Chapter 89: Cultivator Identity Exposed
More than ten Imperial Guards rushed into the backyard, calling out everyone in the canteen and those in the dormitories, then began searching the rooms one by one.
Hua Changxi and Steward Qin stood together, watching the Imperial Guards rummage through the rooms, overturning furniture and smashing things.
After searching for over half an hour and finding nothing, the Imperial Guards, with grim faces, approached Hua Changxi and the others and escorted them to the front courtyard.
In the front courtyard, the female laborers of the Sixth Bureau stood against the wall, their faces filled with fear. After Hua Changxi and the others arrived, they were also pushed to stand with them.
While passing by a ditch, Hua Changxi noticed a fluctuation of spiritual energy on the bank and her eyes flickered.
“Sir, we found nothing.”
The Imperial Guard leading the search in the backyard approached a tall middle-aged man and reported the situation of the backyard search.
The middle-aged man’s sharp gaze swept over Hua Changxi and the others, and after a moment of silence, he said, “Have them take out everything they are carrying.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the Imperial Guards immediately acted, urging the laborers to place everything they were carrying on the ground.
The female laborers of the Sixth Bureau had no choice but to obey.
“Ah, what are you doing?”
A female laborer cried out in surprise.
Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw an Imperial Guard frisking someone.
“Slap~”
An Imperial Guard slapped the protesting and shouting female laborer, knocking her to the ground.
Half of the female laborer’s face instantly became red and swollen, with blood flowing from the corner of her mouth. She trembled on the ground, not daring to make another sound.
Seeing her miserable state, the other female laborers could only bite their teeth in humiliation when they were frisked, not daring to resist.
Witnessing this scene, Hua Changxi’s face darkened. When another young female laborer was about to be frisked, she stepped forward and grabbed the Imperial Guard’s hand.
“We are not criminals, we are merely cooperating with your search. Please, be reasonable.”
Hua Changxi’s intervention stunned all the Imperial Guards.
When the Imperial Guards conducted investigations, even high-ranking court officials had to comply. For a mere laborer to dare to step out and obstruct them, had they eaten the heart of a leopard?
Hua Changxi looked at the middle-aged man leading them. “If you suspect someone among us is hiding something, you can find a woman to conduct the search. I believe everyone here has mothers, wives, or daughters. Why must you humiliate us like this?”
The middle-aged man, Yin Jianxiong, scrutinized Hua Changxi. Since becoming a Commander, he had never encountered anyone who dared to resist when he led investigations. Today, he actually met one, and it was a young woman. He was unaccustomed to it.
He was very curious, where did this little laborer get the courage to resist the Imperial Guards?
Seeing that Yin Jianxiong remained silent, an Imperial Guard eager to show off immediately berated Hua Changxi, “Do you think you are royalty? What’s wrong with frisking you? The Imperial Guards are investigating, you can only accept it.”
After speaking, he lewdly reached his hand towards Hua Changxi’s chest.
Seeing this, Hua Changxi’s killing intent surged. She grabbed the Imperial Guard’s hand and twisted it.
“Crack~”
The sound of bone breaking echoed, and the next moment, a pig-like scream shook everyone, their faces showing shock.
Under the disbelieving gaze of the Imperial Guards, Hua Changxi threw the Imperial Guard aside, sending him flying several meters, and then looked directly at Yin Jianxiong.
“Sir, I have heard of the Imperial Guards’ investigation methods. However, I am curious, are you not afraid of kicking an iron plate one day with such recklessness?”
Hearing these threatening words, Pang Shaoyu looked at Hua Changxi with admiration.
In his entire life, this was the first time he had seen someone dare to threaten him in front of his uncle.
This young woman is extraordinary!
Yin Jianxiong looked at his subordinate with a broken arm and his gaze towards Hua Changxi became more serious. “I am also curious, are you not afraid of being thrown into the Imperial Prison for offending the Imperial Guards?”
Hua Changxi said with a dark expression, “I haven’t committed any crime, you have no right to arrest me.”
