"...This is the scheme 'Ordered Slaughter' by Yin Minghong, one of the Silver Blood's Four Oddities. For Jing Zhengwei's orders, he's indiscriminate of right or wrong, executing them to the fullest extent. When Jing Zhengwei was purging the Jing Family, he personally killed important members, causing disunity within the Jing Family towards Jing Zhengwei; when Jing Zhengwei was plundering the wealthy households of Xuanzhu County, he slaughtered one family and raided ten, making the Silver Blood members too afraid to voice their anger against Jing Zhengwei's violent rule, yet with enough strength to spark resistance..."

"Yin Minghong relied on betraying comrades to gain a chance to infiltrate the Jing Family. Even until Jing Zhengwei's death, he believed Yin Minghong to be his most loyal second-in-command. While Yin Minghong never betrayed the Jing Family, his actions brought the situation in Xuanzhu County to an irreconcilable state."

"This is the dark military strategy of undercover operations, 'Ordered Slaughter.' Blood is the currency of warfare; as long as enough is paid, war will come as promised, and eventually, White Night becomes the ultimate winner..."

In the guard teaching building's lecture hall, the students listened intently but didn't forget to take notes. They could almost imagine that the bulletin board would certainly be torn over Yin Minghong for an entire week.

Compared to Jing Qingfu's 'Qingfu's Wine Persuasion,' Ting Gu's 'Nurturing Soldiers for a Thousand Days,' and Qin Leyin's 'Son's Offer,' Yin Minghong's 'Ordered Slaughter' is indeed highly controversial. His life story is so convoluted, from his White Night background, mine pit uprising, yielding to the Jing Family, to ultimately snatching Jing Zhengwei's victory and Silver Blood's heritage falling into the Revolutionary Army's hands...

Years of undercover, perfect concealment, and dark schemes!

No wonder Teacher Qin dubbed him as 'Dongyang's Top Undercover!'

Seeing even Qin Yueshi showing a 'Sudden Realization' expression, Le Yu knew that this time even if Yin Minghong jumped into the sea, he couldn't clear his name.

He wasn't intentionally defaming Yin Minghong; rather, he was elevating his status. After all, he is now the Silver Blood Wolf Qin Leyin, opposed to White Night, so the more he maligns Yin Minghong here, it shows Yin Minghong's absolute loyalty.

Conversely, if he praised Yin Minghong, that would truly harm him.

Moreover, 'Ordered Slaughter' wasn't something fabricated by Le Yu, it was exactly what Qin Leyin thought. As the saying goes, the polluted see pollution; Qin Leyin, who revels in intrigue and deception, naturally perceives everything as plots and betrayal. He even believes he saved Jing Zhengwei—compared to being betrayed by White Night, who he personally supported later, he considers sending Jing Zhengwei off as a grand finale.

As to whether this anecdote would lead future generations to regard him as a deep, scheming undercover, blowing him up as the 'Wolf of Dongyang' 'Silver Blood Strategist' 'White Night's Foremost Schemer'...

Who cares, as long as Le Yu successfully skips class. With Qin Leyin's embellishments of Yin Minghong, Le Yu didn't even prepare for this lecture.

The bell rang, and the students reluctantly left the classroom. Le Yu directly climbed out the window to leave, not giving them a chance to ask questions.

But Le Yu hadn't walked far when he sensed someone catching up. Turning back, it was Mie Tangya.

"Qin Leyin, can we talk?" Mie Tangya had a somewhat strange expression. Le Yu didn't suspect he would attack in broad daylight, so he followed him to a shady spot—after all, he's now a Vice Principal, which means during the day he has a substitute called 'Cha Huan.' By chanting a summoning spell 'Principal save me,' the substitute 'Cha Huan' would appear to annihilate the enemy.

Mie Tangya seemed to be pondering over his words, and with nothing better to do, Le Yu observed the fifteen-year-old boy. Not noticing is one thing, but upon looking, he was shocked; compared to the short boy from over ten days ago, Mie Tangya had changed a lot. His clothes were stylish, his hair was smooth and shiny, his complexion had turned fair, his eyebrows groomed, and there was a faint scent on him. He even wore lip gloss...

The more Le Yu looked, the more he felt something was wrong because Mie Tangya was a head shorter than him, making him appear like a petite and charming...beautiful youth.

"Brother Qin."

This call made Le Yu's legs go weak, and he barely maintained his composure, squeezing out a word: "Uh?"

"It's like this," Mie Tangya hesitated, blushing slightly, speaking softly: "We're friends, right?"

"Yes."

"I mean no harm, just think you're really remarkable. The Eye of Omniscience has helped me so much, you've made a name for yourself in the academy, and even the principal recognizes you. Brother Qin, you truly are a man filled with masculine charm."

