He changed Tiwat

However, this wonderful plan was disrupted by the interference of two outsiders, Han Fulai and Jiang Xue, and was ruined in less than three hours, resulting in the complete annihilation of the entire army. It was nothing short of a tragedy.

According to Daines Reeb's post-incident analysis, the Abyss Apostles probably didn't expect Han Fulai's thinking to be so unique, and Jiang Xue was far stronger than expected.

Normal people, upon seeing the black mist barrier, would either detour or obediently ring the bell—but Han Fulai, in a hurry, broke the barrier and entered directly, catching the Abyss forces off guard.

After Jiang Xue used her "first encounter kill" advantage to take down two Abyss Singers, a normal person would have run away after hearing Ye Mingxiang's warning—but Han Fulai managed to detect the "Abyss Order's" plan in just a few words and insisted on barging into the ancient civilization ruins to cause trouble.

It was confirmed that there was a trap set for Dains Reeb in the ruins, and Han Fulai and Jiang Xue, as outsiders, were not involved in the matter. Normally, they would have chosen to withdraw at this point. However, Han Fulai was inexplicably willing to take a huge risk to help Dains deal with the "Abyss Order".

The purification ritual of the "Abyss Order" is a high-level plan that utilizes the power of the Abyss and the power of the High Heavens. Originally, Han Fulai and Jiang Xue should not have been able to affect the power of this "rank," so the "Abyss Order" was completely fearless—but Han Fulai happened to be carrying a "Luminite" catalyst, which also came from the High Heavens...

Daines Reeb could only explain this by saying, "Man proposes, God disposes."

But Han Fulai frowned deeply at this moment, because he knew that everything was calculated by human intervention.

In Han Fulai's view, all of this development was predictable. From the moment Jiang Xue's senior brother dragged them into the situation, the outcome was already predetermined, and it was bound to be the result Ye Mingxiang wanted.

Ye Mingxiang knew that Jiang Xue was strong enough to deal with the Abyss Apostles, that Han Fulai possessed the power of the Salt God, and that she had even seen the Lumen Stone catalyst in their hands. Furthermore, the Abyss Order's plans clearly involved the assistance of Ye Mingxiang, the "Black Serpent Knight," as he was the one who gave orders to the "Black Serpent Knights" in the ruins.

Meanwhile, this person remained hidden behind the scenes throughout the purification ritual, as if he had never appeared... This is the scheme behind it that Han Fulai is truly concerned about.

If Han Fulai's act of separating from Dain to align with the Abyss Order's objectives during the purification ritual, thus misleading the Order into believing that things were still progressing smoothly, was a "tactic of turning the tables," then from the moment he stepped into this ancient civilization's ruins, he was also "turning the tables," aiming to uncover Ye Mingxiang's true intentions.

He dutifully acted as a gun in Ye Mingxiang's hands, thwarting the "Abyss Order's" plans for her. But what truly mattered was the consequences of doing all this!

How will the Abyss Order react? What will Ye Mingxiang's next move be?

Han Fulai was indeed very curious.

Moreover, he believed that the answers lay hidden deeper within the abyss of the rocky outcrops.

As for incidentally thwarting the Abyss Order's plot and offending a powerful force lurking in the shadows of Teyvat... Han Fulai wasn't afraid, after all, he had powerful backers.

In Han Fulai's eyes, this purification ceremony was less about saving the people for the sake of restoring the country and more about conducting a large-scale human experiment using death row inmates.

The Abyss Order uses dying Hilichurls and Black Serpent Riders, who are not even considered living beings, as lab rats—in a way, this is quite in line with the style of a villainous organization.

As a person with a conscience, he should stop such inhumane human experiments, both morally and logically. Therefore, he did not regret offending the "Abyss Cult" for this.

By protecting Daines Reeb from the Abyss Order's trap, Han Fulai not only gained the goodwill of the powerful "Sword of the End" but also a great deal of secret information. Furthermore, aside from consuming a "Luminite" catalyst, Han Fulai suffered minimal losses, making it a very profitable venture.

These little thoughts are not something that can be shared with outsiders.

If there was any miscalculation on his part in this game, it was the serious injury to Daines Reb.

His original plan was to do Dainsley a favor by helping him, thereby bringing Dainsley to his side and adding another "Endblade" to his fighting force. According to his calculations, with Dainsley's combat strength, no matter what the other party's intentions were, he could break through the stalemate with Dainsley's help.

