Soone was already knocking at the door. Su Chen, feigning a look of confusion, opened it.
"Sir Su Chen, Judge Lei has summoned you urgently..." the person said with a grave expression.
’Summoning ?’ Su Chen’s heart skipped a beat. He asked, "What’s wrong?"
"Please, co with ," he said, hastily leading Su Chen to the dical departnt.
A large group of Judges had already gathered there. The nearly collapsed dical departnt was under a tight lockdown, and the search area was gradually being expanded.
He made his way into the dical departnt and saw Lei Tieyan, his face grim.
"Chief Judge..." Su Chen called out.
Lei Tieyan glanced at him, noticed his weak aura, and said coldly, "Still training?"
"Yes," Su Chen nodded.
"The Black Tuo Followers were executed today. Why didn’t you go?"
"Uh..." Su Chen was baffled. "Why would I go?"
Lei Tieyan frowned. "The execution was attacked. Several Core Seeds went. Why didn’t you?"
"I’m only a Tier Three Professional. I wouldn’t have been much help, and I might have even wasted manpower on protecting ," Su Chen said, shaking his head.
"Do not lose your courage," Lei Tieyan said flatly.
’Su Chen was speechless. He’d thought the old man suspected him, but it turned out he was just annoyed that Su Chen had been lazing around at ho.’
He didn’t pay it any mind. He looked around and asked hesitantly, "Chief Judge, what happened here? And where is Judge Wei?"
"We don’t know the specifics of what happened," Lei Tieyan said, shaking his head. He looked down at the charred bone fragnt clutched in his hand. "As for Wei Yinsuo, he’s most likely dead."
"Dead!?" Su Chen exclaid. "How is that possible? What happened? Was it an accident or foul play?"
"We can’t rule out the possibility of foul play. Stay with until the Chief returns," Lei Tieyan said gravely.
’He called here because he’s afraid sothing will happen to ...’ Su Chen had a strange feeling, but he nodded solemnly.
The sky had returned to normal. Chong Jingtian should have things more or less resolved.
"...Teacher, Teacher..."
A wail ca from far away, growing closer. It was a Judge, scrambling and crawling.
"Jiang Baorui!" A sharp glint flashed in Lei Tieyan’s eyes. With a single reach of his hand, he hauled the Judge up.
"Teacher, Teacher..." Jiang Baorui seed to have sensed sothing. He prostrated himself on the ground, weeping bitterly, a tal box clutched in his hand.
Su Chen watched from the side, silent.
"Shut up!" Lei Tieyan snapped, his eyes fixed on him. "Where are the n who were protecting Wei Yinsuo?"
"Teacher..." Jiang Baorui just kept wailing, making a vein throb on Lei Tieyan’s forehead. A sharp slap across the face finally silenced him, reducing his cries to quiet sobs as he began to explain in a low voice:
"Teacher told to go to the canteen to prepare food. The Molten Rock Beast Heart has a complicated preparation process, so I was waiting the whole ti."
"What about the others? Where’s Xue Fei?" Lei Tieyan pressed.
"Teacher sent them out as reinforcents," Jiang Baorui sobbed.
"Wei Yinsuo sent them?" Lei Tieyan asked, his gaze sharp with scrutiny.
"Yes. Xue Fei was reluctant to go, but Teacher scolded him until he left," Jiang Baorui said, his voice breaking. "And just before they left, Teacher specifically told to stay."
"Teacher..." He started wailing again.
Annoyed, Lei Tieyan had him taken away. He mused in confusion, "Wei Yinsuo deliberately sent his protection away. How could this be?"
If soone had made a move in secret, it couldn’t have been this coincidental. No one could have predicted what Wei Yinsuo himself was thinking.
Furthermore, it looked more like Wei Yinsuo was planning sothing himself, sending away not only Xue Fei but also Jiang Baorui on an errand.
But in the end, he was the one who died.
He couldn’t have sent everyone away just to kill himself, could he?
Lei Tieyan’s brows were furrowed in thought, but he was completely baffled.
"What are your thoughts?"
He suddenly looked over at the silent Su Chen, his gaze carrying a hint of a test.
"Judge Wei was always thinking of the Judicial Court and the safety of Ying Feng," Su Chen lanted.
Lei Tieyan’s expression faltered, but this was a Core Seed, after all. With a hint of guidance, he asked, "If I put you in charge of this investigation, where would you start?"
"Investigate what?" Su Chen asked, looking lost.
"Investigate why Wei Yinsuo died!" Lei Tieyan snapped, his voice laced with frustration.
"Shouldn’t we first verify if what Jiang Baorui said is true?" Su Chen asked, confused. "Besides, there’s no body. Are you really sure he’s dead?"
Lei Tieyan froze. ’This kid... he’s managed to trap with my own questions.’
Just as he was about to say sothing more, his expression suddenly changed. He whipped his head toward another direction, where a flash of fire appeared, followed by a deafening roar.
