Chapter 258: Black Shadow Demon Cultivator?!
After Fei Si reported the matter, he received Meng Kui's approval and hurriedly returned to Yun City.
When he saw Zhu Xuanji and Song Fuli again, he first sent a voice transmission to the former: "Lord Zhu, right now Huoshi Immortal City and Lava Immortal Palace are under siege. We must unite, work together, and overcome this crisis."
"At present, we still need to rely on the strength of Song Fuli and his group. Only then will we have more confidence in resisting the beast tide and surviving this catastrophe."
"I have obtained authorization from Lord Meng Kui to negotiate compensation matters with Song Fuli."
"I'm just afraid this person will open his mouth wide... Sigh, our situation is truly passive."
"In this way, I hope that Lord Zhu, for the sake of being fellow citizens of Southern Dou Country, will lend a hand!"
Zhu Xuanji nodded and quickly replied via voice transmission: "I serve in the same court as Meng Kui; we are one. Now that we are in the same boat, I must contribute."
"Rest assured, I will also participate in the negotiations. I have some authority to make decisions on behalf of the royal family."
Whether due to his own position or the secret verbal agreement just made, Zhu Xuanji actively involved himself in the negotiations.
With Zhu Xuanji's support, Fei Si secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
He invited Song Fuli to the City Lord's Mansion and also asked Zhu Xuanji to accompany him, initiating a negotiation.
It was clearly impossible to investigate the stolen goods and return them to Yun merchants within two days.
The City Lord's Mansion also wanted to unite with the Yun merchants to resist the beast tide.
As a gesture of sincerity, they decided to negotiate compensation to win over Song Fuli.
The negotiations were difficult, with the three parties entangled, and the situation was quite complex.
On the surface, it was Zhu Xuanji and Fei Si working together to negotiate with Song Fuli.
Secretly, however, there was a tacit understanding between Zhu Xuanji and Song Fuli, both wanting the City Lord's Mansion to pay more.
Two hours later, the compensation negotiations finally concluded.
From the reception hall, the hearty laughter of Song Fuli echoed.
Fei Si's face looked extremely ugly. The City Lord's Mansion had paid a huge price, and Meng Kui's bottom line had almost not been upheld.
Zhu Xuanji wiped the sweat off his forehead; he too, on behalf of the Southern Dou royal family, had made many concessions.
Song Fuli made a big profit!
Not only did he secure legitimate participation in the competition for Lava Immortal Palace, but he also took advantage of the beast tide, forcing the City Lord's Mansion and the Southern Dou royal family to pay exorbitant costs in exchange for their support.
When calculating it all, not only had the hole caused by the theft been filled, but he had also made a huge profit!
The three parties finalized the details and quickly signed the contract.
A knock sounded at the door, and a cultivator from the City Lord's Mansion came to report.
At this time, any report must be of significant importance.
Fei Si thought that the city defenses had encountered a problem and hurriedly had his subordinate enter. But instead, he heard about the "warehouse guards' corruption and dereliction of duty."
It turned out that with the beast horde attacking the city and Huoshi Immortal City forced into passive defense, Fei Si had planned to mobilize Huoshi fruits to produce a large number of explosive devices as a trump card in this critical moment.
However, when the subordinate went to the warehouse to retrieve the Huoshi fruits, they discovered that a vast amount of Huoshi fruits had vanished without a trace!
Since the Huoshi Festival harvest, the warehouse had been sealed off, and only the personnel in charge of management could enter or exit.
Therefore, all suspicion pointed directly at the warehouse officials.
If it wasn’t him embezzling, who else could it be?
This immediately infuriated Fei Si.
"Good, good, good, just great!"
"At such a critical moment, you engage in corruption. Truly, you're bringing honor to my City Lord's Mansion!"
Fei Si was so angry that his face turned pale.
He deeply regretted bringing in his subordinate and exposing this matter to Zhu Xuanji and Song Fuli.
Especially Song Fuli, who cast another look of distrust.
"I was really out of my mind, handling internal affairs in front of outsiders!"
"Sigh..."
Fei Si sighed. The negotiation had already drained him, mentally exhausting him to the point where his mind wasn’t sharp.
At this moment, he felt relieved that they had already agreed on compensation and an alliance plan and had signed the contract. Otherwise, Song Fuli would likely have raised his demands even more after this incident.
Given the situation, to restore his reputation, Fei Si decisively ordered, "Bring the corrupt official here!"
Soon, the official was dragged in and made to kneel before Fei Si and the three Golden Core stage cultivators.
"Speak! How did you embezzle? What method did you use to forge the array's records? Who did you sell that batch of Huoshi fruits to?!" Fei Si shouted.
The Qi Refining stage warehouse manager was terrified, crying out, "My lord, Lord Fei Si, please see clearly!"
"I am innocent! I didn’t embezzle anything at all!"
"Since the festival, the Huoshi fruits were delivered directly to the warehouse through the teleportation array."
"I only checked the inventory and never dared to touch them!"
Fei Si's gaze turned sharp. "Still trying to argue!"
"If you checked it multiple times, why did you only discover the large-scale disappearance of Huoshi fruits today?"
The official sobbed, "Although I inspected the warehouse daily, I only checked the surroundings. I didn’t realize that the Huoshi fruit piles had been hollowed out!"
"It's my dereliction of duty, a serious mistake. This is indeed my fault!"
"But I swear, I didn’t steal anything. I swear to the heavens, I didn’t touch a single Huoshi fruit!"
His crying was heartfelt and sincere.
"Well, well, well. You're good at dodging the real issue. You must have expected this, spending your days studying our nation's laws?" Fei Si's face darkened, his killing intent leaking out.
