NOVEL NEXT Chapter 55 | Respectfully Insane
"It was you."
At the heart of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Li Wei stood, posture rigid and unwavering as he turned towards the retired general.
Erlang Shen stared at him, mouth slightly parted. For a brief moment, the man visibly short-circuited, as if someone had slapped him in the face. His composure fractured, replaced by bewilderment so vivid that formalities slipped entirely from his tongue.
"Me? Li Wei, you've genuinely lost your mind!"
Li Wei shook his head. "Prince Xuan's wound was precise—surgical, even. Only someone skilled with blades, someone like the military general, could strike so neatly."
Erlang Shen stood up from his seat and took an angry step forward. "Li Wei, you're making a grave mistake. You're falling directly into the trap that damned tiger laid out for you!"
Across the table, sitting in monochrome elegance, Taeril observed the chaos with a helpless shrug of his shoulders.
Li Wei bristled, Erlang Shen's anger only confirming his suspicions. "Typical emotional response," he snapped back. "Exactly the reaction I'd expect from someone caught in their own deception."
Lady Meng, who had been quiet until now, chose this moment to intercede, her voice laden with subtle weight. "Captain Li," she said. "General Erlang Shen's anger is understandable. But perhaps your certainty blinds you to other… subtler possibilities."
Li Wei whirled to face her, eyes sharp with sudden suspicion. "What exactly do you imply?"
"Merely that your fervour strikes me as unusual." Her gaze met his evenly. "Such vehement certainty can obscure deeper motives."
"You suspect me now?" He recoiled slightly, incredulous. "Meng, I've sought nothing but the truth. Erlang is clearly—he has to be the second killer!"
Erlang Shen barked a humourless laugh. "You're being manipulated, Li Wei. Open your eyes!" Then, abruptly, his expression shifted, something else dawning across his features. "Or perhaps this isn't manipulation at all. Perhaps you're the one orchestrating this deception."
Li Wei blinked, his momentum visibly faltering as RealmNet collectively lost its mind.
[@CelestialTeaSpill]: not everyone suspecting everyone right now
[@TWhiteFanclubOfficial]: Plot twist: Li Wei actually mastermind??
[@TruthSeeker01]: It's me, guys. I'm the mastermind. Let's just call it a day and go home.
Li Wei's voice rose, tinged with panic and frustration. "Your absurd accusations only confirm everything further! Lady Meng, please," he said, turning towards her. "Trust me on this. Erlang Shen has lost his mind. He must be stopped now."
Lady Meng remained silent, observing the two men. Erlang Shen turned toward her, a rare urgency in his voice, "Lady Meng, don't fall for this madness. Li Wei is spiralling, and if we don't stop him—"
"He's deflecting!" Li Wei interjected, eyes blazing. "It has always been him. Think about the clues, Meng!"
The stewardess drew in a slow, measured breath, gaze shifting between the two commanders. Her expression was a picture of quiet turmoil, the kind that could pull sympathy from even the coldest observer. After a pause that stretched, she sighed, meeting Li Wei's pleading stare.
"Captain Li, your conviction does move me," she murmured, each word filling the chamber with regret. "Though it pains me greatly, I trust your judgment."
Erlang Shen's jaw dropped in sheer disbelief. "Lady Meng—"
But Meng had already turned, face now decisively cast downward, sealing the moment as the echo of her words faded into the hall.
With the votes submitted, Li Wei, Lady Meng, and Erlang Shen sat frozen in the anticipation of the final verdict.
At the sidelines, greyed-out commanders sat watching with expressions ranging from intrigue to open frustration. Great Peng, bored out of his mind, tucked his chin into his palm.
"At least someone's having fun," he muttered sourly, though his voice had muted in the air.
The Cloud-Jade Ledger glowed softly at the center of the table, casting a pale-green illumination across their faces. With almost ceremonial deliberation, the results began to manifest above them:
[VOTING RESULTS]
Erlang Shen (Seat 002): 2 Votes
Li Wei (Seat 003): 1 Vote
Erlang Shen's expression darkened immediately. He turned, voice a furious low as he locked eyes with Li Wei. "You blind fool—"
Before he could finish, his figure flickered, greying out to a silent [NULL]. His anger froze mid-expression, leaving behind a hauntingly accusatory echo in the air.
Li Wei released a shuddering breath, practically collapsing into his chair. "It's done," he whispered to himself, adrenaline fading quickly into bone-deep exhaustion. "Finally done."
Yet the peace lasted barely seconds before the Cloud-Jade Ledger surged with a brilliant glow. A new message flared across the display:
"Game Two has now concluded. The Killers have triumphed!"
