: You Invented the Mechanical Monkey?

The next moment, Fei Si pushed the door open and entered.

Zhu Xuanji stared deeply at Fei Si. "You arrived quite quickly."

Fei Si revealed a smile, though it was filled with bitterness.

Zhu Xuanji's identity was special; his every move was under Fei Si's watch. Although the City Lord hadn't given specific instructions about this matter, how could Fei Si not know what to do?

Therefore, when Zhu Xuanji and his two companions left the volcano and headed straight for the Flying Disc Workshop, Fei Si received the news immediately.

The Flying Disc Workshop and Chen Cha were closely connected to Fei Si. Especially with the Fire Persimmon Festival approaching, Fei Si urgently needed the Mechanical Blaze Monkeys—the more, the better.

This concerned the Fire Persimmon Festival under his responsibility, so Fei Si naturally didn't dare to be careless.

Now, with Zhu Xuanji and the others going to the Flying Disc Workshop, Fei Si couldn't sit still and rushed over immediately.

"First of all, I have nothing to do with the emergence of the Immortal Palace," Fei Si began. "Secondly, this originated from a small mistake of mine."

He then explained in detail how, worried about the people's livelihood and concerned about the property of the Southern Bean Dynasty being damaged, he had been eager to present a treasure to the City Lord. He recommended the mechanical monkey and mistakenly believed Chen Cha was the inventor.

When he realized his error, Chen Cha suggested covering up the matter.

Fei Si hesitated at first, but after Chen Cha's earnest persuasion, he agreed.

Chen Cha then privately found Ning Zhuo, requesting that Ning Zhuo transfer the credit of invention to him, offering generous compensation in return.

Ning Zhuo agreed.

The two thus signed a contract to keep the secret together. (In reality, this was something Fei Si had ordered Chen Cha to do afterwards.)

"Sounds quite convincing!" Chi Dun sneered, staring at Fei Si. "But I know you're lying."

Zhu Xuanji frowned more deeply. Using his special technique, he could tell that parts of Fei Si's statement were false, but overall, it was true.

Considering Fei Si was a Golden Core cultivator, held a high position, and was responsible for the daily affairs of Fire Persimmon Immortal City, Zhu Xuanji found it inconvenient to expose him.

Zheng Shuang Gou, meanwhile, looked at Ning Zhuo, re-evaluating him. "So, you are the true inventor of the mechanical monkey."

Ning Zhuo quickly bowed, once again thanking Zheng Shuang Gou for saving his life.

Zheng Shuang Gou, a Golden Core cultivator, had saved the remaining members of the Ning family atop the volcano; Ning Zhuo, Ning Yong, and Ning Chen were among them.

Zheng Shuang Gou laughed. "Since you remember the debt for saving your life, how do you plan to repay it?" Having learned of Ning Zhuo's talent in mechanics, he felt a slight desire to recruit him.

Ning Zhuo smiled wryly. "As a cultivator of the Ning family, I'm afraid I cannot fully repay you, sir, but I will certainly do my utmost."

Zheng Shuang Gou waved his hand. "Enough, enough. How could I trouble a junior like you?"

Ning Zhuo was a Ning family cultivator. Forcing his recruitment would inevitably cause friction with the Ning family.

Previously, the three families had already been discussing joining forces against the City Lord's Manor. Since Ning Zhuo had changed his cultivation path, whether he joined the Zheng family or not was relatively unimportant.

Hearing this, Zhu Xuanji looked at Ning Zhuo again. "You were present when the Immortal Palace emerged?"

Ning Zhuo: "Yes, I was lucky to escape with my life."

"Haha. I know about that." Chi Dun laughed, pleased that he had caught Fei Si's weakness. He spoke boldly, "After the incident, I interrogated many people. The Ning family cultivators were among the first."

"At that time, I not only used the Heart-Questioning Array but also carried the Alert Heart Bell personally bestowed by the City Lord."

"It was the Alert Heart Bell that warned me of the lurking shadow demonic cultivator! After that, it was a chase all the way, until he escaped into the Fire Persimmon Grove."

Zhu Xuanji nodded and asked the key question: "When did you start producing the Mechanical Blaze Monkeys? Was your design leaked before? Are there any others who knew about it?"

