Endless Winter: My Camp Infinite Upgrades

Chapter 416 The Truth, Blaming Cai Qiu, the Fiasco Ends
"Gentlemen, why don't you let me give it a try?"

Xu Ning, who was fourth in the rankings, slowly walked out in front of Xia Chuan.

All eyes immediately turned to him, their faces filled with confusion.

Xu Ning didn't speak, but slowly walked towards Yang Ning, Cao Yuanwu, and Long Bohai, who were in the middle of the hall.

"What do you want to do?"

Although Xu Ning didn't seem to be about to make a move, Yang Rong, the head of the Northern Academy, couldn't sit still and stood up to ask Xu Ning what his intentions were.

"Please calm down, Chief Yang. This is Xu Ning, the Deputy Director of the Garrison Command of our Great Xia. He happens to have some methods to verify whether Yang Ning and the other two are problematic!"

Once Xia Chuan spoke, Yang Rong and the heads of the other seven towns naturally dared not say anything more, and continued to stare at Xu Ning to see how he planned to verify.

Xu Ning walked up to Yang Ning, met his gaze, and then suddenly his blood and qi surged. Three Great Xia Saint Runes appeared between his brows, and his aura suddenly increased several times over.

"Lord Xu made a move at the city gate in early September. At that time, many people guessed that he was probably around 30 years old. Now it seems that he is much stronger."

"A little over 30 hairs? His aura is stronger than that of the three Academy Heads, Yang Rong, Shangguan Yuan, and Ye Yizhou. He must have at least 40 hairs!"

"Hehe, don't make wild guesses. Let's see how those three heads of the academy look at them first."

The Eight Garrisons sent people to Hongmen this time to cooperate with the Great Xia in investigating the case, so there weren't many people to begin with, and even fewer were qualified to enter the Siya Building. Including the eight heads of the court, each garrison had an average of only five to six people.

Since there were few people to begin with, and they were on the territory of the Great Xia, they naturally did not dare to be too presumptuous. Therefore, the people making the comments at this moment were all from the Great Xia, and they were mostly soldiers of the Yunjiao Army.

As everyone was speculating about Xu Ning's strength, they heard someone remind them to watch the expression of the three town leaders, and they immediately looked up.

Upon hearing the sound, the three town leaders quickly suppressed their expressions, but the hint of horror in their pupils still did not escape the eyes of the Great Xia people.

The expressions of all the soldiers of the Great Xia suddenly brightened.

Five days ago, when the eight leaders of the academy arrived, Liu Yuan, the commander of the Yunjiao Army, revealed their strengths. The strength of the eight leaders was a microcosm of the current situation in the eight towns. The three strongest were Yang Rong (43 points), Shangguan Yuan (41 points), and Ye Yizhou (41 points). The remaining five leaders were slightly weaker, with their strengths generally between 35 and 40 points.

The look of horror in the eyes of Yang Rong and the other two clearly showed that Xu Ning's strength at this moment was definitely above theirs, which was naturally a great morale booster for the people of Great Xia.

Hearing the surrounding soldiers' discussions, Xu Ning's lips curled into a slight smile.

His base strength was actually only 36 manes, but with the appearance of the Great Xia Sacred Rune, his strength increased by 30%, reaching nearly 47 manes, which naturally far surpassed the so-called head of the Eight Towns Academy.

If it's a life-or-death battle, he has many more tricks up his sleeve!
Of course, this is not the time to think about these things.

Xu Ning shook off the random thoughts in his mind and looked at Yang Ning in front of him, who was being suppressed by his aura and was having trouble breathing. His gaze suddenly sharpened.

His eyes first emitted a faint green light, which then quickly spread throughout his eyes until his pupils turned completely emerald green.

"Lord Xu, why have your eyes changed color!"

"I do not know?"

"I know, it must be a precious treasure bestowed upon Lord Xu by the lord..."

“Oh right, I remember now, have you forgotten? Lord Xu didn’t have a right eye before, and last year he suffered from amnesia for more than half a year. I heard that the lord used a precious treasure to revive him.”

"Not only did the lord awaken him, but he also upgraded Lord Xu's physique to the highest level. I heard that his strength has improved by leaps and bounds because of that treasure!"

