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"So that’s how it is..."

Upon hearing Chen Ying’s account, Tian Heng instantly grasped the situation, stroking his chin, "Does His Majesty truly think this way?"

"Is there an issue?" Chen Ying asked, frowning.

"There’s no issue..." Tian Heng said with a contemplative expression, "His Majesty is meticulous in thought, deducing that Minister Pang has been replaced with just a sliver of information is indeed extraordinary. If it were me, I might not have come up with that. His Majesty’s approach is flawless. That malicious woman from the Lu Family indeed possesses a formidable skin-swapping technique. It’s highly probable that Minister Pang has been replaced. "

"But if that’s the case....." Chen Ying looked around at the disastrous scene, "What about all this?"

"Fei Hu’s strength is decent; ordinary people couldn’t have injured him to this extent.

" Tian Heng also nodded. Weichi Feihu has almost reached the threshold of Super First Rank, and, with the enhancement of Divine Power, his stamina and the strength of his bones and muscles far exceed those of his peers. Even if he faced a Super First Rank warrior, holding on for quite some time wouldn’t be a problem. ..

According to what Hong Lie said, from the moment Weichi Feihu detected an intruder to when he himself arrived, it was less than half an hour.

To kill forty or fifty Fifth Rank combatants in such a short time and nearly send Weichi Feihu to the brink of death, there’s but one conclusion: it must be either Lumings or that venomous woman personally taking action.

And the exaggerated poisoned blood on Fei Hu’s body is evidence that it was indeed Madam Lu who acted.

But the key issue is, if it was Madam Lu herself who struck, then who is the person His Majesty was monitoring in Nanming Prefecture?

Could it be a misjudgment?

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Upon arrival at the harbor and receiving Chen Ying’s swift message, Chen Qing had been waiting on the dock early. As soon as the ship berthed, he immediately checked Weichi Feihu’s wounds.

"This lad, he really fought hard..." Chen Qing looked at the poison stinger in the other’s abdomen, as well as the little girl he was holding tightly; with a light wave of his hand, the War God Mark flashed with light, and the unconscious Weichi Feihu slowly opened his eyes.

"Your Majesty..."

"Hmm, no need to speak." Chen Qing stepped forward, took out the Mountain God Dew for him to drink, and then quickly assured, "You’ve had a tough time. Rest easy, I will settle the score for your subordinates."

Upon hearing this, a smile appeared on Weichi Feihu’s face, "Your Majesty, can I get a bigger residence in the underworld? I’ve saved enough money to buy the top floor of Observing Stars Tower, but haven’t had the chance to live there yet..."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Chen Qing glared at him, "With me here, you won’t die. Rest easy. Your subordinates will be taken care of by the underworld authorities in Yunzhou."

Without waiting for a response, Chen Qing pressed his hand gently on the other’s forehead. A flash of Mountain God’s green light relaxed Weichi Feihu’s tense face, sending him promptly into a deep sleep.

Feeling safe, the little girl he had been holding tightly was let go, and only then did Chen Ying hastily step forward to pick up the child.

"How long until the Medical Practitioner arrives?" Chen Qing asked, frowning at the two’s injuries.

This poison is fierce; had it not been for the War God’s natural resistance and a bodily capacity three times that of ordinary warriors, he might have dissolved into a puddle of dense fluid by now.

The little girl, though not heavily poisoned, could also be affected by some secret toxic drug, and prompt treatment is of the essence.

"We’ve notified the Mystic Academy at the earliest opportunity," Tian Heng spoke up, "The Sea God’s Guard is sending someone on a fast ship. Estimating the time, they should arrive within half an hour at most."

Chen Qing nodded, then looked towards the other corpses on the ship. He beckoned with a hand, and the power of the underworld converged. In the next instant, several Night Traveling Gods appeared on the dock.

"Head back along the water route and look for where the souls of these brothers have landed. Bring them back quickly, as I have questions to ask them."

"Yes, Your Majesty!" The Night Traveling Gods quickly returned a salute and vanished into the darkness.

"Do you have any clues?" Chen Qing looked up at Tian Heng.

"It should be her handiwork!" Tian Heng said directly, frowning, "I saw this poison twenty years ago. The tail needle in Fei Hu’s abdomen also proves it. It’s undoubtedly that wicked woman."

"Is that so?" Chen Qing frowned, looking at the tail needle and snake tail in Weichi Feihu’s abdomen. With Weichi Feihu’s status currently unstable, he wasn’t convenient to extract and observe closely, but he could roughly guess that it was a hybrid.

This was troublesome...

Chen Qing wore a grim expression. What he liked the least was facing something completely unfamiliar, a hybrid.

A millennium after he transcended and began the game, the demons of the world evolved over a thousand years, especially those with mixed breeding; it made it difficult to determine their attributes.

Serpents, wasp tail stingers—in the monsters he had designed, he didn’t seem to remember any model like this... Such hybrids were indeed hard to judge.

But the most crucial part was... how did the adversary do this?

