Food Fairy Lord

Chapter 604: Retrieving the Pearl from the Deep Pond
Yu Ziliang's body was shaking like a sieve, like a fish that was crushed to death.

He could smell his suffocating fear without seeing the face. At this moment, he didn't need to know how this person appeared in the palace. The fact was that he was completely under his cold control.

"I understand. Just raise the remaining claw." The man in black robe said calmly.

The young man whose face was stepped on raised his hands, which were shaking like a flag in the wind.

"Okay, answer me now." The man in black robe slightly raised the sole of his boot.

"I... I still have some shark pearl powder in my hand..." Yu Ziliang tried to speak clearly with his broken tongue, "I went to Xunfang Garden to take the sacrifice and entered the Fantasy Tower... I will tell you everything, don't..."

The man in black robe stepped on his mouth and thought for a while before lowering his head and speaking slowly, "So, when you enter the Illusion Tower, you enter with your whole body, right?"

"……Yes Yes."

"Did Li Du give you the shark pearl powder in your hand?"

"..."

"Ok?"

"Yes... yes, I asked him for more, and I--woo! woouuu! woouuu! woouuuu--"

The man in black robe stepped hard on his already rotten mouth, raised the sword again, stabbed it into his right wrist, and slowly cut off the hand.

"Now let me give you another reminder." The man in black robe said calmly, wiping the blood from the sword on his face, "Don't tell lies."

The sound of sobbing rang out from under his boots, and the man in black robe lifted his foot slightly: "Let me ask you again, was the shark pearl powder in your hand given to you by Li Du?"

"No... No, I took it from Daddy's room. It's in Daddy's room!" Yu Ziliang cried like he was breaking down, gasping for breath, "Please, please..."

"Which room?"

"The Ministry of Internal Affairs! The mansion of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the drawer of the desk in the study..."

"Why does Yu Sicheng have so many mermaid pearls? What does he use them for?"

"..."

The man in black robe stepped on his mouth tightly again. Yu Ziliang's eyes suddenly widened in fear and he kicked hard, making a "wuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" sound. The inflected tone of the word "I said" vibrated out of his throat.

But it was of no use. The man in black robe's actions were as cold as his voice. Without any words, he stabbed the sword into his left thigh again. This time it took longer and he cut off the entire leg.

Urine mixed with large amounts of blood flowed onto the floor. Yu Ziliang completely collapsed and cried hoarsely, "No, no, please, let me go..."

The man in black robe raised his boots and looked at him, saying calmly: "I asked, you answered, do you want me to say it a third time?"

"No! Don't! I said... I don't know what Daddy is doing, but Daddy has been using it, and some people send it to him... He gives the shark powder to other people to eat, in order to get them into a certain place..." Yu Ziliang cried and panted, trying to speak clearly, "But I really don't know... I didn't ask... I just secretly took some to play with..."

The man in black robe stepped on his mouth again, raised his head and thought for a while, then lowered his head and said, "Do you have any remaining mermaid pearl powder in your hand? Give it to me."

"No...no more--Ugh! Ugh! Ugh!!"

The man in black robe took a look and probably felt that the right leg was too far away, so he cut into the left elbow and cut off his entire forearm.

Yu Ziliang seemed to have lost the strength to even tremble. He completely collapsed and let out some inhuman cries from his throat.

The man in black robe lifted up his boot soles: "I told you, I only listen to the truth."

“But…it’s really, really gone…” Yu Ziliang’s remaining body curled up in fear, “It’s really, really gone – I can, I can help you steal it…”

"Hmm." The man in black robe raised his head slightly, "Is that so? I'm sorry, I misunderstood."

He dropped the sword upon him and stood up from the table.

Yu Ziliang collapsed on the ground, and the severe pain and blood loss made him quickly lose consciousness.

At this time, a trembling voice came from the door, and the tall woman tried to remain calm and said: "Can you take me with you? I, I can do a lot of things..."

The man in the black robe who was thinking quietly paused for a moment, and his originally beautiful but now eerie and cold face looked at her, making Li Xianfang's body feel as cold as ice in an instant.

"Oh, I'm not going to kill you," he said.

Li Xianfang was stunned. The cold voice disappeared. The boy seemed too lazy to raise his voice and didn't perform anything. He squatted on the ground and felt around in Yu Ziliang's clothes. "If you need me to knock you out, I can help you."

Li Xianfang was still thinking blankly when the man in black robe said, "But before that, let me ask you something. Is Yu Sicheng's house well guarded?"

"..."

Li Xianfang was stunned for a moment, then waved her hands hastily: "I, I'm really not sure... I need to think about it first!"

"You can think about it." The man in black robe stood up, and it seemed that he didn't find anything important. "I've been to the Ministry of Internal Affairs three or four times. Yu Sicheng's private house is usually not guarded by anyone, and there are very few servants, but I have never been in... and no one dares to go in." Li Xianfang clenched his hands and recalled seriously, "But, but I know that the house is cleaned by a group of people from the Ministry of Internal Affairs."

"Oh?"

"They are the eunuchs assigned by the Xiguan Bureau to clean the house. They go there every morning and evening as usual. These people can enter the house."

