Chapter 388

But while I understand, making friends takes two to tango. Seeing Nian and Xi shaking their heads repeatedly, unwilling to be friends with Wei Yi, they needed him to step in and smooth things over.

After transmigrating, Shi Lei spent several years studying, which subtly cultivated his refined and scholarly demeanor. A faint smile played on his lips as he politely thanked the other person.

"Mr. Wei, we appreciate your kindness. However, we are just strangers who have met by chance, so how could we let you spend money? As you can see, they have no intention of making friends. This has nothing to do with Mr. Wei; it is simply because of their special status."

At this point, he pulled two gold bars, worth over 100,000 yuan in total, from his sleeve and placed them on the counter:

"Boss, we'll pay for our own food. The rest of the money can be put on this gentleman's tab."

Without waiting for the other party's consent, Shi Lei led the others away from the Heavenly Realm.

Seeing that Zhongli had made his position clear, Wei Yi hesitated for a moment before deciding not to chase after him. If he forced his way out, it would seem like he was being shameless.

I ran into Zhongli today, which can be considered as barely completing the first step of the plan.

We can see how things go this afternoon and find a suitable opportunity to stage a chance encounter. By showing our faces to Zhongli a few more times, we can naturally become friends.

However, this balance needs to be carefully maintained. If it's too deliberate, it can backfire.

Shortly after Shi Lei and the others left the Heavenly Realm, they received a call from Chongyue. The latter said that some things were inconvenient to discuss over the phone and asked where they should meet next.

Knowing this was related to the Sui Beast, he arranged to meet at a guest room in Drunken Immortal Residence. Before leaving, Shi Lei generously settled the remaining balance. Amidst Lao Ba's unusually excited thanks, the other four headed to their hotel in the Capital City.

After leaving the court, Wei Wudi returned to the Prince Xian's Estate.

According to the servants, Wei Yi left home around 9 a. m. and has not returned since.

Although he found it strange that his son had been completely drunk the night before, he didn't intend to investigate further.

Wei Wudi was too lazy to care about Wei Yi now; the kid could do whatever he wanted. He instructed his the Knave not to disturb him and went to the backyard to cool off.

They said they were just trying to cool off, but they were really just thinking of ways to do it.

Now that the Grand Tutor has returned to court, every step has been arranged properly. It is expected that the Sui Beast will be officially awakened and resealed in three to four weeks.

To change this situation, we must awaken the Year in advance, giving Him enough time to breathe.

However, to achieve this, besides having a bribed Daoist priest to perform the awakening ceremony, a powerful army is also needed to defeat the guards of the imperial tomb.

They only obeyed the emperor, so even if they invoked the name of the Prince of Xian, it would have no effect.

Wei Wudi is currently walking a tightrope high in the air. One wrong step and he'll be FrostNova!

The problem with the Celestial Master can be barely resolved.

Wei Wudi had been secretly bribing the retired Celestial Master for a long time. If just one person out of so many people was willing to come, the awakening ritual could be completed.

The mechanism for sealing the Great Beast is like a band-aid. Tearing off a corner only requires one master. But resealing it requires many, many masters.

As for the army, we can only rely on the elite troops of the Mountain Sea Cult. Summoning them to the Capital City within three weeks is extremely urgent.

Before I knew it, it was one o'clock in the afternoon.

Suddenly, the voices of the Mountain Sea Cult rang out from the roof beam above Wei Wudi's head:

"President."

Upon hearing this, King Xian was greatly alarmed, for the Ghost Face usually only appeared at night. For it to come in broad daylight to deliver a message—something terrible must have happened.

"What's wrong?"

As an organization intent on resurrecting the Great Beast, the Mountain Sea Cult was well aware of the identities of the fragments that had split off from the Sui Beast:

"Childe went to the Heavenly Realm at noon today and offered to pay Zhongli's bill. According to the restaurant staff, he may have taken a liking to Nian Hexi."

"Ah?"

Wei Wudi's pupils dilated slightly; he really hadn't expected that this spendthrift son would have the audacity to provoke the Great Beast.

Does he have a death wish?

Etc...

Wei Wudi frowned, a bold and crazy idea popped into his mind, and he spoke it aloud.

Ghost Face found the plan unbelievable:

"President, he's your son!"

"He grew up in the Capital City. What else can he do besides asking me for money? He's a good-for-nothing anyway, so we might as well make good use of him and do something meaningful."

