You don't want your secret to be revealed by others, right?-Chapter 590 - 106, Who is the traitor? _2

"If there is definitely a traitor among the princes at today’s birthday banquet, the Fifteenth Prince is the most likely."

Baili Fengzhi considered and said, "After all, the Golden Winged Roc he refined supposedly came from Consort Yun, but it’s still hard to imagine. Moreover, Consort Yun is a Demon God, perhaps..."

Lin Yue shook his head.

A few years back, he indeed received a Five Rings Level secret, which revealed the presence of a traitor within the Great Yu Imperial Family.

It was a Five Rings Level secret concerning Duanmu Yan——

"You know, the former Heavenly Punishment Department’s Venerable Duanmu Yan colluded with the Demon Clan a hundred years ago to assassinate key court officials. He survived because he’s someone impossible to predict, and more so because a prince who defected to the Demon Clan secretly helped him escape Great Yong, allowing him to reincarnate into the Demon Clan as the bloodline of the Dream Demon Ancestor."

When Lin Yue first received this secret, he was quite shocked.

However...

Since that prince defected to the Demon Clan, he would naturally disguise and hide flawlessly.

Moreover, the Second Prince had also mentioned that among the Demon Gods, there are those beyond prediction, whom even the Crown Prince couldn’t deduce using Heavenly Calculation.

Lin Yue didn’t want to alert the enemy by prematurely investigating, so he only informed the Second Prince before his travels.

To this day, he still didn’t know which prince had defected to the Demon Clan.

Among the princes and princesses who hadn’t yet proven and transcended, he had already obtained secrets about more than half of them, but among the transcended princes and princesses, he had only learned about the Fifth Prince’s secret.

Perhaps it was because he had more interactions with the Fifth Prince.

As for the other transcended princes and princesses, he had only slight interactions with the Second Princess and Fourth Prince, yet he still hadn’t obtained secrets related to those two.

"The Fifteenth Prince could indeed be involved."

Lin Yue spoke softly, "But today he shared a secret about Consort Yun with me, and even Master seems to trust Consort Yun, making me think... he might not be the one."

Consort Yun, thousands of years ago, for the sake of the Human Clan, had her Second Primordial Spirit reincarnate into the Demon Clan. Even after becoming a Demon God, amidst the adversity faced by the Human Clan, she never betrayed them.

Such a person, he felt, it was unlikely that she would be a traitor to the Demon Clan.

Moreover...

Even if the Demon Clan employed a scheme to sow discord, it would be too obvious; Consort Yun had long been under suspicion and restrained everywhere. What would be the point of making such a person an undercover agent?

Most importantly, his Master, who prioritized the Human Clan, was also willing to trust Consort Yun and exchange a Semi-Divine Artifact with her.

He naturally didn’t think there was any issue with Consort Yun.

As for the Fifteenth Prince, although it wasn’t easy to say, he was, after all, Consort Yun’s child.

"At today’s banquet, besides the Fifteenth Prince, the Eighth Prince is also quite suspect."

Lin Yue spoke softly, "Duanmu Yan’s methods clearly bear the influence of the Eighth Prince’s Heart Demon Path. There have long been suspicions that the Eighth Prince had traded secretly with Duanmu Yan, so perhaps he is the traitor?"

Coincidentally, he hadn’t obtained any secrets regarding the Eighth Prince.

As for the Twelfth Prince...

Even though they were mortal enemies, in his previous life as the Myriad Poison Demon Ancestor, the Twelfth Prince had poisoned more demons than any other demon ancestor combined tenfold.

The Myriad Poison Demon Ancestor didn’t care for human lives, his sole aim was to eradicate the Demon Clan entirely.

Such a person, with such a deep obsession, wouldn’t defect to the Demon Clan.

And then there were the Third Prince, Fourth Prince.

The Fourth Prince was renowned as a good-natured person, a living Buddha with a compassionate heart, it was said he hadn’t even killed an ant. He couldn’t imagine such a person defecting to the Demon Clan.

The Third Prince, who esteemed freedom, even if he intended to betray the Human Clan, should have left openly and directly joined the Demon Clan, not hiding in the dark, becoming a lackey for the Demon Clan.

From this perspective...

Among the princes present today, the Eighth Prince was the most suspicious.

However, Duanmu Yan’s exposure was too blatant; casting suspicion on the Eighth Prince so easily seemed unlikely.

After contemplating repeatedly, Lin Yue felt that none of the princes present today seemed highly suspicious.

