Gou Zai Fei Men made up myths

"Gou Zai Fei Men Bian Shen Hua" (The Myth of Gou Zai Fei Men): Explosive word-of-mouth and rave reviews!

Han Lin clapped his hands and praised, "Brilliant! Overt schemes are the hardest to guard against. If they are arrogant, they will lose their morality; if they are compliant, they will gradually be assimilated. I will make the arrangements now, and I will make sure they cannot find any fault with it. I will also let them taste the flavor of these 'rules'."

Shen Mo finally looked at Su Xiao, his tone becoming more serious: "Junior Sister Xiao, the Xuan Yin Sect is of paramount importance. They are like venomous snakes lurking in the shadows; we cannot rest easy until they are eliminated."

"Your Shadow Guards must be like spiders weaving webs—patient and meticulous. Not only must they keep a close watch on the known nodes, but they must also use Zhou Tong as a pawn to release 'appropriate' information to lure the snake out of its hole. Ideally, they should be able to find traces of 'Poison Scholar' or even 'Ghost Hand'."

"At the same time, closely monitor the territory of the Lieyang Sect and the Tianjian Sect, and whether there are any unusual personnel or material exchanges with these green dots. I need to know exactly how far they have colluded and what they are planning to do."

"Yes." Su Xiao bowed and accepted the order, a sharp glint flashing in his cold eyes. "We have already put Zhou Tong under deep mind control. He will 'unintentionally' reveal some 'internal information' that we have processed, such as the Alliance being furious about the robbery and secretly investigating internal traitors, with the main suspects being several rogue cultivator groups that have grudges against the Lieyang Sect."

"For example, Baibaoge suffered heavy losses and is experiencing some cash flow difficulties. It is secretly selling off a batch of 'not-so-clean' scrap materials, etc."

"I believe this will have some 'interesting' misleading effect on the Xuan Yin Sect and any forces that may be colluding with it."

Shen Mo nodded, extremely confident in Su Xiao's abilities. He pondered for a moment, then said, "There's one more thing. Chen Hao of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion suffered considerable losses this time. Although we've appeased him, we still need to be wary of internal issues."

"Merchants are driven by profit, and some may be willing to take risks. Have the Shadow Guards secretly investigate the upper echelons of the Hundred Treasures Pavilion, especially those who may have private dealings with the Blazing Sun Sect, the Heavenly Sword Sect, or even the Profound Yin Sect. There's no need to alert them; just record their information."

"Understood." Su Xiao noted it down.

"Go ahead and get busy." Shen Mo waved his hand. "Remember, be relaxed on the outside but tight on the inside. Be calm on the outside, so calm that they'll think we've been stunned and can only increase our vigilance and follow the rules."

"The situation inside is extremely tense, so tense that not even the slightest disturbance can escape our notice. This net must be cast wide enough, and pulled in fast enough."

The three men stood up solemnly, bowed, accepted the order, and quietly withdrew from the Liuyun Palace.

The hall fell silent again, with only the occasional faint crackling sound of the eternal lamp wick popping.

Shen Mo sat alone at the intersection of light and shadow, his gaze returning to the illusory map. The shimmering points of light seemed to have transformed into chess pieces on a chessboard, with enemies and allies intersecting.

"The Blazing Sun Sect, the Heavenly Sword Sect, the Profound Yin Sect..." he muttered to himself, his fingertips unconsciously tracing patterns on the table, as if he were deducing something. "On the surface, they appear righteous and respectable, but in reality, they are scheming and despicable. They want to use underhanded means to undermine my foundation? Then let's see whose net it is and who gets caught first."

In the days that followed, the league appeared calm on the surface, and was even more "rule-abiding" than before.

An elder from the Lieyang Sect stationed in the alliance was sued at the council's arbitration office because his disciples got into a conflict with a smaller sect over a stall in the market and the elder initiated the physical altercation.

In the past, such a trivial matter would have been easily dismissed by a mere glare from a steward of the Lieyang Sect.

This time, however, Han Lin personally intervened and, based on the newly promulgated "Provisional Regulations on Arbitration of Alliance Disputes," retrieved the evidence from the recording stone, summoned witnesses from both sides, and after a thorough investigation, the evidence was conclusive.

