Chapter Sixty-Two: Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea

Xing Tao's identity card was that of a Martial Artist, playing the role of the Left Centurion of the Qingzhou Garrison within the Star Gate of Qingliang Prefecture.

His initiation token was the "Death-Sworn Order," which, much like Liu Ling'er's "Spring Breeze and Contentment Scroll" and Prince Huai's "Imperial Brush," served as an exclusive prop for his character.

The Star Gate described the "Death-Sworn Order" as follows: "The Centurion fought in the Southern Frontier, living and eating alongside his soldiers, and commands immense prestige. In times of crisis, a single cry can summon five hundred death-sworn soldiers of the Qingzhou Garrison."

Aside from the Death-Sworn Order, the Martial Artist also possessed an extraordinarily powerful identity miracle, leaning heavily towards offense and combat.

These two abilities fully lived up to the title of "Martial Artist." Especially among the eleven players within this Star Gate, there were only two who possessed "military authority" and were capable of summoning "gate spirits."

From this, it was evident that this character held a core position among the players of the imperial court faction. If utilized properly at a critical juncture, it had the power to completely turn the tide.

And tonight, Guo Cai'er intended to let the "Martial Artist" exert his maximum potential; she prepared to completely root out the traitor within the imperial court faction before entering the Princess's Tomb.

……

Outside the courtyard of the Senior Official's Mansion.

Guo Cai'er hid in a dimly lit corner, surrounded by protecting soldiers. Outsiders had no way of approaching, nor could they detect the presence of a woman there.

She was observing carefully, meticulously perceiving the situation inside the mansion.

Not far away, Xing Tao, clad in armor, gave instructions to the three centurions: "Inform Li Yan that tonight's banquet is taken over by the Qingzhou Garrison. Should he press for details, tell him your lord simply wishes to see tonight who is a friend and who is an enemy."

"Understood."

The three centurions responded in unison, after which one stepped forward and asked, "If Li Yan asks who our lord is, how shall subordinates reply?"

"No need to reply." Xing Tao shook his head. "Just follow my instructions and thoroughly inspect the guests."

"This subordinate obeys!"

The three centurions cupped their fists and strode into the main courtyard of the Senior Official's Mansion.

……

Inside the mansion.

Three hundred soldiers marched into the courtyard, clad in armor and holding long spears and steel sabers, instantly plunging the originally festive sow banquet into chaos and disarray.

Ancient banquets were held in designated locations following professional procedures. Tonight's sow banquet was hosted in the front courtyard of the Senior Official's Mansion, utilizing five small courtyards for the tables, with about forty to fifty people per courtyard.

Therefore, once the soldiers rushed in, they easily blocked the exits, leaving nowhere for the people inside to hide.

At the same time, every corridor and inner courtyard of the mansion was completely surrounded by soldiers. These crude, reckless brutes cared nothing about whether someone was a senior official or not; at a single word from their commanding officer above, they would dare to slap even the senior official's mother across the face.

In the side courtyard, Tang Feng watched with eager eyes as the soldiers filed in, screaming wildly in his heart: "You're playing dirty! You're playing dirty... How the heck does he still get to summon gate spirits? And summon this many people?! Good grief, why can I only progress by sleeping with others...? This is so unfair!"

"Listen up, everyone! From this moment on, without my command, no one is permitted to leave this courtyard, nor are you allowed to converse with one another." A banner leader blocked the entrance, his face gloomy as he spoke. "Those who violate this order will be executed on the spot."

As his shouts echoed, the expressions of everyone dining in the courtyard turned rather unsightly.

Having finished shouting, the banner leader directly waved his hand toward the nearby soldiers.

At their commander's cue, over twenty soldiers stepped forward and shouted in unison: "Women, step out of line!"

Hearing these words, Tang Feng furrowed his brow slightly, seemingly guessing something, yet his heart remained unruffled because he currently bore the appearance of a man.

More than a dozen women attending the banquet, along with several maidservants responsible for serving, though failing to comprehend the situation, exchanged glances and stepped out of line as ordered.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

The soldiers swarmed forward, crudely grabbing these women by their hair, forcing them to the ground, and tightening their strong, muscular arms around their necks.

