Chapter 930: Stone Eye (2)

“We have a traitor among us,” Zhou Shisan’s words were shocking.

His gaze swept the crowd, lingering briefly on each person’s face. Finally, it settled on Li Xiaofei, whose heart skipped a beat.

Could this guy be planning to use this opportunity to falsely accuse me?

Just as Li Xiaofei grew wary, Zhou Shisan shouted loudly, “Guards, arrest Lao Xinhua!”

Whoosh, whoosh.

In an instant, more than a dozen figures darted like lightning toward a figure in the crowd. Their target was the cold, enchanting woman with a human body and a snake tail.

“What are you doing?!” She demanded furiously as she assumed a defensive stance.

As one of the top ten nobles present at tonight’s banquet, this magnetic Reaper named Lao Xinhua came from the Dusa clan. Her cultivation was at a high stage within the Seven Transformation Realm. She was not someone to be trifled with.

“Zhou Shisan, you dare slander me?” Lao Xinhua’s aura surged as she faced the experts surrounding her, glaring angrily at Zhou Shisan.

“Slander you?” Zhou Shisan sneered. “If it weren’t for you providing the original poison, allowing everyone to be unknowingly poisoned, how else could that explosion have killed so many? Am I slandering you? We only need to extract the toxin from everyone’s bodies and analyze it. If it matches your clan’s signature toxin, Stone Eye, then we’ll have our answer.”

The words caused the crowd’s gaze toward Lao Xinhua to grow suspicious. The Dusa clan’s signature poison, Stone Eye, indeed had the effect of silently poisoning others. Its effects felt extremely similar to the numbness and sluggishness many now felt within themselves.

Lao Xinhua furiously retorted, “Even if it’s Stone Eye, there are thousands of members in the Dusa clan. Our enemies could have obtained it elsewhere. How can you prove it was me?”

Zhou Shisan sneered coldly. “Even if it wasn’t you personally, it’s definitely linked to the Dusa clan. Stone Eye is your clan’s innate talent. It’s extremely difficult to collect unless given voluntarily. Moreover, only a Dusa expert above Stage Six could produce such a potent poison that could affect so many people here without them realizing it. That naturally includes you, as a clan elder.”

“You—” Lao Xinhua was furious.

She felt the crowd’s gazes growing increasingly hostile. She no longer tried to explain but instead turned toward the Grand Princess, “Princess, please give me justice.”

The Grand Princess did not respond. Her gaze remained fixed on the banquet hall’s exit. The experts she had dispatched to pursue the human and demon attackers had been gone for a long time now, and no news had yet arrived.

This concerned the whereabouts of the Time Jade, and she couldn’t spare the attention for anything else.

“Grand Princess, please allow me to handle this matter. I will personally uncover the traitor and recover the Time Jade,” Zhou Shisan volunteered.

The Grand Princess was just about to speak when...

Whoosh.

A single figure dashed into the hall, blood streaming from his body. It was one of the two Seven Transformation Realm experts from the Hui Yao clan who had chased after the attackers earlier. His name was Elder Qi.

He knelt on one knee, blood dripping down his robes, and reported, “Princess, we caught up to those human-demon traitors and were about to capture them, but their reinforcements arrived as well. Their strength was terrifying, and they managed to escape. Elder Long is leading the personal guards in pursuit, and I returned to deliver the message.”

The crowd in the banquet hall was shocked at the report. Long and Qi, two of the Hui Yao clan’s most formidable elders, both stood at the high stage of the Seven Transformation Realm, with unfathomable combat power.

Rumor had it that Elder Long even possessed a Demon God weapon. Such a powerful capture team had still allowed those human-demon rebels to slip through their grasp. Since when had the port world outside the Holy Ruins gathered so many powerful human-demon cultivators?

After all, with the human-demon rebel army’s commander slain, the remaining forces were considered inconsequential and incapable of stirring up any major troubles. The Reaper race had already deemed it a matter of time before the human-demon threat was completely eradicated.

Yet these rebels had now caused such an upheaval. Moreover, there were even experts strong enough to wound Elders Long and Qi, both in the high stages of the Seven Transformation Realm.

It was clear that the strength and hidden resources of the human-demon rebels needed to be reassessed.

“Everyone, the Hui Yao clan will take responsibility for tonight’s events and will compensate for all casualties,” the Grand Princess said, taking note of everyone’s reactions. After a brief moment of consideration, she made her decision and declared in a clear voice, “Everyone may leave now.”

