Chapter 239: He Ying’s Conspiracy

Chapter 239 He Ying's Conspiracy

Jiang Yingxue said coldly, "For the sake of the country, I won't take your life today. Get out, and don't ever show your face in front of me again."

He Ying and Jin Chaowei got up from the ground, their faces dark. Jin Chaowei, furious, charged at Jiang Yingxue again, but He Ying stopped him—they were no match for her, and any further attack would only bring humiliation. So He Ying could only fire off a harsh threat: "For someone so young, you're way too arrogant! We'll see about that!"

He Ying and his group left in a huff.

"Next time, you won't be so lucky." Jiang Yingxue waved her hand over the shattered teacups, and they instantly turned to powder. Then four new teacups appeared, the fallen chairs were restored to their places, and the meeting room returned to its original state.

Ji Fu operated the computer, and the membership cards that those four cultivators had applied for that day also turned to powder. The money they had deposited in the cards was refunded to their original accounts.

He Ying had lost face here, and he wasn't going to let it go.

Back in the department, he was determined to bring down Jiang Yingxue and Xuehe Mall.

"If I can't get you, my surname isn't He!"

After an in-depth investigation, he found that the staff at Xuehe Mall were all suspicious. They had minimal archival records, and any that did exist seemed fake—like they'd appeared out of thin air.

"Taoxi Police Station, helping forge documents, huh? Great, just great."

At He Ying's bidding, the Taoxi Police Station personnel were rounded up, but they weren't sentenced—because He Ying wanted to keep them to deal with Jiang Yingxue. This was the benefit of holding a high position: you could indulge your petty whims. He even had people hint to these individuals that their current predicament was all because of Jiang Yingxue from Nanhe Village.

He simply wanted to see if these people would cause trouble for Jiang Yingxue and what kind of trouble it would be, all to annoy her.

The police station chief, He Xihang, was a clever man. He knew clearly that Jiang Yingxue was not to be provoked.

Over the past year, many criminals, thieves, and bullies who had committed crimes on the road to Nanhe Village had met their ends—either dead beyond recognition, mentally disturbed, or crippled and disabled. What was scary was that there was no sign of a struggle—just evidence of the villains getting crushed flat.

From what the survivors were after, it was either money or sex. Those after money were disabled but still alive, while those after sex were dead as a doornail.

They could basically pin the suspicion on Jiang Yingxue, but they had no evidence; even knowing she was the suspect was useless.

On a broader scale, eliminating these villains was a kind of service to the people—the town of Taoxi had become much more peaceful in the past six months. Robberies had almost vanished because the local robbers had mostly died off in a short period.

The week after the Xuehe Small Shop appeared on the show was the busiest for their police station. Almost every day, someone reported finding bodies on the rural road leading to Nanhe Village. The bodies still had their gold chains and money, some were masked and armed with knives, others carried iron rods—clearly not upstanding folks. Some were familiar faces, some had just been released from prison.

This rural road had no surveillance, making it hard to track down the real perpetrators. But after a car's dashcam captured how these bodies appeared—materializing out of thin air—the police chief decided this was beyond what regular cops could handle.

He Xihang went to see Jiang Yingxue, not to stir up trouble, but to warn her she was being targeted, and to see if he could get a security job at Xuehe Mall.

A police chief taking a security guard job might seem like a downgrade, but He Xihang didn't see it that way. His cousin He Ximin had a good relationship with Jiang Yingxue.

He Ximin originally ran an oil mill in the town but had now opened a food factory near Nanhe Village. He contracted to process and produce spirit flower cookies, candies, spiritual plant sauces, and other foods for Xuehe Mall and Nanhe Village's supermarkets, hotels, and shops.

His cousin had said that even being a cleaner in Nanhe Village was better than being a big shot out there. So if he could become a security guard at Xuehe Mall, that would be great.

Jiang Yingxue knew they had lost their jobs because of her, so she went out of her way to help them.

The security team at Xuehe Mall was fully staffed, but the village lacked personnel, especially professionals like He Xihang.

"Chief He, Xuehe Mall isn't hiring right now, but the village's security team is still in need of a captain and members. Would you be interested in captaining the security team?"

Hearing that Xuehe Mall wasn't hiring was a bit disappointing, but the village position thrilled him. "Interested, very interested. Thanks, Boss Jiang. When do I start?"

Jiang Yingxue thought for a moment. "Tomorrow, Chief He. If your former subordinates want to follow you, they can. Pay and benefits will be at least as good as what you had."

"Alright, I'll go talk to them. Since I'm no longer chief, just call me He."

"Captain He."

The Nanhe Village Security Team was established to protect Nanhe Village. Its members include monster cultivators, long-time villagers, and former police officers.

The security team had both daily patrol squads and a disciplinary squad. Anyone who breaks the rules in Nanhe Village, villager or tourist, gets punished by the disciplinary office.

On the other side, when He Ying learned that the former Taoxi police station crew hadn't fought Jiang Yingxue tooth and nail but had instead been recruited by her, he slammed the table in rage!

*

"This is infuriating!"

"A bunch of useless idiots!"

Jin Chaowei brought a stack of files. "Minister, I've gone through these cases. These people all died mysteriously, with dates and locations all clustered together."

"Let me see." He Ying took the files and read them carefully.

After a while, he fumed, "This is obviously a demonic cultivator's work! Outrageous! They have no respect for the country or the law!"

Anyone with half a brain could see this was the work of a cultivator, and given the timing and locations, the suspicion landed on Jiang Yingxue. But the investigators at the time were ordinary people, and now there was no concrete evidence to arrest her.

Then a sly, treacherous smile spread across his face. He planned to set up a robbery to trap Jiang Yingxue and catch her red-handed.

He Ying asked Jin Chaowei, "What do you think the demonic cultivator's cultivation level is?"

Jin Chaowei instantly understood that "demonic cultivator" referred to Jiang Yingxue.

Jin Chaowei was at the late Qi Refining stage, He Ying at early Foundation Establishment. The demonic cultivator had easily defeated both of them, which meant her cultivation was higher. But she was only in her twenties; at most mid Foundation Establishment—no way she's higher.

He said, "Mid Foundation Establishment?"

He Ying said nothing, but he thought the same.

He pulled a stack of documents from his drawer—information about Xuehe Mall and Nanhe Village. "Make copies of these files and send them along with this stack to Cui Jingfu, Taoist Cui, on Tiankun Mountain in K City. Make sure to tell him about the demonic cultivator's personality and cultivation level."

Jin Chaowei said, "Understood."

Tiankun Mountain in K City was home to the Cui family, a reclusive clan in the cultivation world. He Ying had some connections with the Cui family, and many of its members served in the Metaphysics Department. He believed that after seeing these materials, Cui Jingfu would team up with him to wipe out the demonic cultivator and bring peace back to the world.