560: Chapter 561: Arrest!

Patrol Envoy Zhang stared at the Talisman hovering in Wen Ruhui's palm, his pupils contracting sharply.

The Talisman was dark gold throughout, with fine spiritual light flowing along its edges, and the ancient seal characters for "Patrol Heaven" in the center.

The brushstrokes were heavy and condensed, and the flow of Qi was identical to the official Talisman of the "Taixiao Heaven-Patrolling and Earth-Inspecting Direct Talisman Envoy" on his own person.

He recognized this Aura; it was clearly his own official Divine Talisman!

But how could this proof of his authority be in Wen Ruhui's hands?!

"Impossible! This is absolutely impossible!"

Patrol Envoy Zhang slammed the table and stood up, his voice somewhat hysterical from excitement.

"This is fake! It's all fake!"

Finally, Patrol Envoy Zhang pointed his finger directly at Wen Ruhui.

"It's you! It's all forged by you!"

He seemed to have grabbed a straw for survival, turning to look at the people from the Inspection Department around him, his tone filled with uncontrollable anger.

"You all saw it too! This Talisman is not mine at all!"

"I, Patrol Envoy Zhang, have worked in the Heaven-Patrolling and Earth-Inspecting Department for so many years; don't you know what should and shouldn't be done?"

"Believe me! This Wen Ruhui is slandering me, trying to frame me!"

His gaze swept across everyone's Faces, as if looking for someone willing to testify for him.

However, those people were either keeping their heads down and remaining silent or had wandering gazes; some even unconsciously took half a step back, as if deliberately keeping their distance from him.

There was no help for it; although they also felt this matter was very suspicious and Patrol Envoy Zhang might truly be wronged.

But that official Talisman could not be fake; it was indeed Patrol Envoy Zhang's.

Therefore, they were also worried about being inexplicably dragged into the vortex of struggles between the high-level officials of the Divine Court, so silence was the best choice for now.

Thus, the atmosphere in the arena became somewhat eerie.

No one spoke; the silence was like an invisible wall, blocking back all of Patrol Envoy Zhang's hope.

Watching him in this state, a hint of mockery finally appeared on Wen Ruhui's cold, stern Face.

"The evidence is solid, Lord Zhang; you had better not put up a futile struggle."

"If you are truly innocent, come with us, and you will naturally be given justice."

His tone was not heavy, but it carried an unquestionable certainty.

Patrol Envoy Zhang's Face turned from blue to white, the fire of anger surging wildly in his heart, yet he could never find an outlet for it.

But he was not blinded by rage; he knew that no matter what, he could not go with them.

Once he left, whether he lived or died would no longer be up to him!

After all, although the "Heavenly Punishment Inspection Department" and the "Heaven-Patrolling and Earth-Inspecting Department" belonged to two different branches, their authorities were highly similar.

It was just that one dealt with external matters, and the other focused on internal ones.

This led to the high-level officials on both sides having ideas of swallowing the other and merging into one department.

With the subordinates following the example of their superiors, this naturally caused friction during their daily interactions.

Therefore, they wanted to suppress the other side in everything; now that the Heavenly Punishment Inspection Department had caught a handle on him, they naturally wanted to make a big issue out of it.

If things went poorly, he, Patrol Envoy Zhang, would become a sacrificial lamb in this.

Therefore, he could not go no matter what!

So he gritted his teeth, his voice seeming to become somewhat shrill.

"I'm not going! Why should I go with you? This is slander! This is framing!"

However, Wen Ruhui's patience had clearly run out; he tilted his head slightly and gave a look to the dozens of inspection envoys behind him.

"Since Lord Zhang refuses to cooperate, don't blame us for not giving you any Face; take him down."

With the order given, those dozens of figures stepped forward simultaneously.

Their movements were uniform, carrying an invisible sense of oppression.

However, just at the moment of extreme tension.

"Presumptuous! Let me see who dares to touch my Disciple!"

A voice suddenly came from high above the sky.

Although the voice was not loud, it was like a giant boulder crashing into a deep pool, shaking the entire Heaven-Patrolling and Earth-Inspecting Department slightly.

Almost everyone stopped their movements at the same time and turned to look in the direction the voice came from.

They saw a figure slowly walking out from the sun wheel high above the sky.

The person was tall and large, wearing a black official robe, with flowing cloud patterns embroidered on the hem, and an ancient seal character on his chest shining slightly in the spiritual light.

His Face was somewhat blurred by the heavenly light, making it impossible to see his features, only a silhouette, yet it already made the breathing of many people present become rapid.

And as he approached, his Face gradually became clear.

It was a Face with distinct features, roughly fifty years old, with a calm dignity between his brows.

As soon as he appeared, his gaze swept lightly over everyone present, carrying an invisible sense of oppression.

