Chapter 331: Chapter 134: The Ghost Moon Returns and the Grand Array Opens; a Resentful Spirit is Born and Disaster is Imminent
The food and wine had been served, but he didn’t rush to pick up his chopsticks. He merely held his wine cup, his gaze sweeping nonchalantly past the County Magistrate’s Office outside the window. His lips moved, his voice so low it was nearly inaudible. "Anything? Any movement?"
A faint squirming came from within his wide sleeve.
A small snake, a brilliant cyan from head to tail with delicate scales, quietly poked its head out. Its eyes glinted with Spirituality as it responded with a subtle mental ripple, ’Still the same. Deep within the County Magistrate’s Office, I can sense the auras of eight experts at the Spirit Awakening Realm and one at the Divine Power Realm.’
’But they’re all holed up in the inner hall. They haven’t budged an inch, as if they’re waiting for something.’
Lu Tao’s brows furrowed slightly. He took a sip of wine, using the movement to conceal the grave expression on his face.
He had served as a Constable in Cyan Yang Ancient City for many years and handled countless cases. But secretly surveilling his direct superior, the County Magistrate, and trying to find a way to abduct one of his men for interrogation—that was a first for him.
He couldn’t help but feel a knot of tension, mixed with a sense of the absurd.
All of this had been arranged by the mysterious Ghost-faced Man.
The Ghost-faced Man had ordered him and this supernatural Cyan Snake to work together, find a way to capture one of Zhang Yunpeng’s confidants, and interrogate them for the specific node locations and activation method of the Nine Nether Spirit Locking Array.
It was the only way to prevent the bloody sacrifice the Moon Worship Sect was likely to initiate.
But Zhang Yunpeng was an extremely cautious and cunning man.
The Cyan Snake had long since sensed the Moon Worship Sect experts hiding in the County Magistrate’s Office, but for days, they had remained as still as monks in deep meditation, giving him no opportunity to make a move.
With no other choice, he could only act like a patient Hunter, staking out the perimeter of the Government Office day after day, waiting for his prey to expose a weakness.
’Wait!’
The Cyan Snake in his sleeve suddenly went rigid, its telepathic message laced with urgency. ’Someone’s moving! An aura is heading for the exit... He’s coming out!’
Lu Tao’s focus sharpened instantly, a keen light flashing in his eyes.
’The chance is here!’
Without betraying any emotion, he set down his cup, left a piece of broken silver on the table, and rose to leave the tavern.
The moment he stepped outside, his eyes scanned the street. He immediately saw a man leaving a side entrance of the County Magistrate’s Office. Dressed in commoner’s clothing with the brim of his hat pulled down low, the man kept his head down and hurried off in the direction of North City.
’That’s him!’ the Cyan Snake immediately confirmed. ’His aura is cold and sinister. He’s at least at the Fourth Heaven of the Spirit Awakening Realm!’
A cold smirk touched Lu Tao’s lips.
’Fourth Heaven of the Spirit Awakening Realm?’
He, Lu Tao, was a bona fide expert at the First Heaven of the Divine Power Realm!
With the gap of an entire major Realm between them, dealing with this sort of character would be effortless.
’Finally, it’s my turn to show off a little!’
The man and the snake silently followed.
To their surprise, the man had a clear destination. He headed straight for the North City Gate, apparently intending to leave the city.
"I’ll follow him out of the city and make my move. You stay by the gate," Lu Tao quickly instructed the Cyan Snake.
The Cyan Snake gave a small nod with its head, then slid into a nearby shadow and vanished in an instant.
Aided by his superb Qinggong and Divine Power Realm Cultivation, Lu Tao trailed the man from a safe distance, easily blending in with the sparse crowd as he passed through the North City Gate.
Once they were well clear of the city gate and had entered a secluded patch of woods, Lu Tao hesitated no longer. His figure shot forward, accelerating like a phantom.
The Moon Worship Cultist, at the Fourth Heaven of the Spirit Awakening Realm, felt a vicious gust of wind at his back. He had barely begun to resist when an overwhelming pressure, far surpassing his own, descended upon him, pinning him down as if crushed by a mountain.
He never even saw who it was before a hand chopped the back of his neck. His vision went black, and he collapsed, unconscious.
A short while later, the rather uncomplicated interrogation was finished.
Lu Tao looked down at the captive, who was now a limp heap on the ground. Beads of cold sweat dotted his forehead, and a lingering fear gripped his heart.
’Just as the Ghost-faced Man predicted...’
After the Ghost-faced Man had uprooted Seven Stars Castle and the other hidden Moon Worship Sect strongholds in the city, Zhang Yunpeng had been like an ant on a hot griddle, living in a constant state of panic.
He had waited in silence for three days, hoping for powerful reinforcements from the Moon Worship Sect to arrive from Qing Province, but there was no news.
Left with no other choice, Zhang Yunpeng had resorted to a desperate gamble: sending someone to Dragon Ridge Mountain for aid!
Currently, the Moon Worship Sect’s Divine Sacrifice Envoy, Lingkong Jade, was leading a band of elite cultists deep within Dragon Ridge Mountain. They were searching for a so-called "key" and were also suppressing the trapped Demon Suppression Envoy from the Demon Suppression Bureau, Yue Mankong.
If the person Zhang Yunpeng sent managed to contact Lingkong Jade and convince him to dispatch forces from Dragon Ridge Mountain, they would be able to forcibly activate the terrifying Nine Nether Spirit Locking Array!
At that point, all his and the Ghost-faced Man’s previous efforts, and all the time they had managed to buy, would be for nothing!
Lu Tao suppressed the storm of panic in his heart and continued to press the captive for the specific layout of the Nine Nether Spirit Locking Array within the city.
Unfortunately, the captured cultist’s rank was apparently too low. He only knew the locations of four of the Grand Array’s nodes within the city; as for the other nodes and the location of the array’s core hub, he knew nothing at all.
Having obtained the necessary information, Lu Tao didn’t hesitate. He knocked the man out cold with a single chop and bound him securely with a specially made rope.
He then hoisted the captive over his shoulder, used his Qinggong to stay out of the city gate guards’ line of sight, and slipped back into the city over an inconspicuous, damaged section of the wall. There, he quickly regrouped with the waiting Cyan Snake.
"The situation’s changed..."
Lu Tao concisely explained what he had learned during the interrogation, making sure to relay the specific locations of the four nodes.
"Go find the Ghost-faced Man at once and tell him what’s happened! I’m going to hide this guy in the ruins in North City. If his information turns out to be true, I’ll give him a quick death afterward. If it’s false..."
A cold light flashed in Lu Tao’s eyes. "...I’ll make sure he gets another taste of real torture!"
The Cyan Snake gave a deft nod, committing Lu Tao’s report to memory. With a twist of its body, it became a faint cyan shadow, streaking through the darkness along the eaves and corners of walls, heading swiftly toward the Chu Family’s ancestral home.
...
「The Chu Family Ancestral Home.」
Inside the house, Chu Fan sat cross-legged, his aura circulating around him as he continued to open the meridians within his body.
