Gu Xing immediately took Li Gang away for his treatment.
Wang Xiaoyan looked at him and said lightly, "Let me help."
Ye Fan glanced at her deeply.
Meng Xian also looked at her. They instantly realized her goal—she wanted to confirm some things.
Gu Xing looked at Wang Xiaoyan and said coldly, "No need."
Wang Xiaoyan said slowly, "My Water attribute is helpful for healing."
Water attributes have the second strongest healing ability, second only to the Wood attribute.
Gu Xing said lightly, "I also possess the Water attribute. I can help him on my own."
Wang Xiaoyan looked at her and said calmly, "I have studied Healing Skills. It is also because of me that he got injured. Let me mend our relationship with this trivial help."
Gu Xing thought for a while and then nodded. Anyway, they would be together for a while. It was good to maintain a harmonious relationship.
They set off together.
Li Gang was heavily injured.
Wang Xiaoyan looked at his injury for a while and said slowly, "Can you leave us for a while?"
Gu Xing narrowed her eyes. "What do you intend to do?"
Wang Xiaoyan said calmly, "Don't worry, I won't harm him."
Meng Xian smiled at her and said slowly, "So long as she has her Spiritual Imprint activated, she will never behave recklessly."
Gu Xing looked at Meng Xian and asked, "How can you be so sure?"
Meng Xian said lightly, "She is a free-spirited person. Without her Spiritual Imprint, she possesses immense creativity but is quite childish. When her Spiritual Imprint is activated, she becomes calm, composed, and shrewd."
Wang Xiaoyan removed Li Gang's clothes and started healing the wounds on his chest.
She said lightly, "Brother-in-law, is my sister still alive?"
Li Gang wasn't completely unconscious. With her healing skills, Wang Xiaoyan had already realized he was acting.
Li Gang didn't hide it either. He glanced at her and said, "Perhaps."
In fact, the moment Wang Xiaoyan saw him, she had already suspected his disguise—especially after Ji Changchen's attack on Li Gang.
When Ji Changchen attacked Li Gang, it wasn't out of immense hatred. Then what could have caused him to be so reckless?
Both Li Gang and Wang Xiaoyan came up with the same answer.
The danger Li Gang posed! He was currently too weak—so how could he pose a threat? However, it would all make sense if Zhang Hao was Li Gang—if he possessed Quasi Rank 9 Battle Strength.
Somehow, Ji Changchen realized Li Gang's threat. In this aspect, they both thought of different ideas, but in the end, they led to the same path.
What Wang Xiaoyan thought of was the treasure that allowed him to gain Quasi Rank 9 Battle Strength.
As for Li Gang?
He said inwardly, He should have sensed my Weapon Realm! But I didn't use it at all! Many people know about my Quasi Rank 9 Battle Strength. Last time, he was able to see through my identity with some treasure. He could even sense Battle Strength and Realms. Is it similar to some kind of software that has been updated and can now measure other parameters?
In fact, his deduction was not accurate, but it did lead to a meaningful conclusion. Ji Changchen could already view Weapon Realms before. But he never tried doing that. Only after the List of Geniuses, and seeing Li Gang's Quasi Rank 7 Battle Strength, did he think of checking his Weapon Realm separately. Earlier, no opponents were worth focusing on. However, he subconsciously viewed Li Gang as his equal.
The reason Li Gang couldn't guess the System's existence was because he had never heard of anything like a System Interface. Even in his previous life, he wasn't into games or novels.
However, just having the thought of 'software' and 'update' caused a sudden force to enter his mind, breaking away all his thoughts and modifying them.
Li Gang's thoughts immediately changed to, 'He should have been greedy for the treasure that provides me Quasi Rank 9 Battle Strength!'
Li Gang himself didn't realize it—and he believed these thoughts came from his own reasoning.
It was one of the System's abilities after its final update:
Passively alters the memories of those who are suspicious of the System's existence.
Li Gang didn't try to hide his identity because he foresaw that soon his true identity would be revealed. There were some people who knew about his identity as Zhang Hao. They included Li Yuxong and Huang Ling.
In the past, he had sent a letter to his mother, saying he would make his name famous. He had specifically mentioned the name Zhang Hao.
There was no point in hiding. He knew the seed of doubt Ji Changchen had planted would only worsen the situation if he deliberately tried to hide. For someone like Wang Xiaoyan, honesty was the best way to convince her.
Wang Xiaoyan asked slowly, "Why did you kill my family?"
Li Gang narrowed his eyes. "Did you see me killing them?"
Wang Xiaoyan said coldly, "Don't try to quibble. I have seen the traces. All the massacres were done by the same person."
Li Gang sighed. "You should be aware—I don't have enough strength to even fight you, let alone fight and kill a Monarch!"
Wang Xiaoyan didn't speak.
