The Ming Temple wants someone? Him? The group of people working in the torture chamber looked at each other in shock and suspicion, then turned their gazes one after another to Yu Qing, whose eyes were unfocused and whose seven orifices were bleeding.
Xi Qingyue paused briefly, then said in a deep voice, “They say they want someone, so we just give them one? On what basis?”
Qi Duolai sighed, “They dare to come ask for someone, so naturally they have a reason. The person who came over there said they have been investigating the truth between this Tanhua scholar and the murder of the merman. They learned that this person has two accomplices by his side and were about to verify again. Suddenly, they heard that there is a traitor within the Sea Suppression Bureau, fearing that the three of them would be silenced. Therefore, they urgently sent someone to take the three of them over. They said the merman murder happened first, so everyone must be reasonable. Everything must have a first come, first served order.”
Xi Qingyue sneered coldly, “How convenient. They didn’t look for them earlier or later, but come to take them after they fell into our hands. What kind of trick are they playing?”
Qi Duolai said, “Saying these things is useless. They have spoken to this point. Anyway, I have also come to notify you in time. Whether or not you want to kill the three of them, you decide for yourself. Let me remind you again, they are worried that a traitor within the Sea Suppression Bureau will silence the three of them. If you kill them now, I am afraid the Ming Temple will come to the Sea Suppression Bureau to take you away for interrogation. Once you enter the Ming Temple, a white bone courtyard wall separates life and death. Outsiders cannot interfere. At that time, whether you live or die, even the Fifth Cave Master may not dare to guarantee.”
Hearing this, the group of subordinates were all terrified. They all knew that the Ming Temple’s successive generations of Ming monks and the Thousand Streams Mountain’s successive generations of Great Sages had a pact of mutual respect.
In short, the Thousand Streams Mountain does not use its power to oppress people, and the Ming Temple will not command the sea clans to cause chaos. They maintain the normal order of this Nether Sea region, and everyone lives in peace.
There was no need for Xi Qingyue to give any more orders. The group of subordinates, looking as if they were doing it for Xi Qingyue’s own good, hurriedly lifted the heavy iron plate pressing down on Yu Qing and rattled as they unbound the iron chains.
Xi Qingyue said in a deep voice, “Is this the Commanding Officer’s intention?”
Qi Duolai replied, “The Commanding Officer has not yet said whether to release them or not. He only told me to come notify you quickly. He said not to let you cause any deaths among these three.”
Hearing that it had not been decided to release them, Xi Qingyue flung his sleeves and left. “If we hand them over, we hand them directly to the Thousand Streams Mountain. I will go find the Commanding Officer to reason.”
Seeing him stride away, Qi Duolai simply shook his head and did not chase after him. He knew that the other person also had his own pressures. With something like this happening at the Langhuan Residence, if he could not give an explanation, it would be a slap in the Fifth Cave Master’s face. Naturally, the other person wanted to share the burden for his superior.
Turning back, he saw Yu Qing groaning and trying to struggle up. Qi Duolai waved his hand to signal someone to help him up.
Immediately, someone helped Yu Qing up. But after letting go, Yu Qing was like a person drunk, his gaze unfocused, his steps staggering. Suddenly, his legs went soft and he fell to his knees with a thud. A large mouthful of startling blood “puffed” out from his mouth. He fell to the ground with a clatter, no longer moving, his bloodshot, red eyes still wide open.
Qi Duolai was greatly alarmed. He immediately went over and knelt on one knee, reaching out to examine him urgently. After a moment, he slowly withdrew his hand, pulling at the corner of his mouth, and sighed, “It is said this fellow wanted to abandon literature for martial arts. This time, I am afraid he will have to abandon martial arts and go back to literature.”
His examination result was that the person was severely injured, his internal organs all seriously damaged. As long as he received timely treatment, there should be no life-threatening danger. Currently, he had only fainted. However, there was one result that for a cultivator, would probably be very hard to accept.
This Tanhua scholar’s meridians for circulating energy and qi were severely damaged. Saying they were shattered would not be an exaggeration. His entire cultivation being destroyed was secondary, his cultivation foundation was probably ruined.
