Soon, a team of people tasked with capturing the Chief of Seven Bends darted out from the city gate.
As this team emerged, the entire Zhixu City shimmered, rippling and fading like an illusion.
The massive city suddenly vanished into thin air.
Those outside, who were heading towards the city gate, stopped one after another, all dumbfounded.
The city was gone, the world was empty, with only distant mountains and desolate wilds remaining. If they hadn't seen others also approaching from that direction, they would have thought they had taken the wrong path.
Many didn't know what was happening, while some knew that such a situation only occurred under one circumstance: Zhixu City had completely sealed its gates.
This was a very rare occurrence; many had never witnessed it, most had only heard rumors.
The guards on the city wall saw that the external scenery remained unchanged, just as before…
In the guest room, the seemingly calm Ba Yingshan visited again. Upon seeing Qi Yueru, he immediately urged in a low voice, “Quick, leave, you cannot stay any longer, leave this place quickly.”
Qi Yueru also sensed something was wrong from his reaction and naturally had to ask, “What’s wrong?”
It would have been better if she hadn't asked. The moment she did, Ba Yingshan couldn't help but flare up, gnashing his teeth, “Believing your nonsense, I went to capture those two local tyrants.
This matter has aroused the Prison Inspector’s suspicion. The Prison Inspector has already taken over the prison and is personally participating in the interrogation.”
Qi Yueru said in disbelief, “Capturing just two such people can alarm the Prison Inspector? This is your territory, what exactly have you done? How could you mess this up too?”
“Who would have thought that Lan Qiaoyan, that woman, would also get involved…” Ba Yingshan immediately explained the general situation of the incident.
Qi Yueru was quite speechless after hearing this.
She hadn't expected such an unexpected turn of events, that Lan Qiaoyan would mistakenly believe it was aimed at her. How could one explain this?
If one were to say Lan Qiaoyan was trying to save her future son-in-law, let alone Ba Yingshan, even she wouldn't believe Lan Qiaoyan would take a liking to such an ant.
Putting herself in Lan Qiaoyan's shoes, she was also a woman.
Given that, this truly was just a misunderstanding.
Now, whether it was a misunderstanding or not no longer mattered. Things had come to this, and Du Huoguan had personally intervened.
Although Ba Yingshan said the lead had been cut off, she no longer dared to linger. If they truly dug deep into those two local tyrants, some things could easily be connected.
She immediately complied with Ba Yingshan’s wish and quickly packed her belongings, preparing to leave.
Previously, she had been trying to arrange to take her son’s and brother’s remains for burial, but there was a rule here: banished cultivators who died here would return to dust and earth here.
However, there were always exceptions to every rule, but she couldn't worry about that now, fearing that if she delayed, she wouldn't be able to escape at all.
It was inconvenient to leave together, so Ba Yingshan left the room first.
However, he had barely taken a few steps out the door when he suddenly stopped, looked up at the void above, and his expression changed.
Qi Yueru, who was looking out from inside the room, saw that he hadn't left and was standing there, unresponsive.
She immediately walked out, glanced around, and was about to ask when Ba Yingshan spoke first, “You probably can’t leave for now.”
Qi Yueru said nervously, “What do you mean?”
As soon as her words fell, the answer came.
Ba City Lord’s confidant rushed over and reported in a low voice to Ba City Lord, “City Lord, the Prison Inspector has ordered a city-wide lockdown! All passages leading out of the city have been cut off!”
Ba Yingshan hummed gravely, then dismissed his subordinate. He turned to look at the grim-faced Qi Yueru and lightly said, “Are you satisfied now?”
He was clearly mocking her for not listening to his advice earlier and insisting on causing trouble.
At this moment, Ba Yingshan couldn't say much more to vent. He motioned for her to go back to the room and wait patiently, then quickly left.
After thoroughly understanding the current situation in the city, he went directly to Du Huoguan.
Du Huoguan was still circling the star map in the pit, leisurely placing his pieces.
After saluting, Ba Yingshan asked, “Prison Inspector, why the city lockdown?”
Du Huoguan glanced at him and clearly stated, “Shi Chun and the other man were framed. We are apprehending the instigator, some Chief from Seven Bends.”
“Framed? Is that true!” Ba Yingshan looked furious and immediately cupped his hands, requesting, “Your humble subordinate will personally lead people to capture him!”
Du Huoguan held a gem between two fingers and waved it, staring at the star map, saying, “There might be an inside traitor. You should recuse yourself.”
The words were simple and direct, demonstrating the power of confidence, leaving Ba Yingshan speechless. He could only grudgingly agree, obediently cooperate, and then respectfully withdraw.
In the evening, someone delivered the items specified by Du Huoguan: the confessions of Shi Chun and Wu Jinliang, along with other detailed related information.
Du Huoguan reviewed them, pondered for a while, then went up to the top floor again.
The space on the top floor had changed again, now featuring a brocade couch where Nie, head resting high on a pillow, lay on his side, seemingly asleep.
The opened black umbrella was tossed on the ground, and the brushes and paints on the desk were also carelessly left.
Du Huoguan walked to the couch and, addressing the person who appeared to be asleep, recounted the details of Shi Chun and the other man’s confessions. He then described the collected life history of the two.
With a clear target, it wasn't difficult for him to obtain non-secret information, especially since Shi Chun had managed East Nine Plains with considerable renown, and countless people had already inquired about him.
Du Huoguan’s account of the first half of the history was quite generalized, trying to be concise, as his main focus was on the latter part: Shi Chun offending Shen Youkun, Qi Yueru’s son, and then suddenly acquiring a large sum of goods a month ago, so he could analyze the connections between events.
Unexpectedly, before he could get to the latter part, he only managed to say that several years ago, Shi Chun had successively sent dozens of people out of East Nine Plains, showing considerable capability, when Nie, lying sideways on the brocade couch, suddenly opened his eyes.
Then Du Huoguan couldn't continue speaking, simply because Nie extended his hand towards him, clearly indicating he wanted the papers in his hand.
Not listening, wanting to see for himself—this was a very rare occurrence, as this esteemed figure rarely showed interest in anything anymore. Du Huoguan was stunned until Nie crooked his finger at him, upon which he hastily offered the papers with both hands.
With the stack of papers in hand, Nie shifted slightly, finding a more comfortable reclining position for reading. He first looked at the page Du Huoguan had turned to, seemingly reading it very seriously and carefully.
This scene greatly surprised Du Huoguan, who was waiting nearby.
After finishing the current page, Nie then flipped through all the papers, page by page, including the confessions of Shi Chun and the other man which had already been mentioned once.
Finally, he flipped back to the first page that Du Huoguan had handed him.
Appearing half-asleep, he stared at it for a while longer, then slowly spoke, “So, this means that over these years, he had at least dozens of opportunities to leave the Land of Exile, but he gave them all to others.”
He, who rarely spoke, actually spoke because of an insignificant minor character.
Du Huoguan was very surprised, and also unsure why the other party's focus was on this point.
However, he still nodded and said, “Indeed. According to the information collected, it’s actually not much of a secret.
After this Shi Chun became the chief of East Nine Plains, he publicly told the people of East Nine Plains that he grew up eating ‘hundred-family meals’ from East Nine Plains and would not let everyone down. He said that as long as there was still one person who couldn't leave, he wouldn't leave, and that he would definitely be the last one to leave.”
Nie’s gaze was still on the paper. “So, he actually did that, and he accomplished it.”