There was no need to recruit soldiers in Nanyang City. The Shen Family had more than a dozen high-ranking sorcerers, plus hundreds of junior sorcerers of the Fifth Rank. With the addition of the magic arrays that the Shen Family had accumulated in Nanyang City for nearly a thousand years, they could easily modify a few of them to create a situation where the destructive power was not obvious and the living corpses could not enter the city.
Although Nanyang's performance in rescue efforts was even inferior to that of Nanming Prefecture, its urban stability was absolutely second to none!
This allowed the people of Nanyang City to gradually calm down after the initial panic, and lights even appeared at night.
Looking at the peaceful and prosperous city, Wang Ye couldn't help but sigh. The Shen Family was indeed powerful. There was a reason why this family was able to turn Jiangnan into a paradise during the most chaotic period of warlordism.
Investigating the secrets of the lower levels of such a powerful family filled Wang Ye with excitement.
The Court of Judicial Review is where cases are investigated. His master originally wanted to get him into the Ministry of Rites, but he didn't like it. He preferred the long-standing mysterious cases in the Court of Judicial Review to the boring etiquette.
Chen Qing really gave me a surprise, both of our meetings involved such deadly cases.
After hosting a banquet, Wang Ye briefly told the Shen Family about the situation outside and how to carry out the rescue.
"I am aware of the situation in Nanyang, and it is as we predicted. With the Shen Family family here, Nanyang City will undoubtedly be safe. However, Nanyang has over a hundred counties under its direct jurisdiction, with a population of tens of millions. We cannot ignore it. The imperial court will be sending large armies into Nanyang territory to protect the residents of the counties. I hope the Shen Family family can understand."
"That's natural, that's natural." Shen Yixin raised his glass and said, "This time, Jiangnan has suffered such a calamity, and my Shen Family is unable to protect the people of Jiangnan. We are truly ashamed. If the court needs our cooperation in any way, please give the order, and our Shen Family will do our utmost."
"With your words of comfort, Sixth Master, I am relieved." Wang Ye quickly returned the toast.
"You're too kind, Vice Minister Wang. We were able to communicate with Fifth Brother thanks to you this time. If we can help Nanyang, you will be doing the Shen Family a great favor. In the future, if there is anything we can do for the Shen Family Vice Minister Wang, please don't hesitate to ask." The speaker was a middle-aged man in white sitting in a wheelchair. He looked much younger than Shen Yixin, but judging from his seat, he was not of low rank.
"It's my duty, my duty," Wang Ye replied politely, then asked, "May I ask who this senior is?"
"Oh, let me introduce you," Shen Yixin quickly said, "This is my third brother!"
The young man in white smiled and offered a toast, saying, "My name is Shen Yimiao, greetings to Lord Shaoqing!"
"So it's Master Shen San. You're too kind, Third Master!" Wang Ye stood up and returned the greeting.
He quickly recalled the information Murong Yunji had given him.
The Laosan of the Shen Family: the inheritor of the Mystic Water Spell, whose lineage is said to come from the Black Current Kingdom of the West Sea. He is about the same age as the Lao'er of the Shen Family family and is a great sorcerer who is nearly three hundred years old. He once used the technique to cut off the flow of a river and had a terrifying record of destroying the Yunnan King's 100,000-strong navy. He is the second most fearsome person in the Shen Family after the Shen Lao'er.
"In that case, let's introduce ourselves." Sitting next to Shen Yimiao, a tall, imposing man resembling a martial artist stood up, grinning, and said, "My name is Shen Yiyan, greetings to Vice Minister Wang!"
"So it's Fourth Master!" Wang Ye quickly retorted.
Fourth Master Shen: Shen Yiyan, an earth mage. On the surface, he is the most common earth mage among the earth, fire, water, and wind elements. In reality, he is said to have inherited the Dragon Turtle Secret Art and has the appearance of a dragon Baxia!
Beside Shen Laoliu, a strange man covered in bandages stood up, his voice hoarse and laced with a grotesque laugh, " Shen Yifeng greets Lord Shaoqing!"
" Seventh Master Shen!" Wang Ye retorted again.
The Thousand-Eyed Warlock Shen Laoqi is recorded in the Yin-Yang Academy. His sorcery is one of the Seventy-Two Earthly Fiends: the Evil Eye technique, which is an extremely dangerous technique in the world of sorcery!
" Shen Yiyuan greets Vice Minister Wang!"
The speaker was a chubby middle-aged man with a kind face and a rather humorous and gentle appearance. Like Shen Yixin, he looked somewhat like a normal person.
"Greetings, Eighth Master Shen!" Wang Ye hurriedly said, "My master once said that Eighth Master's painting skills are among the best in the world. My master still carefully preserves several of your authentic works."
"Oh? Hahaha, Duke of Song is too kind." Eighth Master Shen chuckled. "However, I regret that I was unable to attend Duke of Song's funeral. Shaoqing, why don't you go back and pick out another painting from me? Your master has been eyeing my 'Mountain Moon in Spring' painting for a long time; take it back to him this time."
"Thank you, Eighth Master!" Wang Ye's face showed genuine gratitude!
Eighth Master Shen, the inheritor of the Extreme Flow Spell, is said to have no attributes. His technique is a pure spiritual energy forming a circle similar to that of Daoism. It has formed a school of thought within the Yin-Yang Academy, and he is the founder of this school.
If this incident in Jiangnan hadn't happened, the imperial court might have invited this Eighth Master Shen to serve as the next dean of the Yin-Yang Academy at the beginning of the year.
After Eighth Master Shen, there was no one else. The three newly born direct descendants of the house did not attend the banquet. Wang Ye carefully offered toasts while secretly observing everyone.