But clearly, some things were beyond his calculations. If Dains Reeb had followed Han Fulai's plan exactly, retreating after throwing out the Lumenite catalyst, he wouldn't have suffered such severe injuries. The purifying power of the pool water harmed Dains, and Dains's aggravation of his injuries in his quest for revenge against Halfdan were all unexpected circumstances.

But the situation has already arisen, and he can only make plans based on the existing combat strength.

His own combat strength is recoverable, Jiang Xue's combat strength has not been greatly damaged, and the information that Dain just told him also contains the opportunity for him to become stronger... However, even if all of these are taken into account, his combat strength may still not be enough.

Fortunately, even without Daines Reeb, there are other powerful forces in the Abyss of Laminaria.

After the three of them left the ruins, they immediately discovered something—the black mist barrier that had enveloped the ancient civilization ruins had completely disappeared.

Not only the inner barrier enveloping the ruins, but also the outer barrier covering the entire space was the same.

This is probably because the purification ritual just now required a large amount of abyssal power, so the abyssal energy used to maintain the barrier was extracted to help complete the ritual.

However, this is good news for Han Fulai. With such a big change in the ruins, the people he wants to attract will definitely come, saving him the trouble of searching for them. The "Lumenite" catalyst is no longer available, and he and Jiang Xue now only have ordinary miner's lamps to use, making walking much more difficult than before.

He and Jiang Xue parted ways with Daines Reeb outside the ruins. Daines Reeb went ahead, while Han Fulai and the others returned along the same route.

On the way, Jiang Xue asked with some concern, "What are we going to do next?"

Han Fulai, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed and simply replied with two words: "Call people."

Below the passage created by the "Wishing Stone," where the petrified marks left by Han Fulai's "Heavenly Movement" still remained, Han Fulai started shouting at the top of his lungs again: "Miss Ye Lan!"

Of course, no one responded to him.

But Han Fulai was not discouraged and continued to shout with all his might: "Miss Yelan, come out quickly! Let's talk about cooperation. I'm really sincere this time!"

Jiang Xue couldn't help but shake his head. This loud and boisterous guy next to him had just been "treating people with sincerity" three hours ago, but now he was shamelessly asking for cooperation and even daring to mention sincerity...

Clearly, Yelan thought so too.

Han Fulai, however, was determined to call Ye Lan out.

As the saying goes, "There are no permanent friends or permanent enemies." If the Kuomintang and the Communist Party could form a united front against Japanese aggression, then he and Ye Lan could certainly do the same.

He took a deep breath and began to sing an old song:

"Ye Lan, come back quickly, I can't bear this alone..."

"Come back soon, life is wonderful because of you..."

"Come back soon, bring back my longing..."

"Don't let my heart be as empty as the sea..."

In the darkness not far from the two, Ye Lan shuddered, her skin crawling with goosebumps, and finally spoke reluctantly: "Stop howling, get to the point."

She finally showed up.

Ever since Han Fulai and his group broke through the barrier and entered the ruins, Ye Lan has been hiding in the darkness and waiting.

Besides observing changes in the situation, it also serves the purpose of "waiting for a rabbit to run into a tree stump".

Of course, the person she was "waiting for the rabbit to come to the tree stump" was not Han Fulai.

Suddenly, a beam of golden light shot into the sky from within the black mist barrier, after which the barrier shook and collapsed, and Ye Lan immediately headed towards the ancient civilization ruins.

The golden light only lasted for about ten minutes before disappearing. By the time Ye Lan arrived at the gate of the ruins, the pillar of light had vanished, indicating that the matter inside the ruins had likely been resolved. Out of caution, Ye Lan did not enter the ruins directly but observed the situation from the outside.

Not long after, she met Han Fulai and two others outside the ruins—she had considered following the unfamiliar blond masked man who came out of the ruins, who was Daines Reeb.

However, Daines Reeb didn't give her a chance to follow him, as he was in a hurry to get out and heal his wounds. So Daines Reeb immediately used "Swiftness" and rushed towards the secret passage leading to the upper exit that Han Fulai had pointed out to him.

Ye Lan was shocked to discover that the blond masked man had vanished from her surveillance range in an instant. Even with her elemental vision activated, she could only see the long blue tail trailing behind him... That man actually knew her family's secret technique, "Hidden Form and Concealed Radiance"!

