I am the villain in the book

Two quarters of an hour later.

The Qian army's main force set up camp thirty miles west, at the Tiangou Army's encampment.

In just half an hour, the Tiangou Army's first incursion after arriving at Fengyuan ended in such an anticlimactic manner.

Although it was roughly estimated that at least ten thousand enemies were killed in this battle, to be honest, it did not achieve the intended purpose.

Undoubtedly, this was inextricably linked to Wei Changtian's sudden order to withdraw the troops.

“My lord, there was nothing unusual about the battle just now, why did we retreat?”

Inside the newly built tent, Yang Liushi finally asked the question she had wanted to ask for a long time.

Since there were only the two of them in the tent at this time, Wei Changtian did not hide anything and quickly told her the whole story.

After listening, Yang Liushi inevitably froze for a moment, and after a long while, she thoughtfully said:

“So, Chu Xianping has been secretly helping us all along?”

“Yes, it seems so.”

Wei Changtian nodded solemnly: “When he left at first, he left the Chixiao Sword behind. Later, he reminded you to pay attention to Du Chang, and now he even warns me to beware of Lü Hongji's backhand.”

“From the results, he is indeed helping us, but I don't know what his real purpose is.”

“Perhaps he never rebelled from the very beginning?”

Yang Liushi frowned and asked: “Before, I felt that there were strangeness everywhere, but if Chu Xianping really staged a fake rebellion, then everything can be explained.”

“Fake rebellion... Alas, it's not that I haven't thought about it.”

Wei Changtian sighed softly and shook his head: “But don't forget the other things he has done.”

“At first, I asked Yan Huaiqing to test him, and he lied.”

“After that, all five hundred Xuanjing Division constables in Qingzhou died at his hands, not a single one survived.”

“Now, Zhuang Zhiming and the others are here under his orders.”

On the one hand, Chu Xianping did help them a lot after his “rebellion”. At the very least, if it weren't for the former, the Tiangou Army might have been buried in Falling Star Valley by Du Chang now.

But on the other hand, Wei Changtian was right.

If it was just a fake rebellion, why did Chu Xianping kill so many people from the Xuanjing Division? And why did he order Zhuang Zhiming to help Lü Hongji stabilize the morale of the army?

Yes, he did tell Zhuang Zhiming to hold back.

But looking at it from another perspective, the ambush just now did “scare” the Tiangou Army back.

“Perhaps... he just didn't want to be noticed by Lü Hongji?”

After thinking for a moment, Yang Liushi whispered her thoughts: “Chu Xianping's realm is low. If it's a fake rebellion, once a trace is revealed, all previous efforts may be in vain.”

“Miss Li once said that if you want to deceive others, you must first deceive yourself.”

“Maybe Chu Xianping can only do this to protect himself?”

“...”

Her embroidered eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and her voice was soft, mixed with the noise outside the tent.

The meaning of Yang Liushi's words was very simple, which was that she felt that Chu Xianping was trying to make the act more realistic, so he “used a trick” and lied to Wei Changtian even though he knew that Yan Huaiqing was deliberately testing him.

Including killing the five hundred Xuanjing Division constables later, it was just for the world to see.

The reason why he did this was undoubtedly to make everyone think that he had really rebelled, so that Lü Hongji would completely believe him.

Obviously, after experiencing the events of the past few days, Yang Liushi had gradually begun to lean towards the idea that Chu Xianping was not really betraying them.

However, Wei Changtian shook his head again, his thoughts not the same as hers.

“Your statement still doesn't make sense.”

“I can understand him deceiving others, but does he need to deceive me?”

“Okay, even if he is willing to plot against me in order to be able to approach Lü Hongji smoothly.”

“But what about now? If he is faking his rebellion, he should tell me the truth at this critical moment, right?”

“Otherwise, if I do something that disrupts his plan, or if he does something that disrupts my plan, wouldn't it be counterproductive in the end?”

“So in my opinion, whether he helps me or helps Lü Hongji, it seems to be true, but in reality, it is all false.”

“He has done so much, and in the end, he is just helping himself.”

“...”

He didn't believe that Chu Xianping was faking his rebellion, and he believed that the former was doing all this just for a temporarily unknown purpose.

This is what Wei Changtian wanted to express.

However...

“My lord, then why did you order the Tiangou Army to withdraw?”

Suddenly, Yang Liushi asked a question softly, which also caused a subtle change in Wei Changtian's expression.

There was a brief silence in the tent, until Yang Liushi paused, looked at him, and continued:

“Since my lord has determined that Chu Xianping is not faking his rebellion, then why do you still help him act out this play?”

“Also, my lord just said that Chu Xianping has not told you the truth until now.”

“But in my opinion, Chu Xianping has actually said it twice...”

Her tone was serious, and Yang Liushi's clear voice echoed in Wei Changtian's ears.

Wei Changtian naturally understood what the “twice” she mentioned referred to.

One was the sentence “The truth will come out in five days” that Wang Kang said.

The other was the sentence “Within five days, I will definitely give you the result you want” that Zhuang Zhiming said.

These two sentences can indeed be understood as Chu Xianping “pledging his loyalty”, and judging from Wei Changtian's order for the Tiangou Army to withdraw, he doesn't seem to distrust the former as much as he said.

“Alright, you've seen through all of this.”

Wei Changtian curled his lips and gave Yang Liushi a helpless look: “Liushi, I've discovered that after you took the Solar Eclipse Pearl, not only has your cultivation greatly increased, but even your mind has become much more meticulous. You're almost as good as Li Zimu.”

“I am a fox demon, so it should be like this.”

Her eyes curved into crescent moons, and Yang Liushi joked without concealment, then asked:

“My lord, what should we do next?”

“Next...”

Turning his head to look at the bright lamp placed on the table, Wei Changtian rubbed his forehead with some distress.

Obviously, the answer to this question is directly linked to his current level of trust in Chu Xianping.

And although he had just “cooperated” with Chu Xianping once, it can't be said that he has already trusted the latter again.

At least not complete trust.

“Let's do as before.”

After thinking for a moment, Wei Changtian slowly stood up and said in a deep voice:

“Starting tomorrow morning, the Tiangou Army will continue to harass the enemy camp.”

“It's just that we'll change to small-scale harassment, once every three hours. If Zhuang Zhiming and others show up, we'll retreat.”

“Uncle Liang and Han Zhao will arrive the day after tomorrow. At that time, the decisive battle will proceed according to the original plan.”

“Regardless of whether Chu Xianping's rebellion is real or fake, we can't give up this opportunity because of his one or two sentences.”

“That's it.”

“...”

When he finished the last sentence, Wei Changtian had already walked to the tent curtain.

He reached out and lifted the tent curtain. A team of patrolling soldiers happened to walk by outside the tent, and countless monsters in the distance raised their heads and stomped their feet.

The chaotic sounds filled his ears, and the moon above his head was like a drawn bow.