Chapter 111: The Truth No One Cares About

【Detected unnotarized consumable; since provided by covenant partner, you may choose conventional notarization or waive notarization】

【1. Notarize: consume 5000 Paradise Points (Excellent grade)】

【2. Waive notarization: item will be returned with you upon repatriation】

——

【Detected prohibited item carried by covenant partner: Skill Book (Ranged Basics), belonging to Reserve Dimension Apostle; interception successful】

——

【You returned the covenant partner; repatriation cognitive rationalization completed. Current duration: 2 hours. Consumed: 200 Paradise Points】

Guo Danqing picked up the skill book that had fallen to the ground and retrieved it; clearly, basic skills were Paradise’s strategic assets.

Directly classified as prohibited circulation.

“Money-grubbing bastard,” Guo Danqing’s eye twitched—another 5200 Paradise Points gone.

But exchanging Paradise Points for suitable resources and inheritance was already a stroke of divine fortune; other Dimension Apostles had no way to spend this much.

He then opened the modified Wu Yun Pill’s data.

【Wu Yun Pill】

【Type: Consumable】

【Quality: Excellent】

【Effect: After ingestion, accumulates 1000 points of Five Phases Qi; complete refinement increases progress of Five Phases skills】

Upon seeing the effect, Guo Danqing fell silent—one Wu Yun Pill equaled ten Wu Qi Pills.

“So-called improvement—did they downgrade a high-grade pill to Excellent?” Guo Danqing’s eye twitched; this was outright waste.

Guo Ming must know he’s poor; even Excellent-grade pills cost a thousand Paradise Points—he’d go bankrupt if he bought higher quality.

Fortunately, he’d acquired plenty of equipment and items he could sell upon return; otherwise, he’d be drinking wind after going back.

After stowing the five Wu Yun Pills, he continued watching the scene.

Now was not the time to cultivate.

He estimated these five pills would raise his Five Phases Spirit Beast Scripture to roughly Level 5–6 across all branches.

Time crept toward dawn; all personnel and materials in the Ghost Market had been detained and collected, the entire area sealed and monitored.

Guo Danqing brought back every item he could carry to Donggong—people, objects, anything movable.

Among them were vast quantities of gold, silver, and antiques.

As soon as he stepped into Donggong, a servant awaited him, saying the Crown Prince wished to see him.

Guo Danqing instructed others to settle the captives, then went to meet the Crown Prince.

“I need an explanation,” the Crown Prince said, his tone far from pleasant.

He thought Guo Danqing wanted Zhang Cai’s corpse for political leverage—never expected him to dismantle the entire Ghost Market.

The Crown Prince, high in rank and power, could not be unaware of the Ghost Market’s existence—he simply dared not interfere.

But Guo Danqing’s actions amounted to carrying out his orders.

At sunrise, the memorials accusing him and Guo Danqing would pile higher than a man.

“An explanation is too feeble. The Zhan Yu Guard has already clarified part of the accounts and rosters.” Guo Danqing produced a freshly printed report: “The mastermind behind the assassination attempt on Your Highness is Prince Fu.”

After presenting it, several Zhan Yu Guards stood by holding ledgers, rosters, and documents.

A flicker of delight crossed the Crown Prince’s face; he took the documents and ordered his Registrar and advisors to verify the full contents brought by the Zhan Yu Guard.

After a cursory review, he passed them to one of his advisors to draft a memorial.

About half an hour later, the Registrar and advisors completed their verification.

“Your Highness, Grand Coordinator Guo’s claims are accurate.”

“The proprietor of the Ghost Market is Prince Fu; His Majesty holds seventy percent, Consort Zheng and Prince Fu each hold ten percent; the remainder belongs to the Jishi Factory and Qiutan Faction.”

“Zhang Cai entered the capital via the Ghost Market’s channels; the bandits who ambushed Grand Coordinator Xiong and Grand Coordinator Guo were also sourced from the Ghost Market.”

“Moreover, the heavy iron cudgel Zhang Cai used was forged by Wu’s Forge, one of the Ghost Market’s blacksmiths.”

“The Five Stone Powder he consumed was sold by the Ghost Market.”

The Crown Prince heard exactly what he wanted to hear; his smile grew radiant.

As for the involvement of Emperor Taichang, the Jishi Factory, and the Qiutan Faction? Irrelevant now.

These people wanted his life and throne—if he tolerated this, he might as well slit his own throat now and suffer less before death.

“Grand Coordinator Guo, you’ve handled this well. You’ve labored through the night—go rest.”

Now came the Crown Prince’s turn: publicly confront and utterly crush Prince Fu, forcing him out of the capital to his fief.

Without Prince Fu, the Qiutan Faction lost its moral high ground; suppressing them would be no problem.

The Jishi Factory is the imperial blade—its strength must not be needlessly depleted.

Whoever sits the throne, the Jishi Factory serves; once I ascend, it becomes my own power.

Target them, but don’t overdo it.

“Yes, Your Highness.” Guo Danqing bowed, then left with Da Bao.

But he did not return to rest; he went back to the archive storage.