Yin Jianxiong laughed as if he had heard a joke. “The Imperial Guards don’t need a reason to arrest someone.”
Hua Changxi said coldly, “Is that so? Then what are you relying on? Martial force? If it’s based on that, you really can’t catch me.”
Yin Jianxiong’s eyes narrowed. “I hear you. You think you are very powerful, don’t you? But no matter how powerful you are, the Imperial Guards’ investigations involve collective punishment.”
Hearing this, Hua Changxi’s face turned completely dark. Her killing intent surged out, and she said with no warmth, “You have family too.”
If anyone else dared to threaten his family, Yin Jianxiong would have immediately drawn his sword. But at this moment, after directly feeling the killing intent emanating from Hua Changxi, he did not dare to speak.
Having lived on the edge of a knife for years, he was very sensitive to killing intent. He could quickly distinguish who could fight and who should be avoided.
This young girl in front of him made him lack the courage to draw his sword.
This realization made Yin Jianxiong extremely alarmed.
Just as Hua Changxi and Yin Jianxiong were in a silent standoff, hurried footsteps sounded outside the courtyard gate of the Sixth Bureau.
Soon after, Eunuch Jia led the way, followed by Eunuch Lu and Steward Leng, with more than ten people arriving in a grand procession.
“As I was coming here, I was wondering who was making such a fuss. It turns out to be Commander Yin.”
Yin Jianxiong secretly breathed a sigh of relief at the arrival of Eunuch Jia and his entourage, quickly shifting his gaze away from Hua Changxi and towards Eunuch Jia.
“The pills were lost on Second Street. Eunuch Jia, you know about this, right?”
Eunuch Jia nodded. “I have heard about it.”
Yin Jianxiong: “The trail of the thief disappeared at the Labor Department. This means the thief is either someone from the Labor Department or the pills were hidden in the Labor Department.”
“I was ordered to search, and I didn’t expect the Labor Department to be full of hidden talents. Someone actually dared to obstruct the Imperial Guards’ investigation. Your subordinates are truly talented, Eunuch Jia.”
When Eunuch Jia entered, he saw Hua Changxi confronting Yin Jianxiong.
He was not displeased by this. The more assertive Hua Changxi was, the more beneficial it would be for him.
Seeing that Eunuch Jia did not respond, and without reprimanding the female laborer who obstructed the Imperial Guards’ investigation, Yin Jianxiong’s eyes flickered.
Hua Changxi watched Eunuch Jia’s reaction, her wariness growing.
The more tolerant Eunuch Jia was towards her, the greater his intentions.
What did he want to use her for?
Did he know she was a cultivator?
That shouldn’t be the case.
Yin Jianxiong knew that Eunuch Jia had some influence, so he couldn’t go too far. He mentioned the matter of searching the belongings of the female laborers of the Sixth Bureau.
Eunuch Jia immediately pointed to Steward Leng. “The Sixth Bureau is all women, it’s indeed inconvenient for the Imperial Guards to be bothered. Why don’t we have her conduct the search on their behalf?”
“No need!”
Pang Shaoyu walked in, leading a sleek black dog. “Sir, the neighboring courtyards have all been searched. Let Little Black search this courtyard.”
The black dogs raised by the Northern Garrison Command were excellent at finding things. Steward Leng’s eyes flickered with anxiety as she saw the black dog sniffing around the courtyard.
Hua Changxi glanced at her, then quickly looked away, watching the black dog approach the place where the spiritual energy was emanating step by step.
During this time, Pang Shaoyu intended to pull the black dog towards Hua Changxi to scare her, but unexpectedly, the black dog refused to go that way, which made him quite regretful.
“Sir, I found it!”
Yin Jianxiong’s face lit up when he saw the black dog unearth a porcelain bottle from the bank of the ditch, and he strode over quickly.
Eunuch Jia’s expression, however, instantly became solemn.
“Why are there only three pills?”
“The thief must have hidden them separately.”
Yin Jianxiong looked at Eunuch Jia. “Eunuch Jia, the lost pills were found in the courtyard under your jurisdiction. You will likely have to see the Department Head. As for the female laborers here, I will take them back to the Imperial Prison for interrogation.”
