Chapter 322: Being Questioned

Just like Wei Ru had informed, two city guards came by his room just after lunch and asked all sorts of questions.

Like where he was from, why he was here, why he attended the function last night and the like.

Before coming to his room, the guards were already aware that he had accompanied Madam Cao Li to the banquet last night, which had taken place in the Imperial Palace.

Since he was a foreigner and also someone who had only recently entered the Black Rock Kingdom, they were suspicious of him before even coming to his room.

"Alright, Young Master Chen. Thank you for answering all the questions so far." One of the guards, who was at the Fourth Qi Absorption Stage, said in a professional manner before taking something out from inside his robes.

"Now, for the final test, please place your hand on this Qi Measuring Orb," the guard said with a harmless smile while passing the orb to Yi Chen.

"Ah...alright." Yi Chen nodded while accepting the orb from his hand.

However, even though the other party had a respectable attitude, Yi Chen didn’t lower his guard and, before pouring the Qi into the orb, inspected it with his ability.

======== STATUS =========

Name: Qi Measuring Orb (Low Grade)

Remark: Only shows the Cultivation Stage [Regenerate: 10,000 EXP]

========================

Confirming that the orb was indeed what the man had claimed it to be, Yi Chen subtly nodded his head and poured his Qi into it.

The circular runes that had been embedded in the Orb’s surface shone with a dense white light as a screen similar to that of his system appeared in front of their eyes.

[Ninth Layer of Meridian Refinement Stage]

Seeing the words that were flashing in front of their eyes, the subtle frowns on both the guards’ faces finally relaxed.

Glancing at each other, they subtly nodded. The last traces of suspicion vanished from their hearts. From their perspective, there was no way for someone who was just at the Ninth Meridian Refinement Stage to kidnap Cao Li.

Taking the orb from Yi Chen’s hands, they stood up the next second.

"We’ll be going then. Thank you for your co-operation, Young Master Chen." The guard said with a smile and, along with his colleague, left his room.

Yi Chen gave a courteous smile and saw them to the door before closing it.

"Looks like things worked out in the end..." he sighed while glancing out of the window.

He had become worried after Wei Ru had informed him about the likely visit.

It was to the point that he was unable to focus on editing the video as various thoughts regarding the guard visit kept bothering his mind.

Therefore, just fifteen minutes later, he stopped editing altogether, realising that his mind was not in sync with him.

Knowing that the root of the problem was the worry stemming from the guard visit, he devoted the rest of his time to considering the various questions the guards might ask, and thereafter prepared an appropriate response for each.

As for the questions concerning the banquet, he specifically called Wei Ru using the Sound Transmission Stone and discussed the questions with her so that their answers would tally and not arouse any suspicion from them.

’All that effort...it all paid off in the end.’ Yi Chen thought with a relieved smile as he walked back towards the sofa.

Now that his mind was all clear, it was time to edit the video.

Taking out the Video Capturing Stone, he tapped on the screen that had opened up on top of the stone incessantly while rewatching the entire video again and again to cut down the scenes that were useless and redundant.

The evening sun outside the window slowly moved towards the horizon as the orange rays made their way into the room before being shrouded by the thick evening fog.

However, Yi Chen didn’t notice these changes at all, as throughout this period, his mind was completely focused on getting the video ready.

Grumble~

’Bloody hell...just how long will this take?!’ he cursed while leaning back on the sofa and stretching his sore back.

It was already dinner time, but he had only reached halfway. Although he hadn’t dabbled with content creation in his previous life, his respect for those video creators had doubled and quadrupled in these few hours in which he was required to edit and re-edit the video again and again.

"I’ll eat first..." he muttered and went to the restaurant on the ground floor for a change of pace.

Later at night, he kept at it until two in the morning before finally getting the desired results.

"I did it!" Yi Chen exclaimed with a hint of pride in his heart as he watched the final product from start to finish once again.

The one-hour-long video had been cut short by him to fit into a ten-minute frame. He did all this to ensure that Bai Tianhe won’t get irritated because of the video’s length and instead will watch it completely.

