Chapter 200

Chapter 200 – Combining forces

“If there is a Late Spirit Apostle, then he, undoubtedly, is the Black Spirit Messenger. Before this man fell, didn’t he decide to blow himself up!” Hu Chunniang said after a cold laugh.

“He did blow himself up! Is something weird going on with this Black Spirit Messenger?” Liu Ming asked as his facial expression twitched.

“I don’t know too much, I only know that all the Black Spirit Messengers of the Black Spirit Group are Late Spirit Apostle. Furthermore, when they encounter a strong enemy that they cannot defeat, they will blow themselves up and die with the the strong enemy. But after a while, another Black Spirit Messenger with the same number as the one that died will appear in the Black Spirit Group.”The young woman said dolefully.

“There is such an evil thing?” Liu Ming became shocked after hearing what the lady just said.

“Hehe, if it wasn’t so, when the Black Spirit Group appeared in Xuanjing, how could they capture this large area from the other huge forces and also become fear-inspiring throughout Xuanjing until today.” Hu Chunniang said after she resumed her calmness.

“Alright. Senior, do tell me how you knew that the Black Spirit Group assaulted the previous Supervising Disciple of our sect.” Liu Ming asked after pondering in silence for a moment.

“It is because I bribed someone in the Black Spirit Group. Unfortunately, the level of the person I bribed was too low. After the incident, I deduced according to the clues the person provided and guessed that the previous Supervising Disciple was killed by the Black Spirit Group. I was told that the Black Spirit Group sent two messenger and uprooted the previous Supervising Disciple along with the Small Clear Temple.” Hu Chunniang said lightly.

“Does senior know why the Black Spirit Group attacked our previous Supervising Disciple? I don’t believe that without special reason, the Black Spirit Group, as a loose cultivator association, would offend my Barbarian Ghost Sect.” Liu Ming nodded before asking.

“Before I answer, isn’t it time for Junior to explain how you know that the root of Xuanjing’s chaos is in the royal family?” The young lady asked unhurriedly.

“It’s easy, the government official that I saved told me some secrets about the Emperor.”Liu Ming replied without hesitating.

“Are you talking about Emperor Xuan Zhi?” Hu Chunniang listened until here and her facial expression changed.

“Correct, it is indeed the master of this Xuanjing.” Liu Ming replied.

“Good, I’m getting more and more interested in junior’s information. According to the news I heard, the previous Supervising Disciple was killed because the Black Spirit Group heard that he had found an important secret about the group.” The young lady’s eyes shone with light as she said rapidly.

“Killed because of knowing a secret? Looks like the secret discovered by my senior isn’t something small.” Liu Ming said thoughtfully.

“Hehe, most likely so. However, you don’t need to ask me what secret that is as I do not know anything about it. Now, I want to know what’s the secret about the emperor that the official gave you!” Hu Chunniang finally asked the most important question.

“The secret is, Xuan Zhi is not human, maybe he’s been switched.” Liu Ming replied slowly.

“What, how is this possible!” Hu Chunniang’s pupils shrank as she gasped.

“Why, Senior Hu didn’t heard anything about this? Then why were you suspecting the government before?” Liu Ming asked without changing his expression.

“Hmph, I suspect the government because of those old monsters and Gold Spirit Guests.” The young woman replied after her expressions darkened for a while.

“Senior is talking about the cultivators that were trained by the government itself and the couple of Gold Spirit Guests who are at the Late Perfection level! Why is this?” Liu Ming asked, shocked.

“Because these people strangely went into a retreat at the same time and after they went into the retreat, the entire government became strange. Not only did they no longer control the various factions within Xuanjing, they also no longer took notice of the actions of the Marquis’ and Princes, allowing them to crazily absorb loose practitioners from outside of Xuanjing to grow their strengths. This made the entire Xuanjing fall into such disarray.” The young woman gave a sigh.

“If that’s the case, these government cultivators and Gold Spirit Guests have some suspicious areas.” Liu Ming said with some realization.

“Junior won’t believe anything that comes out of the government official, right? What did he say originally and is there any evidences?” Hu Chunniang asked respectfully.

“The original story is very long. When I asked him, I used a couple of Recording Glyphs to copy his words for future use. As for his evidence, Senior Hu will understand after finishing.” Liu Ming said unhurriedly. With the flip of his hand, a faintly white glyph appeared between his fingers and fluttered along with the wind. With a “pu” sound, the glyph transformed into fire as it ignited spontaneously.

At this moment, the voice of Mister Sun resounded in the midst of the fire.

