Xiang Kai was refuting me, but he obviously lacked confidence.

I didn't argue with him. "Although we didn't see where the drought demon was initially placed, we've both been to Misty Rain Tower and Grand Dream Village. Have you noticed anything those two places have in common?"

Without waiting for Xiang Kai to answer, I said, "Both places have water."

"Misty Rain Tower talks about 'cutting the wind and storing the rain,' but it's actually storing water in Hou Qing's tomb. Not to mention Ying Gou, who is hidden in the Nether Sea."

"It's understandable that there's water in Ying Gou's tomb since he's a water-attribute zombie. But what about Hou Qing? What about the drought demon?"

"According to legend, Hou Qing died in battle and his corpse was exposed in the wilderness. Strictly speaking, Hou Qing should be an earth-attribute zombie. Why would he need so much water when earth overcomes water?"

Before Xiang Kai could answer, I said, "Because they are all suppressing the Nine-Headed Serpent Jade."

"Legend has it that Xiang Liu was beheaded, and his poisonous blood turned into poisonous swamps wherever it flowed. From this, Xiang Liu should be a water-based demon beast."

"The Nine-Headed Serpent Jade is related to Xiang Liu, which means it should be able to gather water vapor. The water vapor in Hou Qing's secret burial probably came from the Nine-Headed Serpent Jade."

"Think about it carefully. When the Emperor put the Four卫 (Four Guards) to sleep, was it to give them the task of finding the Nine-Headed Serpent Jade when they walked among humans?"

Old Liu couldn't help but nod when he heard this. "The Di Xiansheng (Earth Masters) can mobilize the power of the earth to suppress water with earth, which is perfect for restraining the power of the Nine-Headed Serpent Jade. That was the Emperor's intention."

I continued, "Back then, Bu Ting and Pang Gufang awakened Hou Qing and erased his memories. So, where did the serpent jade that Hou Qing guarded go?"

"I think it wasn't Pang Gufang who used Bu Ting, but Bu Ting who used Pang Gufang."

"Bu Ting wanted the Nine-Headed Serpent Jade!"

Xiang Kai said in a low voice, "These are just your speculations! There's no basis for them."

Xiang Kai was a smart man. When he was famous in the martial world, he was known as a master strategist.

He refused to admit my deduction, probably because he was concerned about Bu Youming's reputation.

If Bu Ting betrayed them, how would Bu Youming face that?

But Bu Youming said at this moment, "You don't need to worry about me."

"Now is not the time to deny the truth for the sake of face."

"After we released Bu Ting and Ying Gou, didn't you and Xiaotian also feel that Ying Gou seemed to have forgotten something?"

Xia Xiaotian nodded. "I did have that feeling."

"Ying Gou seemed to have to think before he spoke each time. At the time, I thought it was because he hadn't spoken to anyone for too long and wasn't used to it, but now it seems that's not the case."

"Ying Gou must have forgotten his mission to guard Grand Dream Village back then."

Xia Xiaotian muttered to himself, "But why did Bu Ting create the Nine-Person Prison in Grand Dream Village and seal himself inside too?"

I said in a deep voice, "Because the one he was waiting for wasn't us, but Jiang Chen."

I told them everything about entering the Corpse Qi Cave and then continued to analyze, "The one who truly betrayed the Emperor was Bu Ting. He used Pang Gufang's personality flaws to plot against the three zombies, but he didn't dare to touch Jiang Chen. This shows that in his opinion, Jiang Chen was the most difficult person to deal with."

Black Night Owl nodded. "Although we, the Right Four Guards, are equal in rank, Jiang Chen is the leader in terms of cultivation. If we really fought, Jiang Chen could fight the three of us alone without falling behind."

"When it comes to strategy, if Jiang Chen claims to be second among the Right Four Guards, no one would dare to claim to be first."

"But... how could Bu Ting lure Jiang Chen to Grand Dream Village?"

I explained, "You once said that the only people in the world who could completely remember the musical score on the wall were Jiang Chen, Pang Gufang, and the Empress herself."

"So, the only one who could open the door to the cave was Jiang Chen."

"Old Hei, did you have any other feelings when you were drawing on the wall back then?"

Black Night Owl frowned. "Other feelings? No! I just felt that the Corpse Qi on that wall was very heavy... That's right! Apart from us four zombies, no one would dare to touch that wall. Otherwise, they would immediately be poisoned by Corpse Qi and die on the spot."

"If we didn't have Xiaochun here, no one could have rescued Pang Gufang from Grand Dream Village!"

"Bu Ting was indeed waiting for Jiang Chen!"

I said, "Unfortunately, I made two fatal mistakes."

"The first mistake was killing Wang Qing too early. Wang Qing kept telling us 'she's still useful,' but she was actually hesitating whether to tell us that Bu Ting was a traitor."

"Wang Qing had seen how powerful Bu Ting was, and she was afraid that if she revealed Bu Ting's secret, we wouldn't be able to deal with Bu Ting, and she would die without a burial."

"It was her hesitation that made me think she was deliberately delaying time in order to save her own life. In a fit of anger, I sent her on her way."

"If we had kept Wang Qing around for a little longer, we might have been able to find out something."

I sighed and said, "The second mistake was that we didn't stay to see Pang Gufang."

"I really disliked Pang Gufang's personality, and Old Hei didn't want to see Pang Gufang either, so we opened the cave and left Grand Dream Village."

"As a result, we missed the truth!"

"If we had waited a little longer..."

I have to say that the current result was caused by my own personality flaws.