However, there are many sects in this world, and the "Hidden Form and Concealed Radiance" technique originally originated from "Minghai Qixia Zhenjun," who had a close relationship with Yelan's ancestors. Yelan couldn't be sure whether Daines Reibu was a descendant of the Liyue Asgardians. In this environment of the Rocky Abyss, it was too difficult to track down someone who knew the "Hidden Form and Concealed Radiance" technique, so Yelan gave up the pursuit and instead secretly monitored Han Fulai.

Her modus operandi was exactly what Han Fulai had anticipated.

Anyway, as long as Yelan is willing to come out, everything will be easy.

Han Fulai turned around with a grin and walked enthusiastically toward Ye Lan: "Miss Ye Lan, thank you for waiting. We have resolved the matter in the ruins..."

"Let's make this clear first, I haven't agreed to cooperate with you yet." Ye Lan reached out to stop Han Fulai from taking any further steps, her attitude clearly unfriendly.

“Of course, of course… I will show Miss Yelan my ‘sincerity’.”

Han Fulai took out the relic of Egil and Onnar from the Eye of the Blank God, which was the "Cube" used to control the black mist barrier.

“This is something we found inside the ruins. The ‘Abyss Order’ actually guards this item inside the ruins. This item is very likely related to the ancient kingdom of Kanria that was destroyed.” He said this half-jokingly while showing the “Rubik’s Cube” to Yelan. “Miss Yelan, you are very knowledgeable. Perhaps you know how to use this item.”

Coincidentally, Yelan really did recognize the symbols and text engraved on the Rubik's Cube.

This "Rubik's Cube" is actually a "key" to unlock an ancient door.

Chapter 217 Waiting for a Rabbit to Run into a Tree Stump (Bonus Chapter 9/20)

“I don’t recognize this thing,” Ye Lan said calmly.

The ability to lie discreetly is a fundamental quality of intelligence personnel.

Before reaching a cooperation agreement, Ye Lan certainly couldn't simply tell Han Fulai the information. After all, the item was in Han Fulai's hands. If he knew what it was used for, he could easily leave Ye Lan behind and go deep underground to find that door himself.

Han Fulai naturally knew that such communication without trust was meaningless, and of course, he didn't expect Ye Lan to cooperate with him so easily.

His act was merely a way of telling Ye Lan that he had indeed gained something from the ruins, and that he had taken all the important items, so even if Ye Lan went in alone, she might not find anything useful. If she wanted to know anything about the ruins, Ye Lan would have to cooperate with him.

This is the "first-mover advantage" he gained by entering the ruins first and locking Ye Lan outside; he now has more leverage than Ye Lan.

He put the Rubik's Cube away and changed the subject: "Let's not talk about this anymore. Let's talk about something else. For example, Miss Yelan, you've been waiting outside for so long, have you caught anything?"

Ye Lan raised an eyebrow: "I don't understand what you're saying."

"That means there was no gain, that's great."

Han Fulai wore a genuine smile that said, "I'm stronger now."

"Hmph." Ye Lan snorted coldly.

If Jiang Xue hadn't been watching with interest from a short distance, she might have punched Han Fulai in the face right now. What she didn't know was that even if she had, Jiang Xue wouldn't have stopped her... Han Fulai was just relying on Jiang Xue to bully others, and Jiang Xue secretly wanted to see him get his comeuppance.

Han Fulai coughed lightly and said, "Then why don't we wait together? It'll help pass the time. It's better for the three of us to chat than for one person to wait alone, isn't it?"

Ye Lan did not answer.

The two remained silent for a moment.

Mr. Jiang Xue, who seemed oblivious to the situation, broke the silence.

"...May I ask who you are waiting for?"

“A bunch of fools,” Han Fulai replied matter-of-factly.

"Uh... Did the Fools make an appointment with the two of you?" Jiang Xue asked, puzzled.

“Because Miss Yelan rang the bells before.” Han Fu looked at Yelan. “The Fools’ log records that they rang those two ancient bells and then dispelled the black mist barrier to enter the ruins—of course, they were later driven out by the Abyss Apostles.”

An Abyss Apostle... As expected. The "Rubik's Cube" that Han Fulai just took out must also be related to the power of the Abyss.

While analyzing the bits and pieces of information in her mind, Yelan explained, "This also means that the Fools' mission targets include this ruin shrouded in black mist, and they have also heard the bell. So when they hear someone ringing the bell, they will definitely realize that something has changed here and send someone to investigate."

Ye Lan's attitude towards Jiang Xue, or rather, "Yao Guang Xing," was quite friendly.

