I meet all the requirements for becoming a god in this world!

Chapter 120 The Whole Story of the Case

"Um----"

Xu Jiayin was awakened by a burst of blinding sunlight.

She opened her eyes and was greeted by an unfamiliar sky.

Azure and clear, a stark contrast to the drab street she walked on before she fell into a coma.

"Ugh————"

She propped herself up and sat up, still feeling a little dizzy.

Looking down, he saw himself lying on a patch of overgrown ground, surrounded by desolate mountains and fields, with a few dilapidated houses faintly visible in the distance.

"Ling Ziyun?"

She called out.

No one answered.

Xu Jiayin's heart tightened, and she stood up abruptly, her eyes searching around.

Not far away, a carriage was parked quietly.

It was the same carriage from the Ministry of Works that carried the colossal statue of the fourth rank official; the carriage itself was intact.

Beside the carriage, Ling Ziyun lay sprawled on the ground, fast asleep.

Faint snoring could be heard.

Xu Jiayin's lips twitched. Her expression was unfriendly. She walked over and kicked Ling Ziyun's leg.

"Hey! Wake up!"

Ling Ziyun sprang to his feet with a start, shouting before even opening his eyes, "Who?! Enemy attack?! Huh?"

He rubbed his eyes and finally saw Xu Jiayin in front of him. Then he looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings and froze on the spot: "Where...where am I?"

Xu Jiayin didn't want to waste time arguing with him. She frowned and said, "I only remember that on the way forward, a light suddenly flashed by—and then I arrived here."

Her voice was somewhat solemn.

Ling Ziyun scratched his head, got up, brushed the grass clippings off his clothes, and looked around: "Is this in the mountains?"

Xu Jiayin was too lazy to waste words with him and walked towards the yard.

Ling Ziyun quickly followed, muttering, "Wait for me! Don't walk so fast!"

The two walked one after the other toward the dilapidated houses.

After walking a few steps, Xu Jiayin suddenly stopped.

"What—" Ling Ziyun was stunned before she could finish her sentence.

An invisible barrier blocked their path ahead.

The barrier was as transparent as water, yet as solid as iron. Xu Jiayin reached out and pushed it, but it didn't budge.

She channeled her spiritual power and slammed her palm down—"Bang!"

The barrier remained unmoved, but she herself was forced back two steps by the impact.

"Formation—" Her expression turned serious.

Ling Ziyun also tried it and was similarly shaken back.

He shouted at the top of his lungs, "Is anyone there?! Is anyone there?!"

The mountains and forests were silent, with only his echo drifting in the air.

No one answered.

Xu Jiayin was not giving up and walked around the barrier once.

The entire area, spanning a hundred feet, was enveloped by this invisible light barrier, without a single gap.

She looked up at the sky; the protective canopy stretched all the way to mid-air, like a giant bowl, completely enveloping the mountain forest.

"We can't get out." Xu Jiayin took a deep breath.

Her voice was a little hoarse.

Ling Ziyun also became anxious: "What should we do? We can't just be trapped here and die, can we?"

Xu Jiayin didn't speak, but stared at the houses in front of her for a long time.

"Let's go in and take a look," she said in a deep voice.

Ling Ziyun shrank back: "Go in? What if there's something inside—"

"We have to go in, even if it's dangerous," Xu Jiayin interrupted him. "It's better than just waiting here."

She took out a Rubik's Cube from her waist, infused it with spiritual power, and the palm-sized Rubik's Cube clicked a few times, transforming into a ten-foot-long flying torch that hovered in front of her.

Ling Ziyun quickly activated his protective spiritual power and followed behind her.

The two carefully made their way along the overgrown path toward the largest house.

The courtyard was very quiet.

It was eerily quiet.

The weeds were as tall as a person, clearly indicating that no one had tended to them for a long time.

A thick layer of moss covered the corner of the wall, and most of the paint on the window frame had peeled off, revealing the rotten wood underneath.

Xu Jiayin gripped the torch tightly and approached the closed door step by step.

Upon reaching the door, she took a deep breath and channeled her spiritual energy into the flying torch.

"Bang!!"

The door was kicked open, and shards flew everywhere!

The two rushed into the house, and the light from the flying torches instantly illuminated every corner.

In the very center of the room stood a worn-out wooden chair.

A person was sitting in the chair.

A man.

He was in his early thirties, wearing a drab, coarse cloth outfit that was wrinkled and looked like it hadn't been washed in ages.

Her hair hung down in a mess, covering most of her face.

He just sat there, his body slightly hunched, his hands hanging limply at his sides, looking like a walking corpse.

Xu Jiayin and Ling Ziyun both froze.

The man seemed to sense someone entering; his eyes flickered, and he slowly turned his head to "look" at them.

But his gaze was unfocused and empty, as if looking through them towards some unknown distance.

He did not speak.

He had no expression whatsoever.

He just stared blankly at it.

Ling Ziyun swallowed hard and lowered his voice, "This—is this a human or a ghost?"

Xu Jiayin didn't answer, her brows furrowed slightly, and she just stared intently at the man.

Ling Ziyun mustered his courage and took two steps forward, tentatively asking, "Um—and who are you, sir?"

The man did not react.

Ling Ziyun paused for a moment, then mustered his courage and took another step forward, reaching out to gently brush aside the stray hairs hanging over his face.

Her disheveled hair slipped down.

His face was revealed.

It was a thin face with slightly protruding cheekbones and skin so pale it was almost bloodless.

