Chapter 329: Chapter 198: Generous Rewards, The Flexible and Adaptable Xue Jing, The Black Dragon Knight in the Deep of Night (4K)_2
But the thought of having a billion Zhuxia currency and ten Divine Relics not so far out of reach made him feel rather delighted.
If he succeeded, he wouldn't have to worry about running out of money for martial arts practice for quite a long time, and he would also gain over five thousand Divinity...
"I hope the councilors are occupied with their own issues," Xue Jing thought to himself.
The assignment from the Qingcheng government this time was a hot potato; investigating thirty Governing Councilors was the kind of move that would offend the whole of Qingcheng in one fell swoop... If it had been two days ago, he would not have been keen to take it on.
But now...
Xue Jing opened his panel and took a look.
[Shadowflame Lv7][Concealment Lv4].
These two skills were the foundation of his confidence in the investigation.
Concealment allowed him even to elude his master, Li Qi, for a while, and Shadowflame combined the ability to disappear and hide on the spot with "Shadow Lurk," and "Shadow Leap" to withdraw from the scene at any moment, not to mention using Shadowflame Wrap Armor to completely disguise himself.
Four layers of security meant he had no need to worry about the possibility of his identity being discovered; if he wasn't found, then it never happened!
I haven't infiltrated the honorable councilors' homes, so please stop slandering me, alright?
Closing the panel, Xue Jing stealthily passed by a few elementary school kids who had just finished school in the dark alley, mischievously reaching out to touch the shiny bald head of one of them.
The startled child looked around, unable to find anyone, assuming it was one of his classmates who did it. Upon questioning them and receiving no admissions of guilt, it led to an on-the-spot 'court hearing,' as he began listing everyone's motives and suspicions, determined to find out who had ambushed him.
Seeing this, Xue Jing chuckled lightly.
Unlike what Pei Xiao'en cynically thought in his heart, Xue Jing was actually someone with a pretty high moral ceiling, it was just that his moral floor was equally low; simply put, he had quite a flexible moral baseline.
In matters of significant self-interest, he could act without hesitation to benefit himself at others' expense, not doubting for a second would be disrespectful to his own low standards.
However, if within his means, he was quite willing to do good deeds... Of course, if it went beyond his capabilities or required him to harm himself for others, then that was a different story.
In fact, even without any reward, just knowing that the councilors' homes might be hiding a crisis threatening the whole of Qingcheng, he would most likely still take on the task.
Because he now had the ability to do it, and to him, it wasn't difficult.
It just meant that when it came to the compensation he deserved, he was completely unabashed in taking it.
If the Qingcheng government dared to write him a blank check, he would dare to add several zeroes to it on the spot.
While contemplating these matters, Xue Jing soon returned home.
In the following days, Xue Jing received the Governing Councilor's information sent to him by Pei Xiao'en.
It included their home addresses, daily activity ranges, movement patterns, personal habits, rough details of home security, and floor plans, with several suspicious locations even highlighted. It was quite thorough.
Xue Jing spent an hour memorizing the thick stack of documents, then burned them to ashes.
He did not start work immediately but spent several days, apart from his daily martial arts practice, entirely devoted to grinding [Concealment].
In a few days, he had leveled up Concealment successfully from Lv4 to Lv7 (32/4500).
During this period, the folks at Hidden Dragon Dojo suffered a bit... being frequently startled by Xue Jing, who was appearing and disappearing unpredictably, especially his little apprentice Zong Shichan, who had become a particular focus of his attention.
Since becoming his apprentice, the little girl hadn't been scared despite Xue Jing's initial Spartan teaching method, but over these days, she had for the first time thought about not wanting to see her master at the Hidden Dragon Dojo, utterly terrorized by his antics.
After reaching Lv7, Xue Jing tested it by spending an afternoon in Li Qi's Heart-Nourishing Room, and managed to stay completely unnoticed. He felt it couldn't be any safer.
So he decided to start his operation that very night.
...
The night was deep, and all was quiet, with the moon hanging high in the sky.
In North City District, on Mufeng Street.
This area is well-known in Qingcheng as a 'privileged' district, home to many high-ranking officials, and even several members of the Governing Council reside here, which makes it a place of stringent security.
Especially at night, just past one in the morning, there were numerous security guards patrolling the streets. They moved with professional gait and posture, their eyes alert, and the bulges at their waists suggested they were likely armed with guns. It was clear they were not your average guards who simply sat at door fronts; these were true elite forces.
But even these elites failed to notice a silent shadow crouched on a long utility pole above the street.
The figure was clad in a pitch-black, full-cover ornate armor, with only a pair of indifferent silver-white eyes visible. Sharp black spikes adorned the armor at the joints and back, and the entire form was accented with blossoms of Dark Flame.
Urban legend—The Black Dragon Knight makes his entrance.
Gazing at a large villa not far away, information about its resident surfaced in Xue Jing's mind.
Governing Councilor Song Shiju, among the council, belonged to the more radical faction, openly dissatisfied many times with the tepid style of Chief Councillor Chi Liangyun.
Xue Jing closed his eyes slightly, activating his spiritual power, and began to perform meditative visualization of the situation inside the villa.
The positions of all living beings, their actions—as long as even the slightest noise was made, even just a breath, Xue Jing could infer the data and visualize it through calculation.
Shortly after, Xue Jing opened his eyes and flicked a blossom of Dark Flame, which silently leapt over the high wall and flew into the villa's courtyard.
The next moment, Xue Jing slipped into the Dark Flame beside him and vanished on the spot.
A ripple went through the Dark Flame that had settled in the courtyard, and from it stepped a shadow that landed on the lawn.
As soon as Xue Jing appeared, he immediately submerged into the ground at his spot, diving into the shadows of the house and began to move towards the interior.
Along the way, he encountered several patrolling security guards and even some well-hidden infrared alarm devices—reminiscent of secret bases in spy movies.
However, no matter how cautious the security measures were, they were virtually non-existent in the face of Xue Jing's Skills: "Concealment," "Shadow Lurk," and "Shadow Leap."
If passage was possible, he would use Shadow Lurk to glide through; if not, he would send a blossom of Dark Flame and simply leap over.
Under the Lv7 Concealment, Xue Jing instinctively grasped where the cameras were and the angles they covered, remaining undetected from start to finish, like a ghost that didn't exist.
As his grasp of the villa's information deepened, the details of the house visualized in his mind became clearer and the investigation faster. Soon, he had surveyed every room in the villa.
Then, using the fully visualized details of the villa, he easily found a concealed basement entrance in an inconspicuous corner, opened it, and slipped inside.
However, aside from some gold bars, cash, and secret document files in the basement, there was nothing unusual.
Hmm, there was also a small notebook, filled with many names that seemed to be female—Lili, Juanjuan, Wenwen, and the like; each name was followed by an address, about twenty in total. It's unclear what their purpose was...
Xue Jing put all the items back in place and, since he was wearing the Entwined Armor, he wasn't worried about leaving fingerprints. Then, he immediately dived into the Dark Flame beside him.
On the utility pole outside the villa, a Dark Flame fluctuated briefly, and Xue Jing emerged from it.
Without lingering, he immediately dashed off toward the residence of the next councilor.
...
(I felt somewhat inspired today and wanted to write more to make up for the past, but I caught a cold and my head feels terribly heavy. I struggled but still didn't manage to do it.)
(However, I tried to put in the effort, the future is promising!)
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