The landslide was exactly as Li Yuan had described—large rocks that had fallen from the hillside, blocking most of the river channel, creating a shallow pool where water seeped into the ground instead of flowing downstream.
Both groups stood at the edge, staring at the physical evidence that could not be denied.
"This... this is real," one of the Valen elders—the man with the white beard—spoke in a voice full of awe and sadness. "Not an intentional diversion. Just nature changing."
Torin knelt, touching one of the rocks with a trembling hand. "How long has this been?"
"Perhaps two years," Li Yuan replied. "Look at how moss has already grown on some surfaces, but not on others. And the soil here is still relatively soft—not yet fully compacted by time."
Daran looked at the landslide with a complex expression. Through his Wenjing Realm, Li Yuan heard the Kael Council Leader's intention—relief mixed with sadness. Relief that Valen was innocent, but sadness because this meant there was no one to blame, no simple target for the anger that had been growing for three years.
Mira stepped closer, standing next to Daran—not touching, but close enough that their postures sent a message: we are both looking at this truth.
"We can fix this," she said in a low but firm voice. "If we work together. Clearing the debris, reinforcing the slope, creating a better channel—"
"Work together," Vareth cut in with a cold voice. "Of course that's what you would say. This is perfect for you, isn't it? Now you can claim that you are innocent, and we are the ones who have to come begging for help."
When Vareth spoke, Li Yuan heard through his Wenjing Realm more than just words. He heard the true intention—not genuine disappointment about the situation, but a calculation. Vareth was looking for a way to twist even this clear evidence into a conflict.
And in that intention, there was something deeper. Something Li Yuan had suspected but now heard with startling clarity:
This should have sparked a quarrel. Karim said there would be something here we could use. Where is he? Why isn't he giving the signal?
Li Yuan turned his attention—without moving his head, without making a clear gesture—to listen to Karim's intention.
The young Valen man stood slightly behind his group, his face showing a thoughtful and contemplative expression. But inside his intention, Li Yuan heard something entirely different:
This landslide ruins the plan. If the two tribes see this as a natural problem, they will try to work together. We need to incite something now. But Vareth isn't moving. Is he losing his nerve? Or is this traveler... no, it's not possible. He's just a common traveler.
And then, like a sudden crystallization, Li Yuan heard a thought that revealed everything:
Tomorrow night. An attack at the border. Make it look like Valen started it. Or Kael. It doesn't matter which—what matters is that blood is spilled. Then Daran and Mira will fall, and we will take the leadership that is rightfully ours.
Li Yuan did not react externally. His face remained calm, his posture relaxed. But internally, a cold and clear understanding formed.
They are not just separate opportunists. They are working together—Vareth and Karim. They have planned this. Using the drought as a trigger, manipulating the fears of both tribes, and now planning a false attack to ensure an unavoidable conflict.
And if blood is spilled—if people die on both sides—there will be no going back to peace.
Li Yuan shifted his Wenjing Realm's attention to the other intentions around him. And what he heard confirmed his fears.
Some of the young men—three from Kael, two from Valen—had intentions that resonated with those of Vareth and Karim. Not the full details of the plan, but an awareness that something was going to happen. That they had a role to play.
Tomorrow night, we move. Vareth said to wait for his signal.
Karim promised there would be a reward after this is done. A position on the new council.
Finally we will show those elders what true power looks like.
These internal conversations—thoughts never spoken aloud, intentions hidden behind neutral faces—were all laid bare before Li Yuan's Wenjing Realm.
He knew everything. Not through speculation or guesswork, but with absolute certainty.
And now he had to decide: what to do with this knowledge?
"This could be a good beginning," Torin said in a voice full of cautious hope. The old man did not hear the conspiracy settling around them—he only saw the physical evidence and the possibility of reconciliation. "If our two tribes can work together to clear this landslide—"
"Work together," Vareth repeated again, his voice harsher this time. "You keep saying those words as if they are a magical solution. But you forget one thing: we cannot trust them."
"And why not?" Kai—Daran's son who had been silent during the landslide inspection—spoke up with a voice that trembled with controlled emotion. "What has Valen done to lose your trust? They didn't divert the water. They didn't attack us. They just... exist. And you hate them for it."
