Unexpected Discovery!

Li Ming was punished and held a grudge against Shen Zhui. The Li Family Head plotted a counterattack… Shen Zhui, naturally, knew nothing of these things.

Even if he did, it would likely be a month later.

Right now, he was walking on Dongzheng Street in the southern part of the city, carrying takeout food from a restaurant, and heading back to see his adoptive father, Shen Shan.

"Adoptive Father, I'm back." Shen Zhui pushed the door, but it didn't budge.

"Adoptive Father's gone out to sell charcoal again." Seeing no response, Shen Zhui couldn't help but shake his head in resignation.

Ever since his cultivation achieved some success and he became a sixth-rank Constable, he was considered middle-class in Heyuan City.

His salary was good, and his adoptive father didn't need to work anymore. Not to mention, Shen Zhui was exceptionally fast at solving cases for Merit Points, occasionally receiving rewards, so their household wasn't short on money.

However, he had tried to persuade his adoptive father many times. Shen Shan would always agree wholeheartedly, but every single time, he would still go out to sell charcoal.

Shen Zhui could only assume his adoptive father was too restless to stay idle. After a few attempts at persuasion, he let it be.

Just as Shen Zhui was preparing to climb over the wall, the large gate of a neighboring courtyard creaked open.

A middle-aged man with a bulging belly, wearing a sable hat, walked out.

Shen Zhui glanced at him casually, not paying much attention. Heyuan County had a floating population of over ten thousand daily, and he often saw his neighbors entertaining relatives from outside the city.

But this middle-aged man suddenly froze upon seeing Shen Zhui.

"It's him?"

He recognized Shen Zhui immediately as the Constable who had assisted the four Xiantian Masters in intercepting him at Red Leaf Manor.

He had a very deep impression of Shen Zhui!

Strictly speaking, if it weren't for Shen Zhui, the combined efforts of the four Xiantian Masters might not have been enough to capture him.

In a way, he, Wu Gu, had escaped a disaster thanks to Shen Zhui.

"How could it be him? Has he discovered me?!" Wu Gu's heart turned cold, and he instinctively wanted to run.

"No! It's impossible for him to have discovered me. Even a Xiantian Master, within the city, without carrying an Execution Token Dao Plaque, couldn't see through my disguise even if they stood right in front of me."

In a split second, Wu Gu dismissed his previous thought and relaxed.

His current appearance and build were completely different from before, and he had a treasure that concealed his heavenly secrets. He was confident in this, otherwise, he wouldn't have entered the city.

Afterward, Wu Gu noticed the food container in Shen Zhui's hand and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"I think I just heard him call for his adoptive father? It seems to be just a coincidence."

A myriad of thoughts flashed through his mind. Once he confirmed that his identity couldn't be exposed, Wu Gu decided to revert to the role he was currently playing.

What would a normal neighbor, a sociable wealthy merchant, do when encountering a new neighbor?

"Excuse me, young man, are you a relative of the owner of this house? The master left to sell charcoal at noon, so you've come at an inconvenient time." Wu Gu greeted him with a smile.

Seeing the other party greet him, Shen Zhui politely nodded. "Thank you, old sir. I just returned after being away for a few days. This is my home."

Wu Gu thought, As expected, and felt even more at ease.

"So that's how it is. My name is Huang Tong. I just moved in and am engaged in a small business. We'll be neighbors from now on, so please take care of me."

"You're too kind, shopkeeper." Shen Zhui smiled and nodded.

The two smiled and passed each other.

A faint medicinal scent wafted over, and Shen Zhui frowned.

The man's complexion was ruddy and didn't suggest any illness.

However, he didn't pay it much mind and climbed over the wall into his home.

Just a merchant doing business in medicinal herbs.

In the evening, his adoptive father, Shen Shan, returned home.

Shen Zhui had prepared a table full of dishes. While eating, they chatted about everyday matters.

"Adoptive Father, when did Brother Liu and the others move out?" Shen Zhui was asking about their former neighbors, a kind couple who had lived there for seven or eight years, and with whom they had a good relationship.

"Four days ago," Shen Shan replied. "They left in a bit of a hurry and moved to the southern part of the city."

"Why did they suddenly move out when they were living so well here?"

"Your father doesn't know the specifics. It seems to be because the southern part of the city is closer to their workplace."

"I see." Shen Zhui felt a little regretful. That couple had taken good care of his adoptive father. He hadn't even had a chance to say goodbye this time.

Shen Shan said, "There are no feasts that last forever. You don't need to dwell on it, Zhui'er. You can visit them in the southern part of the city when you have time."

Shen Zhui nodded. "Adoptive Father is right."

The next day, Shen Zhui met Wu Gu once again.

This time, the medicinal scent on Wu Gu was even stronger. Shen Zhui struck up a casual conversation and found out that Wu Gu was indeed in the medicinal herb business.

The other party even made a joke about patronizing his business, and Shen Zhui laughed heartily.

Back in his own room, Wu Gu watched Shen Zhui practicing his saber technique in the courtyard from across the wall, his brow twitching slightly.

