Chapter 82: Double Crimson Gold!
“Heh…” Xia Hanshi snorted coldly.
Zhang Hongbo’s throat rolled, and he couldn’t help but think that after suffering this time, plus the previous compensation, Su Chen’s anger should be mostly vented by now.
Su Chen saw his gaze occasionally glancing toward him, probably assuming it was me who instigated it.
Xia Hanshi then said: “Little fatty, you can go back now.”
This was the only fatty, Sun Tai; he jolted and immediately reacted, hurriedly saying, “I’ll leave right now, I’ll leave right now.”
He left in a hurry, still hesitantly glancing at Su Chen, as if asking why he wasn’t leaving.
Seeing Su Chen shake his head slightly, Sun Tai was puzzled but didn’t dare ask, so he tiptoed out and conveniently closed the door.
However, just as the door was about to close, he heard Su Chen speak up, “Teacher…”
Teacher? Sun Tai’s movements paused slightly; he instinctively thought, had Minister Yuan returned?
But he immediately dismissed it, and then like being electrocuted, the scenes from just now flashed before his eyes.
The incident happened so suddenly that he hadn’t had time to think inside; only now did he react, and his expression became very colorful.
Chief Judge Xia’s student was Su Chen?
Minister, your home has been robbed!
……
“Teacher, the City Lord was also trying to capture the Cult of the Strange God people before, it’s understandable.”
In the room, Su Chen spoke with an advisory tone.
Zhang Hongbo coughed dryly, spat the blood foam into the trash can, and looked up at him in surprise.
Xia Hanshi said calmly, “So, he’s still alive. Bring the Talent Detector.”
“Yes.” Zhang Hongbo endured the discomfort, opened his bracelet, and issued the command on the virtual screen.
“Old Xia…” Zhang Hongbo panted a few times but still braced himself and said: “Can’t you think of a way? We can’t just let the Cult of the Strange God run rampant in South Wind City.”
“Su Chen…” Xia Hanshi grinned, “Look, he clearly failed to investigate early on, but now it’s my problem.”
“If I can’t come up with a solution, does that make me disregard human lives?”
Zhang Hongbo hurriedly explained: “That’s not what I mean.”
“Heh…” Xia Hanshi sneered: “You say it’s not, so it’s not? If something really happens in South Wind City, your teacher will definitely pin it on me to save you.”
“Half of my reputation was built this way.”
He was explaining this to Su Chen; since he had become his student, he couldn’t let there be too deep a misunderstanding.
Su Chen listened silently; he didn’t quite believe what Gu Bing said, but he didn’t quite believe Old Xia’s words either.
Yang Yan and Gu Bing were panting, their expressions hesitant.
They had never worked with this one before; this cleanup was originally just the two of them coming, and Xia Hanshi had tagged along temporarily.
Their understanding of Xia Hanshi came from rumors in the Court of Justice; now it seemed there was more to it?
“If there’s a problem, solve it.” Xia Hanshi said gravely: “Pinning hopes on others is unrealistic. We don’t understand South Wind, so where that Priest is hiding still depends on you all.”
“Based on my understanding of them, the hiding place must be sufficiently secretive. Summoning a Strange God Carrier requires very complicated preparations; it can’t be done without secrecy.”
“Secretive?” Zhang Hongbo frowned tightly, “South Wind isn’t that big; where could there be a truly secretive place?”
Strange God Carrier? Heituo’s?
Su Chen nearby felt an increasingly bad premonition upon hearing this.
He had already absorbed the power from the Strange Artifact several times; this guy descending—could it be for him?
Heituo’s followers had been pouring strength into South Wind City; it might very well be related to him.
He pondered in his mind but didn’t speak rashly.
Just as Zhang Hongbo wanted to say something more, there was a knock at the door; his men had delivered the Talent Detector.
“Come on.” Xia Hanshi opened it; Su Chen peeked in and saw it was similar to the one Old Yuan used last time.
He tossed out the Mental Talent Detection Device, and everyone’s gazes turned; Su Chen had admitted it last time, but it hadn’t been tested after all.
Su Chen reached out to take it, and soon, a thick Crimson Gold light pillar appeared on it.
No one was surprised; Xia Hanshi nodded in satisfaction.
“Still Crimson Gold… but it seems denser.” Su Chen muttered inwardly, “I thought it would be higher…”
Sage and Scholar together give 100% boost; even if his base Mental Talent was Brilliant Silver, doubled, it still didn’t break through Crimson Gold.
“Let’s check Physical Talent too, for the record.” Xia Hanshi thought briefly and tossed out another detection orb.
Su Chen reached out to take it.
Everyone had already looked away; Zhang Hongbo was thinking about where in South Wind could be secretive enough.
Xia Hanshi’s eyes flickered; he hadn’t expected to find a Crimson Gold seedling on this trip, and a refugee at that.
Due to his reputation, very few Crimson Gold seedlings were available for him to pick, and none wanted to become his student.
“Disposition seems decent; with proper cultivation, there might really be an opportunity…”
He was pondering when his peripheral vision flashed—hmm?
Xia Hanshi suddenly turned his head, his eerie eyes lighting up with a ghostly fire-like glow.
In Su Chen’s hand, a brilliant Crimson Gold light pillar shone brightly.
“Physical Talent is also Crimson Gold!?” Zhang Hongbo was stunned.
Old Yuan, oh Old Yuan, you hid it well; such a great seedling was dug up by you.
Too bad, it’s theirs now.
Thinking of this, Zhang Hongbo’s previously sullen mood actually improved a lot.
“Double Crimson Gold? Truly rare…” Gu Bing’s eyes were dazed.
Yang Yan coughed twice, his abdomen faintly aching; Old Xia was too sharp, only letting him see Su Chen once, and within days, he sensed something was off.
“Physical Talent has reached Crimson Gold Level…” Su Chen himself wasn’t surprised.
“Born to be my Xia Hanshi’s student.” Old Xia had reined in his emotions, but the suppressed excitement was still audible.
“Congratulations, Old Xia.” Yang Yan quickly spoke up; Gu Bing added: “The two of you were destined to meet.”
Zhang Hongbo also smiled: “What belongs to Old Xia will end up being Old Xia’s.”
Su Chen: “……”
Seeing Xia Hanshi’s mood seem better, Zhang Hongbo seized the chance: “I’ve thought of a way; see if it works.”
“Speak.” Xia Hanshi glanced at him.
Zhang Hongbo said: “South Wind is really too big; we’re short on manpower. Dispatching from Ying Feng won’t be timely. Could we transfer some manpower from nearby cities for support?”
“They won’t send people.” Yang Yan frowned, “Even with Ying Feng’s orders, they can stall, claiming they’ve found Cult of the Strange God people on their side too.”
Going to save others—what if something happens here? Any casualties would be real losses for us.
Zhang Hongbo pursed his lips; he had used such tactics himself against Ying Feng’s orders and knew how they would respond.
“He wants me to be the bad guy.” Xia Hanshi said indifferently, “Other City Lords aren’t afraid of Ying Feng settling accounts; they can give excuses to stall, and Ying Feng will at most reprimand them. But I’m different; I really will come knocking.”
