Beginning with the Ubume Bird
Chapter 701 - Chapter 701 Chapter 9 Troubles Brewing

Chapter 701: Chapter 9 Troubles Brewing Chapter 701: Chapter 9 Troubles Brewing “I’m fine, I’m fine.”

Zhuo Jiu sat up straight and gently pushed away Zhao Jianzhong’s hand, “Let’s not talk about this for now. The Life Realm has already declined. You surely don’t plan to sacrifice my old life as a rallying banner, do you?”

Zhao Jianzhong had no response, merely shaking his head, “Let’s talk about the next issue. How do we clean up the mess behind us?”

This question was again directed at Zhuo Jiu.

“Handle the Resentment Club as you wish, I won’t interfere in the process. But he must die. Those who escaped, I will capture them one by one,” Zhuo Jiu dabbed the corner of his mouth with a handkerchief, “Also, Ben Wu’s head isn’t in the Life Realm. From start to finish, we’ve only found one of his hands. This wasn’t an accident, I believe Sifan has another hideout in Leaf Sea, Su Ling.”

He suddenly called out to Su Ling, “I still need to use Weiyue Yan for a while longer.”

“Of course, no problem.”

Su Ling replied with a smile.

“You are so impulsive, I’m not comfortable with you doing this alone.”

Zhao Jianzhong said.

Zhuo Jiu, with his eyes closed, “You can find someone to accompany me, but I can’t guarantee it will be of any use.”

“Alright. Let’s go with Bai, you know him as well.”

The two exchanged glances and words. And with that, the matter was settled.

“Is it possible that even Sifan himself hasn’t found where Ben Wu’s head is?”

Zhan Yuejin brought up the topic.

“It’s unlikely, otherwise who would have selected the new Eight Sufferings? Just a left hand doesn’t have that ability. According to our original plan, splitting Ben Wu should have created several, or even dozens of independent consciousnesses capable of suppression, like Muni. But the fact is, that hand is obviously still Ben Wu. Hence, I insist, Sifan has already found Ben Wu’s head. The cunning rabbit has three burrows.”

Zhuo Jiu continued.

“Just not cut up finely enough.”

Cao Yuanchao thought he was humorous, but no one responded.

“Anyway, this is a good start,” Zhan Yuejin said, “Maybe one day we can find a way to kill Ben Wu completely.”

“We should pursue our victory, especially against the new Wu Yin Flourishing,” Zhuo Jiu emphasized, “Speaking of which, I just remembered. Elder, about your team’s recovery operation, what did you retrieve?”

Zhao Jianzhong’s expression was unchanged, “With Wu Yin Flourishing causing chaos, what could we recover?”

Zhuo Jiu clearly wasn’t satisfied with that answer, “The Myriad Assembly of Humanity’s Prime, well, that’s alright; it’s much like Yuejin’s treasure refining. The Fruit Core Hoard, too, no big deal. Our family has ample resources, we won’t miss a little. But Alter Fate on Behalf of Heaven, it can strip Yan Fu of its legacy. It’s a highly dangerous item that could threaten the Yan Zhao Club, and we should have spared no effort to kill or control it. Are you saying you let it fall into Leaf Sea just like that?”

Zhao Jianzhong smiled softly, “It’s not as serious as that. Plus, I made a written report before. The owner of Alter Fate on Behalf of Heaven, Qian Wu, is already dead.”

“How did he die?”

“He was corroded and assimilated by a low-danger product of Feather Stem-Bingzi 128, dying without a complete corpse.”

“But the fruit has already fallen off. All records in Earth Endurance were lost, and we’re left with only your written report.”

Zhao Jianzhong looked at Zhuo Jiu, “You’re saying I’m lying.”

“I don’t mean that, I’m just saying that the evidence isn’t sufficient.”

“There’s nothing insufficient about it. Once the fruit fell, for long-term considerations, Earth Endurance didn’t recover it, abandoning all action records of Yan Fu’s movements during the event. That’s the protocol.”

“If you’ve completed the event perfectly, then it’s protocol. If not, it isn’t.”

“I don’t think there’s any part I didn’t complete perfectly.”

“I said, about that Qian Wu. Cough cough cough~”

Zhuo Jiu, clearly agitated, “I’ve read your written report. You saved those little guys and even killed a proxy of Ben Wu, which is quite impressive. But compared to that, you should’ve brought back Alter Fate on Behalf of Heaven. I really don’t understand, you could save a bunch of little guys, none of whom are Proxy Travelers, from Wu Yin Flourishing, but you couldn’t save Qian Wu? And there’s more! You personally pledged, urging Tao Zhu to issue loans totaling an astonishing twelve million to those eight retired Mos. You’re really generous. Compared to your criticisms of me, I find your behavior far more suspicious.”

Zhao Jianzhong remained unmoved:

“Sifan’s sudden appearance was unexpected by all. I promised them the resources to reach the Six Ministries if they killed Muni and I had to keep my word. About the loan, there are precedents for it; indeed, I handled it by the book, but within protocol.”

“How could there be such a ridiculous precedent!”

