Chapter 138: The Mastermind

At the top of the deepest pavilion in the Zhang family’s courtyard. Several important ministers, including the clan leader, gathered together. At this moment, everyone’s expressions were solemn.

“Clan Master, do you think we should really do as the She Clan wants?”

The Clan Master stared grimly at the table and said nothing.

The elders at the side started arguing over this matter.

“The She Clan is in trouble now. It’s our chance.”

“What exactly happened to the Sixth Elder’s family? We haven’t investigated clearly yet. If we make any rash assertions now, I’m afraid we will incur revenge in the future.”

“What are you afraid of? If their family is fine, can they tolerate those lowly humans surrounding their residence?”

“That’s right. If it were in the past, these humans would have been wiped out long ago. But now, they’re still alive and well. I think there’s something fishy going on.”

“Look at the attitude of their First Elder. Forgive me for being blunt, but the She Clan is now an arrow at the end of its flight. Even if the human cultivators can’t defeat them, they will obediently retreat to the second line.”

A young elder began to stir. “In my opinion, this is the time when their family’s strength is weak. If we take this opportunity to attack and directly snatch the land that their family has occupied, we might still have some treasures left.”

“No.” The Clan Master’s voice was very steady.

“But Clan Master, now that things have come to this, if we don’t make a move, other families will naturally make a move. We can’t be indecisive at this moment!”

The young elders consciously gathered together. At this moment, they were all abnormally excited and advocated a radical style.

The old elders gathered on the other side in silence. Although they occasionally said a few words, they knew in their hearts that in this situation, they could not stop these juniors from thinking about good things.

The Clan Master’s obstruction puzzled many young elders. They all thought that this was the opportunity for their Zhang family to become the largest family in Black Dragon Ping City.

“Clan Master, how many years has the She Clan occupied this place? Their huge clan has occupied this place. If we kill this black dragon, even if we only eat two mouthfuls of flesh, it will be enough to dominate Ping City.”

“Nonsense!” The Clan Master slapped the table and glared at them. “How can you say such a thing at this moment?”

When the Clan Master was so angry, the elder immediately came out to smooth things over. “Clan Master, don’t be angry. Ninth Elder and the others are only doing this for the good of the clan. They are just a little rash.”

After being scolded by the Clan Master, the Ninth Elder’s face was filled with grievance. Half of his arrogance from before had been extinguished.

The Clan Master looked at them with a cold expression and instructed, “These are troubled times. The human race is on the verge of rising, and we cannot panic. Although something has happened to the She Clan, our enemy now is the human race. I hope you can remember this in your hearts.”

Hearing the Clan Master’s words, the few of them sat down resentfully.

“If you ask me, those humans are a lowly race. They won’t be able to achieve anything. Why should we give in to them?”

“That’s right. Something happened to the She Clan. Why should we be afraid of them now that they’re hiding like turtles?”

“This matter is strange to begin with. The human race has never had such courage before. Who gave them such courage now?”

The Clan Master of the Zhang Clan stared at the table and said in a deep voice, “The situation is special now. Before we completely figure out their background, don’t act rashly.”

“Are we just going to sit here and do nothing?”

The Clan Master turned his head and glanced at the Ninth Elder unhappily.

The Ninth Elder knew that he had said something wrong and hurriedly retracted his gaze.

An old man on the other side suddenly spoke up and said unhurriedly, “In my opinion, the current situation is completely in the hands of this Demon Fox. If we can rope this Fox Clan member to our side, I think our Zhang family can rest assured.”

“Third Elder is right.”

“Hu Jiujiu is an outsider. She’s not bad, but she does have some ability. If we can win her over, it’ll be safer. If she really stole the She Clan’s mineral vein, I’m afraid we can only start with her.”

On this question, both parties had reached a rare consensus. After weighing the pros and cons, the Clan Master finally assigned this mission.

“Seventh Elder, Hu Jiujiu is an extremely important person. Now, we can’t offend her. We should befriend her and try our best to rope her in.”

“Yes Sir.”

