...
Lu Ding was briefly stunned.
This really didn’t match your bald-head monk image.
The little monk knows treasure appraisal?
Talented guy!
He switched items, holding up a copper mace. “How about this one?”
Wutian nodded. “It’s alright—just alright.”
Yan Feifan walked over, pulling out a jade plaque he’d just found, engraved with the words Soul Severing Talisman.
“Master Wutian, what about this Soul Severing Talisman? I’m not sure about it. I’ve heard of it, but never seen one. I tried channeling so spiritual energy into it earlier, and sothing felt off.”
Wutian didn’t even touch it—just glanced.
“Amitabha. It’s a counterfeit—barely counts as a mid-tier imitation.”
Yan Feifan looked at the plaque, then at Wutian, a little unwilling to give up. “You won’t even try holding it?”
Wutian tapped the red dot between his brows. “I can see it.”
“Besides, the real Soul Severing Talisman is sealed under evil suppression at Lionheart Temple, so it couldn’t possibly be real.”
Big background hits different, huh?
That line—
Gave Lu Ding a feeling like watching the last emperor livestreaming an antique appraisal, roasting phony relic collectors.
The mont he opened his mouth, it was “Fake.”
Soone would try to argue—“What makes you say that? This is a national treasure! Even the national museum doesn’t have it. It’s been in my family for generations—back in the day…”
Before the guy could even finish—
“It’s fake. I broke the real one when I was a kid.”
Hilarious.
With Wutian joining in, the rest of the process went a lot smoother.
With that little red dot on his forehead,
He was like a human radar system, scanning all over the Di estate like a treasure-hunting dog.
A living, breathing treasure appraisal machine. A professional asset-stripping specialist.
Wherever he passed, nothing survived—nothing escaped his eye.
He even managed to spot sothing in the main beam of the Di family’s ancestral hall.
To sum it up: the stuff was legit. Totally worth raiding.
Lu Ding didn’t hesitate.
Went up and gave it a couple sharp whacks, unmounted the main beam, and hauled it outside.
When the local officials arrived—
Once their identities were verified and they were about to begin collecting—soone asked,
“Investigator Lu, would you like to supervise the handover?”
A reasonable question.
Peace of mind for everyone, avoid disputes later—“You took more,” “We got less,” that sort of thing.
Lu Ding waved his hand. “No need. You guys handle it.”
While speaking, he packed up all the valuable finds he’d marked earlier, one by one.
Then added, “Please help deliver these to Yunhai 749, under my na.”
After a few more polite words, Lu Ding and his team left.
Long after they were gone—
The leader of the local task force finally muttered,
“Guy’s got guts, just leaving it like that. Not worried at all…”
Before he could finish—
His walkie-talkie buzzed with another colleague’s voice.
“Captain, this place has been scrubbed clean. Anything worth even a little, all gone. Feels like it was pressure-washed.”
“Even the Di family’s thousand-year-old yin-soaked timber beam got taken.”
“Place looks like a condemned building now—barely holding up.”
Hearing that—
The captain instinctively glanced at the packed-up beam nearby.
He couldn’t help but chuckle, head tilted. “Guy’s got a f***ing good eye.”
...
anwhile—
Elsewhere.
Beneath the Heishui River.
A grand structure lay hidden.
Schools of fish, shrimp, and crabs swam lazily through.
The view moved inward—
Until, atop a bed in a palace chamber deep within—
A pale-faced youth in plain clothes suddenly sat bolt upright, gasping for air, color slowly returning to his face.
Beside him, a middle-aged man in black handed him a pill.
“Calm your spirit and regulate your Qi. Take it.”
Di She turned to the man. “Uncle Shui, I saw my grandfather while I was cultivating just now. He was covered in blood!!”
“He… he told to run. Run! I… Uncle Shui, did sothing happen to him?”
Just monts ago, after a month of closed-door cultivation, Di She had been suddenly disturbed. His heart clenched with sharp pain—
Then ca the hallucination.
The man hesitated.
He’d planned to keep it from him.
But now that Di She had clearly sensed sothing, and knowing his temperant—
He’d definitely rush back.
If he did, he’d run straight into trouble.
Since it couldn’t be hidden, might as well say it straight.
He took a breath and carefully said, “Listen. Don’t get agitated.”
Di She looked at him, nervous.
The man continued, “Your grandfather… is indeed gone. Actually, your whole family—the Di family—is gone.”
“Because of the Tianli Sect?!”
Di She blurted out.
The man paused at that. “You knew? Were you involved?”
Di She shook his head with a bitter smile. “I knew, but I didn’t get involved. My grandfather wouldn’t let . He—and the entire Di family—kept it from .”
“But I’m not an idiot. Of course I noticed sothing. I just didn’t know who they were at first.”
“Later on, I got acquainted with soone from the Tianli Sect over unrelated matters. Beca friendly. That’s when I learned he was one of the Nine Pillars—Chang Yan.”
“But I didn’t expose it. Since Grandfather didn’t want involved, I pretended I never noticed.”
The Di family wasn’t that big.
If Di She hadn’t figured it out, he’d have to be brain-dead.
He looked up at the man. “Uncle Shui, what happened to my grandfather? Is he okay?”
“Was he arrested? Sentenced? Was it… execution?”
He could guess there’d be a sentence. But execution? That, he had no idea.
He didn’t know the core of the situation. Only that there was collusion—not what exactly was done.
“I need to go back.”
“Enough!”
The man in black shouted, forcibly pushing him back down. His voice was low and firm.
“Your grandfather is gone. Don’t go back.”
“That Corpse-Oil Tree at your house—I helped him plant it. The fusion spell between him and the tree—I cast that too.”
“When you passed out, I sensed it. Your grandfather… is gone.”
Those words struck Di She’s mind like a bolt of lightning.
“Why… Why!? Doesn’t 749 have procedure? Shouldn’t they arrest, investigate, then judge?”
“Why did he have to be… just gone? There was still ti to follow protocol!”
“There were procedures!!”
As he spoke, Di She grabbed the man’s sleeve. “Uncle Shui, what about the others? What happened to them?”
“Sigh…” The man shook his head with a sigh.
Di She’s hand fell limp.
His head lowered, tears slipping quietly down.
“The Di family was wrong. I can atone. I can!”
“I’m just about to step into the Si Ming realm.”
“I can work for 749. I can make ands for the Di family’s sins. Why… why…”
“Why won’t they give even a chance…”
“Why did they wipe out the Di family!!?”
He looked up, eyes bloodshot.
Choking back sobs:
“Uncle Shui, doesn’t 749 preach humane governance? Even Heishuifang gets to keep existing—why… why must my Di family suffer such tragedy?”
“Our legacy… was out of place in this era. We only wanted to survive and carry it on. What did we do wrong!!?”
“If 749 won’t support us, we worked hard on our own. My grandfather took a wrong turn—but isn’t 749 about humanity and reform?”
“If we had gone through procedure, I could have persuaded him. He could have turned in the Tianli Sect and earned redemption!!”
“Why not give us even a sliver of a chance?!”
“Humane governance—what part of it is humane!?”
“749… is nothing but a bunch of… h***-hyping, fake-virtue thieves!!”
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