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After hanging up the phone, Shi Lei parted ways with his guide Ao Lao Ba, and led the group back to Drunken Immortal Residence.

Before they even entered the inn, they saw Chongyue standing at the entrance waiting in the distance. Miss Ling was not with them, presumably to keep an eye on Ya to prevent any accidents.

Texas was very perceptive; knowing they wanted to discuss important matters, she proactively offered to leave the team.

"You guys chat first. I just saw a store with nice clothes on the way. I'll go back and take a look."

Mudrock reacted a few beats too late, only realizing she shouldn't have stayed there after Texas had walked away. She gave an awkward laugh and offered to go for a walk.

Shi Lei cast the Perpetual Jade Shield on both of them, and was not worried that they would encounter danger if they left the team alone.

Normally, when shopping, he won't go beyond a six-kilometer radius. If he senses something is wrong, he'll rush to the scene immediately to prevent any accidents.

Shi Lei raised his hand, making an inviting gesture:

"Please."

The resealing of Sui is a matter of life and death for their twelve fragments of consciousness, so Sui attaches great importance to it.

As soon as the four entered the hall, she eagerly grabbed Chongyue's sleeve and shook it from side to side, saying:

"Brother, how's that matter going?"

Chongyue went upstairs, he explained:

"I've already inquired about that matter. All 100,000 Imperial Guards are in place. We just need to summon the Celestial Masters stationed in various regions to awaken that person. It will take at least three weeks, and at the latest four weeks. During this time, I'll have to trouble Mister Zhongli to stay in the Capital City. If you have any needs, please feel free to ask, and I will definitely find a way to resolve them."

"No need, Chongyue is too kind."

Shi Lei followed him up to the second floor and replied with a smile:

"We're treating this trip to Capital City as a vacation. Once we're tired of the sights, we'll just stay in the guesthouse and play mahjong. We don't usually go out and about, so we don't have any other needs."

He's not planning to contact Alty for now; he'll let them stay in the jar with the Patriot. It won't be too late to call them out when the sealing of the Year begins. Giving them advance notice is pointless.

"It is wonderful that Mister Zhongli thinks this way. I need to keep an eye on the suspect recently and cannot accompany you all on your tour of the Capital City, which is truly a pity."

"It's nothing, we can go shopping again when we have time. We have important business to attend to now, so don't worry about us."

Chongyue did not stay long; after providing some information, he left Drunken Immortal Residence.

When Texas and Mudrock returned, Nian encouraged them to play mahjong together.

Time flew by, and it was already six o'clock in the afternoon.

With lunchtime approaching, the group decided to head to the bustling downtown area to sample some of Capital City's delicacies.

The food at Drunken Immortal Residence was pretty good. But since they're staying here for more than three weeks, they'll start by eating at nearby restaurants and occasionally at the inn. They'll see if they can sample all the delicious food in Capital City within about two weeks.

After a hearty meal, the group strolled around the market for a while before returning to Drunken Immortal Residence to rest.

As soon as they arrived at the fourth-floor corridor, Shi Lei and Texas suddenly smelled a bloody odor.

The two exchanged a glance and walked to the bedroom where the smell was coming from. They took out their keys and slowly unlocked the door.

"Squeak."

Shi Lei pushed open the wooden door and immediately saw a strange man lying in a pool of blood. He used his mind to create Rock Constructs to turn the man over and found that the man looked very familiar.

Before Texas could even recall an answer, she directly revealed the other party's identity:

"Hey, isn't this the son of the Prince Xian who wanted to meet Nian Hexi at Heaven on the Heavenly Realm at noon?"

Upon hearing this, Shi Lei crouched down nearby. He reached out and checked the other person's breath, only to find that they were already dead.

If Wei Yi were still alive, he could heal by striking the Jade Shield. But if he died before that, there would be no way to revive him.

Anyone with eyes can see that this is a frame-up.

This made Mudrock very flustered, fearing that its owner would be arrested as a result, and even its voice trembled slightly:

"Sir, this is a frame-up! If anyone comes to arrest us later, I'll fight my way out with you!"

Texas agreed, adding in support:

"That's right, such a blatant frame-up is too much! We must not let the murderer succeed!"

Even Xi, who rarely speaks, appeared indignant:

"Mister Zhongli, you don't need to worry. Several of us can testify that you had no time to commit the crime."

