The Art of Deception 2

Wang Xiaoyan thought of something and asked, "Did you kill Ye Fan's family?"

Li Gang looked at her and said with a smile, "Who is Ye Fan?"

Wang Xiaoyan looked at him deeply. "Where were you in the first year of the Great Emperor era?"

Li Gang glanced at her and sighed. "I was in the Northern Continent. You can go there and check my situation. I have been in the Northern Continent for a while, with the identity of 'Ren Ying'."

Wang Xiaoyan nodded.

Soon, both Wang Xiaoyan and Li Gang came out.

Gu Xing glanced at Li Gang and asked him, "Junior Brother Zhang, how are your injuries now?"

Li Gang smiled at her and nodded. "Better than before. I just need a bit of rest, and I will soon recover."

Li Gang needed at least 3 days of rest to recover fully. It took so long because Ji Changchen's Spiritual Essence was qualitatively stronger. Even if his cultivation had been limited, the essence couldn't be changed. The healing skills used by Wang Xiaoyan were also only Rank 6 level. No matter how much a Warrior's regeneration and healing ability improve, an attack from higher quality Spiritual Essence directly suppresses these abilities.

For example, let's just say a Rank 1 Warrior gives a Rank 6 Warrior an equally fatal wound—would the Rank 6 Warrior become helpless?

No! With their regeneration speed, they can even heal from a comatose state within a matter of minutes. They can regenerate limbs and even organs.

Advanced Warriors are even more dangerous. They can directly regenerate from a drop of blood! However, it is another matter that a Rank 1 Warrior can't even pierce the defense of Rank 6 and Rank 7 Warriors.

Soon, everyone left.

Wang Xiaoyan was also about to leave, before she paused and said to Gu Xing, "He has already admitted. He is Li Gang, hiding his identity as Zhang Hao."

Gu Xing was surprised. She glanced at Li Gang. "You..."

Li Gang was also surprised at her. He didn't expect her to say this at this moment. A Warrior's mind is much more unpredictable than a mortal's. Just by looking at a mortal, Li Gang could directly find what they were thinking, what they were about to do, what they were about to say! But when it comes to a Warrior, the higher their Rank, the more difficult it is to see through them.

However, it's not that Li Gang didn't consider this option. It's just that he thought it was very unlikely. Anyway, whether she revealed it or not didn't actually matter. He was capable of soothing Gu Xing. He was aware of Wang Xiaoyan's Spiritual Imprint. Gu Xing was far from her level when it came to shrewdness.

Gu Xing looked at Li Gang and asked, "What is the meaning of this?"

Li Gang admitted, "I know I hid my identity, but I didn't deceive our sect. In fact, there is a reason I hid my identity. Master is already aware of it."

Gu Xing asked slowly, "Did you really kill Ye Fan's family?"

Li Gang smiled. "How could it be? If I really did that, do you think, with her character, she would have let me go?"

Gu Xing thought of Wang Xiaoyan's recklessness and nodded.

Li Gang asked, "What is the situation here? I arrived not long ago. I heard the Ethereal Sect created its base here, so I directly came."

Li Gang was quite lucky in this matter. When he first arrived, he thought of gathering information and seizing some relics. But he heard that the Ethereal Sect had already created a base here. He immediately came. They had been here for a long time, and it was much easier to gather information from this place. What he didn't expect was that they had already secured such a large Soul Spring!

During the Monarch Inheritance, Soul Spring was the greatest blessing he had received. It helped him surpass his own limits.

He thought of the Soul Spring and murmured inwardly, 'If I can cultivate here for the next 10 years, I can directly reach Rank 7 peak stage!'

In another camp, Meng Xian and Ye Fan were waiting for Wang Xiaoyan. Meng Xian was already aware—her hatred towards the Demon King of the South was just a way to divert her guilt. What she wanted to find most was whether her parents really died during that massacre!

As soon as Wang Xiaoyan came, Ye Fan glanced at her and asked, "What happened? Did you confirm something?"

She nodded. "He is my brother-in-law, Li Gang!"

Ye Fan was surprised. "Is he the Demon King of the South? Did he kill your family?"

Wang Xiaoyan denied, "He didn't."

However, suddenly her face changed. She realized something and said while gritting her teeth, "However, I am sure, he was the one who massacred the Ye family!"

Meng Xian was shocked. 'I can't believe that demon left a clue!'

The only reason Wang Xiaoyan couldn't figure it out earlier was because Li Gang had deliberately thrown her into emotional stimulation. Her reasoning was reduced. Her attention was diverted towards Wang Xueyao and her family.

When she came here and looked at Ye Fan, and thought of Ye Fan's family, she immediately realized the clues she missed.

