Star Odyssey

Chapter 1382: Evidence

Even though Long Qi had already accepted the wager, Yu Chen still felt that something was off. She considered the matter from Long Qi’s perspective: how would he go about turning this situation into a victory? Despite spending a lot of time thinking about the options, Yu Chen felt that it was impossible for Long Qi to come out on top. After all, no one aside from the three Guan brothers knew of the true reason for them making the bet, as no one knew that there was a monster in Red Orchard City.

This was an inescapable trap unless Long Qi possessed the strength needed to defeat the monster, but that was impossible. After all, that monster had the strength of an Envoy.

The Guan brothers had hidden their attack. Long Qi might want to break the game, and he might be able to ask a powerhouse for help, but it would be his loss even if he managed to stay alive.

No matter what Yu Chen considered, the outcome was already determined.

Yu Chen dismissed her thoughts of Long Qi. The matter was already settled, so she needed to move on to the next important task: recruiting powerhouses to accompany the Junior Progenitor to the Dominion Realm.

The Young ancestors had to be accompanied by those of the same generation, as this was a rule set in place by Progenitors. Unfortunately, this meant that very few people qualified to join the Junior Progenitors, and there were only two such qualified people in the entire Celestial Frost Sect.

***

Even though the Yinshan District bordered Huaiyuan, the Middle Realm was simply too vast, and it took seven days to travel between the two Humility’s Gate gates, even when a person used a mount.

A call came in from Long Xi while Lu Yin was traveling, but he did not answer the call. After all, he would just be yelled at if he spoke to the woman.

Off in the distance, Lu Yin could see rivers that formed rings in the sky that swirled around and connected the ground to the sky. There were landmasses, cities, and even a military in those islands. They were also the site of Humility’s Gate’s Huaiyuan Gate.

Even after Lu Yin saw the Huaiyuan Gate, it still took him another half a day to arrive at Humility’s Gate’s local Gate.

Lu Yin did not get too close to the Huaiyuan Gate, and instead stopped in a distant city. He was already close enough.

He had never actually considered entering the Gate himself to search for the evidence he needed. After all, it was Humility’s Gate’s Huaiyuan Gate. Even if the three Guan brothers were currently absent, Lu Yin would not have an easy time trying to enter the Gate, and he would never be able to access the place where the evidence proving the Guan brothers to be Redbacks could be found.

The three Guan brothers had long been extremely careful. Despite the many years that they had led one of Humility’s Gate’s Gates, they had never been revealed as Redbacks, so they clearly were quite capable.

Lu Yin was not naive enough to expect that simply gaining access to Guan Yun’s memories would be sufficient evidence for such an accusation.

However, Lu Yin did not actually need any evidence, as he already had what he needed.

He raised a hand, and a scarlet eye with a slitted pupil appeared in it. This was the evidence he needed.

Lu Yin had found out from Guan Yun’s memories that humanity faced the same enemy in the Perennial World as they did in the Fifth Mainland. In both places, humanity faced zombies. Also, there was a common symbol that represented the zombies: a scarlet eye with a slitted pupil.

Only Redbacks would be given the scarlet eyes. It was proof of their identity, as well as a means to communicate with humanity’s enemy.

The Guan brothers had hidden their scarlet eyes in the most protected place within Humility’s Gate’s Huaiyuan Gate. Lu Yin knew exactly where the eyes were, but they were somewhere he could not reach. Fortunately for him, he already had more than one scarlet eye.

Lu Yin actually had two of the eyes. He had gotten one from Silver back on Earth, while he had picked up the second from Wu Shang, who had tried to kill Ming Yan on Shenwu Continent. Also, Lu Yin had the stone table with the image of the scarlet eye on it. He had plenty for what he needed.

The three Guan brothers were just too unlucky.

Lu Yin was in no hurry for the time being. If he immediately pulled out his evidence, even a fool would know there was something wrong with it.

Was there any chance that the Guan brothers would have anything that could reveal them as Redbacks in an easily accessible place?

Lu Yin quietly stayed in the city closest to Humility’s Gate’s Huaiyuan Gate for five days.

Over in the distant Red Orchard City, Unseen Light kept a fake Lu Yin company as they wandered around the city. Zhuo Si had helped to keep Lu Yin’s absence hidden, so not even Guan Tong had realized that the Lu Yin they were seeing was fake.

