Chapter 98: So It Was You
“My dear nephew, take a seat on the left for now. Once your royal uncle and your other uncles have finished discussing military matters, a feast will be prepared in your honor.”
“Yes.”
Upon hearing this, Gu Xiaopang walked over to an idle chair at the side and sat down. Bai Ling’er stood obediently behind him.
“Commander, do the formation masters have any means to pinpoint that traitor?”
“No, there’s nothing they can do.”
...
Though he was new to the camp, Gu Xiaopang had already grasped the general situation from the moment he entered from outside.
“Master, I’d like to try and bluff that traitor. Could you help me observe everyone’s expressions in the tent?”
“You rascal. It’s just a matter of catching a traitor—no need for such trouble. Why don’t you simply...”
...
“Gentlemen, I do have a method that can accurately expose the traitor.”
“Oh? Does the son-in-law have a plan?”
“My dear nephew, are you sure this isn’t a jest?”
“With something so important, how could I dare trifle with it?”
“What must be done? Nephew, proceed as you wish.”
“Very well, then forgive my presumption.”
As Gu Xiaopang spoke with unwavering confidence about his method to find the traitor, all the generals in the tent were taken aback and, at the same time, exceedingly curious.
Under everyone’s gaze, Gu Xiaopang produced, seemingly out of thin air, a compass artifact that appeared utterly ordinary yet emanated a notable spiritual aura.
He rose, holding the compass solemnly, and walked to the center of the tent.
“Swift and certain command, the magnet seals the heavens and earth!”
Suddenly, the compass in Gu Xiaopang’s hand blazed with light, and a formidable, merciless pressure engulfed everyone inside.
“Command!”
At the instant everyone was stunned, Gu Xiaopang’s loud shout jolted them back to awareness.
“What just happened?”
“What was wrong with me just now?”
...
“How did it go, nephew?”
“Commander, I already know who the traitor is.”
“Oh? Who?”
As Gu Xiaopang’s gaze swept over each general’s face, none could take their eyes off him, awaiting his revelation—save for one.
“The third seat on the left row!”
“Old Tie? Impossible!”
“Nephew, son-in-law, could you have made a mistake?”
“No, I am absolutely certain.”
“How dare you, Mu Tie! So it’s you after all!”
“Brothers, seize him!”
“Bang!”
“Ah!”
Several generals rushed to apprehend Mu Tie, but just as quickly as they moved, they were sent flying.
“What nerve! We’ve worked together for ten years, and all this time you’ve been concealing your true power.”
As Mu Tie’s identity was exposed, his internal energy surged, and his cultivation, previously at the mid-Golden Core stage, soared instantly to the late Nascent Soul realm.
“Gu Changqing, truly a talent in youth.”
“But what puzzles me is, how did you see through me?”
As everyone cursed him in anger, suppressed by his overwhelming aura and unable to move, Mu Tie looked nonchalantly at Gu Xiaopang in the center of the tent.
Commander Zi Haochu, himself at the peak of the mid-Nascent Soul realm, instantly flashed in front of Gu Xiaopang to shield him.
“Old Zi, ha! Do you think, if I wished to take his life, you could stop me?”
“Hmph! Old Zi? You’re not worthy to call me that.”
“I’ll stake my life before letting you harm him. And don’t forget, this is my command tent—you won’t escape unscathed today, not with tens of thousands of troops outside.”
“My young friend, you still haven’t said how you saw through me.”
“Royal Uncle, allow me.”
“Hm? No, it’s too dangerous.”
At that moment, Gu Xiaopang deftly slipped from behind Commander Zi, revealing himself.
“It’s all right, Royal Uncle.”
“As for you, seeing through your disguise was the simplest thing.”
“First, your deliberately concealed cultivation; second, my bluffing method fooled everyone else but failed to fool you.”
“If you’re not the traitor, then who?”
“That simple? Then what about your earlier method?”
“Precisely that simple. As for the compass, it’s just an ordinary artifact, utterly incapable of such effects.”
“And how did you discern my cultivation?”
“Well, let’s just say I’m exceptionally gifted, haha.”
“Scoundrel, you dare mock me? I’ll kill you now!”
“You wouldn’t dare!”
With that, Mu Tie withdrew his oppressive aura and launched an attack at Gu Xiaopang, intent on killing him on the spot.
Commander Zi Haochu, only a notch below in cultivation, shielded Gu Xiaopang with all his strength, engaging Mu Tie in combat.
The remaining thirty or so Golden Core generals, regaining their mobility, widened their eyes and shouted as they too rushed to attack Mu Tie.
But given the vast difference in cultivation, several generals were quickly knocked to the ground, instantly losing the ability to fight.
Outside the tent, the soldiers had already sensed something was wrong. Without waiting for orders, they responded en masse, surrounding the tent so tightly that not a drop of water could pass through.
Countless crossbows and arrows were aimed at Mu Tie, who continued to knock down the generals, but finding a clear shot proved difficult in the chaos.
...
In the blink of an eye, more than ten generals had been struck down, some unconscious, others unable to fight further. Yet despite this, the remaining generals stood firm, determinedly positioning themselves before Gu Xiaopang, attacking Mu Tie with all their might while subconsciously forcing him away from Gu Xiaopang.
“Master, lend me your strength once more.”
“Go ahead.”
Mu Tie, who had been deftly handling Commander Zi Haochu and knocking aside the attacking generals, suddenly sensed a surge of danger. Not far away, Gu Xiaopang’s aura soared from late Foundation Establishment to late Golden Core, instantly summoning a host of spiritual dragons into the fray.
Everyone was astounded by Gu Xiaopang’s sudden rise in power, but none dared relax; instead, they fought all the harder against Mu Tie.
“Boom!”
“Boom, boom, boom!”
...
The myriad five-element spiritual dragons instinctively avoided their allies, bombarding Mu Tie relentlessly from all sides.
At the same time, the Meteorite Five-Spirit Bracelet spun furiously, charged by five-element spiritual power, and smashed toward Mu Tie’s skull.
Gu Xiaopang’s hands did not pause for a moment, wielding a rhinoceros horn artifact to stab repeatedly at Mu Tie’s chest and waist as he struggled to fend off the attacks.
With Gu Xiaopang—his cultivation now at late Golden Core, but his actual combat strength rivaling a typical mid-Nascent Soul expert—joining the fray, the scales of victory tipped swiftly in favor of the defenders.
In moments, Mu Tie was battered from head to toe, his skin charred and shriveled in places, his skull swollen with large bumps, and his chest and back riddled with bloody holes.
...
“Spit!”
“Seize him! Strip him of his cultivation!”
“Yes, sir!”
...