“Peng Ju once said that since his parents died, only his grandfather in the entire Fang family had treated him genuinely,” Linghe explained as they left.

Fang Heling’s grandfather’s death was not sudden, and he had already been buried. None of them possessed the ability to examine a corpse through a memorial tablet. Even if Fang Zehou’s concession of power was suspicious, this visit was not a good time to investigate. Therefore, after Linghe paid his respects, the three of them chose to leave.

“Alright, who doesn’t know you, Eldest Brother?” Zhao Rucheng scoffed, “Such a good person.”

Linghe treated everyone with sincerity, while Zhao Rucheng, on one hand, felt wronged for Jiang Wang, and on the other hand, hurried to smooth things over.

Jiang Wang simply smiled and skipped the topic, not taking it to heart.

“What is the Dao Academy thinking? The Correctional Department hasn’t found any results, yet they’re arranging for us to investigate this matter. Isn’t this just causing trouble? Especially since I’m not on good terms with the Fang family.”

“Perhaps that’s precisely the reason the Dao Academy arranged for us to investigate this matter,” Zhao Rucheng said.

“The Dao Academy suspects Fang Heling?” Jiang Wang frowned.

“Isn’t he worthy of suspicion?” Zhao Rucheng retorted, “In terms of combat power, he has none. In terms of intelligence, he has even less. Why did all four members of the team die, leaving only him alive?”

“I think he’s quite shrewd now,” Linghe said fairly, “And… he didn’t go up the mountain.”

“He said he didn’t go up the mountain, but who knows?” Zhao Rucheng spread his hands.

…

Leaving the Fang family, the second stop Linghe led the team to was the Correctional Department.

To be precise, it was the Correctional Department’s branch in Fenglin City.

The sources of tasks on the Dao Merit Board were abundant. The Ministry of War, the Correctional Department, the Dao Academy itself, and even the Zhuang Court could post tasks on the Dao Merit Board.

The task that Fang Heling participated in was initiated by the Correctional Department, and the grade determination was also completed by the Correctional Department.

The Dao Merit reward for an eighth-grade task fluctuated between one hundred and five hundred points. The Dao Merit reward set by the Correctional Department for this task was only one hundred and fifty points, which was considered a lower difficulty level for an eighth-grade task – which was clearly not the case.

Two eighth-grade cultivators and two ninth-grade cultivators all died in battle. The difficulty of such a task should at least be top-tier eighth-grade, which meant a reward of five hundred Dao Merit points.

In fact, the investigation task that Linghe and the others accepted this time had three hundred Dao Merit points, and they were only responsible for the investigation, not for handling the aftermath. Although there was a factor of a thirty percent increase in the reward for a designated task, it was still considered a reasonable grade determination.

…

The Correctional Department, as the official agency for handling extraordinary cases, was probably accustomed to arrogance.

Three Dao Academy cultivators came to verify information with a Dao Merit Board task, but no one in the entire Correctional Department paid them any attention.

Even Zhao Rucheng, with his unparalleled handsomeness, was ignored by the female cultivators in the Correctional Department, who were all too proud and arrogant to even glance at him.

Linghe patiently asked people one by one, enduring countless glares, before finally finding the person in charge.

The person in the Correctional Department who assessed the task grade was a Youmai realm cultivator with slanted eyebrows.

At this moment, he was sitting behind the counter, separated by a vertical railing, his head down, recording something with a brush, his expression extremely impatient: “What do you want?”

Repeatedly being snubbed in the Correctional Department did not affect Linghe’s attitude.

He still simply smiled, polite and measured: “We are Dao Academy disciples, here for Task Bing Wu. Four of our brothers died in that task…”

“It’s that damn task again!” The cultivator with slanted eyebrows suddenly threw down the brush in his hand. “Will it ever end?”

He had probably been suppressing himself for some time and felt that these three young faces were easy to bully. He suddenly lost his temper: “This damn person interrogates me, that damn person interrogates me. I’ve already been fined a year’s salary, what else do you want?”

Spittle flew everywhere as he slammed the table and roared.

Linghe stepped back slightly, but was about to speak again.

A hand had already smashed through the vertical railing on the counter, grabbed the cultivator with slanted eyebrows by the collar, and then pulled him outwards, directly smashing all the vertical railings with his face.

He lifted him completely outside the counter.

“What else do you want?” Jiang Wang had long been dissatisfied, and had suppressed a bellyful of anger since arriving here. Now, he didn’t care about composure or anything else, grabbing the cultivator with slanted eyebrows and saying, “Because of your negligence, four Dao Academy disciples died! Died! Gone! You damn well get fined a year’s salary, is that so tragic?”

The cultivator with slanted eyebrows was completely dumbfounded.

He hadn’t even finished venting his anger when the kid from the Dao Academy attacked. He gathered his Dao Yuan at the first moment, but it was directly and forcibly shattered.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to resist, but there was really no room for resistance at all.