However, Guan Hai gradually realized that something was wrong. The ‘Lu Yin’ he was observing was too calm, and also behaved a bit strange. Not once during his time in Red Orchard City had his facial expressions changed, and that was impossible.

It was impossible to change subconscious habits. Guan Hai had investigated the places where Lu Yin had been in the Yinshan Mountains, and found that the person he had investigated was completely different from the ‘Lu Yin’ wandering about Red Orchard City.

The man immediately moved to block ‘Lu Yin’ and Unseen Light.

“You are not Long Qi!” Guan Hai barked as he stared at ‘Lu Yin.’

‘Lu Yin’ remained as calm as ever.

Unseen Light frowned. This was a problem.

Zhuo Si suddenly appeared and placed himself in front of ‘Lu Yin.’ “Guan Hai, there’s still time before the conclusion of the bet, so what are you doing? Are you trying to take back your wager?”

Guan Hai stared at Zhuo Si and sneered. “That is not Long Qi! You’ve brought out a fake Long Qi for this bet! The real Long Qi might have already escaped long ago.”

Zhuo Si Li shouted back, “Guan Hai, I show your elder brother respect for his position as Humility’s Gate’s gate master in Huaiyuan, but I’m losing my patience! Don’t overstep yourself!”

At this moment, Guan Tong, Guan Yun, and Yuhua Mavis arrived. “Second brother, what’s going on?”

Guan Hai whispered to Guan Tong.

Guan Tong smiled and directed his attention to Zhuo Si. “Gate Master Zhuo, there’s no need to bother hiding anything. This fake is a fake and is not the real person. But don’t worry, I won’t force the matter about the person being real or fake. After all, you’ll have to explain the matter to me when the time runs out.”

Guan Tong actually preferred if Lu Yin had escaped, as that would save him the need to argue the matter with the supervisor of the nine gates. Even though this would not have Long Qi die in Red Orchard City, this option would still fulfill Yu Chen’s goals, so the brothers’ objectives would be achieved.

As for Red Orchard City, it could remain the brothers’ hidden option. Long Qi running was a better result than they had hoped for, as they would not do anything that might offend the White Dragon Clan itself.

Zhuo Si did not lose his calm after it was revealed that Lu Yin was absent. His goal had always been to keep the Guan brothers in Red Orchard City, and he had done just that.

The Guan brothers had questioned Lu Yin’s ability to find and arrest traitors, and in doing so, they had hoped to lead Long Qi over to Red Orchard City where they could arrange his death. However, Lu Yin had taken advantage of this situation to keep the brothers away in Red Orchard City so that he could move about in Huaiyuan.

Both sides were trying to out-maneuver each other, but Lu Yin had a distinct advantage. After all, his die’s Possession ability had allowed him to literally get inside his opponent’s mind, which allowed him near omniscience and omnipotence.

At this time, Lu Yin called Zhuo Si from where he was outside of Humility’s Gate’s Huaiyuan Gate.

Zhuo Si looked down as his communication crystals vibrated, and his eyes lit up as he connected to the call. Lu Yin’s image appeared before everyone. Everything was put out in the open.

Guan Tong sneered, “Sure enough, this one’s a fake.”

Lu Yin looked over at Guan Tong. “Gate Master Guan, you certainly are cruel enough.”

Guan Tong felt puzzled. “What do you mean by that? You dare show yourself after escaping? If I were in your shoes, I’d stay hidden for the rest of my life and make sure that no one would ever find me.”

Lu Yin looked helpless. “While this junior did have that desire, I had to consider humanity, and so I could not just escape.”

He lifted a hand and brought out a scarlet eye.

Everyone momentarily felt a cold wind hit their backs as they dumbly stared at the scarlet eye.

Members of Humility’s Gate were all familiar with this sight, as it was the symbol of humanity’s worst enemy, and was also the sign of a Redback.

The three Guan brothers were utterly shocked at seeing Lu Yin holding a scarlet eye. Could Long Qi be a Redback? No, that was impossible. If he was a Redback, he would never deliberately reveal himself. However, if Long Qi was not a Redback, then where had he gotten that eye?

“Gate Master Guan, you three Guan brothers have betrayed mankind! What do you have to say for yourself? This eye was found in Humility’s Gate’s gate here in Huaiyuan!” Lu Yin shouted loudly, and his voice echoed through the area.

Zhuo Si locked cold eyes onto Guan Tong.

