Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Lin Huang and the rest followed Deputy Governor He Tao to the city. The city gates remained closed just like they were in the morning. However, they were not stopped by the honorary immortal guard troop this time. Instead, He Tao brought Lin Huang and the rest to the government residence as he wished.
He Tao brought a few of them straight to the meeting hall.
There were two governors sitting in all seriousness in the meeting hall. They were drinking tea and they did not even bother to look at each other.
To Lin Huang and the rest, the two looked exactly the same. There seemed to be no difference between them.
They had large eyes, thick brows, and a mustache. They had the same body size and height. Even the way they drank their tea was the same.
“You guys are here!” Seeing Lin Huang and the rest, both of them stood up almost at the same time to greet them.
Shen Tao stepped forward and walked around them, chuckling with his eyes wide. “The both of you really look the same!”
As Lin Huang observed them, he fixed his eyes on the duo’s storage rings on their left hands. He then asked the Deputy Governor upon noticing that the two storage rings were exactly the same. “Have you checked their storage rings?”
“We have.” Deputy Governor He Tao shook his head helplessly. “The items in both rings are exactly the same. So are the inner garments they’re wearing. There’s nothing more, nothing less. They’ve also gotten us to check the weapon armors which ownership has been claimed. Theoretically, it’s impossible for there to be a second Blood Dragon Halberd, but after our thorough investigation, we found out that the duo’s Blood Dragon Halberds are real.”
“How is it impossible to have a second Blood Dragon Halberd?” Lin Huang asked immediately.
“It was my master who made the Blood Dragon Halberd exclusively for me. The main material to make it was the entire spine of the one and only blood dragon,” the governor on the left explained, “There’s no other blood dragon in the world.”
“My master was dying when he was making the Blood Dragon Halberd. He passed away on the third day the Blood Dragon Halberd was made,” added the governor on the right.
Lin Huang went completely silent after hearing that and he did not ask further.
“Since you’ve gone through the things that they have, how about their bodies?” Li Jia asked.
“The governors initiated us to check their bodies,” He Tao responded, “Not just the appearance of their bodies, but even the inside of their bodies look exactly the same. There’s no difference between them.”
“May I investigate further?” Li Jia looked at both of them. “You might feel a little uncomfortable during the process. I need you to tolerate it a little.”
“No problem.”
“I’m fine too.”
Li Jia walked to them and held their arms in each of his hands. “Please don’t resist.”
As soon as he was done speaking, countless black bugs crawled out of his sleeves and burrowed into the skin on both of their arms.
They wanted to pull their arms back by instinct, but resisted the urge immediately, allowing the bugs to crawl into their bodies.
The bugs that Li Jia used this time were much smaller than those that he used for the investigation the last time. They were approximately a tenth of an ant. Completely black, they did not seem to have the ability to fly.
Those little bugs penetrated the duo’s skin easily and disappeared into their bodies.
The two governors began having a slightly odd expression on their faces as soon as the bugs entered their body.
“It’s a little ticklish. Please bear it, or else you’ll chase the bugs away,” Li Jia reminded.
Around five to six minutes later, the bugs returned to Li Jia’s sleeves after crawling around their bodies twice.
The two governors were relieved.
Li Jia closed his eyes in silence for a little while after releasing both of their arms. He only opened his eyes later and shook his head helplessly. “I was checking their muscles and bones. I’m so sorry, but I don’t find anything different between them.”
“There’s nothing else that I can do. They’re all yours now.” Li Jia looked at Lin Huang and the rest with his arms opened.
Tang Ning thought about it for a while and asked, “When was the first time the both of you met? What exactly happened?”
“I saw a person in my bed when I opened my eyes this morning.” The governor on the left peeped at the one on his right as soon as he was done speaking.
“I’ve been busy the past few days and didn’t get enough rest. Because I was exhausted last night, I slept all the way until the morning. When I woke up, just like he said, I noticed a person in my bed, which is ridiculous!” The governor on the right had a more detailed explanation.
“How could both of you not sense anything since someone appeared so close to you?” Tang Ning asked while frowning.
“I should’ve been able to sense it immediately under usual circumstances, but I really didn’t sense anything this time. My mind was completely blank when I saw him. I thought I was hallucinating,” explained the governor on the left.
“It’s the same for me. I didn’t sense anything. I just noticed a person sleeping next to me when I woke up.” The governor on the right provided the same answer.
“Is there any surveillance around?” Tang Ning turned to ask Deputy Governor He Tao who was standing at the side.
“There’s none in the bedroom, but there is at the entrance. I’ve already checked both surveillances at the bedroom entrance and didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.”
“Alright then. There’s nothing I can do here.” Tang Ning thought about it and realized there was no longer anything worth asking. The questions that he came up with had been asked by the government residence this morning.
The rest then looked pointedly at Shen Tao and Lin Huang.
Lin Huang turned to ask Shan Tao, “Do you have any suggestions?”
“No.” Shen Tao shook his head. “I’ve been observing them when you guys asked your questions. The observation proved that they’re the same person.”
Lin Huang nodded while smiling. “You’re right about that. Indeed, they are both Governor Tu Ming.”
“Lin Xie, what do you mean?” Both of the governors were triggered upon hearing that.
“If I’m not mistaken, the phenomenon must’ve cloned another Governor Tu Ming. That’s why we can’t find anything different between them,” Lin Huang voiced his observation, “When the both of you said it’s impossible to have two Blood Dragon Halberds in this world, I suspected it might possibly be cloning done by the phenomenon’s force. Governor Tu Ming isn’t the only thing being cloned, but everything that comes with him was duplicated too. That’s the reason why there are two storage rings with exactly the same contents and even two identical Blood Dragon Halberds.”
“So, is there any way to identify which is the clone?” The two governors asked almost in unison.
“There’s no way.” Lin Huang shook his head. “Even the clone doesn’t know he’s a clone. With the complete memory of Governor Tu Ming, the clone thinks he’s the real one.”
“What should we do now?” Deputy Governor He Tao asked immediately.
“I don’t think we should do anything about it.” Lin Huang raised his brow. “Since the clone possesses Governor Tu Ming’s complete memory and wouldn’t do any harm to the government residence or the city, I don’t think there’s a need to distinguish them apart.”
“Moreover, no one can tell who the real Governor Tu Ming is before the phenomenon fades away. So, why waste all this effort in futile?”
“But who knows when is the phenomenon going away? It wouldn’t affect much if we don’t have a governor for a couple of days, but what if the phenomenon goes on for a couple of months or even years? Without the governor, there are many things that we won’t be able to do,” He Tao said while looking worried.
“Who says you have no governor? All of you can use both of the governors now. A clone isn’t an outsider in disguise. He won’t be exposing anything, so why can’t you use him?” Lin Huang asked like it was a no-brainer.
Deputy Governor He Tao looked at Lin Huang with his eyes wide open. He had no idea what to say at the moment. “We can do that?!”
“Other government residences can’t have two governors even if they wanted to. It’s a steal.” Lin Huang raised his brow again. “Alright. Since it’s been solved, we should head back to the inn now.”
Lin Huang turned and left after patting He Tao’s shoulder. The rest of the Heaven Alliance followed him while wearing smiles.
The puzzled He Tao and the two governors who were staring at each other were the only ones left.