Light Fortress
Chapter 737 - 5: Deception is Shameful but Effective_2

Chapter 737: Chapter 5: Deception is Shameful but Effective_2

Gu Shen spoke slowly.

Shen Li was startled, then nodded slowly, "Of course I remember... I met Miss Chu, then blocked an attack..."

After that, he lost consciousness.

When he woke up, the Battle of Qingzhong had ended completely.

He might have been the first Transcendent in history to sleep through an entire Divine War.

"Is there a possibility that the Netherworld King has already met you..."

Gu Shen spoke softly, "when you were unconscious?"

"Are you saying..."

Shen Li gasped, his eyes lit up, and he looked at Gu Shen in amazement. If he remembered correctly, Brother Gu was also a fortunate one who witnessed the entire Divine War.

"I am indeed the ’Netherworld King’s Apostle’... But I was unconscious, so I didn’t know?"

The Little Iron Man patted himself.

He muttered in a low voice, "No, that can’t be right. Where’s the token, the badge, there’s nothing... Lord Netherworld can’t be that stingy?"

"..."

Gu Shen remained silent.

"Becoming an ’apostle’ isn’t as simple as you think... Within the Five Continents, every Divine Throne’s apostle has to undergo numerous trials," Gu Shen sighed and asked, "Other than sleeping, what else have you done?"

"... Indeed."

Shen Li coughed awkwardly.

Then.

He realized something was amiss.

"Wait a minute... Brother Gu, how do you know about the Netherworld King?" Shen Li had a rare moment of cleverness.

The Netherworld King summoning him, whether it was a spiritual summoning or through other methods... Gu Shen shouldn’t have known about it.

Gu Shen had already prepared for this question.

He smiled and pointed at his head with a finger.

"Great wisdom is almost at the truth, think again."

Shen Li gritted his teeth, racking his brain.

To know the news about the Divine Throne... and to know the inside story of an ’apostle’...

A sudden flash of insight struck him.

The Little Iron Man suddenly understood and exclaimed, "Brother Gu... So you..."

"Are also the ’Netherworld King’s Apostle’?"

Gu Shen silently raised a thumb and then gestured for Shen Li to keep quiet.

"Although we don’t have badges or tokens, we can’t be considered real ’apostles.’" Gu Shen said solemnly, word by word, "But the news about the Netherworld King summoning messengers must be kept secret."

Shen Li nodded like a pecking chicken.

No wonder... Ever since that day, the more he looked at Gu Shen, the more he felt a sense of closeness.

Was it because they were both ’apostle candidates’?

"Do you know about the trials, Brother Gu?" Shen Li blinked and asked.

Gu Shen shook his head and said meaningfully, "It’s not that simple... Do you know why Mr. Shan gave you the ’Great Que’ and that mansion?"

Shen Li held his breath and listened intently.

"Twenty years ago, news of the Netherworld King’s fall spread to the Five Continents. Mr. Shan led people to move everything out of the Netherworld Mansion in Snow Forbidden City..."

Gu Shen briefly explained the conflict between the two sides twenty years ago.

After listening, Shen Li truly understood.

No wonder...

No wonder!

Shen Li always felt that when Mr. Shan gave him the Great Que, his gaze contained five parts sincere apology, four parts fear and dread, and only one part appreciation of his talent.

"From what I know, your first trial isn’t difficult. In that mansion, there is ’Black Silver’ left by Mr. Shan, along with some mundane items. As long as you retrieve these things and bring them back to the cemetery, it counts as completion."

Gu Shen smiled and said, "At this point, do you still think the key is unimportant?"

Shen Li’s expression was complicated.

Suddenly, he regretted the bet, where he so casually handed the key to Gu Shen.

"Here... It’s for you."

With a crisp clang, the mansion key was thrown out. Shen Li caught it with both hands, looking bewildered.

Why... give it back to him?

Gu Shen said seriously, "Regarding the key ’bet,’ it was also a part of the trial. You shouldn’t have handed it to me so easily... Ignorance is not a sin, but in the future, items related to the ’Netherworld King’ need to be carefully safeguarded."

Shen Li’s expression became extremely complex.

