Chapter 55 Not Completely Dug Out?

Having just heard from Li Guizhen that even the Director of the Deity Bureau, Nangong Zhongjian, had nearly been forced to resign and take responsibility for the incident, he finally realized the gravity of the situation.

His performance on the Void Arena during the day had humiliated him before the entire world. For the Dragon Country, this was an unprecedented disgrace, and the upper echelons of the Dragon Country were bound to hold the Deity Bureau and the Ji family accountable.

Ji Tianxing took a deep breath, finally expelling the suffocating resentment pent up in his chest, and slowly spoke: "My son, the organization originally intended to strip you of your Major General rank directly. However, considering that we ultimately won the Divine War, boosted the national fortune of our Dragon Country, and made those little Japanese pay a heavy price!"

"Therefore, your merits offset your demerits, and your military rank remains untouched for now. However, the organization's intention is to place you under observation—you must accept this."

Ji Yun nodded humbly and said, "I accept it completely."

Seeing that his good-for-nothing son had finally grown "sensible," Ji Tianxing felt a slight sense of relief and finally asked the question that had been puzzling him: "Tell me the honest truth. Today on the Void Arena, that true form of Yinglong..."

Ji Yun shook his head, looked at Ji Tianxing, and said, "It has nothing to do with me. I have no idea what happened either."

"Then there is only one possibility." Ji Tianxing took a deep breath and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Ji Yun clenched his teeth and said with lingering resentment, "Hmph! I never expected that in the end, our Ji family would still have to rely on him to save us!"

"This is my disgrace!"

Seeing Ji Yun's jealousy flare up once more, Ji Tianxing instinctively wanted to discipline him, but looking at Ji Yun rubbing his knees, his heart softened, and he said, "Forget it, let's not talk about this."

"What puzzles me is, how on earth did that brat Ji Ling manage to do it?"

"His divine space had already been dug out and transplanted into you. Why is he still able to contract deities, and even command them?!"

"This doesn't make any sense!"

Ji Yun also wore a puzzled expression, furrowing his brows as he said, "Indeed, why would he... Could it be that the divine space wasn't completely hollowed out?"

"How could it not be completely hollowed out!" Ji Tianxing waved his hand and said, "Such a possibility simply does not exist! Besides, even if it weren't completely removed, how could a tattered, remnant divine space possibly hold a primordial-level deity like Yinglong?!"

"Then what other reason could there be?" Ji Yun frowned and pondered, "Oh, right, Ji Ling forcibly interfered with the Void Arena. What did he sacrifice? His eyes or his ears?"

"That is precisely what is so bizarre about this!" Ji Tianxing shook his head and said, "His facial features are completely intact, without the slightest sign of damage!"

"How is that possible?!" Ji Yun blurted out immediately, "To interfere with the Void Arena, one must sacrifice one of their five senses; otherwise, it is absolutely impossible to achieve!"

"By what right is he completely unharmed?!"

Ji Tianxing let out a cold snort. "You should be thankful that he is unharmed, or else I wouldn't even know how to explain this to everyone!"

"Only because he is unharmed can it be proven that he made no sacrifice, and only then can it be proven that the true form of Yinglong was summoned by you! That is the only way your image was preserved!"

Hearing this, Ji Yun gritted his teeth even harder.

At that moment, the butler's voice sounded from outside the door.

"Family Head, an agent has come to the door, saying he is here to investigate something."

"An agent?" Ji Tianxing's brows violently twitched.

Could it be that the higher-ups still harbored suspicions about the Ji family and had already initiated an investigation?

Ji Yun's heart instantly leaped into his throat, his eyes filled with a clear look of panic.

Ji Tianxing patted the back of Ji Yun's hand and calmly said, "Don't come out yet. I'll go see what is going on."

"Alright," Ji Yun immediately nodded.

...

In the reception room.

Ji Tianxing strode out from behind the screen, while Ji Yun hid behind it, listening nervously to the movement outside.

Upon seeing Ji Tianxing emerge, Nangong Zhiwen immediately stood up and said with a warm smile, "Congratulations, General Ji!"

Seeing that Nangong Zhiwen still wore a smile on his face, the heart hanging in Ji Tianxing's chest immediately dropped by half, though the other half remained suspended, too anxious to settle.

Until the true purpose of this visitor was completely clear to him, he could not lower his guard.

"May I ask who you are..."

Nangong Zhiwen immediately pulled out his credentials and handed them over to Ji Tianxing.

Ji Tianxing merely glanced at the cover of the identification document, and his heart instantly sank, his heartbeat missing a beat in a momentary panic. Yet, he forced a calm expression and pushed the document back.

Nangong Zhiwen knitted his brows slightly. "Aren't you going to verify the authenticity of the credentials?"

"There's no need for that," Ji Tianxing said calmly. "I am, after all, a general of the Dragon Country. I refuse to believe anyone would dare impersonate an agent right in front of me."

Nangong Zhiwen was actually drumming in his own heart as well. Had Ji Tianxing even so much as flipped open his identification, he would have clearly seen the official stamp reading "Revoked" stamped inside.

However, he was gambling—gambling that Ji Tianxing, as a general of the Dragon Country, possessed the self-confidence he claimed, and gambling even more that Ji Tianxing was also harboring fear and lacked genuine conviction.

As it turned out, he had won the gamble.

Nangong Zhiwen nonchalantly took back the credentials.

Then, Ji Tianxing said indifferently, "Please sit."

"I wonder how I should address you? What is your honorable surname?"

Nangong Zhiwen hurriedly waved his hands with a smile and said, "You flatter me. My surname is Wang, you can just call me Little Wang."

"Heh, very well, Little Wang." Ji Tianxing nodded slightly and asked, "I wonder what issue the Ministry of State Security has sent you to investigate? Rest assured, feel free to ask boldly; I will certainly cooperate with our comrades from state security in handling this case."

"You exaggerate!" Nangong Zhiwen said hastily. If an inexperienced novice agent had been faced with Ji Tianxing's overflowing confidence, they might genuinely have been bluffed. Had Nangong Zhiwen not already learned certain details from Xie Baorong, he probably would have been bluffed as well.

"The organization sent me merely to understand the situation; it's not nearly as serious as investigating a case! You think far too highly of me. Even if an investigation into you were truly warranted, my rank is nowhere high enough for that!"

Nangong Zhiwen's words sounded humble on the surface, but they harbored hidden undertones.

By stating first that he was not there to investigate Ji Tianxing, he lowered Ji Tianxing's guard, only to follow up with the implication that if an investigation were truly to happen, it raised his tension right back up.

This conversational pacing of manipulating a person's psychological rhythm—shifting them up and down—was a characteristic trait of agents who had long executed missions, particularly interrogation and foreign intelligence operations.

Clearly, Nangong Zhiwen speaking in this manner was not intended to employ some kind of crushing tactic against Ji Tianxing's psychological defenses.