Awakening of the Ancient: Rise of the Fallen

"On the other hand, if they killed one of the Princes, not only will they have no need to fight the other Prince, they'll get more out of it as well. Not only will they get an advantage in the next trial, but the other Prince will also get a disadvantage as well. Do you really think they will decide to go after the Flag in that case?" he asked Yanli as he frowned.

"They, ah, they will probably try to kill a Prince to get an advantage," Yanli replied as she nodded her head.

"Yeah, that's not a probability, though. That's a confirmation. They will go with the easier route that gives them more benefits, and that's killing a prince. Which prince do you think you will try to kill? I don't think there's any doubt in that, is there?" He asked Yanli.

"They will try to kill you..." Yanli replied to Xu Ming as she frowned.

" Yup. It's not a three-way war. Instead, it's a hunting. It's a hunt where the prey is the Third Prince, and the Hunters are the First and the Second Prince with their teams," Xu Ming let out as he shook his head.

"That's so..." Yanli wanted to say something, but she couldn't find words to express herself.

"It's unfair, but the trials aren't supposed to be fair. They're unfair, and they'll be unfair. The King wants the trials to select the best prince, and it counts strength too," Xu Ming said.  He wanted to say something else entirely about how he heard that the King was a ruthless being who was unfair himself on certain matters, but he didn't say that since that might've exposed some things.

Xu Ming looked at Yanli and saw a look of understanding on her face.

"Anyway, in this hunt, there is only one way to survive, and that way is to become the hunter instead. The only way to end this chase is to become the hunter and kill a Prince to win this trial. With that advantage, the next trial should be somewhat easier as well," Xu Ming said.

He saw his servant waiting in the back, but he didn't bother telling him to leave.

"So you want to target a Prince in the trial of the crown? Are you going to go after the Second Prince?" Yanli inquired as she looked at Xu Ming with great interest.

"No, that's not what I want to do. Instead, I want to target the First Prince. This war will be confusing, and it will give me many opportunities to target the first prince. I want to take him out in this trial so that I only have to face the second prince next," Xu Ming said to Yanli.

"Don't worry. I've already planned everything. You'll be the one holding our base there and making them feel like I'm inside, scared. In reality, I'll be trying to kill the First Prince. This whole event will be over that way," Xu Ming told Yanli.

The truth was that it wasn't Xu Ming's actual plan. His real plan was something else entirely, but the matter of the fact was that he didn't trust people enough to tell them the plan. Even though he had faith in his strength, he wanted to play it safe. He had long ago stopped trusting people with his life. 

He was friendly with a lot of people from his old sect, but he only trusted a few amongst them. Even amongst those few, he didn't trust anyone to tell them something that could get him killed. 

The only person he actually trusted at all was Valeria. Valeria had been with him for the longest time, and she helped him in many dangerous situations. Even though the situation wasn't dangerous for her and her helping him didn't put her in harm's way, he trusted her with a lot of things. He didn't understand why it was, but there was some kind of bond between them.

When it came to Yanli and his servant or any other person here, he didn't trust them at all. 

There was a possibility that they might decide to sell him out if the other princes approach them or they were already working for them, so he decided to tell them the false plan.

The only part that was true about this plan was the part about Yanli staying in their base while he went out.

"Are you sure you want to kill the First Prince first?" Yanli asked again.

"Yup. He'll be my target," Xu Ming replied as he smiled.

" I understand that. I have faith in you. You can do this," Yanli said as she nodded her head. "What's the rest of the plan?" 

Xu Ming started telling her the plan– Not the plan he was going to follow but the plan he wanted her to know.

After telling her the plan, he talked some more things about Yanli to make sure that she understood.

After spending 3 hours in Xu Ming's courtyard, Yanli left.

Xu Ming went back to his room as well and closed the door.

" This little devil is still sleeping," Xu Ming muttered as he saw Valeria still steeping on the bed.

He walked to the bad and sat beside Valeria.

"How long do you plan to sleep," Xu Ming let out as he jiggled her body.

"Hmmm, stop disturbing me. I slept late last night," Valeria replied in annoyance.

"You Idiot, you slept late, so what! Don't you think you should be aware of the surroundings when you sleep! You little sleeping monster," Xu Ming continued shaking Valeria's body.

"You're so annoying. If you don't change that, you'll never find a wife," Valeria let out in annoyance as she opened her eyes after getting disturbed a lot.

"Why do I need a wife? I'm fine the way I am," Xu Ming replied casually as he rolled his eyes.

"Hmph, you little kid, can you make babies alone?" Valeria scolded Xu Ming as she looked at him.