Otherworldly Affairs Office-Chapter 728 Mysterious Visitor (Subscription Requested)

Patiently listening to Pei Yan's analysis, Gu Shenghui flicked his cigarette ash and pondered, "You're right, but these are just our speculations without solid evidence to present."

"Though that's true, initially I couldn't decide which side, the Immortal Palace or Celestial Sword Manor, was problematic. But after the series of events yesterday, I can almost certainly say the problem lies with the Immortal Palace."

Pei Yan spoke as he extinguished his cigarette, stretched lazily, and said, "Setting aside whether Celestial Sword Manor has issues, what happened last night seemed like an Underworld and Divine Lust joint surprise attack on the Daoist Realm. They embarrassed the Immortal Palace in front of several Plane Envoy groups while acquiring the Divine Artifact. However, from the event's outcome, wasn't the Immortal Palace the biggest beneficiary? Not to mention, the major sects were severely weakened last night; they're unlikely to have the ability or mood to compete with the current Six Governments for control of the Immortal Palace. Even if they do, during these tumultuous times when the Underworld is causing frequent disturbances, to stabilize the situation without further internal conflict, I estimate soon we'll hear calls to maintain the current situation in the Immortal Palace."

"Another point raising my suspicion is the downfall of the Celestial Secret Pavilion." As Pei Yan spoke, he snapped his fingers, and a Mechanical Puppet's image automatically played before the two, "I first encountered this puppet when Divine Lust attacked the Secret Prison. At that time, I couldn't capture the puppet's controller. Later, during our confrontation with Bai Xuelin from the Celestial Secret Pavilion, I saw this puppet again. Then, I grew curious, wanting to investigate the management between the two. Unfortunately, no sooner had I intended to probe further, events kept unfolding without respite. As fate would have it, yesterday, the Celestial Secret Pavilion became a target of a major assault nearly wiping them out. Was this merely due to its weakened strength after I had slain three elders? I think not. There's much more to it!"

"Do you think what happened last night was the Underworld and Divine Lust lurking in Luocheng, plotting their intended scheme?" Gu Shenghui stood up and patted Pei Yan's shoulder, "I guess it's time for breakfast. Let's go back, eat, and talk as we walk."

Pei Yan nodded and walked alongside Gu Shenghui, pondering briefly before responding, "I don't think so. Based on the information revealed by Li Songtao, their goal for this action is significant. Last night's battle, with loud noises but little rain, isn't worth so many experts sacrificing their spiritual energies for secrecy. In my opinion, this battle was more like a hastily initiated remedial measure after Li and Su were exposed. I believe there are two possibilities: firstly, this plan was originally the prelude to the enemy's scheme; secondly, the enemy deliberately concealed to avert the Immortal Palace's vigilance with a smokescreen. The planner of this action calculated cleverly, hitting two birds with one stone. Gu Chu, could this be the handiwork of your good friend?"

After hearing Pei Yan's lengthy discourse, Gu Shenghui's expression remained unchanged, but he felt quite gratified internally. Perhaps influenced by artificial intelligence or maybe due to innate talent, Pei Yan has not only escalated in battle prowess since joining the office, but his perspective on matters has matured as well. Despite occasional youthful impulsiveness and latent violence, he believes that with time, Pei Yan will mature into the pivotal support beam of the office. By then, with Ye Ruozai and Zheng Jia Ru assisting him, Gu Shenghui can envision leaving the Investigation Office a group of formidable successors.

"Gu Chu, Gu Chu! What's wrong?" Pei Yan's call drew Gu Shenghui back from his sweet contemplation of the future. Regaining his composure, Gu Shenghui coughed twice to disguise his awkwardness, "Uh, ah! You talked about Mu Fanchen. Well, in the past, I could guess his behavior pattern eight or nine times out of ten. But now, I truly can't fathom what he intends to achieve. Yes, your analysis was great, as you mentioned, we are in a highly precarious position now, with enemies lurking covertly and allies distrusting each other harboring each their own schemes. Whichever path we choose, it's fraught with danger. We must thus sharpen our vigilance further, raise the alert level starting today, expand our intelligence search scope, and no one is allowed to go outside without special conditions."

Shortly after, inside the hall, Gu Shenghui announced the decision to everyone again. Everyone understood the complexity of the situation at the moment and accepted it readily, as they were all fatigued and hungry after a sleepless night. Rushingly, Wang Wenze and Liang Qian prepared everyone with big bowls of instant noodles, along with boiled eggs and cut sausage. Already famished, Pei Yan eagerly grabbed his chopsticks the moment he smelled the noodles and started eating ravenously.

As everyone slurped their noodles, suddenly there was a knock at the door outside. Everyone's movements came to a halt. Squatting by the door, eating noodles while on guard duty, Zheng Jia Ru stood up nimbly, turning to Pei Yan with a questioning look.

Having already sensed the situation from the door monitor, Pei Yan blew his noodle soup and continued slurping the noodles nonchalantly, "Don't worry, my mechanical avatar already opened the door for the visitor. What an odd guest indeed, I'm curious about how he dares to visit at such a time."

As he spoke, he glanced aside at Xia Yu, Zhao Yuanhu, and Zheng Jia Ru, smiling, "When you see the visitor later, don't be angry or surprised! I want to see what he truly wants to say by coming here."

Xia, Zhao, and Zheng paused, exchanged bewildered glances, realizing that only they had met this person before, who could it be? With Pei Yan's remark, everyone inside the house grew curious, looking towards the doorway.

As footsteps approached from outside, the figure in a plain white robe appeared casually at the entrance. Despite Pei Yan's prior warning, Xia Yu couldn't suppress her anger and shouted, "It's you!"

As she rose to charge forward, Pei Yan swiftly seized her wrist. Xia Yu looked at the visitor, then at Pei Yan, seeing him signal her not to act rashly with a shake of his head, she grunted, retracting her hand, and sat back, brooding.

"It's me, Miss Xia Yu seems very excited to see me; I'm truly flattered, truly flattered." The man in the white robe spoke, bowing slightly towards Pei Yan, who was still seated inside with his head down eating silently, "Pei Yan, well, I should follow local customs and address you as Fellow Daoist Pei, or Junior Brother Pei, ah! Hahaha! Thanks to your generosity, you spared my inept comrade, Shitang Longsi, allowing him to return to inform me. Only then did I realize Junior Brother Pei's deep concern for me. Deeply touched by your words, I dropped everything and rushed to meet Junior Brother Pei. Now that we meet, please, if you have any requests, ask away. I will do my utmost to fulfill them."