He sat down and slowly leafed through the documents.

His B-rank side quest remained incomplete—he had not yet found the true killer.

The quest required finding the killer, not killing or capturing them; no one demanded an explanation.

Prince Fu and Consort Zheng were merely tools Guo Danqing used to achieve his goal—and the outcome the Crown Prince desired.

The true killer and the truth? By now, no one cared.

As he read, fragments of information assembled in his mind.

“Li Wanwu,” Guo Danqing murmured, speaking the name of the Jishi Factory’s Provincial Military Commander.

【Quest completed. Reward: 5000 Paradise Points, +3 Attribute Points】

“It really was you,” Guo Danqing hadn’t expected this eunuch.

Li Wanwu held a ten percent stake in the Ghost Market; though the operation appeared to be Prince Fu’s plan, the truth beneath revealed Li Wanwu as the mastermind.

Prince Fu’s methods paled beside Li Wanwu’s.

“So what does Li Wanwu truly want?” Guo Danqing was certain: even if he hadn’t destroyed the Ghost Market, Li Wanwu would have leaked other clues leading the Crown Prince to Prince Fu.

The goal was achieved, but Guo Danqing’s unpredictable actions turned process and outcome into something no one could accept.

Even Li Wanwu’s own interests had been harmed.

“Su Shen?” Guo Danqing’s gaze fell on the ledger’s trade records.

Vast quantities of people, military equipment, and grain had been sold through the Ghost Market—ultimately reaching the Su Shen.

“Spy?” Guo Danqing suspected Li Wanwu was a Su Shen agent planted in the Taichang court: “But he’s a eunuch—what does he gain?”

“He’s already second only to the Emperor—if he’s a Su Shen spy, he should have defected long ago.”

Guo Danqing couldn’t fathom Li Wanwu’s motive.

“Perhaps he’s using Prince Fu to strike at the Qiutan Faction.” Unable to find a better reason, he stopped there.

Eunuchs desired few things—power was one.

The Qiutan Faction was too powerful, a direct threat to Li Wanwu; perhaps he conceived this scheme to use a knife to kill.

He had no need to obsess over the motives of a dying man.

After the situation stabilized, he would kill Emperor Taichang first, then assist the new emperor in crushing the Qiutan Faction, and finally kill Li Wanwu.

The Crown Prince had a ninety percent chance of being a bad emperor—but in a world full of garbage, at least he wasn’t the worst.

As for him rebelling himself? Success was possible—but then what?

Once the trial ended, he would leave; he could never remain long in this trial world.

Doing so would only move himself and harm others.

He could only strive to stabilize things, making the Taichang emperor slightly more human.

If the Crown Prince proved no better, Guo Danqing wouldn’t mind killing him and replacing him with Prince Fu.

After all, all crows are black—he needed only an emperor less black than the rest.

He closed the documents, rose, and left; the sky had brightened.

The Crown Prince had already taken the evidence and memorials to court; he would tell the Crown Prince the truth the next opportunity arose.

As for the outcome? Guo Danqing had no way of knowing.

The Crown Prince wasn’t some heartless capitalist—he’d been generous with him.

He’d taken the man’s salary; he wouldn’t slack off.

“Time to offer incense and fresh offerings to the Snake Soul, then cultivate a bit,” Guo Danqing muttered, taking Da Bao back to his quarters in Donggong.

After finishing, he glanced at his reputation level—it was rising rapidly, clearly the Ghost Market affair was spreading.

About ten minutes later, his reputation reached the required level: “Fame Spreads Far.”

【Reputation: Fame Spreads Far (107/100000)】

【Quest completed. Reward: 2000 Paradise Points, +2 Attribute Points】

【Trial Quest dynamically generating. Estimated time: 7 days.】

【Note: Dynamic generation time does not count toward quest duration】

Guo Danqing found this surprising—perhaps because the capital’s situation remained unstable and his trial quest completed too quickly, it needed time to generate.

“The temporary reputation bonus hasn’t vanished—it’s still growing. Clearly, it’ll be useful later.” He watched his reputation climb: from 107 at opening to 3218.

But the growth had slowed—likely because all factions had communicated, now understood Guo Danqing’s role, and efficiency had dropped.

If you want to grow further from here, you’ll need another major event—something like the destruction of the Ghost Market—that shakes the imperial court and the capital.

“Mr. Chu, you’ve made quite the spectacle this time.” Zhuo Bufen had been waiting for Chu Danqing for a long while; his father, Zhuo Qingsui, was still locked in prison.

“What else should I do? How else could you and I save those people sold like piglets?” Chu Danqing said calmly. “Don’t worry about your father—once the court reaches a decision, he’ll be released.”

“But after this, your father is now aligned with the Crown Prince’s faction, no longer the Qiutan Party. He must choose his side carefully.”

Chu Danqing gave this warning; whether Zhuo Qingsui would heed it was no longer his concern.

“Thank you, Lord Chu, for the reminder. A gentleman forms friendships but not factions. My father is no member of the Qiutan Party—he is merely a loyal subject to the throne.” said Zhuo Bufen.

(End of Chapter)