At this moment, someone in the crowd recognized the other party and immediately let out an exclamation.

"It's... the Taixiao Heaven-Patrolling Department Head, it's Official Yuntian!"

"Why is he here?"

"The matter has blown up; it actually drew out this old gentleman."

The so-called "Taixiao Heaven-Patrolling Department Head" was the collective term for Heavenly Officials within the Heaven-Patrolling and Earth-Inspecting Department.

The moment Patrol Envoy Zhang saw that figure, he was stunned for a moment, and then, like a drowning person seeing a piece of driftwood, an uncontrollable ecstasy welled up in his eyes.

He scrambled over, almost rolling and crawling, and grabbed the hem of the person's robe, his voice trembling.

"Revered Master! Revered Master, save me! They are framing me! This Disciple is wronged!"

Official Yuntian looked down at him, and seeing this disheveled appearance, his brows furrowed slightly involuntarily.

However, Patrol Envoy Zhang was his Disciple after all, so it was not good to reprimand him in public.

So he looked at Patrol Envoy Zhang, his tone calm: "Speak, what is going on here?"

Facing his Revered Master's inquiry, Patrol Envoy Zhang felt as if he had finally found an outlet, and began to cry out his grievances.

He did not mention the loan matter, but only blindly emphasized that he was framed, Wen Ruhui's baseless accusations, and so on.

After hearing this, Official Yuntian's brows furrowed even tighter.

He always felt that things were not that simple, guessing that Patrol Envoy Zhang was not telling the truth either, but that was not important.

This group of people came aggressively and even wanted to arrest his Disciple, clearly not giving him any Face.

Since that was the case, did right and wrong still matter?

Thus, he looked coldly at Wen Ruhui and his group, his Divine Power Aura surging out and pressing directly onto everyone.

"Envoy Wen, shouldn't you give me an explanation?"

While enveloped by this Divine Power pressure, although Wen Ruhui's back was slightly hunched, his expression remained unchanged.

After all, although his official position was lower than the other party's, he was not without support behind him.

He was certain that the other party was just intimidating him and would not actually take action against him; otherwise, this matter would not be so simple.

With confidence in his heart, he was not arrogant or domineering, his attitude respectful but neither humble nor pushy.

So when facing the questioning, his rebuttal was also strong and powerful.

He cupped his hands and bowed.

"Lord Yun, Patrol Envoy Zhang is suspected of violating regulations by taking out loans using his official identity and suspected of using his power to defraud multiple banks; the evidence is solid."

"We are acting under orders to take him back for investigation."

As he spoke, he even took out the official Divine Talisman with Patrol Envoy Zhang's Aura and presented it with both hands.

Official Yuntian's gaze lingered on that Talisman for a moment; he did not immediately express his stance, but just looked at Patrol Envoy Zhang.

His lips moved, but he did not make any sound, clearly using Divine Soul transmission.

"What is going on? Tell the truth!"

Just now, Patrol Envoy Zhang did not mention this matter; clearly, there was a hidden story in this.

Patrol Envoy Zhang felt his heart tighten under that gaze and dared not hide anything anymore, quickly recounting the matter in detail.

However, he deliberately omitted the fact that he intended to frame Wang Chan, only saying that the other party was maliciously borrowing and he was negligent for a moment.

After hearing this, Official Yuntian's eyelids twitched slightly.

If, according to Patrol Envoy Zhang's account, this matter was not glorious, it was far from reaching the point where the Heavenly Punishment Inspection Department would come to the door in person.

After all, isn't it very normal to scam stinky outsiders?

Moreover, this kind of thing in the Divine Court was not considered a big deal; it was just a bit unpresentable.

If this kind of thing was not exposed, everyone would just tacitly understand it.

Even if it was exposed, it would just be a matter of fooling the lower-level cultivators, then greasing the palms of various parties, and this matter would be over.

But the current situation seemed somewhat different.

However, the Aura of the Talisman in Wen Ruhui's hand was exactly the same as Patrol Envoy Zhang's; this could not be fake.

But from his understanding of Patrol Envoy Zhang, although this Disciple was greedy, he was not stupid enough to use his own official Talisman as collateral; this was completely cutting off his own path and giving others leverage.

"What is going on."

Official Yuntian felt vaguely uneasy in his heart; he seemed to feel the surging undercurrents behind this matter.

Putting away the distracting thoughts in his heart, he also began to ponder seriously.

After a while, a thought suddenly surfaced in his mind.

"Could it be that someone is tampering with Divine Talismans?"

As the saying goes, when all possibilities cannot explain things, the most impossible thing might be the truth.

But there was one problem: to achieve this level, it required at least the means of a Divine Lord.

Thinking of this, even Official Yuntian couldn't help but shiver.

