Li Gang didn't know whether Lei was inside his body or not at first. He asked Zudas to find someone to send a message to a certain port in the Wei Dynasty.
These messages were sent via the ships which travel on regular basis.
He had already discussed how they would communicate with Wu Meng. There was a certain location where he would send a message, and Wu Meng would check for letters there every day.
Li Gang's instructions were clear: he must not allow anyone to know about the 1st object, while at the same time, he should send his subordinate to fetch the 2nd object and send both of them to the Dongfang port on consecutive days.
1st Object = Lei Zhenyu.
2nd Object = Huang Haoran.
This was a code that Wu Meng already knew. The reason Li Gang hid the message in codes was to avoid letting Zudas realize that he was trapped. If Zudas knew he was doing such a sensitive job that Li Gang should be doing on his own, he would realize that Li Gang was in a desperate position. Even if he didn't connect the dots immediately, over time, anyone would realize the problem.
Li Gang's goals were never apparent to Zudas, and he always felt like he was just doing miscellaneous tasks.
But Li Gang didn't know whether Lei or Huang was in his body at this point, so why did he send this message?
Because Li Gang was never threatened by Lei. He could easily convince Lei if he was inside him and force him out by threatening his son. But how?
It was easy. He just had to make sure that the one inside him was Lei, and then he would simply ease his control over some of his memories and let him read them. This would allow Lei to feel his true emotions and realize the fact that he wouldn't kill his son, provided Lei sacrificed himself.
Li Gang had to be honest here and leave his son alive, or else Lei wouldn't get out. With Lei Zhenyu's life in danger, and him having no way to know how to protect his son, Lei would have to beg Li Gang. Note, Li Gang could only let him read a small part of his memory, and must not reveal Lei Zhenyu's location!
During the parasitizing phase, one can read the memories of the host, but the core memories, which the host considers extremely important, are hidden, and the parasite isn't able to access them.
Going back to the past. 1st March, Wei Dynasty.
Wei Han received a letter from the Wu Dynasty. It contained an instruction that he should station his Warriors at the border of the Shu Dynasty.
They were planning to conquer the Shu Dynasty, and if the Wei Dynasty wanted benefits, they should partake and do as he instructed.
Guo Chen was confident that Wei Han would comply with his wishes and that everything would go as he foresaw. Unfortunately, there are things that never go the way you wish!
Wei Han was shrewd, and he immediately felt that he lacked crucial information. He questioned inwardly, 'What gives Guo Chen the confidence to conquer the Shu Dynasty? If they push too far, then the formation of the Shu Dynasty will be triggered.'
Both the Wu Dynasty and the Wei Dynasty were unaware of the fact that the Shu Dynasty's formation had been damaged, and only Lei knew about this.
Wei Han immediately sent a letter to the Shu Dynasty's ruler, Shu Wang. In his letter, he asked questions regarding his doubts.
7th March. Shu Dynasty, Royal Palace.
It was a much smaller, practical side room near the back of the palace. It was a quiet, secure space with plain stone walls, a few tall bookshelves, and a large oak table taking up most of the floor. The table was completely covered with unrolled maps, weights, and small wooden blocks used to represent different armies.
The king, Shu Wang, sat at the edge of the table, listening closely as his strategist, Sun Wu, stood across from him, pointing out a specific route on the map. The area was isolated from the rest of the palace, keeping the room completely silent except for the low sound of them talking.
That quiet was interrupted when a heavy knock sounded at the door, followed by a voice. "Your Majesty, there is a messenger outside."
Shu Wang looked at the door and said calmly, "Let him in!"
The guard opened the door and stepped aside to let the messenger enter.
"There is news from the Wei Dynasty," he said, kneeling down in front of Shu Wang while handing him the letter.
Shu Wang took it and then nodded at him.
The messenger stood up and immediately bowed once again before leaving.
Shu Wang read the letter and handed it to the young man near him. This young man was Lao Zhang's successor, named Sun Wu.
Sun Wu read the letter and immediately understood what was going on.
He looked at Shu Wang and smiled faintly. "Your Majesty, the chance we have been waiting for is here!"
The existence of Sun Wu had been completely concealed by Lao Zhang, and even Lei and Huang were unaware of it.
Lao Zhang had expected the betrayal of the two Advance Warriors, and therefore he had hidden him as a backup plan in case the situation for the Shu Dynasty worsened. He believed that Sun Wu possessed far greater potential than he ever had.
Sun Wu looked at Shu Wang and said faintly, "Your Majesty, it's a common idea that when you possess the ability to fight back, you must let your enemy think you are at your wit's end, and when you are at your wit's end, you must let them think you have the ability to fight back!"