The guests at the scene all let out a sigh of relief. An event that was supposed to be a joyous banquet had instead ended in such chaos, with heavy casualties among the guests and the host’s treasure, the Time Jade, stolen. The losses were immense.

The guests began to disperse.

“Hold on,” Zhou Shisan called out loudly. “Everyone else may leave, but Lao Xinhua cannot. She must stay and assist in investigating the source of the Stone Eye poison.”

Lao Xinhua snorted coldly and looked toward the Grand Princess.

The Grand Princess said, “That’s unnecessary. I trust Elder Lao’s innocence. I will investigate this matter through other means. Elder Lao may leave now.”

Lao Xinhua cupped her hands in thanks, then glared resentfully at Zhou Shisan before leaving the wrecked banquet hall with the handsome, masculine human male companion by her side.

Li Xiaofei also took his leave. Once he returned to his room, he immediately checked every corner of it, ensuring there were no monitoring devices or formations. Satisfied, he changed into a sealed combat suit and quietly slipped out of the hotel.

***

Lao Xinhua remained silent on the way back. The handsome, masculine human man beside her kept a smile on his face as he tried to comfort her. “Little Hua, you don’t need to pay any attention to that mad dog Zhou Shisan. He’s just trying to show off in front of the Grand Princess by biting at you. He has no solid evidence. He can’t do anything to you. The Dusa clan is not inferior to the Yeniao clan.”

Lao Xinhua glanced at the man but said nothing. Her hand reached for his palm and started to gently caress it. The more a Reaper’s transformation into human form advanced, the more they tended to develop human emotions like love.

In the Reaper world, it was common for high-level Reapers who had successfully achieved human-like forms to, during the process of raising their pets, unknowingly develop genuine feelings for them.

Such behavior actually violated the Reaper world’s code of conduct. But as with many things in the world, the more forbidden something was, the more likely it was to happen. High-level Reapers who mimicked humans often got too deep into their roles.

“Hua’er, don’t worry. I’ll find a way to use my identity to investigate. Those people actually had the Stone Eye poison; their identities are definitely not simple. Maybe I can uncover some clues,” the handsome, masculine human man said.

A gentle smile appeared on Lao Xinhua’s face as she embraced him.

“Thank you, Xiangyang. It’s so wonderful to have you by my side,” she said softly.

The man’s name was Xue Xiangyang. He also embraced Lao Xinhua and said, “It’s me who should thank you. If you hadn’t rescued me from the slave camp, I’d probably be a pile of bones by now.”

The two of them held each other tightly inside the flying car. Moments later, they returned to the Dusa clan’s compound at the port.

“Elder, the port’s administrative bureau has already come to investigate,” an elderly woman with a snake tail and a head full of silver hair hurried to meet them. “All members of the compound have been questioned.”

“And the conclusion?” Lao Xinhua asked.

The old woman replied, “Of the two hundred and thirty-one clan members at Stage Four and above in the compound, none have shown any signs of extracting their original poison recently, nor have they sold Stone Eye poison to outsiders.”

Lao Xinhua nodded and said, “I understand. Continue investigating, and report to me immediately if there’s any lead.”

The old woman nodded and replied, “Yes, Elder.”

As she spoke, she seemed hesitant to say more. Lao Xinhua glanced at Xue Xiangyang and said, “Xiangyang, you go back and rest. Granny Rui and I have something to discuss.”

Xue Xiangyang said, “Alright, I’ll go prepare a medicinal bath. You’ve had a long, tiring day and deserve a good massage and rest.”

Lao Xinhua nodded and said, “Alright, thank you.”

Soon, only Lao Xinhua and Lao Rui remained in the room.

After a moment’s hesitation, Lao Rui said, “Elder, there is something I am not sure whether I should report to you.”

“Speak,” Lao Xinhua instructed.

Lao Rui said, “Ten days ago, I inadvertently saw that Xue Xiangyang had gone out alone. When I followed him, I discovered he had close contact with several human cultivators. It seemed they were exchanging something.”

“Oh?” Lao Xinhua’s tone sharpened. “You suspect him?”

Lao Rui said, “I compared this with the wanted notices issued by the Hui Yao clan. I found that one of the human-demon warriors who died at the banquet was someone who had previously been in contact with Xue Xiangyang.”

“Is that true?” A cold gleam burst from Lao Xinhua’s eyes. “That human wretch dared to do such a thing behind my back... Has anyone else learned of this?”