Chapter 15: The Hidden Person.....

"Academic Commissioner?"

In the warehouse, Chen Qing was slightly puzzled, "Is the Academic Commissioner a sorcerer?"

After all, the background designed by his partner was from the previous dynasty, where the inheritance of human sorcerers was already broken, which seemed to be different from the current Great Jin Dynasty.

"Does Lord not understand?" Wei Gongcheng asked curiously.

Seeing the puzzled look on the other's face, Chen Qing's mouth twitched, "I am but a scholar from a humble family; among my ancestors up to five generations, only my father has ever attained the rank of scholar. How could I know the secrets of an Academic Commissioner of such status?"

"Uh..." Wei Gongcheng suddenly looked awkward, a scholar from a humble family? Could a regular scholar from a humble family know about hidden demons like Mister Hua Pi?

Unsure if it was true or false, but Wei Gongcheng still patiently explained to Chen Qing about the academic system of this dynasty and some secrets of sorcerers.

Chen Qing listened attentively; after all, to survive in this world, intelligence was of the utmost importance.

After listening to the other party's detailed explanations, Chen Qing gradually understood some of the Imperial Court's management over sorcerers.

The Academic Commissioner is a Third Rank official, serving as the highest educational officer at the provincial level and is not under local administrative jurisdiction, but is directly managed by the Imperial Court, akin to an imperial envoy. His ostensible work is to manage scholarly examinations and provincial educational affairs, but in reality, he also holds the power of confidential communication and the duty to investigate local supernatural occurrences.

All Academic Commissioners are sorcerers, and they must be very powerful ones, possessing enough strength and experience to face evil entities. They are the administrative officials mainly responsible for handling supernatural events in the localities. Usually, when the county magistrate encounters strange occurrences, they have to report to the Provincial Government Office, where the Prefectural Scholar Official reports the incidents to the Academic Commissioner in charge of the province.

Hearing this, Chen Qing was somewhat confused, "Only the Academic Commissioner is a sorcerer? Aren't the high-level Academic Commissioners at the prefecture level? How can he handle it all on his own? Why doesn't the Imperial Court cultivate more sorcerers?"

A normal person would definitely be curious upon hearing this, as the Academic Commissioner is already busy managing the education and exams of a province; to also manage the supernatural occurrences of a provincial capital would be impossible unless he is a superhuman capable of traveling around the globe in seconds.

"You are acquainted with Lord Wang, do you not know that being a sorcerer is a forbidden profession, not to be lightly shared with others?" Wei Gongcheng looked puzzled at Chen Qing.

"Lord Wei need not test me..." Chen Qing said with a smile: "I am not familiar with Lord Wang; our acquaintance is only a few days old, and I was involved in this affair by chance. Besides, as you can probably tell, although I know some about supernatural affairs, I am merely an ordinary man myself."

Wei Gongcheng frowned upon hearing this. It was his point of confusion. This young lord was not from a bloodline family and had no sorcerer's spiritual power, so why would Wang Ye entrust a matter of life and death to him?

But he nodded and explained, "Naturally, there isn't just one sorcerer, the Academic Commissioner, in a province. The Academic Commissioner has the duty of instructing sorcerers and typically has a few sorcerer apprentices. Sorcerers are unstable, especially for the newcomers, there is a very high risk of demonic corruption. So, not only are the examinations rigorous, but their growth has to be supervised and inspected by the Academic Commissioner. Of course, the Academic Commissioner also sends these students to handle some less risky supernatural events. Lord Wang Ye had the same experience back in the day."

"I see..." Chen Qing nodded, understanding that while the path of the sorcerer had been unearthed and passed down, it was kept strictly under the control of the Imperial Court. It was unclear what the quality was like, but the quantity was worryingly low.

"When General Wei mentioned the Academic Commissioner, was it because he wanted to ask for his assistance?"

"Yes..." Wei Gongcheng nodded: "The Academic Commissioner is usually a high-level sorcerer. With him involved, the success rate of rescuing Lord Wang would be much higher."

"Then what is the General's concern?"

"I'm not sure if he can be trusted..."

