Li Yan showed no fear, instead displaying a calm demeanor. He found a chair and sat down, saying evenly, "You’ve really gone to great lengths just to trap me!"
"You’re not an ordinary person, you’re the infamous Devil King. If I let my guard down, I’d lose my head for sure."
Chuan Er made a slashing gesture across his neck and said, "But having the Devil King as a guest at my place, that’s enough for me, Chuan Er, to brag about for a while in the martial world, hahaha..."
He appeared arrogant, even somewhat reckless.
Li Yan glanced at him, the sneer at the corner of his mouth growing colder as he said, "Do you think you invited me here on your own merit?"
Chuan Er lit a cigarette, but raised his eyebrows in puzzlement, misunderstanding Li Yan’s implication, and said, "With my skills, it’s certainly impossible to invite the Devil King. I did it because of your love for Longxing Country, and your heart to protect its villagers!"
In Li Yan’s eyes, there was a mix of emotions. His entire aura exuded coldness as he sneered once more, saying, "It’s no coincidence you brought me here, it was inevitable! A Prince without supporting trainees, how is he different from fighting alone?"
Chuan Er broke the cigarette in his hand, his whole body trembling, guilty as a thief, he said, "I don’t know what you’re talking about..."
"Do you really not know?"
Li Yan smirked playfully and said evenly, "Taiping Mountain is remote, yet there’s no reason your base hasn’t been discovered for years! There’s a saying, ’If you don’t want others to know, don’t do it.’ The village of Taiping Mountain has over a thousand people, providing you with manufacturing convenience, many of whom have become your backbone! Don’t you find it odd?"
"You actually know..."
Chuan Er was astonished. He clearly understood that the villagers of Taiping Mountain had helped him manufacture weapons, and had long become his collaborators. Li Yan should have been able to take them all down at once, without risking his life...
"Villagers are just mindless tools; you simply used them! Killing them holds no meaning, it would only add more unjust souls to my hands!"
Whether it was manufacturing weapons or acting as the final shield, everything was part of Chuan Er’s plan. The villagers had no role beyond being passive tools!
"The Devil King is indeed compassionate! Those villagers are laden with sin, yet you seek to reform them with your life!"
Crime is crime; there’s only having done it or not done it. There’s no need to ask for so many reasons! Chuan Er didn’t share that kindness; his nature was such that he’d rather wrongly kill ten thousand than let even one go.
"So, the same remains true! A Prince without supporting trainees is alone and helpless!"
Li Yan clearly understood that the information he got was incorrect, supplied by the highest local authority, which should not have allowed such an error to occur regardless of the reason.
Thus, he had no trust in the rescue team at the foot of the mountain! At that moment, stubbornly holding on could have been even more dangerous.
Therefore, he might as well find a reason, turn the tables, and let all his trainees go. He trusted his trainees would have time to use their wisdom to analyze the battle situation by then.
Chuan Er’s expression changed slightly, a fleeting look of scrutiny in his eyes. Some doubts rose in his heart, and he began to speculate on exactly what Li Yan had discovered...
However, he did not continue the conversation or pursue the topic further! His goal was to use Li Yan as a hostage, to descend the mountain under that pretext, rather than be trapped into a dilemma by him!