He pointed at the map. "As I explained before. This kind of sudden attack, which targets all borders of the Golden Crow Dynasty while at the same time attacking and conquering our Northern region from the jaws of the Golden Crow Warriors, isn't something the Wu Dynasty should be capable of!"
"They suddenly got their hands on some exceptional Warriors, and it is likely the gift of those Advance Warriors who betrayed us. There was a pact between Master, Master Huang, and Master Lei. Master told me that no Spiritual Beasts should be sold to Master Lei! We can infer that they aren't on good terms. I believe that they are trapped in the Northern Continent, and this layout was used by Master Lei."
"Master Huang knew that he would be trapped, and hence he asked for that pact. Master Lei pinpointed that Master Huang is in the Golden Crow Dynasty, and thus he used the Wu Dynasty to completely block off all the routes out of the Golden Crow."
"Guo Chen also used this opportunity. He should have blocked the news to the Wei Dynasty. He must have asked them to station their Warriors at the Southern Border of the Shu Dynasty! This would allow him to completely surround us, and when the Golden Crow's attack arrives, he can take advantage as a bystander."
"Guo Chen must have considered the possibility of Wei Han collaborating with us. However, he believes that we have nothing to offer which can be of any advantage to Wei Han compared to the Wu Dynasty, and as a result, he is being bold."
Shu Wang smirked. "They don't know that we have already prepared our own counterattacks. We aren't going down without a fight!"
Shu Wang continued, "They don't know that there exists a fake Royal Palace built right behind the main Royal Palace. This was a decoy that your master thought of long ago. Everyone believes that attacking the Shu Dynasty from behind would be helpful, but the moment we get information on a marine attack, we can unleash various traps hidden along the coast behind the palace. Even if they dodge them, the moment they enter, they will be completely surrounded by countless offensive traps!"
Sun Wu said, "Now, we just need to make Wei Han aware of the danger the Wu Dynasty poses. Guo Chen thought that there is no one left in the Shu Dynasty, but he underestimates us too much! All we need to do is give Wei Han a reality check and an incentive."
Shu Wang nodded in understanding. He unrolled a blank page and prepared the ink and brush.
He started writing the response to Wei Han.
In it, he informed Wei Han about the Wu Dynasty possessing a large number of Warriors stationed to the north of the Shu Dynasty.
He also informed him that they were collaborating with Master Lei, who had faked his death against Ren Ying in their battle. Master Lei had provided them with information about the exact time the Golden Crow Dynasty would send their Marine Warriors to attack them, and using that opportunity, they would target the Golden Crow's weakened coastal area from the north side.
They were planning to create complete chaos in the Golden Crow Dynasty, incite internal strife, and then conquer it completely. By that time, the Shu Dynasty would have fallen to the Golden Crow's marine attacks and thus been consumed by the Wu Dynasty as well. Wu Xian wished to unify the Northern Continent. With three dynasties under their control and half of the Warriors of the Wei Dynasty currently inside the Wu Dynasty, it would be easy for them to conquer Wei too.
After explaining the threat that the Wu Dynasty posed, Shu Wang started offering Wei Han an incentive. He said they were willing to be a subsidiary to the Wei Dynasty until they bought their freedom, as long as Wei helped them out and joined hands to stop Wu's advances.
Shu Wang emphasized that they needed extremely strong Warriors in order to tackle their adversity.
Guo Chen never thought that Shu Wang would be willing to make his kingdom a subsidiary to the Wei Dynasty, nor did he ever think that the Shu Dynasty had someone able to figure out the entire scheme after Lao Zhang's death!
10th March.
Shu Wang received a letter and a token bearing the symbol of "Yin," appearing quite extraordinary. His eyes turned deep as he shared it with Sun Wu.
"Things have changed; we don't need to use those traps anymore!"
12th March. Wei Dynasty.
Wei Han received the response from Shu Wang, and he was surprised at the offer being presented.
At the same time, he frowned slightly after realizing the ambitions of the Wu Dynasty. He was willing to help the Wu Dynasty enhance their battle prowess, but he wasn't willing to see the Wu Dynasty unify the Northern Continent, as it would mean that they would eventually be devoured by the Wu Dynasty too.
No one who has tasted power once is willing to give it up.
Wei Han was no exception to this.
He thought inwardly because he had another problem at hand. A large number of Warriors had been transferred to the Wu Dynasty in order to contribute to the battle, since Wu and Wei had collaborated on this.
However, if he wanted to go against the Wu Dynasty, he first needed to bring those Warriors back, because they were some of Wei's finest soldiers.
Wei Han immediately thought of a solution.
Cooperation with Mo Tiancheng, the Demonic Faction leader!