Let Me Explain, Fairy
Chapter 775 - 487: A Theatrical Promise

Chapter 775: Chapter 487: A Theatrical Promise

Under the moonlit night, the wreckage of the carriage lay in eerie silence.

"Da... Da... Da..."

The crisp sound of boots stepping on the muddy road filled the air.

Xu Yuan, carrying the willow ghost blade that exuded a sense of madness, walked up to the wreckage of the carriage and stared at it for a few moments before letting out a soft sigh:

"Yunqing, it seems our guest from the sea was quite wary. Where’s your Thousand-Li Phantom Incense?"

Thousand-Li Phantom Incense was a special type of incense that, when used with a specific secret technique, allowed the user to see its residual traces in the air once activated.

Dressed in tight-fitting clothes, Li Junqing approached Xu Yuan, eyed the now empty wreckage of the carriage, and said:

"On the dissipating corpse."

"On the corpse?"

Xu Yuan raised his eyebrows slightly, glanced at Li Junqing beside him with a hint of amusement, "You’re quite talented, using a fake body as the target for the incense."

Li Junqing was taken aback and rolled his eyes in retaliation:

"Don’t tell me you knew they were fakes before you took action?"

"That I did not."

Xu Yuan answered straightforwardly and honestly, "Before I took action, they seemed real to my senses."

"Then you have the nerve to mock me?" Li Junqing shot back.

"No, this is exactly the strange point."

The golden light flickered in Xu Yuan’s blood pupils as he spoke solemnly:

"My Exploratory Secret Technique can usually see through those who have achieved Mortal Transcendence, but it could not distinguish the fake body of this woman from her true self."

Li Junqing glanced at Xu Yuan subconsciously upon hearing this, and seeing the golden light flashing in his eyes, he understood and said:

"Yantian Art, hm... It seems that the cultivation techniques of these seafaring guests are not simple, to be able to conceal the connection between the fake body and the true body."

There were myriad cultivation techniques, and within the Dayan Empire, there were similar secret techniques for creating body doubles, but such techniques always had an issue that was difficult to resolve.

No matter how one created a duplicate, there needed to be a bridge of control linking the original body and the duplicate, either through Origin Qi or Will-Spirit, which was usually easy to detect by others.

As relevant information flashed through his mind, Li Junqing stepped forward and crouched before the wreckage of the carriage, murmuring:

"In other words, the woman might have met us with a fake body the first time we met, and even when she entered the palace to see the sovereign, she might have..."

"Pfft..."

Listening to Li Junqing’s analysis, Xu Yuan couldn’t help laughing out loud, stepping forward to pat his shoulder, whispering:

"Just how little do you think of your father, to believe that the Xi’en princess would dare to pull tricks in front of him?"

Though the workings of the secret technique for the fake body were unclear, what Xu Changge could see through, someone in the palace could not possibly miss.

Li Junqing paused for a moment, then chuckled softly, standing up:

"That’s right, I guess I overestimated that secret technique. But now, instead of delving deeper into the mechanics of this technique, we should be considering what the Xi’en princess was doing with her true body while her duplicate met with us."

Upon hearing this, a train of thought flashed through Xu Yuan’s mind, and his eyes narrowed unconsciously.

Li Junqing caught this subtle change in expression and quietly asked:

"What are you thinking?"

Xu Yuan let out a light sigh, saying four words:

"Honglu Temple."

"...."

Li Junqing was startled by the implication but quickly grasped the meaning behind Xu Yuan’s words.

According to Dayan’s laws, not only did Honglu Temple house a detachment of Imperial Guards, but there were also strong individuals active there year-round under the pretense of protection, but in reality, observing those foreign envoys entering Di’an City.

It was practically impossible for O’Reilly to pull off a switcheroo inside Honglu Temple; she would have to venture outside to find opportunities. However, if the envoys were to go out, Honglu Temple would dispatch strong individuals of varying capabilities to follow them, depending on the situation.

If anything suspicious was detected during this time, Honglu Temple would send more people to keep watch.

And therein lay the problem.

If the envoys did nothing to arouse suspicion during their travels, Honglu Temple would reduce the number of people following them. After all, the more powerful the individual, the more freedom they have; it’s not feasible for them to tail someone for all twelve hours of the day over trivial matters.

In the past half month, the contact he, the Third Prince, had with the Xi’en envoy had caused quite a stir in Di’an City. Maybe O’Reilly had used this as leverage to let the Honglu Temple become less vigilant, pulling off a switcheroo to attend to her own matters.

After a few moments of silence, Li Junqing spoke softly:

"So, are we saying that we were used by that Xi’en princess?"

Xu Yuan chuckled:

"It can also be said that this is a win-win situation in a sense."

"A win-win? She won over us twice?"

With a somewhat helpless look, Li Junqing seemed ready to express resignation, "She took advantage of our plans to accomplish what she wanted in Di’an City, and now she’s using our invitation tonight to successfully escape."

At this, Li Junqing huffed slightly:

"Hmph... that woman is quite something, managing to have so many contingency plans without knowledge of our intelligence. Had we known, we should have acted directly within Di’an City."

Hearing this, Xu Yuan laughed lightly:

"There are too many eyes in Di’an City, even though we could ensure she gets caught, it would come with its corresponding consequences. Can you, the Third Prince, afford to pay that price?"

In Di’an City, he and Li Junqing held an absolute advantage, but they were also subject to many restrictions.

The fake identity of Xu Yuan’s supposed death, the relationship between Li Junqing and the Prime Minister’s Mansion, and even the Sect Alliance’s reaction to the matter within the Imperial Court, prevented them from acting rashly, thereby giving the woman room to manoeuver, even under the absolute advantage.