Hearing him say this, the others also immediately reached out to examine him. Afterwards, they all withdrew their hands sheepishly, understanding what the Chief Inspector’s words meant.
“Keep a good watch on him. If something really happens, I am afraid your Great Chief Guard will have a hard time.”
After leaving these words, Qi Duolai picked up Yu Qing’s interrogation confession and looked at it. He found there was not much content, because he had not confessed anything at all. After thinking for a while, he put down the items and left.
On the rooftop terrace, Zhu Xuan, who had not had a peaceful night, stood with his hands behind his back, looking at the fish-belly white on the distant horizon.
The night had passed like this. It was almost dawn.
Xi Qingyue found Zhu Xuan. After saluting, he was about to say something, but was stopped by Zhu Xuan raising his hand. He pointed to the sky.
Xi Qingyue followed his gaze and saw a flying bird swooping in. It transformed into a human form in mid-air and landed, respectfully presenting a secret letter with both hands.
Zhu Xuan took the secret letter, opened it, and looked at it. He nodded slightly. After waving his hand to signal the messenger to withdraw, he then asked, “What did you want to say?”
Xi Qingyue said, “Commanding Officer, the Ming Temple’s intention in asking for someone is very obvious. The case of the merman’s murder is purely an excuse. I think they just want to protect him.”
Zhu Xuan put his hands behind his back and laughed, “An excuse? So what if it is an excuse? Having an excuse is already quite good, already giving us a lot of face. Do you think it is hard for the Ming Temple to want to protect a person or two? As long as it is not a matter that pierces the heavens, do you think the Great Sage would not give the Ming Temple face? If he does not use an excuse and directly comes to our door with a stern face to ask for someone, what can we do with our identities?”
Xi Qingyue pursed his lips tightly for a while, unable to refute, but still said, “Commanding Officer, this Tanhua scholar is highly suspicious. The two ‘White Gauze’ cases before and after definitely cannot be separated from him.”
At this time, Qi Duolai arrived and stood with his hands clasped beside Zhu Xuan.
Zhu Xuan raised his voice a few notches, with a warning tone, “Suspicion is just suspicion, it cannot be used as evidence. Do you have evidence? Now that his backer has made a move, it is not up to us to do as we please. Evidence, what I want is evidence. Can you produce evidence now? As long as you can produce evidence, I will not hand the person over to the Ming Temple. Do you have any?”
Xi Qingyue said, “Give this subordinate a little more time. I will find a way to pry their mouths open.”
Zhu Xuan said, “Nonsense! Do you think they came to fish people out before dawn for no reason?”
Xi Qingyue took a deep breath. “This subordinate suggests handing the person over to the Thousand Streams Mountain first. If the Thousand Streams Mountain wants to hand the person over to the Ming Temple, then we have nothing to say. At that time, whatever responsibility there is will not fall on us.”
Zhu Xuan’s eyes widened. “Are you still thinking about how to give an explanation to the Fifth Cave with those petty tricks of yours? Didn’t I say a whole bunch earlier, was it all for nothing? Don’t you know we are racing against time? I said we need to settle the case before the Earth Mother gets involved in this matter. Can you push off responsibility by sending people here and there? If the Earth Mother really gets entangled, even if we send ten thousand people to the Thousand Streams Mountain, there is no way to give an explanation to the Thousand Streams Mountain.”
Xi Qingyue was also a bit angry. “First someone pops out to fish people out, then another pops out to fish people out. First a local tyrant was fished away, and now this Tanhua scholar is about to be fished away too. The two people with the greatest suspicion are both released. What is there left to investigate, and what can be used to settle this case?”
Zhu Xuan also fell silent, frowning in thought. This was the difficulty of his position. Being close to the central power, there were too many big shots, too many people with connections. Coordinating in the middle was very hard.
Qi Duolai on the side suddenly said, “Let’s just use that Tu Xukui to take the blame and close the case.”
As soon as these words came out, Zhu Xuan and Xi Qingyue both looked at him.
