Chapter 91: Still Hiding Something?
Gu Bing couldn’t help but sigh at the unpredictability of human fortunes.
If Zhang Hongbo were still the South Wind City Lord, with part of the merit from seizing the Heituo Statue, it wouldn’t be a big problem for his son to go to the Court of Justice.
Unfortunately, Zhang Hongbo’s legitimacy has been stripped away, and the merit from seizing the Heituo Statue has nothing to do with him.
If Su Chen hadn’t spoken up, Zhang Hengyu would definitely have been pinned down for a year, but next year there might still be variables.
Gu Bing couldn’t help but say: “By this calculation, South Wind actually has three people going to the Court of Justice this year.”
“Three?” Su Chen was slightly surprised.
“There’s one more, you should know her—the new female student taken in by the Third Chief Judge. When she came, she specifically instructed us to take her back.” Gu Bing explained, “She has an exclusive profession talent that fits extremely well with the Third Chief Judge’s profession sequence.”
“Old Bai.” Su Chen realized, so that’s how it was, not surprising at all.
“Then I’ll modify your information as soon as possible.” Yuan Chenyang said, “Change it to ordinary resident.”
“Only you people treat refugees as shame.” Xia Hanshi glanced over, his tone cold.
“This…” Yuan Chenyang didn’t know what to say.
“Refugees are of course not shame.” Su Chen smoothly followed along, his voice gentle but firm:
“Refugees are unfortunate and tragic, but others’ views don’t shift with our will. If this identity causes more misfortune, the student thinks there’s no need.”
A simple information change could reduce some trouble, and Su Chen didn’t want to refuse the modification due to Xia Hanshi’s stubbornness.
Everyone held their breath in concentration.
Xia Hanshi was silent for a long time before faintly saying: “You’re right.”
Yuan Chenyang let out a long breath, while Yang Yan and Gu Bing looked at Su Chen with admiring gazes.
“Follow me.” Xia Hanshi walked toward the door,
Su Chen slowly followed.
Yuan Chenyang seemed somewhat worried. After the two left and entered the stairwell, he quietly asked: “It should be fine, right?”
“It won’t…” Zhang Hongbo shook his head, seeming to have recovered somewhat, “If Old Xia wasn’t convinced, there’s no need to pretend in front of us. There should be other matters.”
……
Arriving at the top floor, cold wind hit their faces. Xia Hanshi’s voice was calm: “The priest was indeed there, with an extremely small margin of error. When we appeared, he had no expectation of it.”
“That justice-hearted person was very formidable.”
Su Chen remained silent. Xia Hanshi just lightly mentioned it and moved on: “The Court of Justice assessment is still over two months away. Normally, one month from now, South Wind will send official personnel to escort you there.”
“I don’t trust them. You go ahead with Yang Yan and the others.”
Su Chen frowned slightly, “You’re not going back to Ying Feng with us?”
“There are still some things to handle. The Cult of the Strange God has a big plan, Yun Lan’s lost space crystal hasn’t been found, and South Wind’s Holy Word Stone should be part of it.” Xia Hanshi furrowed his brows:
“The reason the priest came to South Wind City was an accident; their original plan was absolutely not like this.”
“South Wind City has already closed the net; many clues can’t be investigated anymore. I can only go to Yun Lan to see if there are any leads.”
Space crystal… Su Chen fell silent. Fortunately, Old Xia’s goal wasn’t to find the space crystal, but to investigate the root cause behind it; otherwise, he could only say sorry.
“You truly are dedicated and responsible.” Su Chen sincerely exclaimed.
Where else could one find such a responsible chief judge? Those malicious rumors outside must all be from jealousy.
“Dedicated and responsible…” Xia Hanshi smiled mockingly, then continued: “If nothing unexpected happens, I should return when the Court of Justice assessment begins.”
“Understood, I definitely won’t bring shame to you, sir.” Su Chen said solemnly.
…
“Old Xia is truly a good person.”
Su Chen was still muttering on the way back, knowing he had secrets but not pressing.
“Probably with him, as long as you’re not a Strange God Follower, everything’s fine; killing Strange God Followers would be even better.”
If it were another chief judge, they might have intense curiosity about that “justice-hearted person.”
“South Wind City should be peaceful now.”
Returning to his room, to be safe, Su Chen switched to Heituo Follower again to check if anything was still hiding in the dark.
The moment he transformed, he felt a quite intense reaction, making his heart pound. His brow twitched, his face turning somewhat ugly: “How is there still?”
Su Chen was truly startled. He thought everything was settled, but another surprise appeared, and extremely close by.
But he quickly calmed down, carefully sensing, his head turning to the upper left, his expression gradually easing: “This is… that Heituo Statue?”
“The intensity has weakened a lot, even less than the previous strange artifact.” Su Chen carefully sensed.
Confirming it was the Heituo Statue, Su Chen relaxed: “No wonder Old Xia wants that thing locked up. Even after losing so much power, it’s not to be underestimated.”
“Hmm…” As he was thinking, another thought emerged. His expression hesitated: “Old Xia… should know that thing isn’t clean inside yet, right?”
“Does he know? He probably does?” Su Chen thought about it, not entirely sure himself.
He went out looking for Old Xia but didn’t find him, unsure where he went.
He could only knock on Gu Bing’s door. This judge had just finished bathing, her hair wet, cheeks still flushed, wearing gray pajamas.
“It’s you?” Gu Bing was quite surprised and stepped aside to let him in.
