149: Chapter 108: The Final Question!

The murmuring in the main hall grew louder.

Chen Xuan looked at Yao Shuang, his expression calm.

"Are you finished?"

Yao Shuang paused in surprise.

"Aren't you going to explain?"

Chen Xuan shook his head.

"There is no need."

He took a Jade Slip from his Storage Pouch and placed it on the table.

"I had someone look into this."

"Yao Shuang, you have served in the Qingyuan Chamber of Commerce for fifteen years, and the Spirit Stones you have handled exceed one million."

"Among them, twenty-three transactions, totaling eighty thousand Spirit Stones, flowed to a place called 'White Lotus Temple'."

"White Lotus Temple, in the northern suburbs of Fusheng Immortal City."

"That is the White Lotus Sect's last stronghold in the Southern Region."

The main hall erupted in an uproar.

The White Lotus Sect.

In the Southern Region, these three words were heavier than any other crime.

Yao Shuang's expression changed.

"You are slandering me!"

Chen Xuan looked at him, his gaze calm.

"Whether it is slander or not, a quick investigation will tell."

"I have already sent people to White Lotus Temple."

"They left early this morning and should have arrived by now."

Yao Shuang's face turned completely pale.

His hands began to tremble.

Chen Xuan watched him and continued.

"Yao Shuang, did you think I didn't know what you were doing?"

"Did you think you were doing it flawlessly?"

"Those codes in the accounts, those special markings, were left by you."

"You were too confident."

"Confident enough to think that no one could understand them."

Yao Shuang took a step back.

He looked toward the door, wanting to run.

But two people were standing at the door.

Senior Sister Wen Yao and Liu Lili.

Senior Sister Wen Yao's hand rested on the hilt of her sword, the red lotus petal mark between her brows glowing red in the candlelight.

Liu Lili stood beside her, clutching the Bright Moon Sword, its tip pointing toward the ground.

Yao Shuang turned around to look at Chen Xuan.

"You cannot kill me."

"I am a shareholder of the Chamber of Commerce, I have the right..."

"You have no right."

Chen Xuan interrupted him.

"From the moment you colluded with the White Lotus Sect, you lost that right."

He looked at everyone in the main hall.

"According to the rules of the Qingyuan Chamber of Commerce, those who collude with evil sects will be expelled, have all their assets confiscated, and be handed over to the The Three Sects for disposal."

"Yao Shuang, will you walk out yourself, or shall I have you escorted?"

Yao Shuang's face was as pale as paper.

He looked at Chen Xuan, then at the door.

Then he laughed.

His smile was frantic.

"Yun Qi, do you think you've won?"

"Do you think that by investigating White Lotus Temple, you've investigated the White Lotus Sect?"

"You know nothing."

He took a Jade Talisman from his Storage Pouch and crushed it.

The moment the Jade Talisman shattered, a golden light flew out from the fragments and rushed toward the door.

Senior Sister Wen Yao drew her sword, and the sword light slashed toward the golden light.

The golden light was severed, but its momentum remained undiminished as it slipped through the crack in the door.

It flew toward the north.

Yao Shuang watched the golden light disappear, the corners of his mouth curling up.

"Immortal Master Kumu will avenge me."

Chen Xuan looked at him as if looking at a dead man.

"Do you think Immortal Master Kumu will turn against the The Three Sects for your sake?"

Yao Shuang's smile froze.

Chen Xuan said nothing more.

He turned around and looked at everyone in the main hall.

"Today's shareholders' meeting ends here."

"Regarding Yao Shuang, the Chamber of Commerce will provide an explanation."

"Everyone, please return."

The crowd dispersed one after another.

Only Chen Xuan, Liu Lili, Senior Sister Wen Yao, and Yao Shuang remained in the main hall.

Yao Shuang stood there like a walking corpse.

Chen Xuan walked up to him.

"White Lotus Temple is not the only last stronghold of the White Lotus Sect in the Southern Region, is it?"

Yao Shuang lowered his head and said nothing.

Chen Xuan took a Jade Talisman from his Storage Pouch and placed it on Yao Shuang's forehead.

Soul Search Technique.

Yao Shuang's Divine Soul struggled violently.

But his Divine Sense was far inferior to Chen Xuan's.

A moment later, Chen Xuan withdrew the Jade Talisman.

He knew now.

The White Lotus Sect's final stronghold in the Southern Region was in the Southern Frontier.

Deep within Nanming Volcano, there was an ancient teleportation array.

