Hunting God Era

Chapter 180 Taking Office in Yangcheng
In July, the weather begins to turn hot. For the Jianghuai region, spring and autumn are short, while winter and summer are long. It is generally hot as early as June.

At the Yangcheng Disinfection Bureau, Pan Zhengyang and his men stood at the main entrance, waiting for something.

hum!
Not long after, the roar of a motorcycle could be heard in the distance. A motorcycle with thick, huge wheels sped up from the road, came to a steady stop, and a young man got off.

He was dressed very casually, in a white T-shirt and shorts that covered his knees. When he got off the motorcycle, he casually picked up a sword from the side and walked straight toward the crowd at the door.

clap clap clap!
Pan Zhengyang was the first to clap, and following his action, the rest of the people seemed to have flipped a switch and began to clap enthusiastically.

After Li Ye approached, Pan Zhengyang slapped him hard on the shoulder and laughed heartily.
"Welcome to Deputy Director Li's new job at Yangcheng Disinfection Team!"

"Don't do it."

Li Ye laughed and said, "I'm only serving on a concurrent post. You're making it sound like you're going to give Yangcheng to me. I can't bear to part with Ningjiang."

"When that time comes, you can take charge of Yangcheng as well!"

Pan Zhengyang laughed again, turned to the side, pointed to the twenty or so people behind him, and said, "Let me introduce you. These twenty are the captains of our disinfection team. I had them all come to welcome you."

Upon hearing this, all twenty people nodded and smiled.

One of the men, with his slicked-back hair, smiled ingratiatingly:
"Director Li, my name is Zhou Ziran, captain of the Third Brigade, from the Nine Dragons Gate. I have excellent martial arts skills. Please let me know if you need anything."

Upon hearing this, the others were not to be outdone.

A man with only one arm patted his chest and said:
“Director Li, I am Xiao Fei, the captain of the first brigade, a master of the Po Jun Pass. Just like Director Pan, I will do whatever you say, even if it means going through fire and water.”

"Director Li, my name is Shi Ya, from the Eight Dragons Gate."

"Jiang Xun, Eight Dragons Gate."

Everyone introduced themselves in a flurry of chatter, afraid of being left behind.

Li Chuang is a well-known figure in the Jianghuai region, and this time he achieved the top result in eight provinces. It is said that he is a master of the third realm, just like their Director Pan.

Most of them are at the Dragon Gate Realm, with only one or two occasionally breaking through a level. Normally, you wouldn't even see their faces, so now that they have the chance, they naturally want to become familiar with them.

"They are all my loyal subordinates, so you can use them with confidence. I have a good grasp of the situation in Yangcheng, where the disinfection efforts are being carried out."

Pan Zhengyang chuckled and then beckoned to the only low-level martial artist in the crowd who wasn't a disinfection worker, "Little Lu, come here."

He was a young man, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, and had a refined and polite demeanor.

"Lu Zhao is very knowledgeable in general knowledge. He is the head of our data section and does all the work of a civil servant. He is also clear about many things. You should cooperate more in the future."

Li Ye looked at the man and saw his gentle smile, so he smiled and nodded in return.

"Alright, you've acknowledged the situation, everyone can go now. Get back to your work. It's summer, be careful of fire and heat. Li Ye, come to my office. Xiao Lu, you come here too."

Pan Zhengyang waved his hand, signaling the others to disperse, and then led Li Ye into the bureau, heading to the offices upstairs, first to the fifth floor.

Pan Zhengyang's office is on the sixth floor, while Li Ye's office is on the fifth floor.

He opened the door to a deputy director's office on the fifth floor, pointed to the ordinary furnishings inside, and said:

"I didn't do the interior decoration, so I don't know what your taste is. You can adjust it yourself if needed. Just leave the details to Xiao Lu."

"Yes, leave it to me," Lu Zhao said with a smile.

"Okay, I'll have Zhong Chang contact you later."

Li Ye said something to him, then looked at Pan Zhengyang, "Am I the only deputy director?"

Pan Zhengyang rolled his eyes:

"What do you think the situation is in Yangcheng? Anyone without guts wouldn't be a deputy director; they'd have been taken advantage of long ago. I can keep things under control by myself. I don't like those two-faced types either; you're the only deputy director."

After a quick look around the office, the group headed to the sixth floor and arrived at Pan Zhengyang's office.

After everyone was seated, Pan Zhengyang took out a pack of cigarettes from his drawer, thought for a moment, then took out another pack and tossed it over. "You're an adult now, aren't you?"

Li Ye pushed the cigarette back and laughed, "It was harvested in May."

"Before the assessment? I thought someone like you who achieved success at a young age would at least have a grand entrance, so why is there no news?"