"This saber technique... it actually carries an artistic conception that even I find dangerous. Just who is this kid?"

Although Wu Gu had absolute confidence in his stealth abilities, the sudden appearance of a constable next door, and such an outstanding genius at that, made him feel a sliver of unease.

"Perhaps it's because I'm still too heavily injured and being overly suspicious."

Wu Gu considered whether he should move again, but then dismissed the thought.

It wasn't for any other reason than that he had fled in a hurry after the battle at Red Leaf Manor and didn't have much cash on him. He couldn't afford to buy another residence right now.

"I should focus on recovering my strength and leave the county town as soon as possible," he muttered to himself, then sat down cross-legged to begin cultivating.

Wu Gu began to cultivate.

Meanwhile, Shen Zhui stopped practicing his saber technique and couldn't help but glance next door.

The moment Wu Gu curiously 'looked' in his direction just now, Shen Zhui felt a sudden palpitation.

The palpitation came out of nowhere, faint and elusive.

If not for his recent study of divine texts strengthening his Spiritual Sense, Shen Zhui would have almost dismissed it as his imagination.

Even now, Shen Zhui couldn't be sure if the feeling was just a result of his recent combat experiences.

Shen Zhui frowned slightly. "All day today, I've only interacted with my adoptive father and that rich merchant Huang Tong. Where could this danger be coming from? And we're inside the city."

He had seen through the rich merchant's strength at a glance; he was just an ordinary person, not even a Martial Artist.

"I must be overthinking it," Shen Zhui shook his head and continued practicing his saber.

However, at this moment, he found it impossible to calm his mind. He had been on the verge of grasping the second stance of the Falling Snow Saber Technique, but now he couldn't find the feeling at all.

"Anyone who can make me feel this palpitation must be at least a Xiantian Martial Artist."

"Could there be a Xiantian Master lurking around me?"

"Highly unlikely. Who would be foolish enough to make a move inside the city? Even people from the two major families wouldn't dare to act so brazenly within the city. It's too easy to get caught. And too difficult to escape."

The two major families...

Even with the protection of their ancestral Yin Gods, if a Xiantian Master with Sin Value entered the city, they would easily be detected and become a primary target.

Once the County Magistrate noticed, given the current situation, he could directly break through their concealment, reveal their Sin Value, and then kill them openly.

Therefore, the two major families would absolutely not send any known Xiantian Masters into the city.

Unless there was a Xiantian Master who had never appeared before, and who could also conceal heavenly secrets, then even if the County Magistrate noticed, he wouldn't easily offend a passing Xiantian Master without certainty of their guilt.

"Unless there's a master who can conceal Sin Value while also hiding their strength. In that case, even if the County Magistrate noticed, without certainty of their guilt, he wouldn't easily offend a passing Xiantian Master."

Shen Zhui was startled by his own thought.

Concealment, he realized, came in two forms.

One was to mask detection by Divine Law. Generally, if a Xiantian Master didn't cause trouble within the city, the County Magistrate wouldn't arbitrarily investigate someone he noticed entering the city. Of course, if they committed a crime, there would be no room for negotiation; they would be apprehended.

The second type was to conceal detection by Divine Law while also hiding one's own strength.

In such a situation, it would be equivalent to a Xiantian Master entering the city as an ordinary person.

They wouldn't attract any attention at all!

"Have the two major families become so desperate that they would send a doubly concealed master to kill me in the city?"

Shen Zhui couldn't help but overthink.

Could one conceal their own strength? Shen Zhui hadn't seen it, but he believed it was possible in this world.

In the past, he would never have speculated like this. He wasn't arrogant enough to believe he was worth a Xiantian Martial Artist's sacrifice to kill.

But after experiencing the ambush outside the city and the incident at Red Leaf Manor, Shen Zhui felt that such a thing wasn't impossible.

After a bout of wild thoughts, Shen Zhui simply returned to his room and lay down on the bed. He seriously considered the actions of Huang Tong.

"I returned from Red Leaf Manor five days ago. This new neighbor moved in next door four days ago. Exactly the day after that incident."

"Brother Liu and his wife have lived here for seven or eight years. If they wanted to move for convenience, they should have done so long ago. Why now, of all times?"

"He claims to be a medicinal herb merchant, but my adoptive father said he only saw him buying herbs, never selling them. If he just moved in and was getting familiar with the environment, he should at least be going out more often, right? But he rarely leaves his house."

The more Shen Zhui thought about it, the more he felt that the arrival of the new neighbor was suspicious.

Connecting this with the feeling of palpitation and the various coincidences, Shen Zhui gritted his teeth.

"Assuming my suspicions are correct, is he here to capture my adoptive father? Or, like he threatened He Tong, use my adoptive father's life to threaten me?"

Shen Zhui grew more alarmed the more he thought.

He needed to find an opportunity to use the system's Sin Value judgment to observe!

If there was no Sin Value, it would mean he was overthinking. If there was Sin Value, it would be almost certain that this person was here for him!

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