Chapter 391

At the palace gate, silence fell instantly.

The evening breeze seemed to halt its flow, leaving only the distant, faint sound of the long drumbeat signaling the third watch.

In an instant after Chen Mu's words ended, the pupils of the several stern-faced bodyguards behind Du Weilong shrank involuntarily, their faces flashing unmistakable shock.

They instinctively turned to Du Weilong, their gazes filled with disbelief and a trace of automatic wariness.

It was not directed at Chen Mu, but the news itself was too horrifying to believe.

Colluding with the Mo Sect?

Attempting to overthrow the Dao City?

And yet it was the Deputy Commander of the Moon Division—a high-ranking officer within the Town Martial Office?!

Yet Du Weilong's expression showed no ripple.

As if he had merely heard an ordinary weather report, those bright eyes, seemingly able to pierce through all things, regarded Chen Mu calmly, his voice betraying no emotion.

"Chen Xuncha, you truly are… silent until you speak, then shock the world."

He paused, his tone still calm, yet carrying an invisible pressure.

"Do you know what grave crime it is to falsely accuse a colleague—especially accusing a Deputy Commander of the Moon Division of colluding with the Mo Sect and plotting rebellion?"

"Without irrefutable evidence, even as a Xuncha, I cannot protect you."

"Your subject fully understands the gravity."

Chen Mu answered without hesitation, his voice firm, his gaze meeting Du Weilong's scrutiny without flinching, "But every word I speak is true! I heard it with my own ears tonight—I heard Xiao Xinming, Liu Qihua, and two other conspirators plotting in a secret chamber beneath Liu's residence."

"They spoke of the 'Boss,' of waiting for reinforcements, of seizing control of the city gates, the granaries, and the array's core—waiting for the right moment to launch a coordinated uprising and overthrow the Dao City! Their words were precise, not fabricated!"

Speaking, he stepped forward half a pace, his voice growing more urgent and resolute.

"If Commander-in-Chief does not believe me, go to Liu's residence now—Xiao Xinming may still be there, still plotting with Liu Qihua and the others!"

"If we apprehend them on the spot, with evidence in hand, everything will be clear. If we delay, they may sense something and escape!"

Chen Mu's words came rapid and forceful, his eyes showing no trace of evasion—only urgency and solemnity after uncovering a major conspiracy.

Du Weilong listened in silence, his expression slowly hardening into deep solemnity.

He gave no immediate order, raised no doubt—only his gaze burned like a torch, as if peering through Chen Mu from within to without.

Time seemed to freeze for several breaths.

"Good."

Du Weilong finally spoke, uttering only one word.

Before the word had fully faded, without any visible motion, he merely brushed his sleeve slightly.

A vast, pure, yet impossibly gentle torrent of true energy surged forth like an invisible current, instantly enveloping Chen Mu.

So powerful was this force that Chen Mu, already at the Fifth Qi of the Earth Altar Realm, could not summon even a shred of resistance—he felt the world lurch violently, darken, heard wind howling at his ears, and found his feet lifted into the air!

He was not flying himself—he was carried by Du Weilong, moving at a speed beyond his comprehension, nearly like spatial teleportation, crossing miles in an instant!

When his vision cleared again, Chen Mu found himself hundreds of meters above ground.

Below him lay the Liu residence, its outlines sharp, its lights sparse.

The night wind whipped his robes as he looked down—the entire layout of the Liu estate, its courtyards, corridors, even hidden corners, lay bare beneath his gaze.

Du Weilong stood half a step beside him, his figure seemingly merged with the night and void, his aura utterly absent.

Had he not seen it with his own eyes, Chen Mu could barely sense his presence.

This was the power of a Heaven Palace Realm cultivator!

Yet their timing was perfect.

The moment they stabilized and turned their gaze downward toward the Liu residence, four figures emerged slowly from a dark, winding path behind the courtyard Chen Mu had previously scouted—the path winding through rockeries and bamboo groves.

Beneath the faint glow of luminescent stones embedded along the eaves and hidden corners, Chen Mu saw them clearly.

It was Liu Qihua, Xiao Xinming, the soft-voiced "Li Lao," a thin-faced old man in a brown long robe, and a fourth man—around thirty, ordinary in appearance, but with sharp eyes and a grounded, steady gait.

The four walked as they whispered, each displaying different expressions.

Liu Qihua frowned, still visibly anxious.

Xiao Xinming wore his signature smile—gentle on the surface, distant beneath. He nodded occasionally.

Li Lao looked shrewd and calculating, murmuring softly.

The thirty-year-old man remained mostly silent, his gaze flickering warily around.

They whispered as they walked, soon reaching a secluded back gate near the Liu estate's rear garden.

Li Lao and the thirty-year-old man halted, bowed to Xiao Xinming and Liu Qihua, then their figures blurred—melting into shadows, slipping soundlessly out the back gate, vanishing into the darkness of the alley beyond.

Immediately after, Xiao Xinming, escorted personally by Liu Qihua, did not take the main gate, but turned toward a more concealed side gate beside it.

Liu Qihua seemed to whisper a few more words at the side gate; Xiao Xinming patted his shoulder, nodded, then stepped out, his form quickly swallowed by the night-lit street.

The direction was unmistakably toward the Town Martial Office headquarters.

The entire sequence—from the four appearing to their separate departures—took no more than a few dozen breaths.

Du Weilong hovered in midair like a god overlooking an ant colony, witnessing all without moving, without capturing, without a single sound or ripple of energy.

Though Chen Mu was puzzled, he understood Du Weilong had his own plan—he held his breath, remained utterly still, making no move that might alert those below.

Only when Xiao Xinming's figure vanished completely around the street corner did Du Weilong finally move.

He raised his right hand, his index finger gently flicking downward toward Liu Qihua—who stood alone in the shadow of the side gate, frowning still, just after seeing Xiao Xinming off.

A tiny speck of dark, nearly imperceptible, grain-sized black light shot forth like a falling star, silent and swift beyond imagination, striking precisely into the collar crease at the nape of Liu Qihua's neck—and vanished.

Liu Qihua felt a faint, almost imperceptible chill at the back of his neck, instinctively raised a hand to touch it—but found nothing.

He dismissed it as the night wind, shook his head, and turned swiftly back into the estate, closing the side gate behind him.

"That was…"

Chen Mu's pupils narrowed slightly—he had focused his vision and caught a glimpse of the black speck's shape.

It didn't seem to be qi force, nor a hidden weapon, but a tiny black bead, its surface etched with fine patterns?

"That's a 'Voice-Transmission Pearl.'"

Du Wei's voice rang directly in Chen Mu's mind—a refined technique of qi transmission—"A small device that adheres to a person's body and transmits clearly any sound within a certain radius to the holder of the parent pearl."

So it's like a listening device!

Chen Mu understood at once, and secretly marveled at Du Wei's astonishingly precise long-range deployment method.

At such a distance, with such accuracy, Liu Qihua, a peak Earth Altar Realm cultivator, felt nothing!

After explaining, Du Wei said no more, once again enveloping Chen Mu in his vast true qi.

The light and shadows blurred and shifted again; the wind howled once more.

The next moment, Chen Mu's feet firmly touched solid ground.

It was the headquarters of the Zhenwu Si, outside Du Wei's chambers!