"On the contrary, it’s me, the prince rumored to be the reincarnation of Xiahou Shou, who seemed more like a traitor to the Human Clan..."

At this thought, Lin Yue couldn’t help but chuckle silently.

If it weren’t for the Imperial Decree in his possession, he probably would have been suspected back then.

"Among the seventeen princes, aside from me, the Crown Prince, the Second Prince, and a few others, all the other princes whose secrets I haven’t obtained are suspect, and it’s hard to determine..."

Lin Yue exhaled slowly.

Furthermore, even obtaining relevant secrets wouldn’t necessarily reveal the traitor’s identity.

"The Demon Clan has failed repeatedly in dealing with me; if they strike again next time, they might come on more forcefully."

He frowned slightly, "Perhaps... they’d employ that secretly defected prince? However, I don’t know what strength that prince possesses; if he has proven the Dao, I should be much safer. The Demon Clan wouldn’t easily expose such an important piece for my sake unless absolutely necessary..."

Currently, he considered the Eighth Prince, the Heart Demon Ancestor’s reincarnation, as most suspect.

If the Demon Clan were to go all out, using the exposure of a prince like the Eighth Prince as a price, capturing him for the Demon Clan was likely.

After all, it related to Xiahou Shou, the Prison Demon God.

"Fortunately, I’ve grasped the nascent form of the Formless Path, and with the Semi-Divine Artifact capable of infinite transformations in my hands, being someone impossible to predict..."

Lin Yue wasn’t very worried, "I’ll stay in Di Hong City for now, study the Fifth Prince’s Bloodline Path Harmonization Method, and also try merging the Water and Fire elements. Once I’m ready, I’ll leave Di Hong City using infinite transformations and continue honing my Dao Heart..."

Infinite transformations, transforming into the true form, even a Dao-proven expert couldn’t see through it.

The unpredictability of fate also prevented even a Dao-proven expert from speculating on his existence.

As long as he deliberately hid, no one could find him.

...

In a secret location within the Yong Realm.

In the dim and obscure space, Duanmu Yan, clad in a black robe, looked at the blurred figure opposite him, his complexion pale.

"He didn’t come, and you only came with an avatar?" Duanmu Yan said in a low voice.

That figure, indistinct and enigmatic like a sinister shadow in a nightmare, in the dreamlike realm descending into reality, was elusive even for Duanmu Yan, as if trapped in a dream within a dream.

"The time hasn’t come."

That eerie, nebulous figure emitted an empty, illusory voice like a reverberation in a dream, "Moreover, my intervention alone is sufficient. At your level, where even the Dream Nightmare Path hasn’t reached completion, how could you understand?"

"If the plan goes smoothly this time, you might not even need to take action."

Duanmu Yan said in a low tone, "I am no longer the same as before; even if I were to die now, it wouldn’t matter."

"Oh?"

That eerie, nebulous figure scrutinized Duanmu Yan, sneering, "Have you given up?"

"Yes." Duanmu Yan replied solemnly, "I never had much hope for proving the Dao anyway, so I may as well give it up."

"Indeed."

That eerie, nebulous figure said, "When the time comes, I shall seize the opportunity. If you fall short, I will intervene."

Duanmu Yan nodded slowly, then said, "At today’s birthday banquet for Prince Jing’s longevity, the Seventeenth Prince should have attended, right? Is the plan going smoothly?"

"I was there in person, so naturally, it went smoothly."

That eerie, nebulous figure spoke calmly, "However, there are methods left on the Seventeenth Prince by the Second Prince. I cannot strike him directly; otherwise, the Second Prince would surely find out. I can only influence Baili Fengzhi through deep psychological means."

"That’s sufficient." Duanmu Yan nodded slightly, "In addition to the mother-daughter scenarios we’ve arranged over this period, making her reflective, with the influence you exert through bloodline, she won’t escape it."

"But... can’t we just kill her?"

That eerie, nebulous figure smiled and said, "Isn’t she the granddaughter of the Nirvana Demon God? I heard the Nirvana Demon God is gravely injured and will sleep for a long time, and the young clan chief of the Fire Phoenix Clan has no hope of becoming a Demon God. If we eliminate her, the Fire Phoenix Clan, reigning over Eternal Night for millennia, would decline, which wouldn’t be too bad."

"No." Duanmu Yan replied solemnly, "That’s the Ancestor’s decision; don’t act recklessly."

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l