………………

The matter concerning the three great masters' organs was known only to the core members of the Great Xia Dynasty. Although the Cloud Dragon Army soldiers present had higher authority than ordinary people, they only heard the gist of it.

All they knew was that Xu Ning had received a precious treasure from Lord Xia Hong, which not only cured his soul disorder and restored his right eye, but also upgraded his battle physique from high-grade to top-grade. Naturally, they were filled with envy when they discussed it.

Just as everyone was discussing this, another new development occurred on Xu Ning's side.

After his pupils completely turned into a bright green, Yang Ning in Xu Ning's vision gradually became transparent.

No, it's not transparent!

Instead, he could see through Yang Ning's pupils that beneath his physical body, specifically in the liver area, a rich spiritual light was contained.

The light seemed to sense Xu Ning's gaze and trembled violently.

"The liver belongs to the wood element in the Five Elements theory. It contains the soul and governs the eyes. The lord led me to test it on prisoners in Xia City's prison. My eyes can now not only slightly stimulate the soul hidden in the liver, but also detect strange substances that ordinary people cannot see. Let's see if Yang Ning is really encountering a ghost!"

Remembering what Xia Hong had said, Xu Ning's expression hardened slightly. He shifted his gaze from the soul body in Yang Ning's liver area and began to carefully examine various parts of his body.

As for Yang Ning, his body stiffened abruptly when his soul trembled in his liver area. He was still conscious, but because he didn't understand why he couldn't move, he looked at Xu Ning with fear in his eyes.

Eye!

Soon, Xu Ning's gaze settled on Yang Ning's two pupils.

There are two black spots on the surface of Yang Ning's pupils.

The black dot was so tiny that it was almost invisible unless you looked closely.

"My eyes can only slightly tug at the soul's body right now, so it should be somewhat effective against this black spot. Let's give it a try..."

During the chaos at Dajue Temple last year, Xu Ning was among the first to have his soul extracted by Master Wusheng. So, after his organs were fused this April, he immediately followed Master Wusheng's example and tried to use his pupils to manipulate his soul.

Having tested this ability many times before, Xu Ning had a certain understanding of it. The strength of the attraction that these pupils could exert was related to the cultivation level of the person being targeted. The weaker the person was, the greater the attraction, and vice versa. If the person was much stronger than him, there would even be a backlash.

Yang Ning is only at level 21, more than twice as strong as him at this moment. Bringing up the two black spots in his eyes shouldn't be a big problem.

laugh…………

As Xu Ning expected, he first focused his gaze on the black dots on the surface of Yang Ning's eyes, and then his pupils suddenly narrowed. With a hiss, the two black dots flew out directly.

Those weren't dots, but two extremely fine black lines, more than ten centimeters long in total, which penetrated right into Yang Ning's skull.

"what is that?"

"this…………"

"There's something!"

Although the black line was faint, everyone present today was at the Cold Resistance level, so they could naturally see it. In particular, the head of the Eighth Town Academy was shocked and couldn't help but stand up from his chair.

laugh!
After the two black lines were completely pulled out, they disappeared without a trace.

"what…………"

Yang Ning's face was full of pain. After letting out a wail, his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground.

Yang Rong immediately rushed out to help him up, but when Yang Ning looked up again, his expression froze for a moment, then he seemed to remember something, his pupils suddenly contracted, and his body began to tremble violently.

…………

On the first day of the ninth lunar month, at night, more than 20 kilometers north of Hongmen City
"Kid, weren't you pretty brave in the city just now? What are you afraid of now?"

The middle-aged man in black, who had killed thirteen members of the Northern Shuo Chamber of Commerce with a sword, walked slowly toward Yang Ning with a mocking expression on his face.

Yang Ning was already injured, and having witnessed the tragic deaths of Yang Fan and other relatives, he was completely disoriented. Looking at the middle-aged man, his face was filled with fear and panic. He could only move his mouth tremblingly, but he couldn't utter a single word.

"waste!"

The middle-aged man lifted Yang Ning up and their eyes met. Two beams of black light suddenly shot out from his pupils and hit Yang Ning's eyes directly.

"what!"