The situation of the other demons in Ping City was also very different from the Zhang family.

After weighing the pros and cons, they realized that Hu Jiujiu had become the center of attention. Not to mention what secrets Hu Jiujiu was hiding, she was definitely someone worth winning over.

Li Yuanqing sat on the bench outside the door. He had heard the conversation between Little Jiu and the demon envoy.

These demons were quite sincere now. All of them wanted to build a relationship with Hu Jiujiu. After all, the important resources in Hu Jiujiu’s hands would probably become very important bargaining chips in the future when the human race was in chaos.

The demons were unwilling to give up this opportunity.

This was the sixth wave of guests he had seen today.

“Miss Hu, you’re too kind. It’s our Zhang family’s honor to be able to befriend you.” The Seventh Elder of the Zhang family walked out of the room and smiled happily.

Hu Jiujiu swung her enchanting figure and walked out of the door leisurely. Her bright eyes glanced at Li Yuanqing.

“Seventh Elder, you’re too polite. You’re an elder, and I’m just a junior. What right do I have to receive such a huge favor from you?”

“Now that Miss Hu is an honored guest of our families, I naturally have to be more polite. I don’t dare to anger Miss Hu.”

“Then Seventh Elder, I’m going to be angry.”

“Hahaha.” The Seventh Elder raised his head and laughed. “Miss Hu is really funny. Miss Hu, don’t forget about the appointment you made just now.”

“Seventh Elder, don’t worry. Let me know when your banquet is almost ready. I’ll be there.”

“Then I’ll thank Miss Hu for your favor.” After the Seventh Elder bade farewell repeatedly, he left the residence in satisfaction.

“Master, don’t you think they’re behind this? Why are they suddenly willing to accept us?” Hu Jiujiu took graceful steps and swayed her body like a gust of wind into Li Yuanqing’s arms.

Li Yuanqing’s face was expressionless as he picked up his teacup and drank his tea mechanically. “There’s someone else behind this. I’m afraid they might not know either.”

“Master, do you mean that the black fog lingering on the heads of the human cultivators was done by someone else?” Hu Jiujiu pursed her lips in displeasure.

“I thought this matter was over. It seems like I’ve just touched on something.” Li Yuanqing instructed her, “If we want to find out the truth behind this, these demon clans can still be of use now. Make friends with them.”

“Master, don’t worry. Little Jiu is the best at this.” Hu Jiujiu picked up Li Yuanqing’s teacup and finished the cold tea before pouring a new cup of hot tea.

Today, while the two of them were talking, there was a knock on the door.

Hu Jiujiu looked back at Li Yuanqing gloomily. “Here we go again.”

However, what Hu Jiujiu had expected was that this time, it was a team of guards.

The guard captain looked at Hu Jiujiu respectfully and asked about the situation. “Miss Hu, the Seventh Elder of the Zhang family came out from your place just now, right?”

Hu Jiujiu leaned against the door frame. Just by standing there, she exuded a seductive aura. “Why, you don’t want to know how long he’s been with me, do you?”

The guard captain coughed lightly and stopped his inner thoughts. He asked seriously, “I’m afraid Miss Hu really has to say it.”

“What’s wrong? Seventh Elder came to talk to me about something. Could it be that you guys have to interfere?”

“We didn’t want to interfere at first, but now that Seventh Elder was killed in a small alley facing the street, we have no choice but to understand the situation.”

“Killed by whom?”

“If we investigate thoroughly, we won’t disturb Miss Hu anymore.”

The guard captain looked at Hu Jiujiu and knew that she did not know what was going on, so he did not ask further. “Since Miss Hu doesn’t know, I’ll take my leave first. However, the City Lord instructed me to greet Miss Hu.”

“Greet me?” Hu Jiujiu was dumbfounded.

The guard captain looked at her meaningfully. Finally, he bowed respectfully and left.

“Clan Master, I’ve long said that this Hu Jiujiu is the source of chaos. Our family has lost another general now that the Seventh Elder has lost his life for no reason!”

In the Zhang family’s conference hall, the atmosphere was very solemn.

