Anti-fraud manual for the cultivation world

Chapter 93 Honglin's Joke

Meng Ting's eyes sparkled: "Wow, Grandmaster is such a sentimental person."

"You can praise that?" Li Gu's lips curled down. "Do you know how dangerous it is for us when the Immortal Emperor goes missing?"

Meng Ting: "Huh? What does the Immortal Emperor's disappearance have to do with us?"

Li Gu and Zhang Yi both covered their faces; explaining this to their junior sister was no easy task.

Li Gu didn't have time to explain to her right now, and turned to Hong Lin, asking, "Has anything changed in the palace?"

Honglin said calmly, "Of course things will change. A country cannot be without a ruler for a day. Right now, the palace has already started arguing about who should be the regent. My eldest uncle, my master, my third uncle, my fourth uncle—basically, my ancestors are all arguing about this."

Li Gu shrugged: "I knew this would happen."

Zhang Yi asked in a low voice, "How long can this news be kept secret from the outside world?"

Hong Lin laughed: "About half an hour. Maybe not even half an hour. The people from the Demonic Sect might already have the same report as me. Our communication devices in the mortal world can fly as fast as the Demonic Sect's paper cranes. No one can gain an advantage over the other."

Everyone: "————"

Over the past month or so, Li Gu had read countless official reports and gained a considerable understanding of the situation in the land. He quickly asked, "What about the northern demon race?"

Hong Lin: "At most, we'll be two hours behind the Demonic Sect."

Li Gu inwardly cried out in alarm: "Has the Celestial Army already begun to be deployed in large numbers to the north?"

Honglin nodded: "Your reaction is really quick. It's strange. You're an orphan who's been raised in Flower Valley and knows nothing about the world. Why is your mind so sharp as soon as you leave the valley? Logically speaking, children raised in the mountains should be slow to react to these things."

Li Gu could only shrug: "Perhaps this is what they call a natural talent."

Hong Lin's gaze darkened, sweeping maliciously over Li Gu's lower body: "The term 'extraordinary talent' is usually used to describe... well, junior sister, you're in for a very good time."

Li Gu: "————"

Meng Ting looked completely bewildered: "What do you mean, Senior Sister? What does Senior Brother Li's talent have to do with whether I'll have good fortune in the rest of my life?"

Honglin looked at Mengting with an expression as if she were an idiot: "Your junior sister is no fun at all. You're a disgrace to my life in the mortal world."

Everyone: "————"

Li Gu and Zhang Yi both wanted to complain: It felt like Hong Lin's cultivation technique had gone a bit astray, and she was likely to fall into the Hehuan demonic path.

Forget it, there's no point in arguing with this clueless woman.

Li Gu quickly steered the conversation back on track: "Lord Hong, what are the chances of the Demonic Sect attacking the prefectural government office?"

Honglin smiled and said, "That depends on whether the northern demon race makes any big moves. If the demon race takes the opportunity to move south and the border is in ruins, then the demonic sect will definitely become even more lawless. Our Jiangzhou is high in the mountains and far from the immortal emperor. It has always been a marginal area that the court has neglected, so it will definitely be the first to bear the brunt."

Li Gu calculated the lie told by the members of the Demonic Sect last time; that was five days ago. The lie they told then was for the fourth watch eight days later—

That means there are only three days left!

Li Gu originally planned to secretly help Cai Xinzi and Kailong three nights later by ambushing the thugs of the Demonic Sect, capturing them alive, and then pinning the case on the Jiangzhou branch of the Demonic Sect. He then planned to borrow the Immortal Army to besiege the Hongya Sect.

But now it seems things are about to escalate.

Within three days, if the imperial court or the northern demon clans cause trouble, any problem in either place will trigger a full-scale offensive by the Demonic Sect, and it will no longer be as simple as just killing Cai Xinzi.

Li Gu had only secretly told Cai Xinzi about the Demonic Sect's planned attack, without telling anyone else, but now he felt he should tell Hong Lin.

He said with a serious expression, "Lord Hong, there's something I thought was something the Six Doors should handle on their own, and I didn't want to bother you, so I didn't tell you. But now I feel I should tell you."

Honglin: "Oh?"

Li Gu briefly recounted what he had learned from the interrogation of the Demonic Sect members about their plan to assassinate Cai Xinzi three days later. He then added, "The news of the Immortal Emperor's disappearance shouldn't be kept secret from the heads of various departments, right? Once Cai Xinzi finds out, he definitely won't go home that night. He'll find all sorts of excuses to stay at the yamen and not go back. The Demonic Sect's attack might then spread from Cai Xinzi to Lord Hong."

Honglin nodded slightly: "I understand! Thank you for the reminder, brother-in-law."

Her use of the term "brother-in-law" came very suddenly, without any prior context. The moment it was uttered, everyone around her was stunned. Then Meng Ting cried out, "Ah! I—I'm not married to Senior Brother Li! Senior Sister, please don't call me that!"

Honglin blinked: "You should get married soon. If the Demonic Sect really attacks in three days, you might be separated by life and death, and you won't be able to get married then."

Everyone: "————"

You joke about something like this? Hey! You're making yourself a jinx.

Just as Li Gu was about to retort, Hong Lin suddenly turned to him and said, "Brother-in-law, at a time like this, your death might greatly help Junior Sister's cultivation progress. Do you know what kind of love is the most intense, the kind that can never be forgotten?"

Li Gu: "?"

Honglin said, "When your lover dies when you love her the most, you will always remember her best self and never forget her every smile and frown. Junior sister is loving you the most right now. If you hurry up and die, her progress might be incredibly fast, and she might be able to avenge you in a few years."

Li Gu: "————"

Meng Ting: "6"

"Hong Lin is good in every way, but her jokes always feel creepy."

Meng Ting was the first to lose her temper: "Pah, pah, pah! Senior sister is talking nonsense. Senior brother Li, don't believe a word she says."

Um—I wasn't at the point where I loved you the most, absolutely not, please don't die.

Honglin: "Oh, so you don't love your brother-in-law? Then give him to me, your senior sister. I'm just looking for a man."

Meng Ting's expression froze instantly, and she didn't know what to say for a moment.

Li Gu was both amused and exasperated: "Lord Hong, stop bullying Junior Sister all the time. Why don't you find someone else to bully? Senior Brother Zheng seems easy to bully too."

Honglin glanced at Zheng Xiaodong and shook her head: "He's not fun at all."

Everyone: "—"

After finishing her joke, Honglin drifted away.

Even Li Gu couldn't figure out what she was here for. If she was here to inform the Immortal Emperor of his disappearance, she should have been discussing the matter seriously. But nine out of ten of her sentences were just for laughs. Did she really not care at all about the impending threat from the Demonic Sect?

Hey! Aren't you afraid of being surrounded and killed inside the government office?