The difference in strength was too great!

“Hey, hey, hey! What are you doing?”

Other cultivators in the Correctional Department, hearing the commotion, rushed over.

“This is an important place in the Correctional Department, how can you be so impudent?”

When they had been asking questions earlier, the entire Correctional Department had been like a haunted house, silent everywhere, everyone expressionless.

Now that there was a little trouble, everyone suddenly came out.

Linghe flashed forward, already standing in front of these people.

“We accepted a Dao Merit Board task, and are under orders to investigate the beginning and end of Task Bing Wu. All those involved must cooperate during this period!”

He was kind because he was magnanimous, but that absolutely did not mean he was timid.

When he accompanied Jiang Wang to Wangjiang City, he had been prepared to shed blood within five steps.

Standing before the crowd at this moment, he was also looking grim, his Dao Yuan held back but ready to unleash.

The Correctional Department’s people were stunned. But the Dao Merit Board was an important national instrument, and all parties had to cooperate when cultivators performed Dao Merit Board tasks. This was also the rule.

So, if today’s incident was caused by the uncooperativeness of the cultivator with slanted eyebrows, these Dao Academy cultivators had a legal basis for their actions.

“But you can’t just act recklessly!”

“That’s right, how are you going to compensate for the damaged public property?”

No matter what, they had to maintain the face of the Correctional Department.

“How are we going to compensate?” Zhao Rucheng smiled, stepping forward and saying, “Just these few wooden railings, how much money do you want?”

“This is something in the Correctional Department! What do you think it is?” The man sneered, “You’ll have to compensate at least a hundred gold, right?”

His intention was to make these people back down and understand their limits.

Although Dao Yuan Stones were the hard currency for cultivators, they still couldn’t live without gold and silver for food, clothing, housing, and transportation. One hundred gold was not easy to come by.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Rucheng immediately burst into loud laughter.

“Good!” He turned to Jiang Wang and said, “Third Brother, take action without hesitation. We’ll smash it with ten thousand gold. Just consider it a renovation for the Correctional Department!”

“…”

“…”

As the people in the Correctional Department looked at each other, a middle-aged cultivator with a gloomy face appeared on the scene.

“So it’s Young Master Zhao!” He said with a fake smile, “Have you come to the Correctional Department to show off your wealth?”

This person was the head of the Fenglin City Correctional Department, a sixth-grade Tenglong realm cultivator named Shan Cha.

“Sir, I wouldn’t dare say that.” To prevent Zhao Rucheng from losing his temper and escalating the conflict, Linghe preemptively replied, “We are all Dao Academy disciples who accepted a Dao Merit Board task and came to the Correctional Department to inquire about the case according to normal procedures. But this person involved refused to cooperate and even suddenly became furious. To avoid making a bigger commotion, my junior brother had no choice but to subdue him first.”

He changed the subject: “Third Brother, let him go. What does it look like in front of Sir Shan?”

Jiang Wang smiled and truly loosened his grip, steadily placing the cultivator with slanted eyebrows on the ground. He even patted him on the shoulder: “Are you okay?”

The cultivator with slanted eyebrows was still in shock, and only said, “It’s okay, it’s okay.”

No one could pretend that they didn’t hear the temper he had thrown earlier. Therefore, with Linghe saying this, the Correctional Department’s people really couldn’t find fault.

“Alright, since it’s normal procedure, everyone can disperse.” Shan Cha dispersed the crowd, and then looked at the cultivator with slanted eyebrows and said, “These Dao Academy talents are here with a Dao Merit Board task. Answer all questions properly, understand?”

“Understood, understood,” the cultivator with slanted eyebrows said.

Shan Cha then nodded and left with his hands behind his back. From beginning to end, he didn’t mention having Zhao Rucheng pay for the damage.

“Terrible, we’ve been marked for revenge now,” Zhao Rucheng said with a grin.

He said “terrible,” but there wasn’t a trace of fear on his face.

Jiang Wang also had an indifferent expression. They were all top students in the Dao Academy, with great futures ahead of them.

If they were to join the Correctional Department in the future, as long as their cultivation kept up, their status would only be higher than Shan Cha’s. If they didn’t join the Correctional Department, then there was even less to worry about.

As for now, if Shan Cha wanted to play any tricks, did he really think Dong A wouldn’t be protective?

“We’re not afraid, we’re just afraid we won’t be able to take care of things at home.” Not wanting to be too direct in front of the cultivator with slanted eyebrows, Linghe only hinted at Zhao Rucheng, and then said, “Third Brother, hurry up and ask.”

From beginning to end, he did not complain about Jiang Wang’s recklessness or Zhao Rucheng’s arrogance, even though they had accidentally offended a powerful figure like Shan Cha.

Because they were three brothers together, no matter what anyone did or what attitude they expressed, they would bear it together.