Chapter 83: 84. Backlash

84. Chapter 84: Backlash

Although Yang Yi long was furious, he had no way to deal with Li Yi.

Li Yi had joined the Investigation Bureau, protected by Battalion Commander Zhang Lei, and moreover, the things Li Yi claimed to have done were indeed true—no matter the reason, he had done them, and no explanation now would change that, so he could only swallow this bitter pill.

With the odd artifact still to be dealt with, Yang Yi long suppressed his inner rage, forced himself to calm down, and refused to lose the chance of obtaining the artifact over petty grievances.

“Li Yi, don’t worry—no matter what happens, I’ll protect you. No one will dare touch you.” Zhang Lei now patted Li Yi’s shoulder and spoke with serious intent.

He sensed Yang Yi long’s unstable state, so this was a warning not to act rashly.

Yang Yi long understood perfectly—he merely narrowed his eyes and said nothing.

“I don’t want any more fighting from here on. I hope you’ll all give me Li Shaoqing a favor—if anyone breaks the rules, don’t blame me for being ruthless.” Li Shaoqing now spoke these words.

How could you too…

Yang Yi long looked at Li Shaoqing in surprise—he hadn’t expected him to side with Zhang Lei now.

Shouldn’t you be teaming up with me to seize the artifact here?

Forget it.

Let these people do whatever they want.

Yang Yi long no longer cared—he was only interested in the artifact; petty grudges and friction now seemed trivial.

“Stop wasting time. Hey, Zhang Lei, where exactly is the artifact? Lead the way.” Wei Bin, visibly impatient, urged them on.

“Why the rush? Just follow me.” Zhang Lei walked forward calmly, his expression steady.

Li Yi followed closely, unwilling to stray far from Battalion Commander.

These people were all experts in spiritual sense—extremely dangerous. If Zhang Lei weren’t here, Yang Yi long would have killed him first.

But he didn’t regret defying Yang Yi long.

If he didn’t take a stand now, how could he ever survive in the Investigation Bureau?

The group now descended deeper into the building.

Zhang Lei walked forward, lost in thought, showing no intention to delay—he led them straight toward the ninth floor, where the bone mural lay.

“This artifact must be truly sinister—many ferocious beasts were trapped and died here.”

Li Shaoqing’s gaze sharpened—he saw corpses of ferocious beasts on every floor, each bearing a bullet wound, clearly shot dead.

But judging from the wounds, these beasts had offered no resistance before being shot—they’d stood there like stationary targets.

Besides the beasts’ corpses, there were also the bodies of cultivators.

The cultivators’ bodies were intact, showing no injuries, yet their eyes were dull, lifeless, their consciousness long extinguished.

This manner of death was sinister, leaving even spiritual sense cultivators like them feeling inexplicably uneasy.

On the way, Li Yi spoke: “I shot those ferocious beasts. I feared they might suddenly awaken and endanger investigation officers.”

“Good job. You were right to kill them and eliminate the threat. The corpses are valuable too—I’ll have them transported back. These are your spoils; the Investigation Bureau will pay you a fair price. You won’t be shortchanged.”

Zhang Lei nodded, endorsing Li Yi’s actions—and making it clear to the others.

Don’t even think about laying claim to these beast corpses—they belong to the Investigation Bureau.

Li Shaoqing smiled but said nothing. Though the beast corpses were indeed valuable, he wouldn’t contest them.

Yang Yi long and Wei Bin also remained silent.

They clearly accepted Zhang Lei’s stance.

As the group ascended higher, they drew closer to the artifact’s location.

Li Yi’s eyes gleamed as he carefully observed the surroundings.

He realized that after destroying the bone mural, the artifact’s influence had shrunk to an unimaginable degree—previously, the illusion had enveloped the entire building and kept expanding, but now, even on the eighth floor, he saw no trace of its coverage.

This wasn’t just Li Yi’s observation—Zhang Lei, walking ahead, had noticed it too.

Zhang Lei also understood: after Li Yi escaped the illusion, he must have damaged the bone mural—otherwise, how could he have escaped so easily?

“Here we are. The artifact you’re looking for is right here.”

Soon,

Zhang Lei led them smoothly to the ninth floor.