Upon hearing that they were to be taken to the Imperial Prison, many female laborers’ legs went weak, and they collapsed to the ground.
Eunuch Jia frowned. Although he didn’t know what kind of pills were lost, he knew the matter was serious when the Department Head ordered a lockdown, and the Medical Affairs Department was now only allowing entry, not exit.
“Lord Yin, it’s not that I’m unwilling to let you take these people away, but I was instructed to sort a batch of medicinal herbs. If you take them all away, there will be no one to sort these herbs.”
He lowered his voice, “Those medicinal herbs are for the Heavenly Department.”
Yin Jianxiong’s expression darkened. “Eunuch Jia, are you trying to use the Heavenly Department to pressure me?”
Eunuch Jia quickly smiled. “How would I dare? I am thinking for your own good. If so many people are taken back, the Imperial Prison won’t have that many cells to hold them.”
Yin Jianxiong snorted. “That’s not for Eunuch Jia to worry about.” With that, he waved his hand, intending to have the Imperial Guards arrest the female laborers.
Many people had heard of the torture methods in the Imperial Guards’ Imperial Prison.
Once in the Imperial Prison, even if one didn’t die, they would be stripped of their skin.
The female laborers who had not dared to resist before, upon learning they were to be taken to the Imperial Prison, forgot their fear and cried out their innocence.
“We did not steal the pills.”
“We are framed~”
Hua Changxi watched the Imperial Guards forcibly arresting the female laborers, glanced at Steward Leng hiding behind Eunuch Lu, and spoke again, “I know who stole the pills.”
Hearing this, the courtyard fell silent.
Hua Changxi looked at Steward Leng. “If you dare to do it, you must dare to own up to it. There’s no reason for innocent people to pay for your mistakes.”
Everyone followed Hua Changxi’s gaze and looked at Steward Leng.
Steward Leng looked at Hua Changxi with cold eyes, but on her face, she put on a pitiful expression and hid behind Eunuch Lu. “Hua Changxi, where did I offend you that you would frame me like this?”
Hua Changxi: “Even if you had hidden the pills outside the courtyard, giving the Imperial Guards no excuse to arrest people, I would not have interfered and exposed you.”
Steward Leng’s expression faltered. Seeing the trembling and struggling Eunuch Lu trying to distance himself from her, she stopped pretending. She pushed Eunuch Lu away and looked at Hua Changxi. “On what grounds do you say I stole the pills?”
Hua Changxi: “You came to the Sixth Bureau for no reason today. You rarely come here usually.”
As soon as she said this, the female laborers of the Sixth Bureau chimed in.
Steward Leng scoffed. “Just because I came to the Sixth Bureau, I’m the one who stole the pills? If you say that, then I can say you are the one who stole the pills?”
She said this, smiling at Yin Jianxiong and the other Imperial Guards.
“I believe you all can see that this female laborer in front of you is no ordinary person. Someone who knows martial arts and is skilled in alchemy, not inferior to the pharmacists of Ninth Street. Why would she have to stay in the Labor Department as a mere laborer?”
“Hua Changxi, dare you say you have no other purpose in staying in the Labor Department?”
“If you talk about who is the most hidden in the entire Labor Department, isn’t it you, Hua Changxi?”
Hua Changxi did not get sidetracked by her questions and directly said, “Actually, it’s very simple to find the person who stole the pills. The pills were separated, which means that person touched the pills. If they touched the pills, they would definitely be stained with the incense of pills.”
She said this, looking at the black dog led by Pang Shaoyu.
“Isn’t your black dog very good at finding things? Let it smell the pills, and it will naturally find the thief.”
Hearing this, Steward Leng’s expression changed. She looked at Hua Changxi as if she were looking at a dead person.
The next moment, everyone watched in horror as the water in the ditch flew out, transforming into sharp arrows, and then shot towards everyone.
At the same time, Steward Leng attacked Yin Jianxiong, attempting to snatch the pills from his hand.