"What's so great about it? I don't care about these things."

Li Ye said, "Compared to those, I still prefer cultivation."

"If you keep repairing it, you'll become a monster."

Pan Zhengyang chuckled, "But that's fine too. The stronger you are, the more reliable you'll be in doing things. Originally, we should have thrown you a celebration banquet since it was your first day here. I've already booked a place to welcome you back tonight."

"But the work still needs to be done, Xiao Lu."

"Yes."

Lu Zhao stood up, picked up his tablet, placed it on the table in front of Li Ye, and opened the documents.

The above is information about the Locust God Cult.

At the same time, he placed the prepared projector on the side wall and projected different materials.

"I've been investigating this. When I went to Ningjiang to work as a disinfection worker, it was not only because the higher-ups felt the Ren family was causing trouble, but also because they discovered traces of the Locust God Cult in Ningjiang. However, in the end, I didn't find anything."

"After you killed Tian Daoli, we thoroughly investigated all agricultural-related matters in the Jianghuai region and found locust eggs in some places as well."

Following Pan Zhengyang's words, Lu Zhaofei quickly adjusted and displayed some information about the city on the screen.

“Locust eggs have been found in Caishi City, Langya City, Xiangshan City, Qiaodu City, Zhubu City, and Shouchun City. Some of them are even fully formed. They look like ordinary locusts, but we have determined that if a swarming effect occurs, it will breed hungry ghosts and cause famine.”

Lu Zhao said, "These are all ordinary places, not related to the Demon Realm, and have no connection with Tian Daoli of the Locust God Cult. According to our previous intelligence, they should be different branches that do not interfere with each other."

"Six cities."

Li Ye glanced at the information on the screen about the cities where locust eggs had appeared and said, "They've covered more than a third of the Jianghuai region."

"Yes, so we deduce that the Locust God Cult must be carrying out large-scale operations in the Jianghuai region."

Lu Zhao said, "Besides locust eggs, we have also found in other cities, just like in Jianghuai, that under the guise of high-tech martial arts training, ordinary people are being implanted with demonic seeds under the pretense of 'nutrient solution'."

Upon hearing this, Li Ye raised an eyebrow. "You didn't get any intelligence at all?" "We did get some intelligence, but it wasn't them. The people we found were just ordinary people who didn't know anything, or low-level henchmen who would turn into demons and lose their ability to speak at the slightest provocation."

Li Ye was aware of this; the person he had discovered who used high-tech martial arts to swindle people was the same.

Lu Zhao adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses and said, "Including investigating their life stories, we only found that they came from various places, and the only thing they had in common was that they would regularly arrive in Yangcheng and then disperse."

"Yes, the root of it all lies in Yangcheng; it all originated from there."

Pan Zhengyang grinned and cursed, "This place is neither by river nor sea, and transportation relies on highways and railways, so smuggling is impossible. The only problem lies within Yangcheng itself, and that's where the root of the problem lies!"

"You're going to investigate here?"

Li Ye asked in surprise, "Your reputation as Pan Guidao is beyond investigation?"

Although his influence in Yangcheng wasn't as exaggerated as Li Ye's in Ningjiang, his reputation was still quite useful. With the provincial government above him and Pan Zhengyang below him, all the martial arts forces, big and small, in Yangcheng held him in awe.

He learned his methods of killing from Pan Zhengyang.

If he hadn't constantly instilled the idea of ​​killing the whole family, Li Ye might have been more lenient.
"What kind of reputation do I have? If I really had a reputation, the work wouldn't be progressing like this."

Pan Zhengyang shook his head and sighed, "This is a central city, unlike your small corner of the city. You can bully a few local bullies, but when you really encounter someone powerful, there's nothing I can do."

"The person I asked you to say hello to, um, who was it again?"

“Zhuang's Tiangong Group, Zhuang Han,” Lu Zhao responded.

"Yes, my limit is that when dealing with martial artists who have reached the third realm through their own efforts, I can't go too far. Not all those at the third realm are like the Jinze Zhao family you dealt with, who are just lording it over without any clear direction."

After Pan Zhengyang said something, Lu Zhao continued:

"The Zhuang Family Tiangong Group, besides its spokesperson Zhuang Han, is backed by the 'Tiangong Sect.' Zhuang Han is a descendant of the Tiangong Sect's leader, but due to his lack of aptitude, he remained in the mortal realm to manage its assets."

Before Li Ye could ask, Lu Zhao continued:
"Tiangong Sect is a local minor sect, but its sect leader is at the fifth realm and resides in the Yuan Chu realm year-round. Although he does not leave the mortal world, Tiangong Group lives quite comfortably because of this background. Of course, Tiangong Group itself does not have any major problems; minor issues are within the tolerance range."

