Chapter 1147 - 948: Replacement

"No anomalies for now..." Gong Youxiang muttered to himself as he put down what he was reviewing, slowly leaned back in his chair, and once again fell into deep thought.

Suddenly, someone emerged, claiming to be from the Demon Path of ancient times and self-proclaiming as the Demon Ancestor. They couldn't verify it, but the lost Demon Path skills the person presented seemed genuine.

They couldn't just easily trust or follow an ancient Demon Path elder appearing out of nowhere. Not every fellow practitioner was an ally, yet they were interested in the lost Secret Techniques in the person's possession.

After a while, he asked, "How's the investigation on the accounts going?"

Liu Guang remained silent, his expression heavy with concern.

Gong Youxiang glanced over and said, "Speak!"

Liu Guang slightly bowed, "Prime Minister, without thorough investigation into the pledges and loans, we wouldn't know. Once we looked into it seriously, it was truly shocking. The amount far exceeds our previous rough estimates. The detailed statistic now reaches nearly two trillion..."

Gong Youxiang's face suddenly tensed, "Two trillion... isn't Shi Chun afraid of overreaching?"

Liu Guang replied, "Shi Chun probably can't get that much money himself. We've managed to get some of those involved in the pledges to talk. Shi Chun could get only seventy percent; lend Shi Chun one hundred billion, and actually give him only seventy billion. In the case of two trillion, Shi Chun would only get one point four. As for those who spoke up, at least ten percent of the remaining thirty percent goes to the lenders..."

Gong Youxiang: "How much is the actual collateral?"

Regarding this, Liu Guang couldn't help but sigh, "From the current statistics, it's valued at around two hundred billion."

Rarely angered, Gong Youxiang was beyond furious yet laughed instead, "Good, good, good. A two-hundred-billion collateral that can secure a two-trillion loan, how dare those people? Even the Demon Path wouldn't dare attempt that!"

Liu Guang remained silent, knowing that by 'those people,' the Prime Minister was referring to his own men. If his own people hadn't failed, others wouldn't have found such a glaring loophole.

However, Gong Youxiang's anger came and went quickly. Instantly, he was calm again, like a dead lake, as if nothing had happened, "How is communication going with Shi Chun's side?"

Liu Guang said, "We haven't been able to contact him. Shi Chun claims to be everywhere pulling industries for the Heavenly Domain Dingnan Prefecture, and the master cannot find him for now."

Gong Youxiang snorted coldly and abruptly changed the subject, "How is the preparation for the wedding of the Young Master?"

Liu Guang bowed, "Smoothly, and the Yue Family Long Pavilion is also progressing smoothly. The wedding in two months should proceed smoothly..." His slightly paused tone held hidden uncertainty because he knew that if the matter of that vast amount of money couldn't be handled properly, it could jeopardize the wedding.

Green Rong Manor, located in a gently rolling hilly area on the outskirts, with abundant greenery and many ancient banyan trees, after which the manor was named.

Related information was all in the mind of Illusion Demon King Bai Sheng, with related images appearing before him.

Inside a mountain cave, Bai Sheng guarded a Mirror Image of the Heavenly Mirror, manipulating a Magic Artifact with one hand to repeatedly survey every part of Green Rong Manor.

After the Yan State incident, Manor Master Mu Anchang of Green Rong Manor seldom showed his face outside. To capture him, one naturally had to confirm his appearance. If they mistakenly capture the wrong person after much effort, it would become a joke.

A goal related to the disturbance with the Refining Heaven Sect, also involving the disappeared Demon Path relics under the Extreme Abyss, with the depths of the water unclear, he dared not act rashly.

Therefore, he admired Shi Chun's idea of daring to send Chai Wenwu, a waste like him, to capture the person.

But speaking again, a quick review of Shi Chun's past reveals that he seems to consistently enjoy undertaking adventurous acts where the weak overcome the strong, and most of the time, he seemed to have come this far on such ventures. So, this move doesn't come as too much of a surprise.

Yet he wouldn't do it that way. Knowing the depths of water are unclear means exercising caution.

What does caution mean? It means still being able to cope when your advantage is lost when your Illusion Technique can be seen through, leading to adverse situations, and making preparations for these beforehand is called caution.

He guarded the Mirror Image day and night without stopping, observing the terrain and pathways inside Green Rong Manor, watching the routes taken by all personnel, what area people from certain quotas could walk on, and where they could act, looking at the entire situation thoroughly from a bird's eye view, could reveal quite a bit of truth.

Secondly, he hoped to see Manor Master Mu Anchang himself, to observe his range of activities, and to confirm if his place matched the intelligence gathered.

After observing for two full days, on the morning of the third day, he finally saw someone stepping out of the master's room in the Mirror Image. The Mirror Image quickly zoomed in for observation, and the person bore a close resemblance to the identified target. The leisurely manner of strolling with hands behind his back while bathing in fresh air displayed a masterful aura that didn't seem fabricated, indicating that person was undoubtedly the target.

Yet because he had long practiced Illusion Technique and often needed to imitate, his detailed observation skills of outlines surpassed those of ordinary people, and just by feeling, he perceived the person's appearance was fake.

Upon further inspection, he was quite sure it wasn't the real face.

He immediately suspected the target was posing, intentionally used to confuse and mislead.

The steward Tu Shen of Green Rong Manor appeared in the Mirror Image, saluting the target, seemingly reporting something.

As for this steward, Bai Sheng had no idea how many times he had observed him in the Mirror Image. Looking at his demeanor toward the target, it didn't seem performed.

