Xun Ying stood his ground, his annoyance simmering for a while. "Aside from the Qilin Pearl, there's a powerful barrier guarding it. Even the Disaster True Order would take considerable time to break through. Moreover, with the four of you taking turns to watch over it, how could it be so easily stolen?"
Elder Long sighed, "The group that stole the Qilin Pearl had previously represented the Association for our semi-annual meetings. They were very courteous, so we didn't maintain much vigilance against them."
"On the day of the incident, they presented a token from Chairman Ye, claiming they had a top-secret order. They instructed the four of us to wait at a designated location, and so we went."
After speaking, he handed Xun Ying a white dragon scale inscribed with the character 'Ye'.
Xun Ying's expression darkened. This scale did indeed belong to the white dragon beside Ye Hai Mo, but a single token couldn't prove anything.
"While we were away, this group stealthily infiltrated the shrine where the Qilin Pearl was enshrined. They killed the guards we left behind, used a special method to break the shrine's barrier, and took the Qilin Pearl."
"The shrine's barrier is connected to the larger external barrier, so the main barrier was also shattered, leading to this incident."
"The four of us immediately wanted to pursue them, and then... this appeared on us."
Village Chief Long pulled down his collar, revealing a faintly glowing ethereal chain.
Xun Ying recognized this chain. It was a setup initiated by the Yao Ling Village to reassure the Hunter Association when the agreement was signed, and the Yao Ling villagers had voluntarily cooperated.
Once these chains were activated, the people of Yao Ling Village could not stray too far from the 'Beast God's' corpse for ten days.
And the method to activate these chains was a top secret within the Hunter Association!
Xun Ying fell silent for a long time again. "Besides this, what other evidence do you have that the Hunter Association stole the Qilin Pearl?"
Both the fish scale and these chains already proved that the Association itself was the cause of this disaster, but Xun Ying still held a sliver of hope.
The bird-headed woman stepped forward and produced a crystal ball shaped like a bird's egg.
The crystal ball played a video: several superpowered individuals jointly killed the shrine guards in an instant. Then, a man with dark circles around his eyes aimed a cone-shaped object with intricate patterns at the shrine's barrier.
The moment they collided, the shrine's barrier was pierced by the cone!
"That's... the Sin-Breaking Cone!"
Xun Ying's face turned ashen. That was a top-tier containment item collected by the Hua Fu Grand Area Association, capable of breaking any barrier below the Cataclysm level.
And he recognized the man as well, codenamed 'Desolate Soul', a Hunter at the True Order realm!
"Wait here. I will give you an explanation."
With a dark expression, Xun Ying shot into the sky and flew above the clouds. He took out his phone and dialed a number – Ye Hai Mo's.
"Tell me, Qi Ling Mountain has nothing to do with you."
"What's wrong? Why are you suddenly so serious?" Ye Hai Mo asked, taken aback.
Xun Ying's voice deepened. "You just need to answer me: did you or did you not instruct someone to steal the Qilin Pearl?"
"The Qilin Pearl was stolen?" Ye Hai Mo's heart skipped a beat. This was no small matter; in a sense, it was far more terrifying than the monster outbreak in Qi Ling Mountain. And why was Xun Ying suspecting him?
"The person who stole the Qilin Pearl is the Hunter 'Desolate Soul.' He used your token to lure away the four elders of Yao Ling Village and used the 'Sin-Breaking Cone' to breach the barrier."
Now Ye Hai Mo understood why Xun Ying suspected him. If he were handling this matter, he would also suspect himself as the mastermind. But he was truly ignorant of this incident.
"This matter has nothing to do with me," Ye Hai Mo said firmly.
A faint smile touched Xun Ying's lips. "Good, I believe you."
Ye Hai Mo ran a hand through his hair, a touch of helplessness in his voice. "For such an important matter, you shouldn't believe me so easily." Su Dan Novel Network
"If I didn't believe you, I wouldn't have given you the position of my badge back then. Since it has nothing to do with you, then those people are traitors to the Association, and I will deal with them according to my own judgment."
"Please, you must recover the Qilin Pearl!"
After hanging up, Ye Hai Mo felt a slight touch of emotion at Xun Ying's trust. He and Xun Ying had once been partners until Xun Ying was promoted to the True Self realm and they parted ways.
After the old Association President retired, Xun Ying was the only one qualified to become the President of the Hua Fu Grand Area Association, but Xun Ying gave up the position and handed it over to his former partner.
His感动 lasted only a few seconds before Ye Hai Mo kicked over the table in front of him and roared, "Gather all of Desolate Soul's information, and convene a high-level meeting!"
...
Xun Ying flew back to Village Chief Long and the other four. "It has been confirmed that the people who stole the Qilin Pearl are traitors to the Hunter Association. The Association will help you recover the Qilin Pearl and provide compensation to Yao Ling Village."
"Can you still track the Qilin Pearl's location?"
Village Chief Long shook his head. "We can't lock onto its exact location, but I can sense that the Qilin Pearl is still within the range of the Qi Ling Mountain range."
"Why?" Xun Ying frowned. Logically, after stealing something, they should have fled immediately.
The turtle-headed elder, who had been silent, stepped forward. "They are probably trying to absorb the Qilin Pearl's power. The Qilin Pearl only exhibits its divine properties within the scope of our Lord's corpse. They are not leaving now, likely because they want to absorb the Qilin Pearl's power..."
"I see. It's good that it's still nearby..."
Xun Ying walked out of the room with a murderous aura. Just as he stepped out, he returned and asked, "Have you all noticed that the monsters in Qi Ling Mountain have been a bit too disobedient lately?"
"What do you mean?" Village Chief Long blinked, not understanding Xun Ying's intent.
Xun Ying sneered. "I mean, as soon as the barrier was damaged, so many monsters tried to escape Qi Ling Mountain, causing immense losses. This is enough to show that you are incapable of protecting so many monsters."
"Since that's the case, let's reduce the number of monsters here."
"The barrier of Qi Ling Mountain should have been restored. Can you track those monsters that attempted to break through Qi Ling Mountain? I recall that in the explanation of the barrier you submitted, there was mention of a similar emergency function."
Tracking monsters that assaulted the barrier was an inherent function of the Qi Ling Mountain barrier. Even if the barrier was damaged, it still functioned.
As long as the monsters got too close to the boundary, they would be marked with a special signal. The controller of the barrier could then make those signals visible, lasting for several days.
Village Chief Long clearly sensed Xun Ying's killing intent. If he activated that signal, the monsters that had approached the barrier during its damage would likely face a massacre.
However, the most important thing now was to recover the Qilin Pearl. He did not want to defy Xun Ying's wishes at this critical juncture. Thus, after a moment's hesitation, he nodded in agreement.
Xun Ying said with killing intent, "It's been too peaceful here for too long. The beasts hiding here have forgotten that their ability to live here is a gift bestowed by us. And since it is a gift, it is very simple for us to take it back."