"Hmm. Do you know where Yu Sicheng is now?"

"Not sure, but at this hour, we should be waiting for the Saint in the front hall."

The man in black robe nodded, glanced at her, and walked over. She subconsciously took a step back: "No..."

But before he could finish his words, he felt a pain in his neck, his vision went dark, and he passed out.

Pei Ye took off his mask, and a black cat jumped onto his shoulder from somewhere.

He didn't wear this mask to hide his identity. He did this in such a crude way in the palace, and if they investigated, they would quickly identify him, Pei Ye. He just wanted Yu Ziliang to believe without any illusions that this mysterious man in black really didn't care about killing him.

Of course he could do the same thing with his face exposed, but he was afraid that Yu Ziliang would foolishly think that he didn't dare to kill him.

He had no interest in sadism, and stopped looking at the half-dead body. The Chi fire burned away all the blood and stains. He threw the two bodies under the bed, then threw the tied Yu Ziliang and the fainted tall dancer onto the bed, drew the curtains, and closed the screen. No one would come to disturb them for at least three or four hours.

He opened the window and jumped out silently.

……

The Ministry of Internal Affairs was located in the south of Ye Ting, and was in charge of six departments: Ye Ting, Gongwei, Xiguan, Nei Pu, Nei Fu, and Nei Fang. It was in charge of thousands of palace people. It was separated from Ye Ting by only two low walls, and the width was the same from east to west, like a short section connected to Ye Ting.

Eunuchs in different uniforms came and went. The eunuchs on duty in the province were always more arrogant than those who came in to pay their respects, while those who came for business were always more proud than those who did servant work. It was rare for Pei Ye to see the welcoming and seeing-off atmosphere like that of other government offices outside.

Amidst all the hurried shouts and laughter, Pei Ye, wearing a gray coat, carrying a bucket of water and a mop, walked straight in through the side door looking at the map.

Yu Sicheng's private residence occupied the entire southeast of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Indeed, not many people came near here. It was far more luxurious than Pei Ye had imagined. In such a formal court office, he occupied an entire corner and built a private residence with carved beams and painted rafters. Once you passed the screen wall, you could see the carefully built mountain of strange stones, surrounded by the Mirror Pond and winding water. It was even more exquisite than the scenery in the palace.

Pei Ye thought of the Taiping Cao Gang that they had conspired with. Indeed, about one-third of the huge amount of silver had flowed into the pocket of this eunuch, but this was obviously not his main source of income. Having held power for more than 20 years, the money he had amassed could be described as extravagant and rich.

Pei Ye was walking along the bank of a pool built of white stones. The houses with flying eaves and high doors on both sides were tightly closed, and there was no one to be seen on the road.

He went straight to the main house at the back. Except for its strange shape, the area it occupied was almost as large as a palace. When Pei Ye looked up and crossed the garden gate, he heard a voice for the first time beside him.

"Hey, you are--why are you here at this time?"

Pei Ye turned his head and saw a eunuch in red clothes with a whisk on his arm looking at him with a frown.

Pei Ye quickly put down the mop and bucket, bowed and saluted: "My Lord, I am the new sweeper assigned by the Xiguan Bureau... The seniors said that I should also clean the precious land of Yu Dajian."

"I was wondering why he looked strange... Where's the other person?"

"I don't know. Please let me do it first." Pei Ye said.

"Show me the sign."

Pei Ye handed him the small wooden sign he had brought from Xiguan Bureau yesterday, on which was engraved the word "Zhu Er". He touched his head and said, "Eunuch, do you have to sweep such a big house?"

The eunuch in red took a quick look and handed it back to him, saying calmly, "You don't need to go to the bedroom and study. The rest must be cleaned carefully."

"Yes." Pei Ye bowed and replied.

After the eunuch in red left, Pei Ye walked into the house, identified a few things, and went straight to the bedroom and study.

Pei Ye's first impression of the big house was quietness, as if it was empty. Going deeper, he saw that the entire room was covered with expensive soft carpets. It was indeed court time, and Yu Sicheng was not in the house.

The kitten crawled out from the clothes and jumped onto Pei Ye's shoulder, and the Chi fire spread around like silk threads.

Even though spiritual power was forbidden in the palace, Pei Ye would not concede that Yu Sicheng did not set up any guards in his residence. If a small eunuch who was cleaning the room could really sneak into the study and steal the mermaid pearl, that would be too dramatic.

However, Chihuo Rusi really did not find out any spiritual mysteries or mechanisms until Pei Ye's footsteps went deeper and deeper silently, and he really pushed open the study room deep inside... and he really did not encounter any guards.

Pei Ye looked at the kitten on his shoulder, stepped in and closed the door.

This was obviously the room that Yu Sicheng used most frequently. There were several books spread out on the table, the used pens had not been washed yet, and the chair seemed to have been pushed askew after the person sitting on it stood up.

Pei Ye didn't look at anything and walked straight to the drawer. He raised his hand and pulled it. Among some sundries, there was a jade box lying in it. He opened it and saw a layer of fine powder lying in the box, shining brightly in the light coming in from the window, like a divine object.

It was this powder that he took before entering the Fantasy Tower that night.

(End of this chapter)