Both of their team were pretending to be fighting. They had lazily played with their swords and rammed the swords to the swords of their respective partners, making a quite exaggerated fighting sound. Both parties were sitting down because they also felt tired due to the previous real fighting between them. They felt silly for doing this but they couldn't just ignore their masters' order.

If felt weird because they were enemies before... and now, they have to act together.

They didn't forget to make sounds of pain once in a while. They wanted to make the fight appear to be as realistic as possible in order to deceive the enemy.

"Arghh..."

"Ughhh..."

Or attacking sound...

"Hyattt..."

"Ciattt..."

They started to become creative due to feeling bored. Once they started getting out of hand, Lin Jian or Yu Wen would be reminding them to behave properly!

Lin Jian would probably laugh merrily when looking at this scene some other time, however, he couldn't do that at the moment! He was one of them... He glared at Yu Wen in hatred. Without him, he would be talking with Yao Ying and Hei Yue inside that room. Now... he is reduced to doing this along with him!! Annoying... so annoying!

Back into the room, Yao Ying was still exchanging a look with Hei Yue. After a few moments, Yao Ying decided to break the silence, "Now... can you tell me more about you?"

"Sure... what do you want to know?" Hei Yue asked Yao Ying back.

"Are you really the leader of A Thousand Swords?" Yao Ying finally decided to ask the most important question.

"Yes..." Hei Yue admitted honestly.

Yao Ying furrowed his eyebrows. Did the old man really tell the truth? But what did Yu Wen mean by saying that Qing Hui never let them go? He started to feel that all of this was indeed a big conspiracy.

"But... why don't I feel a hint of qi from your body?" Yao Ying asked in confusion. "I heard that A Thousand Swords' leader has a very high martial arts skills but... how come you...?" Yao Ying didn't know how to finish the sentence. After all, it must be this man's sore spot.

The calmness in Hei Yue's eyes changed into a fit of anger all at once. "I was poisoned by the one that I called my own brother!!" He said in a slightly loud voice. "The poison that he gave me was able to destroy my inner dantian without a trace. The poison was tasteless and it was mixed with my drink! Who would be suspicious of his own sworn brother?" He looked down sadly. "He ruined me!"

Yao Ying somehow had a bad premonition. "Don't tell me... It's his doing..."

"Yes!! This is Qing Hui's good work!" Hei Yue was vexed whenever he remembered the betrayal. "The man that I took as my sworn brother. I never thought that for his ambition... he would betray me!"

"But... why? What ambition?" Yao Ying asked, even though he already had a gut feeling about what Hei Yue would say next.

"What else?! He's trying to take control of A Thousand Swords. A Thousand Words would never be able to survive without us guarding them. I also don't know why!! That's what I want to ask him... the reason..." When saying the last part, Hei Yue looked defeated.

"Whenever I tried to go near him and ask for an explanation, the man was able to dodge me or run away from me!" Hei Yue gritted his teeth in a vexed manner. "I always do my best to work along with him and cater to his interest. So, I'm also wondering why..."

Somehow, Yao Ying tended to believe this man's words. Everything added up and more reasonable. He didn't have an indescribable nagging feeling when Hei Yue talked, unlike Qing Hui.

"Let me ask you one more question... Do you know any of the scholars who spread false news for the past few days?" Yao Ying asked.

"Eh? About the marriage alliance? I know one of them. Why?" Hei Yue asked in confusion with the sudden out-of-the-blue question. Why did this man suddenly talk about that matter?

"What's his relations.h.i.+p with you?" Yao Ying asked carefully. He didn't want Hei Yue to know what the old man told him. He just wanted to cross-check their words.

Hei Yue sighed. He didn't sure why Yao Ying suddenly talked about this topic, but he still answered him nonetheless. "You must be curious because that kid has the same skin color as me, right? He's one of my sons. However, I already kicked him out because he's so useless! He seems to be a magnet for trouble and keep making everything worse!"

Although Hei Yue seemed to be reprimanding his son, there was still a hint of love. Yao Ying suspected that he came here just for his son. Unknowingly, he once again fell into Qing Hui's trap. Even a clever person would feel agitated and lose control of himself once his beloved son was involved.

Yao Ying tried to remember the face of the scholars and he indeed remembered that there was one scholar who had dark skin, but he didn't seem to talk that much. He only stayed in the corner and didn't talk directly with Yao Ying. Yao Ying remembered him because his skin color distinguished his presence from the others at the teahouse back then.

It was quite rare for a scholar to have dark skin, after all, they were generally only studying inside the room. Unlike Lin Jian who did everything outdoor, hence his tanned skin. It was just because he didn't talk much, Yao Ying didn't pay him too much mind.

With Hei Yue's words, Yao Ying knew that Qing Hui used Hei Yue's life story and turned the story around, trying to gain Yao Ying's sympathy. He couldn't believe a person who was once a sworn brother with Hei Yue... would be able to destroy and ruin his sworn brother just because of his greediness.

What a cruel man!

"Do you believe me now?" Hei Yue asked Yao Ying.

"I believe you..." Yao Ying answered.

"Now... tell me what he said and what his offer was... I want to know how far he would go just to destroy this useless man?" Hei Yue felt bitter inside but he wanted to know the truth. If it wasn't because the trust and loyalty that his subordinates had for him, he would have already been dead for a long time. It was also the reason why Qing Hui couldn't get ahold of A Thousand Swords. He thought by crippling him, his subordinates would not recognize him as the leader.

Yao Ying didn't hesitate to tell him all the truth. Although he knew how painful it would be for Hei Yue, he deserved to know the truth. It seemed like there was no use for him to hang onto the fact that they were once best friends. It would only lead him to his death.

The more Hei Yue listened to what Yao Ying said, the darker his face was. He couldn't believe that the reason his son was doing this suicide mission was because of Qing Hui too! How far would he go just to ruin his life?! He... when did he suddenly become this cruel?

Qing Hui wasn't like the man who used to go through hard times together with him. What made him change? Greediness? Vying for power?

Yao Ying looked at Hei Yue in pity before it was gone in a flash. He knew that this proud man wouldn't accept any form of pity or he would feel insulted.

Hei Yue was quiet for a little while after listening to the story that Qing Hui had cooked up about him. He turned black into white and white into black. How ruthless!

Hei Yue asked hesitantly, "Then... What about his offer?"

Yao Ying didn't hesitate to tell Hei Yue about the three pieces of free information that he offered after killing Hei Yue and not to forget about the one free information that had been told to them for the down-payment. Hei Yue also confirmed that the news about the wedding alliance was indeed true, but the perpetrator must be the man behind Qing Hui --- not the crippled him.