But just as they reached the edge of the tent and were about to cut open the canvas and rush inside, Liu Shiyi suddenly felt a shortness of breath. Immediately, everything went black in front of his eyes, and he collapsed uncontrollably to the ground.
The people following him also fell to the ground.
Even those subordinates responsible for surrounding the tent at a distance weren’t spared, and they all collapsed, unable to get up.
Liu Shiyi lay on the ground, feeling completely powerless, even moving a finger was incredibly difficult.
His heart sank to the bottom.
Without a doubt, he was defeated, completely and utterly.
Kong Xiangdong didn’t even show up, yet all his men were lying on the ground.
It was only then that Liu Shiyi realized how laughable their plot just now was.
The only thing he couldn’t understand was, even though he had already worn the antidote pouch, why was he still poisoned?
Over the years, Liu Shiyi had been secretly keeping an eye on Kong Xiangdong’s methods. These pouches were created with significant effort in such situations, and could basically immunize against all of Kong Xiangdong’s poison attacks.
This was also his greatest reliance to take action.
After painstakingly planning for so many years, it turned out to be of no use in the end, which truly left Liu Shiyi feeling unwilling.
Just then, footsteps sounded above his head. Kong Xiangdong’s heart trembled, and he strained to lift his eyelids and look upward, only to see a pair of feet and nothing more.
The owner of the feet stood in front of him, and moments later, he squatted down slowly, sighing.
"Shiyi, it really is you."
Upon hearing this voice, Liu Shiyi’s heart jolted. He wanted to speak but couldn’t utter a word, resignedly closing his eyes.
Because the speaker was none other than their target for this operation, whom he had followed for many years, the great leader, Kong Xiangdong.
Yet Liu Shiyi didn’t know that at that moment, Kong Xiangdong was looking at him with a calm expression, not with anger, but with a trace of pity.
He then gently waved his hand, and Liu Shiyi felt his upper body relax and found he could speak.
"Tell me, what was it all for?" Kong Xiangdong asked flatly.
Liu Shiyi suddenly opened his eyes and shouted hoarsely, "Because I refuse to accept it!"
"Why should you be the great leader while I can only be your subordinate?"
Looking at the furious face of Liu Shiyi, Kong Xiangdong asked calmly, "Is that all?"
"That’s right, isn’t that enough?" Liu Shiyi sneered.
Smack!
As soon as he finished speaking, Kong Xiangdong slapped him with a ruthless backhand.
The slap was so hard that Liu Shiyi was dazed, and teeth mixed with blood flew far away.
Kong Xiangdong then calmly asked, "Do you know why I hit you?"
Liu Shiyi spat out a mouthful of blood-tinged phlegm, defiantly glaring at Kong Xiangdong.
"I don’t know, and I don’t want to know. If you have the guts, just kill me now. I’ve had enough of this life!"
"You’re mistaken, I won’t kill you."
"Huh?" Liu Shiyi was taken aback, then looked at Kong Xiangdong in disbelief.
He had thought for sure he was dead meat, but he hadn’t expected Kong Xiangdong to spare him.
"What, surprising? Honestly, you should thank the fact that I’ve mellowed significantly over time. Otherwise, there would have been no need for you to take action; I would’ve killed you all back when Han San first tested me."
Liu Shiyi stared intently at Kong Xiangdong. "So you knew all along?"
"It wasn’t hard to guess. Besides you, I can’t think of another person among my Sea Gatherers with as much influence next to mine."
Here, Kong Xiangdong flashed a smile at the bewildered Liu Shiyi.
"Do you know why I hit you just now? Because of your cowardice."
"You keep saying, ’Why should you be the leader while I’m just a subordinate?’ But it’s not like I didn’t give you the chance; you just never seized it from the beginning."
"And over all these years, you’ve had countless opportunities to leave and start your own venture, and I wouldn’t have stopped you, yet you didn’t. Instead, you hid in the team and secretly withheld dried fish."
"I’ve always known about these things; I just couldn’t be bothered to deal with you. But to think that this year you’d dare to act against me, it’s actually made me see you in a better light," Kong Xiangdong said coolly.
Liu Shiyi listened, sinking further into despair.
He’d thought he had hidden it well, but they knew everything, just couldn’t be bothered to expose him.
"You and your men probably bear a grudge against me for avoiding the seaside and hiding at the Great Snow Mountain recently, right?" Kong Xiangdong said at this time.
"Yes!" Liu Shiyi replied honestly.
"Very well. Now you can go openly to the sea."
After saying this, without knowing what method Kong Xiangdong used, Liu Shiyi and his men suddenly regained control over their bodies.
They then scrambled to their feet, looking complexly in the direction Kong Xiangdong had left.
Especially Liu Shiyi, who couldn’t help but ask.
"Then why won’t you kill me?"
"Simple, there’s no point," Kong Xiangdong said without turning back.
"No point..." Liu Shiyi murmured softly, watching Kong Xiangdong’s retreating figure intently before waving his hand.
"Let’s go!"
Kong Xiangdong wasn’t killing them now, but that didn’t mean he wouldn’t do it later.
Delay breeds danger, so Liu Shiyi and his men didn’t dare stay long and quickly escaped the camp.
As they stumbled into the darkness with their packs, Yang Zhan was watching Kong Xiangdong with a serious expression.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Don’t recognize me?" Kong Xiangdong laughed.
"A bit, you actually tolerated a rebellion from your subordinates. I’m really curious what that Young Master Zhao said to make you change so much."
Kong Xiangdong chuckled, "It’s not as complicated as you think. I did want to kill them initially, but something Liu Shiyi said changed my mind."
"What did he say?"
"His men wanted to use fire, but Liu Shiyi stopped them, saying that connecting the fires would harm innocents. This proved that he’s not all bad, so I gave him a chance."
Yang Zhan seemed to hear a fairy tale, with an expression asking if he was being fooled.
With Kong Xiangdong’s personality, as expected, he couldn’t care less about such things.
Sure enough.
Quickly, Kong Xiangdong also laughed.
"Of course, that’s just part of the reason. These are people who’ve followed me for years. If I killed them all, it would chill the hearts of others. It’s better to let them go."
"They’re unlikely to just leave. They’ll definitely return to the coast. When something happens, it will not only deter others, but also silence all doubts."
Yang Zhan then looked half-convinced, asking, "You’re so sure something will happen at the Wuyang Sea?"
"Yes!" Kong Xiangdong nodded, then glanced at the tent roof.
Although the canvas blocked the outside view, Kong Xiangdong’s time estimates were always accurate.
He knew that in just over a quarter of an hour, daylight would break.
In past years, even before the Great Snow Mountain, sunlight was nowhere to be seen at this time.
But this year’s unusual weather and timing had disrupted everything.
These anomalies drove many Sea Gatherers crazy, but Kong Xiangdong sensed a strong sense of crisis.
That’s why he magnanimously let Liu Shiyi and his men go.
He wanted to test a new model, no longer relying on violence to intimidate his followers, but convincing them with reason and accurate judgment.
And this suggestion came from Zhao Ya.
Time flew by as the faint sunlight awoke the camp from its slumber.
Many people had no idea what happened last night, until they noticed Liu Shiyi and others were missing, and then they realized, becoming anxious.
After all, it was a bare betrayal.
Who knew what action Kong Xiangdong would take.
At that time, Kong Xiangdong was in the tent, reading a letter the carrier pigeon had just brought back.