Free Web NovelChapter 1555: Chapter 1555: Severe Punishment Without Pardon!
The Netherworld Hall has always been the core organization under the Eighteen Hells.
Like other halls subordinate to the Eighteen Hells, it is responsible for supplying talent to the Eighteen Hells and stationed locally to handle relatively lower-level matters for the Eighteen Hells.
Due to the mysterious and powerful nature of the Netherworld Hall, coupled with the reputation of the Eighteen Hells, it has been many years since there was any inkling of disturbance or collective uproar within.
But now, with just one word from the Great Elder, all the high-ranking officials within the hall rushed to the Council Hall without a hint of hesitation!
The Great Elder, besides the Netherworld Hall Master, is the one with the most authoritative voice.
The Hall Master is elusive, almost always represented by the Great Elder.
At this moment, eight figures in gray robes hurriedly came to the Council Hall.
They are also the decision leaders of the Netherworld Hall, the Eight Elders!
If there were anyone familiar with their identities, they would certainly be greatly surprised!
Because any one of these eight was, in some past era, a legendary and renowned figure!
Moreover, they are not limited to being Chinese, among the eight are Republic of Mongolian, Russian, Ukraine, Western Regions people... even Japanese!
Among them are two female elders, one with blonde hair and blue eyes, a stunning figure, looking not the least bit old, but intriguingly charming, captivating hearts with every gesture.
The other, whose face bears an eighty percent resemblance to a Chinese, yet wears wooden clogs, turns out to be a Japanese woman.
Just as the eight elders entered, thirteen more elderly figures of different statures and ages quickly followed.
Including Ji Bu, who is exactly one of the Netherworld Hall’s thirteen senior officials!
Senior officials are one level below elders, also considered high-ranking, overseeing the specific affairs within the hall, holding partial decision-making power.
Originally there were fourteen senior officials, but now, missing Hu Jinquan, there are naturally only thirteen left.
"Great Elder, you summoned us urgently, what happened?"
Once all the high-ranking officials were present, one tall and imposing elder with a deep voice asked.
"Just now, Hu Jinquan’s tablet shattered!"
The Great Elder, originally facing away from the crowd, suddenly turned around, his voice grim, gaze sharp as a blade, speaking calmly: "This means he was actually killed!"
What?!!
Upon hearing this, everyone was shocked!
Two individuals were especially taken aback.
One was Ji Bu, who usually interacted the most with Hu Jinquan, knowing many of his matters, even engaging in "dirty" transactions with him.
The other was the Eighth Elder!
Hu Jinquan was a direct subordinate of the Eighth Elder, he was permitted by the Eighth Elder to go out this time.
Yet, the Eighth Elder was unaware of Hu Jinquan’s incident.
"Tuoba Yan, Hu Jinquan was your subordinate, what do you have to say?" The Great Elder coldly locked his gaze onto the Eighth Elder Tuoba Yan.
Tuoba Yan pondered for a moment and said: "Great Elder, I was unaware of this incident; however, I did indeed send him out! Not long ago, Hu Jinquan reported to me that two of his disciples had gone missing in China without reason. He was very angry and decided to go search himself, which I agreed with because it also concerned the hall’s rules. But I didn’t expect that his departure would be such a one-way journey!"
"Disciples gone missing?"
The Great Elder coldly said: "Since when does such stuff happen in the Netherworld Hall, ridiculous! How do you command your subordinates?"
"Great Elder, please quell your anger!"
The Eighth Elder hastily spoke: "According to Hu Jinquan, his disciples’ disappearance was related to Ji Bu under the Fifth Elder, you might want to ask him for specifics!"
"Hmm?"
Upon hearing this, both the Fifth Elder and Ji Bu were astonished!
The Fifth Elder immediately turned coldly towards Ji Bu: "Is this true?"
"Answer...Answer Fifth Elder!"
Ji Bu was startled, hurriedly replied: "Yes, this did happen! Initially... actually one of my disciples went missing, he went out to China for business and vanished. When Hu Jinquan heard of this, he offered to send his disciples to help search, then his disciples went missing... as for Hu Jinquan himself venturing out, I was ignorant of it, and even more shocked that he encountered a lethal assault..."
"Outrageous!!!"
The Great Elder flew into a rage, shouted loudly, scaring Ji Bu into kneeling tremblingly, not daring to raise his head.
"You bunch of useless fools, what are you even good for? You can’t even take care of your disciples, what use are you to the Netherworld Hall?!"
"Great...Great Elder, spare us!"
Ji Bu was so frightened that cold sweat flowed out, hurriedly knelt, and kowtowed heavily: "These matters, we don’t want them either! It never happened before, we’ve led so many batches of disciples, none have defected or gone missing, but now incidents are occurring consecutively, could there be someone targeting the Netherworld Hall..."
Seeing this, the Fifth Elder quickly added to the Great Elder: "Great Elder, I feel something is amiss with Hu Jinquan’s case! Losing a few disciples is nothing, but losing a senior official is indeed serious! In the vast China, aside from the top-tier families’ forces in Capital City or those mysterious hidden forces, no one can easily kill Hu Jinquan, and even those forces would need to think carefully—after all, he is part of the Netherworld Hall, assaulting him is tantamount to being enemies with the Netherworld Hall and the Eighteen Hells! So I’m curious, who truly has such audacity to ignore the Eighteen Hells’ name?"
"I called you here not for you to deflect and make wild guesses!"
The Great Elder coldly said: "All these years, it has only been the Netherworld Hall bullying others, never anyone daring to provoke the Netherworld Hall! The Hall Master left all the internal affairs in my hands, and now this happens, how do I explain this to him?"
Everyone heard this and thought of the Pavilion Master’s ruthless methods, immediately silenced, not daring to make a sound.
"I don’t care about anything else; Eighth Elder, Fifth Elder, Ji Bu, listen up!"
The Great Elder ordered: "Hu Jinquan’s death is related to you three, then you three are responsible for handling it! Find out the person or power daring to kill Hu Jinquan, punish severely, and make an example! China has been too peaceful these years, even forgetting the taste of nightmares!"
"Understood!!!"
The Eighth Elder, the Fifth Elder, and the relatively lower-ranked Ji Bu nodded promptly in agreement.
The Great Elder, still heated with anger, coldly snorted, turned his hands behind his back, saying: "The Hall Master will return soon, this affair must be resolved before he comes back, else if he gets furious, I won’t be able to cover it!"
"Understood!!!"
The seriousness of the matter weighed more heavily on the three, quickly retreating, along with several senior officials under the command of the Eighth and Fifth Elders, also nervously followed them out.