“Since Mr. Qian had rescued me from prison, I will tell you all of the secret that I have concealed deep down in my heart. However, I wouldn't dare to stay in Xuanjing after I tell you this secret. Thus, I hope that Immortal can have my family…”

In less than the time it took to drink a cup of tea, the fire replayed the conversation Liu Ming had with Mister Sun without fail. Then, it stopped sounding after the fire dispersed.

“So that’s how it is. If that’s the case, then the retreat of the government cultivators and Gold Spirit Guests would most likely be because of the non-human Xuan Zhi emperor. If that’s the case, then most of the matters make sense. As for the scale that he talked about, junior must have it. Can I look at it.” Hu Chunniang muttered to herself before looking at Liu Ming with a shred of nervousness.

“Of course there is no problem. I wanted to borrow senior’s experience to judge what kind of monster this scale came from.” Liu Ming naturally did not object and after nodding, he brought out a small jade box. After opening it, the light green scale was quietly sitting there.

Hu Chunniang took over the jade box and carefully took out the scale. With a glint in her eyes, she started to carefully look at it.

After a couple of moments, the girl shook her head as placed the scale back into the jade box and replied to Liu Ming:

“I am extremely regretful and I can’t recognize this scale. However, like what junior said, Xuan Zhi definitely isn’t human.However, this thing is extremely large and if we just return the message back to the sect right now, it might not work out in our favor.”

“I thought like that too. Therefore, I haven’t told too many people about this because if there are any mistakes, not only will we not have done good but rather have many misgivings.” Liu Ming agreed.

“Junior is quite experienced. How about this, let’s not send the message back and first try to get some more evidence before sending a message back to the sect. That way there won’t be another mistake!” The young woman thought for a second before replying.

“Since this matter involves the current emperor and the government, it definitely isn’t something that you or me as Supervising Disciples can individually take care of. Once we get enough evidence, we can just hand it all to the sect.” Liu Ming nodded.

“Alright. However, in order to receive evidence, we probably need to make contact with that Xuan Zhi emperor. Half a month later is the ceremony for honoring ancestors. The person that I am under will go inside the palace and will definitely bring me along. At that time, I’ll see what I can do and find some evidence within the palace.” The young woman suddenly thought of something as she replied.

“Senior Hu is under….” Liu Ming paused before suddenly realizing and asking back.

“It’s the Seventh Prince. A arrogant and wild fellow.” The young woman frowned.

“Seventh Prince, if it’s the ceremony for honoring ancestors by the Royal Family, he will definitely enter the palace. However, under such situations, the palace will be extremely guarded. Senior going in to collect evidence, wouldn’t that be too dangerous…” Liu Ming thought about this before still being worried.

“One will not get tiger cubs unless one enters the tiger cave! If junior does not feel safe, why don’t you try to get into the palace with me. If junior accompanies me, then I would be at ease.” The young woman gave a laugh.

“Then whatever. I am currently a guest in name for the Hundred Spirit House. I fear that I won’t be able to find my way into the palace.” Liu Ming cracked his mouth open for a smile.

“Is junior planning on making contact with the Third Marquis that has a relationship with the Hundred Spirit House?” Hu Chunniang’s smile disappeared as she asked.

“I do indeed have such plans. If I get close to that Third Marquis, me entering the palace shouldn’t be too hard. What, is there something wrong with that?” Liu Ming heard something from her tone as his brow creased.

“Although I don’t have specific evidence, this Third Marquis is not simple. I believe that he might have some connections with the Black Spirit Group?” The young woman paused for a second before speaking uncertainly.

“What, a connection with the Black Spirit Group?” Liu Ming was known to be cool but after hearing this, he gave a huge jump in fright.

“Yes, the person that I bribed saw Black Spirit Messengers walk into the Third Marquis House multiple times and ever since the Black Spirit Group appeared in Xuanjing, the Third Marquis has stayed within his house and not shown himself in public much. In addition, I’ve heard rumors over the years that loose practitioners have entered the Third Marquis House but a portion of them never appeared again. It’s really quiet suspicious.” The young woman said seriously.

“Thank you for senior’s reminder. I know what to do.” Liu Ming’s face darkened for a while before letting out a long breath.

“I also believe with Junior Qian’s intelligence, managing this issue won’t be a problem.” Hu Chunniang gave a light laugh.

“That’s right, does Senior Hu know the situation of the other three Supervising Disciples and whether we should first talk to them.” Liu Ming thought of something else as he asked.

“Those three idiots! If Junior Qian doesn’t want to one day be surrounded and killed by others like your senior, it’s best if you forget that idea.” When the young woman heard this, her face was full of mockery.