"Oh?" Hearing this, Chen Qing's expression took on a deeper meaning, "Why would the General say that? As the General mentioned, the Academic Commissioner is directly affiliated with the Imperial Court, and I know that Academic Commissioners are rotated every three years; after serving in a province for three years, they must return to the capital to report on their duties. Plus, being high-level sorcerers, they shouldn't be easily replaced, as the risk is too high, isn't it?"

"That is true..." Wei Gongcheng took a deep breath: "but my intuition feels uneasy about that Academic Commissioner."

"Intuition?" Chen Qing's mind stirred, "Although it may be presumptuous to ask, given that I'm involved in such a risky affair, may I inquire what bloodline the General belongs to?"

Upon hearing this, Wei Gongcheng gave Chen Qing a deep look but candidly answered, "Our Wei family possesses the Wind Snake Bloodline; we've been the lifelong vassals of the Weichi Clan with the Celestial Roc Bloodline. Our family's bloodline gives us a very high intuitive sense of danger."

"Oh, I see..." Chen Qing nodded with understanding.

"It seems Lord is aware..." Wei Gongcheng smiled and said: "You are certainly not a common scholar."

Secrets of the bloodlines are rarely shared outside the families; even within the circles, few know about what special abilities someone's bloodline might hold. His Wei family with the Wind Snake Bloodline had certain abilities, and Chen Qing clearly knew about them.

"Hehe, I've heard some things..." Chen Qing chuckled, deftly changing the subject, "General Wei is sharing this with me because he wants help in assessing whether the Academic Commissioner is truly dangerous?"

"Yes..." Wei Gongcheng nodded: "Lord Chen, what do you think? Could it be possible that the Academic Commissioner is one of their people?"

"Well..." After pondering for a moment, Chen Qing started to think carefully.

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"This damned ghostly thing, quite good at hiding, aren't you!"

Weichi Peng was flying through the air, his expression growing more impatient.

As a millennium-old great family that survived three dynasties, the Weichi Clan had a considerable depth of resources, and naturally, their personal soldiers were not ordinary, all having the bloodlines of Demon Dogs or Night Hawks.

With their keen sense of smell and vision, they could track down monsters. Together with their search in coordination with Weichi Peng's high-altitude ambush, few could escape, which was also why the Weichi Clan had been heavily relied on generation after generation.

This Ghost Doll had already clashed with him during the day and even shed blood; with such a trace, within a hundred miles, it shouldn't be able to escape the search of his family soldiers. Could it have fled Lyuzhou City?

At this thought, Weichi Peng, while anxious, also started feeling some trepidation. He had agreed to the Academic Commissioner's three-day term because he had confidence in his family soldiers' search abilities, but now it seemed things were not going as smoothly as expected... Could he really not escape the fate of returning to be mocked?

"Huh? What's that?" Weichi Peng seemed to see something, his demeanor suddenly excited as he dove straight down.

But he did not see that, after he flew away, a dark screen rapidly enveloped a certain area of Lyuzhou City...

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"Weichi Peng has activated the Celestial Roc Bloodline, search throughout the entire city!"

In a certain spot in the mountains, after pulling Mr. Miao out from the hot spring, Master Huang panted and said, "You old codger, as thin as kindling, yet surprisingly heavy!"

Mr. Miao didn't mind the mockery and said seriously, "Does that mean, from now on, it's impossible to send messages to Lyuzhou City?"

"Nonsense... You dare to send any?" Master Huang rolled his eyes. "You know how good the sight of a Celestial Roc is. Unless my wooden birds can become invisible, how could they possibly deliver messages under Weichi Peng's nose?"

"Cough... I told you before, you should design something more lightweight, like wooden bees or something..."

"That's easy for you to say..." Master Huang immediately laughed out of frustration. "Can bees be the same as birds? Birds can glide to fly, but bees fly by vibrating their wings at high frequencies. Can the power design be the same? Ah... there's no use telling you, you wouldn't understand!"

"No matter what, from this point onward, we're like blind men..." Mr. Miao frowned deeply. "The whole Lyuzhou City has slipped out of our control, and it might stay that way for three days!"