Guan Tong’s scalp had gone numb. Even if he were beaten to death, he still would never be able to imagine Long Qi claiming that the scarlet eye belonged to the brothers. While it was true that they had such scarlet eyes, they were hidden in a place that could never be found. Guan Hai spoke up and shouted back at Lu Yin, “Long Qi, how dare you try to slander us! My big brother is one of Humility’s Gate’s gate masters, so how could he possibly be a Redback? Are you trying to make a joke of Humility’s Gate’s screening processes?”

Guan Yun roared, “Long Qi, you’re asking to die!”

Lu Yin replied in a cold voice, “This insignia was found in Humility’s Gate’s Huaiyuan Gate. Gate Master Si, please contact the Middle Realm’s supervisor and arrest those three. Now that there is conclusive evidence, they can’t deny the truth.”

Zhuo Si immediately moved to call Qing Chen.

The three Guan brothers all looked at each other. They felt confused and torn. They could not figure out what to do. If they did nothing and allowed Zhuo Si to call the supervisor and it was discovered that they were all Redbacks, they would all die. However, was it really irrefutable proof? What if Long Qi was trying to trick them? What if that insignia he held was fake? If they reacted now they would be exposed for real.

At this time, even the normally calm Guan Hai was in a state of complete shock and did not know how to respond to this development.

Though he had hesitated for a moment, Zhuo Si had already contacted Qing Chen and delivered Lu Yin’s information to the supervisor of Humility’s Gate’s nine gates in the Middle Realm.

Qing Chen was flabbergasted at the news. He had already known that there was a Redback hidden very deep inside Humility’s Gate, but he had never considered that it might be one of the nine gate masters. His instinctive reaction was that such a thing was impossible, but it was also impossible to lie about such a thing.

Also, Long Qi had been the one to obtain the evidence, and that made Qing Chen remember the unknown hand that had provided Long Qi with a list of traitors.

This was news that shocked everyone.

No matter what, I need to go to the Huaiyuan Gate and investigate this matter for myself. Qing Chen did not hesitate to think further, and he stepped into the void and disappeared.

Back in Red Orchard City, Zhuo Si dismissed everyone else and remained alone to confront the three Guan brothers. Zhuo Si had a stern expression. “The evidence is concrete, so I will be taking you all in.”

Guan Tong shouted back, “I am Humility’s Gate’s Huaiyuan gate master! How could I be a Redback? Zhuo Si, how dare you work with that Long Qi to ruin us!”

The truth was that Zhuo Si was very hesitant at this moment. Given Long Qi’s strength, there was almost no chance of him being able to enter the Huaiyuan Gate to retrieve the needed evidence. However, the White Dragon Clan was also behind Long Qi, and the White Dragon Clan would never allow Long Qi to make baseless accusations against the three Guan brothers. Such an incident would be a terrible scandal that would humiliate the White Dragon Clan. In the end, Zhuo Si placed his faith in the White Dragon Clan, not Long Qi.

All Redbacks are hidden exceptionally well. Back then, there was a Redback who managed to infiltrate the top of the four ruling powers, so what’s so impossible about you three being Redbacks?” Zhuo Si challenged.

Guan Tong was furious. “Fine! You’re a survivor of the Lu family, not only did you not hide your sorry asses, you dare accuse us of being Redbacks. You’re seeking death!”

The Envoy’s body disappeared. Across from him, Zhuo Si’s eyes had filled with killing intent as he heard Guan Tong’s words and remembered the past. Zhuo Si waved a hand and slashed straight through the void.

A massive spatial tear split all of Red Orchard City, and Guan Tong was instantly blasted back, stunned. “You…”

Zhuo Si had revealed a level of strength that had far exceeded Guan Tong’s expectations. Guan Tong was an Envoy with a power level of more than 600,000, but Zhuo Si definitely surpassed a power level of 700,000! Everyone had been certain that Zhuo Si was an Envoy who had just barely surpassed a power level of 500,000.

“We all underestimated a bastard child like you!” Guan Tong shouted, and Guan Hai leaped into the air behind his big brother. The middle brother waved a hand down from up high, and the void condensed into streams, and the compressed space formed an indescribable attack that shot down towards Zhuo Si.

Zhuo Si dodged.

The attack smashed into the ground and shattered the earth. The attack continued deep underground, tearing the terrain apart.