His brain was not the brightest to begin with.

After hearing such a long story about the Netherworld King, he now only felt like he was incredibly lucky.

"Brother Gu..."

The Little Iron Man said sincerely, "Your great kindness, I won’t thank you in words! Thank you!"

...

...

"In the original plan... the step of fetching the Black Silver from the mansion can also be skipped."

After Shen Li left.

Gu Shen stood alone at the top of Lingyuan Mountain, blowing in the cool mountain breeze.

He watched the Little Iron Man run away from the cemetery at full speed, getting farther and farther until he disappeared... He couldn’t help but feel a strange sensation.

"Knowing you, is it Shen Li’s fortune or misfortune?"

Chu Ling posed this question seriously inside Zero Zero One.

Although it sounded like a mockery.

But Gu Shen laughed.

"Initially, I didn’t think too much. I just wanted to use the name of the ’Netherworld King’ to pressure the prison and make Mr. Shan treat Shen Li a bit better." Gu Shen looked at the drifting Heavenly Cloud and said softly, "However, making Shen Li an ’apostle’ doesn’t seem to be a bad choice. For him, having a backer is better than having none."

"However... He won’t get a real ’apostle’s badge’ until much later." Gu Shen asked, "Is having him run errands and fight for me in exchange for an apostle’s identity too much to ask?"

"If there were such an opportunity, 99.999% of people would break their heads trying to get it."

Chu Ling said lightly, "But for some reason, I feel sorry for him."

It was probably because Shen Li’s innocent face... looked too naïve.

He was completely kept in the dark.

"Will you continue to interact with him as the Netherworld King’s apostle?" Chu Ling asked, "Letting the world know someone is connected to the Netherworld King... isn’t necessarily a good thing."

This sentence sounded even more sarcastic.

Because Gu Shen himself was the Netherworld King.

"Don’t worry, I had a ’plan to escape’ before I spoke."

Gu Shen stated calmly, "Shen Li knows I am like him, an apostle candidate, but... a candidate doesn’t necessarily mean he will become an apostle. When the time comes, I will naturally be eliminated by the Netherworld King. I trust Shen Li won’t actively reveal information about me, and even if the news about the Netherworld King’s candidates is exposed, it won’t affect me.

As long as I don’t go to Light City or contact the Light God’s Seat... No one can expose my connection to the Netherworld King’s Spark.

And whatever the rumored Netherworld King says, does, plans.

It’s all up to me.

The good deeds are done by Gu Shen.

The bad deeds are blamed on the Netherworld King.

Before long.

Shen Li came back to the cemetery with the Black Silver from the mansion. Gu Shen returned to the inner tomb, using the faint guidance of the Netherworld King’s Spark, summoned the dark clouds, let Shen Li into the tomb, and then Chu Ling set up an Array Mist, leading him to place the Black Silver on top of a small hill.

There was no need to wait for the ’Battle God Domain’ to cover Snow Forbidden City.

The items were already in hand.

After completing the task, Shen Li foolishly waited for a meeting with Lord Netherworld...

However.

Lord Netherworld didn’t seem to have any intention of meeting, the Array Mist closed, sending him back out.

The Little Iron Man wanted to know if his first trial was over.

As for the second trial... when would it come?

Everything remained unspoken.

In the thick fog, he thought Lord Netherworld seemed to say one word to him.

Understand.

Or maybe... leave.

So Shen Li entered the tomb in confusion and left it just as confused.

Gu Shen stood at the summit, holding the sealed Black Silver box, without making another appearance, watching silently as Shen Li left the cemetery.

Visibly, the Little Iron Man’s back was straighter when he left... Was this the confidence given by the ’Netherworld King’?

Hmm...

It was even more important not to let him know the truth.

Gu Shen opened the box, seeing can after can of sealed Black Silver lying inside. This was currently the highest quality ’Mithril’ known within the Five Continents, also the most powerful containment material.

His fingers brushed over the surface of the cans, and he smiled slightly.

"Deception."

Chu Ling, who had been silent for a long time, squeezed out this word.

To describe Gu Shen at this moment, it fit perfectly.

Gu Shen laughed, "Deception may be shameful... but it is very useful."