"Tiangongmen is a sect we cooperate with. Director Li, even your weapon was commissioned to be made by them. Of course, this matter has nothing to do with them."

"It concerns another sect."

Lu Zhao moved the screen and swiped the tablet for Li Ye, revealing the portraits of several people.

Those people all had unfriendly expressions. They wouldn't say they were monstrous, but they certainly had menacing faces and fierce eyes.

"The Six Ghost Gates".

"This sect, which emerged in the late Qing Dynasty, has continued to this day. It wasn't originally called this. It was founded by a martial artist at the Divine Illumination Realm. After development, it cultivated six powerful disciples."

"After the sect leader died due to his lifespan, these six disciples killed all the other disciples in the sect and changed their name to the Six Ghosts Sect. Although they restrained themselves somewhat after the establishment of Shenzhou, they still often walked on the edge of Shenzhou's tolerance."

"Thirty years ago, during the cleanup, we eliminated their representatives and forced them to take matters into their own hands. Their main business was smuggling and excavating primordial essence, and they were skilled in nourishing Yin-type true essence."

"They also sell magical artifacts, control the underground market, act as intelligence brokers, and communicate with local martial arts forces, but they have no communication with our government and we can't find them."

“These people are elusive, and we strongly suspect they have a smuggling route that leads directly to the Jianghuai region, or even Yangcheng. These locust eggs may have come in through them, or at least they should know something about it.”

"But in their eyes, the Locust God Cult is not an evil cult, but a derivative of the White Lotus Cult. The imperial court's dealings with the White Lotus have nothing to do with them, the martial arts practitioners."

After listening to Lu Zhao's words, Pan Zhengyang continued, "Do you understand now? Some things are much more complicated than the Demon Realm. The Demon Realm is nothing more than demons, the Demon Realm, and the Primordial Chaos, but there are too many things to consider when people interact with each other."

"My lack of strength is one thing, these people have connections is another, and those connections are actually positive and contributing, which is yet another. As for the others, even if we have clues, we can't force them if we can't find them. People like the Six Ghosts Sect are just on the edge right now, we can't force them to the other side."

"So my work is also difficult to carry out. But actually, we can't reach this matter; we have to let the department handle it. Our own goal is to find the whereabouts of the Locust God Cult in the human world."

"But that's the difficult part. We can't just ask the old man to go to the canal gang. The old man is an overseas student and doesn't have a good relationship with the canal gang. In fact, he's wary of them. When the canal gang came to your door last time, it wasn't the old man's fault. He didn't give any information about it. They came to you on their own."

"Moreover, they won't help us so easily; it will come at a price, and the information they get might not be what we expected."

"I generally understand."

Li Ye narrowed his eyes as he listened to all this. "You want me to start with the martial artists who are related to the Six Ghosts Sect?"

“Yes, let’s start from here. Originally, I was in charge of handling this, and our Wang Hall was responsible for blocking the Six Ghosts’ questioning. But since you’re officially joining the game, the difficult parts will be handed over to you. You’re better than me, so you should be able to handle it more easily,” Pan Zhengyang said.

"Okay, I agree."

The challenge was high-difficulty from the start, involving sects, but Li Ye didn't complain at all.

No difficulty?
He wouldn't do it if it wasn't challenging!

"It's not that difficult."

Lu Zhao pushed up his glasses again. "Disciples of sects and scions of aristocratic families consider themselves celestial beings and look down on mortals. If a conflict arises, even if the Six Ghosts Sect finds it troublesome, they won't take any action. They will simply contact other sects again."

Li Ye glanced at him sideways, "You seem to know a lot about this, you're not just anyone, are you?"

Lu Zhao smiled and said, "A scion of a fallen noble family, he knows a few things, but his aptitude is lacking; he's a useless person."

This was something Li Ye hadn't expected.

But it wasn't too surprising.

There are always people like this. It's not like the Yuan Dynasty stopped contacting the human world. The four first-class sects are still in decline. It's not impossible for a low-level version of a declining family to emerge now.

Even without force, knowledge will suffice.

Judging from this, this person probably knows more than him.

"Come with me?" Li Ye asked with a smile.

"It's for you."

Pan Zhengyang laughed and said, "Those captains are too weak, they can't even be considered support. I'm a support, and there's also Xiao Lu. He's not strong, but he's definitely a know-it-all. He'll let you know about the major sects in Jianghuai."

Major sects
Li Ye shook his head.

Most of them are rats, they're all hiding their true nature.

but
Li Ye smiled at Pan Zhengyang and said, "If we have the chance to wipe out the sect, it wouldn't matter, would it?"

(End of this chapter)