Fierce expressions flashed across the faces of these soldiers, and without offering any explanation, they left everyone bewildered. Especially those women who had been dragged out—now all struggling on the ground, seized by a powerful sensation of suffocation.

"My lord, what is the meaning of this?!"

"My lord, what law has my wife broken? Why do this?"

"…!"

Several men stepped out of line, attempting to block the violent actions of the soldiers.

"Puff, puff!"

The banner leader stepped forward and killed two men with a pair of saber slashes, roaring with a fierce gaze: "Get back in line, or be executed on the spot!"

The two men who had just been dining fell to the ground, their corpses still warm.

The surrounding crowd turned pale and trembled, inwardly cursing these military ruffians for lacking any shred of humanity—killing people on a whim.

"Darling... darling...!" Choked by the neck, a woman kicked her feet against the ground, struggling desperately as her eyes locked onto her husband who had just been slain.

Witnessing this scene, Tang Feng could not help but furrow his brow deeply, unconsciously clenching his fists.

At this moment, he understood: these soldiers were deliberately targeting women, most likely attempting to "hunt" for him.

Liu Ling'er was dead, and the player who entered anew using her identity card would certainly still be playing a female role.

Damn it, thank goodness for his own cleverness in having Ren Ye use the replication ability to alter his appearance; otherwise, at this very moment... he would likely have been exposed.

[Ding~ Warm reminder: Your counterfeit and shoddy disguise talisman is about to expire, and less than a quarter of an hour remains for the disguise.]

A cold and ethereal voice sounded in Tang Feng's ears.

Upon hearing this, his mind went blank, and in disbelief, he cursed inwardly: "What the actual hell, what is the meaning of this?! Isn't the 'costume change' duration of the disguise talisman five days? Why is it ending in less than two hours? What do you mean by counterfeit and shoddy, are you playing with me?!"

In an instant, panic gripped Tang Feng's heart.

Less than a quarter of an hour—only fifteen minutes left?!

Wasn't this completely screwed? The soldiers had already entered the courtyard and surrounded the place tightly; there was clearly no way to finish all tasks within fifteen minutes... Once his disguise expired, they wouldn't even need to investigate—they would discover him on the spot.

What... what should he do?

In another side courtyard, that sharp-tongued, mean-looking woman standing in line also broke out in beads of sweat upon her forehead.

She had witnessed with her own eyes how the first batch of women pulled out of line had their necks squeezed by soldiers, with two already killed by a saber slash for struggling too violently and angering the banner leader.

She felt a tinge of regret for rashly attending this sow banquet, but it was too late for regrets now.

The sharp-tongued woman was also a player. She felt she currently had only two choices: either step out of line and directly reveal her identity—though if the commanding officer dispatching the troops was a traitor from the imperial court faction, she would be utterly finished...

Or display her miracles and figure a way to escape, but facing hundreds of soldiers, the probability of death was hardly small.

What should she do?

Faced with a dilemma!

……

Inside the Hanhua Thatched Cottage.

Liu Jishan had already slipped away, leaving Senior Official Li Yan to face a centurion of the Qingzhou Garrison alone.

"Are you all trying to rebel?!" Li Yan bellowed with fury, cursing angrily, "Whose dogs gave you the guts to surround my mansion?!"

The centurion remained calm and unyielding: "Lord Li, this subordinate is merely acting on orders. Please do not make things difficult for this subordinate."

"Take your men and get lost this instant!" Li Yan pointed right at the other's nose and roared, "Otherwise, I'll summon troops from Qingliang Town and wipe out you scum!"

With that, Li Yan turned to storm out in a rage.

"Clang!"

The centurion directly drew his steel saber halfway, speaking with a lifeless expression: "Lord Li, please do not make things difficult for this subordinate."

"Audacious!" of Qingzhou Garrison
Li Yan paused, the veins on his neck bulging as he cursed, "You dare brandish weapons against this Senior Official?!"

The centurion gazed at him coldly: "My lord said he wishes to see tonight who is an enemy and who is a friend."

With those words, the two locked gazes.

Li Yan's expression turned sinister as he swept his gaze up and down the centurion, speaking concisely: "Get out!"

