Breaking through five realms in a single day, a god among men!

Before entering the teleportation building, Gu Lin took the opportunity to check the contribution points for this case.

It has a total of 128,000 contribution points!

Gu Lin waved his hand:

"Each of you exchange for what you need!"

His subordinates were overjoyed and sang his praises.

One-Eyed was shocked again. Was Lord Gu really that generous? It was an honor to be able to follow Lord Gu. He must cherish this opportunity to change his destiny!

An hour later, the group stepped into the teleportation hall leading to the Great Jin Dynasty.

Before entering the teleportation hall, everyone donned exquisitely crafted human skin masks made by the Holy Land, and even Gu Lin changed into an ordinary black general's robe.

Six days later, the group arrived at the westernmost teleportation hall of the Great Jin Dynasty, which was also a boundless sea.

Gu Lin summoned seven people, including the one-eyed Wei Zai, Hua Nu, and Feng Nu, and solemnly commanded:

"We only have one clue about Yan Manlou."

"This evil Gu devours eyeballs; this clue is purely speculative."

"Once you arrive at the Holy Land of Beiwang Prefecture, go to the Daoji Division immediately to review past cases. If there are any cases involving gouged-out eyes, note down the members of the Holy Land who investigated them. Remember, do not take it upon yourself to inquire about information elsewhere!!"

"This is a very tedious task; you'll need to be patient and put in the effort!"

The seven men clasped their hands in greeting, accepted the order, and boarded the teleportation array to leave.

Shennong asked:

"Sir, if there isn't a 'mass bodily blinding case,' how should we investigate?"

Gu Lin remained silent in thought, so they had no choice but to give up.

When he was in the Southern Jambudvipa, he investigated a centurion. It was initially a cold case with very few clues, but he was able to identify the evil Gu with the help of Shennong's Archives. Based on the characteristics of the evil Gu, he eventually brought down and killed the centurion.

However, with only one clue, "blood-red tree shadow," it's difficult to determine the name of this Gu. Without any other clues, continuing the investigation would be a waste of time.

Waiting four days.

Flower Girl and Wind Girl are back.

"My lord, we have made a major discovery!"

The flower girl excitedly reported:

"In the past twenty years, there have been dozens of large-scale cases of eyes being gouged out in Beiwang Shengzhou. All of them were caused by Gu worms, and Gu energy remained in the eye sockets. The victims were innocent civilians or sect cultivators."

"Eight of these cases were investigated by the same person!"

"This man's name is Xue Run, and he is currently a three-stripe centurion, belonging to the sacred ground of the Literary Academy!"

"I dare not investigate further for fear of alerting the enemy. If it is confirmed that Xue Run is a direct confidant of Commander Yan Manlou, then we can deduce that Yan Manlou is using evil Gu to harm innocent people and frantically improve his own cultivation!"

Gu Lin's eyes were bright.

With clues and a direction, we must conduct an in-depth investigation!

He said solemnly:

"Let's go to Beiwangzhou together!!"

In just seven hours, the group arrived at the sacred land of Beiwang Prefecture via a teleportation array and checked into a luxurious inn in Beiwang City.

The land of Beiwang Prefecture was filled with a dense aura of Gu poison, with thousands of birds circling in the sky and all sorts of strange insects above the inn.

This is a major state of Gu cultivation! The concentration of Gu energy here is even higher than that of the Southern Shanbu State, which is considered a realm of immortals!

Gu Lin ordered a sumptuous and delicious meal, and waited until everyone was full.

He gave the order:

"Investigate secretly along three lines."

"First, go to the holy land and search through the books on Gu worms to see if you can find the Crimson Tree Shadow."

Gu Lin estimated that he wouldn't be able to find it.

If the Holy Land truly possessed information about this Gu, then Yan Manlou wouldn't have dared to use it during battle. A commander of a thousand men would still be wary. The reason he dared to use it was simply because he had repeatedly used this Gu without incident.

"Secondly, go and confirm whether Xue Run, the Three-Striped Hundred-Household Commander, is a direct subordinate of Yan Manlou!"

"Third, inquiring about Yan Manlou's detailed information is not considered an overreach of authority as long as it does not involve secretly investigating the cases he has handled in the past."