In the absence of outsiders, being able to act this convincingly made Bai Sheng somewhat confused, leading him to suspect that the target might not have shown their genuine face to others in the first place.

What exactly was happening here needed careful investigation to confirm. But what he lacked most now was time, as Shi Chun only gave him five days. In five days, that guy would sell this clue to Feng Xi and others, infuriating him just thinking about it.

He had already used up three days before and after.

In order to quickly make a confirmation, after much contemplation, he swiftly contacted his subordinates, orchestrating an attack on an important financial pathway of Green Rong Manor.

Upon receiving the news, he immediately confirmed the incident and kept a close watch on the target location.

When he saw the Green Rong Manor's steward, Tu Shen, reappear and hastily enter the target building, he made a certain judgment and finally resolved to take action.

Though the deadline had passed four days ago, he wasn't in a hurry to act despite his resolve, continuing his observation.

So far, considering the activity paths and area ranges seen around Green Rong Manor, and the frequency of personnel appearing at each point, based on Bai Sheng's experience of frequently breaking into others' homes, he could confirm that this manor was indeed a place of outward looseness but internal tightness, heavily guarded.

On the sixth day, after checking the message from the Mother-child Talisman, Bai Sheng put away the Heavenly Mirror, exited the cave, and left just like that.

This journey took him thousands of miles away, quietly arriving at a sea cargo ship, with guards patrolling back and forth on deck. He slipped past them like air and headed straight to the hold.

In the hold was a cage with eight demon cultivators who had been severely tortured, each shackled in chains, in tattered clothing, and covered in scars, a horrifying sight.

These eight demons were precisely the ones captured and interrogated after destroying an important financial route of the Green Rong Manor.

Bai Sheng, who had observed everything along the way, ignored the guards outside the cage and walked directly inside, approaching a demon cultivator, and swiftly knocked them unconscious. He then unchained the demon and wrapped the chains around himself, proceeding to kill the demon and stash the body in his pouch.

Throughout the process, whether it was the guards outside or the other demon cultivators inside, they all seemed blind and unnoticed.

Bai Sheng, draped in chains, just sat in the ship's cabin waiting quietly.

Half a day later, a group of people arrived with the sound of footsteps, and roughly dragged the eight demons up, pushing and pulling them out.

Once they were dragged onto the deck, Bai Sheng waved to toss the demon cultivator's corpse he had stored in the pouch overboard, throwing it into the sea.

Before long, the eight demons were each shrouded in eight black cloth bags, and the escorts drove Wind Scale to lift them into the air together.

After a long journey at high speed, they finally landed at the front gate of the Green Rong Manor.

The gate guards let them pass, but once inside a shady tree-lined path, the demon cultivators in black bags were pulled out and escorted, while someone in the forest turned a half-man-high copper mirror on them, known as the "Jianyuan Treasure Mirror." Everyone passing by the mirror was stripped of disguise to show their true form; the eight demon cultivators displayed their demon body images in the mirror's reflection, including Bai Sheng.

At the same time, there were faint red lights in the depths of the forest keeping a watchful eye.

The group was directly placed in the dungeon of the manor awaiting orders.

Not long after they were detained, steward Tu Shen arrived, standing coldly outside the cage, eyeing the group of demon cultivators.

As soon as he appeared, Bai Sheng broke free from his shackles immediately, reached Tu Shen and shattered his brow with a point of his finger.

Tu Shen's eyes widened suddenly, and as he fell slowly, Bai Sheng moved with ghostly quickness, striking mercilessly, not even sparing the seven demon cultivators who had come along, slaughtering them all.

Only two witnesses were left at the scene, who also seemed both blind and deaf, not witnessing the brutal scene.

However, they felt a bit puzzled, sensing the mana fluctuation and the ripple of powerful energy.

Soon after, they saw steward 'Tu Shen' pointing at them and then pointing back at Bai Sheng, who had returned to the cage, saying, "You two, bring him to the Manor Master."

The two immediately cupped their hands in salute and complied, "Yes!"

Soon after, they entered, pulled Bai Sheng out, each gripping a chain and escorted him away.

In the cell, the nonexistent 'Tu Shen' walked to the direction near the door and instructed the two guards outside the main gate of the dungeon, "Without my permission, no one is allowed inside!"

"Yes." The two guards outside the cell also cupped their hands in salute.

During the escort, within a building on one side, the glinting red of a Demon Eye peered through the window's gap, observing the scene outside.

Inside the master's house hall of the manor, behind a screen, the hall was luxuriously decorated where Manor Master Mu Anchang was playing a game of chess with an old white-haired man in a black robe.

The old man was an elder of the Demon Path, and also the most formidable elder of the Gui Cang Lineage. Here, aside from Mu Anchang, no one knew he was hiding in this house, not even steward Tu Shen. This elder was secretly stationed to await the fish to catch and also to protect Mu Anchang.

Mu Anchang placed a piece and sighed wistfully.

The old man, placing his piece with a click, looked up, "Why the sigh, Young Master?"

Mu Anchang smiled bitterly, "Just feeling stuffy, hiding like this, who knows how long it will last."

In fact, the most annoying thing was having someone around and losing privacy.

The old man chuckled, "Does Young Master think I enjoy guarding like this? I too would like to know when this will end."

Just as he finished speaking, he turned his head to listen quickly, then rose up swiftly, "Someone's coming."

He turned and quickly took cover behind a large hanging "Jianyuan Treasure Mirror" at the back of the hall.