Chapter 156. Orthodox-Unorthodox War (5)
“Just to be safe, let me make one thing clear.”
I looked at Yang Jian inside the dark cave.
“Trying to escape with Daoist arts won’t do you any good.”
“I don’t know how things were three thousand years ago, but the Daji standing here now is certainly no weaker than you.”
“Ghk...!”
Yang Jian and Daji had been enemies in Investiture of the Gods.
Of course, back then Yang Jian had been one of the good guys and Daji had been the villain.
“Who exactly are you?”
Yang Jian released his transformation and returned to the appearance of a handsome man with long hair.
He glared at me.
“Well... for now, you can call me Kim Nameless.”
“Kim Nameless...?”
Yang Jian looked puzzled.
Belial chuckled beside me.
“He is a Contractor of the S-rank Constellation ‘Nameless King,’ Yang Jian.”
"...!"
“The reason you fell into this trap is entirely because of this man’s scheme.”
Yang Jian sucked in a breath.
“The Nameless King had another Contractor besides Kang Yujin and his group...?”
Even though Yang Jian had met me in the Spirit Realm not long ago, he still hadn’t realized that I was the Nameless King.
That was because I changed my appearance every time I used [Avatar Descent].
I had even altered my voice this time.
There was no way Yang Jian would recognize me as the Nameless King himself.
Of course, if he checked me through an Observer from the Spirit Realm, he’d realize I’m not actually a Contractor... but this area can’t be observed.
Keeping my identity hidden, I addressed Yang Jian.
“Yang Jian, you framed the Black Dragon Society and triggered the Orthodox-Unorthodox War.”
“And that wasn’t enough.”
“You also tried to frame Kang Yujin for murdering Black Dragon Society Chairman Jin Gahui.”
Yang Jian’s goal was the unification of China.
He wanted the Orthodox forces centered around the White Forest Alliance to suppress the Unorthodox forces and take control of the country.
To achieve that, Yang Jian had first tried to secure Kang Yujin’s cooperation and eliminate the Black Dragon Society’s executives.
But when that failed...
he tried to manipulate Kang Yujin into killing Jin Gahui instead.
“If Jin Gahui dies right now, the Orthodox Coalition gains an overwhelming advantage.”
“There’s even a high chance the Unorthodox Coalition would surrender early.”
"..."
“And on top of that, you could pin the crime of murdering an innocent Jin Gahui on Kang Yujin.”
That would destroy Kang Yujin’s reputation.
He had received considerable help from the Black Dragon Society.
Then, without any legitimate justification, he would have ambushed and murdered its Chairman.
“Worse, Jin Gahui was supposedly defenseless while circulating his qi.”
“If word spread that Kang Yujin attacked him in that state, his reputation would hit rock bottom.”
“Ghk...”
Through that, Yang Jian could also get revenge on the Nameless King who had humiliated him.
The Nameless King had rejected Yang Jian’s proposal on the grounds that he refused to make Kang Yujin do something dirty.
By eliminating Jin Gahui, an obstacle to the White Forest Alliance’s conquest of China, while ruining Kang Yujin at the same time...
Yang Jian would kill two birds with one stone.
“In the end, you planned to dump all the blame on the Black Dragon Society and Kang Yujin while leading the Orthodox Coalition, centered around the White Forest Alliance, to rule China.”
In Yang Jian’s scenario, the White Forest Alliance had done absolutely nothing wrong.
The Black Dragon Society had massacred the Shanghai Branch.
Kang Yujin had murdered the Black Dragon Society Chairman.
The White Forest Alliance had merely fought a righteous war and taken control of China.
Of course...
the whole thing had been Yang Jian’s conspiracy from beginning to end.
“But now that you’ve been captured here, your entire plan has fallen apart.”
I turned my head.
“That Apostle over there recorded everything you did after entering this cave.”
“I filmed it perfectly!”
Number 49 grinned and gave a thumbs-up.
“My Constellation, the ‘Nameless King’... intends to release that footage and denounce you publicly.”
"...!"
Yang Jian had watched Constellation Tube before.
He could probably imagine exactly what I would do.
If I exposed that Yang Jian was behind the Orthodox-Unorthodox War...
and revealed that he had tried to trap Kang Yujin into eliminating Jin Gahui...
the damage to Yang Jian would be devastating.
“Yang Jian, once everything becomes public, you’ll become a common enemy.”
“Th-That...”
“Constellations and Contractors alike will be furious with you.”
“The White Forest Alliance Contractors currently fighting because they trust you will feel utterly betrayed when they realize they were used.”
I raised my hand and pointed at him.
“You used a cowardly conspiracy to ignite the Orthodox-Unorthodox War.”
“That is an unforgivable crime.”
“W-Wait!”
Yang Jian hurriedly raised his voice.
“M-Me? Started the Orthodox-Unorthodox War? That’s a false accusation!”
“It’s true that I exerted influence over the White Forest Alliance, but the actual cause was the massacre of the Shanghai Branch...”
“That was your own staged attack too, wasn’t it?”
"...!"
Yang Jian’s eyes widened.
“The Nameless King has already figured out that the massacre was staged by the Great Unification Society you lead.”
“D-Do you have proof?”
“I can’t exactly present it to you myself here.”
I shrugged.
“I’m not the Nameless King, after all.”
I spoke confidently.
While thinking inwardly,
I don’t actually have proof, though.
Most likely, Yang Jian had used Constellations originating from Water Margin.
He probably made them control Contractors through [Demonic Star Descent] and commit the massacre.
But based on all the information I gathered from other Constellations... circumstantially, I’m almost certain.
It wasn’t something I could say in front of Belial and the others...
but I had been contacting many different Constellations.
Mostly ones who disliked Yang Jian’s activities in China.
With my reputation rising recently because of the Committee, those Constellations had voluntarily handed information to me.
Just like Yang Jian had.
By combining everything they told me, I had managed to see through the truth behind this Orthodox-Unorthodox War.
“Yang Jian, this time the Nameless King intends to expose every one of your schemes to the world.”
“Along with a mountain of evidence.”
"..."
Yang Jian’s face twisted in despair.
He understood that he had been driven completely into a corner.
“If that happens, you’ll be ruined as a Constellation.”
“You’ll be condemned by Contractors in the Material Realm.”
“The White Forest Alliance will denounce you, and Contractors will start terminating their contracts with you one after another.”
His Origin Power would probably plummet in an instant.
If things went badly enough...
he might never recover.
