Dusk settled in. After three rounds of wine and five courses of food, the atmosphere had changed.
At first, the members of the demon inspection team were quite reserved.
However, under the lead of Yun Heng and Jiang Keke, they gradually realized that Yun Heng had no intention of holding them accountable. Their moods slowly relaxed.
By now, Lu Wenbo even had his arm around Yun Heng’s shoulder as he began to loudly denounce the poor treatment within the demon inspection department.
“Brother Yun, you have no idea how much I want to work for your Changsheng Yun family! This gods-forsaken demon inspection department is simply not a place for humans to stay…”
“Brother Yun, I’m ashamed to say it, but I actually held certain prejudices against you before. I only now realize that you are a truly good person… Enough of that, let’s not talk about it anymore. Come, come, drink, drink!”
Jiang Keke sipped on a specialty drink of Mochou village while swinging her short legs.
She asked in a low voice, “It seems like your demon inspection department isn’t very strict. Are you allowed to get this dead drunk while on duty?”
“When the general is in the field, he may ignore the orders of the sovereign. Besides, as long as one has reached foundation establishment, no matter how strong the alcohol is, we can easily expel it from our bodies. It has no impact on the mission.”
“Inedia is so useful… I’m so envious.”
Jiang Keke looked at the short-haired female cultivator named Ding Huaimeng beside her, her expression somewhat worried.
“Speaking of which, Sister Ding, do we really not need to worry about that waiter from earlier? I feel like he’s going to be severely criticized and lectured.”
After finishing his story, the waiter had hurriedly excused himself, saying, “Then I shall go fetch more wine for the guests.” Yet, even though the meal was nearly finished, he had not returned.
Replacing him was a female cultivator whose movements in serving dishes and tea were very stiff. One could tell at a glance that she was not a professional waiter.
“Haven’t you noticed that your Young Master’s bracelet is missing?”
Ding Huaimeng spoke helplessly, ‘He is the Eldest Young Master of the Changsheng Yun family, after all. How could he not have considered something like this?’
Jiang Keke blinked in surprise. Looking closely, she realized that was exactly the case.
Yun Heng’s right wrist had always been adorned with a deep blue bracelet. It was a high-grade magical tool, but it was currently nowhere to be seen.
Clearly, this magical tool had been manipulated by Yun Heng to follow the waiter the moment he left.
“Then I can rest easy.”
Jiang Keke breathed a sigh of relief. “I was really afraid he would be bullied by that old woman who clearly looks like she’s up to no good.”
‘But why would the Eldest Young Master of the Yun family get involved in such trivial local matters of clearly no value?’ Ding Huaimeng wondered silently. She glanced at the naive little bookboy and shook her head.
She was certain that Jiang Keke couldn’t possibly know Yun Heng’s plan. Even if she did, Ding Huaimeng wouldn’t dare to ask.
“Fellow Daoist Lu, then it is settled. I will have to ask for your assistance in this matter.”
Finally, the boasting session between Yun Heng and Lu Wenbo came to an end.
Yun Heng stood up unsteadily and cupped his hands to the latter, looking as though he was prepared to leave.
However, Lu Wenbo was either truly drunk or feigning ignorance, as he blinked innocently. “Wait, what? What’s settled?”
Yun Heng sighed helplessly. With an attitude that seemed to find it troublesome yet wouldn’t make others anxious, he “repeated” himself:
“It’s like this, Fellow Daoist Lu. My family intends to establish some related industries in this area. However, your inspection made me realize that there might be hidden dangers regarding the demon race here.”
“If I invest, the results will surely be greatly diminished. That black demon feather you found earlier most likely originated from the black wind forest to the southwest.”
“If you all could go there to conduct a thorough investigation and clear the obstacles for my investment plan, my Yun family will naturally offer a thank-you gift and credit your service in our report to the human emperor.”
Lu Wenbo cursed the bastard in his heart.
This Yun Heng was fucking pitting them again!
He wasn’t drunk at all. He clearly remembered that Yun Heng had been bragging the whole time. As for some bullshit “related industries,” not a single word had been mentioned!
And yet, this miserable fellow intentionally chose this moment — when everyone had stopped their noise and looked over — to say these words…
Wasn’t it obvious he was trying to force Lu Wenbo to agree!
Most importantly, Yun Heng’s tone was extremely natural and his reasoning was perfectly sound. Anyone who heard it would never think he was making it up on the spot. It was simply infuriating!
“Regarding the matter Brother Lu requested, I will certainly go all out, but as for the timing — “
Just as Lu Wenbo began to smile awkwardly, trying to find an excuse to decline, the monster hunting mirrors at the waists of the twenty-four members of the demon inspection team suddenly emitted a dazzling red light at the same time.
This meant that within a range of 1,000 miles, a member of the demon race had exposed their aura!
Not only that, judging by the reaction of the red light, it was highly likely that some demon’s cultivation had broken through — and several levels at once!
“Direction.”
