"You… are you being manipulated?" Hao Yu took a step back. If the Magistrate had been manipulated, he would definitely become a big obstacle for the human race, especially since this was the Dragon City.
Leng Xiu smiled, "What do you think?"
"…" Hao Yu fell silent for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief. "That reply alone is enough to let me know that you are not manipulated."
"Is that so? Why? I don't think I have acted weirdly."
"The charm will cause you to be unable to express your emotion when talked to. But with your smile, it's evident that you are not controlled." Hao Yu shook his head helplessly.
"Hahaha. It seems that I can't fool you. I guess you are like the rumor said. The first disciple of the wise is an eccentric man who loves to travel, the second disciple is the richest, but the most knowledgeable one is the third disciple."
"I'm nowhere near enough to learn everything this world has to offer." Hao Yu denied that claim immediately.
Leng Xiu didn't reply back. Instead, he showed the letter from his senior sister and said, "I have agreed to send you away. Now that you have solved most of the tasks I've given you, I don't see any reasons for keeping you here. It's just I want you to create the foundation as well as the scheme so that others could take over your project. Is it possible?"
"As expected… Senior Sister did give you a letter as well." Hao Yu scratched the back of his head as if he didn't know about it.
Leng Xiu frowned for a second, feeling something weird from that reply. It seemed that the reason why he had to leave was personally due to Mei Yuanling's request. So, he said, "Can you do it?"
"Yes, Sir. I will make sure that you are in a comfortable position when you take over." Hao Yu nodded with a solemn tone, assuring him that everything was going to be fine.
"Good. In that case, you may go back and resume your work."
Hao Yu cupped his hands before leaving the room. If Leng Xiu knew that the reason for his leave was because of his request, he would suspect something else.
That was why Hao Yu made it look like it was a request from his senior sister instead. And he felt quite bad about it.
After returning to his office, Hao Yu called Old Si to the room.
"Old Si." Hao Yu looked at this old man and asked, "I know that this is a hard request. And since I'm going to leave this city soon, this office will be disbanded. So, I'm thinking whether you can take over everything after I leave."
"Actually, the young miss has told me about it. She has personally asked me to take care of the slum and maintain the group until it reaches the point where we can start to profit from the information."
"I see." Hao Yu contemplated. "There are two things that you need to remember. We won't engage in any physical fights and we're doing this as covertly as possible."
"I'm aware of it. After all, what we want is just information. We will gather all kinds of rumors, check it, and sell it."
"While this division is going to be disbanded, I will make sure that you have enough food as a reward until the group can sustain itself."
"Thank you, Sir. And it might be late for me to say this, but please take care of the young miss. While she looks frail and can fall at any moment, she is a very resolute person."
"You don't have to worry about that. I never mistreat my subordinates." Hao Yu smiled.
He would definitely leave this city with Ren Yexiang, considering her talent and desire aligned with him. As long as she learned a bit more, she might become someone big in the future.
"In that case, I can feel relieved."
Seeing Old Si's smile made Hao Yu realize that Old Si had been treating Ren Yexiang as if she was his own child. He didn't know much about the family, but it was clear that his relationship with the former administrator was extremely good.
Unfortunately, they had no time to be this sentimental. His expression turned serious as he asked, "So, how is our preparation?"
"We have enough materials. I am currently assembling it."
"When will it be ready?"
"One day… no, I need two days to ensure that nothing goes wrong."
"Alright. We'll begin our operation in two days."
Hao Yu had been planning for this since he first stepped into the city. In fact, this plan could only be brought up because of the merchant association, so he had to thank them greatly.
The cultivators in the north didn't know anything about it. They just focused on their usual task, thinking that the problem was over. The demons would never return because they didn't know that their comrades had been exterminated.
However, they actually forgot one thing. Ding Ruoling handed the corpses to Hao Yu instead of taking care of it himself. And this mistake would cost the lives of a lot of cultivators.
Even Leng Xiu wasn't aware of what Hao Yu was doing. He had trusted Hao Yu with the matters and just waited for the good report, fully knowing that Hao Yu would complete the tasks.
Unbeknownst to them, the tasks he gave him actually played a big part of this plan. The Dragon City would experience a problem at the level they had never experienced before.
…
Two days later.
As Hao Yu had planned, a few explosions occurred outside the city. It was located near the place where Ding Ruoling killed the demons.
Boom!
Boom!
The explosions were so loud that Elder Bing couldn't help but come out and look at the sky where the sound originated.
The same applied to Leng Xiu who noticed something was wrong. Such an explosion wouldn't occur without any reasons, so there might be something big happening in that place.
Both leaders had the same commands.
"Investigate what happened!"