Deep night, the banquet dispersed.
Yang Jing and Wu Heng still sat in the hall, seeming to have words left unsaid while the lamplight cast distorted, overlapping shadows before them.
Lu Zhao and Pei Zhufeng no longer lingered, the two walking out of the County Office one after the other and stepping into the night wind.
The moonlight was cold and pale, spilling over the bluestone alleys.
The two remained silent for a moment until they walked into a secluded courtyard, pushed the door open to enter, and confirmed no one was following before Pei Zhufeng closed the door backhand.
Lu Zhao walked to the window inside the room, gazed at the faintly hidden shadow of Black Tiger Mountain in the distance, and spoke slowly:
"Brother Pei, which of those two do you think is a member of the Wutian Cult?"
Pei Zhufeng did not answer immediately, pondering for a moment before sitting in a chair and saying in a low voice:
"Wu Heng bears the greatest suspicion."
"He knows far too much about the progress of Daoist Chai refining pills, able to articulate even the 'semi-finished Blood Spirit Pill' so clearly. Without being core members of the Wutian Cult, who would dare leak such intelligence at will?"
"Yet Yang Jing is not clean either."
"For the entire Nanning County to turn a blind eye to Black Tiger Stockade over the past few years, and with Daoist Chai refining blood pills for years... if you say the County Magistrate knew nothing, do you believe it?"
Hearing this, Lu Zhao looked contemplative.
Ever since the Li Family incident, he had people around him begin investigations.
Through these few days of investigation, he had not obtained any substantive clues.
This was an expected outcome.
First, this person behind the scenes was a