Just yesterday, he thought that the negotiation between the Seventh Elder and Hu Jiujiu would go smoothly. In the end, the Seventh Elder was found dead in the alley. If that was all, it would not be enough for them to push all the blame to Hu Jiujiu.

Most importantly, after contacting the other families, they discovered that everyone who had interacted with Hu Jiujiu had all died without exception.

The Clan Master’s face was ashen. Even if he wanted to maintain the stability in front of him, he could not say anything to win Hu Jiujiu over.

The Ninth Elder propped himself on the table indignantly and looked at the Clan Master with red eyes. “Clan Master, you can’t hesitate anymore! How can this matter be so strange? If we continue to endure like this, wouldn’t we lose all our face?”

At this moment, the Clan Master was feeling troubled. He looked at the elders and asked, “What do you think?”

The Third Elder looked at the Clan Master and replied, “How can Hu Jiujiu kill so many people in one night? The time of their deaths is very close, so in my opinion, I’m afraid there’s someone else behind this.”

“Third Elder, what do you mean?”

“City Lord! It must be the City Lord!” Ninth Elder shouted at the top of his lungs. “That bastard has been thinking of holding all the power in Ping City ever since the She Clan couldn’t do it. Now, we have even become his eyesore!”

Although the Ninth Elder usually had a bad temper, there was nothing wrong with what he said at this moment.

Everyone present knew that this was probably the most reasonable explanation.

At this moment, someone returned from outside and reported, “Clan Master, the City Lord has just conferred a title to Hu Jiujiu and rewarded her with many fiefs and treasures.”

This action undoubtedly confirmed the suspicion that there was a deal between them. Even though this was the last thing the Zhang family’s Clan Master wanted to see, it seemed like they had no choice but to face this situation.

In Hu Jiujiu’s courtyard.

Hu Jiujiu was stunned when she saw the pile of treasures that had appeared out of thin air.

“Master, you’re really amazing. Why did you kill all those people? Didn’t you say yesterday that you wanted to befriend them as much as possible?”

“I didn’t kill them.” Li Yuanqing’s answer was very simple, but it was very powerful.

“Then who did it? But now it seems that the City Lord seems to have pushed all these things to me.” Hu Jiujiu calculated and said in horror, “Could it be that he did it? If he pushed this matter to me, he would be clean.”

Li Yuanqing shook his head firmly and said, “No, if the City Lord had such ability, he wouldn’t have to suffer here for so many years.”

“That’s true, but who could have done it? Who else in Ping City is so capable?”

Li Yuanqing narrowed his eyes and looked at the flower bed in the small courtyard. “Looks like the person behind the scenes can’t wait anymore.”

“Master, what do you think his motive was for doing such a thing?”

“It has the intention to sow discord between the City Lord and the demons. If these two forces were to clash normally, they would fall into chaos. At that time, they can establish a new order.”

Li Yuanqing carefully sensed it. Although the black fog had converged a lot over the past two days, Li Yuanqing could sense that they had not really disappeared. It was just that they had been restrained.

Hu Jiujiu leaned on the table with a bored expression and complained, “I thought this matter was over. I didn’t expect it to be so troublesome.”

“Alright, stop thinking about it. Let’s continue investigating.” Li Yuanqing patted Hu Jiujiu’s head gently. “They don’t know our background now, so they don’t want to have a conflict with us for the time being. But if we leave, Ping City will return to how it was before.”

“Alright, where do we start?”

“It’s still the Demon Judgment Division.”

Ever since he went there last time, Li Yuanqing had sensed that there was an extraordinary place there.

However, he was discovered halfway through his investigation last time. Initially, Li Yuanqing thought that the She clan’s vitality would be greatly damaged and this power would weaken. However, it seemed that this power still existed and wanted to continue.

Li Yuanqing would not leave this root here.

“Master, what about the City Lord and the demons? Are we going to let them fall into a trap and argue with each other?”

“It doesn’t matter. Let them be. It’ll be easier for us to investigate if the people behind this think we’ve fallen into a trap.”

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