"Hehe, don't be so nervous. This murderer dared to kill even the prince's son, so he wouldn't just leave him here and ignore him. He must have some backup plan. Whether there are witnesses or physical evidence is not important. If I don't want to be locked up, there is no place in the world that can lock me up."

Shi Lei remained as steady as a rock, calming the flustered women. He got up, walked to the window, looked out for a moment, and calmly analyzed the situation:

"Look here, there are obvious signs of cleaning near the window. Judging from the amount of blood on the body, the murderer probably lured the prince to Drunken Immortal Residence, killed him, and then carried him into the house through the window. After cleaning up the remaining traces at the scene, the murderer escaped through the same window."

Based on this information, it can be determined that the murderer and the victim knew each other, or were acquainted.

The murderer left the crown prince's body in the guest room simply to make me a suspect. In other words, the murderer's ultimate goal was to put me in prison.

At this point, although there are no more clues, we can analyze the situation in reverse. For example, if I were to go to jail, what benefits would the murderer gain from it?

Hearing Shi Lei's clear and logical analysis, everyone gradually came to their senses. The tension and panic that had just welled up in their hearts were quickly filled with a strong sense of security.

Texas, her right hand rubbing her chin, followed the line of thought he had presented:

"This is your first time in the Capital City. You haven't met any high-ranking officials in the court, and you have no grudges against them. Your guide Ao Lao Ba, is somewhat suspicious. But I picked him up randomly from the roadside, and I had no motive to kill or frame him."

Putting those two points aside, let's analyze it from the perspective of the achieved goal. I feel that the murderer's decision to put you in prison is related to the major plan you and Chongyue were plotting.

Shi Lei nodded, casting an approving glance:

"Texas is right. The murderer killed the crown prince and framed him. Most likely, he wanted to make things difficult for me by having the Prince of Xian make things difficult for me, thereby delaying the progress of that That Plan. Based on this motive, we can roughly determine the identity of the murderer."

As one of the most pressing threats to the Yan, the court officials, both civil and military, were eager to eliminate Sui.

Thinking carefully, from Lungmen to Jade Gate and then to the Capital City, there was indeed such an organization that prioritized the interests of the Great Beast. They were unwilling to stand idly by and watch Sui be awakened and resealed, possessing sufficient motive to commit crimes.

Another point is that the murderer knew that Chongyue needed to report to obtain information. This is enough to show that the murderer held a considerable status in the Capital City.

Nian quickly realized what was happening and blurted out:

"Mountain Sea Cult!"

This force roams throughout Yan, hiding as deeply as rats in the sewers.

Chongyue had discussed the Mountain Sea Cult with Shi Lei back in Jade Gate, hoping he would help eliminate them. Now, instead of going to the Mountain Sea Cult, these people have come to him.

Interesting.

"Yes, I also think it was Mountain Sea Cult who did it. The most crucial point is that these people actually knew I was a participant in the sealing plan and deliberately came to target me. This shows that they have an inside agent in the imperial court, and one of them is not low-ranking."

The fact that the Mountain Sea Cult went so far as to kill the Crown Prince to frame me proves that they have run out of other ways to delay things. Therefore, they must use me as a breakthrough point in the hope of slowing down the progress of their That Plan.

As expected, law enforcement officers came knocking a short while later. If I argued my case or used other means to escape, it might not be a good thing.

Now that I'm in the open while the enemy is in the shadows, if one plan fails, they'll resort to other tricks. It's better to cooperate proactively and go to prison first. Giving these Mountain Sea Cult hope will encourage them to act more frequently.

At this point, Shi Lei used his mind to create a Rock Constructs resembling an erasable Writing Tablet.

Simply write on it with a rock pencil to transmit information. Once it's full, you can erase it and continue writing. It can also be remotely controlled for long-distance communication.

"If you go to prison, your cell phones will definitely be confiscated. You can use this drawing board for now. As long as you are within a six-kilometer radius of me, you can communicate in real time."

Miss Nian, I need your help with a favor. Tell Chongyue everything you've analyzed later. Ask him to find a trap to catch the lurking mole.

"Okay, leave it to me."

Seeing the solemn expressions on everyone's faces, Shi Lei continued:

"When other tourists come to Capital City, they can only visit the same few attractions over and over. I'm different; I can also experience the local customs and culture of prison. You don't have to worry about me being tortured. If I even get a scratch, I'll consider it a loss."

Seeing that he still had the mind to joke at this time, Texas, Mudrock and the others were amused.