"Master, are you saying that..." Xiao Niao pursed his lips and thought back at the contents of the letter that the Master had previously shown him. In that letter, the anonymous person had asked if the fight between the two royals was orchestrated by him (the Master).
"The 'Creative Writer' thinks I'm the one who made the two of them fight. But as you may know, I didn't do anything," the Master said slowly. "This means that the 'Creative Writer' suspects something fishy about this whole incident."
"Perhaps there is another reason behind the fight between the third prince and fifth princess... You should go and investigate it further," the man said.
Xiao Niao nodded, his heart filling with awe. He had initially thought that this 'Creative Writer' was nothing but a fool with poor writing skills. Who would've thought that all of that was just a fake cover?
Xiao Niao began cooking up a story inside his head. This 'Creative Writer' had cleverly "asked" his Master if he was the one behind the 3rd prince and 5th princess' fight...
Wasn't this just an indirect way of saying that there was something fishy going on, and the Master had to investigate this matter further??
With that thought in mind, the Creative Writer's place in Xiao Niao's heart rose up a few ranks, and Xiao Niao even began to forgive him for having such poor writing skills. After all, talent was something that one was born with.
Perhaps this Creative Writer was just naturally bad at writing... but at least he had a good heart, right? Xiao Niao decided to forgive this guy for his poor writing skills. At least something like that could be developed and learned...
"You haven't told me the results of your investigation regarding the Creative Writer," the man spoke, breaking Xiao Niao from his reverie.
"Ah, yes," Xiao Niao straightened his back and began speaking. Xiao Niao had flown over to Xu Chao's residence and investigated the entire place. He had already located the Creative Writer.
"His name is 'Feng Yongrui', and his job is to take care of the Phantom Stallions," Xiao Niao began explaining.
The man scoffed, almost choking on his own saliva. How could he not know what this man's job was? In his letter, the Creative Writer would make a detailed and insufferable explanation about his job and his day...
"This person does his job diligently, and he often works while talking to the stallions. He seems like a fool and he doesn't have many friends. Other than that, this servant thinks there is nothing special about him," Xiao Niao said.
"Which clan is he from?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Ah... he's part of the Imp Clan, Master. I believe he is a Yon, with poor water-based powers," Xiao Niao said.
"A fool from a weak clan," the man mused. "How did he become my spy?" he clicked his tongue.
"Master... what should we do about this person?" Xiao Niao asked.
While Xiao Niao had begun to admire the Creative Writer, that didn't mean he trusted this person. After all, no matter how foolish he looked on the surface, this Creative Writer had managed to stay in Xu Chao's manor for more than three months without getting exposed.
This person wasn't simple at all! Not to mention that he suddenly popped out of nowhere and swore loyalty to his master over and over... wasn't this too suspicious? Xiao Niao did not want to risk his Master's safety, so if this Creative Writer became a problem, then it would be better to get rid of him.
Xiao Niao's Master, the young man with the dragon horns, put down the brush he had been twirling and sighed.
"Lately, the Shadow Demons have been getting more and more unruly. You and I know that. The Vampire Clan is also restless, making waves here and there. If I want to gain total control of the entire Phantom Realm... I'll have to work a little harder."
"So far we already have our spies planted in all of the major clans. We sent someone to Xu Chao's mansion three years ago, but we haven't heard from him since..."
"It's just right. We can use this 'Feng Yongrui', turn him into one of our people, and have him investigate and keep watch over Xu Chao's actions. After all, wasn't he the one who volunteered and swore his loyalty to me first?" the man chuckled.
"Master, does that mean you will trust him?" Xiao Niao asked hesitantly.
"Of course not," the man chuckled. "Trust is such a flimsy thing. There's no such thing as sincerity in this world. You've already investigated his background, right? Now it's time to interview him for real."
"Understood, Master," Xiao Niao bowed his head and smiled.
"I think you understand what I mean already, so go and arrange everything. I hope to see results in a week," the man said lowly.
"Understood, Master. This servant will get it done immediately."
The man gave a small smile. He was looking forward to working with this Creative Writer.
"Feng Yongrui, was it?" he whispered. "I'm looking forward to see what you have up your sleeves..."
***
Meanwhile, Feng Yongrui had no idea that he had just entered a pit. He was in the middle of brushing Starmane's mane.
"Stop moving around," Feng Yongrui chastised gently. "If you keep being like this, I'll complain about you in one of my letters," Feng Yongrui chuckled. "If my boss knows how troublesome you are, he might scold you for me."
"Host, it is advisable for delusional people such as yourself to drink the right medicine before interacting with others," the System's voice sounded.
Feng Yongrui: "..."
"What are you here for, hm? Are you here to make trouble again? You're always being so mean and snarky," Feng Yongrui said, rolling his eyes.
"Host, you know what? I think Starmane is better than you," the System snorted.
As if realizing that he had just been complimented, Starmane gave a shrill whiny, as if saying "See how amazing I am~" .
Feng Yongrui felt his blood pressure rising and quickly calmed himself down. Anyway, based on the System's temper, wasn't it a good match for Starmane?
"You can stay with Starmane all you want," Feng Yongrui grumbled. "I'm gonna stay with my cute, gentle, Violet~"
Starmane gave a snort and rolled his eyes at Feng Yongrui. Perhaps Starmane knew that Feng Yongrui didn't really like him and preferred Violet, so he was being especially cranky today.
After his job was done, Feng Yongrui returned to his room and took out a piece of paper. It was time to write his daily reports...
Speaking of his daily reports, sometimes Feng Yongrui still struggled to write them. After all, there were days when he felt like not writing anything at all. Feng Yongrui had also waited for Chen Tengfei's reply to his question, but he had yet to receive a reply.
Feng Yongrui had comforted himself, telling himself that perhaps Chen Tengfei was busy and didn't have time to reply... But Feng Yongrui was also afraid that Chen Tengfei actually never read his letters anymore.
What if Chen Tengfei hated his writing style and decided to discard him? The more he thought about it, the more he felt miserable, and Feng Yongrui struggled to write coherent sentences for his daily report.
"Right, System," Feng Yongrui changed the subject. "Several days ago, you told me to buy one your products... but nothing has happened since then. You didn't just lie to me to make me buy your stuff, right?" he asked, raising his eyebrow.
Several days ago, while Feng Yongrui was in the middle of cleaning up the stables, the System suddenly issued a warning.
"There's someone coming to spy around this are, Host! This person's demonic aura is very strong!" the System had told him.
"Alright, I should pretend that I'm busy, right?" Feng Yongrui had asked.
"Correct, Host. But that's not the main point here!" the System's voice was very urgent.
"A stronger demonic aura means he/she has stronger powers... And, uhm, your magical artifact is too weak... whoever this person is... might find out that you're from the Cloud Realm!" the System cried.
"W-what?" At that time, Feng Yongrui had been so panicked that he ended up... buying the stuff that the System offered him.
Feng Yongrui touched his abdomen and a bright blue tattoo appeared on his stomach, glowing in the dim room. This was the product that the System offered him, and it had cost him 1,500 points!
The System said that this item, the "Tattoo of Trouble", would conceal his pure aura and make him 100% a Yon. It would ward of any prying eyes and hide his secrets, including making his magical prowess seem very poor.
At that time, Feng Yongrui was in a rush and he was afraid of getting exposed, so he had listened to the System's words and (rather unwillingly) parted with his points.
However, after such a long time, Feng Yongrui did not see anyone or anything snooping around him, so he became suspicious of the System... Was it tricking him into spending his points??
***