If it was really as he guessed, then the water behind this was a bit deep.

He raised his eyes, scanned Wen Ruhui's calm and waveless Face without leaving a trace, and then glanced at Patrol Envoy Zhang, a look of disgust flashing through his eyes.

"It's all this jinx's fault, causing trouble for him all day long."

However, he already had a plan in his heart.

If someone was really pushing this from behind, then Patrol Envoy Zhang was probably truly being schemed against, and that stinky outsider was likely not some newcomer, but just a pawn pushed to the front stage.

But what made him most wary was the risk hidden behind this matter.

A Divine Lord personally entering the arena naturally could not be just to deal with such a small Dark Official as Patrol Envoy Zhang.

Because this had no meaning, the high probability was that it was actually targeting him, or thinking deeper, it might be the person behind him!

Regardless, this matter was extremely troublesome, and in any case, he could not sacrifice himself for one Patrol Envoy Zhang.

Therefore, the only thing he could do now was to make a clean break with this good Disciple of his.

Although this would cause some loss of benefits, after all, this Disciple would occasionally offer him a considerable amount of Power Of Faith.

If he just abandoned him like this, not to mention the previous efforts going down the drain, his future benefits would also be affected to some extent.

But this was the only way! Who told him to be so unlucky to get into trouble?

However, surface work still had to be done, lest it spread and damage his own reputation.

And Patrol Envoy Zhang was still clueless, looking at his Revered Master with an innocent Face, hoping his Revered Master would back him up and make the decision.

Little did he know that at this moment, his Revered Master had already regarded him as a discarded pawn.

Official Yuntian was silent for a few breaths, then spoke, his tone calm but carrying an unquestionable decisiveness.

"Patrol Envoy Zhang, how many times have I taught you that the laws of the Divine Court cannot be treated as child's play."

"Since the evidence is solid, you should cooperate with the investigation and not be unreasonable here."

His voice was not loud, but it was like a basin of cold water poured over Patrol Envoy Zhang's head.

Patrol Envoy Zhang was instantly stunned; he raised his head, looking at his Revered Master with an expression of disbelief.

As if wanting to find a hint of a joke in it.

However, he only saw indifference.

He opened his mouth, his voice somewhat astringent.

"Revered Master..."

Official Yuntian did not look at him, just putting on an appearance of being righteous and waving his hand.

"Go, cooperate with the investigation; the innocent will remain innocent."

And a faint smile appeared on Wen Ruhui's Face; he cupped his hands to Official Yuntian.

"Lord Yun is righteous; Wen admires you."

His words sounded like praise, but his tone carried a faint hint of sarcasm.

It was unknown whether Official Yuntian understood the meaning, but his expression remained unchanged, and he did not respond.

Seeing this, Wen Ruhui did not delay any further and gave a look to the inspection envoys behind him.

Two inspection envoys stepped forward, each holding a pitch-black token in their hands, the surface of the tokens engraved with fine runes, exuding a heavy sense of oppression.

They simultaneously brought the tokens close to Patrol Envoy Zhang's body; those two tokens suddenly lit up with a dark light, like an invisible chain wrapping around Patrol Envoy Zhang's official Talisman layer by layer.

Patrol Envoy Zhang felt the Divine Power in his body being cut off by something in that instant, his whole body sinking suddenly, his knees almost buckling.

He wanted to urge his magical power to resist, but found that those two tokens were like two mountains pressing on him, suppressing all his power back into his body.

"You..."

He struggled, wanting to say something, but gradually discovered that he couldn't even make a sound.

Clearly, those two tokens were specifically designed to suppress divine officials.

Once activated, it could cut off the other party's source of Divine Power, restricting their actions from the root.

Thus, Patrol Envoy Zhang was held by two inspection envoys on the left and right without any power to resist, almost being dragged toward the door.

As Patrol Envoy Zhang was taken out of the Heaven-Patrolling Department, the arena became quiet again, leaving only a group of inspection deputy envoys with complex expressions.

Although it felt like this matter was indeed Patrol Envoy Zhang's own problem, the fact that people from the Heavenly Punishment Inspection Department came directly to take someone was, after all, a slap in the Face of the Heaven-Patrolling and Earth-Inspecting Department.

And the one with the ugliest expression was none other than Official Yuntian himself.

He originally thought that by coming forward, he could protect this Disciple, or at the very least, suppress the situation, but in the end, the person was taken away right in front of him, and he couldn't even stop it.

Although he knew that the water behind this might be very deep, he ultimately couldn't get past the loss of Face.

He was silent for a moment, muttering to himself.

"Supreme Crimson Script Water Virtue Heavenly Official... Wang Chan."

Official Yuntian's gaze darkened slightly.

"Who exactly are you?"

No one answered him.

But everyone knew that this matter was far from over!