FATE: Target of Grand Master

Why?

Seeing Xia Yan's puzzled look, Hu Qiu gave an apologetic expression.

"I'm sorry, Brother Xia Yan, but I have a reason to live. I know my actions were despicable, but I hope you won't blame me. Blame BB for dragging us into this battle royale game."

Why?

Xia Yan spat out a mouthful of blood, staring intently at Hu Qiu, seemingly dissatisfied with Hu Qiu's explanation.

Hu Qiu took out a crumpled pack of cigarettes from his pocket and lit one with his lighter.

"Perhaps it's because you performed so exceptionally well, Xia Yan. Although I never guessed the true identity of your Servant, I can sense that your Servant's strength is definitely no less than Lu Bu's. And the calmness and decisiveness you showed after your Servant was injured shows that you are born to be a Master."

Although this trial requires us to cooperate, ultimately, we are still competitors. If you grow stronger, I believe you will become a strong contender for the final seven Grand Masters. However, this would reduce my chances of survival, so I had to resort to underhanded tactics to ambush you when you let your guard down. Are you satisfied with this answer?

Bai Mao Hassan drew his dagger and returned to Hu Qiu's side. Xia Yan's body also lost its support and fell to the ground.

"Master, you really didn't need to say those things."

Hu Qiu took a deep drag on his cigarette, a bitter expression on his face.

"What I just said was mostly for myself. Assassin, you might not understand, but I'm actually an incompetent yet selfish person. Seeing Xia Yan's excellent performance, I feel gratified on one hand, but jealous on the other. I know that we have to cooperate in this trial, but I unconsciously want to hold back my strength because I don't know if Xia Yan and Diao Yunshang have the same thoughts as me."

"Master, in my opinion, it is your mindset that makes you fit to survive to the end. I have killed countless people in my life, including many who were extremely talented. But these people are also the most likely to die in assassinations because their talent makes them careless, naive, and complacent, and that is the most fatal thing."

"Thanks."

Hu Qiu threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out, saying, "Let's go, we should head back. We should be able to exchange these points for some decent items."

"Are you leaving already, sir?"

Suddenly, a familiar voice reached the ears of Huchu and Baimao Hassan.

The two turned around at the same time and were surprised to find that Xia Yan, who should have been dead, had appeared behind them at some point.

Xia Yan had no injuries. Hu Qiu turned to look in the direction of the teleportation array and found that "Xia Yan," who had been assassinated by Bai Mao earlier, was still lying there.

"I've been tricked."

Hu Qiu immediately understood everything. The Xia Yan from before was just a fake; the real Xia Yan had been hiding in the shadows observing them all along.

But when was he exposed?

"Are you wondering how you got exposed?"

As if seeing through Hu Qiu's thoughts, Xia Yan explained, "Actually, you've always hidden it very well. Whether it was feigning weakness from beginning to end or orchestrating the exit of Hundred-Faced Hassan at crucial moments, everything was logical. But you still overlooked some details. For example, I just directly revealed your Servant's true name, but you never told me, did you? Do you understand?"

"You mean, from the first moment you saw my Servant, you knew all her abilities, even the effects of her Noble Phantasm?" Hu Qiu said in shock.

"That's right, and my praise for you just now wasn't flattery, but genuine. To draw an Assassin-class Servant and still have to participate in direct combat like a Singularity, to think of a timely disguise and retreat to preserve strength, that's not something an ordinary person can do. However, I happened to have seen someone do that before, so I paid extra attention and discovered some more details as a result."

For example, in the basement of Orleans, during the time I turned off the lights, it was Bai Mao who first severed the sea monster's tentacles and precisely calculated the timing of my sword strike, delivering the fatal blow. Your subsequent swings, seemingly out of anger, were more about concealing the traces of Bai Mao's intervention; it's just that the severed tentacle fragments on the ground are slightly different from the fragments cut by my sword.

Hu Qiu had no idea that Xia Yan had already noticed something amiss back then.

"However, I can understand these little tricks. And even if you're discovered, you can use the excuse of conserving your strength. Like you said yourself, although this trial is about cooperation, we Masters are essentially in competition. Conserving strength to prevent backstabbing is reasonable and acceptable. It's just..."

Xia Yan sighed softly.

"Now that we've already achieved the trial's objective, why do you have to betray us? We're not at a stage where we need to be on the verge of a fight yet."

Hu Qiu then realized that Xia Yan seemed to have given him quite a few hints beforehand.

Whether it was Xia Yan directly revealing the true name of his follower Bai Mao, or asking him who would leave first, Xia Yan gave him several opportunities to give up the action, but he never took it to heart.

"Xia Yan, why bother arguing with this kind of person? We should just grind him to dust."

Morgan dispelled his spirit form and appeared beside Xia Yan.

If Xia Yan's appearance had already dampened Hu Qiu's spirits, Morgan's appearance now completely extinguished his anxiety.

The reason he dared to launch a sneak attack earlier was largely because Xia Yan's follower was seriously injured and lost his fighting ability. If Hu Qiu knew that Morgan had recovered to the point where he could manifest in the world, he wouldn't dare to betray Xia Yan even if he had ten times the courage.

Now that things had come to this, there was no turning back. Hu Qiu immediately knelt down and said emotionally, "Wait a minute. Uncle knows he was wrong. Please forgive Uncle this time. If we meet again in the future, Uncle will definitely follow Brother Xia Yan's lead."

After saying that, Hu Qiu suddenly kowtowed to Xia Yan, the force of which quickly caused blood to seep from Hu Qiu's forehead.

Morgan looked at Hu Qiu with icy eyes, and a new understanding of this man came to mind.

Selfish and opportunistic, flexible and adaptable, he could easily become a clan elder in his own fairy Britain, but if we let him leave now, he will surely become a scourge in the future.

"Xia Yan, we cannot be merciful at this time."

Xia Yan nodded slightly, indicating that she would not fall into the trap of being too soft-hearted.

In fact, Xia Yan always adhered to the principle of judging by actions, not intentions. No matter what the excuse was, Hu Qiu's act of wanting to kill him was a fact, so he naturally did not need to show mercy.

"It's up to you, Morgan."

This was the first time Xia Yan had revealed his servant's true name to Hu Qiu, which foreshadowed that Xia Yan would not let him go.

Upon realizing Xia Yan's murderous intent, Hu Qiu immediately stood up, raised his right hand, and said, "I command you, Bai Mao Hassan, with two Command Spells, to use every means to hold off the enemy."