: Touching the Hidden Secret Again

Ning Zhuo and Wen Ruan Yu stood beside Chen Sui's corpse.

The cause of death had been found.

It was the Heart-Piercing Nail held in Wen Ruan Yu's hand.

Wen Ruan Yu clenched the nail tightly, the veins on the back of his hand bulging from the excessive force.

His usual composure had vanished, replaced by a face full of anger. "This is utterly insulting!"

Despite the heavy surveillance, a male consort had still died. It was like a series of slaps directly to Wen Ruan Yu's face.

So humiliating!

What was even more infuriating was that the murderer's clues directly pointed to Sun Tiesheng. This made Wen Ruan Yu still hesitant, unwilling to follow this obvious trail left by the killer and conduct a stringent investigation.

Ning Zhuo stared at the corpse on the ground and said slowly, "Rather than this clue, I'm more concerned about another point—who discovered Chen Sui's body and how?"

Wen Ruan Yu immediately understood Ning Zhuo's implication, a sharp light flashing in his eyes. "You mean the process of discovering Chen Sui's body was also arranged by the mole."

Ning Zhuo: "I think it's highly possible. If Chen Sui had been secretly assassinated, according to our arrangements, all the male consorts would be contributing their part to the Lingqi Treasure Refining Array day and night, then competing against each other to determine the sole victor."

"Therefore, these male consorts in the Virility Court are basically in a state of never leaving their quarters."

"But now, Chen Sui's body was discovered too quickly, and the negative impact spread through the entire court almost like lightning."

"Currently, the morale of the Virility Court has been severely shaken. This situation most benefits the Forgotten River Prefect."

Wen Ruan Yu nodded: "That makes sense. I'll investigate immediately."

Wen Ruan Yu acted swiftly and soon had results.

His face gloomy, he said to Ning Zhuo, "It was just a paper puppet."

"It was following Chen Sui's instructions to clean the room in the early morning. It found the door wide open and saw the body upon entering."

Ning Zhuo was surprised: "If it was just a paper puppet, why did it make a loud fuss and publicize it?"

Wen Ruan Yu said, "Jiao Ma, this is because you don't understand the origin of these paper puppets."

"White Paper Immortal City was built by the Mysterious Plain Scholar, who is a mighty expert at the Void Refining stage. As successors, we still don't understand the purpose behind this great expert building this immortal city."

"But we have already explored many of the city's functions and powers."

"For example, these paper puppets are very practical, undertaking many daily and wartime labor tasks in White Paper Immortal City."

"These paper puppets generally possess spirituality, no different from ordinary people. The reason for this is that White Paper Immortal City has endured countless ghost tides, with numerous ghosts and living beings perishing within the city walls."

"White Paper Immortal City collected these, and after accumulating over a long time, a qualitative change occurred, producing a source stream of spirituality."

"After these paper puppets are infused with this source stream of spirituality, they become like ordinary people, possessing intelligence."

"Due to differences in intelligence and the quality of the paper puppets themselves, there are different types of paper puppets. You can consider that the spirituality of these paper puppets responsible for daily tasks comes from the ordinary people within the city, so they are naturally prone to making a fuss. Losing composure is very normal for them."

Ning Zhuo finally understood, saying with realization, "So that's how it is. I thought it was the City Lord's doing."

Wen Ruan Yu shook his head: "The City Lord's paper puppets are bestowed by White Paper Immortal City due to her authority."

"Perhaps you might have this benefit too, after all, you are currently our Deputy City Lord." This sentence was secretly conveyed to Ning Zhuo by Wen Ruan Yu using his spiritual sense.

A sharp light flashed briefly in Ning Zhuo's eyes.

He didn't immediately think about verifying this guess but instead thought about the seven paper puppet armies in the underworld.

"If these paper puppets become lively only after being infused with the source stream of spirituality..."

"Then what would happen if I extract the spirituality of Yuan Dasheng and Meng Yehu and infuse it into those ownerless paper puppets?"

After discussing for a while, they found no good solution.

The mole's methods were truly formidable. Despite Chen Sui being under strict surveillance, they still managed to assassinate him without leaving any trace.

The biggest clue was an obvious trap, or perhaps a biting sarcasm.

"Right now, only you, Senior Wen, can step forward to reassure the many male consorts and maintain the Lingqi Treasure Refining Array," Ning Zhuo said.

Wen Ruan Yu suppressed his headache: "That's the only way. As long as this array is maintained, the mole will be forced to act again."

"But to be frank, I'm already feeling indecisive."

"Doing this is essentially using the male consorts as bait to catch the mole. Is sacrificing these people really worth it?"

Ning Zhuo immediately nodded, showing a firm attitude: "Of course it's worth it."

"Frankly speaking, Shen Bing and Chen Sui were merely Foundation Establishment cultivators. How much Yang energy could they contribute?"

