Three Kingdoms Mythology World.

With that thought in mind, Li Ru turned and left.

Soon, he arrived at another courtyard. Inside, eighteen figures in black robes were arranged in a peculiar formation. Beneath their feet, golden circular arrays swirled with an otherworldly aura.

"The formation has been activated. Thank you all for your hard work." Li Ru's voice rang in the ears of the eighteen men in black robes.

"Now that this matter is settled, we will withdraw... The promise has been fulfilled, and from now on, my [Farmer's Family] and the [Strategist's Family] are even."

“We are now even with the Strategists.” The other seventeen people also spoke up one by one, and then quickly left.

"You've used up a lot of favors for Dong Zhuo, don't you think it's a waste?" Just then, a man in black robes came to Li Ru's side and asked indifferently.

"What, Guo Fengxiao, are you feeling sorry for him? Your lord Lin Mu has never enjoyed such treatment from the strategists, has he?" Li Ru said calmly, looking at the man in black robes with a meaningful expression.

"Hehe... You forcibly put shackles on Lin Mu, giving him another life-threatening ordeal, making him go against the heavens. This is actually a good thing for him." The man in black pulled down his hood, revealing his handsome face, and said calmly.

Guo Fengxiao!!!
That's right! The person appearing beside Li Ru was indeed Guo Jia, Guo Fengxiao, from the Great Wilderness Territory!!

Lin Mu and the others were unaware that Guo Jia had appeared here.

“Those old guys still don’t think highly of Lin Mu… even though they know Lin Mu has already recognized the Liangzhou Cauldron as his master and is ranked first on the list of the feudal lords of heaven and earth. Hmph…” Guo Jia sneered upon hearing this.

"Judging from your tone and past behavior, Lin Mu has a lot of hidden strength that outsiders don't know about, but so what... Dong Zhuo is still the most likely to replace the Han Dynasty," Li Ru said calmly.

Upon hearing this, Guo Jia's deep eyes flashed with disdain... Even he was amazed by Lin Mu's foundation; why would he need the approval of those old guys... So what if he didn't receive the support of the Horizontal and Vertical Schools!

"Dong Zhuo's life isn't as tough as Lin Mu's!" Guo Jia said quietly.

"Actually, as you expected, Lin Mu wouldn't personally go into battle, would he? This calamity won't befall him," Guo Jia added.

"What, you think Lin Mu will take the field?" Li Ru asked calmly, his expression unchanged.

“Yes, I believe my lord will not be bound by shackles!” Guo Jia said calmly.

"Then how about we make a bet? If Lin Mu doesn't participate, you'll advise Dong Zhuo for ten years, how about that?" At this point, Li Ru's expression finally changed, his calm demeanor turning into one of excitement and agitation.

“Sure! If I win, after Dong Zhuo enters Chang'an, you cannot use the power of the School of Diplomacy for three years, and you will also fade out of the picture for three years,” Guo Jia said meaningfully.

“If I lose, I can confess to Lin Mu that I’m leaving for ten years,” Guo Jia said with a determined expression.

“Oh… why didn’t you plot against me for your lord… instead, the price was so light…” Li Ru smiled.

He plotted against Guo Jia for Dong Zhuo, but Guo Jia should have plotted against Li Ru for Lin Mu.

"Light... Haha... Perhaps Dong Zhuo will be dead within three years..." Guo Jia laughed loudly, his head thrown back. Various intelligence reports from the Great Wilderness territory flashed through his mind, along with Lin Mu's various plans, some unexpectedly shrewd tactics, and some highly targeted strategies.

"Furthermore, there is only one young leader among the Horizontal and Vertical Schools, and that is me! As for you, there is no way you can submit to me, so why bother?" Guo Jia said quietly.

"The leader of all trades, hehe...hehe..." Upon hearing this, Li Ru looked up and laughed, his laughter filled with complex emotions.

"Alright, that's enough. Give me the [Sword Tassel], that's what I came here for." Guo Jia reached out and asked calmly.

