Chapter 1385: The Crisis Ahead

"In the past, when encountering such a situation, the Wang Ting's special envoy could only return and report to my King truthfully." General Xue's power was there, and the Shuangxi government office was also a victim; the warehouse had been burned by someone.

"What about now?"

"If 'that person' is determined to investigate, you will still have big trouble."

Xue Zongwu didn't understand: "The accounts are gone, where does my trouble come from?"

"The accounts of the Shuangxi government office are gone, but the accounts below are all there! So many mines, horse farms, markets, warehouses, big merchant chambers, and rich households... all sorts of items, they all have a set of accounts!" Tong Huan explained to him, "If 'that person' is determined to investigate, an order will come down, and the Shuangxi government office must summarize the accounts of the past years and rebuild the accounts!"

Hearing this, Xue Zongwu vaguely felt that something was wrong: "What's the problem with that?"

Wasn't it just burning it and being done with it?

"The burned account books were already balanced by Qian Yu, and outsiders hadn't found any problems for many years." Tong Huan said in a deep voice, "But if the accounts are rebuilt on a large scale and uniformly, those accounts, those balanced accounts, will definitely be exposed!"

The principle of making accounts is that if there is a reduction, there must be an increase; if there is a pit, there must be a patch. The complex moves Qian Yu made in the account books over the years were very complicated, and it was difficult for anyone to sort out the clues except himself, and the audit sent by the Yao Wang Ting had never found any loopholes. Now, once the account books are rebuilt, many items will not match."

He coughed lightly: "At this time, the lost outline account books of the Shuangxi government office will be useful. They are the originals; as long as they are taken to compare with the newly built accounts, then..."

He didn't need to continue; Xue Zongwu understood and was pressing his temples hard.

Balancing accounts! Qingyang stole his account books for the final "confrontation in court"! "No wonder the Shuangxi government office reported a few days ago that the Wang Ting's special envoy notified two mines to audit the accounts and asked them to submit the accounts of the past ten years. Heh, it really is Grand Supervisor Qingyang planning in secret, preparing to deal with me!"

In his anxiety, he didn't even say "that person" anymore, calling Qingyang directly.

This was also the reason why he hurriedly sent Qian Yu to Shuangxi: to check for gaps and fill them, so as not to let people catch his handle.

"So those two men in black had to kill Qian Yu." Tong Huan said solemnly, "The accounts were all balanced by Qian Yu. Once he dies, no one will remember the details, and all the accounts will have to be pushed over and rebuilt!"

"And the Wang Ting's special envoy will come to audit the accounts in ten days; by then, you will likely have arrived at the capital and will not be in Shuangxi or the army!" Xue Zongwu couldn't sit in Shuangxi, so it was very difficult to interfere with the audit sent by Qingyang.

"The original account books were a mess, hard to audit; but burning them all away gives the people sent by Grand Supervisor Qingyang a reason to demand rebuilding the accounts."

"Good calculation, good means!" Xue Zongwu waved his fist at the air in anger and hurriedly left the training ground.

Tong Huan added: "You must be very careful on the way back to the country."

Xue Zongwu said "Hmm"; he had been feeling uneasy recently, always feeling that disaster was imminent. The last time he had such a whim, he immediately changed his combat layout, which was why he didn't fall into an enemy ambush.

Even if the advisor didn't mention it, he intended to walk cautiously on this trip back to the country.

The fine, dense rain, like silk and shuttles, had been falling for a whole day.

After only a few steps, Dong Rui was too lazy to open an umbrella. But when he walked into the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce branch, half of his clothes were already wet.

Careless. He shook the water off his hair and heard a low sound of a Xun.

There were few people in the chamber of commerce today. Besides, the only one who could play musical instruments here at will was the willful proprietor.

"Damn it!" Xue Zongwu swung his fist fiercely at the air and hurried away from the training grounds.

That melody carried the desolation unique to ancient Xuns in its melodious tone, and together with the sound of rain outside the eaves, it became even more empty and distant.

Even Dong Rui, who didn't understand music, heard a deep loneliness, as if the Xun player was standing alone in the world, accompanied only by the breeze and fine rain.

Even if his advisor hadn't mentioned it, he had already intended to travel cautiously on this journey back to his country.

Dong Rui unconsciously slowed his pace.

Sometimes, he would forget that He Lingchuan was also a person with emotions, worries, flesh, and blood.

The hot-blooded youth who rescued Ke Jihai in the Deer Garden of the Yuan Kingdom in the past had already turned into the Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds, deep in character and unrevealing.

Dong Rui never knew what He Lingchuan was thinking in his heart.

A song ended, and the lingering sound curled.

He Lingchuan put down the ancient Xun and opened his eyes, looking at Dong Rui: "The back kitchen made quite a few taro and bamboo shoot buns, and there is also freshly beaten sweet and spicy sauce."

The season for eating bamboo shoots had a small tail left; using taro paste as the skin and filling it with meat cubes, bamboo shoot cubes, water chestnut cubes, etc., and steaming it on a drawer, it was a breakfast that locals liked very much.

Dong Rui came over at this time just to mooch a meal: "I'll go in a moment. Your ability to play music has improved again."

"Just so-so." Jucheng was quiet, while the Panlong world was filled with the flames of war; He Lingchuan had been preparing for war every night these past few days and had deep feelings.

He played with the ancient Xun, and Dong Rui's eyes narrowed: "Eh, when did you open the last hole?"

The last hole of this Xun had been sealed since He Lingchuan left Lingxu City; why was it open now? No wonder the tone sounded a bit different.