But as soon as they arrived, Yang Yi long, Li Shaoqing, and Wei Bin all locked their gazes on the same spot, eyes gleaming.

It was a collapsed pile of concrete rubble, upon which stood a white marble wall bearing a bone mural. The mural had once been flawless, but now a deep gash marred the forehead of the skull—this flaw had rendered the once-complete artifact incomplete.

“It’s truly an artifact. Standing here, I can already feel a sinister, soul-shaking power emanating from the skull mural.”

Yang Yi long’s gaze grew heavy—whenever he stared at the skull mural, his consciousness felt disturbed, as if slipping into dizziness.

Fortunately, he hadn’t entered the artifact’s energy field—if he had, he might have been ensnared.

“They say artifacts carry their own energy fields—cultivation within them accelerates progress rapidly. I wonder how large this artifact’s field is, and how many people it can support.” Wei Bin licked his lips, visibly tempted.

“Too bad—it’s flawed, imperfect. Its value has plummeted.”

Li Shaoqing noticed the gash on the mural and shook his head slightly in regret—but then suddenly smiled: “A flawed artifact has its advantages, Zhang Lei. I recall that incomplete artifacts aren’t subject to mandatory recovery—that means this one can be privately owned.”

“Exactly. Incomplete artifacts are permitted for personal possession. Zhang Lei, you no longer need to worry about recovery—let’s discuss how to divide this flawed artifact.” Wei Bin was now eager.

Yang Yi long spoke gravely: “There’s only one artifact. Whoever claims it does so by strength.”

He was confident—after mastering the Guiding Technique and fist arts, he believed he could defeat anyone here and take the artifact.

“You’re too hasty.”

Zhang Lei snorted coldly: “You haven’t even understood the artifact, yet you’re arguing over ownership. Don’t forget what I said—it’s sinister, not for ordinary people. If you don’t believe me, go ahead and try. Get close, and you’ll be pulled into the illusion. Whether you wake up again depends on your own ability.”

These words instantly reminded the others of the cultivators dead on the other floors.

Their bodies bore no wounds, yet their consciousness had vanished—they must have been killed by this sinister artifact.

.￠o

Realizing this, Yang Yi long, Li Shaoqing, and Wei Bin all frowned slightly.

They wanted to test it—but hesitated.

If pulled into the illusion, even if you could escape, it would take time.

In that time, if others attacked you, you’d be defenseless—a sitting duck.

“I won’t deny you a chance—the Investigation Bureau gives you twenty minutes.”

Zhang Lei held up two fingers: “You have twenty minutes to explore the artifact. After that, we reclaim it outright. This is my maximum concession.”

“Zhang Lei, you’re overconfident,” Yang Yi long said coldly, arms crossed. “This flawed artifact—you think I, Yang Yi long, can’t subdue it?”

“Then prove it. If you succeed, I’ll consider having the Investigation Bureau abandon recovery.” Zhang Lei was supremely confident.

His own group had been trapped in the illusion—had it not been for Li Yi, they’d all died. He didn’t believe these three could remain unaffected.

“Agreed.”

Yang Yi long spoke, then strode forward without hesitation toward the skull mural.

No one stopped him—they all hoped he’d test the waters first, see what happened.

But halfway there, Yang Yi long suddenly remembered something, turned back, and glanced at Li Yi: “If I do get trapped in the illusion, Zhang Lei—will your subordinate Li Yi sneak attack me?”

“Maybe when you’re trapped, I’ll strip your pants, snap a photo, and post it on my social feed so everyone can see how big your artifact is.” Before Zhang Lei could answer, Li Yi spoke up.

Yang Yi long’s face turned black.

Damn it.

You really would do something that low.

Then Yang Yi long turned to Li Shaoqing, hoping he’d step forward now.

Li Shaoqing didn’t want to get caught in Yang Yi long’s feud with the Investigation Bureau—he smiled: “Yang Yi long, you’ve too many enemies here. Forget it. I’ll be the one to step forward. I trust you and Zhang Lei won’t let Wei Bin ambush me—and Li Yi has no grudge against me, so he won’t strike me either.”

“.” Yang Yi long’s lip twitched at these words.

Who knew a bad reputation would bring backlash so fast?