Chapter 55: Lies Part Two

The middle-aged man looked at Fang Jie and smiled while saying, “You are an interesting person. You sound heroic, and you appear to be willing to battle, but you are thinking about how to escape. I don’t know if I should call you fake or call you cunning.”

Before Fang Jie could say anything, this man walked forward and asked, “I want to know about something that you said earlier. You said that this lake is too calm and not real. It is impossible unless… unless what?”

“Illusion,” Fang Jie replied.

“Illusion… this is quite accurate,” the middle-aged man laughed and said, “For all these years, I have been calling this technique Mirage, but it is hard to understand. Illusion is better. If others ask me in the future, I will explain it to them this way. Thank you.”

This man thanked Fang Jie.

“Don’t sweat it. Now, can you tell us who you are? If I’m not wrong, you are with those in flying-fish robes and are from the Intelligence Department, right?” Fang Jie asked.

“Yes and no.” The middle-aged man walked to Fang Jie and said earnestly, “Yes in the sense that I’m from the Intelligence Department just like them. No in the sense that they are here to kill you, but I’m here to save you. Of course, you don’t need to thank me. If I were faster, you wouldn’t have encountered these dangers on the way. I left five days earlier than them, but I was slower since I was enjoying the scenery along the way.”

This man pointed at himself and said, “My last name is Zhuo.”

Then, he pointed at those people in flying-fish robes and said, “They call me Mr. Zhuo.”

When Gao Tianbao saw this middle-aged man in grey, he started to shiver. He looked back at Meng Wudi, the Deputy of the Intelligence Department, and hoped to get further instructions.

However, when Meng Wudi saw this man, his expression turned uglier.

“Mr. Zhuo, how come you are here?” Meng Wudi instantly jumped off his horse and dashed forward before deeply bowing toward this man. It felt like he was way too humble since he was the deputy of the department yet this man in grey didn’t have an official position.

A rank 5 official was bowing toward someone who had no official position.

Fang Jie was surprised by this, and he couldn’t help but guess that this middle-aged man was Hou Wenji, the Head of the Intelligence Department. However, this man said that his last name was Zhuo. If he was Hou Wenji, he didn’t need to make a fake identity and act with Meng Wudi and others.

Since Xiang Qingniu wasn’t familiar with the Intelligence Department, so Fang Jie didn’t know that there was a unique figure in this department.

“I should have been here earlier. When I passed Mei’s Manor, I played go-chess with the old owner. I lost repeatedly and wanted to win more, so I ended up staying there for seven days, forgetting the important matter. Alright, there is nothing else for you to do. I’m taking these three people to the Capital. All of you can return,” this middle-aged man who was known as Mr. Zhuo said lightly.

“Return?” Meng Wudi froze for a second and replied with hesitation, “But I received an order from the Department Head. These people are criminals that the central government is after.”

Mr. Zhuo shook his head and sighed, “You are still blinded.”

Meng Wudi’s expression changed, and he started to calculate in his mind. Before he came up with a strategy, Mr. Zhuo said calmly, “You don’t need to think about how to deal with me. If you return obediently, I will treat this as if I didn’t see anything. Also, you shouldn’t think that you could cover anything; the Department Head already knows. I left five days earlier, and yet you are foolishly thinking that you can hide everything. If you didn’t work tirelessly for the department for dozens of years, would the Department Head let you live until now?”