Chapter 921: All Bad News
Zhu Rong hadn't been wrong back then. As she had said, within a few days at most, the An City Administrative Courtyard would seek out the leaders of Lecheng's major powers. And indeed, just as she predicted, only a few days after Wu Junior's incident, people from the An City Administrative Courtyard secretly approached him.
The other party's objective was simple: as long as he didn't interfere in the conflict between An City and Lecheng, the An City Administrative Courtyard was willing to pay him a substantial sum. And once the An City Administrative Courtyard successfully annexed Lecheng, they would pay him another reward.
As for the nature of this reward, the An City Administrative Courtyard didn't offer anything fixed. Instead, they would negotiate based on what Yang Haoran desired, primarily to prevent him from proposing conditions they simply couldn't fulfill.
The An City Administrative Courtyard had indeed approached Yang Haoran with sincerity. Yang Haoran didn't immediately refuse them. Only after a series of polite exchanges did he decline their offer.
Furthermore, after refusing them, he also tried to persuade them, if possible, to refrain from attacking Lecheng. He explained that he had deep affection for Lecheng, and if they insisted on attacking, he would have no choice but to fight to the death with them, absolutely refusing to abandon Lecheng.
His main purpose in saying this was not to threaten them, but to state his attitude and position clearly.
Although he knew that his stance and attitude might not necessarily deter An City, they could still play some role. Otherwise, why would the An City Administrative Courtyard bother to send someone to persuade him?
Among the various sundries obtained from Zeng Bingwen, there were Demon Pills, Demon Spirit Liquid, and also some Demon Weapons.
Yang Haoran, of course, hoped Bai Xue could break through to the Demon King realm soon, as it would be beneficial for both him and Bai Xue. So, having Demon Pills in his hand, he naturally wouldn't deliberately keep them.
As for Ye Zhiqiu, although he had already broken through to the Three-star Demon Hunter realm, he still greatly needed both Demon Weapons and Demon Spirit Liquid. Yang Haoran didn't treat Ye Zhiqiu as an outsider; the Demon Pills went to Bai Xue, while all the Demon Spirit Liquid and Demon Weapons were given to Ye Zhiqiu.
Ye Zhiqiu was no longer as resistant towards Yang Haoran as he once was. He didn't stand on ceremony regarding the things Yang Haoran gave him; he took whatever was offered.
A few days after Old Master Wu fell unconscious, Ye Zhiqiu completed his mission and returned to the villa, bringing back several Evil Spirits for Yang Haoran. These Evil Spirits were, naturally, his spoils from the mission, though there were two more than Yang Haoran had anticipated.
With Ye Zhiqiu's current strength as a Three-star Demon Hunter, under normal circumstances, no matter how powerful an Evil Spirit, it wouldn't be his match. If he encountered one, it would almost certainly not escape. So, Yang Haoran wasn't at all surprised that he brought back two extra Evil Spirits.
After Ye Zhiqiu returned to the villa, Yang Haoran didn't arrange any more missions for him. On one hand, Tang Shi was almost always able to resolve the intelligence he obtained and the ghostly entities he discovered on his own, so Yang Haoran felt there was no need to send Ye Zhiqiu out again.
If Tang Shi truly encountered an insoluble problem, it wouldn't be too late to send Ye Zhiqiu then. After all, good steel should be used on the blade's edge.
On the other hand, he needed Ye Zhiqiu to refine skins and masks for him. The Evil Spirits under Tang Shi's command were increasing, and many still didn't have their own skins. To be safe, he couldn't mass-customize skins from the Underworld, so this task could only fall to Ye Zhiqiu.
As for the materials needed to refine the skins and masks, some were obtained from Bai Xue, some were provided by Ye Zhiqiu, and others came from the Ghost Cave's collection.
While Ye Zhiqiu was refining skins, Yang Haoran was also refining Soul Pills. These souls were brought back by Ye Zhiqiu, submitted by Night Watchers, and also came from Tang Shi in the Ghost Cave.
In comparison, the Night Watchers submitted the largest number of souls, but they were of the poorest quality, almost entirely consisting of Wanglings, and the vast majority of these souls had to be handed over to the Underworld.
