Chapter 318 - Jin Fu

Chapter 318: Chapter 73 Jin FuThe teaching district controlled by the Holy Court was instantly recognizable; all its architectural styles were very retro and had their distinct features, and they had to be white, with people arranged to clean them every day.

After crossing from the residential area into the teaching district, there was a noticeable increase in the number of students—groups of three or five shuttling between the regimented lecture buildings, acquiring knowledge, conducting various research, or enhancing their abilities.

"The Holy Academy does look quite nice." Qing Ling said, her arm intertwined with Lu Hong’s. At her age, she should have been enjoying the blissful campus life with her peers in the academy.

"Ha ha, I miss it too." Lu Hong smiled, and then the two made their way through the teaching district, heading straight for the Holy Court’s residential area.

"This humble servant greets the judge knight, Sir!"

The patrol frequency in the Holy Court’s residential area was very high—in just a short ten minutes, they had encountered four patrol teams.

Unexpectedly, in just one day’s time, the people here had all come to recognize her.

"It seems you have quite the capability," Lu Hong remarked. "In such a short time, everyone has become so respectful towards you."

"Not really," Qing Ling retorted with a pout. "It’s just that the regulations within the Holy Court are strict. In the presence of superiors, one must remain devout and respectful, especially towards the teams of judge knights responsible for monitoring internal affairs. Who would dare to be insolent before them?"

"Not ’they,’ but ’you.’ Aren’t you also a judge knight?"

"I suppose so," Qing Ling said. "I never thought about what being a judge knight would bring me. After officially starting the job yesterday, I reaped so many benefits. Just the allocations my father and grandfather had accumulated over a hundred years made me a fortune. More than a million Gold Coins, along with various resources for cultivation."

"Now you are truly a little rich lady." The two walked into Qing Ling’s temporary residence, where three maidservants came forward to kneel and salute, then helped them change clothes and served tea.

"Come with me to the secret chamber," Qing Ling said. "The matter you asked me to investigate is also a secret within the Holy Court, and I fear walls have ears."

Lu Hong nodded and only after walking into the secret chamber did he ask, "What? Is someone targeting you?"

"Not targeting me, but our family," Qing Ling said helplessly. "Yesterday’s job reporting process went quite smoothly, but then a fat man barged into the church, mocking and sneering at me, saying things like several generations haven’t returned and it would be best if they never came back."

"And then what?"

"And then there was no ’and then’!" Qing Ling said. "The fat man dared only to be mouthy. He had no authority to obstruct my job reporting. However, later on, Tai Hongyun told me that the man was also a judge knight, and his ancestors have been at odds with my family for generations. The notice for my job reporting from the court was almost all intercepted by him in secret. This time, when I accompanied you to the Sevenfold Illusory World, he had people lay an ambush in the dark, but these men met a tragic end, assumed by Marquis Ci Pu to be Mo Na’s men, and were dealt with accordingly."

"You need to be careful," Lu Hong warned. "The man has been in control of academic affairs for many years. For now, it’s best not to confront him directly. First secure your footing, then make plans."

"Make plans?" Qing Ling chuckled, "You think I really care about the title of judge knight?"

"Alright." Lu Hong shrugged. "Forget I said anything."

"If it wasn’t to help you, I wouldn’t have bothered coming back to report for duty." Qing Ling sat down, picked up a photograph, and handed it to Lu Hong: "Is this him?"

Without looking closely, Lu Hong recognized the person: "That’s him, no doubt."

"All right then. His name is Jin Fu, ranked seventh in the hierarchy, and he’s been one of the bishops newly promoted in the last decade. This trip to the Rao Xue dimension plane was to oversee an investigation for the Holy Court."

Lu Hong sat down and took the investigation files Qing Ling handed him. The files showed that Jin Fu had, three years ago, attended an internal meeting of the Holy Court, taking on the task of finding and investigating long-distance teleportation gates. Two months ago, he submitted a report about the elves legend to headquarters, speculating that there might be one of the legendary long-distance teleportation gates in the Rao Xue dimension plane.

After obtaining unanimous permission from other bishops, Jin Fu took his team to the Rao Xue dimension plane to conduct a covert investigation. At an internal meeting a month ago, he reported his findings—traces were found, but they were no longer functional.

