Chapter 23: Killing the Tiger to Warn the Ji

The court session was reconvened.

Since the ghost soldiers hijacked the pay and exacted their debt, the King of Han had suddenly become diligent, frequently holding court.

This made life miserable for Ji Ji Wuye, Zhang Kaidi, and others. Unlike the King of Han who lived in the palace, they lived outside, so they had to wake up much earlier every day to arrive at the palace in time.

Ji Ji Wuye was reluctant to leave his bed of comfort, while Zhang Kaidi was simply old. For an elderly man, getting a good night's sleep was not easy. Moreover, the investigators were all officials from his faction, and their successive deaths had put him in a bad mood, affecting his sleep. Having finally fallen asleep, he had to wake up early for court, which was truly difficult.

However, the fortunate thing was that Ji Ji Wuye's previous attempt to shift the blame had not backfired on him, as the man named Su Xuan had taken over the investigation.

Could they learn the latest progress of the investigation at today's court session?

Zhang Kaidi was very curious.

Equally curious was Ji Ji Wuye. If not for the fact that the one hundred thousand taels of gold were already in his pocket, he would never bother to leave his comfort and wake up early for court.

According to his subordinates, that man went to Soul-Severing Valley to investigate, truly believing the disappearance was the work of ghosts.

So, could he find any clues?

Ji Ji Wuye was mostly thinking of watching Su Xuan make a fool of himself.

As the civil and military officials arrived, they took their places in the palace hall.

The King of Han sat on the throne and got straight to the point.

"Since the ghost soldiers hijacked the pay and exacted their debt, the city has been in a state of panic. I was also terrified, but fortunately, Mr. Su is a man of great supernatural power and has helped me. Now, he has found the location of the missing military pay!"

"Found it?!"

"He actually found it?"

Once the King of Han said this, the officials in the hall looked at each other, whispering. To say they weren't shocked would be impossible.

Ji Ji Wuye's pupils contracted slightly.

He hadn't expected the King of Han to give such an answer.

He subconsciously wanted to say, "Impossible!"

The military pay was still in his hands, and he had hidden it extremely well; it was impossible for an outsider to find it.

Just then, he heard the King of Han say, "Mr. Su!"

Su Xuan stepped into the hall again, bowing to the King of Han with a Daoist salute.

Upon seeing Su Xuan, Chancellor Zhang Kaidi immediately asked, "Mr. Su, have you really found the missing military pay?"

If it were the Zhang Kaidi of the past, he would have kept his distance from wandering sorcerers like Su Xuan. He advocated Confucianism and respected ghosts and gods from a distance, but he had to admit that Su Xuan had helped Zhao Guo quite a bit.

If Su Xuan hadn't used his mysterious methods to summon rain that day, the drought would have lasted much longer, affecting the common people of Zhao Guo.

Today, if Su Xuan helped them find the missing pay again, it would clearly be another great achievement.

Su Xuan met Zhang Kaidi's gaze and said calmly, "I am proficient in the Art of Communicating with the Nether and can communicate with ghosts and gods. To find the missing pay, I personally went to Soul-Severing Valley, where the pay was lost. If the disappearance was the work of ghosts, they would certainly leave some clues."

"The result was beyond my expectations!"

"According to the ghosts wandering in Soul-Severing Valley, the pay was not hijacked by them."

"According to them, the pay vanished on its own after encountering water!"

"Nonsense!" Ji Ji Wuye said coldly, reprimanding Su Xuan. "Are you using the excuse of ghosts to absolve yourself because you couldn't find any clues?"

He knew exactly what was going on with the military pay. He hadn't expected Su Xuan to discover that the pay vanished due to rainwater without even interrogating those who escorted it.

However, Su Xuan's mistake was explaining it with the theory of ghosts.

He knew better than anyone whether ghosts existed.

There were no such things as ghost soldiers, so Su Xuan's words were an out-and-out lie.

"The General seems not to believe my words!" Su Xuan was not angry, facing Ji Ji Wuye. "However, the facts are just as I said!"

Other officials belonging to Ji Ji Wuye's faction, seeing their leader speak, also began to question Su Xuan.

"The General is right. The idea of military pay vanishing after encountering water is too bizarre. If it wasn't the work of ghosts, it's hard to explain!"

Many officials looked at Su Xuan, wanting to see how he would explain it.

"Actually, it is not hard to explain!" Su Xuan said calmly. "The world is vast, and there are many strange things. There are minerals in this world similar to gold. As far as I know, there is one commonly called 'Water-Dissolving Gold' that dissolves in water and burns in fire!" ===== CHAPTER 38 =====

"If that military pay was secretly swapped for Water-Dissolving Gold before transport, it wouldn't be strange for it to suddenly disappear upon encountering rain!"

Chancellor Zhang Kaidi keenly grasped a keyword in Su Xuan's words. "Are you saying the ghost soldier hijacking was man-made?"

"Not just the hijacking, but the subsequent ghost soldier debt-exacting was also man-made!" Su Xuan replied.

"'Water-Dissolving Gold'? A nice excuse!" Ji Ji Wuye's heart was cold. He hadn't expected Su Xuan to figure out the truth about the gold so quickly. However, he didn't show any fear on his face. He looked at Su Xuan with cold eyes and said, "Even if this was man-made, you still haven't found the missing military pay!"

"It seems the General's memory is not very good!" Su Xuan met Ji Ji Wuye's gaze without any fear. "Has the General forgotten what His Majesty said earlier?"

When the court session began, the King of Han had said that Su Xuan had already found the whereabouts of the missing pay.

Ji Ji Wuye was stunned, his eyes flickering.

Could it be that this guy really found the whereabouts of the pay?

Immediately after, he dismissed this speculation.

Even if Su Xuan knew the disappearance was man-made and guessed the gold was Water-Dissolving Gold, he couldn't possibly find the location of the missing pay.

"According to you, where is the military pay hidden now?"

"It is in Wang Cheng!" Su Xuan said firmly.

"In Wang Cheng?"

In the hall, all the officials were stunned.

One hundred thousand taels of gold were swapped, and the person didn't hide it elsewhere, but in the city? Was that person an idiot?

Ji Ji Wuye became even more certain that Su Xuan was talking nonsense.

"Oh? Since you know the whereabouts, why don't you say it so we can recover the missing pay?"

Su Xuan was not impatient. "The missing pay must be recovered, of course, but capturing the bold mastermind who swapped the pay is also extremely important."

"Who has such guts to dare swap the military pay meant for the border army?!" Ji Ji Wuye said with sarcasm. He was ready to watch Su Xuan make a fool of himself, but before that, he didn't mind playing along with this act.

"The General knows this person too!" Su Xuan said.

"I know him?" Ji Ji Wuye was confused.

Su Xuan said, "This person is extremely wealthy and has a nickname—Emerald Tiger!" ===== CHAPTER 39 =====