Qian Yu straight away asked Long Chen what he did to Pei Zen.
'Why is she so sure? And about the Spirit Sword?' Long Chen wondered. He didn't reply to her and kept looking at Du Liang as if he was more interested in the upcoming battle.
"I know you heard me. Don't pretend. Tell me the truth!" Qian Yu asked again.
Long Chen couldn't ignore it anymore. He looked back at Qian Yu.
A thoughtful look remained on his face.
"Did you lose your mind or something? What do you mean?" He asked innocently.
" You're not Pei Zen, and that's obvious. As for who you are, I wasn't sure of that. I only see one suspicious person here. The man who attacked me. However, he isn't a part of any team here. Why would a strong youngster not be a part of teams while Pei Zen is missing? I had a feeling that it was you," Qian Yu answered.
" As I thought, you've gone crazy. You're mumbling nonsense. I'm not Pei Zen?" Long Chen let out as he started laughing. He wasn't going to confess.
"If you are Pei Zen, tell me his fiance's name," Qian Yu asked casually. "I'll believe I was wrong if you can answer me."
Long Chen felt like facepalming himself. Just how did he make her suspicious? Why did she believe he was not Pei Zen?
'How the hell would I even know about Pei Zen's girlfriend. I'm not even sure if he did have a girlfriend!' Long Chen was getting worried, but his face was as calm as always.
"I'm not playing with you. You're definitely messing with me. I don't have time to play around," he straight away refused to answer, calling this whole thing childish.
In his mind, he was cursing Du Liang. Why wasn't the battle getting started? If it happened, he could pretend to be more focused on them.
Unfortunately, it wasn't on Du Liang to start the battle. He wasn't going to attack first. As for the orders, they were still forming plans.
"I guess I should thank you for confirming my suspicions by not answering," Qian Yu let out casually. "So where is Pei Zen? Did you already kill him?'
Long Chen took a deep breath as he sighed. Fine. If the girl knew, then she knew. There was nothing he could do about it. Since she knew, all she had to do was tell Du Liang. They could easily find out that he was a fake by asking questions like this. The only way he could still escape was if he got Qian Yu to her side.
In any way, there was no other option.
"Yeah. He's dead. He should already be in hell by now," he answered the girl. Since he was going to confess, he told the truth.
"What are your intentions? Why did you do it?" Qian Yu asked further.
"And who are you?" She inquired. There were only a few questions in her head, and this was about his purpose and his identity.
"I killed him because he killed someone I was related to. He was a traitor and a bastard who deserved to die," Long Chen answered as he stood up while stretching his arms lazily.
" As for why I took his place, it's because I want to help Fengshu take the top rank in this trial. My wife is from Fengshu as well. I want to go there, but I can't leave this world without the permission of the emperor," he continued. He used a little bit of truth with a little bit of lies to make sure that he did not reveal the truth.
He could have told her about the Esteria and Qiandi War that was planned by Pei Zen and Tricion Empire, but he didn't. It was not good to expose without knowing too much.
If he told her that he was on the side of Esteria and the war was already over or Qiandi had done something unforgivable, the girl would try to kill him before he found out. He didn't want to take the risk.
" I kinda offended the Emperor here. So he won't let me go. The only way to go there is by taking the place of Pei Zen and getting the second stage of Trial to happen in Fengshu."
"Now, you can blow my cover and screw me over. But you haven't done that so far. It's time you answer a few of my questions as well. Why don't you expose me now?" he asked Qian Yu.
It was at that exact moment when the battle between Du Liang and the others began as well.
"Hah, honestly. You're the first person even to offend me and escape. I'm very interested in you. I want to know more about you and have a real battle to finish what we started. I don't want to expose you and lose my opportunity," Qian Yu answered lazily.
"Interesting. So you won't expose me?" he asked the girl.
"I won't as long as you help us get a good rank. I'm not close to Pei Zen in any way. You're stronger than him, so having you is better in any case. As long as you don't betray us and promise not to run away before finishing our battle, I won't expose you. In fact, I'll even help you," Qian Yu affirmed.
A sigh of relief left Long Chen's lips as he felt the seriousness in Qian Yu's words. If all she wanted was a fight not to expose him, what could be better?
"Alright. I promise that I will fight you properly after I reach Fengshu with you."
****
While Long Chen and Qian Yu came to a conclusion, the battle of Du Liang began. Fifteen teams surrounded Du Liang as they got ready to attack from all directions.
"Du Liang, you might be strong, but you're too arrogant for your own good! It's time for you to suffer for your arrogance!" The Beastkin with tiger claws told Du Liang as she jumped towards him.
The long-necked man from the Beastkin Empire also attacked simultaneously. The Beastkins were known for their strength, and they were given the responsibility for physical attacks.
"Awesome!" A grin formed on Du Liang's face as he watched the battle finally begin. He raised his right foot to take the first step towards the Beastkin Empire.
"Not so soon!"
A Dark Haired man from the Eternal Darkness Empire acted right at that moment as he punched the ground.
Cracks started appearing in the ground from which various dark ropes started coming out.