Chapter 35

Chapter 35

This situation was never in the script Hull had set. No matter what, he never imagined he would end up on the defensive.

And how could the key possibly belong to Bai Zhizhi?

Looking at Hull, whose face was pale and seemed unwilling to accept reality, Bai Zhizhi smiled and glanced over him, saying, "To teach you a lesson, what should I take off from you? A leg or an arm?"

Bai Zhizhi shook his head as he spoke. "If I take your legs and arms, you'll still lower yourself to provoke me again. How about I just cripple your Ability Core? Weren't you seeking justice for your buddy? Perfect—you two will be the same now. That's what true brothers are like."

As Bai Zhizhi spoke, he made a grasping motion with five fingers in the air. Hull felt his Ability Core violently tremble, as if something were pulling and dragging it, threatening to rip it out of his body.

Fear instantly spread through Hull's entire body. Losing his Ability Core meant losing everything he prided himself on. From now on, he would become a useless man, and those he once looked down upon would climb over him.

In a panic, he shouted frantically, "It wasn't me! It was Ike! Ike plotted against you—I knew nothing from start to finish!"

Ike was also present today, but because of him, Ousen's Ability Core had been destroyed. Terrified, he had obediently stayed quiet the whole time, suppressed by a force, forced to kneel and buried in the Spirit Soil along with the others.

Had he not instigated it, Ousen would not have been crippled. Although Ousen had also wanted to stir up internal chaos among the Chinese cultivators and thus acted in tandem, the root cause was still Ike.

If Ousen were just an ordinary Adept, Ike would not have been so worried. But Ousen came from an Adept family with several Adepts. His only fear was that if they couldn't pin the blame on the Chinese, once he returned to the USA, he would be the one facing retaliation.

He had shared his worries with Hull. Hull already held a grudge against Bai Zhizhi and had been seeking an opportunity to deal with him. Now that a reason had been handed to him, he thought that no matter how powerful Bai Zhizhi was, the pressure of international cooperation would force the Administration Bureau to protect him.

But how did things end up like this? Even Director Wells had abandoned Hull? If Hull could be abandoned, then there was even less hope for him.

When Hull threw him under the bus, Ike had never felt such terror. His entire body was restrained and immobile; even struggling was futile.

Meeting Bai Zhizhi's gaze, Ike couldn't open his mouth or move his head. He could only plead with terror in his eyes, hoping Bai Zhizhi would spare him.

With a wave of his hand, Bai Zhizhi pulled Ike out of the soil like a radish. "I almost forgot – you too. The first time we met, you dared to offend me. I taught you a lesson, but you didn't learn. Are all the people in your country like this—arrogant, self-important, inferior in strength yet clueless about restraint, lacking any self-awareness?"

Channeling a surge of spiritual power, two agonized screams echoed in the meeting room. Hull and Ike both vomited large mouthfuls of blood, one after another, much to Song Cheng's dismay.

Such fine Spirit Soil, now defiled.

Bai Zhizhi forcibly extracted their Ability Cores. They were crystal-like chunks about the size of a finger joint, different from Demon Cores or the inner cores of Human Cultivators. Hull's core was blue-crystal colored, while Ike's was red. They looked quite beautiful.

But no matter how pretty, they were still things from others' bodies. Bai Zhizhi disdainfully tossed them aside and looked at the two men slumped on the ground. "Compared to killing you, crippling you is more interesting. And as for the rest of your country's Adepts, if any of you still harbor resentment, feel free to come again. I'll cripple every single one who comes!"

The few Adepts still buried in the dirt, seeing what had happened to Hull and Ike, wished they could bury their heads even deeper, terrified that Bai Zhizhi would notice them. They no longer dared to think of revenge; they only hoped to return home safely.

Bai Zhizhi clapped his hands, put away the little bell, and looked at the Director and Deputy Director. "All done. Do you still have business with me?"

Song Cheng smiled. "Since the misunderstanding is cleared up, of course there's nothing else. Do you want to go back to the small courtyard? I'll arrange a car to take you."

Bai Zhizhi nodded. "Alright. If something like this happens again, just have them come to the small courtyard to find me, making me come all this way for nothing."

The Director glanced at the few Adepts who, despite no longer being suppressed, still knelt and didn't dare crawl out of the dirt. He couldn't help but say, "I doubt something like this will ever happen again."

Bai Zhizhi reached the door, remembered something, and turned back. He tossed out the small cloth bag, made a light swirling motion with two fingers in the air, and all the Spirit Soil in the meeting room flew back into his bag.

The Director couldn't help but extend a trembling hand.

As Bai Zhizhi tied the small bag, he looked at them. "I just showed you the real thing, so you wouldn't think I was deceiving you. I have Spirit Soil, so you can feel confident in trading with me. As for what you'll trade, make me a list."

Although dirt wasn't valuable, he couldn't just give it away for free. The fox clan never makes a losing deal.

With that, Bai Zhizhi hooked the drawstring of the cloth bag on his fingertip and twirled it as he left.

After sending Hull and Ike for medical treatment, the Director invited the remaining Adepts to another room to change clothes, worried that if Bai Zhizhi hadn't cleaned up thoroughly, they might have smuggled some Spirit Soil out. That would be a huge loss, considering the USA traded with them by the gram.