Seeing the water arrows flying towards her, Hua Changxi quickly pulled out several medicinal herbs with lush branches and leaves from a nearby cart. With a flick of her hand, all the branches and leaves flew out, like a sturdy shield, intercepting all the water arrows.
On the other side, Yin Jianxiong, as a Grandmaster, had never been suppressed in a fight for over ten years. But this time, he was completely outmatched.
If Hua Changxi hadn’t blocked the water arrows, causing Steward Leng to be momentarily stunned and giving him a chance to escape, he might have died here today.
“It’s you!”
Steward Leng looked at Hua Changxi in astonishment.
When Hua Changxi did not use her spiritual energy, others could not detect the spiritual energy fluctuations from her. But once she used her spiritual power, it could no longer be hidden.
Knowing that Hua Changxi was the mysterious cultivator she was looking for, Steward Leng didn’t say another word, didn’t bother with the pills, and turned to flee.
Hua Changxi saw this and did not pursue.
“What are you still standing there for? Hurry up and chase that thief!” Yin Jianxiong shouted anxiously.
Hua Changxi looked at him indifferently. “Arresting criminals is your responsibility.”
Yin Jianxiong choked, then after a moment of silence, asked, “Are you and that thief cultivators?”
As a Commander of the Northern Garrison Command, he knew about cultivators, but had never interacted with them. He never expected to see two of them today.
Hua Changxi did not respond. She gave the female laborers a look, signaling them to leave quickly, then looked at Eunuch Jia. “Eunuch, if there is nothing else, we will take our leave.”
Eunuch Jia nodded and did not stop them.
He was also shocked by Hua Changxi being a cultivator. However, when he thought that her sister was a direct disciple of the Sect Leader of Taisu Palace, he didn’t find it strange anymore.
Yin Jianxiong did not stop them either. After the female laborers dispersed, he walked to Eunuch Jia’s side. “Eunuch Jia, what is the background of that female laborer?”
Eunuch Jia knew that if he didn’t give him an explanation, the Imperial Guards would make trouble for him regarding Steward Leng’s matter. So, he whispered, “The Sect Leader of Taisu Palace has a direct disciple named Hua Changxin.”
Eunuch Jia said no more after this.
Hua Changxi, Hua Changxin. Anyone would know that these two were sisters.
Yin Jianxiong asked no further questions. He had no dealings with Taisu Palace, but he knew that the Emperor highly valued Taisu Palace. The current Celestial Master of the Celestial Master’s Mansion was from Taisu Palace.
Hua Changxi, who had walked a short distance away, paused upon hearing Eunuch Jia’s whisper, a look of surprise appearing on her face.
Eunuch Jia was using her, and it was because of Shi Niang!
Taisu Palace.
Hua Changxi did not know much about these sects, but judging by Eunuch Jia’s demeanor, the Imperial Court seemed to attach great importance to Taisu Palace.
Thinking of Shi Niang producing pills to shape spiritual meridians for returning home, Hua Changxi’s lips curved. “It seems Shi Niang is doing quite well at Taisu Palace.”
Upon returning to her residence, she saw Du Ruo looking at her with a complex expression. Hua Changxi simply nodded, then sat cross-legged on the bed, activated her cultivation method, and her consciousness sank into her Dantian.
Seeing that the black flame below her inner core seemed to have grown larger, Hua Changxi frowned.
Earlier in the front courtyard, she had truly felt the urge to kill.
Did the black flame fuel her desire to kill? Or was her heart already filled with infinite killing intent?
Hua Changxi reflected on the day’s events. Her cultivator identity had been exposed, she wondered if it was a good or bad thing.
But if she were to face the same situation again, she thought seriously, she would still do the same.
What was the purpose of her cultivation if not to do as she pleased? If she had to endure the oppression of the Imperial Guards, what was the use of her cultivation?
However, the growth of the black flame made her vigilant.
The black flame was fueled by the seven emotions and six desires. The black flame growing larger meant her killing intent was also increasing. No matter what, she had to control her killing intent and not be controlled by desire.
