Aren't They Framing You with Their Lives?

Outrageously bold!

Absolutely audacious!

Everyone present sucked in a sharp breath, shouting inwardly.

The phrases strung together were hard to make sense of, but to dare speak to Her Holiness the Pope like that was a death wish!

Slowly folding away the incriminating letter, Chrysanthemum Douluo clasped his hands behind his back and turned, lowering his eyes to the branch hall bishop kneeling behind him. A cold smile curled his lips.

"Let's hear it! Who is this audacious little thief?"

The lowly branch hall bishop prostrated himself, trembling like a leaf, and answered every question without reservation.

When he had finished explaining what happened, from beginning to end, Chrysanthemum Douluo furrowed his brow and snapped in a sharp, feminine voice.

"You don't even know who he is? That's as good as saying nothing!"

"I deserve to die! I failed to see through his disguise!"

The branch hall bishop wept and kowtowed frantically, begging for mercy.

Chrysanthemum Douluo hadn't expected much in the first place. He pressed his fingers to his forehead, shook his head with a few sighs, then waved the man away. The bishop thanked him profusely before scrambling out of the hall.

"So that lead is dead, then?"

Ghost Douluo withdrew his gaze.

With only the remaining Spirit Hall leaders present, the conversation became much more relaxed.

"Who leaked the existence of this Pope Decree? Or was it the work of one of our own?"

After thinking it over, several Red Cardinals frowned and asked, "The Pope Decree may be fake, but the letter's contents are true. Tang Hao really is in Nuoding City, and we nearly caught him."

"What else could it be? Old Gui and I weren't supposed to arrive until tonight. We only sped up because we received your message along the way." Yue Guan replied irritably, with a hint of regret in his voice.

If they had been rushing at full speed from the start, Tang Hao might already be a corpse.

The others reluctantly looked away and began talking over one another.

"Could it be one of Tang Hao's enemies?"

"Any clues?"

"He's offended so many people. Who knows?"

Platinum Bishop Salas narrowed his eyes and stroked his beard. "We can still find some clues. Before Tang Hao fought us, he searched all around Nuoding City for something. Quite a few merchant caravans leaving the city saw him."

The others pressed him for more.

"What was he looking for?"

Salas shook his head. He had only recently received the report himself. "I'm not sure, but it was probably a person. Tang Hao used his spiritual power to search the caravan guards and the wandering Spirit Masters around Nuoding City again and again."

"About seventy people couldn't stand the humiliation and spoke out of turn. Tang Hao killed them on the spot in a rage."

"And when we encountered him on the road, he was about to slaughter an entire village. It seemed he'd also done unspeakable things to the young men and women there!"

As Salas spoke, his brow furrowed tighter and tighter. Even he began to doubt what he remembered, but he had witnessed it with his own eyes. There could be no mistake.

Surely the villagers hadn't given their lives just to frame Tang Hao?

"Men and women?"

The Star Luo bishops who had arrived later exchanged odd looks and quietly confirmed it with the Heaven Dou bishops beside them.

When the others received confirmation, their faces first filled with shock. Then, as if they had remembered something, their expressions froze and changed.

The hall fell suddenly silent. The atmosphere grew unbearably awkward. Everyone stood rigid, sneaking glances at Chrysanthemum Douluo and Ghost Douluo.

Same-sex relationships were rare and looked down upon across the continent.

But the two men before them...

Were Titled Douluo!

Ghost Douluo at least seemed embarrassed. He turned his head slightly, his face dark, and said nothing. Beside him, Chrysanthemum Douluo covered his mouth and shook with laughter. "Oh, Old Gui! He was desperate!"

The laughter did nothing to ease the mood. It only made things more awkward.

Wanting to end the subject quickly, Anderson, a Star Luo bishop, waved his hand and rapped on the table. "Forget the rest. Just spread the word as it is. Roughly how many people were slaughtered?"

Salas came back to himself and followed his lead. "I don't know. Strangely, there's no record of that village in Nuoding City's household registers. But from what I saw, there must have been several thousand people. Under the attack of the Haotian True Body, not even their corpses were left."

"Another crime added to the list!"

Anderson pronounced judgment at once. Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo silently nodded in agreement.

The Red Cardinals nodded too, but then frowned.

"But doesn't that leave us back at a dead end?"

Just as they were all frowning over the problem, Ghost Leopard, who couldn't be bothered to think, finally lost patience and slapped the table in front of him.

"Why are we even talking about this?"

"It's not as if we leaked anything, and this little thief has nothing to do with us!"

"Who is he? What does he want? Is he an enemy of Tang Hao? Let the people below investigate at their own pace. Why should we waste our time on it? Our priority is catching Tang Hao!"

Having said his piece, Ghost Leopard pursed his lips and leaned back in his chair, plainly intending to ignore the matter.

The bishops around him widened their eyes, then saw the sense in it. Right! He was just a petty thief at the Soul King level. Why should a group of Spirit Saints and Soul Douluos fret over him? They could simply delegate the task!

After thinking for a moment, Chrysanthemum Ghost Douluo nodded too. Compared with Tang Hao's head, this audacious little brat was insignificant.

Besides...

How far could the badly wounded Tang Hao get?

Chrysanthemum Douluo narrowed his eyes and gave Ghost Douluo a look.

Countless Spirit Hall elites were rushing toward Nuoding City from every direction. Once Tang Hao's identity had been confirmed, the fake order had become a real one. There was nowhere for him to run!

And the ones who would claim the prize at the end...

Would naturally be them!

The next half month in Fasinuo Province was the most turbulent period in centuries.

The gathered Spirit Hall forces struck fear and awe into the Heaven Dou Imperial Family. Of course, these events had nothing to do with most residents—or with Naruto.

In a dark mountain cave,

Water seeped through the rock overhead and dripped onto Naruto's forehead. The icy shock roused him from his daze.

When he opened his eyes, his empty stomach, foggy mind, and aching body all seemed to churn together. Lying on the stone slab, Naruto furrowed his brow, grit his teeth, and struggled to prop himself up and roll over.

His body could still move.

It probably wasn't too bad.

Just after waking, Naruto could manage only this simple line of reasoning, overwhelmed as he was by the flood of memories.

As his eyes adjusted to the dim cave, Naruto tried to make out his surroundings. The Shadow Clones that had been standing guard nearby had long since reached their time limit and vanished.

Still,

there was one piece of good news.

Bibi Dong's familiar voice sounded in his ear.

"Boy, it's a miracle you're still alive!"

"No, more accurately, it's a miracle your body could withstand all of my Soul Power at once without turning into a firework and exploding."

Bibi Dong's words were full of teasing.

As she spoke, her spiritual power extended into his meridians and rapidly examined his entire body.

The deeper her examination went, the more Bibi Dong's concern eased. The worry between her brows faded, giving way to a trace of puzzlement.

Completely unaware of this, Naruto immediately felt relieved at the familiar voice. He counted himself lucky, rolled onto his back, and stretched out flat on the stone slab, arms and legs spread wide. He even managed a laugh.

"I... I'll take that as... a compliment, Your Holiness. I must have... an extraordinary talent..."