The moment the black light hit his eyes, Yang Ning felt a sharp pain in his brain. After a scream, he fell into a coma.

………………

As Yang Ning finished recounting all the memories in his mind, Xu Ning used the same method to pull out the black lines from the eyes of Yang Ning, Cao Yuanwu, and Long Bohai.

After the black lines in their eyes were removed, their reactions were almost identical to Yang Ning's. They then recounted in detail how their respective business associates had been killed.

The truth behind the tragic deaths of 32 members of the Three Towns Chamber of Commerce has finally come to light, and everyone present instantly became solemn.

"Black clothes, honest-looking face, middle-aged man, just those three characteristics?"

Xia Chuan frowned. The man was obviously extremely cautious. Not only Yang Ning, but also Long Bohai and Cao Yuanwu, in their true memories of the night they died, the other party did not show any other characteristics. Based on these three pieces of information, finding the real culprit was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

However, the main purpose of the Great Xia was not to find out the truth, but only to clear its own name. So at this point, it was already perfect.

Of course, there's one more thing! Xia Chuan's tightly furrowed brows immediately relaxed. He first glanced at the heads of the eight towns, then turned his head and gestured to Hou Ming on the flank.

Hou Ming immediately understood and stepped forward, cupping his hands in greeting, saying, "Everyone, the truth is now clear. The real culprit who killed everyone in the Three Towns Chamber of Commerce is clearly the middle-aged man in black who is remembered by Yang Ning, Cao Yuanwu, and Long Bohai."

This person is skilled with a longsword, possesses immense strength (at least level 50), and has the ability to alter others' memories. Judging from the reactions of the three, this person is most likely not from our Nine Towns, meaning...

"There really are foreign forces trying to sow discord among our nine towns!"

Yang Qu Academy Chief Cao Tianying stood up and took over Hou Ming's words.

There are fewer than 20 people with a strength of 50 or above in the eight towns combined. Not to mention the reactions of Yang Ning and the other two, just considering their ability to tamper with memories, there isn't a single one like them in the current nine towns.

Therefore, there is a very high probability that Cao Tianying's deduction is true!

The expressions of the other seven heads of the academy, along with everyone they brought with them, changed instantly after they understood this.

At this moment, everyone gathered in the hall had only one thought in their minds: people from outside the region had indeed infiltrated the southern foothills of Mo'ao.

"Gentlemen, does that mean the suspicion against our Great Xia has been cleared?"

As soon as Xia Chuan spoke, he immediately attracted the attention of the eight heads of the academy.

They pondered for only a moment before looking at Yang Rong and the other two.

Cao Tianying was the first to step forward. He bowed to Xia Chuan and said in a deep voice, "I, Cao, will definitely report everything that happened in the hall today back to Yang Qu. At that time, my lord will surely give Da Xia an explanation!"

"I agree. If it was indeed instigated by foreign forces, then the incident at Hongmen City last month was a problem of my Longgu Town. Xia Chuan, rest assured, my lord will give Great Xia a satisfactory answer once he finds out!"

Long Wenbai also spoke up. Of the three towns, only Yang Rong remained. The relationship between Beishuo and Daxia was currently the worst, so his expression was clearly conflicted. But the truth was right in front of him, and everyone in the hall was focused on him. He held on for a while, and finally spoke up.

"Yang will also inform my lord of this matter!"

Seeing Yang Rong's unwilling expression, Xia Chuan frowned slightly. He recalled what Xia Hong had told him before leaving Hongmen last month: Yang Zun was very likely to know the identity of the mastermind. A cold glint flashed in his eyes.

However, he quickly concealed the coldness in his eyes, then looked at everyone and said with a smile, "With these words from the three of you, I am relieved. The Nine Towns are all in the same region and should work together to build a home in the southern foothills of Mo'ao. How can we allow foreign thieves to ruin the relationship between the Nine Towns?"

Although those who died this time were members of the Three Towns Chamber of Commerce, our Great Xia will never stand idly by. Such a wolf in sheep's clothing should be apprehended as soon as possible. Xia Chuan proposes that you all refrain from announcing today's events for the time being, so as not to alert the culprit and make it easier for us to apprehend him later. What do you think?"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately understood, and some even showed emotion on their faces.

