Chapter 448: Going in the Right Direction? (2/10, Autumn Subscription)

Strange?!

That problematic Fire Pattern Token was actually given by the strange!

His expression blanking for a moment, Fang Yue furrowed his brow: "Why would the strange give you the Fire Pattern Token?"

"... A deal!"

The one who answered Fang Yue was not Black Crow, but You Sisi beside him, whose face had darkened.

He only saw her yank Black Crow up off the ground.

"So you lot are underground ghost merchants, running a trade in stranges! No wonder you dared to pull off what you did last night!"

"It's not what you think! We were being threatened too! At the time, our entire merchant caravan was surrounded by stranges. They gave us two choices: die, or take one item from that pile of corpses on the ground."

"What corpses?" Fang Yue asked.

"... We hired people from the Blazing Flame Sect to escort us."

Fang Yue understood. They had hired the Blazing Flame Sect as bodyguards, then ran into stranges. The Blazing Flame Sect had been wiped out, and the merchant caravan had been given a chance to live.

"So you picked the Fire Pattern Token?"

"Right. On that pile of corpses, that was the most valuable thing."

At a life-or-death moment, still showing that merchant's instinct...

"You took this Fire Pattern Token the strange gave you, and the strange just let you leave?"

"Right."

This was a memory Black Crow did not want to bring up.

One, it was too humiliating; two, if something like this got out, the consequences would be severe.

But... behind him stood the Phoenix Organization. As long as he could survive now, there would surely be a chance to turn things around.

"... Why didn't you throw the Fire Pattern Token away?"

"Throw it away?"

Black Crow tore open a slit in his clothes, revealing the faint, snake-like black markings beneath.

"This only faded after I sold the Fire Pattern Token to Lord Bear. Before it left my hands, the curse was much darker, spreading from my chest all over my body. And the moment I had the thought of throwing it away, the curse would surface and spread at once. According to them, it could only be lifted by selling it off through human means."

Fang Yue leaned in for a closer look, and could not tell at all that this was not a real curse.

But You Sisi beside him took one glance and never asked about its authenticity again, basically confirming it was a genuine curse.

"Why not report it to the Green Division? You think our Green Division has no capable people who could lift the curse for you?"

"Do you lot even have that ability?" Black Crow asked suspiciously.

"No. This is a curse we've never seen before. It needs to be studied, and no one dares guarantee the success rate of lifting it."

"..."

Black Crow's face darkened. Thank goodness he had chosen the Phoenix Organization, whom he could trust. But if he only sent word and waited for them to bring someone to treat him, he would basically be a dead man by then.

So he chose the method of transferring the curse instead.

As the Fire Pattern Token, the best buyer he could find was naturally someone from the Blazing Flame Sect.

Of course, he couldn't just dump it on them dirt cheap. Instead, he smoothly sold it off without arousing their suspicion.

After some maneuvering, the item changed hands successfully, the curse faded, and Black Crow was finally able to relax.

That way, he would have time to wait for the Phoenix Organization's rescue and thoroughly resolve the curse on his chest.

The only problem was, he had been exposed.

"Those stranges, besides making you get rid of this thing, did they say anything else?"

"Nothing."

"Think carefully before you open your mouth. The one beside me hasn't said she won't chop your head off."

"... Really nothing. Chop my head off and there's still nothing."

Strange. This left Fang Yue thoroughly puzzled.

The strange attached to the Fire Pattern Token was not strong.

It was just that things happened too suddenly. By the time You Sisi arrived, Qingluan Lou was already ablaze.

Judging from how quickly You Sisi had struck down that strange, it couldn't have been all that powerful either.

So the strange deliberately had a Fire Pattern Token, something like a Parasitic Ghost Stone, brought into the county, just to cause a small stir?

"Lord You, I've confessed everything. I admit I'm guilty, but not guilty enough to die. My right arm was severed by you—isn't this punishment a bit excessive?"

"After doing something like this, you still expect me to show mercy?"

You Sisi gave a cold laugh, clapped her hands, and had the white-clothed men who came in lock Black Crow in the dungeon, then ignored him.

Hearing it was only imprisonment, Black Crow fell silent.

Because he knew the reinforcements sent by the Phoenix Organization should arrive soon. For now, he'd just have to endure it.

"What exactly are those stranges trying to do?" You Sisi frowned deeply.

"No—rather, what are those intelligent stranges trying to do?"

Fang Yue thought then of the Shi Zhi Gui he had encountered in Gu Yue Cun. Stranges with that kind of scientific spirit, though extremely rare, did exist.

Or perhaps... the latest strange technology was hidden on that Fire Pattern Token.

Similar to humans, stranges were constantly refining and researching their own techniques. The Shi Zhi Gui, for instance, was obsessed with the technology to perfectly transform humans into stranges, and had researched it deeply.

Perhaps this was a test.

"A test? What kind of test?" After Fang Yue shared his thoughts with You Sisi, she could not help but ask.

"Your Qingsi County's detection of stranges is extremely tight, so every time a case occurs, it's always weak stranges, or stranges with extremely strong concealment. But if that technology on the Fire Pattern Token, similar to the Parasitic Ghost Stone, is mature, then other powerful stranges could also use this method to enter Qingsi County with ease!"

Hiss—

You Sisi had not considered this angle at first. After hearing Fang Yue's words, she sharply drew in a cold breath.

If all of this came true, Qingsi County would fall into a very, very dangerous situation.

They might have to fight a special battle where the ghost directly appeared inside.

"No good! We must get those old fogeys who research ghost artifacts to immediately begin a full analysis of that Fire Pattern Token, and find out exactly where the problem lies!"

Her face darkened, and she hurried out of the room to get to work.

But Fang Yue was not very optimistic about the result of this move.

Before, when they studied the Fire Pattern Token, they hadn't figured out what was wrong with it.

How could there possibly be any progress now?

In other words, the ghost had possessed someone and then died; as a Parasitic Ghost Stone, the Fire Pattern Token—what flaw could it possibly show?

Sure enough, in no time, You Sisi was sent back.

"What did they say?"

"They need time to research it."

"... Any specific timeframe?"

"No."

You Sisi shook her head and let out a sigh.

She didn't know much about these matters either; otherwise she would definitely have operated it herself, throwing her whole heart and soul into cracking the Fire Pattern Token's secret.

"Then is this case closed now? Or still pending?"

"In this situation, it's considered temporarily closed. We'll wait for new progress on the Fire Pattern Token research, then take out the case file and record the new progress."

Hearing You Sisi say this, Fang Yue felt a bit pleased.

Although he'd spent most of the day following You Sisi around Qingsi County, tired to the bone.

At least he'd managed to follow her and get a clear picture of the whole set of procedures for handling cases at the Qingsi Office.

Next time when it was his turn to handle one, he could also proceed in an orderly fashion.

(End of chapter)