Loyal Heart Roaming the Skies

"Peng Ju has said before that after his parents died, the entire Fang family, except for his grandfather, treated him sincerely."

On the way back, Linghe explained.

Fang Heling's grandfather's death was not sudden, and he had already been buried. None of them had the ability to verify the cause of death through the memorial tablet. Even though Fang Zehou's concession was somewhat suspicious, it was not a good time to visit this time. Therefore, after Linghe paid his respects, the three of them chose to leave.

"Alright, everyone knows that you're a good person, Big Brother." Zhao Rucheng pouted. "Such a kind-hearted person."

Linghe treated everyone sincerely, and Zhao Rucheng was both feeling sorry for Jiang Wang and trying to smooth things over.

Jiang Wang just smiled and skipped over this topic. He didn't mind.

"What does the Dao Academy think? The Judicial Department hasn't found any results from the investigation, yet they arranged for us to investigate this matter. Isn't this just causing trouble? I'm not on good terms with the Fang family."

"Perhaps that's the reason why the Dao Academy arranged for us to investigate this matter." Zhao Rucheng said.

"The Dao Academy suspects Fang Heling?" Jiang Wang frowned.

"Doesn't he deserve to be suspected?" Zhao Rucheng retorted. "In terms of combat power, he has none. In terms of intelligence, he has even less. Why did all four members of the team die, leaving only him alive?"

"I think he's quite cunning now." Linghe said impartially. "And... he didn't go up the mountain."

"He said he didn't go up the mountain, but who knows?" Zhao Rucheng shrugged.

...

After leaving the Fang family, the second stop Linghe led the team to was the Judicial Department.

To be precise, it was the office in Yufeng City where the Judicial Department was located.

The tasks on the Dao Merit List came from various sources. The Ministry of War, the Judicial Department, the Dao Academy itself, and even the Zhuangting could all post tasks on the Dao Merit List.

The task that Fang Heling participated in was initiated by the Judicial Department, and the rank assessment was also completed by the Judicial Department.

The Dao Merit reward for an eighth-rank task ranged from one hundred to five hundred points. However, the Judicial Department only assigned a reward of one hundred and fifty points for this task, which was considered a lower difficulty level among eighth-rank tasks - this clearly did not match the actual situation.

Linghe and the others received a three hundred point Dao Merit reward for this investigation task, and they only needed to investigate, without having to deal with the aftermath. Although there was a factor of a thirty percent increase in reward for designated tasks, it was still a reasonable rank assessment.

...

As the official organization responsible for handling Transcendent cases, the Judicial Department was probably used to being arrogant.

Three Dao Academy cultivators came to verify the information with the Dao Merit List, but no one in the Judicial Department paid them any attention.

Even though Zhao Rucheng was exceptionally handsome, all the female cultivators in the Judicial Department looked down on them and didn't even spare them a glance.

Linghe asked each person one by one without getting tired of it, enduring countless disdainful looks, before finally finding the person in charge.

The person in charge of assessing the rank of that task in the Judicial Department was a Meridian Realm cultivator with drooping eyebrows.

At this moment, he was sitting behind the counter, bowing his head and using a brush to record something, with a very impatient expression. "What do you want?"

The repeated setbacks in the Judicial Department did not affect Linghe's attitude.

He still just smiled politely and respectfully, "We are disciples of the Dao Academy, here for the Bing Wu No. task. We have four senior brothers who died in that mission..."

"This damn task again!" The person with drooping eyebrows suddenly threw the brush in his hand. "Are you done yet?"

Perhaps he had been suppressed for a while and felt that these three young faces were easy to bully, so he suddenly became angry, "This damn investigation, that damn investigation. I've already been fined for a year, what else do you want?"

Spittle flew as he slammed the table and roared.

Linghe slightly dodged and was about to say something else.

A hand had already broken through the vertical bars on the counter, grabbed the drooping eyebrows' collar, and pulled him out, using his face to smash through all the vertical bars.

Dragging him out of the counter.

"What else do you want?" Jiang Wang had long been dissatisfied. He had been holding back his anger since he came here, and now he didn't care about his demeanor anymore. He grabbed the drooping eyebrows and said, "Because of your negligence, four disciples of the Dao Academy died! They're dead! Everything is gone! Are you really suffering from being fined for a year?"

The drooping eyebrows was completely dumbfounded.

He hadn't finished venting his anger yet, but the kid from the Dao Academy had already made a move. He immediately gathered his Dao Yuan, but it was directly and forcefully crushed.

It's not that he didn't want to resist, but there was really no room for resistance.

The difference in strength was too great!