Satisfied with the final results, he kept the Video Capturing Stone back in his storage ring and went towards the bedroom.

He had been fighting sleep for a while now as his head had begun to ache a little. However, the dull ache didn’t last for long. The moment his head landed on the soft pillow, it melted away, and he was soon swept into a dreamy world.

The next day.

"I hope that repair work wasn’t severely affected because of the investigations..." Yi Chen muttered while making his way through the streets.

Unlike usual, there were a lot more guards all around the streets. They were either standing guard at their designated spots or visiting several stores and residences in order to collect information.

From their actions, it was obvious that there hadn’t been any progress in their investigation.

’Most of them would still be thinking that she had been kidnapped and the kidnapper would soon contact them to negotiate the terms...If only they knew...’

Yi Chen thought as the edges of his lips subtly widened in satisfaction.

A while later, he walked through a familiar alley and reached the Red Velvet Pavilion’s branch.

Pushing open the door, he made his way in, only to find the reception table empty.

’They must be in the basement then...’

With this thought, he entered the beady curtains and walked down the stairs.

Just like he had anticipated, Du Ming Li and the three old men were present in the basement.

Sensing the footsteps, they glanced in his direction and nodded with a familiar smile on their faces.

"Greetings, Manager Du, and to the Elders." Yi Chen greeted the four of them with a smile.

The three elders were all skilled Array Masters and worked for the Red Velvet Pavilion. In the last few days, Yi Chen had come to good terms with them as he had been coming here on a regular basis.

"I heard from Wei Ru about the incident that took place. I’m glad Young Master Chen is alright." Du Ming Li said with a relieved smile and asked, "I hope there were no troubles during the questioning. In cases like these, the first ones they suspect are we foreigners, which can be a little annoying at times."

"Thank you, Manager Du. I appreciate your concern. Regarding those guards, they did ask quite a lot of questions, but after confirming my cultivation, they soon left. Did they come here as well?" Yi Chen asked.

"Indeed, they questioned all of us here and took quite a bit of our time. Though the matter of Cao Li going missing is extremely important, such methods are understandable.

Though... given how important a position she holds, I never thought something like this would ever happen. Makes me really wonder who the mastermind of all this is."

Du Ming Li muttered with an amused expression while gesturing for the three elders to continue on with their work.

"Indeed...Madam Cao Li was always accompanied by the emperor who’s at the Core Building Stage. So, for something like this to occur right underneath his eyes, the individual or the group involved is quite skilled," Yi Chen answered with a thoughtful expression.

"Exactly," Manager Du lightly chuckled and said with an amused tone, "Once Young Master Chen returns, I’ll have another thing to keep me occupied on a daily basis."

Yi Chen shared an amused smile with her before asking, while pointing towards the transportation array, "Everything’s going on as per the schedule, right?"

To this question, Manager Du gave a reassuring smile and said, "Young Master Chen need not worry. Although the guards did end up delaying us a little, we had already made up for it. Just like I had promised, the Transportation array would be in working condition by the end of this week."

"That’s great then. I was a little worried that it might get affected." Yi Chen sighed in relief after hearing her words, and after observing the three masters tinkering with the transportation array, he finally left the branch.

The video was ready, and all he needed to do was wait for the previously decided date and meet Bai Tianhe at the stone park.

"Mhmm...Instead of waiting for six more days, why don’t I go and look for him myself since I already have the required proof?" Yi Chen thought to himself ,and instead of returning to the Inn, walked in the direction of the stall from where he had the grilled corn on that day.

Half an hour later, Yi Chen was making his way back to the Inn, a disappointed expression evident on his face.

"...He hasn’t shown up in the last three weeks," Yi Chen sighed while walking, murmuring the words the stall owner had told him.

While mulling over his thoughts, he soon neared the Inn.

’Whatever...I’ll have a filling meal and then fully focus on cultivating,’ Yi Chen thought in an attempt to liven his mood while increasing his pace.

Just then, he saw a familiar figure coming out of the Inn’s door.

’This... Why is he here?!’

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