"Grand Artisan Li, we've been wronged! We knew nothing about this!"
"We've never seen this man before..."
"Perhaps someone really did have the gall to shelter Outer Dao followers, but why would they reveal such a closely guarded secret to us?"
Faced with Li Chen's questioning, everyone protested bitterly, hurriedly clearing themselves of involvement.
Li Chen thought for a moment, then told the Ying Family patriarch, "Seal off Chess Mountain. No one is to enter or leave. Also, where is Grand Artisan Meng?"
The Ying Family patriarch said, "Someone has already gone to notify him, but we still haven't heard anything."
Li Chen said, "No word from him? Sounds like a thief with a guilty conscience!"
Just then, someone from Chess Mountain suddenly arrived to report, "We've discovered Outer Dao followers in the Market District below the peak!"
Li Chen paused. "What a coincidence!"
He had indeed sent people to cast a Heaven-Spanning Net and search everywhere for Outer Dao followers, but he had never expected news to arrive at this critical juncture.
He soon realized another possibility. "Could Meng Fuyun have sold them out? Deliberately leaked their whereabouts to cover his own escape?"
The people of Chess Mountain wore varying expressions at his words. They had all thought of that possibility as well.
Li Chen said, "He's fairly clever. We have enough manpower to pursue them, but our time and energy are limited, after all. As a Grand Artisan of the underworld, he also has plenty of ways to deal with ordinary pursuers. Unless Elder Mu or I personally take action, ordinary people won't be able to stop him."
In the end, he did not give chase. Instead, he ordered people to scour Chess Mountain and inspect Meng Fuyun's former residence, while he headed to the Market District to