to charge in alternating waves, preparing to completely drain Gu Yuexi’s divine power.

"It’s just... right as the Sea Demon Army finished organizing its ranks to launch the assault, Gu Yuexi took her beast pet and those summoned creatures and charged out on her own initiative."

Li Zi’an fell silent for a moment before turning his gaze to Feng Shiyu beside him, his tone carrying a heavy solemnity.

"Shiyu, what’s your take on this?"

Feng Shiyu kept her head down, her fingers lightly tapping against the armrest of her chair, staying quiet for a long time. It wasn’t until Li Zi’an asked a second time that she slowly looked up. Her face was devoid of expression, yet her eyes were far more complicated than usual.

"We all misjudged Gu Yuexi."

At these words, everyone’s gazes instantly fixed upon her.

Zheng Chenguang anxiously stepped forward and asked loudly, "Feng Shiyu, what do you mean? What do you mean we ’misjudged’ her? Isn’t Gu Yuexi just a Divinity Transformation Realm cultivator? She only has a few tricks up her sleeve relying on a couple of artifacts! What could we have misjudged?!"

Feng Shiyu had already put her glasses back on. She reached up to push the frames, speaking in an unhurried, calm voice.

"In the beginning, we ordered a full military retreat from the Southwest Defense Line. The goal was to lure Gu Yuexi into following the main force straight into our prepared ambush. We preemptively accounted for all possible scenarios. We calculated the route, the distribution of the sea demons, and the precise timing for the assassins to strike.

"The only thing we didn’t account for was that Gu Yuexi wouldn’t retreat at all. Because any normal cultivator wouldn’t foolishly stay behind at an utterly deserted Southwest Defense Line to face an army of hundreds of thousands of sea demons alone. That would be no different from seeking death.

"Yet Gu Yuexi did exactly that. By guarding the city wall all by herself, she directly disrupted every single one of our arrangements."

Feng Shiyu paused, tapping her fingertip against the armrest once more before continuing.

"After the plan fell through, we thought she wouldn’t be able to escape the fate of being slaughtered by the chaotic sea demon forces. Whether she retreated or not, it was merely a question of dying sooner or later. But as a result, not only did she not die, she forcefully held the Southwest Defense Line. She didn’t let a single sea demon step over that city wall.

"We analyzed the reasons for this earlier. It should be because our troop withdrawal was too hasty, while Gu Yuexi abnormally stayed behind. From the perspective of the Sea Demon Commander, it looked more like a deliberate trap set by us to lure them into the defense line to be surrounded and annihilated.

"The Sea Demon Commander is paranoid by nature. Fearing an ambush, it only dared to send its powerhouses up one by one to test the waters, refusing to press forward with the entire army. As a result, all the sea demon powerhouses it sent were slain by Gu Yuexi. Not a single one returned."

At this point, Feng Shiyu gave a self-deprecating smile.

"And so, we then thought of passing Gu Yuexi’s detailed intelligence to the Sea Demon Commander to help it dispel its misgivings. Though we didn’t explicitly say it, our meaning was obvious enough. We practically spelled it out for the Sea Demon Commander that there was no ambush on the city wall—there was only Gu Yuexi and her mosquito beast pet, and there was nothing to fear."

She sighed, her tone tinged with helplessness. "But clearly, the Sea Demon Commander didn’t entirely believe the intel we sent over. Even now, the Sea Demon Army hasn’t launched a large-scale assault, but is still charging up in small squads, which is essentially offering up free kills to Gu Yuexi on a silver platter.

"Though it’s understandable. After all, we and the sea demons have been slaughtering each other for countless years. We are already mortal enemies locked in an endless blood feud, so there is no trust to speak of. It’s perfectly normal for the Sea Demon Commander to distrust our intel and fear a trap."

The meeting room fell silent as everyone lowered their heads to digest Feng Shiyu’s analysis.

The more they thought about it, the more suffocating it felt. They had meticulously designed a chain of schemes, yet when it came to Gu Yuexi, they hit a brick wall at every turn, landing every punch on thin air!