Chapter 52 – Investigation

“Dean Qin, it’s me, Li Zheng. Did my Golden-Winged Great Peng come to visit Bai Ze?” Li Zheng said while knocking on the door.

Qin Shu went downstairs and opened the door, nodding at Li Zheng, but his gaze fell on the inspector, saying, “It’s truly perfect timing that you’ve arrived.”

Hearing the urgency in Qin Shu’s tone, Li Zheng assumed that the Great Peng had caused some trouble and hurriedly said, “I’m really sorry. My Great Peng has been acting strange lately, as if it’s in its rebellious phase. It must have given you quite a headache, hasn’t it?”

No sooner had Li Zheng finished speaking than the young Golden-Winged Great Peng flew out of the room and headed straight for him.

Li Zheng had been badmouthing the Great Peng behind its back about its rebellious phase, never expecting that it would fly right up to him. He felt a bit guilty and quickly explained, “Little Jin, let me explain. I wasn’t…”

Before he could finish, he saw the Golden-Winged Great Peng bypass him, flying over to the inspector and taking him into the room.

Li Zheng was speechless.

What was going on?

He looked at Qin Shu, who ignored him and immediately chased after the Golden-Winged Great Peng and the inspector upstairs.

Li Zheng felt as though he had been abandoned by the world and hurriedly followed them up.

The inspector was taken aback by the sudden attack from the Golden-Winged Great Peng and wanted to resist, but remembering that it was Li Zheng’s spirit beast and out of trust for Qin Shu, he held back temporarily and did not strike back.

Once the Golden-Winged Great Peng placed him on the third floor, the inspector immediately noticed Bai Ze, barely alive.

“This is… Bai Ze? How did it end up like this? Could the backlash from the prophecy be so severe?” the inspector exclaimed.

As soon as he spoke, the inspector realized that Qin Shu and the others were unaware of his identity and quickly added, “Dean Qin, I’m an employee of the Special Affairs Bureau. We met during the meeting before. At the time, I heard that Bai Ze’s injuries would heal quickly, so how did it come to this…”

Qin Shu took his hand and said, “Comrade Inspector from the Lingxi Department, I know you want to keep your identity hidden, but the situation is urgent, so I’ll speak frankly.”

Thus, in front of Inspector Zhang’s astonished eyes, Qin Shu explained Bai Ze’s condition.

“Why didn’t you inform us sooner about such a major issue?” Li Zheng, who had caught up, asked with concern, momentarily forgetting to settle accounts with the Golden-Winged Great Peng.

Qin Shu replied, “Bai Ze woke up several times and said that it sensed that it had gone against the will of heaven, with its end approaching. I feared that seeking help to save it might result in other spirit beasts being punished, so I chose to bear the burden with Bai Ze. Luckily, Yun Xiguang brought Azure Dragon to visit Bai Ze today, and Senior Azure Dragon noticed the problem with Bai Ze. Otherwise… sigh!”

He sighed heavily.

Inspector Zhang desperately wanted to ask Qin Shu how he knew his identity, but it was clearly not the right time to discuss such matters.

The appearance of the fourth spirit energy thread and Bai Ze’s injuries — both issues needed to be addressed urgently.

The inspector said, “I will immediately investigate the list of residents in the sanatorium . But there’s something you’ve been discussing around Bai Ze without considering whether the Spiritbond Master of the Weaver Ant might hear. Why haven’t you discussed it away from Bai Ze?”

The Golden-Winged Great Peng arrogantly “clucked” once and then said, “The information within this room will absolutely not leak out.”

It was a divine beast, so Inspector Zhang assumed that the Golden-Winged Great Peng had set up a barrier, preventing the information from spreading.

What he didn’t realize was that the one truly sealing the information within the room was Chi Qiong.

Although he had not regained his strength, with three phoenix feathers on his person, no living creature dared to transmit his information.

This was the same principle as why no one could see the phoenix feathers; even if the Weaver Ants wanted to relay the information, those outside would only receive garbled sounds and pixelated images.

With the Great Peng’s assurance, the inspector confidently sent out messages, requesting that the members of the Lingxi Department send the list as soon as possible.

The Lingxi Department was efficient, and in less than ten minutes, Inspector Zhang received the list.

Surprisingly, there was no Spiritbond Master who had been continuously staying in the sanatorium recently.

Spirit beasts had strong self-healing abilities, and if their injuries remained unhealed for more than half a month, they were likely close to death.

Therefore, no one staying in the sanatorium exceeded ten days, yet Bai Ze’s injuries had lasted at least two months, and the Weaver Ant’s main body had to remain near Bai Ze.

“Could it be that the fourth spirit energy thread caused the Weaver Ant to evolve, allowing the person to control the Weaver Ant remotely?” the inspector speculated.

Yun Xiguang shook his head. “Unless the Weaver Ant completely masters the power of the spirit energy, it cannot evolve to such an extent. Ants are creatures with low spirituality, and becoming a spirit beast is already a qualitative change.”

“It’s been three months since the day the spirit energy split into nine threads. Perhaps the Weaver Ant has indeed mastered the spirit energy’s power completely,” Li Zheng guessed.

“There is not a single living creature in the world that can completely master the spirit energy,” Yun Xiguang said with certainty.

Because Chi Qiong was awake.

If Chi Qiong had remained in a deep sleep, the spirit energy might have been completely mastered by spirit beasts; but the original owner was awake, and after reclaiming three phoenix feathers, he had been regaining consciousness for longer periods. As long as the owner was present, the power of the phoenix feathers could not be fully absorbed by other spirit beasts.

Yun Xiguang did not explain the reason and took the list from Inspector Zhang’s hands, looking through it carefully.