When Bai Youwei heard the news, her first thought was: Fu Miaoxue and Du Lai are pulling something again!

Otherwise, she simply could not understand — they were both Kings, and her own reputation was clearly a full cut above Fu Miaoxue’s, so why were people willing to serve under Fu Miaoxue but ignoring her entirely?

It made no sense whatsoever.

Shen Mo also sensed something was wrong and went to find Chu Huaijin, who brushed him off, claiming to know nothing.

But the base had a limited number of people — news couldn’t be kept quiet for long. Bai Youwei and Shen Mo soon heard the rumors: word had it that from here on out, the base would only be backing a single King — Fu Miaoxue.

The people Shen Mo had selected, without Bai Youwei and Shen Mo’s knowledge, had each been summoned individually by Chu Huaijin for a private meeting, and instructed to abandon Bai Youwei and defect to Fu Miaoxue’s side.

When Bai Youwei learned of this, she found it utterly baffling. What kind of spell had Fu Miaoxue cast on Chu Huaijin?

If it had been anyone else, she might have conducted a quiet investigation. But it was Fu Miaoxue — so Bai Youwei went straight to her door and pounded on it without the slightest courtesy.

The one who opened the door was Du Lai.

Du Lai saw her and didn’t look the least bit surprised. He stepped back half a pace to let her in, and said, “I know what you want to ask. Believe it or not, this has nothing to do with us.”

Bai Youwei’s eyes went wide. “People are flocking to your side, and you’re telling me you had nothing to do with it?”

“If your personal charisma isn’t up to par, who else is there to blame?” Fu Miaoxue was seated at her vanity mirror, applying layers of makeup, her tone dripping with cold mockery.

Bai Youwei fired right back: “If you’re talking about my personal charisma, what about yours? No matter how thick you slather it on, you still don’t look like a person!”

“Hey! What did you just say?!” Fu Miaoxue flew into a rage and hurled a compact of blush at her.

“This truly has nothing to do with us.” Du Lai pressed his fingers to his temple, stepping between the two women. “Bai Youwei, think about it carefully. We’re short on people too, but we have absolutely no reason to block your recruitment — because we won’t be crossing paths with you in the next battle. What benefit would stopping you bring us? And besides, I made you a promise back then: if you could get Miaoxue out, I would fully back you in battle. I may not have much of a reputation for keeping my word, but on this particular matter, I won’t go back on it.”

Bai Youwei frowned, looking between him and Fu Miaoxue, her face full of suspicion.

“It really wasn’t you?” she pressed.

Fu Miaoxue let out a scornful “hmph.” “My subjects are already fully recruited. Why would I bother with pointless extra steps?”

Du Lai said, “From what I’ve heard, this apparently was Professor Song’s idea. Chu Huaijin seems to be in a difficult position himself.”

“Professor Song?” Bai Youwei grew even more puzzled. “Isn’t that old man practically on his deathbed? I’ve barely seen him a handful of times. When did I ever offend him?”

Du Lai said helplessly, “I don’t know the specifics. You’d better dig into this further.”

Bai Youwei’s mood was thoroughly sour, and with a grim expression she waved her hand and left Du Lai and Fu Miaoxue’s room.

After she was gone, Fu Miaoxue immediately turned to Du Lai with curiosity. “Was it really Professor Song’s idea?”

“Who else could have changed Chu Huaijin’s mind but Professor Song?” Du Lai picked up the blush compact from the floor and set it back on the table. “This has nothing to do with us — let’s leave it alone.”

Fu Miaoxue couldn’t help but turn the idea over in her mind. “…What if Bai Youwei never manages to gather enough people? What happens then?”

Du Lai paused slightly, thought for a moment, then answered, “She has a lot of puzzle pieces, so even if she loses the next battle, she should be alright. But if she still can’t gather enough people by the time of the final decisive battle…”

Fu Miaoxue tilted her head, watching him. “Then what?”

Du Lai’s brow furrowed slightly. “…She’ll die, I suppose.”

—