A collective intake of breath surged throughout the arena. A heartbeat later, RealmNet exploded into frenzied disbelief, messages flooding in like a downpour:
[@IJustMadeThisAccount]: Huh?
[@MangoStickyRice]: Huh?
[@LedgerHomeworkSquad]: Huh?
…What?
If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Li Wei froze as comprehension slowly clawed its way into his consciousness, horror spreading across his face. He turned towards Lady Meng, the gentle stewardess, who was still seated beside him.
Meng Po met his gaze plainly. A soft, kind smile played at her lips as she inclined her head. "My sincerest apologies, Commander Li," she said. "Misunderstood mercy often seems harshest."
Li Wei's jaw went slack. Lady Meng's smile remained unchanging—merciful, composed, terrifyingly sincere.
Around the table, previously eliminated commanders regained their colour and motion, sound erupting instantly like a flood.
Great Peng leaped up, gesticulating as his voice rang out in petulant indignation, "Bai Hu, you sly little—YOU SILENCED ME BEFORE I COULD EVEN SPEAK!"
Ao Bing's expression was grim as he nodded beside the golden bird. Across from them, the White Tiger sat comfortably, arms crossed with a barely concealed smug look on his face.
"Blame your overly dramatic monologues, Peng." He shrugged, utterly unapologetic. "Had to cut you off before you wasted everyone's precious time."
"Wasted?!" Peng gaped at him, sputtering. "I was about to expose—"
Taeril raised one hand, silencing his protests. "Precisely."
"When exactly did you even 'kill' me?" Peng stared at him in horror. "I distinctly recall never interacting directly with you. So how?!"
For a beat, the entire hall fell silent, all eyes pivoting towards the White Tiger as he regarded Peng with an expression typically reserved for especially dumb mortals.
"Right before the basement, Peng. On the stairway," he said with a sigh, enunciating each word with great patience. "When you were so busy lamenting about not having your holopad, you didn't notice me marking you."
"…"
For once, Peng fell silent.
Except that silence was promptly broken as Yverie's voice crackled over the loudspeakers. "Hold onto your seats, everyone! Let's rewind the footage for our dear Commander Peng, who apparently missed his own elimination!" She turned her head. "Brother Woo?"
Brother Woo nodded, utterly composed even amidst chaos. "Let's revisit the first masterstroke of deception."
The large screens flickered, rewinding swiftly to the exact moment in the Xuan Residence's hallway. Qiongqi's distant voice called from the basement, and the commanders on screen began shuffling into a line towards the narrow staircase.
There, captured cleanly by the enhanced replay, Taeril had given Peng a casual pat on the back, gesturing to join the descending group. A bright highlight pulsed around the talisman, confirming its placement onto the commander's back before dissolving like ink in water.
"Notice Commander White's perfect timing," Brother Woo continued, "he'd placed the talisman exactly twenty minutes prior, timing Commander Peng's elimination impeccably."
On-screen, a highlighted timer appeared next to Great Peng's image, a silent countdown. As the timer hit zero, Peng's status shifted abruptly to [NULL].
"Commander White's timing ensured Commander Peng couldn't speak out about their interaction," Brother Woo said. " This effortlessly shifted the suspicion upon Commander Qiongqi, whose outspoken temperament painted an easy target."
As the scene replayed, RealmNet exploded again in fresh outrage:
[@QiongqisRedCloak]: JUSTICE FOR QIONGQI! JUSTICE FOR QIONGQI!
[@ConfusedDeity]: This is really his fate now huh.
Peng sank into his chair. "I demand justice for my silenced brilliance."
"Brilliance?" Qiongqi scowled beside him. "That's an ambitious term."
The commentators guided the viewers to the next critical flashback, their tone growing hushed, more anticipatory.
"Yet Peng's elimination was only the first carefully placed domino," Brother Woo said.
The screen shifted again, this time to the Imperial Garden. Lady Meng stood beside Lady Foxfire, their conversation deceptively harmonic beneath the rustling of leaves. As Taeril—cloaked and anonymous—darted past Li Wei, the audience's attention naturally followed the dramatic pursuit. At that very moment, unnoticed by anyone but the camera's vigilant eye, Meng Po brushed her hand across Foxfire's sleeve, planting the invisible talisman.
"During the Second Deliberation Round, Commander White had spoken with such certainty that, holding a mortal body, he was incapable of moving across the residence. But he was!" Yverie gasped, leaning forward in her seat. "And Lady Meng's deception is chilling! Foxfire trusted her implicitly!"