"This?" He Lingchuan shook the Xun in his hand, "It's been open for quite a few days."

Dong Rui was shocked, which meant...

"I have a premonition that the trip to the Kingdom of Yao will be full of murderous intent, and we need to go all out." He Lingchuan said slowly, "This time going to Tianshui City, Qingyang will definitely be very unhappy when she sees me, and maybe she will have some actions; the King of Yao's intentions are unclear, so we must be on guard."

He could feel that the Kingdom of Yao was not friendly to him.

Heh, perhaps the Kingdom of Yao was not friendly enough to anyone.

"In addition, your peers are not fuel-efficient lamps either; their methods are strange, and they can even kill Boss Situ Yu; if someone hires them to deal with me..."

He relied on his cultivation and combat skills to be far superior to Boss Situ Yu, but there has always been the principle of a thief for a thousand days, not a thief for a thousand days. That mysterious demon puppet master organization doesn't act, but once it acts, it's like a rainstorm hitting duckweed, and the victim is really hard to deal with.

"There is another force that must be mentioned—" The rain outside the eaves suddenly became heavier, and He Lingchuan's words overwhelmed the sound of rain and reached Dong Rui's ears, "—Heavenly Palace and Beijia."

"Separated by such a distance, will Beijia still notice us?" Dong Rui wondered, "Is it full and has nothing to do?"

"The rise of the Black Armor Army and the legend of the Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds first aroused the vigilance of the small gods." He Lingchuan jumped onto the railing and sat down, his back against the pillar, "According to the news collected by the Yangshan Chamber of Commerce from the central part of the Flash Gold Plain, some believers of small gods have already converted to the Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds. Even a few days ago, a shrine dedicated to the Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds was built in Yutuo City."

Dong Rui laughed: "They treat you as a land immortal; aren't they afraid you'll lose your life?"

"People seek gods, isn't it just for a hope?" Hoping for a good life, hoping for peace and less illness.

For commoners who are suffering from injustice and bullying but are powerless to resist, aren't they hoping for someone to uphold justice and eliminate evil and violence? For so many years, when has such a hero appeared in the Flash Gold Plain? In order to attract believers, gods have to consume divine power to show miracles to convey the signal of "I exist, I am powerful" to the world. Conversely, the Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds and his Black Armor Army act on behalf of Heaven and punish evil everywhere; to the world, isn't this a miracle? What is a miracle? Isn't it showing power beyond the imagination of ordinary people and accomplishing deeds that ordinary people dare not imagine?

The deeds of the Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds fit the judgment of ordinary people.

He wants to show miracles, just come out and kill a few great evil people; isn't that stronger than other gods who struggle for two or three years to squeeze out a miracle? So it's not strange at all that the "Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds" has believers in just a few months, and the number is increasing. Besides, He Lingchuan has the Qianglong Battle Armor to collect wish power, so he is not afraid of others building him a living shrine.

But this angered other small gods.

The Flash Gold Plain has always been a good place for various heavenly gods to fight for believers, which means it has the most small gods and wild gods. If there is any disturbance, they know it first.

How much difference is there between the divine realm and the human realm? News spreads just as fast. So, He Lingchuan believes that the appearance of the "Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds" and the actions of the Black Armor Army should have already attracted the attention of more and more heavenly gods.

And the Black Armor Army kills evil people every time, and a dragon-head totem will appear in that place for three days. This, Beijia can't help but care—

The Demon Emperor is a descendant of the dragon race; after hearing about the anomalies in the Flash Gold Plain, how could he not be interested in the Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds and the black dragon totem?

"We haven't seen Beijia take action, which doesn't mean it's really peaceful." He Lingchuan took a breath, "A dog that bites doesn't bark; who knows if Lingxu City already has a plan. So, this is the fourth hidden danger."

"I mentioned these, not yet counting the risk of taking down Xue Zongwu. However, if you want to break the situation, you have to go to the Kingdom of Yao." This trip is unavoidable. He asked Dong Rui, "By the way, is your transformation successful?"

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 1386 =====

If he wanted to display a miracle, he only needed to come out and slay a few great villains; how was that not stronger than other gods who struggled and strained for two or three years just to squeeze out one miracle? Therefore, it was not at all strange that the "Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds" had believers within a few short months, and that their numbers were growing. Moreover, He Lingchuan had the Qianglong Battle Armor to collect wish power, so he was not afraid at all of others building living shrines for him.

But this angered the other minor gods.

The Flash Gold Plain had always been a good place for various heavenly gods to compete for believers, which meant it had the most minor and wild gods. If there was any disturbance, they would be the first to know.

How much difference is there between the divine realm and the human realm? News travels just as fast. Therefore, He Lingchuan believed that the appearance of the "Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds" and the actions of the Black Armor Army must have already attracted the attention of more and more heavenly gods.

And every time the Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds eliminated evil, a flood-dragon head totem would appear in that area for three days. This was something Beijia would find hard to ignore—

The Demon Emperor was a descendant of the dragon race; after hearing about the anomalies in the Flash Gold Plain, how could he not be interested in the Great Emperor of the Nine Netherworlds and the black flood-dragon totem?

"Just because we haven't seen Beijia take action doesn't mean it's truly sitting still." He Lingchuan took a breath. "A biting dog doesn't bark; who knows if Lingxu City already has a plan? So, this is the fourth hidden danger."

"What I've said so far doesn't even include the risk of taking out Xue Zongwu. But if we want to break the deadlock, we must go to the Yao Nation." This trip was unavoidable. He asked Dong Rui, "By the way, was your modification successful?"

(End of chapter)