The dinner table was fragrant with wine and food.
The guests at nearby tables were some drinking competitively, some composing poems, others laughing and jesting — the atmosphere was relaxed and cheerful.
Fang Yuan and Li Ran sat face to face, appearing perfectly calm on the surface, but in reality the situation was fraught with tension, undercurrents surging beneath. Li Ran harbored a sharp killing intent in his heart, while Fang Yuan, though seemingly at ease, was also on guard against his counterpart.
"Who exactly are you?" Li Ran asked using the Heart Voice Gu.
"I told you, that question isn't important. Hand me the flatbread." Fang Yuan answered the first half through the Heart Voice Gu and spoke the second half aloud.
Li Ran paused for a moment, then pushed the paper-wrapped package toward Fang Yuan.
Fang Yuan unwrapped the package, took out the flatbread, bit into it, nodded, and smiled faintly: "This is the right flavor. Sorry to trouble you."
Then he added through the Heart Voice Gu: "You know, I've tailed you a few times right below this tavern. Happened to be hungry and picked up some flatbread on a whim. Turns out it's surprisingly delicious — want to try some?"
Li Ran was in no mood to try the flatbread.
He snorted inwardly and transmitted: "Aren't you afraid I poisoned it?"
On the surface, he smiled: "It was nothing, hardly a trouble. What's between us?"
"Heh heh heh." Fang Yuan laughed aloud, fixing Li Ran with a meaningful stare while transmitting: "What Gu you have — don't you think I already know?"
Li Ran's smile grew wider, but his heart sank abruptly.
"He's warning me! That's right — he's hidden in the shadows while I'm exposed. He tailed me and I didn't even notice. He must have investigated my background thoroughly long ago. If I try to fight him, I'll likely lose. So he's using this flatbread to warn me!"
Seeing Li Ran fall silent, his gaze flickering restlessly, Fang Yuan knew the warning had landed. He then produced the Star Stone.
Li Ran's gaze was immediately drawn to it, but he quickly forced himself to look away.
The next moment, Fang Yuan's voice echoed in his mind: "No need to pretend. I know the All-Out Gu is sealed inside."
"What?!" Li Ran felt as though struck by five thunderbolts, his mind violently shaken.
Despite his deep skill in deception, his expression couldn't help but change, revealing panic and fear.
He had been hoping all along that the Star Stone's secret would remain hidden. After all, it had been crafted by Wei Shenjing himself, flawless in every detail — but he never imagined things had deteriorated to this extent. The other party actually knew the All-Out Gu was sealed inside!
"Wait — only a handful of people know about the All-Out Gu. I only just received it from my contact not long ago. How does he know?"
"Things have gotten complicated... I'm confident there are no flaws on my end. This intelligence most likely leaked from the main family!"
"If the main family can send an operative like me, the opposing family can certainly plant one in ours. The top families of the Southern Border have been infiltrating each other and planting spies for a long time — it's an open secret."
"Otherwise, how else could he have learned about the All-Out Gu? That's right — I've been so careful and meticulous, how could he possibly have caught me in anything to arouse suspicion? It's just that the main family has already been infiltrated to this degree... truly terrifying!"
"But perhaps that's not the case either. In this world, there are far too many extraordinary Gu..."
Fang Yuan gave Li Ran ample time to think.
He was a smart man. The more he thought, the more suspicious and fearful he became. Subconsciously, he would imagine Fang Yuan to be more powerful, more mysterious — and more terrifying. His own confidence steadily eroded.
Fang Yuan gently stroked the Star Stone. After waiting a while longer, feeling the moment was ripe, he transmitted: "I want the All-Out Gu."
Li Ran was momentarily stunned, unable to grasp Fang Yuan's deeper meaning.
"But I know that if I take this Gu, your family will retaliate against me. So I need your cooperation." Fang Yuan's gaze was deep and unfathomable.
Any force that could scheme against the Shang family had to be a major family of comparable standing. If Fang Yuan forcibly took the All-Out Gu, he would make an enemy of that power.
This Star Stone was like bait on a fishhook. Fang Yuan wanted to take the bait while avoiding having the hook catch his own mouth.
Li Ran couldn't help but show a mocking smile: "You actually want me to cooperate with you? What a joke. On what grounds?"
"On the grounds that I don't truly want to be your enemy. On the grounds that I possess the Zijing Token but don't want to expose you. On the grounds that, like you, I also have people I want to protect." As Fang Yuan spoke to Li Ran through the mind, his gaze drifted toward the window.
At the same time, he said aloud: "I hear the tofu at that place is quite good."
Li Ran narrowed his eyes, a fierce glint gleaming through the slits. He shouted in his mind: "Are you threatening me?!"
Fang Yuan shook his head, his eyes drifting like mist and clouds, a complex emotion surfacing within.
Li Ran instantly caught the sentimentality, sorrow, helplessness, and nostalgic grief woven into that emotion.
"Don't you understand your own situation?" Fang Yuan's voice resonated gravely in his mind. "People like us, caught between two powers, live every day as if walking a tightrope, burying our true feelings in the deepest recesses of our hearts — and any moment, we could lose our heads. Since we chose this path, we must walk it to the end. For our families, neither you nor I have any regrets. It's just that some people are clearly innocent — why should they bear the risk and suffer because of us?"
Li Ran's heart trembled with shock. He stared at Fang Yuan in disbelief: "Could you also be... an operative?"
Fang Yuan smiled helplessly, the smile bitter: "What do you think?"