: The Xianzhou really kept this quiet, huh. They never bragged about it, instead always hyping: "Damn, the Borisin are too strong, we must stay on guard!
----------------------------------------
The comments flooded the screen.
The audience in front of the screen couldn't help but feel both amused and bewildered by this twist.
The great enemy of the Xianzhou, long thought to be such a threat, had in fact already been crushed by the Xianzhou long ago.
And what's subtler is that, whether in A Thousand Stars Journey Myriad Celestia Trailer or in the related Xianzhou storyline, there had never been any hints of this before.
Hmm! This is very Xianzhou like!
…..
: So, the current situation is actually that the Borisin are scattered like sand, trying to call Hoolay back in order to regroup their clan.
: Meanwhile, the Preceptors also have some small schemes, but General Jing Yuan has seen through all of this. In fact, the current situation is exactly the outcome he wants?
: Ha, then what are we even fighting for?
: This episode has really become a power-fantasy story. The so-called "crisis" is nothing more than the generals' chessboard.
: Suddenly I realized, Jing Yuan hasn't told Yanqing his own stratagem, that's a brilliant move!
: Right now, Yanqing working with the Nameless to capture the Borisin serves as perfect "proof" to the enemy that the Xianzhou is unaware of their plan, lowering the enemy's vigilance.
: Yeah! Once the plan is almost fully in motion, then they can wipe them out in one go!
: Holy crap! It's entrapment!
: Stop, stop, this is really making the Borisin and Preceptors look pitiful!
: Who understands that feeling, when it's not strength but intellect that crushes the enemy. That's even more satisfying!
...
After finally sorting out the plot of this episode, the audience's anticipation soared even higher.
Especially Jing Yuan's scheming, which won the hearts of a huge number of viewers.
Portraying a powerful faction or character, strength is one side of it. It is important, but at times, not the most suitable.
Through this episode, the audience had come to understand that the Xianzhou and the Borisin were no longer opponents of the same tier.
So when dealing with the Borisin now, it must appear effortless, almost casual.
And treating the enemy as chess pieces, maneuvering them on the board, even better reveals this kind of superiority.
Now, these Borisin, who claim to be saving their War Lord, are chess pieces.
The Preceptors too are merely chess pieces.
On the screen.
As the Borisin finished their accusations, the image shifted to the Shackling Prison.
Stelle and Dan Heng had already arrived there.
At the same time, on the other side, Jiaoqiu and Moze, for some unknown reason, also arrived at Shackling Prison.
"They came too?" Stelle looked over, exchanging a glance with Yanqing from afar.
"Jiaoqiu and Moze, subordinates under General Feixiao."
"Perhaps they're also here to 'visit the prison'?" Dan Heng speculated.
The two didn't think much more of it.
However, the shot deliberately lingered on Jiaoqiu and Moze's interaction.
"I really don't know why you insisted on coming here," Moze asked.
"Hoolay… is the great enemy of our Foxians. Of course I must confront him personally." Jiaoqiu narrowed his eyes and smiled.
The frame froze on Jiaoqiu's face.
The audience could clearly see a subtle nuance on that calm, pressurized face.
Very subtle.
Combined with his natural narrow-eyed look, it gave off a feeling of scheming, deep-mindedness, yet impossible to determine whether good or bad.
They could sense something unnatural, a hidden intent in those eyes.
But exactly what, they could not pinpoint.
...
: Jiaoqiu's expression looks dangerous, they even gave it a close-up.
: Is Mihoyo hinting at something?
: Feels like he's not just a bystander.
: Does he have some idea about Hoolay?
: Hard to say. Since his first appearance, with those narrow eyes, he always felt like a villain, yet what he does doesn't seem like villainous acts.
: Characters with narrow eyes always carry that ambiguous aura, neither truly good nor evil.
: At this time, in this place, showing that expression, does it mean Jiaoqiu is also a traitor?!
: But no, Jiaoqiu can't possibly be a traitor.
...
