Chapter 518: Chapter 455: Extermination

Zhao Lin walked into Harmony Hall. The clerk, Yangquan, was stunned for a moment, then quickly forced a smile. "Well, if it isn’t Shopkeeper Zhao. Long time no see."

"Is your Shopkeeper Tian in?"

Zhao Lin asked casually, glancing around the main hall. He saw two other clerks pretending to arrange the shelves, their gazes darting over from time to time.

"He is. Please, this way."

Yangquan led Zhao Lin into an inner room and served him a cup of hot tea.

"Please wait a moment, Shopkeeper Zhao."

Yangquan turned and went upstairs. A moment later, he returned to the room with Shopkeeper Tian.

"Shopkeeper Zhao, what brings you here? The Red Pearl Pavilion opened today. How do you have time to visit our humble shop?"

Shopkeeper Tian straightened his robes and was about to sit down as he spoke.

Zhao Lin didn’t respond. He set down his teacup, and his figure blurred. Without any warning, he struck out, his palm landing squarely on Shopkeeper Tian’s chest.

"Hrk..."

Shopkeeper Tian’s face was filled with shock. He sat ramrod straight in his chair and opened his mouth to speak, only to find his throat had tightened, preventing him from uttering a single word.

Before Yangquan could react, Zhao Lin swept a hand out, striking him just above the collarbone.

Yangquan choked, lost his balance, and collapsed to the floor.

Zhao Lin walked out of the private room. A moment later, he returned, dragging the other two clerks with him.

"Fellow Daoist Zhao, what are you doing?"

Shopkeeper Tian, having recovered slightly, asked with great difficulty.

"Where are the Acupoint Opening Pills?"

"There are no more..."

Zhao Lin snorted coldly. He took a "Truth Talisman" from his robes, crushed it in his hand, and slapped it onto Shopkeeper Tian’s glabella.

Terror filled Shopkeeper Tian’s eyes, and he instinctively tried to resist.

Zhao Lin lifted him up like a baby chick and slapped him several times. The shopkeeper’s body went rigid, and a dazed look appeared in his eyes.

"Where are the Acupoint Opening Pills?"

The Truth Talisman only lasted for ten breaths, so Zhao Lin wasted no time asking his questions.

Seeing this, Yangquan quickly tried to interfere. "Don’t—"

Zhao Lin backhanded him, and Yangquan immediately passed out.

A look of struggle crossed Shopkeeper Tian’s face before quickly giving way to placidity. "In a hidden compartment."

"Where is the hidden compartment?"

"In the wall."

Zhao Lin felt a headache coming on. ’He’s under a Truth Talisman, so why is his brain still so muddled?’

"The wall of which room?"

"The study on the second floor."

Zhao Lin knocked Shopkeeper Tian unconscious with a single punch, rushed out of the inner room, and bounded up to the second floor in a single leap.

The study was the third room on the second floor. Zhao Lin gave it a quick scan, then moved the desk, screen, and bookshelf that were all set against the wall.

Pushing aside the bookshelf revealed a square-foot hidden compartment in the wall behind it, containing many black-striped gourds and various bottles and jars.

"So they did have more in stock!"

Zhao Lin muttered to himself, sweeping everything into his storage bag.

He went downstairs, walked straight into the courtyard, and clapped his hands three times.

This was the secret signal he had arranged with Wei Zongchuan to indicate he had succeeded.

Footsteps sounded, and Wei Zongchuan and Li Ying walked in, followed by two patrol guards.

All four of them had changed their clothes and were dressed as ordinary cultivators.

"The people are inside."

Zhao Lin said, pointing to the inner room.

"Many thanks, my young friend!"

A pleased look appeared on Wei Zongchuan’s face. He ordered the two patrol guards to stand watch at the courtyard entrance and then led Li Ying briskly into the inner room.

He glanced at Shopkeeper Tian and the others lying on the floor and took out several Truth Talismans from his robes.

Time was short. Interrogation by torture alone would take too long; using Truth Talismans to assist would be most effective.

The Cultivation Realm also had the Soul Searching Technique, but that was a fourth-tier Magic, which only Purple Mansion Realm cultivators could use.

Besides, a person’s memories were as vast as an ocean; finding a specific memory was no easy task.

