About half an hour later, when Fei Yan returned, she was accompanied by a man wearing a silver mask, who was Xuan Siqi, the steward of this city.
Xuan Siqi hurried to Ye Cangtian’s front, but his gaze had already swept across the entire great hall.
Seeing the mottled bloodstains on the floor of the hall and the absence of the sect leader, he knew that the sect leader had likely been dealt with by Ye Cangtian.
“Steward Xuan Siqi pays his respects to Lord Po Xiao!”
“Sir, why didn’t you visit the branch when you came from afar?”
“If there was anything here, you could have simply handed it over to your subordinates, there was no need for you to personally inquire…”
Xuan Siqi said with a forced smile.
Po Xiao’s status was beyond doubt. When he was in charge of the Dark Ruins in Xing Yuan, he was practically second-in-command.
Even if Kong Ling was now in charge of the Dark Association, Po Xiao’s status might be affected, but it was still beyond his reach.
Therefore, facing such an existence, Xuan Siqi had to maintain a good attitude and avoid offending him.
“If I left it to you, I wouldn’t be at ease!”
“How long has Nan Yan Sect existed in Nantong City?”
“Have you found any evidence of Nan Yan Sect engaging in illicit trade? Have you found any connections between them and the Guangming Hall?”
Ye Cangtian scoffed dismissively at the other party’s words.
There were some things he chose to ignore, but that didn’t mean others could easily deceive him.
Border towns like Nanhuang City and Nantong City, due to their location, did not have large populations.
As the steward of Nantong City, how could Xuan Siqi not know what kind of existence Nan Yan Sect was?
If he knew and did nothing, it was highly likely that he had colluded with the illicit Nan Yan Sect.
However, now that the sect leader of Nan Yan Sect was dead, and Xuan Siqi showed no signs of colluding with Guangming Hall, Ye Cangtian was too lazy to pursue past matters.
But if the other party still wanted to deceive him, he couldn’t be blamed for pouring cold water on him.
“This…”
One sentence made Xuan Siqi’s heart tighten. Just as Po Xiao had said, he had indeed cooperated with Nan Yan Sect before.
That was why he had tolerated Nan Yan Sect for so long.
If Po Xiao had handed the matter over to him quickly, it would likely have been left unresolved.
But now that Po Xiao had exposed everything, he felt a sense of unease.
Could it be that Po Xiao knew something? Or did the sect leader of Nan Yan Sect tell Po Xiao something?
If that was the case, wouldn’t he also be in trouble?
“Enough, I will not pursue what you have done in the past!”
“But if your performance in the future does not satisfy me, then don’t blame me for being impolite!”
Just as Xuan Siqi was incredibly nervous, Ye Cangtian’s voice came again, and Xuan Siqi’s heart instantly felt a weight lifted.
As long as the other party didn’t hold him accountable, he would still be the local overlord here, and his future would be limitless.
Thinking this, he quickly cupped his hands in a salute to Ye Cangtian and said, “Lord Po Xiao, please rest assured, your subordinate will definitely not disappoint you in the future. If you have any matters to entrust to your subordinate, your subordinate will spare no effort!”
Heh heh.
Hearing this, Ye Cangtian showed a satisfied smile. This was the result he wanted.
Instead of killing the other party and replacing him with a stranger to manage this place, it was better to bestow a favor upon him and make him feel grateful.
This way, it would be much easier to ask him for anything in the future.
Thus, he pointed to the Nan Yan Sect members standing around and continued, “Xuan Siqi, I have also promised them to give them a chance to reform, and they have agreed to join the Dark Association.”
“From now on, they are your people. You must discipline them strictly and do more good deeds. If their past misdeeds occur again, I will not forgive you lightly!” Ye Cangtian added.
Hearing this, Xuan Siqi quickly agreed, “Yes, yes, yes, please rest assured, sir, your subordinate will definitely do as you say.”
“Very well, I’ll leave the handling of matters here to you. I have other things to attend to, so I’ll be taking my leave.”
Ye Cangtian nodded upon hearing this, and without further ado, he left Nan Yan Sect with Lan Yue and the others.
