Chapter 498: Service

Shangguan Yun had a complicated plan and was willing to explain it to Maid Lotus in detail.

"I have kept you alive so that you can see the situation more clearly. Why would I hide it from you?" he said.

Maid Lotus's vigilance had not been lifted. She had witnessed what Shangguan Yun was capable of. He never hesitated to tell lies for his own benefit, and his lies were always buried in some truth. Both believing him completely and not believing him at all was always a mistake.

Shangguan Yun knew how to make his opponent hesitate and slip.

According to the plan that he shared with Maid Lotus, many people inside the Dragon Army had already betrayed the Dragon King: Wu Zongheng would lead the army marching around Wushan, awaiting Shangguan Yun's next instruction; the new King of the Hui Nation would reveal some important information to the Dragon King to lure him into Wushan; a high-level general in the Dragon Army was also waiting for a chance to make a move. As soon as the Dragon King was captured, he would immediately hand over his army to Shangguan Yun instead of surrendering to the Golden Roc Army.

These plans were so outrageous that Maid Lotus did not believe even ten percent of them. She knew that not everyone around the Dragon King was loyal to him, but if so many had betrayed him, the army would have already fallen apart. If that had happened, Shangguan Yun would not have needed to make any complicated plans at all.

Shangguan Yun could tell that Maid Lotus had doubts, so he said with a smile, "I actually exaggerated a little bit. In fact, many people have not decided yet and are hesitating because they still believe in the Dragon King. However, this is exactly the problem of the Dragon Army — its morale is dependent on the Dragon King instead of its own strength. If the Dragon King dies or is accidentally captured, who is willing to fight under the banner of the Dragon Army?"

The core of Shangguan Yun's plan was to lure the Dragon King to Wushan to kill or capture him, and then bring the whole Dragon Army under his control.

"You want me to wait and see, like those people?" asked Maid Lotus.

"No. I hope you can take a little more initiative than they do. You have learned the three Xia brothers' kung fu. The Dragon King alone will not be able to deal with you, plus 12 other people. I know him well. He is a lone killer at heart. He can, at most, cooperate with one or two other people. Ruling an army with tens of thousands of soldiers is neither his wish nor his ability. He still wants to act alone whenever he has the chance. Because of that, he will come to Wushan alone, although he knows the danger is great. He wants to recapture the army of Tuoneng by himself," Shangguan Yun explained.

Maid Lotus believed that the Dragon King was very wary and would not be easily fooled, but she also knew that some parts of Shangguan Yun's judgments were correct. And the Dragon King was likely to choose to go into the trap alone, just because of his wariness.

"If you keep silent, I'll take it as acquiescence and order the killing immediately. If you are willing to interfere, I'll catch the Dragon King alive and hand him over to you, but I have to nullify his kung fu. After that, how you deal with him in the future is up to you," continued Shangguan Yun.

"The Dragon King would rather commit suicide than accept total loss of his kung fu," Maid Lotus thought. She suddenly regained her confidence in the Dragon King. She knew the purpose of Shangguan Yun's long speech was to make her lose her confidence in him. She would not let him win, so she said, "I told you once that you would regret not killing me. You seem to have forgotten that I am a disciple of New Moon Hall."

The feud between New Moon Hall and Golden Roc Fort was more far-reaching and persistent than the Great Snowmountain.

Shangguan Yun had been waiting for Maid Lotus to say this. He replied, "I know you are a disciple of New Moon Hall, but I also know more. For example, Master Han Wuxian has made great efforts to make changes to New Moon Hall over the years, and she stole Wayless Qigong at all costs. She has asked various kung fu masters to help transform the kung fu of New Moon Hall and has given some outside men the title of disciples. She even accepted a disciple from another family, which she had never done before. She also promoted you to Managing Master, despite opposition. All these things indicate that she has ambitions."

