Beginning with the Ubume Bird
Chapter 708 - Chapter 708 Chapter 16 Candlelight

Chapter 708: Chapter 16: Candlelight Chapter 708: Chapter 16: Candlelight “`

This was a hardware warehouse located in the distant suburbs, clean inside, but not a single piece of merchandise to be seen, with the air filled with the smell of disinfectant.

In front of Jiao Chong, on the chair, sat a girl with purple eyeshadow and avant-garde clothing. Apart from looking a bit lethargic, she had no obvious injuries.

“Who put you up to attacking Wan Die?”

Jiao Chong asked.

The girl did not change her expression, “No one put me up to it. It’s a personal grudge.”

“You and Wan Die don’t know each other in the real world, and there’s no record of an incident involving a fruit where you encountered each other. Where does this grudge come from?”

The girl scratched her neck anxiously, showing off a red tattoo on her hand–a human face on a snake’s body: “I heard she was very powerful, even on some special talent list, so I wanted to test her mettle. I used Illusion Realm, and no one saw, so why do you care? It’s my first time, and I can just pay the fine, right?”

“The principle of the Yan Zhao Club is not to resolve personal grudges in the real world. The Illusion Realm is just a way to avoid collateral damage. Wan Die and you have no private feud, and she has suffered serious damage with huge losses. This is not about paying a fine.”

Jiao Chong took out a photo: “Do you know this person?”

Jiao Chong handed the girl the photo, showing a coquettish, seductive woman.

The girl glanced at it as if casually: “I don’t know her.”

“Her name is Zhao Hongxia. An agent of Earth Spider but not a member of the Yan Zhao Club.”

Without showing any concern, Jiao Chong took another photo for her to see. It showed a red-themed bar where the girl with purple eyeshadow was passionately kissing the woman in the photo.

The girl’s face turned ugly all at once.

“Zhao Hongxia is now in a local hospital, but by the time we took over, her Three Souls and Seven Spirits were all missing, beyond saving. We’ve already advanced one year’s medical bills in the name of insurance. After the investigation is over, I can give you the address.”

The girl closed her eyes and remained silent.

“Furthermore… Zhang Junsheng, this man’s situation is much more serious. He interfered with the guidance of new Yan Fu incidents without reason, resulting in the deaths of three new people and serious injury to one veteran special talent. Before entering Yan Fu, he had been a high-level paraplegic for fifteen years. According to the rules, Zhang Junsheng should be expelled from Yan Fu, but considering his valuable abilities, he will work under the direction of other veteran Five Immortals for a long time, and he cannot partake in any Yan Fu incidents for ten years.”

“Han Liwu, attacking the second seat of Yan Fu without cause. Considering the second seat gave up pursuing the matter and expressed welcoming the challenge, we only issued a warning and a certain fine.”

“And there’s more…”

“We acted on our own initiative.”

Finally, the girl spoke up.

Jiao Chong ignored her: “Feng Xiangrong, personally in possession of an unidentified large amount of Yan Fu points. Without registering the trade through the Yan Zhao Club, Feng Xiangrong hoarded over twenty thousand Yan Fu Talismans for private transactions. Before joining the Yan Zhao Club, his wife and child suffered from an extremely rare immune disease, depending for two years on auction house sales of Exotic Fruit Medicine for survival. A week ago, Feng Xiangrong was stripped of all his Yan Fu earnings, expelled from his walking rank, and within three days his wife and child died from illness. Feng Xiangrong himself committed suicide by jumping off a building at one o’clock this morning.”

The girl’s complexion changed slightly, her voice weak as she questioned, “Aren’t you being too cruel? Feng Xiangrong’s wife and child were clearly already…”

She glared angrily into Jiao Chong’s eyes.

Finally, Jiao Chong stopped, moving a chair to sit opposite the girl: “Adults have to pay the price for their actions. Am I here to tell you a bedtime story?”

“`

The girl fell silent.

“The tattoo on the back of your hand is very pretty,” he said.

Jiao Chong stared at the back of her hand, and this time the girl unconsciously withdrew it.

“Actually, I’m quite aware of what you want to say,” he continued.

“These days, we’ve found quite a few people to investigate. It’s led to unpleasantness, and even more have resorted to violence. There have been those who were much more unyielding than you. Their statements are all over the place. Some say that there is an anti-human element within the ranks, claiming that this person does not deserve to sit in their position, and they spouted some nonsensical stuff, uh, from my personal moral distaste, I think he’s right. Others claim that someone, relying on their status as a relative of the Ten Masters, is secretly peddling the personal information of the middle and lower classes, bypassing authority to tamper with Yan Fu incident records. Buying low and selling high, controlling the market. Too bad he can’t provide evidence, so I can’t help him.”

“The most hot-tempered are those like you, who tattoo their bodies. According to them, it’s a show of support for Scales Lord. They believe that soon after Scales Lord’s return, he avenged Mr. Qin An, acted justly, and is thus more entitled to lead the Yan Zhao Club than any of those I’ve mentioned before. They think Scales Lord is being squeezed out by others, so they have banded together to voice their grievances for him. This ragtag group has given themselves a name: Candlelight Society.”

“Actually, I don’t care at all what you’re saying. Do you know why?”

Jiao Chong seized her throat in one hand, and the girl with the purple eyeshadow clearly didn’t expect Jiao Chong to forcibly interrogate her. She hadn’t even reacted before his menacing features bore down upon her, “Just yesterday, my nephew, who is also my subordinate, was acting as Wang Lingguan. He entered Yan Fu around the same time as you. He died at the hands of the Candlelight Society. This is a personal vendetta.””

As he spoke, he pushed his arm forward, tipping the chair backward, and as it looked set to hit the floor, Jiao Chong pressed his foot against the base of the chair, pulling it back.

The girl, still unsettled, clasped her throat and began to cough. Jiao Chong walked around her in circles.

The girl argued vehemently, “Impossible, we’ve never even heard of any Wang Lingguan.”

“He died during the capture of Feng Xiangrong!”

Jiao Chong’s palm landed on the girl’s shoulder, “You haven’t left me with much to go on, and according to the regulations, at most I could assign you a few Yan Fu events with a high fatality rate as punishment for you to handle. But for private grievances, I could tamper with the content of your Yan Fu events, or treat you as a coward, throwing you and the other Candlelight Society members together to fight to the death over a fruit seed. That is unless you can tell me a fresh story.”

Jiao Chong’s hand exerted a bit more pressure.

“…”

After a long pause, the girl finally spoke, “During the cold winter, I received care from someone. He pulled me into the Candlelight Society, and after the deed was done, he promised me a bottle of fifth-grade Genetic Potion of Destiny Yak.”

“Who is he?”

“I don’t know. He has high authority in the Yan Zhao Club; I can’t even see his name, nor does he have any distinguishing features.”

Jiao Chong nodded. He paused for a while, seemingly commencing a conversation with someone else.

The warehouse door opened, and a young man walked in.

Lv Jian, acting as Wang Lingguan, had been punished for his lack of results in capturing Chou Ci and was sent to recover Sifan seeds. He had just been called back due to a shortage of hands caused by the Candlelight Society’s disturbance.

“Take her with you. Good nephew.”

Lv Jian blinked, “What do you mean? What nephew?”

Jiao Chong waved his hand dismissively, and Lv Jian, not pressing further, left with the girl with complex emotions and purple eyeshadow.

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