Chapter 258: Beginning to Respond (Please Subscribe)

"That is certainly not the case! If we are talking about cultivation and spell-casting, I, Tong Wenrong, am naturally not worth mentioning, but when it comes to being timid, fearful, and cowardly in self-preservation, I flatter myself that I am a top-tier expert; in that, I actually have a bit of confidence!"

Tong Wenrong spoke with great conviction, it was just that the way he said it lacked any persuasiveness.

After all, not long ago, he had been collapsing here again and again, without a shred of the demeanor of a Golden Core stage cultivator.

Therefore, as soon as he finished his confident words, he seemed to recall what happened a moment ago and could not help but blush, so he hurriedly skipped over the topic: "Lord Du, what shall we do next? You have a lot of experience in quelling rebellions and pacifying disorder; I will listen to you!"

Right now, Du En was his backbone; if Du En were not here, he truly would not know what to do other than reporting to his superiors.

No, it should be said that if Du En had not rushed over, he might not have realized that someone beneath him was plotting a rebellion until the moment it happened, and by then, it would have been too late to save the situation, leaving him only to wait for death!

At the thought of this, cold sweat poured off Tong Wenrong like soy milk, bubbling up with a hiss at the slightest stir.

"You first hold down the fort at this City Lord's Mansion and prepare all sorts of city defense measures. When necessary, first seal off the Inner City and take down the Inner City Superintendent, lest that fellow be a rebel too."

"What about the Outer City and Zhou Ze?"

"He has operated in the Outer City for many years, and it is unknown what schemes he has now. Perhaps the city defense measures have also been infiltrated. With your ability, it is difficult to control the overall situation; rather than spreading yourself thin and leaving holes everywhere, it is better to focus on the Inner City."

"Makes sense, I will go do it now!"

"Wait, first open your office for me to enter; I need to make a report to those above."

"Can do, no problem!"

Tong Wenrong had absolutely no problem with that; he hurriedly opened his office—which was overly tidy and used daily to demonstrate his integrity—for Du En to enter, while he himself rushed off to prepare the city defenses in a flurry.

Furthermore, he had to prepare the "Absolute Prison," a private room in the small prison within the City Lord's Mansion designed for Golden Core stage cultivators, just waiting for the operation to begin so he could toss the Inner City Superintendent inside.

Thinking about it, he was actually a bit excited and felt it was very thrilling—things he would never have dared to think of or do if it were just him before!

Du En, meanwhile, closed the door and contacted Meng Changqing to explain the situation here.

"Is the Rotten Forest side about to make a move?"

The first thing Meng Changqing thought of was this direction.

There was no helping it; Lin'an City was too close to the Rotten Forest Immortal Gate. Whenever any anomaly appeared here, normal people would think it had something to do with the old rivals on the other side.

Even though they had ceased hostilities for a thousand years, the upper echelons of Luoyu still did not let their guard down.

"Perhaps it really is some small maneuver by the Rotten Forest Immortal Gate. They began infiltrating and influencing that Zhou Ze a long time ago, and now, as the situation in the south begins to change and intensify, Zhou Ze fears he can no longer hide it, so he has also begun to become radical."

Du En stated his deduction and added: "However, there is a discrepancy in the specific timing. The time of his further drastic actions does not match the time I set out from here; it was a few days earlier. Perhaps this is connected to the developments on your end?"

"There is indeed a connection, because we have already argued and negotiated to the end regarding the matter of rectifying the south. We have basically set a keynote and will definitely implement it. The timing for confirming this happened to be a few days ago; what we are arguing about now is who will lead it."

It was also thanks to Meng Changqing causing entanglements within that it had only progressed to this step.

"In that case, perhaps the Rotten Forest Immortal Gate side found out and conveyed the situation to Zhou Ze's side, which caused his actions to become intense."

"Hmm, it is impossible for any of us to have leaked the secret. However, I have been dragging my feet for too long this time, and the others likely took action long ago, so one can actually glimpse a thing or two from the situation of certain mobilizations and preparations."

Meng Changqing was also blunt and did not avoid anything at all.

Du En did not actually suspect that the upper echelons had actively leaked the secret; it was not that he thought it impossible, but rather that he had too little relevant understanding and did not want to speculate wildly or shoot at shadows.

At the same time, he was more inclined toward indirect leaks.

For example, a certain True Monarch who had determined they could not get involved might take the opportunity to move their people away in advance, or provide a warning to avoid being implicated later; such actions would expose things that the upper echelons had decided upon but had not yet officially pushed to execute.

The Immortal Gate was a behemoth; pulling one hair would move the whole body.

It was also because of this that Meng Changqing pondered and said: "Since the matter is suspected to involve the Rotten Forest side, it is not appropriate to directly teleport experts and powerhouses over now. After all, if we make a mistake and cause a misunderstanding, and they get hold of a pretext, we will be very passive. If the relationship between the two sides truly worsens, the situation will only become worse!"

The worst-case scenario would naturally be the resumption of war, opening another battlefield here, which would not only break the peace that had lasted for a thousand years in the south but also claim millions of lives every year.

One must be extremely cautious and obtain sufficient evidence, or resolve the problem quickly within a small scope.

"I will speak with them on my end and then begin making corresponding preparations. Now, I need you to unite with trustworthy locals to continue the investigation. If the situation permits and you feel confident, you may take action to eliminate or arrest them without needing further instructions."

"Understood."

The contact ended in a rush just like that.

Du En pondered in place for a while, then found Tong Wenrong, who was busy preparing city defenses and making arrests.

"City Lord Tong, there is a matter that requires your cooperation."

"Please speak, I will follow your orders!"

"It is..."

The night was quiet. Under the starlight, the Outer City of Lin'an City was silent as the grave at this moment.

Zhao Hong quietly left Zhou Ze's private residence at this time.

Originally, the three of them, Yun Yi and the others, had agreed to gather together just in case.

But these three had their own ideas after all and were in a situation of intense competition, so after they each returned to their own rooms, Zhao Hong followed his own plan and chose to sneak away to make arrangements somewhere.

It was also out of caution, though the object of his caution might be different!

He moved silently in the shadows, blending into the stillness. His movements were fast, but at one moment he suddenly paused, frowning slightly, having sensed something was not quite right.

In fact, it was indeed very wrong, because the space within a certain area here had already been partitioned and sealed off by Tong Wenrong using his City Lord authority to activate city defense measures.

Except for specific people, entry was permitted but exit was forbidden!

Although one could not fully trust the situation in the Outer City, there was no major problem with activating it locally and locking it down directly with the City Lord's high authority.

The purpose of Du En having Tong Wenrong act this way was very simple: to wait for the rabbit by the tree and wait for the unidentified enemy to become isolated.

Moreover, this could also verify the general identity of the enemy and determine whether they were truly from the Rotten Forest Immortal Gate.

(End of chapter)