Lu Wenbo’s expression darkened as he immediately looked at Ding Huaimeng.
In that instant, the aura of everyone present underwent an earth-shattering change. They transformed from young men and women drinking and eating meat into well-trained, cold-faced soldiers.
Ding Huaimeng quickly made a judgment. It happened to be the exact direction of the intelligence Yun Heng had just proposed.
Strangely, this direction was not only completely opposite to the one they had planned to search tonight, but it was also quite far away.
This caused Ding Huaimeng to subconsciously glance at Yun Heng.
Was it a coincidence?
Ding Huaimeng shook her head, still feeling that it was most likely a coincidence.
Breakthroughs among the demon race happened from time to time, and the black wind forest was a place where demonic energy had gathered for years. Such an occurrence wasn’t surprising.
Even for the Changsheng Yun family, it was impossible to give a runaway Eldest Young Master a magical treasure that could “manipulate a demon’s cultivation breakthrough from 1,000 miles away.”
If he truly had such heaven-defying means, why would he have destroyed his own cultivation yesterday and allowed them to search his luggage?
‘My habit of being overly suspicious really needs to change…’ Ding Huaimeng thought secretly.
“Brother Yun, please rest assured. Regarding your request just now, the demon inspection department will not fail its mission!”
Lu Wenbo tucked his large saber back into his waist and cupped his hands to Yun Heng one last time. “The situation is urgent. We shall meet again if fate allows.”
As soon as he finished speaking, the grand squad of twenty-four people turned into streaks of afterimages, rushing straight toward the southwest.
“…So he really has been reborn.”
Yun Heng murmured in a low voice, rubbing his somewhat empty index finger.
The lights of the restaurant were bright, and the man was very tall, which made it impossible for Jiang Keke to see his current expression.
‘I wonder if my decision to take a risk and invest in you will be a blessing or a curse…’
The so-called “angel investment” was to actively intervene and guide variables after discovering a potential threat, attempting to transform an uncontrollable threat into a potential, controllable “investment object.”
High risk, high reward.
“Young Master, what are you saying?”
Jiang Keke leaned close to Yun Heng’s side and asked curiously.
She truly couldn’t hear what Yun Heng was chanting in that voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz.
“Nothing.”
Yun Heng returned to normal and smiled as he patted Jiang Keke’s head. “The trivial matters are finished. It’s time for us to get busy with some real business.”
Jiang Keke blinked, not understanding what he meant.
However, because she was used to the sensation of Yun Heng patting her head, she felt that something was different this time.
It seemed to be…
A ring was missing?
Had the Young Master not only commanded the bracelet-type magical tool to protect the waiter, but also used the ring as well?
Was there a need for that… That bracelet was a birthday gift from the Old Master; it could block a full-powered strike even from a master at the tribulation transcendence stage…
Jiang Keke’s sixth sense suddenly went into overdrive. She took the opportunity to stare at Yun Heng’s hand.
After confirming that the ring on his index finger was missing, she began to recall the functions of that ring-type magical tool in her mind.
The good news was that because she was always responsible for helping Yun Heng carry his luggage, Jiang Keke was well aware of almost all the visible trump cards on him.
That ring was a formation-type magical tool. Its effect was to amplify formation effects while acting as a mobile eye of the formation.
When necessary, it could even be projected to a designated location from a long distance based on the strength of one’s mental power…
Connecting this with Yun Heng’s superb formation skills and the “demon race attack” that seemed far too coincidental no matter how one looked at it, a terrifying thought surfaced in Jiang Keke’s small head, making her shiver.
Stopping her footsteps, Jiang Keke watched Yun Heng, who was not far ahead leaning against a wall and beginning to vomit loudly. She opened her mouth, then closed it, then opened it again…
In the end, all her anxiety, unease, confusion, and fear turned into a short sigh. She then took out medicinal pills and the sobering soup she had prepared long ago from her storage bag and walked over quickly.
Fine, he was her Young Master; she could only spoil him herself.
“I say, Eldest Young Master Yun, others can drink because they have achieved inedia and aren’t afraid of alcohol.”
“With your fragile body that’s like it’s made of paper, how did you dare to have a drinking contest with others? I think one day you’re going to squander all those priceless great restoration pills! What?”
“You say your stomach hurts and you’re uncomfortable? It’s right that it hurts. The pain means your muscles are growing!”
The girl distressedly rubbed and pressed the weak scholar who looked more pitiful than a mortal, yet her mouth never stopped nagging and mocking.
This was what her parents did when she made mistakes as a child, so now that she had grown up, she only knew how to express concern in this awkward way.
The girl always felt that as long as she mocked him enough, she could make a certain child who wouldn’t grow up finally mature, so she wouldn’t have to worry so much.
But she also understood that by doing this, she would definitely be hated. After all, she had quite hated her own parents.
But it didn’t matter. As long as the Young Master could grow up safely, as long as he could be happy and joyful, then it was all worth it.
“…Stop trashing your own body. I’m begging you, okay?”