The deaths of the members of the Three Towns Chamber of Commerce had nothing to do with Great Xia. Previously, the Six Towns had even joined forces with Hongmen to cause trouble because of this matter. Now, Great Xia has not only found out the truth, but also puts aside past grievances and is willing to help them capture the real culprit.

Thinking of this, everyone immediately spoke up:
"Minister Xia's insight is brilliant; I, Long, agree!"

"Cao also agreed."

"Minister Xia is righteous and courageous, and Mu Yin is calm and cooperative!"

"Jiangxia is willing to work with Great Xia to apprehend this person."

………………

“We in Beishuo will apprehend the real culprit ourselves, but Xia Sicheng’s words make sense. It is indeed not appropriate to announce this matter at this time, and I agree!”

Even Yang Rong, the head of the Northern Shuo Academy, was held back by the heads of the Seven Towns Academy. If he didn't speak up soon, he would be cutting himself off from the southern border of Mo'ao.

Upon hearing the statement from the head of the Eight Towns Academy, Xia Chuan nodded slightly, then slowly said with some hesitation, "To be honest, everyone, actually..."

At this point, he hesitated slightly, as if considering whether or not he should say it.

This really whetted everyone's appetite in the eight towns, and they all immediately turned to look at him with great curiosity.

"Fine, I'll just tell you all directly!"

After thinking for a moment, Xia Chuan finally made his decision and continued, "Actually, regarding the real culprit, our Great Xia has already made some progress. To be precise, we have already found out about that extraterritorial force."

Has the Great Xia already discovered the extraterritorial forces?

Upon hearing this, the eight leaders of the academy were all stunned.

Seeing everyone's reaction, Xia Chuan was not surprised at all.

Among the eight town lords, there must be someone who knows about the extraterritorial forces. Xia Chuan is almost certain of this. At the very least, according to Xia Hong's speculation, the lords of the three northern towns must know.

But just because the lord knows doesn't mean everyone else does.

If the Great Xia wants to raise awareness among everyone in the Eight Towns about the forces outside the region, it must completely expose these forces to the public.

And this is the first step.

Seeing everyone's curious gazes, Xia Chuan didn't keep them in suspense and said directly, "Our Great Xia is now 100% certain that there is a vassal-level power in the north called Caiqiu, who is eyeing our Mo'ao South Slope territory. I am also basically certain that the deaths of the people from the Three Towns Merchant Guild were orchestrated by the Caiqiu vassal. When you return from this trip, please convey this message to your respective lords."

My Great Xia has only been east of the Xing River for a little over four months, and we have already discovered quite a few spies from the Caiqiu garrison within our borders. If I am not mistaken, there are probably many Caiqiu spies already infiltrated within your eight garrisons. This Caiqiu garrison not only sent people to infiltrate the territory of the nine garrisons, but also tried to sow discord among them. Their wolfish ambitions are obvious. I hope the eight garrisons will take this seriously as soon as possible, otherwise it will be too late to regret it if problems arise in the future..."

Xia Chuan's last words were like a bomb dropped into the hearts of everyone in the Eight Towns. They didn't know what the four words "Caiqiu Fanzhen" meant, but as long as they connected it with the forces from outside the region, and thought about the murder case of the Three Towns Chamber of Commerce, as well as the middle-aged man in black with a strength of over 50 and the ability to tamper with memories, that was enough.

Many things only need to be said briefly; saying too much can easily lead to problems.

Xia Chuan naturally understood this principle, so after pointing out the matter of Caiqiu Prefecture, he did not continue to say anything more.

Upon hearing of Caiqiu's governorship, the eight chieftains were naturally eager to return. So, without Xia Chuan saying a word, they all began to instruct their men to collect the corpses on the ground, and then they took their leave of Xia Chuan.

Xia Chuan readily agreed to all their requests. After watching the people from the eight towns leave one after another, he instructed all the soldiers of the Yunjiao Army to perform their duties, while he himself, along with Yuwen Tao, Yuan Cheng, Qiu Peng, Xu Ning, and Lin Kai, went upstairs.

