Peerless Tang Sect: Hurricane Infinite Wind

Chapter 217: Jing Hongchen's Tears Behind Bars

"When the safe in Warehouse No. 2 was originally built, Elder Zhang didn't use special alloys underground in order to profit from it. This time, the people from the Body Sect who came to steal from the major warehouses were very skilled at digging holes. They dug through the underground and stole all the fixed-type soul guide shells."

"Damn it, you bastard Lao Zhang, you are trying to kill me! My eleven level nine fixed-type soul guide shells!" Jing Hongchen roared with a distorted face.

"Hall Master..." Lin Jiayi opened his mouth slightly, which made Jing Hongchen's heart tighten again.

He suddenly turned around and looked at his capable subordinate, "What else did you lose? Don't hesitate, tell me clearly."

Lin Jiayi gritted his teeth and said in a trembling voice, "Experimental Subject No. 1 in Warehouse No. 2 and the strategic soul guides stored in Warehouse No. 4 are all lost..."

"What?" Jing Hongchen felt a black screen before his eyes, his body swayed and he almost fell down. Lin Jiayi hurried forward to support him.

Jing Hongchen felt as if the sky was falling, and his chest was filled with tightness, as if he would die in the next moment.

"Say it again." This time, even his voice became a little trembling.

Lin Jiayi revealed an extremely painful expression and trembled as he said, "All of them are lost, Hall Master."

Jing Hongchen screamed "wow", spat out a mouthful of blood, and fell directly into Lin Jiayi's arms.

What does Experimental Subject No. 1 mean? It represents the highest achievement of the entire Mingde Hall in soul guide research, equivalent to the culmination of thousands of years of research in soul guides by the Sun-Moon Empire!

What does a strategic soul guide mean? It's the ultimate trump card that every major soul guide corps must have! If these linked soul guides were to be introduced to the original Douluo Three Kingdoms, I can't imagine the blow the Sun-Moon Empire would face. Unifying the continent would become a pipe dream.

Jing Hongchen looked at Lin Jiayi with a pale face, his eyes filled with fear. While he could suppress the heavy losses caused by the attack on Mingde Hall with his prestige in the Sun and Moon Empire, he could not afford the entire Mingde Hall warehouse to be looted. This was a matter of national importance. If the emperor knew about it, not only him, but the entire Hongchen family would be finished.

Taking a deep breath, trying to suppress the blood rushing through his body, Jing Hongchen whispered, "Who else knows about this?"

Lin Jiayi quickly shook his head and said, "I personally went to the underground warehouse to check. After discovering that several large warehouses had been robbed, I immediately sealed the doors to all the warehouses and reported this to you."

Jing Hongchen managed to calm himself down and said, "Well done. This matter cannot be known to anyone."

"Yes." Lin Jiayi quickly agreed.

Jing Hongchen's face turned red and white for a while, and he already hated the Noumenon Sect in his heart.

The theft of so many strategic-level soul guides wasn't particularly valuable, nor were they difficult to manufacture. Fortunately, Mingde Hall had a high degree of autonomy. As long as the linked soul guides were replenished quickly and the incident remained hidden, there was still hope of recovery. Forced to stand upright, Jing Hongchen's once irritable eyes calmed down in the face of this crisis.

"Jia Yi, pass on my order. Everyone present today must keep their mouths shut. Anyone who dares to spread what happened today will be killed without mercy."

"Send people to various major mines to purchase large quantities of rare metals. Then, in the name of Mingde Hall, issue killing missions to all mercenary guilds and assassin guilds. Offer a high reward for the heads of all members of the Benti Sect."

At this point, Jing Hongchen paused for a moment and said, "Except for the injured Mingde Hall disciples, all healthy members of the Mingde Hall are in emergency mobilization mode and must repair the underground base as soon as possible at all costs. Tell the elders to rebuild the defense of the Mingde Hall. There cannot be any blind spots. Do you understand?"

"Yes." Lin Jiayi quickly agreed. Seeing Jing Hongchen regain his composure, he felt relieved.

Jing Hongchen seemed to suddenly remember something and asked anxiously, "How are the exchange students from Shrek Academy? Especially the one named Huo Yuhao. Did they suffer any casualties in this battle?"

Lin Jiayi was also a thoughtful person. He had already guessed that Jing Hongchen would ask about this and had already investigated it before.

"Over at Shrek Academy, Fan Yu and Cai Tou are out testing their soul guides and are not at the base. The other students are also outside the experimental area and were not affected by the initial explosion. They were all very cunning and retreated to a safe area as quickly as possible, and did not participate in the previous battle. Several people were injured, but none of them were too serious. Huo Yuhao was among the injured. Our medical soul guide checked him out. He suffered a heavy blow to the chest and was probably knocked unconscious, but he should be able to recover after some rest."

"That's good. If something happens to the people from Shrek Academy again, it will be worse than ever. Give orders to take good care of them and nothing can go wrong." Jing Hongchen was gasping for breath, his fat forehead covered in cold sweat.

In just a few minutes, the originally young Jing Hongchen seemed to have aged twenty years.

"Now it seems that I have to choose a side. The only one who can save me is the prince. I hope it's not too late."

Even if Mingdetang has been trying its best to suppress the news, how could such a big thing be kept secret?
Although Jing Hongchen promptly ordered the blockade of the Sun and Moon Royal Soul Instructor Academy, the news that Mingde Hall had been attacked and suffered heavy losses spread throughout Mingdu in less than a day.

Upon learning of this, the Emperor of the Sun-Moon Empire was furious. His already failing health was showing signs of worsening. At an emergency court meeting that day, Mingde Hall Master Jing Hongchen was severely punished, his Dukedom stripped and he was subsequently imprisoned. If Crown Prince Xu Tianran hadn't intervened, he would have been executed on the spot.

This was a verdict made without Xu Tianran or the Sun-Moon Emperor knowing that a large number of level 8 and 9 fixed-type soul guide shells, a large number of mid- and high-level soul guide device blueprints, and a complete set of linked soul guide devices had been lost. If Xu Tianran knew, he would probably want to kill Jing Hongchen.

After the court meeting, Jing Hongchen was escorted to prison under the gaze of many Mingdu citizens. Although he was accompanied and escorted by Crown Prince Xu Tianran along the way, the reputation of Jing Hongchen and the entire Hongchen family inevitably suffered a devastating blow.

How could Jing Hongchen, who was in prison at the moment, care about Yang Xuan who was defending the ring endlessly?
Although the Sun-Moon Empire officials did not say who did it later, their target was clear from the fact that Mingde Hall immediately issued a kill order to the Benti Sect.

(End of this chapter)