Hidden Moth

If the people of Xiao Alliance never come, Zhao Ci almost wishes he could go and flirt with them himself... but he couldn’t possibly do that, not only can’t he do it, but he also can’t show any flaws.

Just as they were chatting and laughing, her expression suddenly froze because a divine thought had entered her primordial spirit.

On the surface, he just seemed distracted, but in reality, his heart almost leaped out of his chest, and he nearly cried—finally, the shoe dropped, and the person he had been waiting for had arrived!

Someone had sent a divine thought to him in secret...

Despite having his cultivation sealed, he was not crippled; the foundation built over years of cultivation remained, and he adjusted his breathing, trying to calm himself and stabilize his heartbeat.

The beautiful woman across from him was speaking when she suddenly noticed that President Zhao seemed distracted, his eyes fixated on her chest.

Today, she was wearing a top that wasn’t too revealing but still accentuated her figure, indeed quite striking, while she hoped President Zhao would notice, she also didn’t want him to stare like this.

She showed a shy expression, lowered her head, and gently turned her body, using body language to remind him to be more polite while making the angle of view more attractive.

Then she heard a click, and when she looked up again, she saw President Zhao taking out an unopened pack of Hua Zi from his pocket, opened it, and lit a cigarette with a lighter.

In her memory, President Zhao was not supposed to smoke; she had never seen him smoke... the facts seemed to confirm her memory, as Zhao Ci inhaled the smoke, he appeared very unaccustomed, coughing repeatedly from being choked.

The beautiful woman said with concern, "President Zhao, why are you smoking? It’s better for your health not to smoke!"

Zhao Ci took another puff after calming his breathing; this time, it felt much better, at least he didn’t cough, he took a breather and then smiled, "Are you advising me to quit smoking... may I ask how should I do that?"

The beautiful woman puzzled, "You don’t need to do anything, just don’t smoke."

Zhao Ci: "So that’s how I can restore my health, what about the cost?"

The beautiful woman was even more puzzled but then realized President Zhao was joking with her, so she also smiled, "The cost might just be losing the pleasure of smoking, but with a healthy body, there are more pleasures to enjoy."

Meanwhile, someone else sent him a divine thought: "I don’t need President Zhao to do anything; it’s just out of admiration for Ancestor Master Huailin, I want to make a friend... if you agree, nod your head three times."

Zhao Ci almost forcibly controlled himself not to nod immediately but instead smiled at the beautiful woman in front of him, "I see, I’ll think about it."

...

The test was over; on the surface, Zhao Ci merely expressed that he would think about it, but the fact that he didn’t immediately refuse said a lot.

Hu Weidong, who was secretly lurking, asked, "What did you two see?"

Their lurking spot was in the wild field outside the manor, about a kilometer away from Zhao Ci’s location. Given Hu Weidong’s cultivation, he didn’t need to be this close, even ten kilometers away would have sufficed, but he needed to take care of his companions.

This time, Hu Weidong was not alone; two Xiao Alliance cultivators accompanied him, Zola, a Tier Four Government Official of the Qi Observation Lineage and Totti, a Tier Four Flower of the Xingshen Lineage.

These two were sent by the Supreme Council to assist him, of course with the purpose of supervision too, but Hu Weidong couldn’t refuse.

Because accomplishing this mission indeed required these two individuals; with high-tier sorcerers who mastered the Qi Observation Skill and Spirit Awakening Skill present, Zhao Ci’s true intentions could be better judged, and thereby ascertain whether this was a trap.

Why such arrangements? It needs to be explained from the beginning.

...

"To lift the seal on Zhao Ci, we need to use the Magic Mirror; if we directly bring the Magic Mirror, we might fall into a trap set by the Magic Sect!"

The time was more than a month ago, and the location was a cigar room at Arthur Manor, the speaker was Fabre.

There were wise people within Xiao Alliance; many had thought of this possibility but didn’t speak up, yet Fabre spoke first.

Why didn’t the others say it?

Firstly, no one has a godly perspective and could instantly see Jiang Daozhen’s schemes. This idea occurred to Arthur only after he learned of the Magic Sect’s punishment on Zhao Ci.

In Arthur’s view, if successful, they could gain Zhao Ci as an insider and accomplish a lot, even if exposed afterward, it wouldn’t matter, it could also disgust the Magic Sect and sow discord among the Huailin Lineage.

Did the Magic Sect foresee Arthur’s actions before punishing Zhao Ci? If so, wouldn’t it imply that Sir Arthur is a fool being manipulated?

There is a psychological effect where if someone denies or gives negative feedback on your thoughts, even if their words make sense, you may subconsciously have negative feelings towards them.

Those present may not know the story of Yuan Shao executing Tian Feng in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," but they understood this principle.

Why did Fabre say it? Because he knew Mei Lin didn’t dare to go, and he didn’t want to go himself.

The cigar room was a place for entertaining guests with cigars, but at this moment, no one was smoking cigars; instead, Arthur and Mei Lin, along with a group of confidants, were having a small meeting.

The Supreme Council consisted of thirteen elders, six of whom were Great Elders. At this moment, Arthur, Mei Lin, and Fabre, three of the Great Elders, were sitting in this room, along with three other ordinary elders.

Additionally, there were four Tier Five sorcerers and one Tier Four sorcerer, totaling eleven people.

Among them, the Tier Four sorcerer was the most special; he had a name in the Eastern Country language called Murillo, which sounded similar to his surname; he was a Tier Four Divine Stick of the Lingxi Lineage and the only Lingxi sorcerer in the room.

