“Centurion.” Zhu Fan urged. “You should fight for whatever you want. It’s a Rank-Four Military Exploit. If you manage to get your hands on it, we’ll all be grateful to you!”

　　“Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t have the ability to do it!” Chen Donghai huffed. “Now that we’ve become enemies with this little brat, we’ll have to be wary of his plots in the future!”

　　“Really?” Zhu Fan said, “Centurion Chu has a pretty good reputation.”

　　“You really think he’s a good person?” Chen Donghai sneered. “Someone generous?”

　　“He didn’t seem upset,” Zhu Fan replied.

　　Chen Donghai scoffed. “People like him are very shrewd and subtle. There’s no way to tell what he’s feeling! … In any case, we have to be wary of him!”

　　“It is rather troublesome,” Zhu Fan said as he frowned, “If he’s a generous person, he’ll inform us as soon as he’d solved the case. Then, you’ll be alright. However, if he holds a grudge against us, then we’ll be in big trouble!

　　Regarding his three-day pledge, the Centurion had only two options, which was either to admit defeat or to kill a few people and frame them as the assassins, thereby making them the scapegoats. The former would cause him to be directly demoted to becoming the second-in-command while the latter would free him from punishment and would even earn him the reward of a Rank-Four Military Exploit.

　　However, if Chu Li really managed to solve the case and find the actual assassins, the Centurion might not be demoted and become the second-in-command but could actually be removed from his position entirely.

　　If Chu Li really wished to seek revenge against the Centurion, he would definitely hide the assassins after capturing them and let the Centurion make his move first.

　　If the Centurion wanted to opt for the safer way out, he would have to concede and be demoted to the position of second-in-command. Nonetheless, if it turned out that Chu Li could not solve the case and had been bluffing after all, then the Centurion might really fall into depression after going with that option.

　　Chen Donghai rose from the armchair and began to pace back and forth with his hands behind his back, his expression filled with uncertainty.

　　Zhu Fan’s eyes followed the Centurion as the latter paced about, feeling very troubled as well.

　　It was still a variable as to whether or not Chu Li could solve the case. If he could not, then there would be nothing to worry about as his threat would not stand. If he managed to solve the case, on the other hand, then it would be necessary to make some form of a friendly gesture and offer an apology to beg him to show mercy.

　　After pacing back and forth many times, Chen Donghai grit his teeth and begrudgingly said, “Damn it, what a ruthless fellow! … Elder Zhu, prepare a hundred thousand taels of silver and send them to him!”

　　“A hundred thousand taels?” Zhu Fan exclaimed. “Centurion, isn’t that too much?”

　　Chen Donghai glared at him in response. “What use would it be to give him any less! We’ll have to take our chances and see if this little brat actually has the ability to take it!”

　　“What if he can’t solve the case after all?”

　　“We’ll find a chance to make him spit it back out!” Chen Donghai said resentfully, “If he takes a hundred thousand taels, I’ll make him spit out two hundred thousand in return!”

　　“Centurion, this little brat isn’t someone easy to contend with,” Zhu Fan advised.

　　With just a few facial expressions, this person had managed to grab the Centurion by the throat. At such a young age, he was already so skilled at trickery and possessed such unusual intelligence. Thus, they should guard themselves against him.

　　“Humph, in the Secret Guardians Hall, if you can’t win against others, there’s no way you’ll be able to survive well!” Chen Donghai declared. “If we don’t defeat him, our Mei Yi Courtyard’s place will definitely be snatched away by him sooner or later!”

　　“… Understood.” Zhu Fan nodded and gave a fist salute before leaving.

　　…

　　Chu Li was sitting in the main hall and was deep in thought, wearing a heavy and solemn expression.

　　The Manifestation of Nature Restoration was wonderful indeed, allowing him to surmise from the dead Protector’s wound that the assailant’s inner energy heart technique belonged to the Scripture of Great Light!

　　The assailant did not use the Divine Light Fist but a rare type of fist technique, yet his inner energy was of the Scripture of Great Light.

　　After the victim had died, the inner energy had also dispersed. Thus, almost no trace of the inner energy could be detected.

　　Previously, even with the Omniscient Mirror, it might have been hardly discernible to him since the other party had been intentionally trying to cover up their tracks by not using the Divine Light Fist.

　　The fist force of the Divine Light Fist was very peculiar and the type of injury inflicted by it was unusual. Therefore, by using the Omniscient Mirror’s ability for detailed observation, he would have been able to recognize it.

　　As for this rare type of fist technique, it was very hard to identify its source but the inner energy of the Scripture of Great Light had its own special characteristics as well. While these characteristics were very minute, he was able to detect them by using the Manifestation of Nature Restoration.

　　The appearance of the Scripture of Great Light entailed the involvement of the Holy Church of Light. In that case, the matter had unexpectedly become complicated.