The group accepted the order and left.

Just one day later, several subordinates came to report.

The first attempt failed completely, yielding no information whatsoever about the blood-red tree shadow, which was expected.

Hsiao Mu-ling reports:

"My lord, this Xue Run is Yan Manlou's trusted general. He has followed Yan Manlou for thirteen years. When he first joined Yan Manlou, he was just a junior officer, but now he has become a three-stripe centurion in the Wendao Academy!"

Xuanyuan Zhu reported:

"My lord, Yan Manlou's past is quite legendary, and his reputation is very well-known in Beiwang Prefecture."

Gu Lin stared at him:

"How so?"

Xuanyuan Zhu said calmly:

"Yan Manlou joined the Holy Land at the age of twenty. He was mediocre at first. In the Holy Land Grand Competition in Beiwang Prefecture, he only ranked seventy-sixth among his peers."

"But at the age of twenty-seven, he participated in the Underground Feast and became the third-place winner in the Underground!!"

Everyone looked horrified and incredulous.

Beiwang Prefecture was a major prefecture in the Great Jin Dynasty, and major prefectures had hundreds of slots for participating in the underground caves. Yan Manlou belonged to the later batch.

But seven years later, at the grand underground feast that gathered the geniuses of the entire dynasty, he actually ranked third. How could that be?

Xiao Mu won first place in the Liangzhou Grand Competition!

Shennong Que won first place in the Southern Zhanbu Prefecture Grand Competition!

Wu Di won first place in the Jianzhou Grand Competition!

Wei Zai won first place in the Anzhou Grand Competition!

Xuanyuan Zhu was in the Feathered Sacred State and was second in the competition that year, second only to Zhongli Yushen.

Each of the top talents in the current state found it extremely difficult to enter the underground cave.

The seventy-sixth person was from Beiwang Prefecture.

Stepping into the underground cave grants you third place!

What's going on here?

Without a doubt, he refined the evil Gu!

He took a bloody shortcut by relying on evil Gu, and his strength increased rapidly!

Each time they wantonly slaughtered innocent people, they would find a scapegoat, and then have their trusted confidant Xue Run investigate the case, eliminating the scapegoat in one fell swoop, all without anyone knowing.

Xuanyuan Zhu continued his report:

"My lord, Yan Manlou also has a wife named Bai Luoxue, a direct descendant of the Bai family, a third-class aristocratic clan of the Great Jin Dynasty. She is a six-patterned centurion of the Martial Peak Hall and is currently forty years old. This Bai Luoxue is a dual cultivator of martial arts and poison, and is also a powerful body cultivator."

"Yan Manlou began pursuing Bai Luoxue as soon as he joined the Holy Land, but Bai Luoxue didn't fancy him. However, after the underground cave, Bai Luoxue willingly married him. Everyone praised her for having a good husband. Yan Manlou has a bright future and is expected to rise to the position of Garrison Commander!"

After listening, Gu Lin suddenly realized:

"Bai Luoxue is a body cultivator, which explains it."

Why did Yan Manlou appear in the Land of Fallen Demons?

He cultivates both Confucianism and Gu, so he doesn't really need the Thunder Dragon Reverse Scale Pill. After all, body cultivation belongs to martial arts, and he doesn't need it at all.

If it's for his wife Bai Luoxue, then it makes sense.

Gu Lin cleared his thoughts and said in a deep voice:

"Yan Manlou joined the Holy Land at the age of twenty. Feeling his own mediocrity, he wanted to become stronger and to be worthy of Bai Luoxue. So he became obsessed and went astray. He refined the evil Gu."

"With the help of the evil Gu, Yan Manlou's strength increased rapidly, and he gradually broke down Bai Luoxue's defenses. As the underground feast became famous throughout the world, Yan Manlou also won the heart of the beauty."

"But he knew the limits of his talent, and he dared not stop his evil ways. He enjoyed the feeling of being worshipped by the masses, and even more so the adoration of his wife, so he did not wake up at all."

"His trusted lieutenant, Xue Run, is the one who specializes in doing dirty work!"

After hearing these words, everyone nodded in agreement.

Lord Gu's deduction is very convincing and accurately captures human nature.

But the key issue is...

What about the evidence?