Chapter 523
Chapter 523: Chapter 496: Why (Three more for monthly pass) Chapter 523: Chapter 496: Why (Three more for monthly pass) The next evening.
When Duke An, Du Xinran, was secretly preparing to leave the military camp, he was intercepted.
He had tried his best not to emit any aura, fully covered by two mages of Seventh Realm to avoid alarming anyone, but he was still stopped while crossing the fence.
It was Wang Chenghua, the Commander of the Demon Destruction Bureau of the Imperial City Department, dressed in a suit of golden armor, standing with furrowed brows in front of Duke An, Du Xinran.
“Duke An, where do you intend to go?
Early tomorrow morning, we still have to hurry to Heyue City to clean up the local demons.”@@novelbin@@
The Demon Destruction Bureau Commander Wang Chenghua was controlled by Lin Hao, the Commander of the Spy Detection Bureau, who ordered him to lead various departments to the northern part of Jingzhou to capture the high-ranking members of the Demon Sect, search for the divine artifacts stolen by the Demon Sect, cooperate with the Divine Supervision Bureau to arrest local corrupt officials under the crime of ‘colluding with demons,’ and sweep up all local demons.
Commander Lin believed that the reason why the Bright Holy Sect was prevalent in the area was because of the corrupt bureaucracy in Jingzhou, the politics driven by bribery led to heavy taxes, causing many people to succumb and frequently turn into demons.
And with the rampant local demons further exacerbating the taxation, a vicious cycle formed, forcing the people to rely on the Bright Holy Sect, creating a norm.
Thus, the rise of the local Demon Sect was due to the intentional indulgence of the officials in Jingzhou, an attempt to provoke good people into becoming demons and thereby subvert the Great Song Dynasty, hence they must be captured and brought to the Capital for the Divine Supervision Bureau to interrogate thoroughly.
Commander Wang Chenghua felt this excuse was far-fetched; accusing these Jingzhou officials of corruption was one thing, but suggesting they colluded with the Demon Sect was absurd, wasn’t it?
However, Lin Hao had the authorization from the Divine Envoy, allowing actions against officials below Third-rank without prior approval.
And the Divine above was thoroughly enraged by the Bright Holy Sect, determined to eradicate it!
If the Demon Sect rampant in Jingzhou was not caused by the negligence of local officials, could it be due to the misgovernment by the officials at the court?
Someone had to take responsibility.
It is said that Lin Hao reported this matter to the Divine Envoy Office, and the office approved his report within just half an hour.
Wang Chenghua was also happy to see it happen; he had been serving in the Imperial City Department for over two hundred years, his tenure was not entirely incorruptible, but he absolutely despised demons.
The Demon Destruction Bureau was responsible for clearing the demons of Fifth Realm and above across the world, and in recent years, major demons had frequently appeared in the northern part of Jingzhou, including those of King Rank and even Emperor Rank, causing heavy casualties among his subordinates—with over a hundred brothers killed in battle this year alone.
How could Wang Chenghua not hate them?
Those local officials were extremely greedy, utterly insatiable, and would even try to extract oil from bones.
Besides, this sweeping operation, involving seizing family assets and wiping out whole clans, was also a highly lucrative business.
Commander Lin was very adept at managing relationships, ensuring that the entire Imperial City Department, along with the cooperating Imperial Guard, Feathers Guard, and the three judicial departments led by the Ministry of Justice, could all benefit considerably from the operation.
Although he did not explicitly say so, everyone was initially unaware of the reasons; however, after they completed the first family seizure, they understood the situation and tacitly cooperated, diligently gathering evidence to solidify the cases.
Thus Wang Chenghua took Lin Hao’s request very seriously, willing to sell a favor to the Crown Prince who was ‘prominent without acknowledgment’.
Lin Hao asked him to keep an eye on Duke An, Du Xinran, suspecting that he might be colluding with the Outer Heaven Demon, so he watched closely.
As for the real reason, Wang Chenghua didn’t care and was too lazy to probe deeper.
Seeing the situation, Du Xinran’s mood slightly darkened; he knew Lin Hao would definitely guard against him and wouldn’t let him return to the Capital easily.
And it would be troublesome having his movements discovered by Wang Chenghua; if Luo Wangshu investigated afterwards, he would certainly not let them off.
Their Du Family could only fully rely on the protection under the Emperor’s wings, and also count on the Outer Heaven Demon for support against Luo Wangshu’s retaliation.
Given the current situation, whether they retract or advance, both would lead to the same outcome; only by killing Lin Hao could their family at least have a slight chance of survival.
Du Xinran placed his hand on the sword: “Commander Wang, I have received an emergency warning from my clansmen; they encountered a major demon of the Eight Realms two thousand seven hundred miles to the south, caught in a perilous situation, and have sought my aid.
I need to go and assist them now, are you going to stop me?”
“An Eight Realms major demon?
Do you have concrete evidence?
Why didn’t you report to me?”