Zhuo Jiu shouted loudly.

“Cough cough~” Cao Yuanchao coughed a few times, “Shanjiu, it’s like this, there are precedents, you’re not often in Yan Fu and don’t know, Third Eye Global has borrowed quite a bit of money over the years, such loan terms aren’t the first.”

Zhuo Jiu was startled at first, but seeing the hesitance from Cao Yuanchao swallowed what he was about to say. He inquired sullenly, “How much can it be? Can it really be on the same scale as this time?”

“On behalf of Third Eye Global, I applied for a maximum loan of 1.5 million, a total of three times,”

“Three times?” Zhuo Jiu sneered coldly, “What, did you take a new wife?”

“It’s not just Wen Ji, Gengchen, Yi; they also borrowed.”

“How did they also…?”

Zhuo Jiu furrowed his brows.

“Over the years, Third Eye Global has been gradually expanding. Adding up all kinds of loans, Third Eye Global has borrowed a total of 25 million points from Yan Zhao Club.”

Hou Tu, who had been silent up until now, finally spoke up, “Moreover, Su Ling, along with projects including the ‘Billions of Stars Plan’ and sixteen others, joined forces with Bu Yang and ten other sky-class representatives to borrow more than 16.2 million points. Qin An also had some miscellaneous loans of over 4 million before he passed. Let me put it this way, in the past two years, among all the representatives, the only ones who haven’t borrowed points under various pretexts are Zhan Yuejin and Zhao the old man.”

Zhuo Jiu looked around the meeting with an almost cannibalistic gaze.

“Borrowing doesn’t mean spending.”

Zhan Yuejin had no choice but to speak up, “Most of the loans are used for good causes, with terms ranging from one year, two years, and at most not exceeding five years, and all will be recovered. The old man has always been public-spirited. Of those eight people, besides Yang Zheng, the others can’t be tied too closely to him. Regarding Sifan and Ben Wu, the rewards are distributed at the maximum level, and I don’t think there’s any problem with that.”

Su Ling also chimed in, “I also think there’s nothing questionable about the old man’s recovery events. Didn’t we also think it was just a normal recovery event before? Things like ‘Alter Fate on Behalf of Heaven’ only appeared in the written reports that the old man himself wrote. If he had intentions to secretively keep high-danger items during the recovery events, why wouldn’t he just falsify the written reports and fabricate various accidents causing the death of fellow travelers? It would’ve been undetectable, right? Eh? Why are you all looking at me like that?”

Hou Tu whispered with a low voice from beside, “Because they feel that, since you explained it in such detail, you might have actually done this kind of thing.”

“Stop dragging your feet,” Zhuo Jiu said, somewhat dispassionately, “How was An’s money handled in the end?”

“It was repaid by the trade organization he managed before his death.”

“Zhao Xuantan, right? I got it.”

Zhuo Jiu didn’t dwell on the issue any further.

“Any other issues?”

Su Ling flipped through the document in front of her, “There’s more; the maintenance funds for the Feathered Divine Soldiers and human soldiers are short, the Earth Endurance of Stem-Shen 4 has started to be distributed, but there have been some troubles, and…”

After the meeting.

Zhuo Jiu and Zhao Jianzhong looked at each other, with everyone else having left the hall, neither of them moved.

“Sometimes I think, which of us two is really that ‘yellow dye’.”

“What yellow fuel? I don’t understand what you’re talking about,”

Zhao Jianzhong smiled slightly, “Nothing.”

“I heard you only have nine years of life left, is that true or false?”

“It’s true.”

Zhuo Jiu pursed his lips and suddenly laughed, “You should retire, have you thought about a place? Lay down your wings, find a picturesque place, and become a Wingless Worm. I might visit you from time to time. True Martial is actually not bad.”

“I will not give up Human Master, I will die in office in Yan Fu.”

Zhao Jianzhong’s gaze was piercing.

Zhuo Jiu remained silent, no longer speaking, and stood up to leave. He had only taken a few steps when Zhao Jianzhong also stood up, “As for leading the Yan Zhao Club, you should stop thinking about it; you’re not fit for the role.”

Zhuo Jiu, as if he hadn’t heard, walked away without a pause in his step.

————————-

“How about this, I’m willing to liquidate some points for everyone, and I want that Bitter Instrument Embryo.”

Bai Xiao said.

“That thing has side effects, doesn’t it?”

Zhao Xin didn’t understand why Bai Xiao would choose the Bitter Instrument. The Four Pillars Dragon Eye Fiend seemed to be more cost-efficient at a glance.

“Yang Zheng and I never intended to pick the fruit; we have no use for that thing,” Bai Xiao said as he held the black cicada slough in his hand, scrutinizing it closely.

“Then this Four Pillars Dragon Eye Fiend,” Li Yan held it up, “I won’t be polite then.”

“I’ll compensate the other seven with two thousand points each. Bai Xiao makes up one thousand. How does that sound to everyone?”

“Let’s not be so clear-cut among our own people. Take it, it’s what you and Yang Zheng deserve.”