Duan Zhuo'e had a blank expression on his face.
Duan Chongfeng had told him that Xu Ke hadn't returned to the Northern Dragon Guard, not because Mada Yu rejected him, but because Xu Ke himself refused to join. However, not wanting to miss out on such a talent, Mada Yu had made an exception, promoting him directly to Seasoned Envoy. He could skip reporting to the northern border and still be part of the Northern Dragon Guard.
Because of this, their supposed "mission to find the Seasoned Envoy Pass in Tianhai" was completely wrong. Their actual mission was to find the "new Seasoned Envoy" and receive a task from him. And this entire situation only existed because Mada Yu had forcefully maneuvered Xu Ke into the Northern Dragon Guard.
Now, after Xiang Hongyu's fierce, tiger-like analysis, she had sohow concluded that Mada Yu wanted them to take Xu Ke away… This was, needless to say, the complete opposite of Mada Yu's actual intent, which was for them to find Xu Ke and receive a trial task.
But on a deeper level, Mada Yu's goal was indeed to bring Xu Ke back… So, to be precise—Xiang Hongyu had completely misunderstood the trial task, yet she had inadvertently aligned perfectly with Mada Yu's deeper strategic goal.
Duan Zhuo'e suddenly didn't know whether he should ridicule her or praise her…
"What's wrong? Are you shocked by how smart I am?" Xiang Hongyu asked smugly, seeing the look on Duan Zhuo'e's face.
Duan Zhuo'e opened his mouth, then closed it, ultimately saying nothing.
From the side, Fang Caizhe said sinisterly, "How did you deduce that Mada Yu wants us to bring Xu Ke back?"
"Bring Xu Ke back to the Northern Dragon Guard for what? To add another freeloader?" His words carried a double aning, implying that both Xiang Hongyu and Xu Ke were useless mouths to feed.
Hearing this, Bai Qian'er frowned. Fang Caizhe is so petty!
But Xiang Hongyu just scoffed. "Then what do you think we're doing here in Tianhai? Surely you're not foolish enough to believe we ca all this way just to bring a worthless pass back to the North, are you? No way, right? No way?"
After speaking, Xiang Hongyu deliberately winked and made faces at Fang Caizhe.
Fang Caizhe's face flushed red with anger. "You son of a—!"
"Don't be angry. I agree with Ma Tong. Mada Yu always likes to hide the real mission," Duan Zhuo'e said, holding Fang Caizhe down.
Fang Caizhe beca even more furious. Isn't Duan Zhuo'e just calling a fool? He wanted to struggle, but having been kicked by Han Wang, he had no strength to resist Duan Zhuo'e. He could only be pinned to the sofa, seething in helpless rage.
Ignoring him, Duan Zhuo'e turned directly to Xiang Hongyu, feigning ignorance. "But, Ma Tong, how are you so certain the hidden mission is to take Xu Ke away? Don't you think Mada Yu might have given the pass to so important figure, or hidden it in a secret place? Perhaps you missed so surveillance blind spots at the airport or the stadium?"
Xiang Hongyu took a sip of water and waved her hand. "Speculating on her intentions is our job, but we shouldn't overdo it. Don't complicate simple matters."
"Uh, so in your opinion, our mission is just to bring Xu Ke back to the North?" Seeing her preachy, know-it-all attitude, Duan Zhuo'e was suddenly at a loss for words.
"Exactly," Xiang Hongyu nodded. "The mission is simple: take the pass, and at the sa ti, bring Xu Ke back to the North. The core of this mission cos down to one thing—"
"Defeat Xu Ke!"
"And why would Mada Yu pick us, specifically, to defeat Xu Ke? You might ask, wouldn't it be better to defeat a renowned powerhouse, like Alliance Hierarch Chen Xiong or soone like that? But I'm telling you, what Mada Yu loves most is putting us up-and-coming talents in our place. If we challenge a powerhouse, winning is glorious and losing is no disgrace. We wouldn't feel bad at all. But if we can't even handle a peer like Xu Ke, it will completely crush our pride. We'll go back to the North with our tails between our legs, ready to obey her every command."
"Destroying our arrogance with this trial is the first layer of Mada Yu's intent!"
HISS—
Everyone sucked in a cold breath.
Bai Qian'er's face went pale with shock. "That makes so much sense! It perfectly fits Mada Yu's usual style." She was suddenly convinced.
"See?" Xiang Hongyu said, beaming with pride.
Duan Zhuo'e's jaw dropped in disbelief.
Holy crap. The woman got the right answer again. But her analysis feels like it's spiraling off in a weird direction!
"Wait, you said that's the *first* layer of intent. Is there a second?" Duan Zhuo'e sharply caught the implication.
"Of course there is!" Xiang Hongyu nodded vigorously. "Like I said, Mada Yu likes to put up-and-cors in their place. And the up-and-cors aren't just us, but our mission target as well!"
At this, Bai Qian'er's pupils shrank. "Are you saying Mada Yu wants us to put Xu Ke in *his* place?"
"Exactly!" Xiang Hongyu snapped her fingers sharply, her face lighting up with excitent. "This is our ultimate purpose for coming to Tianhai. If Mada Yu values talent so much, why not just let Xu Ke return to the North imdiately? Because he just annihilated Qian Jun, his confidence is soaring, and now he's freakishly reached the Innate Realm! If we don't teach a guy like that a harsh lesson, by the ti he gets to the North, he'd probably think Yu Kangan was number one and he was number two. So, why isn't he allowed back in the North? It's because she had him wait here for us to co and deal with him. Then, when the mission is over, we'll all return to the North together."
"But we are the protégés who have been with Mada Yu longer. She definitely doesn't want us returning to the North with an absurdly arrogant Xu Ke who defeated all five of us. So, we have to teach him a harsh lesson!"
The living room fell silent.
Duan Zhuo'e suddenly felt things were spiraling out of his control. According to Xiang Hongyu's logic, did she want the five of them to gang up on Xu Ke? Dammit…
He imdiately tried to speak up and stop this line of thinking.
But at that exact mont, Bai Qian'er's face lit up with excitent. "That's right! I also thought it was odd that Xu Ke hadn't joined the Northern Dragon Guard. I thought Mada Yu had made a mistake, but I never expected her intentions to be hidden so deeply! It seems the only thing to do now is to make a plan to defeat Xu Ke!"
She no longer believed she could beat Xu Ke one-on-one. But if the five of them worked together, taking an unsuspecting Xu Ke by surprise, maybe they could really pull it off…
"Exactly!" Seeing that Bai Qian'er understood her, Xiang Hongyu finally burst into laughter.
At the sa ti, Fang Caizhe's expression grew even more excited. "Yes, yes! That must be it! We absolutely have to ss that guy up good!"
He had been furious earlier when Xiang Hongyu was praising Xu Ke's strength. But now that he heard the conclusion was to deal with Xu Ke, his entire mindset shifted. He didn't care how strong Xu Ke was anymore! Following Xiang Hongyu's plan ant he could use official business to settle a personal score, and even team up with Bai Qian'er to take Xu Ke down… This was just too perfect!
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