"Heh—" Xia Hanshi let out a cold snort.
Zhang Hongbo's throat bobbed. He couldn't help but think that between enduring this strike and the previous compensation, Su Chen's anger should have been appeased significantly by now.
Seeing Zhang Hongbo occasionally casting glances at him, Su Chen reasoned that he definitely thought it was him who stirred things up.
Xia Hanshi then said, "As for that little fatty, you can go back now."
The only fatty here was Sun Tai. He shuddered, instantly snapping back to his senses, and hurriedly said, "I'm leaving now, leaving right now."
He left in a hurry, yet still cast a hesitant glance at Su Chen, as if asking if he wasn't going to leave too.
Seeing Su Chen slightly shake his head, Sun Tai felt puzzled inwardly but didn't dare to ask either. He could only tiptoe out, closing the door on his way out.
However, the instant the crack of the door closed, he heard Su Chen speak up: "Teacher—"
'Teacher?' Sun Tai's movements paused slightly. He subconsciously thought: 'Did Minister Yuan return?'
But he immediately denied that thought. Following that, like an electric shock, scenes of what just happened flashed before his eyes.
The incident had occurred so suddenly that he hadn't had time to think things through while inside. Only now did he react, his expression instantly becoming exceedingly colorful.
'The student Chief Inquisitor Xia spoke of is Su Chen?'
'Minister, your house has been robbed!'
...
"Teacher, previously the City Lord was also doing it to apprehend the people from the Evil God Cults, which is understandable."
In the room, Su Chen spoke with a tone of admonition.
Zhang Hongbo coughed dryly, spitting bloody foam into the trash can, and looked up at him in astonishment.
Xia Hanshi's tone was calm. "So, he's still alive. Bring over the talent detector."
"Yes." Forcibly suppressing his discomfort, Zhang Hongbo opened his wristband and issued a command on the virtual screen.
"Elder Xia..." Zhang Hongbo panted a few times, but still bit the bullet and said, "Could you think of a solution? We can't just let the Evil God Cults stir up trouble within Nanfeng City."
"Su Chen—" Xia Hanshi grinned. "Look, it was clearly him who failed to investigate properly in the early stages, but now it has become my problem instead."
"If I can't come up with a solution, does it mean I am disregarding human lives?"
Zhang Hongbo hurriedly explained, "That was not my intention."
"Heh—" Xia Hanshi sneered. "Just because you say it isn't, means it isn't? If real problems occur in Nanfeng City, your teacher will definitely try to shift the blame onto me in order to save you."
"A vast majority of my prestigious reputation was built exactly this way."
He was explaining this for Su Chen's sake. Now that the boy was his student, he couldn't have too deep of a misunderstanding about him.
Su Chen listened silently. He didn't really believe what Gu Bing said, but he also didn't really believe what Old Xia said himself.
Yang Yan and Gu Bing gasped for breath, their expressions hesitant.
They had never coordinated with this person before either. Originally, only the two of them were supposed to come for this investigation, and Xia Hanshi just tagged along temporarily.
Their understanding of Xia Hanshi also came from rumors within the Adjudication Court. Hearing this now, was there an inside story to it?
"When problems occur, we solve the problems." Xia Hanshi said in a deep voice, "Pinning our hopes on others is unrealistic. We don't understand Nanfeng. As for exactly where that Priest is hiding, we still have to rely on you all."
"Based on my understanding of them, the hiding place is definitely sufficiently secretive. If they want to summon the Evil God Vessel, the early-stage preparations will be extremely complicated. It simply cannot be done without being secretive."
"Secretive?" Zhang Hongbo frowned deeply. "Nanfeng is only so big. Where could there be any extremely secretive places?"
'An Evil God Vessel? Black Buddha's?'
Hearing this from the side, a bad premonition grew increasingly strong in Su Chen's heart.
'Could Black Buddha's believers have been continuously funneling power into Nanfeng City, and it turns out to be related to me?'
He pondered inwardly but didn't open his mouth rashly.
