A Good-for-Nothing

229. The Demonic Seed and the Zhu Family (I)

Translator: Dragon Rider

Ever since that demon seal had been sabotaged, reports about Demon’s Attendants and low-level demons stirring up trouble had been coming in perpetually, and after the Human Devil who had been sealed for many years had been released, there had been a dramatic rise in the use of the conference room of the Supernaturalism Management Bureau (SMB). The couple of top-ranking officials of SMB were so stressed that they feared they might suffer heart attack at any moment.

These were indeed trying times for SMB.

On arriving at the conference room, Li Zong chanced upon Zhang Jingqiu and Xiang Hailou both of whom looked travel-worn.

Zhang Jingqiu and Xiang Hailou hadn’t even had the chance to go back home first to wash themselves and spend some quality time with their family members. Their clothes still had dirt from the south-west on them, and the two of them were swarthy and much leaner. It seemed that they had been subjected to a lot of hardships during this laborious operation.

At the sight of Li Zong, Zhang Jingqiu gave an inscrutable smile and said, “Congratulations, Supt. Li.”

These words were meant to be pleasantries, but the undertone contained in them were not so pleasant. On the contrary, this remark sounded fairly bitter. It made sense, though. The two of them had both been on missions, but one of them had been slaving in remote mountains, and the other had been reinstated in his post after eliminating the Human Devil in Hang City which was modern and prosperous.

Zhang Jingqiu had gloated over Li Zong’s removal from office for barely a week when Li Zong had been reinstated. When he’d heard the news, Zhang Jingqiu had clenched his teeth so hard that they’d almost broken.

Naturally, Li Zong caught on to the subtext of Zhang Jingqiu’s words. With a bland look on his face, he replied calmly, “I’m unworthy of it.”

Zhang Jingqiu’s face darkened and he inwardly thought that Li Zong was such a shameless son of a bitch. He was just about to make some digs at him when a voice chipped in.

“Oh, what a coincidence. I didn’t expect to see all three group leaders of the headquarters on arrival.” Zhao Fei swaggered into the corridor from the side, a big smile on his face. His fashionable outfit completely overshadowed those of the two men beside him, making them look like migrant construction workers from rural areas.

Unlike Xiang Hailou, Zhang Jingqiu was fairly image-conscious, so he stepped behind Xiang Hailou. Standing beside another object of reference, feeling less uncool, he asked, “You’re Group Leader Zhao of the sub-bureau in Hang City. What brings you here?”

Li Zong said, “Zhao Fei is here to attend to some business. Let’s get inside first.”

Indeed, this was not the time for making inquiries about that, because they had something of greater importance to discuss.

The four of them sat down in four adjoining seats to the right of the main seat. They had just settled themselves in the chairs when Zong Xian, Zhen Daoyuan and Zhao Yidi walked in, and even Elder Chen, who had been in retirement for years, came to attend this meeting.

None of the four of them had expected that this matter would alarm Elder Chen. They rose to their feet in a reverent manner and greeted them.

Zong Xian the Director General didn’t take the main seat right away but offered to let Elder Chen sit in it.

Elder Chen smiled, “I’m just a geriatric who retired a long time ago. The reason why I showed up uninvited today was because I heard that Xiao Zhang and Xiao Xiang made some important discoveries. I came along for the ride. You should sit there, Zong Xian. This is your department.”

Although the old man’s words were quite casual, Zong Xian felt that the tone in his voice brooked no argument.

Zong Xian inclined his head and didn’t insist. Still, he had a staff member bring another chair to the room and place it beside the main seat.

It was after all people present settled themselves that Zong Xian began to speak.

“Today I’ll dispense with the formalities. Xiao Zhang, Xiao Xiang, you told me on the phone that you found something important. Now tell us the details.”

Zhang Jingqiu and Xiang Hailou bobbed their heads. Xiang Hailou was not a great talker, so Zhang Jingqiu was the one who would fill the others in on their discovery.

Zhang Jingqiu wiped the dust from his face. For a moment he didn’t know where to start.

As the only female in the conference room, Zhao Yidi, who was also the most short-tempered one of them all, furrowed her brows impatiently and snarled, “Spit it out, Zhang boy. What are you waiting for?”

Zhang Jingqiu said, “I’m just wondering if it’s the right thing to do to talk about this matter in the presence of Li Zong.”

Zong Xian knitted his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

After Zhang Jingqiu said this, everybody’s eyes rested on Li Zong.

Zhang Jingqiu explained, “It’s because this piece of intelligence about the Demonic Seed that we found has something to do with Li Zong.”

“Li Zong?” A stern look flashed across Zhao Yidi’s pretty eyes. “This is not the place for slanderous remarks. All the four of us are fully aware of who Li Zong is. What could the Demonic Seed possibly have to do with him?”

All the others exchanged knowing glances.

Li Zong was sitting in his seat, motionless, his countenance remaining unchanged.

Zong Xian gave a cough. “Jingqiu, what is it exactly? What did you find in the south-west?”

Zhang Jingqiu stared squarely at Li Zong. “We sought out an obscure sect near the Spiritual Vein of Mount Wushan, in which we finally found a message related to the Demonic Seed.”

As the other insider, Xiang Hailou had been keeping quiet all along.

Zhang Jingqiu continued, “Over twenty years ago, a woman in her prime once went to the Holy Land of Demons which was located on the Spiritual Vein of Mount Wushan, but the woman had no spiritual power, and she was attacked near the Spiritual Vein. People of the Triple Purity Sect rescued her.”