Chapter 262 Compensation
Ling Li and Su Li met in the same place where they met before. But this time, Fang Yuan, who disguised himself, came with Su Li. He was standing outside the boat in parallel with Ling Mo.
In the boat, Ling Li was serious and stared at the young man in indigo clothes who sat freely on the other side of the chessboard. Then he chuckled to break the peaceful atmosphere, “Mr. Li invites me just to play the chess?”
Su Li had a hint of mixed feelings. She picked up a chess piece and seemed to say indifferently, “Of course not, Hierarch Ling is busy. I don’t dare to disturb you!”
Ling Li frowned, clicking the chessboard, and raising his eyebrows, “Mr. Li, what do you mean?”
“Long time no see. It seems that Hierarch Ling becomes more ill-tempered.”
Su Li said slowly with a cold smile, “You must guess something about my purpose today. Please give me a reason about the incident that the top management of the Yinmo Cult tried to kill Su Li a few days ago.”
Ling Li held his breath slightly, and changed his face.
As expected, Mr. Li came here for her!
“Su Li is my girlfriend, but now, the strange man comes here and asks for justice for her from me.”
What a satire!
He felt a little ashamed, and said with a cold voice, “Su Li said you didn’t have a close relations.h.i.+p with her. I will deal with this thing by myself. It seems that you are not involved.”
“Hierarch is wrong!”
Su Li squinted, with the hands on her knees pinched into white, but she pretended to be relaxed, “If you killed Su Li, I wouldn’t ask for justice for her in spite of our cooperative relations.h.i.+p, but you killed Su Yue, who belonged to the Linli Building.”
Hearing it, Ling Li was shocked.
Su Yue was the aunt of Su Li. She actually belonged to the Linli Building!
“Su Yue was at the peak of the inborn realm. She was one of the powerful seniors of the Linli Building; besides, her husband, who is in the inborn eighth hurdle, also belongs to the Linli Building. After Su Yue died, her husband was missing.”
“How should I deal with this thing… for losing two inborn seniors.”
Then Ling Li became guiltier, and kept silent.
So, after Li’s aunt died, her uncle also left. Had… she been bullied?
Ling Li sighed. When he bowed his head, some pain came in his face.
If he could recognize the difference of Ling Xian, all the things wouldn’t happen. It was because of his carelessness. No matter how Su Li blamed and even hated him, it was reasonable.
When he raised his head, he recovered and said slowly, “It was our fault. What kind of compensation do you want?”
Su Li was a little surprised. Ling Li had always been hostile to this ident.i.ty of her. She had expected that she would have some troubles today. Unexpectedly, he was easy to be persuaded.
“You are so frank. This is about the prestige of the Linli Building. If I don’t ask for some compensation, people will think we are weak. I just have two demands. First, I could have asked you to give me the murderer, but after the investigation, I found that there was no need to do so. Just give us one hundred Wudao Stones.”
Then Third Elder who stood behind Ling Li frowned immediately.
It was a large number.
The Full Moon and Heart Strings auctioned in Yunjing City just cost ten Wudao Stones. “Mr. Li” asked for one hundred. It was a large number!
Ling Li couldn’t help frowning when he heard it.
“Such a large number! Even for the Yinmo Cult, the foundation will be shaken. I’ll give you fifty Wudao Stones at most. That’s what I could offer.”
Su Li thought for a while and nodded, “I’m not familiar with the wealth of your spiritual circle. So… I agree.”
Seeing that Mr. Li agreed, Ling Li sighed in his mind, but some doubts emerged.
Your spiritual circle… Maybe “Mr. Li” did not belong to the spiritual circle. Or was there another circle for practice? The man was so mysterious that no one could know his real ident.i.ty, but maybe he deliberately did so. So, he couldn’t believe the man easily.
Then Ling Li stopped thinking, and went on speaking, “What’s the second demand?”
Su Li raised her lips, smiling mysteriously, “The second demand is more of cooperation than demand.”
“Cooperation?”
Ling Li was confused. The Yinmo Cult had no common interests with the Linli Building now. How could they have cooperation?
“I remember that the Wanjian Sect is the enemy of the Yinmo Cult in the spiritual circle, right?”
Su Li said directly, staring at him.
Ling Li told her personally the relations.h.i.+p between the Yinmo Cult and the Wanjian Sect, and then Wen Tingshan confirmed it. It became her tool to make a plan now.
Ling Li was shocked, and said with a profound meaning, “Mr. Li has great magic power. You even know the things in the spiritual circle so clearly.”