"Hey hey hey! What are you doing?"

Other cultivators in the Judicial Department who heard the commotion rushed over.

"This is the Judicial Department's important place, how dare you act so recklessly?"

When they were asking questions earlier, the entire Judicial Department was like a haunted house, silent and expressionless.

But now that something happened, everyone came out at once.

Linghe's figure flashed and he stood in front of these people.

"We have accepted a task from the Dao Merit List and have been ordered to investigate the Bing Wu No. task. During this period, all parties involved must cooperate!"

He had a good temper because he had a large capacity, but that didn't mean he was timid.

When he accompanied Jiang Wang to Wangjiang City, he was prepared for blood to splatter five steps.

Now, standing in front of everyone, he was also resolute, with his Dao Yuan ready to be unleashed.The officers of the Punishment Department were taken aback. However, the Dao Merit List was a national treasure. When cultivators carried out tasks from the Dao Merit List, all parties had to cooperate. This was the rule.

Therefore, if today's incident was caused by the uncooperative man with the hanging eyebrows, the actions of these Dao Academy cultivators were legally justified.

"But you can't just do whatever you want!"

"Exactly, how are you going to compensate for damaging public property?"

No matter what, they had to maintain the dignity of the Punishment Department.

"How to compensate?" Zhao Rucheng smiled and stepped forward, "Just a few wooden railings, how much do you want us to pay?"

"This is property of the Punishment Department! What do you think it is?" The man sneered, "At least a hundred gold, right?"

His intention was to make these people back off and understand their limits.

Although for cultivators, Dao Yuan stones were the real currency. But for daily necessities, gold and silver were still indispensable. A hundred gold was not easy to come by.

Unexpectedly, Zhao Rucheng burst into laughter.

"Good!" He turned to Jiang Wang and said, "Third Brother, don't worry about it. Let's smash it with ten thousand gold. Consider it a renovation for the Punishment Department!"

"..."

"..."

The officers of the Punishment Department looked at each other, and a middle-aged cultivator with a gloomy face appeared on the scene.

"So it's Young Master Zhao!" He said with a forced smile, "Are you here to show off your wealth in our Punishment Department?"

This man was Dan Cha, the person in charge of the Punishment Department in Fenglin City, a cultivator of the Soaring Dragon Realm.

"Sir Dan, we wouldn't dare to say that." To avoid Zhao Rucheng's temper escalating the conflict, Ling He quickly replied, "We are all disciples of the Dao Academy. We accepted a task from the Dao Merit List and came to the Punishment Department to inquire about the case as per normal procedures. But this man refused to cooperate and even suddenly became violent. To avoid causing a commotion, my junior brother had to subdue him first."

He turned to Jiang Wang, "Third Brother, let him go. What does it look like in front of Sir Dan?"

Jiang Wang smiled and loosened his grip, placing the man with the hanging eyebrows steadily on the ground. He even patted his shoulder, "Are you okay?"

The man with the hanging eyebrows was still in shock, but he managed to say, "I'm fine, I'm fine."

His previous outburst couldn't be ignored. Therefore, when Ling He said this, the officers of the Punishment Department couldn't find fault with it.

"Alright, since it's a normal procedure, everyone disperse." Dan Cha dismissed the crowd, then turned to the man with the hanging eyebrows, "These talented Dao Academy students are here on a task from the Dao Merit List. If they have any questions, you should answer them properly, understand?"

"I understand, I understand." The man with the hanging eyebrows replied.

Only then did Dan Cha nod, turn around and leave, not mentioning the matter of Zhao Rucheng compensating for the damage at all.

"We're in trouble now, he's going to hold a grudge." Zhao Rucheng said with a grin.

Despite saying they were in trouble, there wasn't a hint of fear on his face.

Jiang Wang also looked indifferent. They were all outstanding disciples of the Dao Academy with promising futures.

If they were to join the Punishment Department in the future, as long as their cultivation level kept up, their status would only be higher than Dan Cha's. If they didn't join the Punishment Department, there was even less to worry about.

As for now, if Dan Cha wanted to play any tricks, did he really think that Master Dong wouldn't protect his own?

"We're not afraid, but we're worried we won't have time to deal with things at home." In front of the man with the hanging eyebrows, it wasn't appropriate to speak too directly. Ling He simply hinted at Zhao Rucheng, then said, "Third Brother, you better ask quickly."

From beginning to end, he didn't complain about Jiang Wang's recklessness or Zhao Rucheng's arrogance, even though they had inadvertently offended a powerful figure like Dan Cha.

Because the three of them were brothers. No matter what one of them did or what attitude they showed, they would bear it together.