22: Conspiracy, the secret of the Shadow Wolf King

Whirlwind Forest Northern Part.

“Lord Wolf King, the Silverscale Rhinoceros King requests your presence! Please make haste.”

“Yes, yes, Messenger, please extend my regards to the Silverscale Rhinoceros King and put in a good word for me!”

The Shadow Wolf King said with a fawning expression, then subtly slipped a mid-grade spirit herb from the side into the hand of the Demon Beast Messenger sent by the Silver Scale Rhino King.

The Demon Beast Messenger instantly understood the Shadow Wolf King's meaning and just as subtly accepted the spirit herb.

Indeed, once the item was accepted, the relationship became much closer, and he chuckled, “Of course, Lord Wolf King has been stationed in the Whirlwind Forest Northern Part for many years, and has to guard against the humans outside. Even if there's no merit, there's been hard work!

From what I see, the Silverscale Rhinoceros King will surely just be checking in on you and asking for an update on the situation. There definitely won't be any problems.”

In fact, this Demon Beast Messenger also didn't believe that this matter was related to the Shadow Wolf King.

The Shadow Wolf King even treated him, a Demon Qi Realm Demon Beast Messenger, with such subservience.

The Shadow Wolf King's obsequious and timid image was well-known; there were few in the entire Vortex Forest who didn't know about it.

If not for the Shadow Wolf King's Demon Origin Realm strength and his flattery, in their eyes, any random demon would be stronger than the Shadow Wolf King.

Moreover, it wasn't just him; the demon beasts in the Central Vortex Forest and Southern Vortex Forest also didn't believe the Shadow Wolf King had such guts.

After all, what courage could a demon beast like the Shadow Wolf King have to do such a thing?

In his opinion, sending him spirit herbs was merely an act of timidity, wanting to curry favor with them so they would speak well of him in front of the Silver Scale Rhino King.

It could be said that among the three stationed demon beasts, these demon beasts responsible for notifications most enjoyed coming to the Shadow Wolf King's territory.

Although the Shadow Wolf King's territory had the fewest resources, he would always offer some resources to show respect to them.

They had no doubts about the origin of these spirit herbs; after all, even with limited resources in the Shadow Wolf King's territory, producing a few spirit herbs was not a problem.

Most importantly, the feeling of being flattered by a Demon Origin Realm demon beast like the Shadow Wolf King was something they couldn't experience from the other two.

These errand-running demon beasts, once they returned, were mere subordinates.

To be treated this way by the Shadow Wolf King, they couldn't help but feel a little conceited.

“Of course! Of course!”

“How could such a heinous act be related to me?”

“How could any demon do such a thing?”

“This is too terrifying!”

The Shadow Wolf King said somewhat sheepishly, clearly looking quite frightened himself.

Then he put on a sorrowful expression, shaking his head with an air of profound grief, “To be honest, I actually had a pretty good relationship with the Windtail Boa King!

Now he's dead, and died so tragically, not even leaving a complete corpse. After so many years as colleagues, to die like this, I, I feel very uncomfortable!”

As he spoke, tears streamed down his face, as if the Windtail Boa King was truly his good brother.

Anyone unaware would have thought the Shadow Wolf King's own father had died!

To be honest, when the Shadow Wolf King first received this news, he was quite surprised.

Because when he sent Chen De, he had calculated that with Chen De's strength, he could kill a Demon Qi Realm Ninth Stage at Demon Qi Realm Seventh Stage.

And to be safe, he had even deliberately raised Chen De's strength to Demon Qi Realm Eighth Stage.

It could be said that only the Windtail Boa King in the entire Eastern Vortex Forest could withstand Chen De.

Otherwise, if Chen De were to go on a rampage and the Silverscale Rhinoceros King found out, he couldn't bear that responsibility!

So the Windtail Boa King would definitely make a move in the end; he had no choice but to act.

However, the Shadow Wolf King couldn't account for those late-stage Demon Qi Realm demon beasts.

After all, once the Windtail Boa King made a move, it would be too difficult for Chen De to escape from a Demon Origin Realm Third Stage demon beast.

Moreover, with the methods he had applied to the Blood Explosion Soul Seal, Chen De was practically doomed to die upon encountering the Windtail Boa King.

However, as long as the Windtail Boa King died, it would be enough to throw the Vortex Forest into chaos.

But the Shadow Wolf King hadn't expected Chen De to complete this task so beautifully.

Earlier, with the explosion, the Shadow Wolf King had thought Chen De had merely killed the Windtail Boa King.

He hadn't expected that not only the Windtail Boa King, but even the late-stage Demon Qi Realm demon beasts in the Eastern Vortex Forest had been wiped out.

How did this Chen De do it? Did he commit some act that angered both heaven and man?

To attract the pursuit of so many demon beasts, each with cultivation not weaker than his own.

It could be said that this task was completed too beautifully, so beautifully that the Shadow Wolf King felt that Chen De might have truly acknowledged him as his foster father, trusting him implicitly, and willing to die for him until his last breath.

It was even so beautiful that the Shadow Wolf King felt Chen De might not have died yet.

However, on second thought, the possibility of Chen De still being alive was negligible.