Su Li chuckled, and said casually, “It was not a secret in the circle ten years ago. It’s not difficult for me to know this. I also know that men of the Wanjian Sect have stayed in Yunjing City for several days, but they are good at hiding. So, they’re not exposed.”
“It seems that the cooperation is related to the Wanjian Sect.”
Ling Li said with doubts, but more certainty.
Su Li nodded, “Actually, the Linli Building has some troubles with the Wanjian Sect. If I could not find them one day, I would never feel at ease. Maybe we can have cooperation to find them as quickly as possible. Then I won’t feel so worried.”
“The Yinmo Cult is willing to have this cooperation, but…” Ling Li’s eyes shone, “What will you do after finding the men of the Wanjian Sect?”
Without hesitation, Su Li answered with a smile, “It’s better to catch them alive, but if it doesn’t work, you can only… kill them.”
Ling Li looked at Su Li seriously, who was smiling. The latter just thought for a while and nodded, “This is a desired opportunity for the Yinmo Cult. I will ask Qinghu to contact the Linli Building for sharing the intelligence.”
“Very good. Since the deal is made, I will leave now.” Su Li stood up and left with a fist and palm salute and a smile, without hesitation.
Ling Li looked at Su Li who left. Then he frowned.
He had thought that Mr. Li came to blame him, but he found that it was a mere formality. If he mentioned ten Wudao Stones at that time, Mr. Li would also agree without hesitation. He came actually for the Wanjian Sect!
“Hierarch, Mr. Li is also hostile to the Wanjian Sect. Maybe we can have cooperation with him to kill in the spiritual circle!”
Suddenly, Third Elder said excitedly, “Mr. Li has a very complicated background. Even I feel that it’s dangerous to meet him. I guess he is in the longevity realm. One can only break through the longevity realm in the spiritual circle, so he must have a close relations.h.i.+p with it.”
Ling Li thought for a while. Then he shook his head and said slowly, “It’s hard to make a judgment according to his own words. The Wanjian Sect has been in a mess in these years. Some men occur in Yunjing City for no apparent reason, and the Linli Building responds immediately. So, it’s hard to guess the relations.h.i.+p between them.”
Third Elder was shocked, “You mean…”
Ling Li waved his hand to prevent Third Elder from keeping talking, “It’s just my speculation. After finding the Wanjian Sect, we’ll know what to do next.”
“Your Excellency is right.”
Third Elder flattered Ling Li and sighed in his heart. Although he had an excellent cultivation, he couldn’t compete with Hierarch in quick thinking at all. Couldn’t the Yinmo Cult be prosperous as before based on capabilities of Hierarch and Ling Qinglan?
“Ancestor, you find the best successor.”
Third Elder thought of Su Li. How couldn’t he know that Su Li was the masked girl whom he had met in the Prime Minister Tang’s Mansion and who was almost killed by Ling Xian?
He had thought that the girl was ordinary, but in that lane, he knew that Su Li was good at disguising herself. Her cultivation was as high as Hierarch’s.
Both of them were decisive and quick in thinking. If she could marry Hierarch, it must be fine. But…
Third Elder shook his head and sighed in his heart. It was too late.
…
The two major secret forces in Yunjing City, the Yinmo Cult and the Linli Building, had teamed up. Although Yunjing City was peaceful on the surface, spies were a.s.signed all over Yunjing City to find out whereabouts of men in Wanjian Sect. Even Su Qingtan was involved; he was in charge of searching in a small area.
Ling Qinglan was very busy with the affairs of the Yinmo Cult and the trifles about the Supreme Judiciary. He worked and came back to home in the midnight every day.
On one hand, he was persuaded by Mrs. Gu; on the other hand, he was for the Yinmo Cult. Now he came back to the Ling Mansion and shouldn’t care about Third Prince.
After what happened in the auction house, First Prince and Third Prince were disgraced almost at the same time. They were trapped in the Xisan Hall by Dongfang Xiao and not allowed to go out. They relied on their brothers’ help. The most prestigious prince in the royal family was Fifth Prince.
On this night, when Ling Qinglan finished his work, he went back home alone.
It was cold at night. In the moonlight, the street seemed brighter. Ling Qinglan’s shadow became longer. When he pa.s.sed the last corner, the door of the Ling Mansion occurred, and the two lanterns were not extinguished.
Ling Qinglan felt warm and smiled. He knew Aunt Qiu Meng did this for him.
At this time—
Crack!
A very low sound came into his ears, and it was extremely ear-piercing in the quiet night. Ling Qinglan became serious and kept alert. He turned around immediately.