She recalled what Li Gang had said.

Li Gang's voice rang in her mind:

"I hope you don't reveal my identity to anyone. Senior Sister Gu is a very lively person. I don't want her to see me as a mass murderer."

"I don't want her to see me as a mass murderer."

Mass murderer...

Yes, even if she were to assume Li Gang hid and overheard their conversation with Ji Changchen and Gu Xing, no one ever mentioned Li Gang was the Demon King of the South! Only a few Warriors knew about it. Wang Xiaoyan got to know it from Meng Xian. Since Li Gang never got into contact with Gu Xing in the past 40–50 years, how could he know whether Gu Xing was aware of his identity as the Demon King of the South?

When he said he didn't want Gu Xing to see him as a mass murderer—which mass murder was he referring to?

There were only two such incidents: the mass murder in the Southern Continent by the Demon King of the South, and the mass murder of the Ye Family!

He subconsciously admitted the fact that he murdered the Ye family!

On the other side, Li Gang was sitting with a heavy expression. Of course, he was also thinking about how to handle the current situation. Wang Xiaoyan was stronger than him. Gu Xing was self-righteous and might change sides if she knew he really killed the Ye family.

In fact, Li Gang had no other choice. The situation was extreme and completely disadvantageous to him. There was no way to truly deceive someone like Wang Xiaoyan, especially with her opened Crystal Clear.

For some reason, Ji Changchen found out how he massacred the Ye family overnight. He directly revealed it to Ye Fan and Wang Xiaoyan.

Once the suspect is identified, it is very easy to match clues and confirm the perpetrator.

He couldn't understand how Ji Changchen realized that. He instantly deduced, 'The treasure he had which could see through my identity! Could it be, it has upgraded and now is capable of seeing through historical events?'

He wasn't sure, but he thought of the possibility. There could be many possible reasons, then why did he think of only this? In fact, he came up with various possibilities. This was just one of them.

Just like before, the premise he chose was wrong, but the conclusion was correct!

Ji Changchen just tried to shift the blame to the most suitable candidate in order to gain approval from Wang Xiaoyan. At that moment, the one who was not present, and the one who couldn't defend himself, was the most suitable scapegoat—Li Gang!

He didn't use the System to find who actually murdered his family. It had nothing to do with him.

An invisible power suddenly accompanied Li Gang. It made his mind blank and erased the possibility which could reveal System's existence.

Yes, Li Gang once again nearly arrived at the conclusion of the System's existence. The System instantly took action.

Passively alters the memories of those who are suspicious of the System's existence.

Li Gang's thoughts were erased, and now he was constantly thinking of countermeasures and possible scenarios to handle Wang Xiaoyan.

He mumbled, 'From what I see, Meng Xian will try to stop her from interfering. For some reason, he doesn't want them to think I am the murderer. However, it is meaningless now. So, most likely, they will try to use me. This won't be Meng Xian's idea, but Wang Xiaoyan herself. Ye Fan and Meng Xian would likely support this action. Ye Fan doesn't have as much hatred as Wang Xiaoyan.'

If Li Gang was going to be exposed anyway, why did he try to deceive Wang Xiaoyan before? Was he just playing around?

In fact, that statement served a specific purpose! He knew it was impossible to completely fool her, so he tried to utilize another way to get her to his side, or at least delay all her rebellious ideas against him.

Even if he were to be exposed, that was the only way to make her guard go down, so that he could give her a false narrative.

He used two psychological aspects to make Wang Xiaoyan change her mind. First, shared emotional history, mutual grief, and exclusive emotional knowledge can create a bond stronger than trust itself. Li Gang utilized the existence of Wang Xueyao to create this bond! Second, people tend to trust the story that reduces their mental burden! Li Gang deliberately created a story that gave her an escape—escape from guilt, escape from regret, and escape from grief.

Now, even if Wang Xiaoyan hates Li Gang, she wouldn't recklessly target him. She would want to utilize his value.

She glanced at Meng Xian and then at Ye Fan and said slowly, "Junior Brother Ye, we should first make use of Li Gang. As for revenge, I will help you with it, after I confirm some things."

Meng Xian was the first to agree. Neither too fast nor too slow. He said lightly, "Yes, it is a good idea."

Meanwhile, he decided, 'This braindead girl wants to fight that demon. I am sure he must have deliberately left those clues. It's better to slowly change their thoughts. If they are bent on taking revenge, I would leave the group. It's better to save my life first. I am still too weak to contend against the likes of Li Gang and Ji Changchen. Let these two fight each other, I will try to be a fisherman. Before becoming an Emperor, it is impossible to get revenge on him.'