She already knew that the nearly retired Yao Guang Xing had entered the Layered Rock Abyss, and Jiang Xue's hat and mask had been lost in the battle, leaving her completely exposed. Of course, Ye Lan had already seen through Jiang Xue's true identity.

"The reason Miss Yelan has been waiting outside the barrier is not because she wants us to come out, since she cannot predict when we will emerge. She is waiting for the lurking Fools to come out on their own."

Yelan stroked the "white silk flying robe" draped over her snowy shoulders. It was a tribute she had obtained from the Fools and presented to the Winter Queen, as well as her spoils of war.

“It would be very inefficient for me to search blindly in this giant abyss of rock by myself. Rather than me looking for others, I’d rather have others come to me.”

"So Miss Yelan's ringing of the bell was not in vain," Han Fulai said with a smile.

"I would be happier if you could keep your promise and ring the bell together." Ye Lan emphasized the word "promise," since it was clear that Han Fulai had broken the agreement first.

Han Fulai sighed affectedly, "Alright then, I'll back down. Once the Fools come to us, the decision-making power will be yours, Miss Yelan, and I will not interfere."

Ye Lan crossed her arms and squinted at Han Fulai, but it was too difficult to tell from Han Fulai's face whether he was telling the truth or not.

Both she and Han Fulai knew that the Fools lurking in the deep abyss were a political bargaining chip; whoever got it would be in a better position. Why would Han Fulai give up such a valuable asset? Unless giving it up would be more advantageous for him!

This means that he did indeed discover something very important in the ruins, so important that he was willing to exchange the right to dispose of the Fools for cooperation.

But could this be a negotiation tactic? Like bluffing your opponent at a gambling table that you have a strong hand, when in reality you're just holding a mediocre one?

Remarkably, Ye Lan found herself caught in a chain of suspicion, all stemming from a lack of information.

As an intelligence agent, Ye Lan rarely spends time speculating. Her principle is to seek more information if there is any doubt, turning uncertainty into certainty.

However, the unique environment of the Layered Rock Abyss rendered her intelligence network ineffective. She currently lacked subordinates like Wen Yuan, Shang Hua, and Wu Pei to provide supplementary intelligence; she had to gather all her information herself, a task that, despite her exceptional abilities, was simply too much for her. This despicable Han Fulai clearly understood this, which was why he used the Fools as a bargaining chip to lure her into suspicion.

Continuing like this would only lead to him being led by the nose, so Ye Lan decided to switch from defense to offense.

How do I know if you're going to 'treat people with sincerity' again?

"Good question." Han Fulai smiled. "Miss Yelan, do you think Senior Jiang Xue and I could take you down together? I'm willing to make concessions now, that's my sincerity."

What sincerity? This is nothing but a threat! Jiang Xue and Ye Lan had this thought at the same time.

However, Ye Lan also knew that this was indeed Han Fulai's "sincerity".

Since Han Fulai also knew that the Fools might walk right into his trap, there was no need for him to cooperate with her. They could find a secluded spot to hide and wait for the Fools to appear before each of them could capture the people they needed to capture.

Ye Lan's willingness to appear and negotiate with Han Fulai was naturally partly due to this consideration. She was also aware of the martial arts skills of Yao Guang Xing, and if they truly relied on their own abilities to capture someone, she might not be able to gain the upper hand. Since hiding wouldn't increase the success rate of the operation, it was better to show herself and test whether the other party was truly sincere.

After she appeared, Han Fulai and Jiang Xue did not immediately attack her, which itself represented goodwill—although she was actually prepared for this and confident that she could escape unscathed.

After a moment's thought, Ye Lan made her decision: "Then... tell me your conditions."

Han Fulai smiled again: "After capturing the Fools, I need Miss Yelan to accompany me to resolve the anomaly in the Layered Rock Abyss. Believe me, this is all for Liyue."

Chapter 218 Misunderstanding! We're all on the same side!

Yelan believed Han Fulai's claim that he was acting for Liyue's sake. She had also learned about Han Fulai's contract with Ganyu from Ningguang and knew that he couldn't possibly do anything to harm Liyue, at least not subjectively.

If Han Fulai is now discussing cooperation with her not because of profit, but for other reasons... Ye Lan could guess that reason—Han Fulai learned the secret of the Layered Rock Abyss's anomaly in the ruins, and this anomaly cannot be solved by Han Fulai and Yao Guangxing alone, so he needs his own strength.

It was for this reason that Ye Lan agreed to cooperate with Han Fulai.

But Ye Lan still felt very awkward.