Mie Tangya clasped his hands together, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Le Yu. Le Yu almost knelt down to him, shaking his head repeatedly: "No no no, Niruo is much more masculine than me! Look at his sexy stubble, his flamboyant hair, his intense sweat, his sharp sword, his sharp eyes, which aren't better than me?"

"How can Niruo compare to Brother Qin? Moreover, Brother Qin, you're handsome, knowledgeable, perfect in every aspect. I've admired you for a long time, always idolized you, so Brother Qin, could you..."

"No way!" Le Yu backed off three paces: "Sorry, actually I have a fiancée, I'm not into men!"

Mie Tangya was stunned: "What men?"

But he quickly noticed Le Yu's strange gaze and immediately understood something, exclaiming angrily, "That's not what I meant! Damn! You redhead stop slandering me! If you've got the guts, let's compare right here!"

"Then why are you dressed so innocent and fragrant?"

"That's what Dailan insisted. She wanted me to dress like this and even helped me put on makeup, saying this style is popular in Yanjing. As a country boy, I had to listen to her."

"Then why are you speaking so coyly?"

"Dailan said I was too loud and rough usually, she insisted I speak like this or she wouldn't pay attention to me. What could I do?"

"Then why were you flattering me like that?"

"Dailan said praising you more would make it easier to get information from you. I'm not good at communication, so I had to follow her advice."

Le Yu sighed: "You're really having a hard time."

"It's not that bad, actually nothing much." Seeing the misunderstanding cleared, Mie Tangya breathed a sigh of relief, but couldn't resist saying, "Though Dailan is a bit wilful, narcissistic, frenzied, troublesome, she's actually a kind-hearted girl with many virtues, like bathing three times a day..."

Seeing Mie Tangya racking his brain to think of Ming Dailan's virtues, Le Yu couldn't help but again feel grateful for his 'Ice Blood Physique' that immunizes against the brainwashing of the Holy Sword mark—what a spirited young fellow turned into a lapdog, the brilliance of the Holy Sword is terrifying.

Le Yu didn't even dare to imagine the outcome if he fell into the brainwashing of the Holy Sword, judging by Ming Shuiyun's current state, it might require him to venture into the tiger's den every night.

"Alright, what information are you trying to extract?" Le Yu cut straight to the point.

Mie Tangya blinked: "Damn! Did I spill the beans? I told you I'm not suited for this kind of work...I actually just wanted to probe how much you've discovered about Blood Essence Stone. You killed those two teachers a few days ago, surely it was because you found out something?"

Le Yu nodded: "I found out they were working with the master of the Blood Essence Stone, they seemed to have joined some plan..."

Mie Tangya's eyes widened in attention, Le Yu glanced at him and said, "But you know I've killed them, so that's all I know. No more information."

"I see..." Mie Tangya pondered.

"Do you have any information to share with me?"

"No, I don't." Mie Tangya's eyes wandered: "You know I've been following Dailan all day, no time to investigate..."

"Really nothing?"

"Really nothing!"

"So you're just freeloading my information without any return?" Le Yu squinted his eyes: "If you keep doing this, I won't dare to cooperate with you anymore."

Mie Tangya's expression stiffened. He thought for a moment and then reluctantly pulled out a...lip balm from his bosom.

"This is the 'Flawless' series icy moisturizing lip balm from Wulian Commerce, moisturizing and hydrating, reducing lip lines, crystal clear, sold outside for three gold coins, often out of stock! As compensation, I'll give it to you, it's the most expensive thing I have!"

Le Yu blinked: "...you're giving me a used lip balm?"

Mie Tangya looked puzzled: "Does a big man like you care about that? And Dailan used it too and liked it, she said it tastes sweet, wanted me to try it so she gave it to me..."

Eh?

Hmm?

Le Yu sensed something was off.

Wait a minute, Mie Tangya is the spirit of Xia Mu's Beiwei Army, coming as a student to participate in the sword search and position competition to protect Ming Dailan. Thinking about it carefully, isn't this the script of the 'retired Soldier King protecting the school beauty'!?

"Alright, alright, let's consider this a favor you owe me, which you will repay in the future." Le Yu waved his hand. "And the thing Dailan Palace gave you, don't give it away, otherwise Dailan Palace will be angry."

"How do you know she would be angry?" Mie Tangya asked in surprise. "I lost the hair clip she gave me, and she was so angry she didn't speak to me for two full days."

Le Yu glanced at Mie Tangya, confirming with a look that he was a slow-witted person. Just the thought of Mie Tangya being able to have an ambiguous, innocent school romance with a beautiful girl made Le Yu a little envious. It was an experience he had never had unless he also transmigrated into a beautiful girl.