Zhu Xuan could not help but ask, “Tu Xukui? Who is that?”
Qi Duolai replied, “An elder of the Zheluo Mountain, also Wang Xueting’s sworn brother, the most trusted of Wang Xueting’s trusted followers. He has no backing or background. From now on, Wang Xueting was killed by him!”
Xi Qingyue said, “Isn’t this just making things up?”
Qi Duolai retorted, “Where am I making things up? I just looked at that Tanhua scholar’s confession. When he entered Wang Xueting’s room, he was searched. The fire starter used for the poisoning could not have been brought in. Who could easily set up that killing move by Wang Xueting’s side? Naturally, it would be someone who could easily enter and exit Wang Xueting’s room. Naturally, it would be someone who was familiar with Wang Xueting’s habits to make a move. Tu Xukui is the most suitable.”
Xi Qingyue scoffed, “You said it yourself, he is the most trusted of Wang Xueting’s trusted followers.”
Qi Duolai said, “Because Wang Wentian cannot survive, the Wang family has no successor. If Wang Xueting also dies, those fat and good things on Zheluo Mountain, Brother Xi Qing, think for yourself.”
“…”
Xi Qingyue was speechless.
Zhu Xuan pondered for a moment and nodded. “Make it meticulous.”
Qi Duolai said, “That Tu Xukui has already been taken down by Brother Xi Qing. He can now be manipulated at will. We can completely create another interrogation that we want. By the way, invite the people from the Sinan Office and the Great Enterprise Office in the Mirage City to listen in secret from the shadows. Then, have the people caught by the Starfall Island corroborate that Wang Xueting relied on the Earth Mother’s power to act recklessly in this area. After that, well, it would be that Tu Xukui heard we were going to hand him over to the Sinan Office and did not want to suffer anymore. To seek a quick end, he took his own life.” He raised his hand and made a slitting motion across his throat.
Xi Qingyue looked coldly sideways at this colleague. He also knew this person had done this kind of thing many times at the Sea Suppression Bureau. Truly, he was very familiar with the routine.
Zhu Xuan’s brows relaxed. He slowly turned his head to look at Xi Qingyue. “The people from the Ming Temple are still waiting. Go release them!”
Xi Qingyue wanted to say something but stopped. He found that whatever he said would be nonsense. In the end, he cupped his hands and withdrew.
With no one else around, Qi Duolai voiced his concern. “Other matters are easy to handle, but with Great Master Liang, he wants to push this Tanhua scholar to death. He wants to pin the crime on the Tanhua scholar. Is it appropriate for us to do this?”
Zhu Xuan handed him the secret letter in his hand to look at. “As soon as the Ming Temple’s people came, I had someone urgently contact Great Master Liang. You will know from the reply. Once the Ming Temple made a move, even Great Master Liang did not dare to clash head-on. He fished away Qing Ya, not letting the Ming Temple take away A Shiheng. If the Ming Temple bit down on this point, he would not be able to withstand it. He told us to handle it ourselves and to settle the aftermath properly. Sigh, when you meet someone even more unreasonable, you shrink back.”
Qi Duolai sighed and returned the secret letter.
Zhu Xuan crushed the secret letter into fine powder. There was suspicion between his brows again. He muttered to himself, “If the Ming Temple wants to fish someone out, even if A Shiheng’s guilt is confirmed, they can still take him away. I feel the Ming Temple is very urgent this time. It is a bit unlike the Ming Temple’s style of staying out of worldly affairs.
It seems to be using the grudge between the Earth Mother and the Thousand Streams Mountain, as if they want to completely remove A Shiheng from this matter, as if they want to ensure A Shiheng retreats completely unscathed. And those reasons for fishing people out, one set after another, I don’t know if it is my imagination, but why do I feel like it doesn’t seem like the Ming Temple is handling this matter?”
Qi Duolai said, “I am afraid A Shiheng cannot retreat completely unscathed. Xi Qingyue struck rather heavily and has already severely injured him. A Shiheng’s entire cultivation and cultivation foundation are probably ruined.”