"Excellent work," Yun said, reading the decoded letter. "This confirms my suspicions. But if we arrest Xu now, the Society will simply send another agent. We need to use this to draw out the entire local cell."
"You want this disciple to help Mo Chen fall into their trap?" Chen Wei asked.
"I want you to make them think they've succeeded while actually feeding them false information. Can your Heaven's Calculation Scripture manage that level of deception?"
Chen Wei calculated rapidly. Multiple layers of false causality, making the Society believe their corruption succeeded while actually controlling the outcome. Probability of success: 34% with current information. Needed more data.
"This disciple requires full access to Mo Chen's file and permission to manipulate events around him."
"Granted. But Chen Wei—" Yun's expression turned grave. "Mo Chen is genuinely talented and genuinely good. If you corrupt him for real while pretending to fake it, I'll know. And I'll end you regardless of your usefulness."
Fair warning. Chen Wei appreciated directness.
Over the next month, Chen Wei orchestrated a beautiful deception. He arranged for Mo Chen to "accidentally" discover a rare technique manual—one Chen Wei had carefully altered to seem powerful but actually contained subtle flaws. The flaws would become apparent only after significant investment, creating sunk-cost fallacy.
He manipulated minor conflicts to make Mo Chen feel underappreciated by Elder Feng, stoking the "pride and ambition" the Society wanted to exploit.
He even forged a second letter to Scholar Xu confirming the corruption's "success."
When Society agents finally made contact with Mo Chen, offering forbidden knowledge and promises of advancement, they believed they'd found a willing recruit.
They didn't realize Mo Chen was already working with Sect Master Yun, playing his own role in the deception.