Vareth turned to face Kai with eyes that blazed with something beyond anger—there was a deep hatred there, a hatred that Li Yuan heard resonating in his intention:
This traitor. If he weren't here, if Daran didn't have this weakness, maybe our tribe would be easier to lead in the right direction.
"You," Vareth said in a low, dangerous voice, "have no right to speak about trust. You are the one who chose them over your own blood."
"I chose love," Kai retorted firmly. "And I will not apologize for it."
The tension erupted to a dangerous point. Vareth's hand moved to the knife on his belt—a subtle movement, one that might have looked accidental to a casual observer.
But Li Yuan heard his intention with crystal clarity: Maybe this is the chance. If I attack Kai now, make it look like self-defense, it could ignite the conflict we need.
And at the same time, Li Yuan heard Karim's intention resonating with a similar calculation: If Vareth moves, I must respond. Make it look like I'm trying to protect Kai. Let Daran see his son attacked. That will destroy any peace effort.
Everything was about to happen in the next second. Li Yuan could see the threads of conspiracy about to be pulled, the moment that would explode into irreversible violence.
And he made a decision.
Not with spiritual power. Not by releasing a comprehension to force peace. But with something much simpler.
He stepped forward—not in a hurry, but with a deliberate movement—and placed himself directly between Vareth and Kai.
"I understand the tension here," Li Yuan said in a calm voice that carried a weight that silenced everyone. "I understand the anger, the fear, the distrust. But violence at this moment—in this place—will not solve anything. It will only ensure that both tribes lose what can still be saved."
Vareth looked at him with narrowed eyes. Through his Wenjing Realm, Li Yuan heard the young man's intention shift—from a plan to attack to a new calculation: Who is this traveler really? Why does he keep getting in the way?
"You're just a traveler," Vareth said in a condescending tone. "This is not your business. Get out of here and let us handle our own problems."
"You will handle them with blood?" Li Yuan asked with brutal simplicity. "Because that is what will happen if you continue on this path. And after blood is spilled, there will be no turning back."
He shifted his gaze—not just to Vareth, but also to Karim. And when their eyes met, Li Yuan let something show on his face. Not a threat. Not anger. Just a quiet knowing.
A knowing that he knew.
Karim was the first to break eye contact, his smile faltering for a very brief second.
And through his Wenjing Realm, Li Yuan heard the panic beginning to creep into the young Valen man's intention: He knows. Somehow, he knows. But how? We never spoke the plan aloud. How could he—
"Perhaps Li Yuan is right," Karim said in a voice that was slightly less smooth than usual. "Maybe we all need time to... process what we saw here. To return to our leaders and report."
Vareth looked at Karim with a shocked expression—Li Yuan heard his intention: Why is he backing down? This is our chance!
But Karim was not looking at him. He continued to look at Li Yuan with something new in his intention—something Li Yuan recognized as cautious fear.
"Yes," Mira said in a voice that tried to take back control of the situation, unaware of the true undercurrents. "Let's go back. We have seen the evidence. Now we need to decide together how to proceed."
Slowly, with a tension that still felt like a taut cable, the two groups began to move away from the landslide.
But Li Yuan knew—with a certainty that came from hearing unspoken intentions—that this was not over yet.
Vareth and Karim might have retreated today, but their plan for tomorrow night was still in place.
And unless Li Yuan did something, blood would be spilled.
The question now was: how to prevent it without directly exposing the conspiracy?
Because if he simply said what he heard—"Vareth and Karim are planning a false attack"—without evidence that others could see, he would only create more confusion and division.
No, he needed to let the truth unfold in a way that would make the conspiracy expose itself.
And for that, he needed a more subtle strategy.
A strategy that would require patience, perfect timing, and perhaps—just perhaps—a little help from those who were also beginning to see the cracks in the masks that Vareth and Karim wore.
As the groups walked back towards their respective settlements, Li Yuan had already begun to plan.
Not with force.
But with a deep understanding of human nature—and how even the most carefully planned conspiracies have weaknesses.
Weaknesses that can be found if one knows how to listen.