491: Chapter 491 Secretary Wang is... Runren?

"Your Eminence Wisdom King, His Eminence King Dong withdrew his forces from Dream City several days ago."

"According to the adjustment time King Dong applied for previously, you still have a day and a half to reach Dream City."

"So time is not very abundant. If you want to protect your interests in Dream City later on, I suggest you return to your faction first to obtain some support before heading to Dream City as soon as possible."

"After all, the other members are not easy to get along with. Arriving early will allow you to understand the situation sooner, giving you more confidence when the subsequent plans are carried out."

Secretary Wang gave his reminders in a businesslike manner, as if nothing had happened just now.

Meanwhile, Zhou Yan performed several checks during the other party's reminders.

First was the mini-map.

King Dong's icon was green, but he didn't mind plotting against Zhou Yan, so Zhou Yan categorized them as the type that could turn neutral at any moment.

And because Secretary Wang was King Dong's man and the two hadn't actually interacted much, he had placed Secretary Wang in the same category.

But confirming it again now, things were different. The friendly icon was very standard—a typical icon for a permanent allied NPC.

The kind that wouldn't defect under normal circumstances.

If King Dong were like this as well, it wouldn't be strange for Secretary Wang to be influenced by him. But for a subordinate to have a higher favorability toward a guest than his own boss was something worth pondering.

Second, naturally, was Zhou Yan's own investigation.

Just now, Zhou Yan tried to use his divine position to inspect him. The results showed that this kid indeed believed in him and had even contributed a quite impressive amount of Power Of Faith.

Based on the Power Of Faith that a Cultivator of his level could contribute, it was at least four or five times that of a normal believer.

Mainly, he hadn't seen a Nascent Soul level believer before, so he wasn't quite sure what this four or five times specifically signified.

But compared to ordinary followers, four or five times already qualified as a devout believer.

"Since Fellow Daoist Tang sent you to assist me, then thank Fellow Daoist Tang on my behalf."

"I'll return to the Taiyi Sect headquarters first. After that, just wait for me outside Taiyi City, and I'll head to Dream City with you."

"Oh, by the way, please tell Fellow Daoist Tang to prepare some good wine. Once I finish this mission, I'll come back to ask him for a drink."

After saying that, Zhou Yan smiled, took the documents, and vanished on the spot.

Four minutes after Zhou Yan left, Secretary Wang pulled out a translucent panel from thin air.

The panel showed a call in progress with King Dong.

"Eminence, she has left."

There was a pause for a few seconds on the other side before a voice came through.

"Where did you run into her? My display shows she has already left the radiation range of the King Dong Tower, meaning she should have gone toward the Joyous Union Sect or the Outer City."

"Yes, Eminence. I met her in the Outer City," Secretary Wang replied.

"The reason?"

Hearing the voice again, Secretary Wang paused for a moment before adopting a slightly teasing tone.

"To clear her head."

"To clear her head?" King Dong, who was still in the small bar, was stunned.

"Yes, to clear her head."

"From the snippets I heard, it's likely because Your Eminence praised that Saint too much in your previous conversation, making her, the person in charge, feel a bit displeased."

King Dong's mouth twitched upon hearing this.

What could he say? He had originally prepared based on the assumption that Kong Xuan was Zhou Yan in disguise.

Since she wasn't, he could only follow along with the conversation. After all, the words were already out; wouldn't taking them back offend both sides?

Who knew if Zhou Yan would find out the contents of this chat? He didn't even know what Zhou Yan's current situation was, so he couldn't afford to speak recklessly.

"Cough, never mind that for now. Did you tell her about the situation?"

"Replying to Your Eminence, I have successfully informed the Wisdom King about gathering personnel and briefly explained the attitudes of the other Truth Cult members."

"I presume that once she returns to Taiyi City and sees the information you provided, she will know what to do," Secretary Wang said.

"Very good." King Dong stood up, took his suit jacket from the side, draped it over his shoulders, and said,

"Since the matter is handled, follow that person for now and keep me informed. Your intelligence network in the Taiyi Sect should also go silent for the time being."

"Additionally, find a way to transfer back some people in less critical positions. I'll be heading to the Southern Desert during this time and will be very busy."

