How could this be?
This is somewhat different from what I expected. Lu Yao should have broken through the predicament by now. Did Lu Yao also fail?
After returning to prison, I was still unable to fully comprehend. At that moment, someone came to inform me that someone wanted to see me. I thought it would be my lawyer, but unexpectedly, it was Lu Yao.
"What's going on with Lu Yao?"
"The police found that general's head statue in your villa and confirmed your charges."
This is wrong. Didn't I give the safe to Lu Yao? How did that general's head statue end up in my villa? I looked at Lu Yao, remaining silent. His expression didn't change, but I could feel that Lu Yao's inner self was completely different from the Lu Yao I had seen before.
"Can the letter left by Grandpa Lin prove that the story you told is true?" Lu Yao asked politely.
"You destroyed that letter."
"Tang Nan, you are indeed clever. You immediately sensed the change in circumstances and found the crucial point. That's right, I exposed you for harboring national treasures as a witness against you. Naturally, that letter could not be kept."
"Why shouldn't I have trusted you?"
I chose not to trust Teacher Wang Ren and believed Lu Yao. Now, I am paying the price for that choice. However, even now, I still don't understand why Lu Yao couldn't be trusted.
"If I hadn't saved you, you would have died in Ruili. Therefore, my current behavior, and everyone's reaction, should be for what reason, why? At that time, I actually thought that if I didn't go back, you would most likely die, and there was a small chance you might live. I needed you to live, so I couldn't gamble."
"Do I have a feud with you?"
"Yes!"
This made it a bit difficult for me to understand. Before I went to Ruili, I didn't know Lu Yao at all. Where did this hatred come from?
"You probably don't know what our feud is? The moment I learned that Teacher Li Jiu defined you as the successor of the fifty-sixth generation of schemers in Hu Shi, our hatred became irreconcilable.
"What does that have to do with you?"
"I feigned madness and endured humiliation in the training class just to become the most powerful schemer. I finally gained Li Jiu's trust and went to Yunnan to become as powerful a schemer as Teacher Li Jiu. But by the time I finished learning, it was too late. You took everything from me. I should have been the fifty-sixth generation successor of the schemer, and the world of schemers should have revolved around me. It should have been me who finally curbed the Gao family. But fate did not arrange it that way. It gave me the worst outcome. I became an unknown passerby, a true nobody, a role I played my whole life, yet could never look down upon."
I looked at Lu Yao in shock, never expecting that his reason for considering me an enemy was this.
"You want to be the fifty-sixth generation successor of the schemer?"
"Yes!"
"Then I'll give it to you. Why did you go to so much trouble?"
Lu Yao suddenly let out a manic, cold laugh. "Give it to me? Tang Nan, you truly know how to insult someone. You treat someone's lifelong pursuit as what? You say you'll abandon it, and you'll abandon it? Are you worthy of Teacher Li Jiu's recognition?"
"Lu Yao, you think I insulted you. That's right, I am insulting you. You don't know what you're pursuing your whole life? The inheritance of a schemer has never been a title. Schemers are heroes hidden in dark corners. They contribute silently in places unseen by people, maintaining the prosperity and flourishing we see. What do you consider a schemer? A mere inherited title, a low-level gang member?"
Hearing me say this, Lu Yao clapped his hands vigorously, his palms turning red. "Wonderful, putting on airs of greatness, Master of the Sect. Your saintly heart truly disgusts me.
"You call this a saintly heart?"
"Then what do you call it? Heroic sentiment? Forget it, I won't argue with you. Tang Nan, I've come today to speak with you frankly. Back then, Ning Caichen acted on his own in Ruili and dragged you into desperation. I intended to use the situation to my advantage. If I had pushed you then, you would have surely died. But I didn't do that because I didn't want your end to be there. Everything I did was to bring you back to Xi'an. Because only here could I separate you from your loyal dogs, and then I would kill those who believed in you and chose you as their sect leader, making the dead regret supporting you as a model schemer, and letting the living know that you are unworthy of being the fifty-sixth generation successor of the schemer."
"It was you from the beginning?"
"Yes! Even Cao Qian, whom Ning Caichen died to protect, was my pawn. Did you think of that, Master of the Sect?"