Upon entering the council chamber on the top floor of the Siya building, Yuan Cheng could no longer suppress his confusion and asked Xia Chuan, "Minister, we still can't confirm that person's identity, so why are you saying it was Cai Qiu, the governor of the region, who did it?"

Xia Chuan remained silent, but Yuwen Tao had clearly already figured it out, a smile appearing on his face as he said, "As long as we can confirm that it was done by outsiders, and raise the awareness of the Eight Garrisons regarding foreign forces, that's enough. As for whether they are from Caiqiu Garrison, what does it matter..."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "If it really was Cai Qiu who did it, then we haven't wronged him. If it wasn't Cai Qiu, then it proves that a second extraterrestrial force has also set its sights on Jiuzhen. Tell me, if both extraterrestrial forces take action against Jiuzhen in the future, how will Cai Qiu feel knowing that he's been unfairly blamed before he even arrived?"

Yuan Cheng was taken aback upon hearing this. Not only him, but Qiu Peng, Xu Ning, and Lin Kai also clearly hadn't thought of this, and their expressions immediately lit up.

"Hahaha, brilliant! Your move, Minister Si, is truly admirable."

"That's right! If there really are two foreign forces involved, then our scheme to frame them might actually have a surprising effect in the future, hahaha..."

"The Chief Clerk is indeed capable; I am truly impressed!"

Hearing the three people's praise, Xia Chuan immediately waved his hand and laughed, "This is not my own idea. The lord told me about it in advance when he left Hongmen last month."

No wonder it's the lord's opinion!

Upon learning that it was Xia Hong's idea, the astonishment on everyone's faces vanished instantly, replaced by extreme indifference. Clearly, they were not at all surprised that Xia Hong could come up with such a brilliant idea.

"It's not enough for just these people to know about the Caiqiu vassal state. Next, we need to put the spies in each town to use. Let them spread negative news about the Caiqiu vassal state in the eight towns. We must make sure everyone knows that a very powerful external force is watching the nine towns and has sent a large number of spies to infiltrate them. They are deliberately trying to provoke the nine towns into war. Their ultimate goal is to destroy the nine towns and annex the entire southern foothills of Mo'ao!"

"I obey my orders!"

Upon hearing this, Qiu Peng and the other two nodded emphatically.

Xia Chuan suddenly remembered something and asked Lin Kai, "By the way, have all the last batch of people from Ba Shang moved back yet?"

Lin Kai immediately nodded and said, "They set off from Hongmen the night before last, escorted by the Fei Peng and Bei Zhao armies. They must have arrived in Xia City by now."

The migration of people in Ba Shang has finally come to an end!
Xia Chuan's expression brightened slightly, and he continued, "Qiu Peng and I need to return to Xia City first to report to the lord. As for Hongmen City..."

He paused slightly, turned to look at Yuwen Tao, and after thinking for a moment, said, "Since the Dragon Martial Army has Hou Quan in command, then Yuwen Tao, you will be stationed in Hongmen City from now on. I'm a little worried about Lin Kai being here alone."

"I obey my orders!"

Hearing that Xia Chuan was worried about him, Lin Kai blushed slightly, but a sense of urgency also rose in his heart. Back in the Great Xia Earth Slope era, among the five people who were the first to receive beast meat besides Xia Chuan and Yuan Cheng, he was the weakest. Now he couldn't even take on Hongmen City by himself, which was indeed a bit of a drag on the team.

"We must accelerate our efforts to improve our strength!"

"Alright, Qiu Peng and I will head back to Xia City first. Xu Ning, you continue to oversee Ba ​​Shang. Yuwen Tao and Lin Kai, you two keep a close eye on Hongmen City. If there are any unusual occurrences, immediately send someone back to Xia City to report them."

"I obey my orders!"

　This chapter was added at the end of the month. Tomorrow marks the official start of September. This month, I was only 500 away from 5000, which is a bit of a pity. However, it's my own fault. I did not keep my promise and lost 4 compared to last month.

　　With 225,000 updates this month, compared to other authors, that shouldn't be a small number, right?

　　I won't dare to set any more goals in September; I'll just go all out!
　　There will be double rewards at the end of September. If possible, please save your monthly votes and throw them all at me at the end of the month. Thank you so much!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)