Looking at the now-empty meeting room, which had been piled high with Spirit Soil moments ago, the Director sighed, feeling the hollowness of a shattered dream.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Song Cheng beside him. The Director put away his regretful expression and asked, "You didn't stop him earlier. Were you waiting to see what he would do?"

Song Cheng replied, "As it turned out, Jiang Lin's estimation was correct. Bai Zhizhi understands good and evil, knows right from wrong, and doesn't act purely on instinct. If this had involved any other high-level Adept today, they might not have spared their lives."

Song Cheng glanced at the Director. "Besides, you didn't stop him either."

The Director chuckled.

Song Cheng then looked at the team leaders. "If you ever deal with Bai Zhizhi in the future, remember never to offend him lightly, and don't treat him like an ordinary Little Demon. His power is probably not inferior to mine."

Although he had sensed during Bai Zhizhi's earlier attack that their cultivation levels were not far apart, the demon race was naturally stronger than humans. At the same level, it was hard for humans to defeat demons.

Fortunately, Bai Zhizhi bore no ill will toward humans. As long as they treated him with goodwill, they could coexist harmoniously.

The team leaders shook their heads. "Director Song, rest assured. We'd never dare offend him, not for anything."

In the past, they had known about Bai Zhizhi only because he held the key to an energy field. They had no other knowledge of him.

After witnessing the live extraction of Ability Cores today, even the most foolish among them would never offend him. They had to admit, the little fox demon really vented today. Under the pressure of scarce cultivation resources, they often had to tolerate many things as long as they didn't violate core principles. That's just how it is when you're not in a strong position. Today, having two high-level Adepts crippled meant a heavy blow that would make them smart for a while.

On his way home, Bai Zhizhi was immensely satisfied with the day's gains. He'd finished off two annoying pests and intimidated the rest, ensuring they would never come buzzing around him again.

As for killing them, he hadn't actually considered it. Not that he feared killing, but he worried that his father would detect the bloodshed on him at a glance.

Killing a human isn't like killing a demon beast. Generally, they didn't directly kill things with intelligence unless their own lives were threatened. If he killed a human, his father would definitely notice, then investigate, and his trips here through the treehouse would probably be found out.

So crippling them was better than killing them. He wanted to keep playing here a while longer.

When Lu Mingyu received the news, he rushed back to the Administration Bureau immediately. Although he was wary of Bai Zhizhi, the fact was that the American Adepts were the ones who barged in first, and Bai Zhizhi's counterattack was justified. He had to go back and clear things up.

When he got back, he saw the Deputy Director standing at the door giving orders: "Be thorough! Lift the tables, sweep the gaps, look for anything left behind! And you, clean the soles of your shoes, empty your pockets—check everything carefully!"

"Xiao Lu, you're back? Move aside, don't block the path."

Lu Mingyu looked inside. Several team leaders were crawling on the floor, groping around inch by inch, looking for something.

Lu Mingyu: "What the hell? Where's Bai Zhizhi? What are they all hunting for?"

The Director sighed. When you're dirt poor, this is just how it is. A bit embarrassing, but what if something got missed?

After understanding the whole situation, Lu Mingyu: "…"

Confirming that Bai Zhizhi's matter was resolved, Lu Mingyu contacted Uncle Gao and learned he had returned to the small courtyard. He then dropped the matter and began deploying his team. He'd already tracked down everyone in Miao Sheng's clique. The case likely involved a vengeful ghost, and the ghost was most likely Zhuang Lixu.

In Miao Sheng's clique, there were two others: Liu Tao and Qin Yilun. The three had been thick as thieves since childhood because their families were all well-off. If Miao Sheng bullied Zhuang Lixu, the other two definitely had a hand in it.

He posted two men to keep an eye on those two households. Now that Miao Sheng was dead, these two families were the most likely next targets for payback.

Liu Tao's father was a director of Hegong Electronics Group, and his mother was a cellist. They were often too busy to come home.

Liu Tao returned in the family van. The butler stepped forward to open the door. "Young Master."

Liu Tao's eyes were pitch black, his pupils slowly rolling, his gaze jerky and halting, landing on the butler. His voice was hoarse and cold. "When will Mom and Dad be back?"

The butler was slightly startled, feeling that the young master's voice sounded a bit strange. He looked over with concern, worried that he might be sick, but when he looked up, he met Liu Tao's eerily calm gaze and felt an inexplicable chill run down his spine.

Liu Tao tilted his head slightly and asked again, "When will Mom and Dad be back?"

The butler snapped out of it and replied, "The master is at the company, and the madam has a performance with the orchestra. The earliest they can be back is Wednesday."

Wednesday. Today is Monday. Two more days. He could wait.

Liu Tao nodded. "Got it."

With that, he carried his schoolbag and walked toward his room, but his walking posture was noticeably stiff. The butler again wore a puzzled expression, wondering if he should call the family doctor for a checkup.

Once the butler turned around and stopped looking at him, Liu Tao slowly turned his head, his cold gaze lingered. Finally, with a sneer, he lifted his foot off the ground and continued walking toward the room. If anyone had observed closely, they would have noticed that from the moment he entered, his heels had never touched the ground.