Chapter 230 - Could He Have Been Killed By Mistake?
Chapter 230: Could He Have Been Killed By Mistake?
“Perhaps that baldie be the Martial Arts Department (MAD) double agent that Old Cheng spoke of, the one embedded amongst the leaders of the Sky Demon Cult?”
Jiang He suddenly realized something after crushing the USB drive.
The baldie—Fourth Elder had placed that device in the bushes behind everyone’s back. Why would he keep that a secret from the others? He must not want the others to notice, which made it very likely that he’s the undercover agent.
That would be rather awkward!
If the really was the agent, does that not mean that him putting that device here was part of a plan or to send a message?
“If he really was the agent… didn’t I just ruin his plans?”
“Still… after observing his behavior, he doesn’t really look much of an undercover agent, does he?”
The baldie had been making noise as the group of Sky Demon Cultists made their way up Mount Dadong, asking every possible question. He was certainly abnormal even if his mind was sound—and with the MAD being ever wary in their affairs, would they had sent such a person to be an undercover agent in the Sky Demon Cult?
“Baldie is definitely not the undercover agent. He could have gotten killed at any instant if he was!
“But what if he is the agent?”
Either way, Jiang He decided it was better to be safe than sorry, and decided not to sacrifice an agent the MAD had embedded in the Sky Demon Cult.
Withdrawing his aura, he continued shadowing the group.
If any surprises should occur, he could still save baldie at any moment.
As his spirit radiated away, the whereabouts of each of the Sky Demon Cultists, their conversations as well as Secret Acoustics were no secret from Jiang He.
After all, Jiang He’s spirit had already reached divine-tier when he reached rank-eight. Moreover, it continued to improve every day since he would munch on the Purple-Golden Sunflower Seeds whenever he felt bored, and quenched his thirst with rank-nine Origin Fluid. It was no exaggeration that his spirit was being improved with every passing second.
And now that his martial arts cultivation had reached divine-conversion, which was the first level in divine-tier, his spirit grew considerably thanks to ascension. It rose even further when he condensed the Golden Pellet thanks to his progress in immortal arts, and when his physique reached a horrific level, his powerful qi and blood nourishes his spirit in return, pushing his spirit to new heights.
Meanwhile, the group of Sky Demon Cultists were sprinting along the mountain rapidly.
Strangely, however…
No Feral in Mount Dadong was attacking them.
“They must have come to an agreement with the Graywolf King.”
Whipping out a handful of sunflower seeds, Jiang He shadowed them from behind unhurriedly, keeping 2 kilometers between himself and the Sky Demon Cultists.
“I saw many Ferals on the way here, but most are low-ranked and there weren’t even many rank-sixes, let alone higher rank ones.”
“This doesn’t make sense!”
Jiang He thought to himself then—though he had not been here to Mount Dadong, he knew that there was no way a mountain where a Feral King resides did not have other high-ranked Ferals.
Perhaps…
The other high-ranked Ferals of Mount Dadong had a gathering?
As a matter of fact, it was quite likely that it happened.
Since the Graywolf King would work with the Sky Demon Cult to open the heritage sites, would it not be reasonable that the high-ranked Ferals join the fun?
Then, after walking another fifty kilometers, Jiang He, who had been observing the Sky Demon Cultists with his spirit suddenly turned towards another direction and paused.
A gigantic wolf with a frightening aura was lying ahead on a slope two kilometers away. It looked no different from an ordinary gray wolf, but it was around seven meters tall and a dozen meters long even as it lay there nonchalantly.
“What a big wolf… still, it’s average compared to the other Feral Kings I’ve met. With that size, its meat would probably last me a long time too… though with the gluttons that are Seven Bottle Gourd Brothers, Dumbo and Trumbo, we’ll probably finish it after around half a month.”
Jiang He thought then, before turning towards the two Cardinals beside the Graywolf King.
Both of them were dressed in black robes with hoods that kept their heads covered and their faces hidden.
The many Sky Demon Cultists promptly kowtowed, which the Cardinals accepted with composure before gesturing for them to get up.
Annette then stepped up, saying, “Everyone, it is the will of the Saint that all of you come to Lingzhou City. He remembers your diligent and helpful work for the Holy Faith, and therefore gave you a special chance to improve yourself.”
“All of you are probably aware of Mount Dadong’s heritage site. Later, I will work with Cardinal Wu Dong and the Graywolf King to open it, allowing you all to enter and cultivate within!”
“And remember. You must succeed in retrieving any cultivation manuals you found inside the heritage site.”
“Oh?”
Jiang He was rather surprised. He did not expect to find that the Sky Demon Cult had a woman as their Cardinal, but it was all the same for him—all Sky Demon Cultists must die regardless if they were man or woman.
What’s the difference if they were corpses a few minutes later anyway?
And yet, no one noticed that the newly appointed Fourth Elder was unusually quiet then.
In fact, he was beside himself in panic inwardly.
“Where are they?
“Why isn’t anyone coming?
“Didn’t Minister Wang promise me that as long as I activate the satellite beacon within Hua Nation borders, they would pinpoint my position in ten seconds and direct nearby elites to back me up at top speed?”
“It’s a new heritage site… surely the Sky Demon Cults can’t be allowed to take it for themselves, can they?”
***
The MAD headquarters at Jingdu City.
Wang Hou had a dark look on his face.
