CHAPTER 109: COMPLETE PANDEMONIUM

Thanks to the guard's sacrifice, Bei Mingxin and the others were able to open up some distance between themselves and Dong Changfeng, at which point they immediately unleashed the Blood Incineration Technique to race away as five streaks of red light.

Dong Changfeng immediately gave chase.

Mu Linyuan's cultivation base was far inferior to Dong Changfeng's, and he had sustained some severe injuries, so he knew that he wouldn't be able to get away. Hence, he descended into the city before vanishing without a trace.

At the moment, the Hall of Protectionists, White Cloud Warrior Academy, and the Guardians were all on the hunt for Bei Mingxin.

Neither the Guardians nor the Church of the Self-Righteous had anticipated such an outcome.

Not only had the plans of the Church of the Self-Righteous been completely thrown into disarray, the same applied to Dongfang Sansan as well.

Who could've imagined that Dong Changfeng would be lurking in some obscure slum in the White Cloud Prefecture?

And who could've anticipated that Bei Mingxin would just so happen to run into him?

It was as if all of this had been preordained by fate!

Fortunately, Dongfang Sansan had already taken steps to monitor all of the people purchasing jade in the prefecture.

He had been planning to capture them all at his own pace in a few days, but those plans had to be thrown out the window, and the trap had to be closed right away.

Additionally, all of the subsequent plans that he had put into place also had to be scrapped.

The entire White Cloud Prefecture had been thrown into complete turmoil, and Fang Che was also at a complete loss for what to do.

I collected so much jade as well! Doesn't that mean I'm also going to be detained?

Ye Meng was also feeling very uneasy.

Is Fang Che's identity going to be exposed? What is the Hall of Protectionists going to do? Are they going to detain him or even execute him?

***

Fang Che wasn't the only one at a complete loss for what to do. The same applied to the Church of the Self-Righteous, the Guardians, the Protectionists, and all of the subsidiary churches.

Everyone was internally cursing Bei Mingxin. How could he have been so careless? He had exposed himself right in the heart of enemy territory!

Fang Che entered his study as soon as he returned to the Virtue Manor.

At the moment, his top priority was to destroy the evidence, but how? It was a small mountain of jade, literally a mountain of evidence!

Even though he had adopted a disguise while purchasing all of this jade, that didn't ensure his safety.

Fang Che hurriedly dug a hole in the study and buried all the jade in it while grumbling to himself the entire time.

He had originally been planning to find a way to sell all of this jade to other demonic church members to recoup his losses, but that was clearly no longer feasible.

After all of the jade was taken care of, both Fang Che and Ye Meng were sweating profusely, not from exertion, but from nerves.

"Don't tell anyone about this!" Fang Che warned in a solemn manner.

"I won't!" Ye Meng replied as she shook her head vigorously.

Fang Che sat down on his chair, feeling a little dazed. Things had completely spiraled out of his control in a very short span of time.

He channeled his Cool as Ice mental technique to compose himself, then began releasing the baleful qi in the ancient jade once again.

The baleful qi had already been accumulating for several hours, and as it was funneled out of his body, all of the leaves on the nearby trees began to slowly wilt.

Everyone in a radius of several thousand feet also felt an unnatural chill in the air.

After releasing all of the pent-up baleful qi, Fang Che summoned the piece of jade and he held it in his hand. It was extremely warm and smooth to the touch, like holding a ball of water.

His soul was strong enough to withstand the baleful qi, so he wasn't in a hurry to dispel it.

Furthermore, he wanted to retain it in case it could come in useful in the future. For example, baleful qi would serve as a perfect source of sustenance for the Golden Horne Flood Dragon.

On top of that, this piece of divine jade would definitely be a suitable vessel to harbor the Golden Horn Flood Dragon, and with that in mind, Fang Che was eager to return to the Myriad Spirit Forest to recover the Golden Horn Flood Dragon's spirit body.

However, all of that would have to wait until after the lockdown on the prefecture was lifted.

That night, Fang Che and Ye Meng were practicing their sword techniques when Mu Linyuan suddenly stumbled into the courtyard without warning, looking as pale as a sheet.

"Uncle-master Mu!" Fang Che exclaimed.

What the hell are you doing here?! Didn't you get away?

Mu Linyuan had a hand clasped over his chest as he explained in a feeble manner, "I can't get away... Dong Changfeng's spear intent is too much..."

"Come inside," Fang Che said he hurriedly helped Mu Linyuan into the room.

After entering the manor, Mu Linyuan took some pills. Fang Che had no pills suitable for consumption for a warrior of his caliber, so Mu Linyuan could only take his own pills.

Fang Che had constructed an underground secret chamber back when he first purchased the manor, and that was where Mu Linyuan was going to stay.

"I'm sorry to have to make you stay down here, Uncle-master Mu, but there are many people keeping an eye on me at the moment, so we have to be careful. If you need any pills, tell me, and I'll report your needs to Pope Yin."

"I've already reported to Pope Yin. Unfortunately, this type of spear intent injury can only be recovered from with rest and recuperation," Mu Linyuan sighed. "Right now, the entire prefecture is crawling with Protectionists and Guardians, so I won't be able to get away anytime soon."

Fang Che gently rested a hand on his shoulder as a gesture of reassurance.

"Rest assured, Uncle-master Mu, you can stay here for as long as you like. I'm sure you'll be able to make a full recovery!"

"I had no choice but to come to you," Mu Linyuan sighed. "Most of our other church members have already been exposed for collecting jade, and I don't trust the rest enough to go to them."

"The conditions aren't ideal, but I'll have to ask you to stay down here for now. I'll get Ye Meng to bring you food and anything else you might need, and if you need to go out for whatever reason, the steps over there lead up to an exit. Feel free to tell me if you need anything."

"I will," Mu Linyuan replied.

He was already a spent force at this point, and he immediately began focusing on his own recovery, while Fang Che emerged from the underground secret chamber with a troubled expression.

He entered his study and sat down, then silently asked himself a few questions.

In the wake of this abrupt turn of events, all of his original plans had been disrupted, so he had to reassess his own position.

How many in the Hall of Protectionists are aware of my ties with the One Heart Church?

How many people in White Cloud Warrior Academy are also privy to this information?

Yin Shengong sent me here even though he knew that I was already under suspicion for what happened to the Su Clan. Just how much does he trust me?

Who is Ye Meng reporting to?

She's definitely going to report Mu Linyuan's arrival to her handler, so is he going to be safe staying here?

Will Ye Meng's handler issue an order to have Mu Linyuan detained or killed?

What would Yin Shengong do if Mu Linyuan dies?

All of a sudden, he had been thrown into completely unchartered territory, and his heart was filled with doubts and concerns.

Ever since Fang Che became an undercover agent in the One Heart Church, he had ultimately managed to accomplish everything he had set out to do, but none of it had gone perfectly smoothly without a hitch.

There had always been some unforeseen mishaps or setbacks, and there wasn't even a single time when everything had gone exactly according to his original plans.

Every single time, he had been forced to constantly alter his plans on the fly.

The outcome had always been positive, but in reality, everything that he had been doing up to this point had been pushing him closer and closer to being exposed on both sides!

Just how useless is this incompetent idiot? I didn't even try to sell him out, yet he somehow managed to expose himself!

Once again, Fang Che found himself cursing Bei Mingxin.

After taking a moment to vent his frustrations by cussing out Bei Mingxin and all of his relatives, Fang Che began answering his own questions one by one.

How many in the Hall of Protectionists are aware of my ties with the One Heart Church?

After dealing with the Protectionists for such a long time, Fang Che was all but certain that the answer to that question was: not many.