Between his eyebrows and eyes, one could still vaguely discern a handsome outline, but at this moment, all that remained was numbness.

Xu Jiayin's pupils suddenly contracted!

Her body trembled violently, and she almost dropped the torch in her hand.

"five----"

Her round eyes widened, her lips trembled, and it seemed she used all her strength to squeeze out those three words: "Fifth Martial Uncle?!"

The street where the carriage went missing was now completely surrounded by the Regent's troops.

One hundred or so inspectors, dressed in black official robes and with long swords at their waists, stood in neat rows along both sides of the street.

Seven or eight provincial inspectors stood at the front of the procession, their expressions solemn, their eyes occasionally glancing at the empty space in the middle of the street.

Two of the four inspectors arrived directly.

-

Liu Yundu, dressed in a black robe, stood with his hands behind his back, his face calm and composed, revealing neither joy nor anger.

He just stood there, and the air around him seemed to freeze.

Tang Lu stood beside him, his imposing figure like an iron tower.

He paced back and forth with his hands behind his back, each step making the broken bricks on the ground crunch.

His dark face was clouded with worry, and his eyebrows were almost furrowed into a knot.

Gao Heyun and Cheng Laiyun stood before them, hands at their sides.

"Snapped!"

Tang Lu slammed his hand on the broken wall next to him, causing rubble to fall down in a shower.

"The Ministry of Works' case isn't even fully resolved yet, and now they've given me this 'colossus' disappearance' thing?!"

His voice was so loud it could shatter the roof; several nearby inspectors shrank back, wishing they could bury their heads in their chests.

"Liu Yundu, what do you suggest we do about this?!"

Liu Yundu glanced at him, his tone still calm: "What's all the noise about?"

"What's all the noise about?!" Tang Lu's voice boomed like a bell: "What am I making a fuss about?! That's a fourth-rank colossus! Can you take responsibility?!"

Liu Yundu didn't reply, but simply turned slightly to avoid the spittle flying at him, and said indifferently, "Would rushing help?"

Tang Lu's eyes widened, but before he could speak, Liu Yundu continued, "Now, let's work together to suppress the news for the time being."

"At most five hours."

"If I can't find the colossus within five hours, I'll eat the remains from Zhang Xiang's side myself."

He said this in a calm tone.

Tang Lu took a deep breath, then another, before swallowing back the profanity that was rising in his throat.

"Okay," he squeezed out through gritted teeth, "I trust you."

Liu Yundu ignored him and turned to walk towards the location where the carriage had disappeared.

Gao Heyun and Cheng Laiyun exchanged a glance and followed.

The location where the carriage disappeared.

The ground was scorched black by that eerie light, and the tire tracks could still be vaguely seen.

Liu Yundu squatted down, rubbed his fingers on the scorched earth, remained silent for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "The bright light has disappeared. The missing persons are two seventh-grade transcendent beings, plus a giant jade statue."

He stood up and dusted off his hands: "Actually, the area is not that big anymore."

Gao Heyun frowned and said, "What Inspector Liu means is—"

Liu Yundu stood with his hands behind his back, gazing into the distance: "The Mo Sect has a method of inscription that can achieve this level of teleportation."

"But it requires a cultivation level of Rank 3."

"Under the whole heaven, there is only one third-rank official in the Mo Clan—Lord Yu Qingzheng. He is currently in the imperial prison, so he can be ruled out."

He paused, then continued, "Aside from the Mohist sect, there's the agricultural sect. But the requirements for agricultural cultivation are even more stringent; one needs to be at the second rank to perform such techniques."

Gao Heyun frowned, then, as if remembering something, looked at Liu Yundu and asked, "What about the Confucian cultivators?"

Liu Yundu glanced at her and nodded slightly: "Good question."

He withdrew his gaze, his voice deepening: "Among Confucian and Taoist arts, there is a formation called the 'Instantaneous Array.'"

"The cultivation level required to set up the formation is not high, only the fifth rank is needed. However, the formation needs to be set up at least one day in advance, and no one can disturb the formation during the process."

As he spoke, he pointed to the ground beneath his feet: "Furthermore, the materials required to set up this formation are of extremely yang attribute. Therefore, it must be set up before 7 PM. If it is 9 PM, the yin energy will rise, and the formation will not be able to be completed."

As Liu Yundu finished speaking, his eyes narrowed sharply, and a faint, intimidating aura slowly emerged around him: "Now we can only focus on the Confucian cultivators who have a fifth-grade cultivation level and who came to this street before 7 PM yesterday."

He frowned, as if weighing something: "A city-wide search—"

Before she could finish speaking, Gao Heyun suddenly said, "No."

Liu Yundu raised an eyebrow and looked at her.

Gao Heyun's expression was indifferent, but a sharp glint appeared in her phoenix eyes: "If the entire city is searched, the news will inevitably leak out."

"The news will spread throughout the capital in less than five hours, or even half an hour."

Liu Yundu's brow twitched slightly: "So what do you mean?"

Gao Heyun's expression remained indifferent: "Why not ask the people who patrolled the streets yesterday from each branch? See if they can get any useful information."

A glint of light flashed in Liu Yundu's eyes.

He gave Gao Heyun a deep look and nodded: "Alright. This task will be entrusted to the two of you."

He paused, then his tone became more serious: "Be quick."

He glanced at Cheng Laiyun again: "It needs to be kept hidden."

Gao Heyun nodded indifferently, then turned and left.

Cheng Laiyun didn't waste any words and followed immediately.

He was the most anxious person there.

It's not because of the Colossus.

It's because of the young lady!!