"Maid Lotus, you should know better than me that Han Wuxian has had enough of her obscure life in the desert. She wants to dominate the world and become famous. To her, revenge on Golden Roc Fort has become insignificant. It's just a means for her to gather more disciples. You were ordered to unite with the Dragon King. Wasn't it at Han Wuxian's behest? Is there any other purpose?" he continued.

It seemed that Shangguan Yun knew a lot. Some it may have just been guesses, but he was still close to the truth. Maid Lotus looked down, thought for a while, and then said, "I think what you want is New Moon Hall."

"New Moon Hall and Golden Roc Fort were originally one family, each with its own specialty. Only by combining can they be the strongest. I hope we can become one sect again," Shangguan Yun replied.

Maid Lotus raised her head and said, "New Moon Hall took pains to put lots of pawns among the different forces in Jade City. Even in the most secret places of Golden Roc Fort, there are our people. Do you want the list?"

"A little bit," Shangguan Yun knew what Maid Lotus would say next, but still answered.

"No way," said Maid Lotus.

"You don't have to answer in a hurry," Shangguan Yun said, not caring about her attitude. Persuading Maid Lotus was a challenge to him. It was also kind of fun. He continued, "Listen to the prospect I am going to describe to you first."

"The Dragon King will set up an ambush on the sea slope. His plan is to come out suddenly and attack the wings of the Golden Roc Army during the decisive battle. This is, indeed, a good plan, but it's also very risky. Now that I have 3,000 Dragon soldiers under my control, the Dragon King's adventure is over. But I have a better idea: I'm going to have Wu Zongheng lead his troops to the sea slope," he continued.

Maid Lotus was a little surprised. She asked, "Do you want Wu Zongheng to attack the Dragon Army?"

"No, no, no. Wu Zongheng is my man, while the 3,000 soldiers still think they are working for the Dragon King. Why would I expect them to change their position suddenly? By the way, I have no doubt I can defeat the Dragon Army, so there is no need for surprise attacks. No, no. I want them to attack Golden Roc Army, just as the Dragon King has planned," Shangguan Yun said.

Maid Lotus was surprised again, but she kept her mouth shut and did not ask any more questions. She knew Shangguan Yun liked to talk, so she decided to let him go on.

"Most of my plans have been carried out secretly. Even if all are successful, the greatest credit will still be capturing or killing the Dragon King. In others' eyes, my plans are only skirmishes to cooperate with Golden Roc Army. To tell you the truth, I have always been a little unhappy about that. I worked so hard, only to be a decoration for Shangguan Jianyi's feats. But now? The Dragon King's surprise attack plan actually helped me a lot," he went on.

Shangguan Yun showed a little excitement for the first time. It was a great accomplishment that he had been able to counter his opponent's plan. "When the Dragon King is arrested, I will announce the news first and make it public at the most crucial moment. Let Golden Roc Army face a fiasco, and let Shangguan Jianyi feel helpless. At the last minute, I, Shangguan Yun, will make the radical change that brings victory to Golden Roc Army again," he boasted.

Though a disciple of New Moon Hall, Maid Lotus could not help but comment, "You're a lunatic."

"No. I just have ambition, like your Master," he said, pausing a second, then adding, "Same as you, too."

Shangguan Yun had said enough. He had revealed all that he wanted Maid Lotus to know, and the rest was for her to contemplate. He said to her, "There are still a few days to go, so you can take your time to think about my suggestions. You not only can save the life of the Dragon King, but can also realize all of your and New Moon Hall's ambitions. It's your choice."

Maid Lotus knew she should not believe Shangguan Yun, but she still followed the train of thought he had provided.

It was not long before the three Xia brothers came in with another prisoner.

It was Ha Chilie, who did not seem to be suffering much, except the shackles around his hands and feet. At the sight of Maid Lotus he apologized, saying, "I'm sorry. It's all my fault."

Xia Shouxiong came over and poked Maid Lotus's body a few times. His fingers stayed on the acupoints of her body a little longer, and there was a satisfied smile on his face.