…
Time reached midnight.
In the tomb in the mountain forest near Nantong City.
Bellock sat on the throne in the tomb, his gaze sweeping across the people in front of him, gradually darkening.
According to the timeline, the black-robed bishops he had sent out should have returned long ago.
After all, going to Nan Yan Sect was just to bring back a few prisoners and, on behalf of Guangming Hall, discuss cooperation matters with them.
Such a simple matter, why should it take so long?
Yet, that subordinate had not returned, which made him very uneasy.
“Can anyone tell me what happened? Why hasn’t Jerry returned yet!”
Finally, Bellock could no longer bear it and questioned his subordinates in front of him with a dark expression.
He now felt that sending only one Jerry was a mistake; at least he should have sent more people, so that he would receive some news if something happened.
As soon as he finished speaking, a red-robed bishop stepped forward and said, “Bellock, don’t worry. You have to allow Nan Yan Sect to extend hospitality…”
In his opinion, Nan Yan Sect was just a small force. Cooperating with a powerful entity like Guangming Hall would definitely warrant some gesture.
For example, preparing some banquets, in which case Jerry’s late return would be normal.
Bellock heard this, his eyes flickered, and he fell silent.
What the other party said had some logic. Guangming Hall was a behemoth compared to those local forces.
Having finally managed to curry favor, they would surely entertain them well.
But for some reason, he felt uneasy, a sense of foreboding.
“Report!”
Just then, an announcement came, and in a flash, a divine envoy arrived before Bellock.
Bellock’s gaze fell directly on the divine envoy, and he said in a deep voice, “Quickly tell me, has Jerry returned?”
Seeing Bellock’s anxious gaze, the divine envoy shook his head helplessly and said, “Just now, the sentries were being rotated, and it turned out that their companions who should have been on duty had all disappeared!”
“What!”
Upon hearing this, Bellock stood up directly from the throne.
The red-robed bishops who had been chatting and laughing around also fell silent instantly.
The disappearance of all sentries meant that a powerful expert had surely intruded here, and they were specifically targeting them.
Otherwise, the other party wouldn’t have been able to take out all the sentry members so silently.
“Everyone, listen to my orders, assemble immediately, and evacuate this place in five minutes to begin the transfer!”
Bellock remained silent for a moment before issuing the order.
As his voice fell, a red-robed bishop stepped forward and said, “Bellock, the other party hasn’t arrived yet, so they probably haven’t found this place. Therefore, I don’t think we should evacuate!”
The meaning of this red-robed bishop was very simple: the other party was definitely searching outside, and it would be easy to encounter them if they went out rashly.
Wouldn’t that be equivalent to walking into a trap?
“Idiot, I admit that what you said has some merit.”
“But you must know that the army led by Xing Yuan is in Nanhuang City, not far from here. If they surround this place and conduct a carpet search, do you think we can escape?”
Bellock glared at him fiercely.
The disappearance of the sentries undoubtedly confirmed his ominous premonition.
Therefore, the best option now was to evacuate. If they hid here, once the other party found them, they would have no escape.
Upon hearing this, the red-robed bishop fell silent for a moment and finally swallowed all his words.
However, at that moment, everyone couldn’t help but be stunned.
Within the tomb, the sounds of clashing weapons could already be heard, indicating that someone had found them.
“Follow me and fight our way out!”
Seeing this, Bellock directly drew his twin swords and charged forward.
Since the other party had already cornered them, all they could do was fight to the death. They couldn’t just surrender, could they?
As soon as he stepped out, he entered the corridor of the tomb.
Bellock’s eyes widened in shock. The divine envoys and black-robed bishops under him were being beaten back.
And the ones attacking were only two Profound rank experts, and they were both women.
“These good-for-nothings…”
Bellock muttered fiercely, but when his gaze fell upon the two figures wearing golden masks behind the two women, he was dumbfounded.
One of them was Lan Yue, whom Jerry was supposed to bring back, and the other was Po Xiao, who had written countless legends in the Dark Association.