"Again? Are they trying to tear this place apart!?"
Lei Tieyan was truly furious. He shot into the air, summoning a storm that reached for the heavens. The imnse pressure it generated sent even Su Chen flying.
"That’s... the direction of the research departnt!"
"What is with today? One incident after another."
The nearby Judges had grave expressions as they looked toward the billowing smoke.
"Are others making trouble in the shadows?"
Su Chen was alard and suspicious. His expression shifted as he looked toward the sky again, gradually realizing sothing. ’Is this a diversion?’
’The Judicial Court planned to use Priest Black Tuo to lure out other Believers.’
’The enemy just played along, letting the Judicial Court think they’d hooked a big fish.’
’But their real target was inside the Judicial Court all along.’
’Did the Judicial Court really fall for it that easily?’
Su Chen’s brow furrowed. "The research departnt... what could they possibly have in there?"
...
anwhile, at the execution site for Priest Black Tuo, the area was in shambles. Cracks spiderwebbed across the ground, and the air was thick with lingering Elental Power. Despite this, there were almost no casualties.
"I can’t believe a single Priest Black Tuo drew out a Crimson Priest and a Priest of the Faceless Ghost..."
Chong Jingtian descended from the sky, a confused look on his face, carrying a corpse in each hand.
"Are these Deceitful God’s Followers collaborating so closely?"
"Chief, the scene is mostly secured," You Shan reported as she approached, her voice full of excitent. "We were fully prepared. Seventeen were injured, but there were no deaths."
"At this rate, the Deceitful God’s Followers within Yingfeng City have been all but wiped out. That should finally shut up those people in the Elder Council."
The incidents with Zhu Xuan and ng Qi might not have been felt by the lower and middle ranks, but the Judicial Court had lost a great deal of face among the upper echelons of Ying Feng.
Chong Jingtian’s brow remained tightly furrowed. He had been too busy dealing with the Deceitful God’s Followers head-on to think things through, but now, the more he thought about it, the more sothing felt wrong.
He scanned the area, watching the Judicial Court mbers coming and going, noting that many were of Director or Deputy Director rank.
Just then, soone rushed over to report, their face anxious, "Chief, a ssage just ca from headquarters! The dical departnt and the research departnt have been attacked!"
You Shan’s expression changed instantly. Chong Jingtian, however, had no ti for anything else. He transford into a streak of light and, with a sonic boom, shot straight toward the Judicial Court headquarters.
Soon, he was back at the Judicial Court, landing in front of the dical departnt, which had been reduced to ruins.
"Chief..." Su Chen, who had been waiting there, quickly walked up.
"What’s the situation?" Chong Jingtian asked in a low, grave voice.
"...There was a sudden explosion. Judge Lei said that Judge Wei is most likely dead..." Su Chen said in a low voice.
"Dead?" A chilling killing intent flared in Chong Jingtian’s eyes. He demanded, "How could he have died? Where was Xue Fei!?"
The traces of the explosion were nowhere near what you’d expect from a battle. Xue Fei was a Tier Five Professional, after all.
Su Chen responded dutifully, "It seems Judge Wei sent him to reinforce you."
Chong Jingtian froze. The exact sa question that had occurred to Lei Tieyan now entered his mind.
What was Wei Yinsuo doing?
’Sending away his own protection... Did he really think *I* needed a few more people as reinforcents?’
Chong Jingtian’s brow was locked tight. He vaguely felt that sothing was wrong, but he couldn’t pinpoint the key issue.
A whistling of wind reached their ears. They both looked over to see Lei Tieyan returning, his face taut. He clearly didn’t have good news.
"What’s the situation at the research departnt?" Chong Jingtian asked imdiately.
"ng Qi’s body... is gone," Lei Tieyan bit out.
"ng Qi’s body?" Su Chen was astonished, and this ti, he wasn’t faking it.
He instantly understood. ’This operation was likely led by the Faceless Ghost Followers. They used the incident with the Priest Black Tuo as a diversion to steal the body.’
’The Judicial Court actually didn’t destroy it. They were still studying the body, probably trying to find sothing unusual about it.’
’The Deceitful God paid a hefty price for a corpse, though. Calling it a simple diversion isn’t quite right. The attack over there looked genuinely terrifying. If no one had gone, the consequences might have been horrific.’
’So, does that an I basically piggybacked on their plan to carry out my own killing?’ Su Chen muttered to himself. He couldn’t stop himself from asking aloud, "Now that the body has been stolen, can it be revived?"
"Perhaps it wasn’t a body to begin with, but a vessel," Chong Jingtian said, the space between his brows twitching. The vertical crimson mark there faintly glowed.
"Chief, we still have a chance," Lei Tieyan said in a low voice. "The explosion in the dical departnt happened *before* the one at the research departnt. I imdiately had the entire Judicial Court sealed. No one can leave."
"ng Qi... might still be inside the Judicial Court."
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