Chapter 129: Probing Meng Qi, Brutish Teng Liang
“Heituo Priest is ambushing Su Chen, could it be… Chu Xuan’s death is related to Heituo?” You Shan looked at the sealed Heituo Priest and couldn’t help but murmur softly.
“Uh…” Wu Yang happened to return to the hall and heard You Shan’s words. He couldn’t help but say in a low voice, “Chief Judge, this is something we found ourselves.”
“You found it yourselves?” You Shan frowned and said indifferently, “That’s just what you think. You might have been interfered with by Heituo Followers.”
Yang Yan felt a chill on his back. This was the clue he had discovered.
“Chief Judge You…” The last to return was naturally Su Chen, who had run the farthest.
After greeting her, he looked at the sealed Heituo Priest, who couldn’t move at all, with only his black eyes trembling.
“You’re quite clever. This Heituo Priest, although a Fourth Order Professional, used Heituo’s power to amplify himself, making him comparable to a Fifth Order Professional…” You Shan glanced at him. She had been hiding outside and only acted after detecting the Heituo Priest.
She had only seen Su Chen’s extreme speed in escaping and was quite surprised.
“The remaining remnants below have all been sealed. I’ll take him back first. After you clean up, don’t wander around; just return to the Court of Justice.”
The sealed Heituo Priest was pulled away by an invisible force.
“Chief Judge…” Su Chen called out, but You Shan had already disappeared, leaving only her lingering voice drifting over, “Your merit will not be shortchanged.”
“Alright.” Su Chen shrugged. The Court of Justice had a quite rigorous merit assessment system internally. Capturing a Strange God Follower would calculate merit points based on its threat level.
Ordinary Judges could use merit points to get promotions and raises, exchange professions, various auxiliary potions, custom weapons, and the like.
But core seeds like them generally didn’t lack anything and wouldn’t compete for merit with the underlings.
……
At the same time, elsewhere, in a desolate area near Ying Feng City, Bu Siqi held a telescope, watching from afar a team that had just finished searching an underground black market.
A large number of people conducting transactions had been caught. Inspector Guards gathered around, and a few who seemed to be senior Inspector Guards were confronting the Judges.
Both sides were arguing red in the face. The Judges were blocked in the center and couldn’t take the people away.
Meng Qi, meanwhile, looked nervous, soothing one side then the other, saying something repeatedly, but no one paid him any attention.
In the end, it seemed the Inspector Guards gained the upper hand and took the group from the Inspector Guards’ hands.
The several Judges gathered around Meng Qi all had ugly expressions. When they glanced at him, disdain inevitably showed in their eyes.
“This underground black market is probably being sheltered by the Inspector Guards. They must be regularly bribed, so they won’t easily let us make arrests.” Bu Siqi shook his head, inevitably sneering:
“But this Meng Qi is too cowardly. He’s the leader of this group of Judges, yet he speaks timidly and can’t win the argument against them.”
“And yet he became a core seed. Who knows how he advanced to Bloody Butcher.”
Beside him, Teng Liang was like a silent stump, not speaking. His skinny body seemed like it could collapse at any moment, his gaze fixed tightly on the distant Meng Qi.
Bu Siqi couldn’t help but say, “This coward shouldn’t have any issues, right? We’ve followed him for nearly ten days and haven’t found anything suspicious. He’s timid all day long…”
“Senior Brother? Teng Liang, you mute, say something! Are you trying to worry me to death?” Getting no response, Bu Siqi inevitably grew annoyed.
Teng Liang finally spoke slowly, “The ones closest to Chu Xuan were only three people. Pang Xingwen is missing, we can’t contact Chu Yunze, only this Meng Qi…”
“Junior Brother only said one sentence. He probably doesn’t know the specifics himself.” Bu Siqi said helplessly, “He’s still a core seed at least. It’s not a solution for us to keep following him like this.”
Teng Liang’s voice was low, “Teacher told me before leaving that if little Junior Brother suddenly expresses an opinion on something or gives a inexplicable hint, we must take it to heart.”
“Teacher never told me that. You two are the little darlings, huh.” Bu Siqi felt sour inside.
Seeing Teng Liang silent, Bu Siqi sighed inwardly. If Su Chen were here, he would definitely have comforted him by now. He couldn’t help but say:
“Our little Junior Brother is pretty amazing, but what Teacher said is a bit too mystical. Could it be that Chu Xuan was killed by this Meng Qi?”
“Besides, Junior Brother might not be hinting; maybe you misunderstood.”
“You’re right.” Teng Liang suddenly said. Bu Siqi couldn’t help but say, “We should withdraw.”
