Senior Sister Bai Yueguang is incredibly strong.

Chapter 81 Falling to Earth (24)

What is the most terrifying thing in the world?

A: The people above will personally check your performance.

Listening to Meng Tingde flipping through the files, Li Ze was already drenched in sweat.

Seeing that Meng Tingde had been flipping through the files for several days, he couldn't help but remind him, "Eighth Prince, these files are from five years ago."

Meng Tingde gave him a rare glance, then withdrew it without hesitation: "Bring me the ledger."

"Huh? Ledgers?" Li Ze was a little confused, but he did as he was told. "Go and fetch the ledgers from the storeroom for His Highness. What does His Highness need the ledgers for?"

Meng Tingde stretched his aching shoulders; he'd been looking at case files for the past few days and his head was spinning. Meanwhile, the others who'd come with him were either meditating, playing with birds, or even asleep on the table. Meng Tingde was furious and sneered, "I see Lord Li has organized this place very well, and I'd like to learn from him. What, Lord Li isn't happy about it?"

"I dare not accept such praise."

Li Ze stood to one side, staring at his toes. The only sound in the room was Meng Tingde turning the pages of a book.

After an unknown amount of time, Shi Ming suddenly opened his eyes. Seeing that he was moving, Chu Yeli raised his hand and patted the sleeping Jian Muyi awake.

Upon receiving Shi Ming's instructions, Jian Muyi pretended to get up and stretch. As he passed by Li Ze, he swiftly placed his sword against Li Ze's neck. Xue Xin immediately silenced him by pressing his acupoint, rendering him unable to utter a sound.

"Don't move, my sword is very fast."

"Uh...uuuu..."

Shi Ming stood up and patted him on the shoulder: "Don't worry, there's a formation here, your accomplices won't know you've been captured for a while."

Meng Tingde leaned back in his chair and casually tossed a file at his feet: "Tell me, where is your mastermind?"

Li Ze was silenced by having his acupoints pressed, so he naturally couldn't make a sound.

"You, Li Ze! The court values ​​you highly, yet you commit such a heinous act!" Meng Tingde slammed his hand on the table, sending the scattered files flying to the floor. "This is utterly devoid of humanity!"

"Tell me, where did these women in the files go?" Meng Tingde slammed the files he had selected directly into Li Ze's face. "Nearly every two weeks, a woman has been imprisoned. Tell me, why were they imprisoned, and where did they go?"

Upon hearing Meng Tingde's words, Li Ze instinctively tried to kneel down, but he was held up by Jian Muyi and Xue Xin and could not move. He could only make muffled pleas for mercy.

Shi Ming signaled to Xue Xin to release his speech acupoint.

"Spare me, Your Highness! Spare me! I was forced into this! Your Highness, spare me!"

Shi Ming interrupted his pleas for mercy: "Tell me, where is your mastermind?"

"Speak!" Another file was hurled at him.

The blow made Li Ze realize the situation a bit. He turned to Shi Ming and cried out, "Immortal, spare my life! I don't know, I really don't know! I was coerced by them. If I didn't do their bidding, they would kill me!"

"Then let me ask you again, how did you contact each other?" Shi Ming frowned, his voice carrying an air of authority. "I advise you to tell the truth. Even if you don't, we can still find out."

"I'll talk, I'll talk." Li Ze was terrified; no one had expected them to suddenly lash out. "I was just following their orders. They wanted unmarried women. At first, I only dared to hand over women who were imprisoned, but later they wanted more and more, and I really had no choice but to... I had no choice but to..."

"So all we can do is arrest some innocent women and imprison them, then let those things take them away at will, is that it?" Meng Tingde walked over from his chair and slapped Li Ze, knocking out one of his teeth. "You bastard! Those are your own brothers and sisters, the people of my great Meng! How can we allow you, a despicable person, to harm them!"

"Your Highness, I was wrong, I know I was wrong! I was really forced!"

“The Great Meng has no officials as cowardly as you! I will personally take your life and then report to the Emperor as a warning to others.”

“Young Master Meng,” Shi Ming interrupted him, “this man cannot be killed yet.”

Knowing he had been spared, Li Ze quickly tried to salvage the situation: "Eighth Prince, please don't kill me! I'm still useful. They'll be coming to the prison tonight to take away the new girls. I can take you to them. Please spare my life, please..."

Xue Xin knocked the man unconscious with a chop to the neck. Meng Tingde clicked his tongue impatiently: "You're going to act tonight?"

Shi Ming nodded: "I'll trouble you to stay inside tonight, Young Master Meng. We might not be able to spare the time to ensure your safety."

"Since you know my royal identity, why do you still call me 'Young Master'?" Meng Tingde raised an eyebrow, finding these people rather interesting.

Shi Ming didn't seem to care much: "If Young Master Meng cares, we can also address you as Your Highness."

"Never mind, it's just a title."

Meng Tingde didn't care about these formalities, but seeing their behavior, he couldn't help but be curious about the class system in their world.

"So what's the plan for tonight?" Chu Yeli crossed his arms, his brows furrowed. "We don't have much of an advantage in a head-on confrontation."

"We won't fight them," Shi Ming said calmly. "Our main task is to hold them off, patch the loopholes in the barrier, prevent the Ghost King from descending, and then report to the sect so that all the immortal sects can thoroughly investigate this matter. You don't really think that a few of us can take on the Ghost King single-handedly, do you?"

"Uh..." To be honest, Chu Yeli really wanted to do that, but of course, it was just a thought. He was still far from being able to take on the Ghost King one-on-one.

"So, senior brother, what's our next plan?"

Jian Muyi was already eager to show his skills.

"The next plan is simple: first, clean up the ghosts lingering in the human realm; second, patch the loopholes in the barrier." Shi Ming held up two fingers. "These past few days, your senior sister has roughly located the loopholes, so the task of patching the barrier has fallen to her. As for Ye Xiao, he should have already cleaned up most of the ghosts lingering in the human realm."

"What about us?"

Xue Xin was puzzled. According to Shi Ming's plan, there were very few places where they were needed, and they didn't even need so many of them.

“Our mission is rather complicated.” Shi Ming paused for a moment and looked at Chu Yeli. “According to your senior sister’s speculation, the Ghost Clan may have a backup plan. Once they block the entrance over there, we will be responsible for tracking that group of little ghosts and finding the last loophole.”

"It sounds simple, but if we really faced off, the result would be: nothing but bones left..."

Chu Yeli's words sent chills down the spines of the kids.

Shi Ming did not deny it: "After all, most of those who survived at that time were vengeful ghosts, but there was no other way. We had to keep an eye on them to prevent them from suddenly attacking people. So, do you understand?"

"clear!"

Without the slightest hesitation or retreat, this was the mission of them, the cultivators.