After all, an explosion of that magnitude, and an internal detonation at that, not even a Demon Spirit Realm peak could withstand it.

The Shadow Wolf King had considerable faith in the power of his Blood Explosion Soul Seal.

At least it wasn't something Chen De, a demon beast not yet in the Demon Origin Realm, could undo.

It could be said that, in his opinion, Chen De must have been utterly obliterated this time.

It's good that he died, the Shadow Wolf King thought. He didn't feel the slightest bit of heartache over the death of his convenient foster son, Lu Bu. He took him in solely to send him to his death, and besides, with him dead, there would be no witness.

A faint curve involuntarily appeared at the corner of the Shadow Wolf King's mouth.

The changes in the Shadow Wolf King's expression were completely invisible from the Demon Beast Messenger's angle; he still maintained that sorrowful look.

But from another angle, one would find the smile on the Shadow Wolf King's face somewhat chilling.

The Demon Beast Messenger saw that it was getting late, so he bid farewell to the Shadow Wolf King, saying, “Lord Wolf King, I see it's getting late. I still need to rush back to report to the Silverscale Rhinoceros King.

You should also depart as soon as possible. Don't make the Rhinoceros King look bad, or I won't be able to put in a good word for you.”

“That is natural, that is natural!”

The Shadow Wolf King accompanied him, speaking courteously with a smile, his demeanor showing no hint of pretense.

“Then I shall take my leave!”

After saying this, the Demon Beast Messenger left the Shadow Wolf King in a hurry.

The Shadow Wolf King maintained his smile, watching the Demon Beast Messenger depart into the distance.

For a long time, the smile did not fade from the Shadow Wolf King's face, as if it had solidified there.

“It seems that after wearing the mask for too long, it can't be taken off, Shadow Wolf King!”

The Shadow Wolf King maintained his unchanging smile and said stiffly, “Are you all ready?”

“Of course. During this time, you were responsible for hiding spirit herbs here, while we were responsible for continuously selling information about spirit herbs in various parts of the city.

And arranging for people in the city to post missions requiring those spirit herbs to attract Qi Gathering Realm martial artists to search for them here.

At the same time, we arranged for people to blend in with that crowd, finally completing all arrangements not long ago.”

“Speaking of which, during this period, we invested quite a few spirit herbs.”

To complete these arrangements, a considerable number of spirit herbs were naturally required.

Firstly, the intelligence sold was mostly genuine, and it had to be successfully brought back by someone to attract more people here.

Some of the spirit herb locations they arranged were extremely dangerous, even capable of causing late-stage Qi Gathering Realm martial artists to perish.

Others, however, were extremely simple, requiring only initial Qi Gathering Realm cultivation, thus making them appear more realistic.

The intelligence obtained by Zhang Shan and Zhao Qi, for example, was among the relatively simpler ones.

Normally, they would have had a chance to obtain that spirit herb.

Unfortunately, they encountered the virtuous Chen De. For Chen De, protecting the forest was a rat's responsibility.

Chen De would not stand by and watch their destructive behavior towards the forest; this was their forest, and the resources were his.

Therefore, they perished here.

However, during this time, many people died here because of spirit herbs, so who would care about these two ants?

As for those who successfully brought back spirit herbs, they had actually registered those individuals when selling the intelligence.

They had already planned in advance which spirit herb locations could be obtained and which could not.

Once those people brought back the spirit herbs, they would simply follow the list recorded on the obtained spirit herbs to find them and make them return the items.

Of course, two groups of people would be doing this, but they were all their own people.

So most of those spirit herbs were simply changing hands, with only some loss in the process.

After all, some people would directly refine the spirit herbs they obtained, and some lucky ones might even obtain those they shouldn't have.

They had no good solution for these situations.

However, most of the spirit herbs they invested could be recovered.

But even so, they still consumed a considerable amount of spirit herbs in this process.

However, the Shadow Wolf King's territory did not produce many resources, so these were mostly paid for by them.

Including many of the spirit herbs on the Shadow Wolf King, which were supplied by them.

“If our plan can ultimately be completed, what does the loss of a few spirit herbs matter?”

The Shadow Wolf King said quietly.

“Haha! That is natural! Then all the resources of the Vortex Forest will be ours!”

The voice continued.

“After all, wasn't our decision to cultivate you to this point for today?”

Hearing this, the Shadow Wolf King also dropped his smile and slowly said, “Yes! Thanks to you all!”

The voice then said,

“You should be preparing to depart now, shouldn't you? Don't keep the Silverscale Rhinoceros King waiting too long!”

The Shadow Wolf King slowly nodded, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

After the Shadow Wolf King had walked a few steps.

Suddenly, the voice spoke, “Shadow Wolf King! I hope the subsequent plan proceeds smoothly, after all…

We still have a way out, but you do not. If the plan fails, neither the Silverscale Rhinoceros King nor we will let you go.

We have paid such a great price, don't disappoint us!”

The Shadow Wolf King stopped, and without turning back, said faintly, “You can go.”

“You too!”

After these words, there was no more communication between them.

The Shadow Wolf King gradually disappeared into the distance.