Wang Chenghua looked up, glaring at Du Xinran: “You are the Deputy Marshal General of the Feathers Guard, the Second-rank Imperial General, you know the consequences of leaving camp without orders in the midst of battle, abandoning your post.”
Du Xinran squinted his eyes, thinking where could I possibly have concrete evidence!
Even if I had, how could I verify whether it’s true?
And how long would it take to report to you?
His grip on the sword tightened, his eyes flashing with a fierce light: “Commander Wang, are you intending to stop me?”
Wang Chenghua chuckled upon hearing this and stepped aside.
Lin Hao only entrusted him with watching this person and relaying messages timely, attempting to stop him as much as possible.
Wang Chenghua believed he had already fulfilled Lin Hao’s request—beyond that, Wang Chenghua wouldn’t do more; he wasn’t foolish enough to pull chestnuts out of the fire for Lin Hao.
“I must warn you beforehand, Commander Lin has already issued an alert an hour ago, notifying all the anti-demon armies, he has received reliable information that today, the Outer Heaven Demon has a major operation around Luojing.
He strictly ordered all personnel from the Imperial City Department and various generals not to go out without orders, nor to act alone, otherwise, they are responsible for the consequences—”
But before Wang Chenghua could finish his sentence, Du Xinran had already taken several close subordinates and soared into the sky, disappearing into the night after flying out of the fence, leaving only Wang Chenghua’s voice echoing in the empty space.
Wang Chenghua shook his head slightly, he had said all that needed to be said, whatever happened next had nothing to do with him.
Du Xinran didn’t listen to Wang Chenghua at all; hearing the words “Commander Lin,” he knew this was one of Lin Hao’s methods to prevent him from returning to the Capital.
After snorting coldly, Du Xinran quickened his tunneling speed and soon arrived at a desolate valley.
Surprisingly, a cloaked Guardian Battleship was parked here, gradually revealing its shape after Wang Chenghua’s arrival.
Du Xinran and several subordinates flew into it like shadows, and the Guardian Battleship then took off immediately, flying directly towards the Capital.
Sky Extreme Star also possesses many flying magic artifacts, but except for those top-tier Flying Chariots and Flying Boats held by some Divine Envoys, the rest of the artifacts’ tunneling speed is far less than the Outer Heaven Demon’s Guardian Battleship.
Since their destination was Luojing, and the area around it for ten thousand miles was filled with heavy troops, they dared not use the noisy Quantum Migration, but the Starship still took only fifteen minutes to approach Luojing City.
Along the way, they also joined up with three elite forces from the Du Family, bringing the number of Seventh Realm and Eight Realms personnel on board close to twenty.
That Lin Hao, thinking by sending them away from Luojing would suffice, didn’t consider that in this life and death situation, they couldn’t care less about military strategies?
Du Xinran watched the front of the Capital through video projection, his chest filled with an intense desire and killing intent coalescing to the extreme.
Using only the ‘Heavenly Heart Control God Spell’, Blood Saber Lady had at most a forty percent chance of killing Lin Hao.
He must return to the Capital to ensure that tonight, Lin Hao’s casket is thoroughly nailed down.
At this moment, Du Xinran heard a slightly elderly voice behind him.
“Duke An Du Xinran!
It should be them.”
“The appearance is correct, the physique is correct, and their subordinates are all present, the intelligence is accurate!
We can begin now!” The voice following was young and strong, as hard as iron.
Following that, a female electronic voice inside the ship announced: “Quantum Migration initiating!
Coordinates X44514, Y34231, Z55514, distance 323000 kilometers—”
“What is happening?” Du Xinran’s expression changed drastically, puzzled by what was happening?
He knew about the Quantum Migration of the Heaven Demon, which purportedly could bypass the ‘Heavenly Curtain’s Divine Skills; the question was, why would this Starship suddenly undergo Quantum Migration?
Du Xinran noticed that the expressions of the Heaven Demon crew members seated in front seemed off; not only were their eyes dull and soulless, they also appeared very mechanically rigid.
“It’s an Illusion Technique!”
Just at that moment, the Guardian Battleship they were aboard suddenly shook violently.
Du Xinran’s vision blurred for a moment, and when it cleared, the scene he saw through the ship’s bridge window had changed.
Du Xinran then saw a dazzling sword light that not only split the Guardian Battleship in two but also cleaved him into halves.
Du Xinran’s pupils sharply contracted because he saw a man.
The man was wearing a uniform of an Outer Heaven Demon Four-star Marshal, a distinguished and handsome man with a noble bearing.
Du Xinran recognized this person, he was one of the great demons of the Outer Heaven Demons listed on the Great Song’s Imperial List—’Li Xianglong’!
Furthermore, on the Imperial List of Great Song, this Li Xianglong was ranked third!
The question was, why would this person want to kill him?
Du Xinran had already fully sided with the Heaven Demon, holding nothing back.
Why is this happening?
Du Xinran couldn’t figure it out before his consciousness completely collapsed, and his entire body along with his Primordial Spirit, disintegrated into specks of spiritual light.
What do you think?
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