Just those few seconds of close-up made viewers frown and reevaluate the character.
In short, Jiaoqiu definitely has his own purpose for coming to Shackling Prison.
Whether good or bad, was not yet clear.
Marking Jiaoqiu as suspicious in their minds, the scene shifted back to Stelle's side.
After Stelle and Dan Heng entered the inspection hub, Judge Hanya, who had previously appeared in the ghost-catching squad, showed up again, with even more screen time.
Everything progressed smoothly.
Now, they just had to wait for the two Nameless to obtain the Ten Lords' judgment.
However, midway as Hanya led the two forward, they suddenly noticed something odd.
These crates, seized earlier from the IPC, contained the IPC's research results.
"Strange?"
"In my memory, there was no secondary inspection of the contained objects."
Hanya looked puzzled at those crates.
Some of them had already been opened, dark and unreadable inside.
"You two, wait here," Hanya said, walking over, slowly leaning in to look.
The camera followed Hanya's perspective, gradually approaching.
Until Hanya's pupils shrank violently.
A pale, shattered face appeared in view.
Inside the crate, was the broken body of automaton guard!
"Careful!"
Dan Heng noticed the mech dropping from above, leapt down, narrowly avoiding the crushing blow.
Before the viewers could even finish squealing over Dan Heng's self-sacrificing move, Hanya hurriedly stood and connected to the internal line.
"Emergency! Guards, obey orders, come support immediately!"
She called out several times. But the line was silent.
The feeds of several critical locations in Shackling Prison flickered on.
On every path lay the "corpses" of the guards.
Seeing all this, the viewers widened their eyes in shock.
Though they knew the guards were machines, their souls belonging to the Ten-Lords Commission, so being shattered wasn't exactly "death," still, the sight was deeply disturbing.
They had thought the Borisin were just trying to secretly smuggle Hoolay away. Unexpectedly, they dared to launch a prison break?!
Was this all within Jing Yuan's expectations too?
Or…? The audience dared not think further, eyes locked tightly on the screen.
Under tense music, those long-out-of-control IPC creations rushed straight at them at incredible speed.
Weird body movements. And really a battle style as cunning and cruel as a Borisin.
These mechas are really just like a wolf pack.
Fortunately, Stelle and Dan Heng are not easy to deal with. After slightly adapting to the combat power of the mechas, the three joined forces, and subdued some of these mechanical creations.
Amidst the chaos, the three looked at each other, all realizing something was wrong.
And the audience, looking at the familiar appearance of the mechas, suddenly recalled.
...
: Aren't these the IPC's batch of mechas?
: Yes, I remember it was said they were to be sent into the Shackling Prison.
: Damn, was this all planned?
: Send the mechas into the prison, then coordinate from inside and outside? Break it from within, achieving a jailbreak?
: So from the very beginning, these seemingly accidental mecha riots were deliberately staged, just so the Xianzhou would notice and lock them into the prison?
: Is the IPC an accomplice?
: Impossible, no matter what, the IPC sides with Preservation. More likely: the origin of these mechas is suspicious.
: Scott may really have been transporting the mechas per mission, but those controlling them only needed the mechas to wear the IPC's "skin" to slip past checks.
: A meticulously thought-out plan, and it even succeeded. There's no way this was done by Borisin alone!
: Could they really let this group of Borisin succeed in a jailbreak?
: Jing Yuan wouldn't let Hoolay break out so easily, right?
...
In an instant, the sharp viewers had already spotted the key point.
Clearly, by killing those guards, these mechas had made a great contribution.
Although no one knew how they were being controlled, just looking at the process of the mechas entering the prison, everything seemed unnaturally coincidental.
First, they suddenly went berserk, drawing Luofu's attention. After a quarrel with Scott, they barely managed to seize the batch of mechas.
Finally, due to their danger, they were sent into the prison.
Before the mechas made a move, everything still seemed reasonable.
But after they acted, the audience realized this whole process couldn't withstand scrutiny.
Stelle, Dan Heng, and Hanya all noticed the point.
