Chapter 146: Chapter 107: Five Elements

After a thorough search, his haul far exceeded his expectations!

Relying on his experience from clawing his way up from the bottom, Chen Qing knew all the tricks for hiding money and valuables.

He expertly pried open a hidden compartment in the bedroom and lifted a false bottom from the bed frame… revealing a thick stack of silver notes. The total was a staggering seventy to eighty thousand taels!

This was undoubtedly the illicit money the two had embezzled from the Fishery’s profits, funds they hadn’t yet had a chance to transfer or offer up to their patrons.

And in the deepest part of Wang Hai’s bedroom, inside a hidden compartment containing a Cold Jade Box, Chen Qing found the biggest surprise of his search.

It was a section of lotus root, about half a foot long and a lustrous, jade-like white!

It emanated a gentle warmth, and a milky white halo seemed to flow within its hollow chambers, as if it contained a Spiritual Light.

A Jade Marrow Lotus!

Chen Qing recognized it instantly. This was one of the Treasure Medicines recorded in the miscellaneous texts, capable of gently improving one’s Root Bone.

The gentle Earth Vein Jade Marrow Essence it contained was the perfect substance for cleansing the muscles and bones and nurturing one’s Root Bone.

This type of Treasure Medicine needed to be at least ten years old to have any effect, and the older it was, the more potent it became.

Treasures like this that improved one’s Root Bone were almost never sold on the open market. Whenever one appeared, it would be snatched up immediately.

Chen Qing examined the Jade Marrow Lotus in his hand. It had to be around fifteen years old!

’Was this something Wang Hai prepared for himself, or for the person backing him!?’

Chen Qing didn’t know, but none of that mattered anymore.

The treasure was his now.

Chen Qing’s heart pounded with excitement as he carefully put away the Cold Jade Box.

This Jade Marrow Lotus was crucial for him to solidify his foundation and improve his Root Bone!

Besides that, there was also a ledger.

Chen Qing flipped through it quickly. The cold, hard numbers were shocking.

The ledger clearly recorded how, starting last year, Wang Hai and Zhao Kang had colluded with the former Steward Mao. They had used their positions to continuously smuggle resources like Treasure Fish, Jade Lotus Buds, and Ink Jade Pearls out of three Fisheries, selling them off through a channel called Black Water Street.

According to the ledger, the shortfall at Nanze No. 7 Fishery was marked at forty percent. But at Fisheries No. 6 and No. 8, where Wang Hai and Zhao Kang personally presided, the shortfall was a terrifying sixty percent!

The value of the assets involved far exceeded Chen Qing’s earlier estimate of a hundred thousand-plus taels. The cumulative total was likely a staggering two to three hundred thousand taels of silver!

There was no way the two of them could have pocketed that much themselves. There had to be a huge network of interests behind them, possibly even involving the Sect’s upper echelon.

“Such voracious appetites! Such a deep web!”

Chen Qing closed the ledger, a deeper chill settling in his heart.

This ledger was irrefutable proof, but it was also a hot potato.

If he handed it directly to the Sect, putting aside whether Elder Zhao was the mastermind, the sheer scale of the deficit and the chain of interests involved would be enough to make certain people resort to any means necessary to cover up the truth.

His status as the designated scapegoat would become the perfect excuse for them to silence him for good.

’Master Li!’

A sharp glint flashed in Chen Qing’s eyes.

The Dean of the Cyan Wood Institute, a man who seemed greedy enough to die for money and utterly unconcerned with worldly affairs, was the only person he could think of who could resolve this matter.

Although he didn’t know the true depths of the man’s power, anyone who could hold the position of Dean was certainly not as simple as they appeared.

More importantly, he was nominally Master Li’s disciple and a member of the Cyan Wood Institute.

Besides, he had said before that as long as there was enough silver, he could fix any problem, no matter how big.

There was no time to lose!

He had to act before the disappearance of Wang Hai and Zhao Kang was discovered, and before the people behind them had time to react!

Chen Qing hid the Jade Marrow Lotus and most of the silver notes he had found, taking only a small portion and the ledger with him.

He returned silently to No. 7 Fishery, led out a fast horse, and, without alerting anyone, spurred it on, heading straight for the Wutai Sect’s Cyan Wood Institute.

As the first light of dawn touched Dingbo Lake, a travel-worn Chen Qing arrived at the Cyan Wood Institute.

A few Transmutation Force Disciples were in the courtyard doing their morning training and sparring. When they saw Chen Qing, they all stopped what they were doing.

“Brother Chen!”

“Brother Chen!”

Chen Qing had no time for pleasantries. He just gave a slight nod and continued walking without pause, heading straight for the closed courtyard gate in the back.

“Disciple Chen Qing requests an audience with Master Li on an urgent matter!” Chen Qing bowed outside the gate, his voice clear and steady.

The courtyard was silent, as if no one was there.

Chen Qing took a deep breath and spoke again, his voice a little louder: “Disciple Chen Qing has a matter of life and death to discuss! I implore Master Li to grant me an audience!”

Still, there was no response.

Without further hesitation, Chen Qing took out the five thousand taels of silver notes he had prepared, slid them through the crack at the bottom of the gate, and said loudly, “This disciple knows he is disturbing Master Li’s peaceful cultivation. Please accept this small token for your tea expenses. I beg you to see me!”

Silence lingered within for a moment.

Finally, with a CREAK, the heavy gate slowly opened a crack, revealing Li Baichuan’s placid, unreadable face.

He glanced at the scattered silver notes on the ground, then looked at Chen Qing. No emotion could be seen in his cloudy eyes. He simply uttered a single word: “Enter.”

Chen Qing’s heart relaxed slightly. He walked in quickly and gently closed the gate behind him.

Inside, the familiar scent of herbs and sandalwood filled the air. Li Baichuan was already seated cross-legged on a cushion before a low table, upon which sat a cup of clear tea with steam gently rising from it.

He didn’t look at Chen Qing, but instead held a game piece, facing a game board as if contemplating the end of a match.

“What is it?” Li Baichuan’s voice was flat and emotionless.

Chen Qing wasted no words. He presented the two ledgers he had kept hidden on his person and the evidence of the shortfall at No. 7 Fishery that he had organized. Then, in the most concise terms possible, he laid out the entire sequence of events:

From Zhang Wei’s abnormal behavior, to Wang Hai and Zhao Kang’s attempts to recruit and threaten him; from catching Zhang Wei stealing fish and killing him in self-defense, to being ambushed by Wang Hai and Zhao Kang and being forced to kill them in turn; from the conspiracy to frame him as the ’scapegoat,’ to the high-ranking Sect mastermind who had to be pulling the strings… He recounted all the key information, clear and organized, holding nothing back.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep