Chapter 338: Zhuge Yuan (Thanks to the alliance leader 'Running Meat Bun' for the tip!)

Chapter 338: Zhuge Yuan

(Thanks to the sponsor Running Meat Bun for the reward!)

The first of the Forgetful Dao—Facaicai—was dead, murdered by someone.

“Could it be...?” A shadow of the scholar Zhuge Yuan flashed through Li Huowang’s mind in an instant. “Impossible! How could that be?”

“It wasn’t just your Forgetful Dao who snatched the Heart Turbidity! Now tell me—WHO took it!”

At these words, the Keeper’s aura shifted completely. His eyes nearly bulged from their sockets, and the white powder on his face cracked like porcelain.

He glared at the three sets of identical triplets standing before him.

Yet the entire hall fell silent, no one answering his question.

“So you won’t speak? Fine! Then all of you come with me back to Shangjing! Once we reach the capital walls, we’ll see if you talk!” The Keeper flung the severed head in his hand aside, furious, then turned and left.

No one dared linger; they hurried after him, afraid of being mistaken for members of the Forgetful Dao.

The carriage couldn’t hold so many people, so the rest mounted horses and followed the Keeper’s carriage toward Shangjing.

On horseback, Li Huowang was anxious. He only had the copper coin mask—he’d be exposed if he didn’t make it to Shangjing without being recognized.

But clearly, someone was more anxious than Li Huowang and resolved this issue for him.

Suddenly, a rider named Li Huowang dismounted and dove into the nearby woods.

In that same moment, Hongda and the monk Heart Delusion also leapt away.

The next second, the carriage roof burst open. The Keeper, holding a golden abacus, charged straight at one of the Forgetful Dao.

“You go get the other two! Alive!” he commanded.

With a sharp motion, the crowd that had been gathered scattered instantly, chasing after the fleeing members of the Forgetful Dao.

Heart Delusion, striding hard in pursuit, was the slowest due to his large frame, which made navigating the forest difficult.

Suddenly, his ears twitched, his head tilted slightly—and he narrowly dodged a flash of cold light.

But immediately afterward, his body trembled violently, and he found himself floating in midair.

Pain shot through him as he looked down. A limb covered in sharp bone spines had pierced straight into his belly.

“What is this—” Heart Delusion’s mouth opened, but his pupils shrank. He was speaking!

At that moment, a red cord entwined with copper coins wrapped around his neck and tightened instantly.

A voice, teeth gritted with fury, whispered in his ear, “You have small-mindedness? I don’t either!”

The red cord and coins were thin, but as Li Huowang pulled hard, they bit deep into flesh and blood.

Heart Delusion coughed violently, his mouth wide open, desperately clawing backward with both hands.

Even though his palms were torn raw, he did not stop.

Li Huowang’s forehead bulged with veins, his teeth clenched as he pressed the copper thread tighter around the monk’s throat.

Tendrils emerged from various parts of Li Huowang’s body, binding Heart Delusion’s limbs tightly.

The more he struggled, the more violent his movements became. At the peak of his resistance, his body stiffened, then suddenly went limp—he was dead.

Li Huowang flicked the hilt of the copper sword, and the rope retracted, returning to its blade form.

He wiped the blood off, slung the sword over his shoulder, and turned to see Hongda stepping out from the shadows, staring at the writhing black tendrils covering Li Huowang’s body.

Seeing this unexpected figure, Li Huowang blinked, pointing at the corpse of the monk Heart Delusion. “This man is from the Forgetful Dao.”

Hongda glanced at the distorted face of the monk, then slowly nodded.

“But the Keeper said we must bring him alive. Why did you kill him? This puts me in a tight spot,” he said.

“I lost control—I’m sorry,” Li Huowang replied, pulling out a gourd from his waist and tossing it. The gourd’s mouth opened, revealing jagged fangs, spewing out a pile of longevity pills.

Hongda flung his wide robe like a sack, catching all the pills, and nodded approvingly.

“Young men make mistakes—it's normal. There are still two others. The Keeper won’t blame you.”

Li Huowang smiled faintly and nodded, while the tendrils slowly withdrew from his body.

“Let’s go. Let’s catch the next one,” Hongda said, turning to leave.

Li Huowang suddenly understood something about the relationships among his colleagues in the Sky-Watching Bureau.

The Sky-Watching Bureau was merely a side job for them—they weren’t true colleagues, more like acquaintances who nodded to each other.

When doing official business, cooperation or sabotage depended entirely on whether there was enough benefit and mutual trust.

When Li Huowang and Hongda returned with another member of the Forgetful Dao, they saw Tuoba Danqing and the Keeper already back.

The ground was soaked in blood. Wrapped in that blood were a piece of human skin, a skeleton, and a mass of flesh.

Looking at Tuoba Danqing, who clutched his mouth in nausea, it was clear this person had been tortured to death.

The Keeper stood with his hands behind his back, pacing heavily, muttering under his breath.

“Tuoba Brother? What happened?” Li Huowang asked, walking up beside him.

“The Forgetful Dao member we captured revealed a name when interrogated—Zhuge Yuan. After hearing it, he acted like this. I don’t know why,” Tuoba Danqing said.

“Zhuge Yuan?! Did HE kill Facaicai?”

Li Huowang’s pupils shrank to pinpoints.

The few words the man had spoken echoed in his mind.

Sky-Watching Bureau, Forgetful Dao, now a third party—Zhuge Yuan. If neither the Forgetful Dao nor the Sky-Watching Bureau had taken the Heart Turbidity, then it must have been him. Who was this man?

The Keeper paused, his expression grave, looking at the other three.

“Did you notice anything strange during the visit to the Buddha Bone Temple? Did anyone do something absurd yet perfectly logical?”

Li Huowang recalled the events at the temple, his brow furrowing. What did he mean?

“Keeper, what exactly happened? Who is Zhuge Yuan?”

Li Huowang didn’t know why, but he felt like he had somehow become entangled in something huge.

The Keeper didn’t answer, instead muttering anxiously to himself.

“I should’ve guessed sooner. It must be Zhuge Yuan’s power. Yes, it’s him. Even he came to snatch the Heart Turbidity. The world may be changing.”

After a moment of pacing, the Keeper mounted his horse without a word, ignoring the others, and galloped away.

“Keeper! Keeper!!” Tuoba Danqing called out in vain, then turned helplessly to Li Huowang and Hongda. “Let’s go. Damn it, what kind of job is this? No pay, probably.”

Once Tuoba Danqing rode off, Hongda looked at Li Huowang. “Shall we go together?”

“No thanks. I prefer to travel alone.”

Hearing this, Hongda nodded and mounted his horse, riding off.

Once the area was empty of living beings, Li Huowang waited a while, then turned toward the direction of the Buddha Bone Temple.

Thank you, Alliance Leader, for the 100,000 Qidian Coins!

(End of Chapter)

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