Chapter 148: New Clues

Seeing this Agent was so unbearable, Xiao Fen and Lycaon looked at each other and both laughed “ha”. Lycaon ate a few more pieces of equipment. His body showed no change at all. He said to Xiao Fen: “I’ll eat the rest tomorrow. It seems there are some new things today.”

Xiao Fen nodded and casually put those pieces of equipment into his leather bag. Not to mention anything else, just this action alone was enough to make that timid Agent stare with wide eyes and an open mouth.

He saw weapon s and armors being put into a worn-out leather bag one by one, but the leather bag never overflowed. This kind of thing could only be achieved by the legendary Mustard Seed Sumeru and the like. As for mortals, being able to take a look was a great fortune.

In the blink of an eye, the two had packed everything up. Xiao Fen said to that Agent: “You lead the way in front. We will go see this Director. Oh, what a grand scene.”

“That won’t do, that won’t do. Immortal Grandpa, absolutely not. Your noble body cannot just go out casually. My Director also said that as long as you, Immortal Grandpa, are awake, he will come to pay his respects himself.”

Xiao Fen glanced at Lycaon, nodded slightly, and sat back on the grandmaster chair.

After a while, a group of people hurriedly came to this small courtyard. A tall, white-faced, beardless person walked in with big strides, bowed to Xiao Fen and the other, and without introducing himself, said directly: “The Emperor is ill.”

Xiao Fen paused for a moment, unable to figure out the meaning of this sentence for a while. He tapped the table lightly, then asked: “When did he get sick?”

That person waited for a young eunuch behind him to bring a grandmaster chair, then sat down imposingly, and continued: “Just last night. There was lightning and thunder, which frightened the Emperor quite a bit. He fell ill because of it, and did not attend today’s court assembly.”

Xiao Fen laughed and asked: “So the Eastern Depot made its own decisions, is that it?”

“There are too many treacherous people in the court. At the morning court today, a group of Donglin Party members said we trespassed into the Censor’s residence and were entangled in arguments. If it were really up to our Eastern Depot to decide, we would have wished to strike down a few of them right then and use torture. Perhaps we would have some new information.”

Listening to this Director’s words, Xiao Fen actually felt some admiration for this Tianjin Emperor. He only learned the probable cause early this morning. To prevent court disputes from affecting subsequent matters, he immediately claimed illness and set aside the court controversies, first freeing up time to give the Eastern Depot a chance to investigate thoroughly.

However, this choice also showed that the Emperor had no one he truly trusted in his hands. Besides the Eastern Depot, the Emperor had almost no manpower he could deploy at will. This was somewhat of a tragedy.

Xiao Fen didn’t have much time to think for others. He thought for a moment and asked: “There was another place where an anomaly occurred yesterday. Where is it, and what is the situation now?”

The Director shook his head and said: “Too horrible to look at, too horrible to look at. A residence, completely blood-washed. The whole courtyard was covered in Black Mist, everywhere was the sound of blood pools. Occasionally there were some cries, but they didn’t sound like normal crying.”

“Where?”

“Outside Dongzhi Gate. The sons of the Eastern Depot went too late. Plus, without a Big Shot like you two Immortals to sit in command, we could only watch the entire residence turn into a sea of blood in an instant. Inside, 117 people, old and young, women and children, not a single survivor.”

Xiao Fen rubbed his eyebrows and asked: “What happened afterwards? Did the people from the Eastern Depot go in to look?”

“We did not enter, we did not enter. The Daoist masters of the Astronomy Bureau also said that the residence has been thoroughly dyed by the Blood Pool Hell. Entering casually is no different from sending oneself to death. Only people like you Immortals can come and go freely in this residence.”

Xiao Fen looked coldly at this Director and said: “You don’t go, waiting for us to go. This is actually normal. These filthy things are not something you mortals can deal with. However, don’t use this method to make us go. Just say it directly. I thought the Nine Thousand Years Old was a towering figure, but now it seems, he is just so-so.”

The Director’s expression changed slightly, and he was about to speak. An elderly eunuch beside him chuckled and said: “Interesting, interesting. I was still wondering what you two Immortals would look like. Now I have finally broadened my horizons. You recognized at a glance that my son is not the Director. Fine, today I will talk to you two about the cause and effect.”

Xiao Fen looked at this old eunuch who was only around 60 years old but whose face was already covered with wrinkles and looked somewhat pale, and also smiled, saying: “That residence, if it’s ruined, it’s ruined. Plugging the plug again might actually make things worse. As for the plugs in other places, they need to be found as soon as possible. Even if they can’t be pulled out immediately, we must kill some Hell Monsters. Only this is the true way out.”

The tall eunuch hurriedly stood up from the chair and supported the old eunuch’s hand to sit down. On the other side, the old eunuch frowned and asked: “Is there really no other way?”

Xiao Fen slowly shook his head and said: “This morning in that house, you should have heard too. This setup was laid for ten years. If I hadn’t acted rashly, the Disaster might have been even greater later. What we are doing now can only try to reduce casualties as much as possible. It is just doing our best and leaving the rest to fate.”

The old eunuch hatefully patted the chair and said: “Good, good. White Lotus Sect, I really underestimated you. What a pity, what a pity. If there were a few more years, how could you be a threat? What a pity, time waits for no one.”

Xiao Fen paused for a moment. The old eunuch in front of him was none other than the famous great eunuch in the history of Huaxia, Wei Zhongxian. He was powerful during the Tianjin years and was reviled after his death. But now, he looked just like an ordinary old eunuch.

Not to mention anything else, listening to this old eunuch’s soliloquy, it seemed Wei Zhongxian had his own understanding of the White Lotus Sect. He also seemed to have his own views on the setup laid by the White Lotus Sect ten years ago, and even knew how to crack it. There was another point: Wei Zhongxian seemed to know that he would not live long.

This was exactly what made Xiao Fen feel strange. The Great Explosion in the sixth year of Tianqi, the Emperor Tianqi falling ill and dying in the seventh year, followed by Wei Zhongxian being exiled and hanging himself to death—all of this was just as Wei Zhongxian had said earlier. He knew his time would not be “a few years more.” Whether this was foresight or some other reason, Xiao Fen could not quite tell for a moment.

After thinking for a bit, Xiao Fen asked in a low voice, “Where in the Capital City can one find a Bhaisajyaguru Vaiduryaprabha?”

Wei Zhongxian suddenly turned his head to look at Xiao Fen. A glint of light seemed to flash in his eyes. After a moment, he asked in return, “What do you want with a Bhaisajyaguru Vaiduryaprabha?”

Xiao Fen certainly would not tell Wei Zhongxian that this was a mission prompt. Instead, he answered, “According to my calculations, these corks do not only come in the form of the Eternal Mother. Think about it, 10 years ago, even if the White Lotus Sect had great abilities, they couldn’t have transported too many statues of the Eternal Mother in. Only by using other Buddhist statues could they serve as a disguise.”