[Capital City · City Wall · Evening]
The sun was setting.
Two figures stood side by side atop the city wall, overlooking the entire capital.
Yin Wuwang and Xie Qingyan stood at the edge of the wall, gazing down at the city below.
Cooking smoke curled lazily from chimneys. Citizens came and went along the streets. Everything had returned to peace. Prince Huai's rebellion had been quelled, the Prime Minister's faction had been captured, and this world's "plot" had finally gotten back on track.
It was strange, standing here now. Just this morning, they had been in the middle of a bloody coup. Now the city below looked as if nothing had happened at all.
"The mission is almost complete." Yin Wuwang said.
"Mm." Xie Qingyan responded.
Wind blew in from beyond the city walls, stirring their robes.
Yin Wuwang turned to glance at Xie Qingyan. The sunset's afterglow fell on that face, painting those cold features with warmth. The exhaustion of these past days seemed to have faded; his expression was calm, his brows relaxed.
This past month, Fuguang worked harder than I did. He thought. Planning, scheming, feigning death, returning to life—he shouldered every step. All I could do was support him, protect him.
"This garbage script was really terribly written." He said.
Xie Qingyan: "Mm."
"The villains' intelligence fluctuated wildly, full of logical holes. That old fox the Prime Minister was fooled like an idiot. Ten years of scheming, and I broke it in thirty days."
Xie Qingyan: "Because in the original story, he was just a plot device. So was Prince Huai. Pretending to be ill for ten years, then losing his composure the moment he gained power. A true schemer would never be so hasty."
"That's why this world collapsed." Yin Wuwang nodded. "The villains were too stupid. The plot couldn't hold."
"It's not just the villains." Xie Qingyan looked toward the distant capital. "In the original story, the Regent and the Duke of Zhenguo were supposed to truly hate each other. They would have destroyed each other in the end."
"And then the Prime Minister would profit from their conflict, Prince Huai would take the throne, and chaos would engulf the realm." Yin Wuwang continued. "What kind of garbage ending is that?"
"So we changed it."
Yin Wuwang was silent for a moment, then suddenly spoke: "Speaking of which, if that Prime Minister had been written differently, it could have been much more compelling."
Xie Qingyan glanced at him: "How so?"
"He managed the court for decades. He couldn't have been an idiot." Yin Wuwang stood with his hands behind his back. "The problem is—this character has no past. Why did he crave power? Why did he collude with Prince Huai? His motivations are too thin."
Xie Qingyan nodded slightly: "If he had a backstory—say, he was once a poor scholar in his youth, oppressed by the nobility, and after clawing his way up, he became the very thing he once hated."
"That would make sense." Yin Wuwang nodded. "Not simply evil, but corrupted by power. Readers would find him hateful, but also understandable."
"Same with Prince Huai." Xie Qingyan continued. "Pretending to be ill for ten years is a good setup, but there's no explanation for why he did it. If he had once been a candidate for Crown Prince, deposed by the late Emperor, obsessed with the throne—"
"Then his ambition wouldn't be unfounded." Yin Wuwang picked up the thread. "And sending the physician to examine the body was actually clever. Too bad it wasn't followed up on."
"He should have been more suspicious." Xie Qingyan said. "The physician said 'abnormal coloration and temperature.' Any normal person would investigate thoroughly. If Prince Huai had actually sent people to secretly monitor me, nearly discovering I was still alive—"
"But then the Prime Minister's moves interrupted him, the two grew suspicious of each other, and they were too busy to investigate you." The corner of Yin Wuwang's mouth curved. "That way our victory would have been more thrilling, and the story would have been better."
Xie Qingyan looked toward the distant sunset: "A good villain isn't about being more evil. It's about making readers believe—he has a reason to do what he does. Reasonable motivation, stable intelligence—that's what holds up a story."
"Too bad this garbage script's author didn't understand." Yin Wuwang scoffed. "Wrote two plot devices and called it a day. No wonder it collapsed."
"That's why we had to fix it." Xie Qingyan withdrew his gaze. "Not just fixing the plot, but patching the parts that weren't written well."
Yin Wuwang looked at him and suddenly smiled: "Fuguang, if you wrote novels, you'd definitely be better than that garbage author."
Xie Qingyan didn't respond.
"Good revision." Yin Wuwang showed a smile. "Instead of having them destroy each other, we had them join forces. That's more like it."
Xie Qingyan glanced at him: "Your acting was good."
Yin Wuwang started, then turned his head: "...Are you praising me?"
"Stating a fact." Xie Qingyan's tone was mild. "The Duke of Zhenguo you portrayed never showed a single flaw from start to finish. Even the Prime Minister and Prince Huai were fooled."
The corner of Yin Wuwang's mouth lifted slightly: "Naturally. I am the Demon Sovereign, after all. Fooling a few mortals is nothing."
Xie Qingyan glanced at him but said nothing.
The two fell silent for a moment.
The wind continued to blow. The sun continued to sink.
"Working with you... was surprisingly seamless." Yin Wuwang suddenly spoke.
Xie Qingyan turned his head.
Yin Wuwang continued: "At the black market, you didn't need to speak—I knew which way you wanted to go. When you feigned death, you didn't need to explain—I knew your plan. During the coup today, you didn't need to signal—I knew when to move."
He looked at Xie Qingyan: "It's like... we've been working together for years."
Xie Qingyan didn't speak.
He simply watched Yin Wuwang quietly.
What he says is true. Xie Qingyan thought. This month's cooperation really was unbelievably seamless.
Former mortal enemies should, by all logic, be constantly on guard, every step calculated.
But they hadn't been.
From the very first day, he had chosen to trust Yin Wuwang.
Why?
Because at that time, his worldview had just collapsed, and Yin Wuwang was the only one who told him "believe what you believe to be true."
But what about now?
Now his worldview had been rebuilt. He no longer needed an "anchor."
Yet he still cared about every word Yin Wuwang said, every action he took.
Why was that?
After a long moment, Xie Qingyan spoke: "You're different from what I thought."
Yin Wuwang started.
Then he smiled: "Naturally. I am, after all—"
"The Demon Sovereign, I know." Xie Qingyan cut him off, a hint of helplessness in his tone. "You've said it thirty times already."
Yin Wuwang sheepishly closed his mouth.
[End of Chapter 73]
Next Chapter Preview:
The sun sinks below the horizon. Little Deer announces the mission is complete. And Yin Wuwang realizes—these thirty days were the happiest of his life.