Upon questioning, Zhu Xuanji discovered that the Blaze Monkeys had been sold even before the Immortal Palace emerged.

On the very day Ning Zhuo sought advice from Chen Cha, the two had reached a cooperation and began producing and selling the Mechanical Blaze Monkeys.

According to Chen Cha, he needed to test the market, gauge its reaction, before deciding on the scale of production.

Although Ning Zhuo claimed his design hadn't been leaked, as a mere Qi Refining disciple, it would be hard for him to detect if he were being spied on.

In short, this lead was a dead end.

Just thinking about the workload required to track down every specific buyer of a Mechanical Blaze Monkey made Zhu Xuanji's scalp tingle.

And that wasn't even considering resales.

In reality, a single mechanical monkey might pass through first-hand, second-hand, third-hand transactions...

Having investigated to this point, Zhu Xuanji lost interest in the Flying Disc Workshop, Chen Cha, and Ning Zhuo.

As they were leaving, Fei Si saw them off. "Actually, Lord Zhu, you needn't go to such lengths investigating this."

"The Fire Persimmon Festival is just around the corner. When the time comes, we will surround that shadow demonic cultivator."

"If we can capture him alive and interrogate him, given the methods of the Divine Capture Division, the mastermind behind this will surely surface, won't they?"

This was Fei Si's line of thinking.

As the person handling the most affairs daily, his time was meticulously calculated, with a strong emphasis on efficiency.

Zhu Xuanji's widespread investigations seemed, in his view, rather inefficient.

The culprit was hiding in the Fire Persimmon Grove. Wouldn't capturing the real criminal during the festival be a direct solution?

Zhu Xuanji snorted coldly, looking at Fei Si. "I understand what you mean. Rest assured, I will also be present to oversee matters on the day of the Fire Persimmon Festival."

"I very much want to meet that shadow demonic cultivator myself!"

Fei Si showed a smile. His words were precisely intended to draw in support.

Zhu Xuanji, as a member of the Divine Capture Division, possessed extraordinary combat power. Coupled with his status as a member of the royal family, he undoubtedly carried numerous powerful treasures.

This would significantly increase the probability of capturing the shadow demonic cultivator.

Zhu Xuanji left the Flying Disc Workshop.

On the way, Zheng Shuang Gou bid farewell to Zhu Xuanji.

Only Chi Dun remained. His thinking was actually similar to Fei Si's; he wanted to catch the shadow demonic cultivator during the Fire Persimmon Festival to solve the core problem directly.

Zhu Xuanji sneered. "Do you really believe the shadow demonic cultivator is the true culprit behind the Immortal Palace explosion?"

Chi Dun was stunned. "Isn't he?"

Zhu Xuanji shook his head. "Don't let your own assumptions blind you."

"Based on the current clues, the Immortal Palace was bombed, suffered further damage, and then emerged."

"The explosion was caused by mechanical monkeys. From this perspective, others could also command such mechanical constructs."

Chi Dun stopped in his tracks. Zhu Xuanji's words indeed made sense.

"But if it wasn't the shadow demonic cultivator, then who could it be?" He pondered hard, then suddenly shuddered, showing an expression of disbelief. "Could it be... Zheng Shuang Gou?!"

Zhu Xuanji shook his head again. "Everything is possible."

"Think about it: if the shadow demonic cultivator isn't the real culprit, but we mistakenly believe he is, wasting precious investigation time, how would we deal with the consequences?"

Chi Dun nodded. "Lord Zhu is absolutely right. But the lead on the mechanical monkeys is broken, isn't it?"

Zhu Xuanji smiled slightly, looking up at the sky. "Chi Dun, you've forgotten, there's actually one more crucial clue."

"What truly bombed the Immortal Palace wasn't the mechanical monkeys, but that thousand catties of Fire Essence."

"Purchasing such a large amount of Fire Essence would definitely attract attention. The seller would have a very deep impression!"

Chi Dun excitedly clapped his hands. "Yes, yes! This is a much better lead."

Zhu Xuanji turned to look at him. "So next, I need you to lead me to investigate the various markets around the Immortal City."

"Understood, sir!" Chi Dun, seeing hope in the investigation, became more enthusiastic.

(End of )