Beneath the teleportation array was the main altar of the White Lotus Sect.

Immortal Master Kumu's remnant Buddhist Sect army had come from the Central Province through that teleportation array.

Chen Xuan withdrew the Jade Talisman and looked at Yao Shuang.

"Send him to the Law Enforcement Hall."

Senior Sister Wen Yao nodded, raised her hand to cast a beam of spiritual light, and sealed Yao Shuang's magic power.

Two Senior Brothers from the Conquest Hall walked over and escorted Yao Shuang out.

The main hall fell silent.

Liu Lili walked to Chen Xuan's side and took his hand.

"Junior Brother, you scared me to death just now."

"I thought you were really going to hand over the token."

Chen Xuan shook his head.

"I wouldn't."

"The token is the Foundation of the Chamber of Commerce."

"If I handed it over, the Chamber of Commerce would fall apart."

Liu Lili looked at him, her eyes slightly red.

"Then everything you said earlier, was it all true?"

"Which parts?"

"You said you sent people to White Lotus Temple."

Chen Xuan was silent for a moment.

"No."

"I lied to him."

"White Lotus Temple is guarded by Immortal Master Kumu; even the The Three Sects dare not move against it."

"If I sent people there, it would just be sending them to their deaths."

Liu Lili paused in surprise.

"Then just now..."

"A gamble."

Chen Xuan's tone was very calm.

"I gambled on his guilty conscience, gambled that he would confess himself."

Liu Lili looked at him for a long time.

Then she reached out and punched him in the chest.

"You are too daring."

Chen Xuan laughed.

"If I wasn't daring, how could I be the President?"

Liu Lili rolled her eyes at him.

"Let's go, let's head back."

The two walked out of the main headquarters and headed toward the Inner City along the central street.

The sun was bright, shining on the bluestone pavement with a hint of warmth.

Shops on both sides of the street were open, with customers coming and going.

Everything was the same as usual.

But Chen Xuan knew that everything was different now.

Yao Shuang had fallen.

The White Lotus Sect's stronghold had been exposed.

Immortal Master Kumu would not let this rest.

The days ahead would be even harder.

But he was not afraid.

Having lived three lifetimes, what kind of storms had he not seen?

Liu Lili leaned on his shoulder and whispered.

"Junior Brother, when you said those things just now, you were exactly like a President."

Chen Xuan turned his head to look at her.

"I am the President."

Liu Lili laughed.

"Yes, yes, yes, you are the President."

"The most amazing President."

Chen Xuan smiled but said nothing more.

Moonlight spread over the stone steps like a layer of thin frost.

Their shadows were stretched long, overlapping together.

# Chapter 111: Soul Search

After Yao Shuang was taken away, Chen Xuan did not immediately return to his residence.

He stood at the entrance of the Qingyuan Chamber of Commerce's main headquarters, looking toward the north.

The direction of White Lotus Temple.

Immortal Master Kumu was there.

A Golden Core Late Stage Buddhist Sect Cultivator, leading a remnant army of over three hundred people, was entrenched on the land of the Southern Region.

The The Three Sects dared not move against him because they could not defeat him.

If they couldn't defeat him, they had to endure.

Chen Xuan withdrew his gaze and turned to walk into the main headquarters.

He walked up the stairs until he reached the top floor.

The top floor was the Chamber of Commerce's archive room.

In his second lifetime, he had stored many things here.

Account books, contracts, maps, and secret records.

And some things that only he knew about.

Chen Xuan pushed open the door to the archive room and walked in.

The room was not large, with shelves on all four walls, and Jade Slips were neatly arranged on the shelves.

He stopped in front of the innermost shelf and took down the top Jade Slip.

The Jade Slip was entirely black, with cracks on the surface.

It was something he had left behind before he died in his second lifetime.

It recorded all the hidden agents and secret lines of the Qingyuan Chamber of Commerce.

In every market and every immortal city in the Southern Region, there were people from the Chamber of Commerce.

Among these people, some were unknown even to President Liu Yishou.

Only the President, only the person holding the Qingyuan Token, could mobilize them.

Chen Xuan placed the Jade Slip against his forehead and probed it with his Divine Sense.

A dense list of names appeared in his mind.

He looked through them one by one, stopping when he saw a name.

"White Lotus Temple, handyman, Zhao Si."

Chen Xuan withdrew his Divine Sense and put the Jade Slip away.

Zhao Si.

Qi Refining Seventh Layer, had been a handyman at White Lotus Temple for five years.