I thought carefully. Cao Qian's gift to me was recommended by Qin Sisi. In Ruili, Qin Sisi, under the name Gao Ziyan, gave me a fake bronze dagger, thus obtaining the safe's password and leading to this story about my grandfather and the national treasure.
"Did you threaten Qin Sisi?"
"Haha, Master of the Sect, you truly haven't disappointed me. If you had said that Qin Sisi was my person, my fun would have been reduced. This is good. The more accurately you know, the more excited I become."
Qin Sisi definitely wasn't a schemer under anyone. Everything she did was for the pursuit of her and Shun Ge's happy future. This was Qin Sisi's life goal and her weakness. The reason she could help Lu Yao achieve these things must have been because Lu Yao threatened her using Shun Ge.
"What about Wang Ze Yi then?"
"Wang Ze Yi should have been destroyed along with 'Zheng Qi,' but you saved him. I'm quite annoyed by Wang Ze Yi, always spouting righteousness and morality. Do you know that in Li Jiu's lessons, people like him are also born criminals? They are passionate, with stronger feelings of honor, ambition, and patriotism than ordinary people. They commit crimes using the excuse of defending honor, protecting family, or upholding national dignity. Why would you save such a hypocrite? I easily manipulated him, using 'dealing with the Gao family' as a chain around his neck, using him like a dog. It was also he who went to your wife, Lin Han, which led to the scene of mutual trust between Lin Han and the Four Colors Old K."
I understood. Everything that happened after I returned from Hong Kong was actually Lu Yao's doing. Even Senior Sister Cao Qian couldn't uncover this hidden manipulator. In the entire scheme, only Teacher Wang Ren discovered the anomaly. She had also warned me, but I still believed my judgment was correct and continued to trust Lu Yao, which led to the current situation.
"Lu Yao, who are you going to deal with first?"
"Based on proximity, the first person I will deal with is naturally Ye Qingcheng."
"Can you win against her?"
"Tang Nan, a person who doesn't even have their own direction, do you think I will lose to her? I told you about my ability, 'total negation.' You probably didn't understand the meaning of those words. My enemies, due to the mistakes I create, will endlessly negate themselves. Slowly, they will lose confidence. An opponent who has lost the confidence to win, do you think there's any need to continue fighting?"
So that's how it is. Lu Yao deliberately concealed his ability. His ability was never to think of all arrangements in the worst-case scenario, making it easier to make accurate judgments when encountering good choices in the future. His ability was to do unexpected things in places you wouldn't expect, greatly reducing your confidence, thus making you totally negate your own plans.
Seeing my silence, Lu Yao laughed even more happily. "By the way, Master of the Sect, what was your skill again? Doing good deeds without asking for reward. That move is indeed quite powerful. You had Lin Han finance the nursing home and have them treat Zhao Shicheng well. This cause produced an effect. To deal with Director Lu, Zhao Zhichao and Zhao Shicheng staged a play, and Zhao Shicheng's madness was feigned. Now, we all know that the police found the general's head statue that was intentionally hidden in your villa at your behest. Moreover, Director Zhao deliberately destroyed the letter Grandpa Lin left for you. They believe Director Lu is making your story a complete lie, so Zhao Shicheng, to thank you for helping Zhao Zhichao, will come forward to prove your story, giving you a glimmer of hope."
Since Lu Yao said so much, he must have a countermeasure.
"How do you plan to deal with Zhao Shicheng?"
"Sell him to Director Lu. He will surely die. Director Lu's knife is very sharp."
"Lu Yao, don't go too far."
"Oh my, you can't stand losing just one person. Don't worry, from now until you are handed over to the prosecutor's office, everything is under Director Lu's control. During this time, you will not see anyone. No, that's not right. You will see me, and I will tell you everything. Those who believe in you will die one by one. Until they believe that everyone who knows of the schemer believes that you, this schemer, are unqualified. Tang Nan, that's all for today. If I were you, I would find a way to spread the message, telling my family that Lu Yao is a traitor, the big boss of the entire scheme."
I remained silent. Based on the current situation, I had encountered a predicament I had never faced since becoming a schemer. It was like an eternal night. Lu Yao buried me deep underground, allowing me to hear and see, but like a dead person, I could never have contact with the outside world.
I am alive, but I am already dead!