“Tracking like this isn’t a solution.”
Bu Siqi: “……”
Big brother, that’s already the third time you’ve said that. So you didn’t hear a word of what I said after?
“I want to test him.” Teng Liang said concisely. Bu Siqi’s expression changed slightly as he hurriedly said, “Big brother, this kid is definitely bait released by the higher-ups. Those following are either the Director or a Chief Judge.”
“It’s Jiang Shumo.” Teng Liang shifted his gaze to the distant crowd, which had shrunk to tiny dots due to the distance.
“You…” Bu Siqi was stunned.
“Contact him. Say the Chief has an urgent summons.” Teng Liang said, “I’ll replace him.”
“Old Jiang is the slyest. He’ll definitely contact the Chief directly.” Bu Siqi shook his head repeatedly, “Tricking him will definitely get us noted. That sanctimonious beast is the most insidious.”
“The Chief is attending an Elder Council meeting. This is already the third time in these ten days; it won’t end soon.” Teng Liang said indifferently.
“How do you know?” Bu Siqi asked in surprise.
Teng Liang pulled up a virtual screen, “I just contacted the Chief, saying I have important intelligence, and he hasn’t replied yet.”
Bu Siqi’s eyelids twitched wildly, his throat moving, “This isn’t good.”
“Little Bu…” Teng Liang suddenly looked at Bu Siqi, his gaze deep.
Bu Siqi felt his hair stand on end and immediately opened his bracelet, saying, “I’ll contact him right now, right now.”
Soon after, Teng Liang walked out from here toward the crowd.
In the crowd, a figure disappeared along with him.
“I heard that Your Excellency Ming Lin forced the Inspector Guards to retreat ten meters this morning, watching them make the arrest.”
“Yeah, Your Excellency Wei Yufan didn’t even speak on his side; he just showed up, and the Inspector Guards retreated on their own.”
“…They say Su Chen, Your Excellency, who just became a core seed this year, didn’t lose any points in several minor frictions.”
“Yeah, only us, disgracing ourselves every day.”
The Judges regrouping the team had their heads down, speaking loudly without avoiding Meng Qi beside them.
Meng Qi wasn’t annoyed, just smiled awkwardly. His heart was equally unmoved. To him, they were just noisy ants, not worth getting angry over.
“Unfortunately, it was still a bit too rushed. I didn’t expect Chong Jingtian to suddenly summon, exposing Chu Xuan’s death. Otherwise, I would have been safer.” Meng Qi sighed inwardly, “And that Su Chen is too vigilant toward Chu Xuan; it’s hard to approach him.”
“This way, there’s no suitable opportunity to get close to him.”
He had originally planned to pin Chu Xuan’s death on Su Chen, then publicly state his belief in Su Chen, defending him and sending charcoal in the snow—an excellent opportunity to gain a person’s trust.
Finally, send subordinates to take the blame, clear Su Chen’s suspicion, and everyone would be happy.
But the development of events was beyond his expectation. Chu Xuan couldn’t just drop dead in Su Chen’s home with a snap. Using indirect means would greatly reduce the effect and alert the other party.
“Think of other ways. Su Chen… why is Heituo paying so much attention to him?” He was extremely curious and wanted to figure it out quickly, “If I’d known Su Chen existed, I wouldn’t have gotten close to Chu Xuan…”
As he was pondering, his expression suddenly changed. Unbeknownst to him, a gray-yellow storm had arisen around them, filling the sky with dust and sand.
These sand particles rotated and rubbed at astonishing speeds, emitting a tooth-grinding screech as they gathered toward the center with terrifying momentum!
“Attack!! Protect Meng Qi!”
A Judge beside him roared, quickly forming a formation to block in front of Meng Qi, their auras bursting out in a measured advance and retreat.
But it had no effect. A large number of Judges were swept into the storm and soon vanished.
Meng Qi stood in the center, seemingly stunned, his expression dazed, but inwardly surprised: “Someone really came to assassinate me? Whose people?”
Only Faceless Ghost Followers knew of his infiltration; other Strange God Followers were clueless. If someone targeted him, it wouldn’t be too unexpected.
“Hmm, wonder who’s protecting me?” He pondered inwardly, also feeling a strange sensation, “Being protected feels pretty good.”
However, even as the storm carrying a rotten stench approached, there was still no movement around him. His whole body was directly flung out, smashing into the previous underground black market.
The buildings here were crude, dust flying everywhere. His chest burned with pain. Meng Qi was baffled inwardly: Where are the people protecting me?
