Chapter 178 Underground

The blood fire case had limited clues, and before that compass owner contacted him, there weren't any good avenues for investigation.

After parting ways with the Grand Judge, Gu Shen came to the Hua Zhi Building alone.

He would have some free time.

And Gu Shen was someone who never really knew how to enjoy free time... In layman's terms, he couldn't sit still. During his days working in Da Teng City, he wished he could break twenty-four hours into pieces and use them all.

According to Cui Zhongcheng, he was now an officially appointed adjudicator of the Tribunal, able to enjoy the cultivation grounds specially built by the capital for the three departments' commissioners... With that in mind, Gu Shen decided to give it a try.

"Deep Sea, verify information."

The underground elevator in the Hua Zhi Building required iris verification, as well as corresponding principal information. In other words, those who could use this elevator to go down were all "big shots" with authority.

"Deep Sea connected, serial number v340011250001, information verified."

The dim buttons in the elevator lit up for the first three floors.

Gu Shen pressed the button for the third basement level, smiling self-deprecatingly. This elevator that went straight to the underground reminded him of a third-rate movie scene he had seen long ago: after the apocalypse, humanity had spent a lot of effort and money to build a solid fortress deep underground, with copper walls and iron walls, as solid as a rock. Only this elevator could descend to the earth's core. When disaster struck, the privileged hid in the underground "Noah's Ark," watching the outside world be destroyed bit by bit.

When the scene from the movie appeared in reality, his mood became quite complicated.

Especially himself, who now, in a sense, could be considered part of the "privileged" ranks who could squeeze into this elevator.

"I've been to the seventh basement level, after all."

When the elevator arrived, Gu Shen composed himself and adjusted his mood.

The lights on the third basement level were a bit dim, and there was also faint music, sounding like rock?

This took Gu Shen by surprise.

He hadn't expected it to be like this... He had thought it would be a vacant training ground like the one in Da Teng, with rows of weapon racks, but now it seemed more like an entertainment venue for transcendents.

After the elevator passed through the corridor, the music grew louder.

This place... was a bit chaotic. Transcendent individuals came and went, dressed in all sorts of clothing, sitting down and chatting in the flashing lights. It was hard to imagine that in the late night in the capital, so many transcendents would be partying underground in Hua Zhi.

Gu Shen narrowed his eyes and noticed that these people all had the Black瑾Flower emblem on their shoulders or exposed skin.

"Hua Zhi's underground is all Chengxin Society people."

A low voice entered his ear, and then a strong arm wrapped around Gu Shen. The owner of the voice asked in confusion, "What are you doing here?"

It was a man wearing a baseball cap, pulled down to cover most of his face, but the floral shirt and flip-flops still betrayed his identity.

"Crow..."

Gu Shen was a little surprised. He paused and said, "Cui Zhongcheng told me... the third floor underground in Hua Zhi is a place for transcendents to cultivate..."

Saying this, he immediately understood.

Members of the three departments would never cultivate underground in Hua Zhi!

In the end, this was a "cultivation ground" provided by a private enterprise, and the Zhao family could never represent the Tribunal... The Council had established many cultivation grounds in the capital, including the one underground in Hua Zhi.

As an official member of the Tribunal, he could naturally enter, but it was clear that many more people had no choice, such as those transcendents from the Chengxin Society.

They could only go to the designated location—

The meaning of underground.

Was underground.

"An upstanding guy like you shouldn't come to a place like this."

Crow chuckled softly, "Look at your clothes, are you a model student coming to Hua Zhi's underground to study and improve? This place is full of drunken alcoholics... like those two hooligans who beat up the crown prince in the old city one night."

Gu Shen looked around, feeling a little helpless.

Indeed.

He had already received many unfriendly and disdainful glances. The Chengxin Society was an organization that frequented the underground, and these gang members hated the official members of the three departments the most... It was precisely the Council's selection mechanism that divided transcendents into different classes.

"These guys won't come looking for trouble, will they?" Gu Shen frowned.

"If I hadn't acted quickly, there would have been another unlucky fellow putting their arm around your shoulder." Crow said calmly, "This place doesn't really follow the rules, but it also follows the rules the most. If anyone has any grievances, they can find a secluded place to settle them."

Gu Shen had a sudden realization.

He suddenly asked, "Wait a minute, you should be considered the boss of the Chengxin Society's Northern Hall... why are you dressed like this?"

"Simple... because Hua Zhi's underground doesn't just have people from the Northern Hall." Song Ci shrugged and said, "There aren't too many disagreements within the Chengxin Society. Old Man Zhao and Chen San are on the stage, promoting 'North-South integration.' It sounds ridiculous, but it's actually true... Both families believe that being separated has no future."

"As for why I'm dressed like this... it's because after hitting Chen Jingtan, several 'big shots' from the Southern Hall have been looking for me." When Crow said the words "big shots," he couldn't help but laugh, "Chen San has four adopted sons, who should be somewhat capable, but the rumors have blown them out of proportion, sounding like they've been given titles. They've declared that they're going to teach me a lesson."

"So... you're dressed like this to avoid trouble?"

Gu Shen whispered.

"Of course... not." Song Ci looked at Gu Shen with disdain and said, "Do I look like someone who's afraid of trouble? What if all four of them come at me at once!"

"I promised my wife not to cause trouble." He sighed deeply, "A man has to keep his word."

"I'm investigating the last case."

Crow said casually, "Although my intuition tells me that Zhao Qi, that bastard, is the most likely to have attacked my wife... but my wife taught me to be cautious and thorough in my work. I found several lucky bastards who had been alone with my wife. In other words, they are all suspects in my wife's matter."

"Here... this is the fourth one. And the last one."

Song Yingji took out a note from his pocket with four names and corresponding photos. The first three had been crossed out, leaving only the last one...

As Crow spoke, he squeezed through the crowd, and finally he narrowed his eyes and held up his hands to form a frame.

After comparing the similarity between the photo and the real person.

Crow suddenly reached out and hugged another young man who was drinking, who was caught off guard and choked on a mouthful of wine, glaring back angrily.

Clearly, the man didn't realize what was about to happen.

"Brother, you've had a bit too much to drink."

Song Ci whistled softly, then burped and asked with a smile, "Mind helping me to the restroom? It's on the house."