"The ones who delivered the 'cargo' clearly hoped the strict audit process of the Xianzhou would expose its danger to the Sky-Faring Commission and the Cloud Knights."
"The final guarantee was to get them into the prison."
"This was the only way to plant ambush troops inside the prison."
Dan Heng analyzed gravely.
"But the plan is perfect, the execution still relies on people."
"The inspectors of the Sky-Faring Commission, and the alchemists of the Alchemy Commission who judged the mecha's danger, if any side made a mistake, the mechas would never have been sent in, and the plan would collapse…"
Hanya trailed off, unable to continue.
"No time to worry about that now."
"Right now the wolf-shaped mechas are rampaging in the prison."
"We have to destroy them all quickly!"
Stelle pulled out his bat and said urgently.
"Mm!"
Dan Heng and Hanya nodded.
The two rushed into the darkness of the prison.
Amidst the ever-tenser atmosphere, deeper inside, Xueyi with Jiaoqiu and Moze had already reached the lowest level.
They seemed unaware the Borisin's jailbreak had already begun.
...
: Oh no! Why are these three down there!
: Looks like communications are blocked too, they don't even know what's happening outside.
: Damn, Jiaoqiu and Moze are trapped here, and with Xueyi too, how will they get out later?
: Those Borisin will definitely come down soon, the prison is a one-way passage!
: Not good, I sense something dangerous.
: Will one of the three end up dead? Hopefully not?
: Jiaoqiu looks even more suspicious now!
...
Before the green-glowing gate, Xueyi was telling Jiaoqiu and the others about Hoolay's seven-hundred-year sentence.
"Although the Ten-Lords Commission sentenced Hoolay to suffer the endless punishment."
"Enduring pain day after day, for all eternity."
"But I know very well, what the two envoys of Yaoqing probably want most is to see Hoolay gasp out his last breath in agony."
After speaking, Xueyi looked a bit helpless. This Hoolay just won't die, if he could be killed, it would've been done long ago.
But Jiaoqiu seemed not to notice Xueyi's words. He just stared intently at that gate.
Not as if looking at a criminal, but as if beholding a priceless treasure.
That look made the viewers' hearts turn cold.
So much so that they couldn't help but worry whether Jiaoqiu really had a problem.
This was absolutely not the expression of someone with a blood feud against the Borisin.
But just then, Jiaoqiu, eyes fixed on the door, muttered to himself:
"If the deadliest poison in the world can be made into medicine."
"To save back an innocent life."
"Perhaps it can at least slightly atone for the countless sins he has committed."
?
A sudden reversal.
The audience was full of question marks.
Then, upon understanding Jiaoqiu's words, they were shaken.
...
: Wait? Jiaoqiu actually wants to use Hoolay as medicine?!
: Didn't it say earlier that Feixiao is sick? Hard to cure? So he wants to use Hoolay as medicine to heal Feixiao?!
: Holy crap!
: This squinty-eyed guy really isn't ordinary.
: I just suspected he was a traitor, but turns out I underestimated him. His scheme is way deeper than I thought!
: No wonder every time Jiaoqiu mentioned Hoolay, his eyes carried some hidden meaning. I thought it was old hatred, but now I see he just wanted to make Feixiao a meal.
: If that's his goal, then all his earlier suspicious actions make sense.
: He noticed the Borisin, but retreated first. When he knew they appeared, he should've reported it, but instead of making a fuss and joining the purge, he ran to the prison.
: Could he also be planning a jailbreak? (Just guessing.)
...
Compared to killing, Jiaoqiu's idea of making medicine felt even more ruthless.
This squinty-eyed guy never saw the Borisin warlord as a life. Not even as a symbol.
All the things about being the strongest warlord who devoured the Crimson moon,
to him, it was just an ingredient to cure disease!
Just as the few were about to leave after watching, the door that had been open behind them suddenly burst forth with a huge mass at high speed.
"Thanks, everyone, for opening the door for us!"