Beside him, Zhou Yu was serving him tea whilst asking hesitantly, “Minister Wang, could it just have been an accident? For example, the beacon was activated accidentally and then quickly turned off?”
“What do you think?”
Wang Hou looked up at Zhou Yu, who smiled begrudgingly.
“Now isn’t the time to be angry, Minister Wang. Intelligence has done their best, but the key problem here is that the signal transmission was too brief—it disappeared in just five seconds, and they simply could not narrow the location down.”
When Wang Hou did not respond, Zhou Yu quietly continued, “The agent did send a message eight days ago that the Sky Demon Cult was putting them through trails, and if passed, he might be promoted to Elder and becoming a core member… and then all communication was lost. Could the trial had exposed him? Could the Sky Demon Cult had caught on?”
It was too common a situation—a mole embedded in the Sky Demon Cult, once exposed, would be immediately tortured to death, and more than ten agents have died over the last few years in such situations.
After all, the Sky Demon Cult were adept at developing their cultist with methods such as trances and brainwashing.
Inversely, the Sky Demon Cult had planted many of their moles in the government from the bottom-up. Still, MAD intelligence had uncovered that their methods in securing moles were primitively simple: after brainwash and hypnosis, they would then use leverage to threaten a subject, creating one even if there was not…
What was worse, it was even harder to plant a mole in the cultists’ ranks.
There was no point spying from the outer echelons since the Sky Demon Cult kept a distinct hierarchy, and average cultist are fated to never reach the information circulating amongst the Sky Demon Cult’s hierarch.
One would be easily exposed even if they infiltrated the core of the cult too.
That was why the undercover agent who managed to reach the core hierarchy of the Sky Demon Cult was too important. It would be a monumental loss if something really happened.
“Minister Wang!”
Suddenly, Zhou Yu’s face twitched and he mused to himself. “Minister Wang… do you think the agent was sent to Lingzhou City?”
Wang Hou appeared puzzled by that opinion, but Zhou Yu continued, “It’s just a hunch since intelligence did confirm the signal was approximately in Xibei… if our agent at the Sky Demon Cult really reached the rank of Elder, wouldn’t he be sent to fight Jiang He?”
“Would that even happen?”
Wang Hou shook his head, saying, “With Jiang He’s power, the Sky Demon Cult would have no chance unless their saint personally sees to the brat… eh?”
He came to a realization even before he finished, and exclaimed in shock, “The Sky Demon Cult isn’t aware of Jiang He’s current power, are they? Others aside, there really was a chance that would happen.”
“Hold on…”
Suddenly rising to his feet with a whoosh, Wang Hou’s eyes widened and he could not help yelling, “What the hell!? If that really happened, doesn’t that mean Jiang He might kill him?”
Zhou Yu’s face dropped.
That was indeed very likely.
If the agent was sent to fight Jiang He, he would be instakilled given Jiang He’s power and attitude…
That was why Wang Hou could not be bothered by anything else right then.
Whipping out his phone, he promptly dialed Jiang He’s number.
***
Meanwhile, back at Mount Dadong.
Jiang He was sitting behind some bushes, having withdrawn his aura into himself while subtly extending his spirit to watch the Graywolf King, the two Sky Demon Cult Cardinals and the dozens of cultists.
His spirit was so exceedingly strong that he would not be noticed as long as he did not release his aura.
However, since it was just a two-kilometer distance…
Jiang He decided not to munch on sunflower seeds to be safe.
What if the cultists and the wolf were startled by his munching?
Either way, his intention was not to frighten them off. He would charge at them only after they opened the heritage site, cutting down cultists and Feral alike while he enjoyed all the spoils.
He just did not expect Wang Hou’s call to arrive then.
Having forgot to put it on silent, his cellphone’s ringtone echoed across the night.
All at once, the Graywolf King and the two Cardinals reacted…
Hence, Jiang He laughed bitterly and emerged from behind the bushes.
With a few quick steps, he arrived twenty meters away from the Graywolf King and the many Sky Demon Cultists before answering the call, and unable to hold back from yelling, “What are you doing, Minister Wang?”
“I was fishing here…
“Well, when your call reached me, all the fishes were sacred off!”
Opposite Jiang He, the Graywolf King, the two Cardinals and the dozen cultists were stunned for several seconds, before…
Fourth Elder’s eyes widened as he exclaimed on top of his voice. “Jiang He!”
The Sky Demon Cult’s hierarchy had all studied Jiang He’s data, but no matter how extensively they studied, none of them could match the undercover agent’s understanding of the man… after all, with so many Sky Demon Cultists dying because of Jiang He, he was even ready to be arranged in an assassination squad targeting Jiang He.
He couldn’t be bothered with anything else if it ever come to that.
He must therefore become capable of identifying Jiang He at once, and only then could he quickly reveal his identity to avoid getting killed by mistake.
“Jiang He!”
The others soon reacted too, all of them crying out and painting the night with solemn killing intent.
That was when the black-robed Cardinal Annette walked up to Jiang He with her swaying booty, smirking. “You’re Jiang He? You really would rather choose hell than heaven—”
Pow!
Raising his hand, Jiang He blew her up instantly with a single release of this Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms while retorting indignantly. “Can’t you see that I’m talking on the phone? What’s with all that noise?”
“Alright, Minister Wang, you can talk now…
“Did something happen? Why would you call me in the middle of the night?”
Wang Hou: “…”