This time, the centurion did not push back stubbornly, merely nodding in response: "This subordinate will wait right outside the door. My lord should not think of leaving alone. The front and rear courtyards are already surrounded, and many soldiers do not recognize your face. If you rush out... and cause a catastrophe, this subordinate will have no way to answer to my lord."

Having spoken, the opponent departed.

Seeing him leave, Li Yan's face abruptly shed its anger, replaced by a calm gaze as he swept it across the thatched cottage before taking out his disc-token and projecting his consciousness into it.

By now, the information within the disc-token had exploded.

"Damn it, who did this? I'm right in the Senior Official's Mansion, and these military ruffians are killing people."

"What the hell, someone can actually mobilize this many NPCs? That makes no sense, no sense...!"

"I think a traitor in the faction is playing tricks, trying to wipe us all out in one sweep."

"…!"

Li Yan skimmed through the messages briefly and suddenly spoke: "I am Li Yan."

Instantly, the disc-token fell silent.

"I am a player of the imperial court faction. Gathering everyone tonight was originally intended for us to confirm our teammates so as to gain an advantage in the Princess's Tomb," Li Yan stated his second sentence.

The others still did not reply, yet harbored no feelings of surprise, as many had long guessed that Senior Official Li Yan was most likely a player—after all, he had been the one instigating many recent conflicts.

Thus, everyone merely felt a sense of confirmation at this moment.

"The soldiers surrounding my mansion are all men from the Qingzhou Left Garrison," Li Yan continued. "Stop hiding. The Left Centurion of the Qingzhou Garrison must be a player! But right now, I suspect you are the traitor!"

Outside the courtyard of the Senior Official's Mansion, Guo Cai'er withdrew her consciousness from the disc-token and immediately wrote on paper: "Since your identity has been exposed, there is no need to hide anymore. State your purpose directly."

Xing Tao nodded and immediately used the disc-token to broadcast: "I am the Centurion of the Qingzhou Left Garrison and also a player, but I am not a traitor. Liu Ling'er is dead, and the person who entered using her identity card must be a woman, and furthermore must belong to Prince Huai's faction. Coupled with the Star Gate's warning that there is a spy for Prince Huai in our faction... tonight, I must capture these two people."

"Capture your ass!" Li Yan retorted with pure profanity.

"？？？!"

No one expected the Senior Official to be so devoid of refinement. One of them commented: "I feel like the Centurion makes some sense...!"

"Sense your ass, you're as stupid as a pig," Li Yan's voice brimmed with anger. "Did you understand that I hosted the sow banquet without any thresholds? There are definitely players from factions other than the imperial court in the courtyard, fence-sitters, and possibly even Prince Huai's people. By pulling this stunt and forcing all your own people out, wouldn't you be exposing all your trump cards?! I already had the steward notify everyone that they could come to the thatched cottage to find me individually. Wouldn't it be better to recognize each other privately? Why must you expose your own strength?! With brains like that, why did you even enter this Star Gate?"

"Lord Li speaks wisely!"

"That argument isn't flawed either. I truly feel that everyone could recognize each other privately."

"…!"

In an instant, two people in the disc-token began to side with Li Yan.

Xing Tao glanced at the note Guo Cai'er had written for him and spoke concisely: "Every player has a different approach to breaking the game. I insist on finding the inner ghost. Lord Li, just cooperate with me."

"I'll say this for the last time—make your men get lost immediately!" Li Yan demanded inflexibly.

"...... Lord Li, the troops are in my hands," Xing Tao replied.

"Is that how you're going to play this?" Li Yan said coldly. "Fine, then I intend to wipe you out to see if you're a traitor."

In the side courtyard, Tang Feng withdrew his consciousness from the disc-token in utter bewilderment: "What the hell! This... own people are fighting own people? Spectacular!"

[Ding~ Warm reminder: Your disguise time is less than thirty seconds.]

A cold voice rang out, snapping Tang Feng back to reality so urgently that his hemorrhoids were practically about to burst.

It was over. Thirty seconds later, his disguise would leak...

Clenching his fists, Tang Feng sensed the Spring Breeze and Contentment Scroll while preparing to cry out that single line—Father, save me!