Just when Zhang Hongbo wanted to say something else, there was a knock on the door, and his subordinate delivered the talent detector.
"Come on." Xia Hanshi opened it. Su Chen peeked his head over to take a look; it was pretty much the same as the one Old Yuan used last time.
He tossed out the mental talent detection device. The gazes of everyone couldn't help but look over. Last time, Su Chen had already admitted to it, but ultimately it hadn't undergone testing.
Su Chen reached out and caught it. Soon, a rich pillar of Red Gold light surfaced on it.
None of them felt surprised, and Xia Hanshi nodded in satisfaction.
"It's still Red Gold—but it seems a bit richer." Su Chen muttered inwardly, "I thought it would be higher—"
The 【Sage】 and 【Scholar】 combined gave a 100% amplification. Assuming his original mental talent was Brilliant Silver, even with it being doubled, it still hadn't broken past Red Gold.
"Let's test the physical talent as well for the record." Xia Hanshi considered for a moment and tossed out another detection sphere.
Su Chen reached out and caught it.
Everyone had already shifted their gazes away, while Zhang Hongbo pondered exactly what place in Nanfeng was secretive enough.
Xia Hanshi's eyes flickered. Coming here this time, he hadn't expected to find a Red Gold seedling, and moreover, a refugee.
Because of his reputation, there were extremely few Red Gold seedlings whose turn it came for him to select, and those also wouldn't be willing to become his students.
"His temperament doesn't seem bad. If cultivated properly, there might really be a chance—"
As he was pondering, a glint flashed in the corner of his eye. En?
Xia Hanshi abruptly whipped his head around, his sinister eyes glowing with a luminescence akin to ghost fire.
In Su Chen's hand, a brilliant pillar of Red Gold light shone brightly.
"His physical talent is also Red Gold!?" Zhang Hongbo couldn't help but be flabbergasted.
'Old Yuan, oh Old Yuan, you concealed it so deeply. For such a good seedling to be discovered by you.'
'What a pity that he belongs to someone else now.'
Thinking of this, Zhang Hongbo's originally depressed mood actually improved quite a bit.
"Double Red Gold? Truly rare—" Gu Bing's eyes grew distant.
Yang Yan coughed twice, a dull ache throbbing in his abdomen. Elder Xia was still too astute... Having only let him catch a single glimpse of Su Chen, it hadn't even been a few days before he sensed something was amiss.
"So my physical talent was indeed elevated to the Red Gold tier—" Su Chen himself wasn't surprised.
"He is born to be Xia Hanshi's student." Old Xia's emotions had been reined in, but one could still discern the suppressed excitement.
"Congratulations, Elder Xia." Yang Yan was quick to speak, and Gu Bing also supplemented: "The two of you have an affinity arranged by destiny in the unseen world."
Zhang Hongbo also wore a smile. "What belongs to Elder Xia will ultimately belong to Elder Xia."
Su Chen: "—"
Seeing Xia Hanshi in seemingly better spirits, Zhang Hongbo took the opportunity to say, "I've thought of a solution. Please give some advice and see if it works."
"Speak," Xia Hanshi peered at him.
Zhang Hongbo said, "Nanfeng is simply too massive. Our manpower is severely stretched. Dispatching people from Yingfeng indeed won't be in time. Do you think we could mobilize some manpower from the neighboring cities for support?"
"They won't redeploy personnel," Yang Yan frowned. "Even with orders from Yingfeng, they can still shirk it. They can similarly claim that Evil God Cultists have also been discovered on their side."
Going to save others, what if something happened on their own side? If there were casualties, it would be a concrete loss for their own city.
Zhang Hongbo pursed his lips. He himself had handled Yingfeng's deployment orders in such a manner before, so he naturally knew how those people would respond.
"He wants me to play the villain." Xia Hanshi's tone was indifferent. "The City Lords of other cities aren't afraid of Yingfeng settling scores. If they bring out excuses to prevaricate, Yingfeng will at most severely reprimand them a few times. But I am different; I will genuinely show up at their door."