He continued, "There is a Spiritual Object hidden within me. It was used by your sister's enemy. They used it to control me and harm your sister. However, your sister was too strong. She cut off the connection between the Spiritual Object and her enemy, which caused me to go berserk."
Li Gang lied without changing his expression.
"Your sister was blocked by that strong enemy; otherwise, she could have protected us all."
Wang Xiaoyan felt sad. "I wish I had listened to her."
Li Gang immediately grasped the key point.
He fabricated another tale to make it more convincing.
The moment she muttered, "I wish I had listened to her," Li Gang knew Wang Xueyao must have warned her in advance.
But Wang Xiaoyan had failed.
That single regret was the key.
Li Gang sighed and looked away, his expression filled with just the right amount of sorrow—not too much to seem fake, but enough to be believable.
"Your sister... she was too far ahead of all of us."
"She understood things that we couldn't. But no one—not me, not you—could have truly changed the outcome."
Wang Xiaoyan flinched.
That wasn't what she expected to hear.
"What do you mean?" she asked, her fists clenched.
Li Gang exhaled slowly, like someone who had resigned themselves to fate.
"It wasn't just me who was manipulated." He looked directly into her eyes, voice steady. "It was you too. Everyone related to the massacre was manipulated!"
Li Gang had thrown her off balance—not by denying the accusation, but by redirecting her focus.
He didn't need her to trust him. He just needed her to question herself.
"If you had truly believed your sister's warning..." he continued, voice low, "would your family still be alive?"
Wang Xiaoyan froze.
"Could the outcome really be changed?"
Wang Xiaoyan couldn't speak.
Li Gang said lightly, "No matter how hard you would have tried, you would have still failed."
This was the key point to grasp control over her psychologically. He didn't believe she wouldn't have tried to protect her family if she had been warned beforehand. However, he was more inclined to believe that her parents had refused to migrate! Furthermore, her guilt was because she hadn't fully trusted Wang Xueyao's words. Even without trust, she should have tried—but she failed and didn't push further!
As a Rank 6 Warrior, Li Gang's understanding of a mortal's mindset was far superior as compared to a Warriors' mindset. He easily grasped those key points.
Wang Xiaoyan was no fool either. She also saw through some key points, like how Li Gang knew she got the warning from her sister from her mouth slip. She also figured that Li Gang was aware her parents wouldn't leave, and thus he might be using it to his advantage. He could have fabricated these lies.
However, one thing she couldn't understand was—why would he admit these so frankly? He could have continued to act as Zhang Hao, and she wouldn't have been able to confirm his identity. Even if she were a bit suspicious, he was very well capable of erasing those suspicions over time.
She thought inwardly, 'Could it be his identity is already prone to exposure?'
Li Gang said slowly, "I hope you don't reveal my identity to anyone. Senior Sister Gu is a very lively person. I don't want her to see me as a mass murderer."
As soon as he said that, Wang Xiaoyan's entire reasoning fell apart. Yes, Li Gang revealed his identity before because it would soon be known. It's not that he didn't want to reveal his identity to Gu Xing—but he didn't want Wang Xiaoyan to think his identity was about to be exposed! This was the first step to let her guard down. Once he crossed this step, even if it was destroyed later, it wouldn't matter. By that time, Wang Xiaoyan would already be convinced.
Li Gang watched her inner conflict unfold.
She wasn't convinced yet—but she was no longer certain either.
Now, all he needed was to deepen the wound.
At the end of the Monarch Inheritance, Li Gang had once asked Wang Xueyao—if she ever left, would she leave a message?
At that time, she had answered: he could visit Xiaoyan for it!
Li Gang didn't believe she wouldn't have left a message for Wang Xiaoyan. Even if she had left one for him, she would have left one for her too.
When he thought about it—maybe she had long seen through the calamity. Otherwise, why would she say she would leave a message with Wang Xiaoyan? She knew Xiaoyan would survive the calamity!
"She knew you wouldn't listen at first... so she left behind a final message, didn't she?"
Her pupils shrank.
'She did.'
'Before she left, elder sister had left behind a message... but I... I refused to accept it...'
Wang Xiaoyan hadn't wanted to accept her parents' death. Thus, she refused to open the letter. She thought it might confirm their death.
She stared at Li Gang.
If he had truly orchestrated the massacre, how could he know such details?
Li Gang had successfully shifted the blame from himself to fate.
He knew that after this conversation, even if Wang Xiaoyan still suspected him, her conviction would never be absolute again.
And that was enough.
As Wang Xiaoyan struggled with her emotions, Li Gang stood up.
His body was still weak—but his mind was victorious.
'The moment someone doubts their own reasoning, they will seek an escape. And I have already given her one.'
Now, instead of being a murderer, he was someone who had also suffered—manipulated by a greater enemy.
And the best part?
Wang Xiaoyan would believe it—because she needed to. She didn't want to accept the fact that her parents died because of her carelessness.