After breaking up with my girlfriend, I became a Great Sage of the Demon Clan.

The driver drove the car to the parking lot in front of the villa, and Xu Ruheng straightened his clothes and went inside.

Xu Ruheng had been operating in this mountainous prefecture for sixty years, using wealth and marriage alliances to bind together all classes throughout the prefecture.

It would be no exaggeration to say that it is deeply entrenched and deeply rooted.

The federal government's special envoy has only scratched the surface. Once he brings his core subordinates over, everything will be fine.

Xu Ruheng entered the villa and went to his own conference room.

Xu Ruheng was stunned when he pushed open the conference room door.

He sent out a meeting invitation yesterday, inviting all his capable subordinates and core stakeholders to attend, but now, only his grandson-in-law, Lin Daoru, is in the entire meeting room.

Xu Ruheng sat down in the main seat of the conference room with a normal expression, and then asked.

"Kobayashi, where have those rats (FBI investigators) gotten to?"

Lin Daoru adjusted his glasses, which gave him a particularly scholarly air.

"We've found Michel Financial Company and Changchun Real Estate Company. Those places have a lot of scandals. The evidence chain in the land merger cases a few years ago was very complete. Once they were investigated, there was so much evidence that it gave those special envoys a headache. There was too much evidence and they didn't know which one to report to."

Xu Ruheng chuckled dismissively.

"Miyang and Sanhua will be here soon. As long as they take action, everything will be alright."

Mi Yang and San Hua are Xu Ruheng's two grandsons-in-law. One is a local black glove, and the other is the director of the largest security company in the state. At this meeting, Xu Ruheng is prepared to rely on his family's henchmen through marriage to put the federal investigators in their place.

Lin Daoru's expression was subtle.

"They suffered cardiac arrest an hour ago and were admitted to the hospital. They should still be undergoing emergency treatment."

Xu Ruheng was stunned for a moment, hesitated for a few seconds, and then said angrily.

"It's alright, why use a sledgehammer to crack a nut? If Mi Yang and San Hua can't come because they're in the hospital, Weng Peng can come instead."

Ong Peng is the legal advisor to the local state-level judicial bureau and a close friend of Xu Ruheng. As long as Ong Peng can smooth things over with the courts, at least in Dashan Prefecture, no court can convict Xu Ruheng.

Lin Daoru sighed.

"Attorney Weng Peng suffered a sudden cardiac arrest and died in his study yesterday."

Xu Ruheng picked up a teacup because his mouth was dry, but he suddenly crushed it.

Xu Ruheng said angrily.

"What do you mean? Why are they all cases of cardiac arrest?"

Xu Ruheng scanned the entire conference room.

"Let Weng Peng die if he's dead. As long as Fang Xiaoyun's side is stable, there won't be any problems."

Over the past thirty years, Xu Ruheng has run a company called Dashan Business Discussion Association. The company members are all retired high-ranking officials and members of parliament from various departments of the state government. This means that Xu Ruheng pays these retired high-ranking officials and members of parliament who are rehired by his company a large sum of money every year. In return, these executives and members of parliament use their connections to protect Xu Ruheng's interests.

Lin Daoru added another sentence.

"Fang Xiaoyun is dead too. Not only Fang Xiaoyun, but all the employees of Dashan Commerce are now either dead or hospitalized. There are very few who can still stand."

Xu Ruheng slammed his hand on the table.

"I can't have all my collaborators die, can I?"

Lin Daoru then nodded.

"Yes, apart from me, everyone else who was able to attend the meeting was either in the hospital being treated or had died."

Chapter Twenty: The Great Sage of the Spiritual Heart

Central City, Black Palace, Presidential Office.

Xuanwu, the President, the Vice President, and three senators sat in a row before the City God. The Minister of Health shrugged and said.

"...I have summoned all the experts and professors from the Ministry of Health, and also brought together the best doctors in the country, but the result is that the cause of the attack cannot be determined, the mechanism of the attack cannot be determined, and therefore, no treatment can be carried out..."

The top political figures of the Eastern Xia United States, standing in front of the Minister of Health, held reports from the Ministry of Health, their faces grave.

Of course, the solemn expression wasn't because the text on the report was too heavy, but because no one could understand the technical terms inside. However, no one was willing to admit that they couldn't understand it, so they all pretended to understand it, hence their bad mood.

"...That's the gist of it."

The Minister of Health finished speaking.

The current president nodded, about to say a few standard words, when Xuanwu beside him put down the report in his hand and said seriously.

"So you have no way to deal with this inexplicable disease?"

The health minister shook his head.