No one is protecting me?
Bang!
A burly figure landed, over three meters tall, like a little giant, emitting a nauseating fishy stench.
“…Corpse Blood Giant? Aren’t these ‘Dark Plague’ Followers supposed to be active in Yuan Du? Why come to Ying Feng?” Meng Qi shrank back, his mind racing.
“Help, help!” He wailed loudly.
He didn’t believe no one was protecting him. He was a core seed!
“Ying Feng’s core seed, what a rare opportunity.” The Corpse Blood Giant approached, its muscles rotting in various places, emitting a nauseating stench.
“Cough, cough…” Meng Qi was shocked and furious. The Court of Justice really didn’t send anyone to protect him? What were they thinking?
“Die for me!” The Corpse Blood Giant raised its huge foot, wriggling white worms on the sole making Meng Qi nearly vomit.
This body had been meticulously modified by him at great cost to pass the Court of Justice’s layers of inspection, nearly perfect disguise.
To be stomped to death by a Corpse Blood Giant would be too much of a loss.
Almost as those white worms touched his cheek, there was still no movement around.
Meng Qi finally erupted. His eyes were covered in hazy gray-white light as he shouted sternly, “Stop!”
The voice layered heavily, majestic and distant.
“You…” The Corpse Blood Giant was stunned, then saw Meng Qi fly out from under its foot, hovering in mid-air. His whole body emitted a hazy divinity and majesty as he rebuked:
“Get out!”
The Corpse Blood Giant was not a Faceless Ghost Follower, so he couldn’t directly command it, but this was enough to prove he was not an enemy of the Strange God.
However, an ugly smile suddenly appeared on the Corpse Blood Giant’s face. Its already massive body swelled further, rotting flesh gradually replaced by bronze skin, the whole person emitting a barbaric aura.
“You really do have a problem!”
“Ancient Spirit Giant? Teng Liang!” Meng Qi’s expression changed in shock.
Realizing something was seriously wrong, this guy had clearly come to probe him.
“Where did I slip up for the Court of Justice to suddenly test me?”
No time to think, a pot-sized fist was coming straight at him.
“Teng Liang, I’ll remember you!” Meng Qi’s eyes were fierce, then his eyes rolled back, and his body fell straight down.
Suddenly, Teng Liang’s giant fist stopped in front of Meng Qi. The gale it stirred shook the surroundings. Meng Qi’s thin body spun with the wind and drifted down, falling silent just like that.
“Dead?” The Ancient Spirit Giant’s giant eyes stared at the corpse on the ground.
……
“Everyone heard it. What’s yours won’t be shortchanged. Go wrap things up.” Su Chen called the Judges outside the hall back and reminded them:
“This place is not simple. Everyone be careful. If you find anything strange, don’t act on your own; report first.”
“Yes!” The crowd was quite excited and entered the cavern one after another, carrying detection tools to draw preliminary maps.
Yang Yan looked somewhat panicked, hiding in a corner of the hall, fumbling all over his body.
“What’s wrong?” Su Chen suddenly appeared behind him, startling him.
“I… I…” Yang Yan’s face was ugly. He glanced around and said lowly, “I suspect I’ve been tampered with by Heituo Followers.”
“Hm?” Su Chen said in surprise, “What makes you say that?”
“Look, you core seeds each lead a team. Except for Wei Yufan who doesn’t care about anything, the others are all searching throughout Ying Feng.”
Yang Yan’s expression wasn’t great, “But these past few days, only we had any gains, and we hit big ones right away.”
“Now that I think about it, it’s pretty strange. Why did I specifically discover those clues, and hitting them led straight to a Heituo Priest? If not for Chief Judge You, we would’ve been in danger this time.”
Uh… Su Chen was speechless. This was the Heituo Followers’ main base in Ying Feng.
He had already narrowed down the basic area and kept leading people around here. If Yang Yan still couldn’t find clues, this Fourth Level Judge might as well go home and farm.
Besides, if he hadn’t guessed someone might be following him, Su Chen wouldn’t have come straight here.
“Indeed strange. Investigate carefully…” Su Chen started to speak but stopped, finally just patting his shoulder and turning to look down at the fissure.
“I wonder if this place has that method to control Divine Blood…”
To avoid suspicion from others, Su Chen had come directly to the area with the strongest sensing. He hadn’t gone to the other two places.
The hidden Heituo Priest here also corroborated that his sensing was accurate, and the so-called method to control Divine Blood had the highest probability here.
Su Chen didn’t go down. Anyway, anything found would pass through his eyes. He just waited above.
