Chapter 465: Night Raid

The moment Zhu Cheng struck out with his palm, that pockmarked face suddenly drifted backward like a fallen leaf; the elusive and bizarre nature of his movement technique startled Zhu Cheng.

That pockmarked face landed lightly, already standing at the room's entrance.

Without even looking at Zhu Cheng, he opened the door with a backhand motion, intending to flee.

The instant the door opened, a flash of daylight appeared, yet a black shadow was already standing there. Before the pockmarked face could even see the shadow clearly, he felt a spasm of intense pain in his dantian, and his entire body was sent flying backward, crashing down at Zhu Cheng's feet inside the room.

Duan Rong stood at the entrance, stepped into the room, and closed the door.

Blood spilled from the corners of the pockmarked face's mouth. The moment he fell, he realized his dantian had been destroyed. He suddenly flipped his hand, wanting to stuff a Medicine Pill into his mouth, but Zhu Cheng, being right beside him, would not allow him to act; Zhu Cheng stomped his foot down, pinning the wrist holding the Medicine Pill to the ground.

"Crack!"

The pockmarked face's wrist was snapped by Zhu Cheng; the veins on his forehead bulged, and his entire face was covered in erupting cold sweat.

The Medicine Pill in his hand fell, rolling to the front of a pair of black boots. Duan Rong bent down to pick up the pill, sniffed it lightly at the tip of his nose, furrowed his brows, and said, "Such a potent poison!"

Although it was only a single sniff, Duan Rong was already able to determine that this Medicine Pill was even more potent than Shen Ping's Crimson Grade One.

The pockmarked face lay on the ground, looking at Duan Rong, who had walked in from the doorway, with a livid complexion, and asked with spiteful unwillingness, "How could you possibly have discovered me?"

That day, when Ge Rusong made things difficult for Zhu He in the Elder Council, Zhu He blurted out that he had sent Duan Rong to infiltrate Shenyun Prefecture to investigate spies.

Although Ge Rusong felt that Zhu He was just looking for an excuse to stall, he still sent out a message to inform the leaders of every stronghold in Shenyun Prefecture, telling them to focus on lying low during this period and to observe the situation closely.

This pockmarked face was, in fact, the leader of the stronghold at Dali Temple. After receiving the message, he did not take it to heart. Just as Ge Rusong had said, he also believed that Zhu He's words were merely an excuse fabricated to deal with Ge Rusong's challenge in the Elder Council. Moreover, he considered himself to have been lurking in Dali Temple for six or seven years; even if Duan Rong really had come to investigate spies, he did not believe he would leave any trail for Duan Rong to catch.

However, he had actually been exposed!

At this moment, looking at Duan Rong walking over slowly, he realized he was wrong; the person before him was far more terrifying than he had imagined.

Duan Rong stopped in front of the pockmarked face and said indifferently, "Half a year ago, I already knew that you were the one who killed Zhou Wei, the Temple Supervisor of Dali Temple."

The pockmarked face's expression froze, and he immediately said, "Impossible! Nonsense!"

Duan Rong smiled slightly and said, "Your hidden weapon technique is called the Ruyi Three-Fold Hand, isn't it?"

Upon hearing this, the pockmarked face's eyes widened instantly, as if he had seen a ghost, staring at Duan Rong. Even Ge Rusong could not name this hidden weapon technique of his; how could this person know it so clearly?

Duan Rong said, "I am telling you this to advise you. When you are interrogated later, do not hold out stubbornly; I already know everything I need to know. Do not make your own death too miserable! It is unnecessary!"

"You..."

The pockmarked face seemed to want to say something more, but Duan Rong clearly did not give him the chance. He flicked his sleeve, and a puff of Medicine Powder like faint mist was scattered onto the pockmarked face's face; the pockmarked face instantly passed out.

When Zhou Wei died, he had been pierced through the throat by a flying knife and nailed to a tree. Duan Rong had seen through the pockmarked face's identity by devouring the Devouring Artifact Spirit of that flying knife; naturally, he knew the pockmarked face's flying knife technique.

Duan Rong looked at Zhu Cheng with a focused gaze and said, "Take him to a secret place and interrogate him thoroughly! There must still be spies within Dali Temple."

"Yes!" Zhu Cheng cupped his fists slightly, then hoisted the pockmarked face from the ground and leaped to the room's entrance. He opened the door, and Zhu Peng was already guarding there. As soon as he saw Zhu Cheng come out, he immediately covered the pockmarked face with a Sack, then threw the sack into an empty crate by his feet.

Zhu Peng and Zhu Cheng then carried this crate toward a carriage in the Back Courtyard.

In truth, the best place to interrogate prisoners was the Dungeon of Dali Temple, but there might also be spies within the dungeon. Therefore, Duan Rong had previously instructed Zhu Cheng to find another place to interrogate this person.

Duan Rong remained in the pockmarked face's cramped room. Not until Zhu Cheng and Zhu Peng carried the crate around the corner of the veranda did he shrink his released Divine Sense, letting it only shroud and investigate the surroundings of this room.

Duan Rong suddenly picked up an inkstone from the side table, his gaze shifted, and he thought to himself, "Read Spirit Tool."