"So, you were ordered to investigate," Lu Hong frowned, "but that’s not quite right either. I remember in Ambra, Lei Shan’s people were also investigating this teleportation gate. Aren’t they on the same side?"

Qing Ling nodded, "You guessed it right. That’s the official story, but in fact, after Jin Fu accepted the Holy Court Council’s mission, he secretly contacted Lei Shan and formed an alliance with them. Jin Fu’s trip to my Rao Xue plane, whether the legendary elves’ teleportation gate exists or not, the report back to the Holy Court would definitely claim it doesn’t exist or has been damaged beyond use. The goal was to let Lei Shan monopolize this gate and establish a fortress there."

"It’s a good thing you destroyed that teleportation gate," Qing Ling said with some relief. "Tai Hongyun also investigated Lei Shan’s military movements during that time. A troop of one hundred thousand had already assembled near the Rao Xue plane. If the gate had not been destroyed, Lei Shan would likely have launched a surprise attack on Rao Xue and completely occupied it that very day."

"Does this mean I saved your family’s skin?" Lu Hong said with a slight smile.

With a serious nod, Qing Ling replied, "Indeed."

"So how do you plan to repay me?" Lu Hong teased casually.

"How about, um..." Qing Ling hesitated, "I offer myself to you?"

"Pfft—" Lu Hong regretted his words. Did he have to speak so carelessly?

Without objection, she took his silence as agreement, and Qing Ling pounced like a hungry tiger.

"Get lost!" Lu Hong pushed Qing Ling away irritably, "I don’t like them too young, too childish."

"Ah?" Qing Ling looked at Lu Hong disappointedly, "You like older women? That’s not it, then why were you with Ci Nian Nian?" Sёarᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"It wasn’t together, that was fake. Just helping her out of a jam."

"You’re that kind-hearted?" Qing Ling expressed her doubt.

"What else?"

"Then how about this? Since you’re helping others, you might as well help me too."

Lu Hong rolled his eyes, "Help you with what? No one’s bothering you."

"Thing is, lately my parents keep appearing in my dreams, telling me to start a family, to secure a future for the Rao Xue clan." Qing Ling said playfully, "How about you help me with that?"

"Get lost!"

Now that he knew who the other party was, Lu Hong’s next plan was to deal with him. He couldn’t let this bastard cause him to reveal his identity on the battlefield of the Eagle Alliance’s campaign and needed to find a reasonable explanation for using his Angry Blood powers. Just relying on the few academy masters he’d learned about from Anna had already shown that it wouldn’t be possible to win using only the skills of a Great War Master. He had to rely on the powers of a Second-Transformation Peak Angry Blood Warrior to contend with the top talents of the Eagle Alliance.

"You want me to arrange to meet with Jin Fu for you?" Qing Ling widened her eyes, "Are you ill? Even if I could arrange a meeting, if Jin Fu were willing to see you, he’d definitely recognize you. Do you want to die? This is the seven-layered realm; there’s no escape."

"No worries, I’ve made arrangements already. You just help me set up the meeting," Lu Hong said with a smile. "As for a place, right here is fine. I’ll wait for him here."

"What should we use as the reason?" Qing Ling, struggling for ideas, asked Lu Hong, "You tell me, what’s a good excuse? He’s a prelate. While I might have some authority over him internally, in terms of church hierarchy, his position is higher than mine. I’d have to go to him if I want to meet."

"Just be straightforward, pass a message that you want to discuss with him the matter of how the Rao Xue plane’s teleportation gate was damaged," Lu Hong continued, "You are, after all, the Queen of Rao Xue. Jin Fu covertly operated on your plane, perhaps you have some special way to know the details?"

"That should work," Qing Ling nodded. "But is it really okay to provoke Jin Fu like this? Although it’s inconvenient for him to act, he has the support of Lei Shan behind him. And you don’t need to confront Jin Fu directly; he’s already violated the Holy Court’s laws. I just need to convene a trial with the Knights Council and present indisputable evidence to convict him."

"No!" Lu Hong shook his head, "Jin Fu must be kept. Since he could become Lei Shan’s pawn within the Holy Court, he could also become our pawn next to Lei Shan, couldn’t he?"

Qing Ling nodded in agreement, "Idols will be idols."