“I suspect this is not a disease, but a curse. I think this supernatural phenomenon should not be dealt with by us mortals.”

A few months ago, the Ministry of Health discovered a new influenza virus, and then a small number of patients died of cardiac arrest after being infected with the influenza virus. At the time, some epidemiologists attributed the cardiac arrest to complications caused by the influenza virus, but after further research, all the experts found that they were wrong.

This flu virus and death from cardiac arrest are two different things, because recently there have been more and more people dying from cardiac arrest without having the flu virus.

After autopsiing these people's bodies, something even more puzzling to the experts came up: most of the people who died from cardiac arrest were perfectly healthy, had no cardiovascular problems, and no pathogenic viruses were found in their bodies.

This cardiac arrest seems like a normal human sudden death, but the number is abnormal, and this abnormal number is still increasing.

Three days have passed since the flu death toll suddenly increased. In these three days, the death toll has increased exponentially. At first, there were only three hundred people, then a thousand, and now there are ten thousand. Of course, ten thousand deaths is still a very small number when distributed across the entire country.

At least people can still hold marches happily, physically opposing the government's policy of isolating and locking down cities, and even think they are smart and intelligent for opposing authority.

Those who actually knew the truth, the group in the presidential office, began to be troubled by the sudden appearance of deaths.

"But the problem is..."

Xuanwu crossed his arms and restlessly placed them on his thighs.

“I have gathered all the awakened individuals I could find who have the ability to curse and cause disease, and they all said they could not see any difference between the dead and normal people.”

The president and vice president immediately looked grave.

At their level, they are basically not troubled by normal diseases. Therefore, when the people of the Eastern Xia United States are infected and die from the flu that occurs regularly every year, they can close their eyes and pretend not to see it.

Even if they get sick, they can go to the best hospitals to receive treatment from the best doctors. Even if it's a new disease every year, they can spend millions to extract human antibodies for immunization.

The social resources possessed by the rich and high-ranking officials cannot be compared with those of normal humans, but this inexplicable cardiac arrest first led all the experts in the Ministry of Health to declare that it was not medical, and then the awakened individuals with special abilities also declared that it was not theological.

So far, there is no explanation for this sudden cardiac arrest, nor is there a treatment. This means that once the disease spreads, no wealthy or high-ranking official, including the president, will be able to avoid it.

In the face of a true virus, everyone is equal.

There was a knock on the door, followed by the voice of the president's aide.

"Gentlemen, I have some very bad news to tell you."

Xuanwu glanced at the door to the president's office. The door opened, and the assistant standing outside sighed before speaking.

"Gentlemen, the latest news is that 20 members of the House of Representatives have been diagnosed with an unidentified disease and all 20 have died. Eight members of the Senate have been diagnosed with an unidentified disease and all eight have died. All of the deaths occurred despite the efforts of numerous medical personnel. The mortality rate is now 100%, and none of them have survived."

Xuanwu and the others looked grim.

As members of Congress of the entire Eastern Xia United States, whether senators or representatives, they are among the most well-informed members of the human class. Therefore, they all know that a new, unknown disease that can cause cardiac arrest and is widespread has recently emerged.

Most members of Congress were prepared for this, for example, by having several medical staff who could perform heart rate monitoring with them, and some even stayed in the hospital.

The worst thing about cardiac arrest is when no one is around. If someone is nearby, especially a professional, the chances of reviving the patient through chest compressions are not low.

Even under these circumstances, so many people still died.

20 members of the House of Representatives, 8 senators...

The assistant spread his hands.

"Gentlemen, I think you all know what a 100% mortality rate means, right?"

Xuanwu rubbed his forehead.

He knew, of course, that if they couldn’t find a solution to this cardiac arrest as quickly as possible, then the Eastern Xia Federation would experience uncontrollable turmoil starting from the highest levels of government.

Once this unrest spreads to ordinary people, the entire country will slowly but inevitably collapse.

……

Penglai Island, Dawu Mountain.

Zhou Yan stood at the foot of Mount Dawu.

Two days had passed since the first day they arrived at Mount Dawu. During these two days, the Nine-Colored Deer had been clamoring to go to Mount Dawu. Zhou Yan was getting a little impatient with the clamor, so he told the Nine-Colored Deer and the other auspicious beasts to wait in a safe place, and he walked to the foot of Mount Dawu and began to peer into the future with his eyes.

Because his bloodline awakening level had reached 39%, Zhou Yan's ability to see far and wide had been greatly enhanced; previously it could only last five seconds, but now it could last 12 seconds.