"If using them as bait can lure out the mole, allowing us to seize a flaw and eradicate them in one move, their contribution would be far greater than serving as male consorts!"

Wen Ruan Yu smiled wryly: "That's easy to say, but what if we never find the mole?"

At this point, he looked at Ning Zhuo with concern: "Jiao Ma, you need to pay attention to your safety too!"

"Your Jiao family's cultivation technique is quite famous."

"If Sun Tiesheng dies, you might also become a target for assassination."

Ning Zhuo nodded, his expression unavoidably turning grave.

That night, a wave of rumors spread like wildfire, stirring even more unease in the Virility Court.

The content of the rumors was largely similar: Shen Bing and Chen Sui were assassinated one after the other, so probably on the third night, it would be Sun Tiesheng's turn.

After all, the three strongest male consorts in the Virility Court were them.

They could be considered the leading figures.

Wen Ruan Yu had worked hard for most of the day, trying to stabilize people's hearts, but these rumors directly undermined his efforts.

Secretly shocked and angry, he immediately launched an investigation.

The result of the investigation made him both laugh and cry: these rumors had actually been spread by Sun Tiesheng himself.

Wen Ruan Yu immediately went to confront and reprimand him.

Sun Tiesheng knelt on the ground, weeping bitterly before Wen Ruan Yu, expressing his extreme worry and fear. He claimed he wasn't afraid of being assassinated himself, but was worried that if he died, who would help the City Lord refine the Yin energy. If this contribution was lacking, leading to the fall of White Paper Immortal City, then the Sun family would also be destroyed. Then he, Sun Tiesheng, would be the enemy who destroyed his own family!

Wen Ruan Yu snorted coldly: "You overestimate your own importance."

"Get up. I won't hold you accountable for now. Later, I will settle accounts properly with you and your Sun family!"

Wen Ruan Yu flicked his sleeve and left, but also assigned and arranged more subordinates to heavily protect Sun Tiesheng.

Seeing the increased guards, Sun Tiesheng secretly rejoiced.

His scheme had worked. This forced Wen Ruan Yu to pay more attention and add more personnel for security.

Although Wen Ruan Yu was a Golden Core expert and understood Sun Tiesheng's scheme, he ultimately had no choice but to play along.

This was because who he hated more was the mole hidden in the shadows.

"This time, I've assigned triple the personnel to guard Sun Tiesheng. I don't believe you can still assassinate him!" Wen Ruan Yu gritted his teeth in secret.

That night.

Outside White Paper City.

Suddenly, a group of ghost tribe cultivators emerged from underground, surrounding a scout unit of Yin soldiers.

"Die!" shouted the ghost tribe girl Qing Chi, taking the lead. Her small body directly smashed a skeletal corpse horse, pulling the leading elite ghost soldier down and pummeling him fiercely.

Thump, thump, thump...

Her fists flew, flattening the ghost soldier's bronze helmet, then顺势 smashing his head.

Many ghost soldiers, seeing their leader in trouble, rushed towards Qing Chi, but were intercepted midway by Qing Yan and his men.

After killing the ghost soldier leader, Qing Chi immediately stood up, her eyes shining with a fierce light, filled with a burning fighting spirit, ready to continue the battle.

But then she saw her father, leading the other ghost tribe cultivators, had just finished the fight.

They had eliminated this Yin soldier scout unit.

Qing Chi felt frustrated and shouted helplessly, "Hey, leave some for me."

The ghost tribe cultivators teased her: "Young lady, you want merits to see your sweetheart. We also want to achieve merits and make a career. We can't just give these merits away."

Qing Chi snorted coldly: "Suit yourselves. When we encounter a strong enemy, let's see who can snatch them from me!"

The second night.

Qing Yan and the others successfully ambushed another Yin soldier scout squad again.

However, shortly after the fight began, over a dozen heavily armored Yin cavalry suddenly appeared from another side of the battlefield and charged.

Qing Chi's attention was drawn. Instead of being alarmed, she was delighted and shouted, "Well come!"

She didn't dodge or avoid, but charged back. Midway, her whole body burst into cyan flames as she charged forward against them.

At the moment of collision, she leaped up, her toes lightly tapping on the cavalry's long spear, ascending again.

Cyan flames exploded consecutively among the heavy cavalry. The fire spread rapidly, devouring the bronze armor and the tall skeletal warhorses.

After a dozen breaths, this heavy cavalry unit was buried in the cyan flames.

Qing Chi parted the waves of flame, her face joyful and excited: "This time you couldn't snatch the merit, right?"

But Qing Yan's face was iron-gray as he scolded: "Xiao Chi! Are you trying to get yourself killed? Who told you to take such a risk?!"

The third night.

Qing Yan's group did not leave the city.

The ghost tide attacked again, assaulting White Paper Immortal City.