"Since the other party's leader is no longer busy, let's keep things quiet on our end. Everything can wait until I'm done."

With that, King Dong hung up the communication.

Secretary Wang looked at King Dong's name in the chat log, his brow furrowed with endless disgust in his eyes.

"Scum. My Lord will eventually descend, and sooner or later, you will all fall into Reincarnation, never to be reborn!"

However, Secretary Wang's emotions shifted quickly. In an instant, he regained his rigorous and refined appearance, gave his glasses a light push, and walked slowly toward the station.

"Qing Xuan, what's the situation!"

Zhou Yan, who had already left the City of Universal Love, reached Taiyi City ahead of time in short order and contacted Qing Xuan.

"Yo, Holy Brother, you're out? I thought you'd be a bit later."

Looking at the goofy bird face on the cabin's large screen, Zhou Yan's mouth couldn't help but twitch.

"You bastard, did you calculate everything?"

Qing Xuan tilted its bird head, looking somewhat puzzled.

"What do you mean? I don't quite understand."

Seeing it still playing dumb, Zhou Yan directly poked through the disguise.

"Still pretending? Was the undercover agent by King Dong's side arranged by you?"

"I was wondering why you were so certain King Dong's side could help me handle everything. It turns out you had someone planted there long ago."

"Why didn't you give me a heads-up? I'm not the type to accidentally expose an undercover agent because of emotions. If you had told me in advance, I might have even been able to cooperate."

Qing Xuan, currently in Taiyi City, grew more confused as it listened, having no idea what Zhou Yan was talking about.

Seeing it still looking like it was playing dumb, Zhou Yan sensed something was off and asked tentatively,

"You really didn't send an undercover agent?"

Hearing this, Qing Xuan immediately raised its wings.

"I've been wronged, Holy Brother."

"We've only been part of this for less than three years in total. Plus, because your status isn't quite high enough, our dealings with the Truth Cult are mostly business-related."

"So at most, we sell vegetables and enhancers in the Desire Realm to compete for business. Where would we get the ability to plant someone right next to King Dong?"

"On the contrary, that old fellow has planted plenty of undercover agents here. And not just him; there are quite a few others."

Now Zhou Yan was confused.

First, he felt a lingering fear, wondering if he had shown any flaws, then he pondered if the other party was testing him.

But he quickly thought of the faith on the other party's person; there was no way to fake that. So he decided to confirm once more.

"Are you sure you really didn't plant an undercover agent on King Dong's side?"

Qing Xuan's expression became increasingly innocent.

"Really no. If I did, I would have told you long ago, Holy Brother. After all, except for things I keep from you which I don't say, for things I don't keep from you, I never keep them from you."

"Hey, you kid still has things you're keeping from me!"

Seeing Zhou Yan about to get angry, Qing Xuan realized it had slipped up and quickly changed the subject.

"That, Holy Brother, tell me what's going on with that undercover agent first. Let's hope it's not a test from King Dong."

Hearing Qing Xuan say this, Zhou Yan temporarily set aside the thought of settling scores and told it about Secretary Wang.

After hearing Zhou Yan's analysis, Qing Xuan also became serious.

"Holy Brother, do you have an image? I really shouldn't know such a person."

"If there's an image, I can analyze it further."

Zhou Yan quickly used a Spell to sketch a portrait in the air. The portrait was of Secretary Wang, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and looking like a refined gentleman.

"Holy crap, isn't that one of those Run-men?"

What the heck?

Did I just hear a word that doesn't fit this world?

By the way, who did this guy learn his verbal habits from? It's too uncivilized!

"What Run-man? Didn't you say you didn't know him?"

Seeing Zhou Yan's surprised expression, Qing Xuan understood everything in an instant, and its tone became casual.

"This is something you wouldn't know, Holy Brother. Anyway, I understand everything now. When you come back to see the new Taiyi City, I'll explain it to you."

"Mo Ran! Mo Ran, come here for a second!"

"Alright, Holy Brother, hurry back. You'll know once you're here."

With that, Qing Xuan hurriedly hung up the communication. The last frame of the screen showed it doing a 'Crow Sits on Airplane' move, landing directly on the head of the just-arrived Mo Ran.

"What's going on?"

"Secretary Wang... is a Run-man?"