　　At first, it had already been frightening to discover the involvement of King Ping, the Minister Counsellor from the Ministry of War, and the Ji Public House. Now, the Holy Church of Light had also entered the picture all of a sudden.

　　If King Ping had really been planning to force the current Emperor to abdicate and ascend the Emperor’s throne himself, as long as he was not out of his mind, there was no way he would have worked together with the Holy Church of Light. Instead, the only place he could have turned to was the Tempest Temple.

　　Therefore, why would anyone from the Holy Church of Light enter the picture then?

　　Could the Holy Church of Light be taking advantage of the situation for their personal gain?

　　Was there something else going on behind the scene?

　　He lifted his teacup and took a small sip from it.

　　Despite his reluctance in facing this ambiguous crisis, he had no choice but to let himself get involved in it. Otherwise, he would have to play dumb and excuse himself from the case by claiming to have insufficient ability to solve it.

　　“Centurion, Zhu Fan has come to pay you a visit,” Dong Qifei announced loudly.

　　How he wished that the people from the other Courtyards could hear him too.

　　Chu Li huffed. “Lower your voice. I can hear you just fine. Invite him in.”

　　“Understood!” Dong Qifei continued to speak in a loud voice.

　　Chu Li threw him a glare and Dong Qifei immediately lowered his head in submission.

　　Zhu Fan entered the main hall, greeted him with a fist salute and said, “Centurion Chu, I have come under Centurion Chen’s orders to offer an apology to Centurion Chu on his behalf.”

　　Chu Li raised an eyebrow and smiled pleasantly. “Centurion Chen is too courteous.”

　　“This is just a small token of his regard to show his respect to you. Centurion Chu, please accept it.” He then took out a few banknotes and handed them over with both hands.

　　Chu Li gave Dong Qifei a glance.

　　Dong Qifei stepped forward to receive the banknotes and immediately passed them to Chu Li without counting them.

　　Chu Li took the banknotes in his hands and glanced at them. Then he smiled and said, “A hundred thousand taels. Centurion Chen is being really generous!”

　　“Please take these as compensation from the Centurion!” Zhu Fan gave a fist salute and smiled. “I hope Centurion Chu won’t refuse it!”

　　“Very well, I can hardly refuse such kindness. I shall accept this little token from Centurion Chen then!” Chu Li returned the smile. “Do thank Centurion Chen on my behalf.”

　　“I will.” Zhu Fan held up a fist salute again. “In that case, I shall ask to be excused then!”

　　“Dong Qifei, please see him out!” Chu Li said.

　　Dong Qifei grinned from ear to ear, laughed and said, “Elder Zhu, allow me to escort you!”

　　Zhu Fan smiled and left alongside Dong Qifei.

　　Chu Li held the hundred thousand taels of silver in his hands and smiled to himself, seeing through Chen Donghai’s intentions at once.

　　Aside from asking to be shown mercy, Chen Donghai was using these hundred thousand taels of silver as a means of provocation, challenging him to see if he had it in him to accept it just like that.

　　“Dong Qifei!” he called, raising his voice.

　　Dong Qifei quickly responded, “Present!”

　　“Come in!” Chu Li commanded.

　　Dong Qifei might seem dim-witted and reckless but there were times when he was able to understand the situation well too. After having seen Zhu Fan out, he did not return to the main hall, pretending that the incident had never happened in the first place.

　　Dong Qifei carefully entered into the main hall.

　　Chu Li pulled out a piece of banknote and stuffed it into his inner pocket before throwing the rest of them in his direction. “Take these and distribute them among everyone else!”

　　“Ah!” Dong Qifei exclaimed in surprise and rushed forward to catch the banknotes that were flying all over the place.

　　With his agile hands, he caught the banknotes one after another, demonstrating his exquisite skills. In the end, none of the nine pieces of banknotes had fallen to the ground. Instead, he had managed to catch all of them.

　　Chu Li waved a hand in dismissal. “Everyone will receive six thousand taels each. The remaining amount may be used as miscellaneous expenses for the Courtyard. I’ll leave it up to all of you.”

　　“Centurion…” Dong Qifei anxiously replied, “this has been given to you by Chen Donghai. How could we accept it!”

　　Chu Li laughed. “Stop being so long-winded!”

　　Dong Qifei chuckled in embarrassment. “Yes, I’ll do as you bid!”

　　Six thousand taels was not a small figure, for it totaled up to half a year of their salary.

　　Qin Jin and his eight other companions had just returned. They had no money on them and were already in their old age. This was the time in their lives when they would be most in need of money. Therefore, the six thousand taels would be timely assistance to them, allowing them to support their own families.

　　When they had all received their fair share of the money and were happily coming over to express their gratitude, they found that Chu Li was already gone.