Liang Wu showed no trace of anything amiss. He hurriedly waved his hands, looking somewhat apprehensive.
"My lord, you've got us all wrong. I can't deny that Luo Tian came here."
"You should know that Luo Tian's family also has a stake in the Soul Fighting Arena I run, right?"
The middle-aged man nodded slightly.
"We give Luo Tian's family a share of the profits every year. We do it every year, and naturally, Luo Tian himself is the one who collects it," Liang Wu continued.
"Bullshit." The middle-aged man sneered. "You do give Luo Tian his share every year, but according to our investigation, you already paid him once at the beginning of the year. It hasn't even been a year, and you called him over again. What are you up to?!"
"My lord, I'm just a nobody. How would I dare provoke a disciple of the Shrek Inner Court?" Liang Wu looked aggrieved. "A few months ago, Luo Tian suddenly contacted me and said he urgently needed money. He asked me to give him this year's share in advance, so he wouldn't have to come again next year."
"I didn't know how much revenue we'd bring in this year, so I could only give him more rather than less. But I didn't have much ready cash, so it took me some time to prepare it."
"Once I'd gathered enough Gold Soul Coins, I found someone to contact Luo Tian. As soon as he arrived, he drank with me for an entire night. After he collected his share, he left in a hurry."
"As for where he went, I really don't know. My Soul Fighting Arena relies entirely on Luo Tian's protection. What right do I have to know what he gets up to?"
After hearing Liang Wu's explanation, the middle-aged man frowned deeply and stared straight at him, trying to find a flaw in his expression.
Yet Liang Wu's performance was perfectly natural. He brought out every last bit of the grievance he felt at being oppressed by Shrek day in and day out.
It wasn't an act.
That was what his everyday friendships with Shrek's people were like.
Relying on their status as members of Shrek and their heaven-defying backgrounds, each more outrageous than the last, they didn't treat him, the owner, like a human being at all. In their eyes, he was just a stray by the roadside, a tool to make money for them.
A month ago, he had already cleared away almost all the traces and clues at the scene. Liang Wu had also dealt with most of the subordinates who knew about it.
Those left behind were all fiercely loyal to Liang Wu, and their stories had long since been coordinated.
He was confident that Shrek's people would never uncover the truth.
Even if they did, he could still redirect the flames toward the Body Sect.
After a long while, the middle-aged man, unable to find a flaw, snorted coldly and stabbed a knife-sharp gaze at Liang Wu.
"We'll only know whether you're telling the truth after an investigation. I advise you to cooperate, or else..."
He didn't finish, but the threat in his words was unmistakable.
"My lord, investigate all you like. We'll cooperate fully!" Liang Wu hastily assured him, a hint of ingratiation in his manner.
"Luo Tian is a good friend of mine too. If you hadn't told me, I still wouldn't have known he was missing..."
The middle-aged man paid Liang Wu no further attention. Instead, he turned and went inside the Soul Fighting Arena, carefully inspecting every corner.
After searching for an entire day, the middle-aged man still couldn't find a single clue.
Watching him, Liang Wu laughed to himself.
Luo Tian's corpse, bones and flesh and all, was tossed to a bunch of Soul Beasts as food. After a month, it's long since been digested and shat out.
Even if you're a Titled Douluo, I don't believe you can find anything.
Just as Liang Wu had expected, the middle-aged man was furious at having found no clues.
He had come all this way to investigate, only to find nothing.
If he returned empty-handed, how was he supposed to answer to Shrek and Luo Tian's family?
Before leaving, he glared fiercely at Liang Wu.
"You'd better hope I don't find the slightest connection between you and Luo Tian's death."
He stepped forward, bringing his face close to Liang Wu's, and looked him straight in the eyes.
"Otherwise, I'll kill your entire family."
"Is everyone in Shrek this overbearing? Aren't you always so fond of calling yourselves righteous?" Liang Wu's temper flared at once, displeasure written all over his face. "My family's been dead for a long time. If you want to find them, go down there and have a chat with them."
The middle-aged man said nothing. He turned and left, unwilling to waste any more time on him.
Liang Wu snorted.
"Shrek. What a righteous Shrek."
Two days later, Toji left the Body Sect and returned to the Soul Fighting Arena.
As soon as he entered, Liang Wu came up to greet him with a delighted expression and told Toji that he had successfully kept the truth from Shrek's people.
Toji was taken aback by the news.
"You didn't tell them I was the one who did it?"
"That's right." Seeing Toji's stunned expression, Liang Wu seemed to realize something and rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Did I do something wrong?"
Toji chuckled, shook his head repeatedly, and raised a hand to pat Liang Wu on the shoulder.
"Well done."
He had never expected to keep it from Shrek's people in the first place, so he would surely have had to rely on the Body Sect to resolve the matter.
But to his surprise, Liang Wu had managed to bluff his way through and escape this disaster.
That meant there really was no need to trouble the Body Sect.
Even though Toji was thick-skinned, he still felt a little awkward about this sort of thing and had thought he could repay the favor later.
It was wonderful that he could resolve it himself.
"Hehe." Liang Wu scratched the back of his head, then said, "Oh, right. The nobles have all found people as you instructed. They're waiting for you in the office."
"Mm."
Toji nodded and strode toward the office.
As soon as he pushed open the door, he sensed an unusual atmosphere.
Dozens of nobles stood obediently in a row, quietly awaiting Toji's arrival.
A dozen or so children, all around their early teens, stood beside them, looking somewhat nervous and curious.
The group opposite them all looked exceedingly haughty. They wore Soul Engineer badges on their chests and seemed eager to let everyone know that they were noble Soul Engineers.
Toji swept his gaze over them and saw that most were Level 3 or Level 4 Soul Engineers, dozens of them.
There were only five Level 5 Soul Engineers.
Finally, Toji's gaze settled on the Soul Engineer at their head.
He was tall and thin, already middle-aged, with a gleaming Level 6 Soul Engineer badge on his chest that made him particularly conspicuous.
His face was full of arrogance. He looked down on everyone and regarded everything around him with disdain.
A Level 6 Soul Engineer?
Naturally, he had reason to be arrogant.
The Heaven Dou Empire was only this tiny. It probably had no more than five Level 8 Soul Engineers, and Level 7 Soul Engineers were already at the top in the Heaven Dou Empire.
So in the Heaven Dou Empire, a Level 6 Soul Engineer was already quite impressive.
In the Sun Moon Empire, he would just be a stray by the roadside. Level 9 Soul Engineers there were as common as dogs.
The forces originally from the Douluo Continent didn't have a single Level 9 Soul Engineer among them.
The gap between the two sides was clear.
Liang Wu said in a low voice,
"My lord, as you instructed, they've found a dozen or so children with spiritual-type Martial Souls and dozens of Soul Engineers over the past three days."
With that, he paused, then continued,
"But... that Level 6 Soul Engineer has quite a temper. He won't be easy to deal with."