Using these twelve seconds of the future, Zhou Yan simulated rushing to the mountainside and peak of Mount Dawu, wandering around and courting death. During this time, Zhou Yan discovered some gardens overgrown with weeds, some collapsed or half-collapsed palaces, and some dried corpses of immortal beasts and divine beasts.

There was no danger, no traps. Zhou Yan used his Extreme Vision continuously for two days and didn't even encounter a single poisonous insect.

Most importantly, Zhou Yan, relying on his keen senses, knew that when he walked through these places, no mountain peak collapsed or any place broke. Clearly, these places did not attack Zhou Yan and were not the target of Bai Ze's spiritual body's counterattack.

Mount Dawu seems to be quite safe.

You can try going in and taking a look at it yourself with a low intensity.

but……

Zhou Yan took out a brand new Little Universe Spell given to him by Zhuque from his pocket, then turned his head and shouted in one direction.

"Xiao Wan, Chong Ba, Qing Cai, come here for a moment."

With a whoosh, the nine-colored deer with Su Xiaowan and the Chongming bird on its back ran over and its eyes lit up when it reached Zhou Yan's side.

"Brother, can we go...go to Mount Dawu now?"

Zhou Yan patted the head of the nine-colored deer.

"Okay, let's go together."

The Nine-Colored Deer is a spirit beast from Mount Dawu, a spirit pet raised by the Antarctic Longevity Emperor. Zhou Yan is not one of them. Therefore, Zhou Yan figured that if the Nine-Colored Deer accompanied him, he might be able to discover some opportunities that he wouldn't otherwise encounter, and reduce some of the dangers.

Even if things go badly, having the Nine-Colored Deer by your side can greatly improve your luck.

As for encountering danger, Zhou Yan had foreseen it with his keen eyes. As long as he held onto the Nine-Colored Deer, he could use the Lesser Universe Spell to carry the Nine-Colored Deer, Su Xiaowan on its body, and the Chongming Bird away.

Zhou Yan walked up to the foot of Mount Dawu. The nine-colored deer beside him hopped and skipped, its eyes constantly looking at the mountainside and peaks, a mixture of sadness and joy in its expression.

These past few days, the Nine-Colored Deer has been wanting to go up Mount Dawu. Zhou Yan thought for a moment and casually made up an excuse, saying that the spirit beasts and divine beasts on Mount Dawu have all grown up in the past few years, and grown-up children naturally have to leave home to start their own businesses.

Elder Crane and Elder Deer also went out to take care of the children who had grown up, so there were not many spirit beasts left on Mount Dawu, and the palaces were in ruins.

That silly girl, Nine-Colored Deer, never doubts anyone. She believes everything Zhou Yan says and was so heartbroken for two days that she didn't even eat.

However, being naturally lively, his mood improved considerably after two days. Even now, as he followed Zhou Yan up the mountain, he was still thinking that there might still be a few old friends in Dawu Mountain who didn't want to wander around.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan looked towards the gardens halfway up the mountain.

The garden was overgrown with weeds, showing that it hadn't been tended to for a long time. A few rare plants could be vaguely seen, which should be relics from the time when Mount Dawu was still standing.

The Nine-Colored Deer followed Zhou Yan's gaze and then spoke.

“That’s the small garden, the place where Old Master He’s children used to love to hang out. Old Master He’s youngest grandson, Xiao Qing, even invited Qing Cai to the small garden to eat ginseng fruit back then, and Qing Cai went…”

The Nine-Colored Deer's expression darkened.

"That guy lied to me; there's no ginseng fruit at all."

Isn't that obvious? Ginseng fruit can only be found in Zhen Yuanzi's Taoist temple.

The nine-colored deer said sadly.

"Xiao Qing is so naughty. The road from Xiao An Palace to the main peak of Da Wu Mountain is very long. Qing Cai wanted to eat ginseng fruit, so she ran a long way, but it turned out she was just lying to me."

"Qingcai was so heartbroken back then that she didn't want to talk to Xiaoqing anymore."

The nine-colored deer called out towards the weed-covered garden.

"Xiao Qing, Qing Cai was wrong. Qing Cai won't ignore you anymore. Are you there?"

The nine-colored deer cried out a few times, but no one paid any attention.

The nine-colored deer's eyes were dull.

The Nine-Colored Deer no longer wanted the ginseng fruit; she only wanted Xiao Qing, the one who had deceived her, to come back.

Zhou Yan put his arms around the neck of the nine-colored deer.

"Alright, alright, when people grow up, they have to leave home. They can't stay children forever."

Zhou Yan, with the nine-colored deer in his arms, continued forward.