The final ruling: The disciple of the Lieyang Sect provoked and attacked, violating the alliance rules. He was fined three months' contribution points and ordered to apologize to the other party. The Lieyang Sect steward was held jointly liable for failing to properly supervise his disciples. He was fined 500 contribution points and given a public reprimand.

The elder in charge immediately blushed, slammed his fist on the table, and stood up: "Han Lin! You've gone too far! Is a mere verbal dispute really worth making such a fuss about? This is clearly favoritism!"

Han Lin, his white hair flowing, remained expressionless as he pushed the jade slip containing the arbitration regulations in front of the other party, slowly and deliberately saying, "Deacon Li, Article 17, Section 3 of the Alliance Rules clearly states: the arbitration process is documented with witnesses and physical evidence, and has been made public. How can there be any bias?"

"If your clan believes the arbitration is unfair, you may request a review according to the procedure. However, the ruling must be executed before that. Otherwise, it would be a blatant violation of the alliance rules, and according to the law, all your clan's rights in the alliance may be temporarily suspended until they are fulfilled."

The voice wasn't loud, but it carried weight. Looking at the gazes cast upon him by the representatives of the various factions, and then at the disciplined disciples standing solemnly behind Han Lin, Deacon Li ultimately dared not actually overturn the table. He could only grit his teeth and accept the punishment, his heart seething with hatred for the "meddlesome" little faction and the "unreasonable" alliance.

Similar incidents have occurred repeatedly in various aspects such as border demarcation, resource allocation, and mission disputes.

The Qingyun Sect members strictly adhere to the rules and regulations, making everything clear and precise. Areas where things could previously be handled ambiguously or negotiated are now completely blocked.

For the first time, the people of the Blazing Sun Sect and the Heavenly Sword Sect felt that the word "rules" could be so stifling and uncomfortable. It was as if they had punched cotton, their strength had nowhere to go, and instead they were being pricked painfully by the needles hidden in the cotton.

A manager in charge of material handover at the Heavenly Sword Sect attempted to manipulate the quality and weight of a batch of "cold iron" to reduce the price slightly, a practice that had been an unspoken "custom" in the past.

As a result, the Qingyun Sect's Weapon Hall disciple in charge of the inspection used a standard instrument to expose the error on the spot, recorded it, and reported it to the Arbitration Hall.

In the end, not only was the difference recovered, but a considerable amount of contribution points were also deducted, and the team was publicly criticized in an internal league report, causing them to lose face.

When the news reached the two sects, Huoyun Daoren, Jian Wuhen, and others were naturally furious, believing that Qingyun Sect was using this as an excuse to deliberately suppress them.

But despite their anger, they couldn't find a reason to lash out. Every action taken by the Qingyun Sect was "justified" and conformed to the "alliance rules" they had reluctantly agreed to in the first place.

To openly oppose it would be to slap oneself in the face, thus confirming the infamy of "disregarding alliance rules and bullying the weak." This sense of frustration spread like poisonous weeds among the leaders of both factions.

Meanwhile, in the shadow world unseen by ordinary people, the tentacles of the Shadow Guards are quietly extending with unprecedented density and precision.

Luoxia Market, Yuelai Inn.

The innkeeper, the chubby old man who always had a friendly and prosperous look on his face, had been feeling uneasy these past few days. Ever since that "Manager Zhou" sent someone to take the things from under the bed, he hadn't received any more orders from his superiors.

The agreed-upon communication talisman lay under the third brick in the backyard, its silence unsettling. He had tried to contact it once, but to no avail.

What made him even more uneasy was that he felt there were some unfamiliar faces around the inn. Some were merchants coming and going, and some were street vendors. The way they looked at him seemed to carry an inexplicable scrutiny.

After closing time that day, he went to the backyard as usual, pretending to check the water tank. He squatted down and casually brushed his finger across the third blue brick. There was nothing underneath.

His heart tightened, and just as he was about to get up, he suddenly felt a chill on his neck.

"Don't move, don't make a sound." A cold voice rang in his ear, like the spitting of a venomous snake.

Author Mayday is bringing you "Stuck in the Abandoned Gate, Weaving Myths" on Cola Novels.