With Wei Zongchuan using Truth Talismans and Li Ying employing torture, they quickly broke Shopkeeper Tian and Yangquan.

It turned out there was another hideout in the marketplace—Qishi Studio, right across from Golden Core Hall. Two of its clerks were their accomplices, and there were also three Earth Dark Sect members in Dongfu County.

Wei Zongchuan took out an Array Plate and channeled a seal into it.

"Alright. From now on, the marketplace is sealed; people can enter, but not leave. Li Ying, take your men and raid that shop. I’m going to Dongfu County to arrest the others."

After speaking, he looked at Zhao Lin with a questioning gaze.

Zhao Lin understood his meaning and said in a deep voice, "This junior is willing to lend a hand."

"Good!"

Wei Zongchuan nodded in satisfaction, then left Harmony Hall and headed for Dongfu County.

Li Ying left two patrol guards to watch Shopkeeper Tian and the others, then hurried to Qishi Studio with Zhao Lin. Seven more patrol guards joined their group along the way.

Qishi Studio was just about to close for the night. Li Ying and his men charged in and, without a word of explanation, restrained everyone inside.

"What do you think you’re doing!"

The shopkeeper of Qishi Studio was bewildered. Although he was a Foundation Establishment cultivator, his cultivation was suppressed within the marketplace, making his strength not much greater than that of a Qi Refining Cultivator.

Furthermore, Li Ying and his men were patrol guards, so he could only suppress his anger and ask.

"Arresting spies!"

Li Ying said coldly, "Which of you are Ding Qi and Zhu Jin?"

Hearing this, the shopkeeper and several clerks all turned to look at two attendants in gray clothes.

The two attendants knew they had been exposed and immediately began to struggle.

Zhao Lin pointed a finger, and the two collapsed to the ground.

The shopkeeper had been angry, but seeing that Zhao Lin was a Martial Cultivator, his attitude changed instantly. "Those two attendants were just hired last year. We don’t know them."

Li Ying smiled. "That’s good to hear. Still, I’ll have to trouble you to come with us to the administrative office for a trip, Shopkeeper."

After speaking, he shot Zhao Lin a grateful look. If Zhao Lin hadn’t been there, it probably would have taken a lot more talking.

Zhao Lin did not participate in what followed. He bid farewell to Li Ying and returned to the Red Pearl Pavilion.

"Brother Zhao, what happened outside? There was a fluctuation in the marketplace’s Array."

Liang Song asked with concern, sizing Zhao Lin up.

"It’s nothing. There were spies in the marketplace. The patrol guards have already caught them."

Zhao Lin gave a brief explanation, then returned to his room and poured out the pills he had seized.

There were nine black-striped gourds in total. Each gourd had the two characters for "Acupoint Opening" written on it. There were also other precious pills like Fire Returning Pills and Water Returning Pills, as well as two bottles of poison.

Zhao Lin was overjoyed. With these nine Acupoint Opening Pills, plus the two he already had, breaking through to the Peak of Qi Refining was just around the corner!

However, Acupoint Opening Pills were forbidden medicine. It wasn’t safe to keep them on his person.

Zhao Lin rubbed his chin in thought for a moment, then took out his Moon-Cutting Saber and used the back of the blade to grind the characters off the gourds.

’My contribution in helping to capture the Earth Dark Sect spies should be enough to offset the crime of possessing forbidden medicine.’

’Besides, without the characters on the gourds, no one could prove I knew what kind of medicine was inside.’

「Three days later.」 Wei Zongchuan summoned Zhao Lin to the administrative office. He told him that through a joint pursuit across the three southeastern prefectures, they had taken down six Earth Dark Sect hideouts and captured over twenty cultivators.

These cultivators had either been bought by the Earth Dark Sect for a hefty price or were members of the sect themselves, having forged their identities to cultivate in the Chenghua Sect from a young age.

Zhao Lin was slightly surprised. The operation had been carried out so quickly. ’It seems the sect is taking this matter very seriously.’

"Younger Brother Zhao, the merit points have been calculated. Do you want to know how many you’ve earned?"

It was clear Wei Zongchuan was in an excellent mood; he had even started calling Zhao Lin "Younger Brother."

"This junior does not know."

Wei Zongchuan smiled faintly. "Three thousand eight hundred merit points!"

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