As for whether it would ruin someone else's business, what do I care?
If the Old Chief Venerate were an honest person, or if he were a bit honest in front of him, like King Xiang, then Yu Ziqing would gladly listen to the stories and assist him with some matters.
Now that the first wave of cooperation was over, after discovering who was behind the setup, Yu Ziqing lost interest after coming into contact with him.
Taking advantage of the night, Yu Ziqing quietly returned to the Health Club in Almsgiving Town.
He stayed inside for two days without leaving; the front door remained tightly shut.
However, he knew that this place was definitely under the watchful eyes of many people year-round.
Except for once a month, when Wu Shuangge came to collect the filth bucket and would meet a few scheduled guests, the rest of the time, no one was there.
And each time they accepted appointments, it was on that one day of the month.
Occasionally, Wu Shuangge would come, and Cece would also come and accept appointments.
Yu Ziqing knew that his quiet return was surely known to someone.
As long as someone knew, the news would eventually reach the Shadow Department.
Three days later, Yu Ziqing once again went to the Abyssal Rift. Under the cover of a large amount of hungry ghost qi in the Abyssal Rift, Yu Ziqing and Cece re-entered the Eight-direction Sand Sea Array.
Floating over the sand sea, Yu Ziqing lay there resting with his eyes closed, while Cece brewed tea beside him.
Seeing Cece always remain cautious, he couldn't help but chuckle.
"No need to be so tense, even if someone comes and sees us, they won't turn around and run away scared, we're the ones trapped.
Let's just wait, wait for the news to reach that guy's ears, and see if he can sit still.
As long as he can't sit still, he'll definitely come to take a look.
Fishing is boring, dropping a bomb to drive the fish into the net, now that's fun.
Drink some tea, eat something, and relax a bit.
Oh, by the way, do you still have any sweet rain left? Drink more when there's nothing to do. It'll help you digest the big array faster."
Over there in Dali, the news of the Old Chief Venerate's failure to break through and the arrival of the Heart Devil Tribulation also spread.
Ye Jiuyuan went to the Crown Prince to ask for sweet rain for the Old Chief Venerate, but unfortunately, it was of no use.
Some said it was because even the hungry ghost couldn't resolve the Heart Devil Tribulation; others said it was because Ye Jiuyuan arranged a ridiculous assassination that drove Qing Ziyu away from Jinlan Mountain, thoroughly offending them.
Regardless, the result was that the Old Chief Venerate, before completely losing control, asked Ye Jiuyuan to kill him.
The Old Chief Venerate died, leaving no remains, and the soul lamp also extinguished.
So now, while they mourned the Old Chief Venerate on the surface with various formalities, in truth, the contest for the position of Chief Venerate, which had never come to light, had already begun.
Ye Jiuyuan and Fu Xiao were both vying for this position.
The Shadow Envoys below were also beginning to take sides, both openly and covertly.
But no matter how they contested, it was still an internal matter; the actual decision-maker was Emperor Li.
Their competition was just for the sake of public favor.
No matter how autocratic Emperor Li might be, for the sake of future Shadow Department missions, not failing them, he would somewhat consider the internal opinions of the Shadow Department.
However, the two people everyone thought were like water and fire were at this moment sitting opposite each other in a secret chamber of the Shadow Department.
Ye Jiuyuan lay there slouching, one hand supporting his head, the other holding a small wine cup, sipping the strong liquor inside.
Opposite him, Fu Xiao sat upright, eating meat and drinking wine.
"Is the heat about right?"
"Just about, Emperor Li won't choose me," Ye Jiuyuan replied casually while drinking.
"Who can guess Emperor Li's mind?" Fu Xiao didn't quite agree.
"To become Shadow Supreme, you must understand Emperor Li's mind, and similarly, to not want to be Shadow Supreme, you must guess his mind accurately."
Ye Jiuyuan sat up and put down the wine cup, and Fu Xiao immediately poured him another.
"I don't want to be the Chief Venerate at all. If I became the Chief Venerate, some things I'd want to do would be considered Evil Dao. If not, I'd just be a bit odd, not following rules, just a bit eccentric.
If that's all, Emperor Li might still choose me.
After all, my strength is slightly stronger than yours; while lacking in other areas, as long as you know how to use people, it's enough.
When the Old Chief Venerate went Devilic, I went into the palace overnight to see the Crown Prince and begged for some sweet rain.
This incident is somewhat taboo for us.
I really fear Emperor Li will choose me, so I've given him a reason not to choose me."
"I see..." Fu Xiao nodded, somewhat enlightened.
For the high-ranking members of the Shadow Department to meet with the Crown Prince alone, it's truly a taboo, but for the current Crown Prince, it actually isn't a big problem.
The big problem was that Ye Jiuyuan broke a taboo for personal reasons.
If he broke a taboo once for personal feelings, naturally there'd be a second time.
At such a critical juncture, pulling such a stunt, Emperor Li definitely wouldn't choose Ye Jiuyuan.
"So you really don't want to be the Chief Venerate?"
"I don't want to, not at all, being a Chief makes you freer, allows you to do daring things, with the Chief Venerate backing you up, others can tolerate it. As Chief Venerate, you can't do those things.
If I want to leave the Shadow Department in the future, it's absolutely impossible, so you take the role.
Just thinking about it feels worse than death."
Ye Jiuyuan's words were heartfelt, without a trace of falsehood.