Immediately after Weichi Feihu’s accident, he went straight to Minister Pang’s quarters. The man was indeed in the room, even courteously pouring a cup of tea for him.

Tian Heng had informed him immediately through the divine seal.

"When you arrived, did you see the woman fleeing with your own eyes?" Chen Qing asked with a frown.

"Yes..." Tian Heng nodded, "There was at least a distance of ten thousand zhang at that moment. I was controlling the waves and the momentum was too large; I couldn’t directly rush over immediately, otherwise the resulting waves might have destroyed the surrounding merchant ships. It’s all thanks to Fei Hu’s resourcefulness, otherwise, I’d have watched this little girl get taken away with open eyes. "

"Is that so?" Chen Qing touched his chin, growing more puzzled.

Fei Hu was far less powerful than that woman, but he managed to force her into cutting off her tail to survive. It was clear that it was because Tian Heng was about to arrive at that time.

And as soon as Tian Heng arrived, he immediately informed himself. The time difference was no more than a few dozen seconds.

In such a short span, unless one knows the technique of Flying Star, it would be impossible to rush back to Nanming Prefecture...

Or... could it be that he had guessed wrong and Minister Pang hadn’t been replaced?

Or perhaps the one impersonating Minister Pang was just a lowly subordinate?

But that shouldn’t be the case...

Chen Qing shook his head, feeling that it still didn’t make sense.

Minister Pang was able to stand his ground in a meeting against the Princess Royale and others; he was definitely not someone that any third-rate riffraff could impersonate. It couldn’t possibly be Lumings himself in disguise, could it?

That’s also not right. Minister Pang’s facial expressions were perfectly natural, without the slightest stiffness, obviously, the impersonator was a master of bone transformation and could conceal himself flawlessly.

Moreover, as the prestigious head of a great family, how could Lumings cultivate such a bizarre and unorthodox technique?

If it’s said that Minister Pang wasn’t replaced, then it makes even less sense...

What exactly is the problem?

"When those monsters escaped, they did so via the waterway, right? Was it the same when they boarded the ship?" Chen Qing asked.

If they were serpent-like creatures, able to swim undetected through the waterway all along, that would imply remarkable diving capabilities, likely belonging to a species of sea snake...

"It shouldn’t be," Tian Heng promptly said. "At that time, we had sealed off the surrounding boats and discovered one that had been chartered. There was no cargo on it, only a few boatmen. Presumably, the other party used that boat to come here. I have also brought the boat over."

"Oh?" Chen Qing’s spirits lifted at these words: "Let’s go up and take a look."

"I’ve already checked once, and there are no traces to be found," Tian Heng shook his head. "Your Highness should be prepared for the absence of leads."

Chen Qing nodded, and after boarding the ship, a group of people surrounded it, searching carefully for a long time. Just as Tian Heng had said, indeed, there were no traces to be found.

If there was anything, it was that the ship was filled with a foul and fishy stench that was quite unpleasant to smell.

"Is this the scent of those monsters?" Chen Ying immediately frowned. "If Madam Lu’s entire body smells like this, how could Lumings bring himself to touch her?"

Chen Qing gave her a glance—such a young girl, yet her mind raced to that area first. Women... indeed have dirty minds.

Seeing everyone’s strange glances toward her, Chen Ying also realized she had misspoken. Blushing, she lowered her head and sneaked a cautious glance at Chen Qing.

Chen Qing shook his head with a smile and continued to follow the scent. There were some river delicacies on the boat, which indeed smelled quite similar to the unpleasant odor, but Chen Qing could clearly sense that it wasn’t the same thing.

Luckily, he had an Old Wolf in his Gate Deity, and as the divine ruler of the Divine Path Sect, he could share all the innate abilities of his appointed creatures, which granted him a keen sense of smell. Soon, he located the source.

It was a porcelain bottle.

An exquisite porcelain bottle at that, clearly high-quality. Both the pattern and the craftsmanship were top-notch. Such a bottle, apparently out of place on this shabby cargo ship, did not belong here.

Jiangnan was not yet developed in porcelain, and an item this fine reeked of nobility, its presence here was conspicuously odd.

Chen Qing’s hand lifted, and the bottle levitated upside down. The next second, a dirty stream of water gushed out, carrying a strong fishy odor that forced the group to cover their noses and mouths.

The disgusting smell was one thing, but the amount of water was astonishingly vast. From the small bottle, water seemed to pour endlessly, soaking the wooden boards of the ship’s cabin, and still, there was more to come.

"What is this..." Tian Heng was also stunned.

"The Flying Star Bottle..." Chen Qing murmured, looking at the bottle with a bewildered expression.

"Your Highness, do you recognize this object?" Tian Heng and Chen Ying asked curiously beside him.

Upon hearing them, Chen Qing fell silent, not responding immediately.

He did indeed recognize the bottle, but... it shouldn’t exist in this world!

He clearly remembered, that bottle... was still in his blueprint, only half-designed!!