Chapter 262 - 104: The Heavens Change 3

Chapter 262: Chapter 104: The Heavens Change 3

"The worst-case scenario is simply that you retire early, sir. You’d just walk away and collect fewer benefits, that’s all."

He looked at Zhou Changfa. "This is a great bargain for you, sir. Besides, after how the Zheng Family plotted against you recently, can you truly say you feel no resentment?"

"Using my impending retirement to suppress the Zheng Family and drive them into the ground, so that when the great personage backing you arrives, they can easily reap the harvest."

"What a scheme! What audacity!"

Zhou Changfa lived up to his reputation as the long-serving Director of the Divine Capture Bureau. His cunning experience allowed him to see through the scheme in an instant. His eyes flashed. "If the great personage backing you truly wished to cooperate, they could have just said so. Why resort to such a maneuver?"

"You jest, sir," Sun Shouchai asked in return. "If things hadn’t reached this stage, would you have ever agreed?"

"Heh."

Zhou Changfa fell silent.

’If my old injuries hadn’t flared up so completely, I probably wouldn’t have agreed to this. I’d never have risked the reputation I’ve built over a lifetime, accepted an early retirement, and taken a hit to my official evaluation, all for a single Demigod Medicine and a chance at revenge against the Zheng Family.’

"Take your time to consider it, sir." With that, Sun Shouchai turned and strode away.

Zhou Changfa remained seated alone. The candlelight in the room leaped and danced, leaving his face half in light, half in darkness, flickering uncertainly.

...

After leaving Zhou Changfa’s residence.

COUGH! COUGH!

Sun Shouchai covered his mouth. After a violent fit of coughing, he lowered a handkerchief to find it covered in jarringly red blood.

Challenging a superior, even with the backing of a great personage and a Treasure for suppression, had consequences. The resulting backlash had still damaged his foundation.

And just as Zhou Changfa had said, if the Director had actually died from his old injuries, the resulting backlash would have killed him as well.

’Still, Zhou Changfa will almost certainly agree. If this gamble pays off, then once my patron takes his post, I’ll be repaid for this, and more.’

’Speaking of which, I have Ge Changgeng to thank for this. He was the one who found a bit of Dragon Essence. It was only by using the alchemy session as a pretext that I could... Otherwise, who knows when I’d have gotten another chance to make Zhou Changfa sit down and talk.’

Sun Shouchai muttered to himself, "According to Ge Changgeng, that Dragon Essence came from a Blood Soul Remnant he captured."

’A Blood Soul Remnant, a Yin Corpse... It’s just as I thought. The Zheng Family must possess a Dragon Pearl. But... didn’t the report say their Dragon Pearl was a Red Chichi’s Pearl?’

A Red Chichi is a hornless, female dragon.

A female dragon, an Yin attribute, a Dragon Pearl of Extreme Yin.

’But the Dragon Essence from the alchemy session that day was of the Extreme Yang Attribute. Is the intelligence wrong? Or is there something else going on...?’

...

CREEEAK!

’What’s going on? Is something big about to happen again?’

Fang Rui sat in the carriage, sinking into thought as he stared at the sudden spike in Tribulation Points on his panel.

He had a strong suspicion the panel was making a dig at him. He had been keeping his head down lately, so why the sudden explosion of Tribulation Points?

’Let me sort this out.’

Fang Rui pieced together the information. After a moment’s thought, a strange look crept over his face. ’Don’t tell me... the Blood Soul Remnant that slipped through my fingers was the catalyst for all this?’

’First it indirectly gifted me a batch of Contribution Points, and now a batch of Tribulation Points... Was that Blood Soul Remnant some kind of Treasure?’

’Well, that’s certainly a surprise!’

RUMBLE!

Just then, a sudden clap of thunder cracked outside. A fierce wind whipped the carriage’s curtains, making them flap wildly.

Fang Rui lifted the carriage curtain and looked outside.

A vast blanket of dark, scaly clouds hung low in the sky. Muffled thunder rumbled as lightning tore through the heavens. The wind howled, and the very air seemed thick and suffocating.

On the street, pedestrians hurried along.

"Sir, it looks like a bad storm is about to hit," the coachman called from outside.

"Then get us back as quickly as you can!"

"Yes, sir!"

...

「The following month.」

Zhou Changfa, who was rumored to be suffering from a flare-up of his old injuries, reappeared in public. Far from looking weak, he was brimming with energy, seemingly restored to his youthful prime.

Furthermore, he immediately began to overhaul the Divine Capture Bureau. His previously mild-mannered approach was replaced by swift, decisive action and iron-fisted control.

Everyone in the Divine Capture Bureau, from top to bottom, complained bitterly. The city’s public order, however, improved dramatically—it even reached the point where people left their doors unlocked at night and no one would pick up valuables left on the street.

And then there was this...

Within a single month, Zhou Changfa had dismissed two Jade Seal Divine Hunters, three Golden Seal Renowned Hunters, and three Silver Seal Chief Constables. That’s right—all of them were members of the Zheng Family!

The Zheng Family’s influence within the Divine Capture Bureau was all but wiped out.

At this point, anyone with eyes could see that Zhou Changfa was targeting the Zheng Family.

Truth be told, Zhou Changfa’s actions were rather extreme. However, the Prefectural Magistrate’s Office saw it as his final act of revenge against the Zheng Family before retirement and chose not to intervene, content to watch the drama unfold from the sidelines, just as they had during the "Nanshan Garden Burial Flower" incident.

But the Zheng Family, the other main party in this affair, could not afford to be so passive.

As the reigning local power in Huaiyin Prefecture, could they possibly swallow such a significant loss?

That was obviously out of the question.

The Zheng Family had already backed down once during the "Nanshan Garden Burial Flower" incident. If they backed down again, their fearsome reputation would be shattered. Their ability to deter rivals would plummet, likely leading to a scenario where a pack of wolves descends upon a wounded tiger.

This was a price the Zheng Family simply could not afford to pay!

So, every shrewd observer in the city knew that the Zheng Family’s retaliation was imminent.

The Divine Capture Bureau and the Zheng Family were now at daggers drawn. The atmosphere in the city grew taut, like a powder keg waiting for a spark.

...