Upon hearing Guo Jia's words, a look of struggle appeared on Li Ru's face. Clearly, the [Vertical and Horizontal Sword Tassel] that Guo Jia was asking for was very important, making him somewhat hesitant.

After a moment of contemplation, Li Ru sighed softly and took out a small jade talisman from his bosom. One end of the talisman was tied with a sword tassel.

This sword tassel is very ancient, exuding an ancient aura that stretches both vertically and horizontally.

Guo Jia gently grabbed the sword tassel with his right hand, then turned and left.

"Remember the bet, fade...out..." Guo Jia's voice slowly rang out.

Li Ru watched Guo Jia's retreating figure, a murderous glint appearing in his eyes, followed by a look of struggle and hesitation on his face. But he made no move until Guo Jia's figure disappeared into the courtyard.

Guo Jia, who had stepped out of the courtyard, had already reverted to his black-robed attire.

Before long, he came to a corner, and from the shadows of the corner, three more men in black robes emerged.

"Thank you for your escort," Guo Jia said with a heavy sigh of relief. The operation was essentially a success!

“Fengxiao, the three of us came here behind the Lord’s back. If the Lord investigates later, it will be no small matter. It might even cause a rift between the ruler and his subjects,” a man in black robes said solemnly.

"We'll talk about it later. The matter of the various hidden factions cannot be revealed to our lord for the time being," Guo Jia said calmly.

"Gongda, Zhicai, let's leave this place first. The fate and karma here are too complicated and make me uncomfortable," a man in black robes said impatiently.

It turned out that what awaited Guo Jia were the other two top talents of the Great Wilderness Territory's Advisory Council: Xun You and Xi Zhong!

"Oh, there aren't many things that can make Xun Wenruo, a man of great talent, uncomfortable..." Xi Zhicai's teasing voice rang out.

The third man in black waiting for Guo Jia was none other than Xun Yu, Xun Wenruo, who had been missing for a long time!

It turns out that, just to be on the safe side, Guo Jia even invited Xun Yu, Xun You, and Xi Zhicai to come and help him out!

Guo Jia had no choice but to act this way in front of Li Ru, which shows that Guo Jia was very familiar with and wary of Li Ru. In the past, Guo Jia had never shown these things in front of Lin Mu.

"Let's go first, in case Li Wenyou regrets it," Guo Jia nodded.

Then, the four men in black quickly disappeared into the street...and into Hulao Pass...

A while after the four left, Li Ru's figure slowly appeared. He glanced at the street with a complicated expression and sighed softly.

Afterwards, he gave orders to the messenger: "Continue to intensify the search for spies inside Hulao Pass, and thoroughly investigate all the places that have already been explored."

The departure of Guo Jia and his companions was very suspicious, as if Lin Mu had some backup plan inside Hulao Pass to help them.

……

"Strange, just now there seemed to be a trace of the Nine Cauldrons' aura... Could it be a remnant of the Yangzhou Cauldron?" Lin Yu's voice echoed in Lin Mu's mind.

"Just now?" Lin Mu asked immediately.

Just a moment ago, he was shaken to his core, and the greed seemed to be eroding his reason.

Even if the announced rewards were ten times more outrageous, would he, with his current luck and resources, be willing to risk his life and death to fight for them?

"This is definitely part of Dong Zhuo's scheme!!!"

"Dong Zhuo has his eye on me!" Lin Mu thought to himself.

He remained at the top of the list of all the feudal lords, a position he held for a long time. How could Dong Zhuo not know the reasons behind this?

It's practically an open secret that he possesses the Liangzhou Cauldron!
Therefore, some people began to make arrangements behind the scenes in response.

But at this moment, a scene from the Great Cave Heaven reappeared in Lin Mu's mind... The system made such restrictions just to prevent players from participating?
The more you suppress it, the stronger the rebound becomes...

As Huang Zhong and the others said, the way of fortune is to gain... through struggle!

(Please be patient...) (End of Chapter)