Based on Chen Qing's deduction, these people in front of him were originally the main candidates for this Dragon Transformation!
The Laoshi, Laoshiyi, and Laoshi'er were all added later.
You've seen everyone."
The Spirit Speech reappeared in Wang Ye's mind. Wang Ye's expression remained unchanged as he continued chatting and laughing with everyone at the table, but inwardly he asked, "You just said we should start from the death of Master Shen Family, what does that mean?"
Shen Laoliu took a small sip of wine, concealing a hint of ambiguity in his eyes, and the Spirit Speech sounded again.
" The Shen Family has twelve branches. The techniques for the first nine branches were established three hundred years ago, while the techniques for the last three branches were decided later. The Laojiu son is an insect sorcerer, a secret technique from the ancient Southern Frontier that my Shen Family ancestor discovered through experiments on hundreds of thousands of living people. The Laojiu's identity is absolutely genuine, because back then, the ones responsible for delivering the Laojiu were me, my fifth brother, and my eldest brother who was still alive at the time!"
"Delivering a baby?" Wang Ye was taken aback.
"Yes, like Murong Yunji, the Laojiu is a hybrid of human and demon. No, it's even more exaggerated to say that the Laojiu was born to the Ancestor and a Gu practitioner who successfully conducted an experiment!"
"Gu people?" A wave of nausea surged in Wang Ye. Aren't Gu people just insect people? There were cases of artificially created insect people in the Yin-Yang Academy. They were simply the most disgusting things in the world. To mate with such things and have children?
The patriarch of the Shen Family certainly had some unusual tastes!
"Back then, we all received a mission from our ancestor: to destroy evidence and eradicate the leaked Gu worms and those infected with the Gu poison." After a pause, Shen Laoliu added, "Those things look a lot like the living corpses crawling out of the river now."
Upon hearing this, Wang Ye's heart skipped a beat. Could it be that this incident was also related to...
"We, the direct descendants of the Shen Family, have no shortage of blood on our hands, but such a large-scale massacre of civilians is unprecedented. However, at the time, because it was the patriarch's order, we ultimately carried it out. But that time, it seems that my eldest brother discovered some secret."
"A secret? What does Sixth Master mean?"
"To this day, we still don't know what it is," Shen Yixin thought to himself. "We only remember that our Laoda managed to snatch a pregnant Gu-human. She was an incredibly beautiful woman, but her body was being ravaged by Gu worms, making her look extremely disgusting and horrific. He told us that our ninth brother was inside this Gu-human, and that it was the key to our dragon transformation. He told us to protect her at all costs!"
"And then?" Wang Ye asked quickly, having reached the crucial point.
"Then my eldest brother got into trouble during that suppression incident!" Shen Yixin's voice deepened. "My fifth brother and I were busy helping the Laojiu's mother give birth, so we didn't know where my eldest brother had gone. We only heard from my second and third brothers that Laoda had gone to confront the ancestor, which enraged him. After that, the magic formula on that island was leaked. It's said that once the poison is leaked, the entire Southern Capital suffer a catastrophic disaster!"
"None of us know what happened. All we know is that our Laoda used his magic to ingest the poison on the island, and then Laoda died. The patriarch also disappeared!"
"Missing?" Wang Ye was taken aback. "Didn't they say that the Shen Family patriarch would occasionally appear in the West Sea?"
Legend has it that the patriarch of the Shen Family was enormous, with a human head and a snake's body, capable of encircling an entire island!
"That's not the ancestor," Shen Yixin shook his head. "That's the Laoda's technique, called ' Xiushe,' a technique used by the previous generation to successfully transform into dragons. That's why many people who see that giant snake think it's the Shen Family family's ancestor. But only our main branch knows that it's the Laoda who has lost consciousness. After the island incident, the ancestor infiltrated the next generation."
"Unconscious?" Wang Ye frowned. "Then why did it suddenly appear in the West Sea and attract the attention of General Yuchi Feihong, who went to investigate?"
"We don't know," Shen Yixin shook his head. "The Ancestor can control the Laoda's body, but why he sent the Laoda's body to the West Sea, and whether this strange fog and the terrifying poisonous insects within it are related to the Ancestor, we still don't understand!"
"I see." Wang Ye nodded immediately. This was the reason why Shen Yinian said Sixth Master Shen was reliable!
"After that incident, Fifth Brother and I realized that the Ancestor had infiltrated the younger generation and could impersonate one of them at any time. From that moment on, we began to use our blood essence to create a token. The jade pendant in your hand contains the blood essence of Fifth Brother and me. Anyone can use their own spiritual power to open the core Spirit Speech Lock of the token."
"Sixth Master and Minister are indeed quite cautious." Wang Ye secretly admired them. The two had been cautious enough, secretly guarding against each other for many years. No wonder Shen Yinian said that only Sixth Master could be trusted. It turned out that the connection lay here.
Based on current information, their testimonies appear to be valid.
"So, which one does Sixth Master Shen think it will be?"
"If I had known, would I have waited until now?" Shen Yixin cursed inwardly. "I've said everything I need to say. Don't hold back any information you have, just tell me already!"
"I don't have much information either; it all comes from Prefect Chen Qing of Liuzhou. According to Prefect Chen Qing, he needs enough information to deduce who the Shen Family patriarch is impersonating."
" Chen Qing?" Shen Yixin frowned. This wasn't the first time he'd heard this name. Just who was this prefect of Liuzhou?
What kind of intelligence does he want?
"He wants information about the techniques used by the new third branch of the Shen Family, as well as detailed records of the Shen Family's previous two Dragon Transformation!"
"This"