Next came Ye Zhiqiu. The number of ghostly entities he brought back wasn't large, but without exception, they were all Evil Spirit-level entities, which were highly valuable to Yang Haoran.
Finally, there were the ghostly entities obtained from Tang Shi in the Ghost Cave. These entities were also of a high level and belonged to the category that couldn't be subdued, so Yang Haoran could only use them to refine Soul Pills. Their total value far exceeded the ghostly entities brought back by Ye Zhiqiu.
Everything was proceeding in an orderly fashion, yet one thing left Yang Haoran somewhat dissatisfied: Tang Shi had spent a month and still hadn't obtained any information about that small black bottle.
He naturally trusted Tang Shi's ability, but finding a needle in a haystack wasn't something that could be immediately clarified just by wanting to; it required a process. So, although he was somewhat disappointed, he didn't blame Tang Shi.
This matter, of course, couldn't be easily dismissed. If he couldn't expose the culprit, he couldn't give Old Master Wu an explanation, nor could he explain it to himself. Therefore, he told Tang Shi to continue investigating, no matter how much time it took, he had to thoroughly uncover the truth of the matter.
Inside a secret room in the An City Administrative Courtyard, Administrative Chief Qin Yefeng sat in the main seat. Opposite him, two individuals stood respectfully: an elderly man and a young woman, who were Qin Yefeng's most trusted subordinates.
At this moment, Qin Yefeng's complexion was rather grim, as if something was troubling him. The two people standing opposite him continuously reported something to him.
The more the two spoke, the worse Qin Yefeng's expression became. Both noticed that Qin Yefeng's face was off, so they exchanged glances and both fell silent.
The reason they didn't speak was because they dared not open their mouths again. Qin Yefeng's silence, on the other hand, was because the information made him not want to speak, and he also needed some time to digest it.
After about the time it takes to smoke a cigarette, Qin Yefeng, who had been silent all this while, finally spoke.
"All the news you've reported is bad news. Is there no good news at all?"
Qin Yefeng's voice was low and deep; anyone could tell his mood was quite unpleasant. None of the information the two had just reported to him was good news; in fact, it could be said to be quite detrimental to him. As the Administrative Chief, his mood naturally wouldn't be pleasant.
At the mention of good news, the elderly man and the young woman exchanged glances again, then lowered their heads. Neither of them spoke.
Their reaction couldn't help but ignite anger in Qin Yefeng. Although the string of bad news had put him in a foul mood, he had still harbored a sliver of hope, thinking there would be good news later. But the result was no good news at all. With his hope gone, it was hard not to be furious.
"Lecheng has only five powerful forces: the Underworld Office, the Talisman Order, the Saint Mother Sect, the Exorcists, and the Spirit Mediums. The Spirit Mediums have almost all been annihilated by Yang Haoran, that Underworld Official. Even if there are any stragglers left, they wouldn't dare to show their faces. In other words, Lecheng now only has four major forces remaining, yet you can't even handle one of them. How are we supposed to fight this war?"
Qin Yefeng asked the two, but neither of them dared to respond.
"Zhu Rong truly has impressive tactics, to be able to tie these forces up so tightly! When she was the Deputy Administrative Chief, I knew she had some ability, but after all, she was just a woman, incapable of causing much of a stir. I never expected her to become such a formidable opponent now! Not only has she retained Lecheng's major forces, but she has also managed Lecheng in a proper and respectable manner. On the other hand, look at our An City; it's not only in utter disarray, but the forces willing to stand on our side are few and far between. If this continues, I fear we won't just fail to annex Lecheng, but we'll be annexed by Lecheng instead!"
Qin Yefeng emphasized his tone. The elderly man hesitated for a moment, then spoke to Qin Yefeng.
"Administrative Chief, the situation hasn't yet reached its worst point."
Qin Yefeng, already boiling with rage, immediately erupted upon hearing the elderly man's words, roaring at him.
"It hasn't reached its worst point yet? What extent does it have to reach to be called the worst point? Do we have to wait until Lecheng attacks us for it to be considered the worst? !"
At Qin Yefeng's roar, the elderly man hurriedly lowered his head again, not daring to utter another word. However, at that very moment, the young woman beside him suddenly received a Communication Talisman. After receiving the information within the talisman, her face immediately lit up with joy.
"Administrative Chief, I have good news!"
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