Evil of all ages

Chapter 97 A fatal disaster

The local Imperial Guards from Yunzhou rushed to the capital, exhausting eight horses in the process.

The news caused a stir in both the government and the public.

South City Prison
When Huang Taichu returned from fishing, he found that Di Qingtian was not in the prison, which made him feel a little uneasy.

Ever since Di Qingtian went fishing empty-handed last time, perhaps his pride was hurt, he stopped going fishing with Huang Taichu.

Instead, he sent Yin Tianyong to follow him closely.

Only when he returned to the Heavenly Prison would Di Qingcai occasionally come to check on him.

But recently, Di Qingtian has been visiting the prison less often.

Firstly, the Dali Temple had accumulated a considerable number of cases, and it was impossible for him to neglect his duties and focus solely on Huang Taichu.

Secondly, Huang Taichu always returned very late from fishing, and with Yin Tianyong keeping an eye on him, Di Qingtian felt much more at ease.

It's like someone is always watching you, making you get used to their presence, and then suddenly they stop watching, as if they've disappeared from your side.

It always makes you feel like something's missing.

When he's around, you get annoyed by him; when he's not around, you feel uneasy.
Humans can be quite perverse at times.

Yin Tianyong, who hadn't eaten all day, felt relieved when he returned to the prison.

Because his master had told him that as long as he returned to the prison, it didn't matter whether or not they were watching him.

When you're outside, you need to keep a close eye on him.

Now that he's back in prison, he asked Qi Hongfei to watch over Huang Taichu for a while while he went to get something to eat.

Liu Yidao, who was in charge of the imperial prison, has arrived.

"Lord Yama, the military pay sent by the imperial court to Shanhaiguan on the eastern border has been lost in Yunzhou."

Liu Yidao knew that Lord Yama was incredibly powerful and might have already learned of this news in advance.

But as a subordinate, he always had to show himself in front of Lord Yama whenever he had the chance, otherwise he always felt that Lord Yama had forgotten about him.

"Um"

Huang Taichu nodded to indicate that he understood.

My sister said that Di Qingtian would die because of the missing military pay case.

Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this is the time.

Di Qingtian's destined tribulation has arrived.

Princess Pingyang's Residence
Upon receiving the imperial edict, Di Qingtian experienced inexplicable anxiety.

I have a feeling that something bad will happen during this trip to Yunzhou.

"Anything on your mind?"

Seeing that Di Qingtian stopped speaking and looked solemn after receiving the imperial edict, Li Feiyan sensed that Di Qingtian had something on his mind.

Di Qingtian shook his head slightly, not voicing the unease brought on by his sixth sense.

"Father Emperor issued two imperial edicts in succession. The first one ordered you to go to Yunzhou to investigate the case of missing military pay and to retrieve the missing military pay."

“Yunzhou is a mixed bag, and the local forces are deeply entrenched, which may make it difficult for you to investigate the case. But I believe in you because you are a brilliant detective, and you will definitely be able to get the military pay back.”

"The second imperial decree is to grant you marriage. We will get married when you return from Yunzhou."

"So you need to hurry, I'll prepare everything needed for the wedding in advance, and I'll just wait for you to come back."

Li Feiyan was filled with anticipation at the thought of getting married.

Di Qingtian looked at Li Feiyan, who appeared as a young woman, and hesitated to speak.

He always felt that Li Feiyan's words were somewhat ominous, and the more he longed for her to come back soon, the more he felt that she might not be able to return.

Despite the lingering unease in his heart, he did not back down, because the army urgently needed that batch of military pay, and he had no choice but to go.

Di Qingtian: "Prepare my luggage. I'm leaving this afternoon."

Li Feiyan: "Father has given you six hours to settle everything before you set off. There's no need to rush."

Di Qingtian: "Go quickly, there are still clues to be found. If you go too late, I'm afraid that someone with ulterior motives will wipe away the clues."

"Prepare it for me first. I'll go tell my master and then I'll leave."

Seeing Di Qingtian's impatience, Li Feiyan looked towards the shadow of the bamboo.

Shadow Five

Upon hearing the call, a shadowy figure appeared and knelt down.

"They dare to even covet military pay; they're definitely not someone to be trifled with."

"Moreover, the various forces in Yunzhou are deeply entrenched. As long as you don't infringe on their interests, you'll be fine."