Arthur squinted his eyes and said, "So the news must not be leaked."

Mei Lin spoke up, "We can let Elder Hu probe Zhao Ci first; this is also his responsibility."

The logic seems to be correct, such a difficult task should be handled by a Great Elder who commands divine thought, and Hu Weidong happens to be in charge of Eastern Country’s affairs within the Xiao Alliance; if he’s not responsible, then who is?

Fabre: "What about the Magic Mirror? If it’s lost, it would be a significant loss!"

Mei Lin: "I certainly won’t hand over the Magic Mirror to him. His task is only to probe Zhao Ci’s attitude, and does not include unsealing Zhao Ci."

Fabre immediately understood and thus said no more.

Elder Besant from the Qi Observation Lineage weakly spoke up, "Is this to protect Hu Weidong? What truly interests the Magic Sect should be the Magic Mirror. Without the Magic Mirror, there’s no need for the Magic Sect to clash with such a master."

Fabre regained his energy and jumped in, "You know he doesn’t have the Magic Mirror, but the Magic Sect doesn’t know that. What does it mean when we send a Great Elder to secretly contact Zhao Ci, indicating that we want to unseal him?

If the Magic Sect truly has a setup, they might act immediately!"

Everyone understood now and looked at Mei Lin with eyes of admiration. Whether genuinely impressed or pretending to be, they had to show support here.

Only Murillo had his head slightly bowed because it was his idea that he gave to Mei Lin. Mei Lin was neither willing to hand over the Magic Mirror to anyone else nor dared to execute the task himself, hence he gave this suggestion to Mei Lin.

Besant asked again, "What if there’s no ambush?"

Arthur: "The likelihood of an ambush isn’t high, but what happens afterward depends on the involved parties’ attitudes. The human heart is the hardest to grasp, does anyone have any good suggestions?"

The human heart is the hardest to grasp; this statement refers to Zhao Ci and seems to refer to Hu Weidong too.

Murillo finally raised his head and said, "We can dispatch two High-tier Sorcerers to assist Elder Hu, from the Xingshen Lineage and the Qi Observation Lineage respectively.

This mission is quite risky, so the selection must be carefully considered; it shouldn’t be someone from Elder Hu’s side nor someone that Sir Arthur values highly."

After some discussion, Zola and Totti became these two fortunate unlucky fellows.

Zhao Ci is a Tier Four Physician with sealed cultivation, and with Government Officials from the Qi Observation Sect and Flowers from the Xingshen Sect present, they should be able to discern his true attitude.

...

Zhao Ci really couldn’t fool Zola and Totti. The seven magical techniques each have their areas of expertise, and his mindset was almost entirely seen through.

From the lurking anxiety beforehand to the sudden joy and anticipation, controlling himself in intense desire without nodding... these couldn’t escape the eyes of the two High-tier Sorcerers.

In Zhao Ci’s heart, there is immense willingness!

Unfortunately, magical techniques and divine techniques aren’t omnipotent. Even if it’s these two Tier Four Sorcerers, or even a Master and Illusion Master, they couldn’t perceive all the details of Zhao Ci’s inner thoughts, nor were they aware of the secret orders Jiang Elder gave Zhao Ci.

Due to the existence of that secret order, Zhao Ci’s subconscious reactions appeared even more genuine.

But Jiang Daozhen also lacked a god’s eye view; the elderly didn’t anticipate that the Xiao Alliance would play such a small trick. If Hu Weidong hadn’t communicated with He Kao beforehand, the Magic Sect might really have taken action!

After quietly retreating from the mountains, going far away should now be safe, Hu Weidong finally breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the two "assistants" around him, suddenly speaking: "I really admire you two."

The two were puzzled: "What does the Great Elder admire us for?"

Hu Weidong: "Do you know that just now it was nearly a nine-death situation? If there really was an ambush there, with my cultivation, I might still escape by luck, but you two would likely be dead!"

The two were stunned, then showed extremely complex expressions, momentarily speechless.

They were chosen by Great Elder Mei Lin, appointed by the Supreme Council, with the task to assist Elder Hu.

They only knew that Elder Hu would privately contact an insider from the Magic Sect, they needed to judge the insider’s true reaction, and afterward report the result secretly to Great Elder Mei Lin.

Due to confidentiality requirements, they didn’t know in advance who Elder Hu was to contact or what to say, until shortly before they knew what exactly they were supposed to do.

To obtain accurate conclusions, Hu Weidong didn’t hide his divine thought sent to Zhao Ci from them, and Zhao Ci’s reactions were observed in their eyes; they reported their assessments to Elder Hu.

At this moment, Hu Weidong’s words carried the divine thought, explaining the specifics of the task as well as providing background and outcome, making the two feel a chill and break out in cold sweat!

If the information leaked, then they would likely have encountered the Magic Sect’s ambush earlier. What a narrow escape...

Seeing the two were terrified, Hu Weidong nodded slightly and said, "We didn’t encounter an ambush today, indicating that up to now, the information hasn’t leaked, you two must remember this matter needs absolute confidentiality."

No more words are needed, just let these two slowly ponder on their own.

Two days later, near Qi Yuan University, Hu Weidong met the mysterious Hidden Moth Huo Qing again.

This time, Hu Weidong was escorting his son to enroll at Qi Yuan University, and took the opportunity to rendezvous with He Kao. This scene had appeared in He Kao’s Illusion Realm before, but in reality, the meeting place wasn’t in the campus but in a suite at a nearby hotel.

**