"Didn't you want to keep Weichi Peng confined to Lyuzhou?" Master Huang glared. "Now that he has activated the Celestial Roc Bloodline and is flying aimlessly above Lyuzhou City, it's the least likely to interfere with us..."

"That's true, but I always have this feeling..." Mr. Miao frowned and said, "That we've been played!"

"Huh?"

"Do you think... Is it possible that the other party never intended to let Ghost Doll kill us, and the real goal was to force us out of the city and make us lose control of Lyuzhou?"

"Are you overthinking it?" Master Huang frowned. "What would be the purpose of doing that? Where's the motive?"

"If I could figure that out... I wouldn't be here speculating blindly..." Mr. Miao narrowed his eyes. "Old fellow, I have a feeling that this time... we might have really encountered some trouble!"

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"Brother Wei, the brothers have searched the entire South District and found nothing, and the brothers from the northern city have replied too, with no traces found. That ghostly thing is likely not in the city anymore!"

"Is that so?" Wei Gongcheng looked at the other person and nodded, a glint of warmth flashing in his eyes. The reporting brother's body language was natural; he was one of the few not replaced. To prevent his own brothers from being harmed again, he deliberately split them into two groups when choosing men.

He arranged the brothers with natural movements to search the inner city, closer to him, while those monsters wearing his brothers' skins were sent to the suburbs.

"Don't panic, we still have time. If we all start panicking, what is our boss supposed to do?" Wei Gongcheng pointed towards the sky and said with a smile.

"That's true... the boss is naturally impatient..." The personal soldier laughed while scratching his head, looking up at the sky, but the next second, he was stunned.

"Where's the boss?"

"Huh?" Startled by the question, Wei Gongcheng looked up sharply. He possessed the Wind Snake Bloodline, and his vision was no weaker than that of the personal soldiers with the Night Hawk Bloodline. Yet under his remarkable sight, he couldn't see Weichi Peng's figure in the sky!

General... when had he flown away?

"Quick, notify..." As his words fell, Wei Gongcheng froze, realizing distinctly that the words he uttered had no sound...

Not just silence, but as if everything around him had vanished.

Absolute darkness, lights, figures, houses, all clean gone, leaving only endless blackness, nothing to see, nothing to hear...

Without hesitation, Wei Gongcheng drew the short knife from his waist, extremely vigilant, watching his surroundings.

One second... two seconds... time seemed to pass excruciatingly slowly in this environment devoid of sight and hearing...

Watching Wei Gongcheng, who didn't move an inch, maintained his vigilance, and kept his breathing steady, a voice of admiration came from the darkness.

"To remain undisturbed in my technique for a quarter of an hour, I haven't encountered anyone like this for ten years. General Wei, you truly live up to your reputation as the one who has assisted two generations of the Weichi Clan's heads!"

Wei Gongcheng gripped the handle of his knife tighter, his gaze icy cold, aware that not many knew he had supported two generations of family heads, which meant the other party had more accurate information than he expected.

"Academic Commissioner!"

Looking at the person who had appeared, Wei Gongcheng took a deep breath, his face not showing shock, but rather a look as if to say it was to be expected.

He remembered the conversation with Chen Qing from the afternoon.

"Really?"

At the time, Chen Qing's answer made Wei Gongcheng's heart skip a beat: "But how could that be? I have observed closely, the Academic Commissioner's movements are natural, not stiff, he shouldn't be a puppet. And the Imperial Court is extremely strict in their selection of an Academic Commissioner, it should be impossible for them to be an internal traitor!"

"Didn't you yourself feel that there was something off with the Academic Commissioner?" Chen Qing asked, amused.

Wei Gongcheng was silent, his expression conflicted. This was the reason he had come for advice: his instincts and logic were at odds...

"Is it possible that this Academic Commissioner has been fake from the beginning?"

"Why do you say that, my lord?"

"Look... The Thousand-Faced Fox could enter the capital in the guise of Cui Yan's wife, which means she could alter General Weichi's memory. So, if she could alter it, then if the other side had planned deeper from the start, they could have changed your memories of important figures. So, the important people you met when you first came to Lyuzhou could have been imposters."

"The Academic Commissioner is a perfect target; he's important, but normally, you do not often meet with him. What do you think, General Wei?"