Zhu Xuanji sighed softly, realizing Fei Si intended to resolve this swiftly, making an example of the official to restore the City Lord's Mansion's reputation.
But this approach seemed hasty.
Zhu Xuanji couldn’t bear it and stood up: "I just used a technique to check. This man isn’t lying."
"How many Huoshi fruits are missing?"
Fei Si's face darkened, staring hawkishly at Zhu Xuanji.
The two exchanged glances for a while, but ultimately, Fei Si didn’t want Song Fuli to witness infighting within Southern Dou, so he relented, reporting a compromised figure.
Zhu Xuanji's eyes gleamed with golden light and instantly recognized that Fei Si wasn’t telling the truth. He was lying.
Clearly, under these circumstances, Fei Si could only report fewer missing.
This made Zhu Xuanji frown deeply, and his face darkened: "So many?!"
The number of missing Huoshi fruits was immense, especially the loss of the ten-thousand-year and thousand-year varieties.
Huoshi fruits were akin to Fire Essence, and if so many Huoshi fruits fell into the hands of someone with ill intentions, they could cause immense harm to Lava Immortal Palace, especially during the relentless beast tide assault.
If the Huoshi fruits exploded and caused the frontlines to collapse, letting the beasts into the city, it would lead to severe casualties.
"This matter must be thoroughly investigated and not ignored!"
Zhu Xuanji stared at the official, his eyes gleaming with golden light.
This was truly terrible news, even more significant than the theft of the Yun merchant's goods.
Song Fuli spoke up: "For someone to steal from the City Lord’s Mansion so easily and only be discovered now, could it be the same group responsible for the other theft?"
"No-Void Sect?" Fei Si’s eyes flashed with sharp light. "Very likely!"
If not for Zhu Xuanji, he would have confirmed it on the spot. No matter what, he couldn’t let this scandal fall on him and ruin his career.
But Zhu Xuanji had principles and said, "We still need to investigate before determining the real culprit!"
He had initially thought that after resolving the Yun merchants' matter, he could immediately return to Lava Immortal Palace. Unexpectedly, the Huoshi theft case emerged.
Without delay, he hurried to the warehouse to investigate the scene.
Under the Celestial Golden Eyes, almost nothing could escape his sight.
Soon, Zhu Xuanji made a shocking discovery!
"Black Shadow Demon Cultivator?!"
Using the Trace Back Art, Zhu Xuanji "saw" a scene from the past.
A Black Shadow Demon Cultivator had hidden inside the Huoshi fruit warehouse, stolen a large quantity of Huoshi fruits, and then covered himself in black smoke, like an ink serpent, slipping effortlessly out of the warehouse.
The warehouse had six layers of formations, but the ink serpent moved through the gaps between the arrays with ease!
"So, the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator had been hiding here all along? But is he the same Black Shadow Demon Cultivator as before?"
During the Golden Core battle, several Black Shadow Demon Cultivators had appeared. Based on this past image alone, Zhu Xuanji couldn’t determine the true identity of this Black Shadow Demon Cultivator.
"Is the Meng family involved
in self-theft, or is the City Lord's Mansion merely a victim?"
In an instant, a fog clouded Zhu Xuanji's mind.
Seeing the change in Zhu Xuanji's expression, Fei Si anxiously asked, "Lord Zhu, have you discovered any key clues?"
"I have found something. The thief who stole the Huoshi fruits is a Black Shadow Demon Cultivator!" Zhu Xuanji thought for a moment and decided to be honest.
Fei Si's eyes widened. "Black Shadow Demon Cultivator?!"
He froze for a moment before reacting, "Wait, doesn't that mean it could be anyone?"
After the Golden Core battle, the identity of the Black Shadow Demon Cultivator had become so commonplace that anyone could impersonate one.
Zhu Xuanji slowly nodded.
He said, "Mount Huoshi often trembles, and although the Lava Immortal Palace suppresses the base of the mountain, some tremors are inevitable."
"The city’s protective formation has remained unchanged for years, frequently sustaining damage due to the tremors and requiring constant repairs."
"When the six-layered formation was originally set up, the layers were tightly connected, with no gaps."
"But over time, tremors have caused cracks to appear."
"The Black Shadow Demon Cultivator took advantage of these cracks to move in and out of the warehouse."
Fei Si’s eyes widened again. "Can such narrow cracks allow a person to pass?"
Zhu Xuanji sighed. "It seems he used some kind of technique or divine ability."
Fei Si was speechless.
After a moment of silence, he finally processed it all.
Immediately, Fei Si bowed deeply to Zhu Xuanji, sincerely stating that the City Lord’s Mansion was definitely a victim in this matter and that this was not a case of self-sabotage.
Zhu Xuanji’s eyes gleamed with golden light as he continued staring at Fei Si.
"I know you're not lying. However, just because you didn’t do it doesn’t mean the City Lord’s Mansion didn’t. Isn’t that right?" Zhu Xuanji transmitted.
Fei Si was speechless.
Zhu Xuanji's implication was that Meng Kui had orchestrated this behind his back.
This was indeed possible.
After all, using demonic pawns for righteous purposes was taboo, and the fewer people who knew about it, the better.
If such a situation truly existed, Fei Si would rather remain ignorant!
The more he knew about this secret, the more dangerous it became for him.
Fei Si instinctively glanced toward the top of Mount Huoshi, then immediately realized that this action was unwise.
He furrowed his brow and quickly promised to issue orders for his subordinates to thoroughly investigate the front lines and critical areas of the Immortal City.
"But as for the Lava Immortal Palace, I can do nothing." Fei Si sighed deeply, using a helpless tone to request that Zhu Xuanji pursue this lead to the end.
Zhu Xuanji sighed as well. "I need to consider everything carefully."
(End of this chapter)