A grave expression crossed Wang Cheng’an’s face as he watched the Grandmaster and the Inspectorate officers flee.
In his view, the Grandmaster had likely fled because he saw the Celestial Human beside him, but the problem was...
’If I’m not mistaken, wasn’t that Sakata Kuma?’
That ant Sakata Heavy Industries was involved in this incident. Soone high up in East Sea City was acting with such impunity, committing who-knows-what kind of evil, that they would even try to kill an Inspector like him!
They even brought out the pretense of suppressing an Evil Cult!
As these thoughts raced through his mind, Wang Cheng’an, still trembling, bowed to Yan Huang, Lu Xuan, and Yan Jiangxue.
He said in a low, serious voice:
"Thank you, all three of you, for saving my life. I will never forget the kindness you’ve shown today!"
"No need," Yan Huang said lazily. "I had no intention of helping you. If you want to thank soone, thank Xiaolu and my darling girl."
Wang Cheng’an hurriedly tried to bow again, but Lu Xuan stopped him.
He said:
"I couldn’t just stand by and watch soone suffer for upholding the duties of an Inspector. Why thank ?"
Wang Cheng’an nodded with difficulty and caught his breath.
"May I ask for your nas? So I can rember you. You may not care for the favor you’ve granted, but I cannot forget the debt I’ve received!"
"Lu Xuan. And this is Yan Jiangxue."
The four of them bowed in thanks together. Wang Cheng’an’s expression was sincere.
"Brother Lu, I overheard just now that you have an interest in a governnt career. If you’re willing, I can recomnd you for the position of Inspector..."
"No, thank you." Lu Xuan waved his hand dismissively. "Inspectors have to travel to different cities, and I don’t want to leave East Sea for now. But I appreciate the offer, Brother Wang."
’The secrets of the super ruin under the slums have yet to be uncovered. Now is not the ti to leave East Sea.’
"Alright then. Here is my contact information. If either of you ever need anything, I will go through fire and water for you!"
"Alright, alright," Yan Huang yawned. "That’s about enough. Let’s all go our separate ways... A piece of advice for the four of you: leave East Sea City first. Otherwise..."
Wang Cheng’an nodded decisively.
"Senior, I understand. We’ll leave right away... I will report what happened in East Sea City and return with an inspection team. I’d like to see if certain parasites in East Sea City still dare to act so brazenly then!"
With that, he didn’t linger. After bowing in thanks once more with his three companions, he departed in a hurry.
After they had gone, Yan Huang finally turned his gaze to Lu Xuan, a profound look in his eyes.
He said, as if casually:
"Xiaolu, it seems Uncle Yan misjudged you. To have already opened the Three Viscera at such a young age, your future is promising."
Lu Xuan played dumb.
"Xiaoyan is much more impressive than ; she’s opened the Four Viscera."
"But you struck down a Five Viscera Perfection Grandmaster as a Three-organ Grandmaster," Yan Huang remarked, still sounding casual. "That Dharma you used just now, the one that shrouded you in darkness, was quite extraordinary. Cultivate it well. If you are fated to achieve the rank of Earth Immortal or even True Immortal in the future, it could very well beco a Supre Dharma."
Lu Xuan felt a little guilty and continued to play dumb, putting on a simple-minded look.
"Oh, that. An elder taught it to . I don’t know much of it yet."
’It wouldn’t matter if Uncle Wu knew, since I was trying to save him in the first place, but Uncle Yan...’
Thinking of that sword strike, Lu Xuan felt even more guilty.
Yan Huang, however, looked thoughtful. ’An elder, you say?’
’It seems this Xiaolu’s background is much greater than I imagined...’
"Alright." He cald himself and said flatly, "Even though today’s al wasn’t exactly perfect, it’s over. I have so matters to attend to at the company, so I have to leave East Sea City tonight."
"So soon!"
Yan Jiangxue pouted, looking a little unhappy.
"It’s alright, it’s alright, my darling girl. Dad will co see you as soon as I have free ti... Besides, you have Xiaolu now, don’t you?"
As he spoke, a jealous expression appeared on Yan Huang’s face, his heart aching.
Lu Xuan just smiled foolishly, not interrupting or saying much, knowing that the less said, the better.
"Alright then!" The young woman pouted, then her eyes curved into crescents as she waved at Lu Xuan. "Xiaolu, Xiaolu, I’m going back with my dad now. We’ll... see you at school tomorrow?"
"Yeah, see you at school!" As he spoke, Lu Xuan pulled the bag of small pearls Yan Jiangxue had given him from his pocket and grinned brightly. "Thanks for the snack!"