As Su Chen walked in, rubbing his chest, he said: “Wind and Thunder Emissary Gu, for some reason, my heart always feels faintly uneasy, like something is about to happen.”
A strange glint passed through Gu Bing’s eyes. She gave Su Chen a weird look, unsure what she was thinking, and smiled softly: “I’m from the Fifth Chief Judge’s sect. If you don’t mind, you can call me senior sister.”
“Senior sister…” Su Chen called out. Gu Bing’s smile widened, with a hint of teasing: “Then junior brother can explain in detail where exactly you’re uneasy, and senior sister will help you.”
Why did these words sound so strange?
Su Chen grumbled inwardly but, seeing Gu Bing’s meaningful gaze, suddenly realized and cursed silently in his heart.
If it were a junior sister knocking on his door late at night saying she was scared, he’d probably overthink it too.
But with a clear conscience, Su Chen pretended to be oblivious and answered: “It’s like this—ever since seeing that Heituo Statue, my heart has been pounding.”
“And we’ll be traveling back to Ying Feng with it; nothing will go wrong, right?”
Seeing Su Chen’s serious expression, Gu Bing felt a bit awkward, reined in her expression, and explained: “Don’t worry, things like Strange God statues, even if containing Strange God power, are just dead objects.”
“Old Xia and we have already checked it; it’s just an empty shell now, no problem.”
“They really didn’t notice?” Su Chen was surprised inwardly and asked, seemingly still uneasy: “My teacher couldn’t have missed it, right?”
Gu Bing pondered: “Possible…”
Su Chen was speechless.
Gu Bing chuckled: “The power of Strange Gods is unimaginable; no one dares guarantee it. But based on past experience, there won’t be issues.”
“Thanks for the explanation, senior sister.” Su Chen acted relieved and got up to leave.
Gu Bing closed the door, shaking her head with a smile.
“Old Xia and Gu Bing have already checked it and said it’s fine… so it should be.” Su Chen pondered to himself when his vision suddenly went dark. Looking up, it was Yang Yan.
His expression was a bit strange, his gaze shifting away from Gu Bing’s door.
“Special Envoy Yang…” Su Chen stepped aside, and the two just exchanged simple greetings.
Back in his room, Su Chen was still mulling it over: “It’s probably normal; it once hosted Heituo’s powerful force, and a bit left over is no big deal.”
He could only set the matter aside for now. Su Chen took out Mist Fiend Potion and Illusion Essence from his storage space, gulped them all down, and entered the Gravity Chamber.
As he slightly moved into position, the injured areas on his body stung, but not severely. Grimacing, Su Chen gradually got into the groove.
…
Early next morning, discussions about last night’s spectacle were everywhere in South Wind City.
“Half the sky was golden flames, so scary…”
“This isn’t the first time; there was one a while ago, but not as widespread…”
“What’s really going on? No explanation from above.”
Meanwhile, the City Patrol, Inspection, and Exploration departments had merged, using clues from prior investigations to wrap up operations.
Many Strange God Followers who had lurked for a long time were caught. This massive purge lasted over ten days before ending.
……
【Wind and Thunder Emissary: 20%】
【Mystic Mind Master: 15%】
【E-grade Gale Body Tempering Method—Proficient: 5%】
【E-grade Void Star Meditation Method—Proficient: 30%】
Su Chen finished training, rinsed off the sweat, and couldn’t help sighing. Compared to first order development speed, second order was much slower.
And this was with his abundant resources and double Crimson Gold talent.
The table was covered with glass bottles, all Illusion Essence and Mist Fiend Potion, even ten portions of Glazed Blood.
All squeezed out for him by Old Yuan. Being city lord made this easier.
After a quick tidy-up and changing clothes, Su Chen arrived at the Inspector Guard’s internal canteen private room, exclusive to high-level personnel.
“Brother Su Chen…”
As soon as he entered, Little Pigeon rushed over, shouting in delight.
“Haha, seems you’ve grown taller…” Su Chen ruffled her head and found a seat.
“Old Bai, when did you advance to second order?” Su Chen casually asked Bai Fengxi beside him.
“A couple days ago.” Bai Fengxi sighed. Su Chen’s freakish advancement speed made her own promotion feel achievement-less.
“You advanced really fast.” Su Chen couldn’t help exclaiming, “Is this the terror of exclusive profession talent?”
“It only works on specific professions.” Bai Fengxi shook her head.
“That’s enough.”
During this time, he had gained a more detailed understanding of Old Bai. So-called exclusive profession talent was specifically tailored to a certain profession sequence, with advancement speed perhaps even faster than regular Crimson Gold talent.
But the drawback was that other professions would be hard to achieve success in.
“Has the departure time been set?”
The door opened, and dishes were served—exquisite stir-fries, both tasty and nutritious.
“Mm, three days from now.” Bai Fengxi nodded. Little Pigeon beside her was clearly down.
“We’ll come back often.” Su Chen served her some food.
Though Little Pigeon’s talent wasn’t great, it wasn’t impossible for her to go to Ying Feng.
The previous “quota” fought for was just for entering the Court of Justice, not Ying Feng.
But she was too young now, and Bai Fengxi wasn’t planning to take her, leaving her in South Wind City under Yuan Chenyang’s protection would be better.
“You all have to work hard.” Little Pigeon adjusted her mood and said seriously: “I’ve already experienced the benefits of being second generation. I hope one day I can go to Ying Feng and lord it up.”
“Little rascal.” Su Chen chuckled.