As part of the reinforcements, they stood on the city wall for defense.

A group of ghosts was about to rush onto the top of the wall. Qing Chi stepped forward.

She extended her palms and pressed them firmly against the white paper bricks of the city wall.

The next moment, cyan, scorching flames, like vines, instantly crawled over the entire section of the wall, burning all the ghosts to death.

Amid the waves of flame, large clusters of flaming crabapple flowers actually bloomed.

"Burn you to death, burn you to death!" Qing Chi's eyes also flashed with cyan light as she murmured, the flames in her hands growing stronger.

Thus, the cyan flames spread continuously, covering a section of the wall, then rolling down to engulf a large number of ghosts below the wall, instantly clearing a small area of the battlefield.

Such power made both enemies and allies look over.

The cyan flames suddenly vanished. Qing Chi gasped for breath, extremely exhausted.

Qing Yan immediately came behind her, picked up his daughter, and retreated to the rear: "I've told you several times, don't fight so desperately!"

Qing Chi chuckled: "Dad, are the merits I've earned this time enough?"

Qing Yan snorted coldly: "I estimate it's almost enough. We'll calculate in detail after the battle."

Qing Chi pouted, dissatisfied: "Detailed calculation it is, then!"

As the father and daughter walked, they attracted many gazes.

"Is that Qing Chi?"

"That very active ghost tribe cultivator recently. Although only at Foundation Establishment, she has Golden Core level combat power!"

"Her flames are full of vitality, but they are a great poison to ghosts."

The young girl, striving with all her might to meet her beloved, thus performed stunningly, becoming the most brilliant figure in this phase of the city defense.

The Virility Court was heavily guarded.

Two days had passed since Chen Sui's assassination.

Perhaps because Wen Ruan Yu had deployed sufficient personnel for strict monitoring, or perhaps because the mole had voluntarily stopped, no one else had been assassinated these past few days.

Therefore, the morale in the Virility Court gradually stabilized.

Ning Zhuo's days were quite peaceful and紧凑.

While the other male consorts全力 participated in the treasure refining array, providing their Yang energy, constantly consuming large amounts of virility potions in fierce competition, Ning Zhuo immersed himself in soul cultivation.

Although he didn't primarily cultivate such techniques, he possessed four Nascent Soul level treasures.

Ning Zhuo slowly opened his eyes. They were dark and deep, revealing traces of Yin light.

"Broken through."

"Now I have a million human souls!"

Ning Zhuo felt inner joy and looked down at his arm.

His arm was a bluish-gray color, emitting Yin energy.

Ning Zhuo knew perfectly well that this condition wasn't limited to his arm, but his entire body!

"My soul foundation is too powerful, almost exceeding the carrying limit of my physical body."

"I must slow down and put more effort into the Fetal Breath Spiritual Barge."

"It must be said, the current White Paper City Lord is quite generous. Up to now, more than half of the four soul cultivation treasures remain."

"Boss, are you really not considering soul cultivation?"

Ning Zhuo couldn't help but ask again secretly through the Thread of Life.

Sun Lingtong refused again, then mentioned something interesting.

While Ning Zhuo cultivated, he wouldn't check on Sun Lingtong's situation. But Sun Lingtong, participating in the Yin soldier army, had seen Qing Chi's heroic combat prowess.

He reminded Ning Zhuo: "This little girl is so fierce! Even we are starting to take notice. If she grows up, this cyan fire will definitely be a bane to ghosts. So, the Yin army has also collected a lot of intelligence about her."

"Even you are in the intelligence."

"This girl seems to have made a bet with her father. She's fighting全力 to earn enough merit to come see you!"

Ning Zhuo immediately frowned: "What?"

Sun Lingtong giggled, adding salt to the wound: "Don't worry. Rumor has it Qing Chi has almost gathered enough merit."

Ning Zhuo's frown deepened, and he felt a headache coming on again.

He looked around and thought, "I can't stay here! I need to go out and hide for a while."

Ning Zhuo had already been thinking about going out.

His first stop was the City Lord's mansion. There, he used his Deputy City Lord token, trying hard to sense, but failed to trigger any hidden restrictions of White Paper Immortal City. He didn't receive the benefit of a paper puppet分身.

Ning Zhuo wasn't discouraged. He knew there were a large number of blank paper puppets hidden in the underworld.

So, his second stop was to approach the Giant Paper Puppet statue at the South Gate.

The Giant Paper Puppet statue, after days and nights of urgent repairs, had roughly restored its former appearance.

Ning Zhuo passed through unimpeded and entered the internal space of the Giant Paper Puppet again, seeing the Crossroads Lamp.

He channeled magic power and used his spiritual sense to communicate with the Crossroads Lamp, suddenly activating a hidden restriction.

The next moment, his mother's voice came from the lamp.

(End of )