Brother Woo nodded. "Had anyone considered timing more closely, they would've realized the talisman activated after Li Wei saw the cloaked figure, proving a second assailant. However, under pressure, small details are easily overlooked."
Taeril's lips curved upward, his expression one of polite interest. "Teamwork at its finest," he mused, glancing toward Lady Meng. She responded with an elegant tilt of her head, accepting the praise.
As the shock of the revelation lingered, the screen shifted once more, catching everyone's attention with another replay. Taeril's strike against Ao Bing unfolded clearly before their eyes. The audience watched as, amidst his confrontation with Li Wei, the White Tiger angled himself in a manner that ensured the captain's full attention, drawing suspicion like iron to a magnet.
In the archives library, meanwhile, Ao Bing and Wen had joined Meng Po and Erlang Shen, wholly engrossed by the heated debate echoing down the halls. As Wen leaned forward to showcase to Erlang Shen something on his notebook, Lady Meng glided soundlessly behind him, a hand brushing his robes like a whisper of wind. The talisman dissolved instantly upon contact, hidden even from the sharpest senses.
"Right there!" Yverie gasped, practically bouncing with excitement. "Commander Meng's calm execution amidst chaos is terrifyingly flawless!"
Bzzt. Another scene switch.
The footage then rolled to the final round table deliberation. On the screen above them, Wen's image flickered into muted grey, the notebook slipping from his grasp. Erlang Shen spun sharply, eyes wild; Meng Po clasped her hands to her chest, expression the perfect picture of shock. Amid the chaos, Taeril merely stood there, his gaze drifting to Li Wei as though pondering a particularly fascinating puzzle.
In the present, Li Wei watched himself on-screen—the moment his head snapped toward Taeril, accusation written plainly on his face. His jaw tightened at the replay of his own mistrustful glare.
"Quite fascinating, isn't it, Captain?" Taeril's voice slid into the silence, a mild curiosity colouring his tone as he observed the replay. "You were always so wary of misdirection, of course. It's why you were such an easy read."
Li Wei's eyes narrowed as he glanced over. "Easy read, you say?"
Taeril shrugged, fingertips tapping against his chin. "When I suggested Lady Meng as suspicious—just lightly, mind you," A slight smile curled at the corner of his lips. "You immediately suspected I was guiding you away from someone else. Am I right?"
"You—"
"But of course," he continued, smoothly overriding the protest, "you're clever enough to question that suspicion as well. Because if I anticipated your first instinct, perhaps I had also anticipated your second—"
Li Wei went quiet, a muscle in his jaw jumping in agitation.
"—thus leading you into a spiral of doubt." Taeril's tone was matter-of-fact. "After all, no one doubts himself quite so thoroughly as someone determined to distrust everything I say."
There was a pause. Tension coursed through Li Wei's shoulders as the truth unspooled between them. "So you intended—"
"I intended nothing but to present you with possibilities," Taeril said. "If you chose Erlang Shen simply by virtue of elimination, that was entirely your own deduction, was it not?"
"You planted Meng Po's name so I would dismiss her. You knew I'd think twice—"
"And then second-guess your own logic," Taeril murmured, mildly approving. "Perhaps so. Perhaps not so."
Silence filled the space between them, punctuated only by Li Wei's quiet breaths of irritation. Taeril raised an eyebrow, expression calm and utterly unapologetic.
"You see, Captain," he said, "your caution was your greatest strength—and your greatest vulnerability."
"You thought you knew me quite well, and perhaps you do. Yet you seem to forget—" he added, peering at Li Wei with those deep, obsidian eyes, "—as you observe in silence of others, others are doing precisely the same."
Li Wei shot him a glare. "You planned this from the start."
Taeril merely leaned back, shaking his head with a low chuckle.
"Planning implies effort," he mused. "You simply played the game exactly as I knew you would."
Back at the commentators' platform, Yverie's eyes were wide with delight. "Would you look at that! Bai Hu knew Li Wei's wariness would immediately discard Meng Po from suspicion, turning instead toward the remaining Erlang Shen—precisely as he intended!"
Team 001 watched the unfolding revelation, wide-eyed and dumbfounded. The audience had long exploded with excitement, filling the RealmNet live feed with 4D memes and updated rankings of the Top Nine Commanders in psychological warfare. Eathan wiped sweaty palms against his pants. All of a sudden, it felt as though they had become the villains.
"Respectfully—" he swallowed as he turned to the rest of the team, clearly questioning life decisions. "I think our commander might actually be insane."
Chewie nodded, finally shutting her holopad close.
"Respectfully unhinged."