Maid Lotus said to herself that if her condition to surrender was to be allowed to kill the three men, Shangguan Yun would certainly accept it.

After the acupoints had sealed, the three men were still not at ease, so they took out a set of shackles to lock the hands and feet of Maid Lotus.

"The Cloud King should not have hoped she would surrender. This woman is as hard as stone. We should just kill her with one stab to eliminate any future trouble," Xia Shouxiong said. He could never forget his sword wound from Maid Lotus.

"You don't even have one percent of the Cloud King's intelligence. Why not leave her to his disposal and go have a drink," the eldest brother said, and took his younger brothers out of the tent.

There were only two people left in the room then. Maid Lotus's face was expressionless. She had experienced many things and knew that anger and impatience were a waste of time and energy. She looked at Ha Chilie, who was a few steps away, and asked him, "Shangguan Yun asked you to be his lobbyist, didn't he?"

"Yes," Ha Chilie admitted frankly. He looked around and listened for a while to make sure there were no eavesdroppers nearby, and then added, "But I lied to him. I won't betray the Dragon King, and the soldiers in this camp are not all Shangguan Yun's men."

Ha Chilie nodded slowly for implication, because some words still could not be said.

Maid Lotus understood what he was trying to say and asked silently by moving her lips, "When?"

Ha Chilie answered in the same way, "Tomorrow night, at the third watch."

"Shangguan Yun is not so easy to fool," Maid Lotus thought. Whether those soldiers that were still loyal to Ha Chilie could successfully rescue them was still unknown.

It was already bright outside, so the only thing they could do was wait.

Ha Chilie stealthily glanced at Maid Lotus from time to time, then immediately looked away.

After sitting for almost four hours without saying anything, Maid Lotus suddenly asked, "Do you like me?"

Ha Chilie blushed. Although he had previously experienced the bluntness of the New Moon Hall disciples, he was still not used to it. He coughed several times, mumbled something and could not say a word.

"I won't be angry. Being liked is always a good thing," Maid Lotus encouraged him.

"I know...I don't deserve it. My lady..." Ha Chilie stuttered.

"I'm not a lady," replied Maid Lotus flatly.

"Maid Lotus, I don't have wishful thinking. I just hope...I can help you, and can...often see you...that makes me happy," Ha Chilie said, stumbling over his words.

Having the courage to say these things, Ha Chilie's eyes blazed, and then he immediately bowed his head to avoid the eternal indifference of Maid Lotus.

"Come over and sit down. Shangguan Yun sent you to persuade me. If we don't talk we'll arouse his suspicion," she said.

Ha Chilie looked up at Maid Lotus in surprise and immediately understood that she had no affection for him, and was purely trying to deceive others.

He slowly moved over to her in his shackles and did not dare to expect anything. He stopped a few steps away from Maid Lotus and stood nervously, like a humble servant.

"Sit down. I don't want to look up to you while talking," Maid Lotus said. Her acupoints were sealed, so she could only keep a sitting posture.

Ha Chilie knelt in front of Maid Lotus and said, "I think we can pretend to surrender to make Shangguan Yun relax his vigilance."

"He is not easy to cheat," Maid Lotus said, moving her body slightly and then ordered Ha Chilie, "Help me move the chains on my feet. I'm not very comfortable."

When Ha Chilie stretched out his hand to reach for the chain on the ground, Maid Lotus raised her arm, as if to move her messy hair. Instead, she pressed her hands on Ha Chilie's head.

"Have you ever heard about Divine Rotation? Do you want to help me? Now it is your opportunity," she said.

Ha Chilie had never heard about Divine Rotation. He felt that Maid Lotus's hands were controlling his head like iron hoops. "She should be weak," he thought. "My lady, I..." he gasped.

"You shouldn't have betrayed the Dragon King," she whispered.

The people that Shangguan Yun mentioned were not necessarily traitors, but those who weren't mentioned were likely to have been bought. That was what Maid Lotus was thinking at the time.