“Once your interests are infringed, your identity and background may at most prevent them from doing anything to you openly, but in the dark, they have plenty of ways and dirty tricks to deal with you.”

"His name is Shadow Five. Take him with you, or I won't feel at ease."

Li Feiyan knew that whenever Di Qingtian investigated a case, he would inevitably infringe upon the interests of some people.

However, she didn't have many innate level experts by her side, and some weren't even with her, otherwise she wouldn't have only sent one. Di Qingtian frowned. If there was Shadow Five, then there must be Shadow Four, Shadow Three...

However, he didn't say anything. The top priority right now is to recover the military pay; everything else can wait.

He nodded in agreement to take Shadow Five with him, and then went to the Central Court Prison to find his master.

When he came out of the Heavenly Prison in the Central Court, there was another person by his side.

This person is named Tian Fugong, a mid-stage Innate Realm cultivator, and is his master's subordinate.

His master was worried about him, so he sent him to protect him.

In addition to sending people to protect him, his master also left a strand of protective energy within his body, just in case.

After leaving the central prison, he did not immediately return to Princess Pingyang's residence, but went to the last place, the southern prison.

Upon arriving at the entrance of the Southern City Prison, Di Qingtian did not allow Ying Wu and Tian Fugong to follow him in.

Perhaps they were afraid of being "cursed," or perhaps there was something they didn't want the two of them to know.

"Want some grilled fish?"

When Huang Taichu saw Di Qingtian appear before him with the Yin brothers, he asked if they wanted to eat grilled fish.

He loves fishing but doesn't like eating, but he's quite satisfied when he eats it occasionally.

After all, the ones he caught were all fished by him using skill and luck. The rest were all caused by his lack of sportsmanship.

"I'm going to Yunzhou soon. I don't know when I'll be back. I'm here to pack my personal belongings now."

Di Qingtian said with unusual calm.

"Oh"

Huang Taichu simply replied with an "oh".

Di Qingtian: "Aren't you curious about what I'm going to Yunzhou for?"

I knew it immediately, and I was suspicious right away. Even though I knew he probably already knew, I still asked him the obvious.

"I'm just a nobody, why would I be curious about adult matters?"

Huang Taichu replied with a grin.

"A nobody, haha..."

Di Qingtian couldn't help but sneer. If Huang Taichu was a nobody, then what great figures were there in the world?

"Don't forget that you were my deputy when we were investigating the strange case in the prison. Now that I'm leaving, shouldn't you help me pack my things?"

Faced with this request, Huang Taichu took it as a farewell to Di Qingtian and got up to go with Di Qingtian to the prison cell where he worked.

Huang Taichu saw that the table was full of case files, half of which were the case files of other people from the Dali Temple, and the other half were all his.

The analysis of the mysterious cases and the deduction of the case details were all written by Di Qingtian.

However, Di Qingtian did not leave Huang Taichu's name anywhere in the case file, for fear that outsiders would see his case file and suspect Huang Taichu.

Di Qingtian instructed the Yin brothers to organize the other people's case files, and told Huang Taichu to only organize his own.

"Where should I put it, or should I send it to your residence?"

After Huang Taichu finished organizing his case files, he asked how to proceed.

"Burn it"

Di Qingtian said calmly.

"Burned?"

Huang Taichu cast a puzzled look at him.

What do you want to do?
Is it that they no longer want to play the "battle of wits" with him, or are they afraid that after he leaves, outsiders will find something out through the case files he left behind?

"What, you're not happy about burning it?"

Di Qingtian asked in return, his face expressionless.

"Whether I like it or not, since you, sir, tell me to burn it, then I'll burn it."

Huang Taichu ordered the jailers to move all the case files to a spacious place and set them on fire.

I must say, burning one's own case files, especially when Di Qingtian ordered it to be done, felt completely different.

"Bring the table out."

Di Qingtian had the jailers bring out his desk, tear off the cloth covering it, and revealed that the desk was covered with clue diagrams.

There was no name left above either, but every clue ultimately pointed to the words "Ghost King".

In front of Huang Taichu, Di Qingtian drew his sword, cleaved the table in two, and pushed it into the fire.

The raging flames caused the darkness of the prison to recede like a tide.

The firelight illuminated every face at the scene, and when it lingered on Huang Taichu's face, his eerie smile was more like that of a celestial being.

(End of this chapter)