"You too! I want more sugar-roasted chestnuts tomorrow!"
Beside them, Yan Huang, who had appeared calm, felt his eye twitch. He stared at the bag of small pearls, his heart bleeding.
’So many Flood Dragon Pearls... given away just like that??’
’What a spendthrift... a real spendthrift...’
... ... ...
"You almost fucking killed , do you know that?!" Sakata Kuma roared into the phone. "Do you know who was standing there? Do you have any fucking idea?!"
On the other end of the line, the old man seed to grow angry.
"Sakata Kuma, I am not your subordinate! A Celestial Human being there was unexpected... Besides, would a Celestial Human dare to attack you? You’re a man from Sakata Heavy Industries, after all!"
"Heh!" Sakata Kuma roared. "Celestial my ass, you stupid fucker! Piss off!"
Unable to restrain himself, he squeezed slightly and crushed the phone in his hand.
Sakata Kuma collapsed into his chair, drenched in a cold sweat. His face was deathly pale. Coming face-to-face with the chairman of Longque Technology had nearly scared the Three Souls and Seven Spirits right out of him.
After a long while, Sakata Kuma managed to compose himself, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes.
’A quick glance... he seed to be standing with his daughter, and... wasn’t that the kid from the slums?’
’His na is Lu Xuan, right? So Longque Technology really is backing him.’
After pondering for a long ti, Sakata Kuma suddenly let out a breath of relief and muttered to himself:
"Forget it. In the next few months, big shots from all over will be coming to East Sea. There’s nothing left for to do here. The matter of the ruin isn’t sothing I can handle anyway."
"By my calculations, my subordinates should have bought the cetery by now. All I needed to do was secure the initial advantage. From now on, it has nothing to do with ."
... ... ...
Outside East Sea City, a Hovercar sped along.
"Cheng’an," a gentle-voiced woman in the car said softly. "The Inspectorate arrived too quickly today. It’s highly likely they’re connected to the people behind this."
Wang Cheng’an, who was recuperating from his injuries, opened his eyes and said quietly:
"Yes. When I go back and bring an inspection team, we’ll start our investigation with the Inspectorate!"
With that, his expression turned serious.
"I also received intel before that among the personnel changes reported by the East Sea Inspectorate, there was a very strange appointnt for a deputy director. The appointee wasn’t originally from the Inspectorate, which is highly suspicious. We’ll use him as our starting point!"
Beside him, Wang Honghua said, still shaken:
"It’s a good thing we ran into Brother Lu and the others this ti..."
"You have the nerve to say that?" Wang Cheng’an scolded. "What was your attitude toward them before? It’s lucky I was there to keep you from offending them... Don’t be so arrogant when you’re out and about from now on!"
"I know, cousin!" Wang Honghua lowered his head, then said indignantly, "I’m going to tell my aunt to assign you a large inspection team, cousin! We can’t let this matter slide!"
Wang Cheng’an did not object, rely nodding slightly.
... ... ...
Humming a little tune, Lu Xuan skipped back to the slums.
Just as he entered the slums, he heard a commotion. Neighbors were standing in the narrow street, all talking amongst themselves with happy expressions on their faces.
Curious, he trotted forward.
"Uncle Zheng, what’s the happy occasion?"
Butcher Zheng, who was chatting with Old Chen the chestnut seller, turned around and froze for a mont.
"Lu the Kid..."
The happy look on his face instantly faded.
"Uncle Zheng?" Lu Xuan asked, puzzled.
Butcher Zheng fidgeted for a mont, then spoke in a low voice:
"This afternoon, the people from Sakata Heavy Industries ca again about the cetery. But this ti they gave every family money—quite a lot, ten thousand for each grave plot. And they said they’d move the old graves to a new cetery, so we all agreed..."
"That’s great," Lu Xuan said, scratching his head. "If the old graves can be moved safely and we get money for it, that’s definitely a good thing."
Butcher Zheng coughed twice, looking evasive.
"Lu the Kid, I collected your share for you. I’ll give it to you later... Oh, right, the graves have already been moved."
"Moved where? I need to go pay my respects to Grandpa Chu today."
Butcher Zheng fell silent.
Lu Xuan sensed sothing was wrong, and his expression hardened.
"Uncle Zheng, what exactly happened?"
Butcher Zheng stamred and hawed. After a long mont, he sighed deeply, a look of disbelief on his face.
He said:
"It’s just... when they were moving the graves today, they discovered... Old Chu’s grave is empty."
"What?!" Lu Xuan’s voice shot up an octave.
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