Chapter 436: Demotion of One Level (7/10, Autumn Subscription)

"Mm."

"Go on, which village is it?"

"Gu Yue Cun."

"Gu... Yue... Cun..."

Dead-fish eyes muttered as he took out a fresh sheet of paper and wrote the three big characters of Gu Yue Cun at the top.

Then he looked at Fang Yue: "Keep going. Tell me the whole thing in detail."

"The whole story? Then I'd have to start from Mo Cun being destroyed by the Wu Yu tribe."

"Mo Cun? Two villages destroyed?"

"That's right, and also Man Shui Cun, Chaoyue Village, Luoye Cun..."

"Wait, wait!"

Dead-fish eyes sprang up in a flash, his face a little panicked.

"A bizarre serial village-destruction case? What on earth happened over there? No... I'll go call someone first, this isn't a Black Grade case file at all! This is a Blood Grade case file! A special-grade Blood Grade case file that doesn't appear once in several or even over ten years! That idiot Yu Baiyi, he got it wrong!"

Saying so, he hurried out, leaving Fang Yue and Lin Ling staring at each other.

Before long, the sound of hurried footsteps rang out, the room door opened, light poured in, and Fang Yue and Lin Ling were momentarily stunned.

The one who came was not Yu Baiyi, but Lord Jun, the Green Clothing Green Guard they had run into on the road and met once before.

"Is it you two who want to report a special-grade Blood Grade case file?"

"It's them, it's them."

Dead-fish eyes came out from behind at this moment, pointing at Fang Yue and the other and shouting.

The two entered the room and shut the door, and Lord Jun immediately began his questioning.

Fang Yue didn't beat around the bush and directly gave a brief account of what had happened.

Only when mentioning the repelling of the Wu Yu tribe did he bring up his own contribution.

"With Lord Han's help, I temporarily possessed the power of a Rain Grade strike, and repelled the Wu Yu tribe."

This was the final statement Fang Yue and Lord Han had agreed upon after discussion; since there was no way to verify it, they could say whatever they pleased.

And as Fang Yue spoke, Lord Jun's expression grew more and more astonished, and the way he looked at Fang Yue became rather strange.

This boy, what tremendous fortune!

The Wu Yu tribe had wiped out villages all the way along, yet when they reached his village, they suffered a loss and fled in defeat.

As for Lord Han, Lord Jun naturally knew of him.

Or rather, anyone who had risen to Green Clothing, even if they didn't know, would be drilled with this kind of knowledge.

For example, Lord Han of Gu Yue Cun, Lord Lan of Man Shui Cun, the ancient formations of Mo Cun... these distinctive villages, whose upper limits of strength were strong enough to crush Qingsi County, didn't need to be observed every moment on purpose, but one had to know of their existence.

Otherwise, if a conflict broke out one day and they didn't know the other side's background, and brought the whole of Qingsi County along to score points, that would be seeking death.

"You mean Lord Han came with you to Qingsi County as well?"

Lord Jun was visibly excited: "I'd like to meet him. Can that be arranged?"

"Lord Han gave instructions long ago: he sees no visitors."

"... Not even me? I'm a descendant of 【Tian Lian】."

【Tian Lian】?

Fang Yue felt the name sounded somewhat familiar.

He quickly recalled it — it was a name Lord Han had mentioned at the city gate earlier, apparently a former Green Clothing of Qingsi County.

"Uh, then I'll go back and ask Lord Han's intentions for you."

"... Many thanks!" Lord Jun rose and bowed deeply; this attitude was far better than Yu Baiyi's.

After a pause, he said: "However, what you've described is of great importance. We need to investigate properly before we can formally record this matter in the case files. Rest assured, given the gravity and the involvement of multiple villages, this kind of special-grade Blood Grade case file will be encrypted and won't be viewed lightly by others. Once the matter is confirmed, you won't be short on rewards."

"Ah, it still needs an investigation... how long will that take? I still have a letter from Lord Han here to corroborate what I've said."

"Let me see."

Taking the letter from Fang Yue's hand, Lord Jun carefully read through it, and only at the end said: "Lord Han once left a handwritten letter in the Green Division's case files back in the day, and I've read it a few times. This letter is indeed in Lord Han's own hand. This raises the credibility by quite a bit. The Green Division will give you an answer as soon as possible."

Well, looks like he'll have to wait for notification.

But the news really does travel slowly.

They had already made their way all the way from Gu Yue Cun to Qingsi County.

Yet the news of Gu Yue Cun and the other villages being destroyed by the Wu Yu tribe still hadn't spread.

No...

Fang Yue suddenly realized he had overlooked something — the news might have already spread.

It was just spreading slowly, and most of it was news of individual villages being destroyed.

After all, not everyone was like Fang Yue, knowing that Mo Cun had been destroyed and that the Wu Yu tribe had cut through every village along the way like slicing through enemies.

Between one village and another, there was always distance. Some people only went to Mo Cun, so they knew Mo Cun had been destroyed.

Some people only went to Luoye Cun to seek medical treatment, so they discovered Luoye Cun was gone.

Once the news spread, only the nearby villages began to brew with rumors, and they only knew of individual villages being destroyed.

Only with time fermenting would someone realize that all the villages in the Gu Yue Cun area had been destroyed by something bizarre.

And if, like now, the Green Division stepped in to investigate this kind of news, with Fang Yue's information as support, there should be feedback soon.

After all, one only had to run to the nearby villages to gather intelligence on the destroyed villages; there was no need for on-site investigation.

Judging by this, it shouldn't take more than a few days for the Green Division to gather the news.

"Then let's leave the matter of Gu Yue Cun and the Wu Yu tribe here for now. I have one more thing..."

Bang.

The door was slammed open.

Yu Baiyi, looking somewhat flustered, rushed into the room.

Seeing Lord Jun inside, he froze for a moment, and a fine sheen of sweat instantly broke out across his forehead.

"L-Lord Jun."

"Bai Qiang, you nearly botched a major matter." Lord Jun frowned slightly.

Thud.

Yu Baiyi dropped to his knees at once, saying in terror: "Lord Jun, I did not know this matter would be a Special-Grade Blood-Rank case file. I thought it was merely an ordinary village annihilation…"

"Ordinary? In your mouth, the disaster of a village being wiped out is merely an ordinary concept? You are far too arrogant!"

"…I-I didn't mean that!" Yu Baiyi said in a panic, turning a pleading look toward the dead-fish-eyed man in white beside him, but the latter acted as if he hadn't seen, saying nothing at all.

"If that's not what you meant, then what did you mean? On the case file, the disaster of a village being wiped out is just a line of text, a single death toll. But it is thousands upon thousands of lives! You sit in the Green Division yet cannot comprehend the suffering of the common people — why then must you stay in the Green Division? Would joining a sect not be far easier than remaining in the Green Division?"

Hearing Lord Jun say this, Yu Baiyi's face went deathly pale in an instant: "I-I didn't mean that! Lord Jun, I…"

"Enough said. Demote yourself one rank, reduced to Black Garb. Then immediately take my order and go to Gu Yue Cun to investigate the details of the matter."

D-Demote himself one rank!?

Yu Baiyi's mind buzzed, as if struck by lightning, a complete blank.

To climb to where he was today, he had been cautious and careful, walking on thin ice, one step at a time, one footprint at a time.

He had never expected that, because of such a careless slip, a fine situation would be ruined!

(End of Chapter)