"So you really don't have any other intel? I'm from Xia Mu, don't lie to me."

"No, no."

After repeatedly confirming, Mie Tangya left, looking as if he was afraid Le Yu would not take him along for a game. Although Le Yu felt it was a bit strange, he didn't give it much thought. After all, ever since Mie Tangya complained that the honey Five-Flower Tea was hard to drink, Le Yu had already listed him as an untouchable in his mind.

...

...

In the evening, approaching 8 o'clock, Le Yu in the teacher's dormitory took out a metal badge. When the badge vibrated and connected, he said:

"Yin, I have something to do tonight, so I can't chat with you."

「Is it because of the Blood Essence Stone?」

A multitude of thoughts flashed across Le Yu's mind in an instant, but he replied very confidently: "That's right."

「Can you tell me what it is?」

"I am going to a gathering hosted by the owner of the Blood Essence Stone."

Le Yu answered so frankly that 'Yin' fell silent instead. After a while, the other person said: 「You told me so honestly?」

"I trust you." Le Yu said firmly, "Although we've never met, I already know from our interactions that you're an intellectual scholar with a beautiful spirit, and you would never harm me."

— That's a lie.

The reason Le Yu was so honest was, firstly, because he suspected 'Yin' might already know about the Immortal Palace plan, and lying would only diminish the impression points accumulated with great difficulty; secondly, because he was fairly certain 'Yin' couldn't get involved in the Immortal Palace plan.

As the Instant Annihilator, 'Yin' couldn't participate in the gathering; once the unknown identity and long-range attack distance were lost, 'Yin' would become the fastest-dying scabbard. The Instant Annihilator made 'Yin' the most feared scabbard, but it also imposed many restrictive shackles on 'Yin'.

「Flattering me is meaningless.」

"Singing the sun's praises doesn't make it brighter; praising the moon doesn't make it fuller. But why are there so many poems about the sun and moon? Because praise doesn't need meaning, my praise for you comes from the depths of my heart, needing no ornamental meaning."

Even though he had transmigrated for so long, Le Yu still maintained the unique qualities of a new era youth: being aloof and silent with real-life women, yet endlessly flirtatious to online friends.

'Yin' seemed to be tickled by the flirting and decisively ended the communication. Le Yu put away the metal badge, packed the black robe and mask with a black wig into his bag, and left the teacher's dormitory.

He couldn't change clothes in the teacher's dormitory, otherwise, he might run into other teachers as he left, which would be troublesome. He didn't want to be beaten up by Zhu Yan and other male teachers with no nightlife due to a misunderstanding.

However, just as he left the teacher's dormitory, Le Yu ran into an acquaintance.

"Where are you going so late?"

"I have a meeting with a student." Le Yu looked at Niruo and asked, "What about you?"

"I'm going to pick up Shuangli Palace," Niruo said.

The two were silent for a moment, and then both said at the same time: "You're not going to investigate the Blood Essence Stone, are you?!"

Le Yu immediately said: "I'm not, I really have a meeting with a student."

Niruo also said: "I'm really going to pick up Shuangli Palace, Shuangli Palace has tasks for me to complete."

"The Imperial Academy is so big, and I don't even know where the Blood Essence Stone is, how can I investigate."

"Exactly, so I didn't investigate either."

"Do you have any intel?"

"No, when you killed those two people the other day, did you get any intel?"

"You said I killed them, how would the dead give me intel?"

"Then… I'll head this way."

"I'll go that way."

The two split up along opposite routes, Le Yu found a dark corner, put on the black robe, wore the black wig and mask, and took a long detour through the Imperial Academy to the abandoned teaching building.

He had previously seen Li Ying entering the basement, so he naturally knew where the underground entrance was.

However, when he walked into the ruins, he found two people looking for the entrance.

Seemingly a man and a woman, both wearing black robes and masks, both quite tall. Noticing the footsteps, they looked up at Le Yu.

They said nothing.

Le Yu also said nothing.

There was a strange atmosphere spreading.

Both sides realized something. The black robes and masks could hide appearances, but only just appearances—for martial artists who once collided passionately, a mere eye contact was enough to tell which tail the other was wagging.

It felt like when you tell a friend you're not chatting anymore, then open a game and get matched to the same ladder match as that friend.

Just then, a soft and gentle boy's voice suddenly came: "Do you know where the entrance is?"

Le Yu and the two black-robed individuals looked over and found another black-robed person had arrived.

This black-robed person paused when he made eye contact with Le Yu and the other male black-robed individual.

And the female black-robed person couldn't help but say "hey."

Because she didn't need eye contact, she already knew who the new black-robed person was.

After all.

This black-robed person was very short.