Over here, Zhu Peng and Zhu Cheng carried the crate into the carriage cabin.

Zhu Peng looked at Zhu Cheng and asked in a low voice, "Where to?"

Zhu Cheng said, "To my mansion. You watch the crate, I will drive!"

"Good!" Zhu Peng jumped into the carriage cabin.

Zhu Cheng jumped onto the front seat of the carriage and drove toward a side gate in the back courtyard of Dali Temple.

The carriage rumbled away. Beside a large banana tree not far away, a chubby head poked out; this person was wearing the clothes of a Personal Attendant, and he was in charge of looking after the horses in the back courtyard of Dali Temple.

In the pockmarked face's room, Duan Rong kept devouring the objects inside. With this pockmarked face's cultivation at the True Qi Realm Third Layer, and the fact that he had personally killed Zhou Wei, Duan Rong could almost conclude that this pockmarked face was the leader of the Dali Temple stronghold.

The pockmarked face had been lurking in Dali Temple for six or seven years; any object in this room might have traces within its Spirit Tool that could lead to further investigation, so Duan Rong was not prepared to let a single one go.

Duan Rong had just devoured the Spirit Tool of a paperweight when he suddenly furrowed his brows and turned his head toward the door. After only a few breaths, a knocking sound rang out at the door.

Duan Rong's gaze shifted; he put down the paperweight in his hand, his figure flashed like a silent ghost, and he was already standing at the door.

With his Divine Sense penetrating through, he could clearly see that the person outside the door was a chubby fat man, his expression somewhat anxious, looking around while knocking on the door.

Duan Rong suddenly lifted the door bolt. The moment the bolt was lifted, he leaped, rising from the ground like a large bird; a black shadow flashed, and he landed silently on the room's rafters.

Seeing the door suddenly open, the fair-skinned fat man walked in, turned to close the door, and then scanned the room with a surprised look. The room was not large, and it was clearly empty.

A look of doubt flashed in his eyes. While walking toward the desk in the room, he whispered, "Old Wei, Old Wei..."

The pockmarked face's name was Wei Ru; this was the name he used within Dali Temple, which should be a fake name.

Just then, a figure suddenly descended from the sky and landed in front of the fat man.

The fat man felt a chill run through his hair and nearly peed himself. He barely managed to steady his trembling legs and asked in surprise, "Who are you? Where is Old Wei?"

Duan Rong looked at the fair-skinned fat man whose facial fat was quivering, his gaze flickering, and said, "Are you here to tell Old Wei that Zhu Cheng and Zhu Peng carried a crate out of Dali Temple?"

Fear flashed in the fair-skinned fat man's eyes, and he said tremblingly, "No! I came to borrow money from Old Wei."

Duan Rong gave a dry laugh; the fear in the fat man's eyes had already given him the answer. Duan Rong flicked his sleeve, and a puff of Medicine Powder was scattered onto the fat man's face; the fat man's body went limp, and he passed out.

Duan Rong looked at the fat man who had fallen to the ground unconscious and continued to devour the Spirit Tools. As for this fat man, he prepared to wait for Zhu Cheng to come over and hand him over for processing.

In Changle Street, inside the Zhu Cheng Mansion, under the Rockery in the back garden, a secret chamber was filled with shrill screams...

Zhu Peng sat on a Stone Chair at the entrance of the secret chamber; the sound of those screams made his scalp tingle.

About half an hour later, Zhu Cheng walked out with blood splattered on his face. Zhu Peng's gaze jumped; there were even bits of flesh hanging on Zhu Cheng's nose and forehead.

Zhu Cheng looked at Zhu Peng, his expression very ugly. "Let's go, back to Dali Temple!"

The two walked out of the Rockery; the sunlight shone on their faces. The sun was bright, but Zhu Cheng's expression was filled with gloom.

There were actually six more spies within Dali Temple, one of whom was in the Dungeon. What disgusted Zhu Cheng the most was that, after repeated investigations, there was still a spy right beside him.

At this time, it was already midnight.

In the back courtyard of the Zhu Cheng Mansion on Changle Street.

In the pitch-black night, under the dim light of the stars and moon.

In the Back Courtyard, there were over twenty people standing in tight black clothing, all of whom had their faces covered with black cloth.

Duan Rong and Zhu Cheng stood in front of these people.

These twenty-some men in black were all Zhu Cheng's subordinates from within the Dali Temple.

This was also the reason why Duan Rong had investigated the Dali Temple first. Only by first rooting out the secret agents within the Dali Temple could he dare to boldly use the people from within the Dali Temple.

And his true target tonight was Taihe Tower.

During the morning, he had spent quite a long time at Taihe Tower, re-investigating this teahouse, and became even more certain that this Taihe Tower was an important stronghold.

On the street, the watchman's bell for the midnight hour drifted through the night wind. After Duan Rong counted the strikes, he suddenly said, "All of you follow me, do not get lost."

After he finished speaking, his figure surged, like a ghost or lightning, and he had already vaulted over a high wall in the Back Courtyard.

More than twenty figures performed their movement techniques almost simultaneously, each using different methods, heading in the same direction; in the night, the scene was quite eerie.

Duan Rong slowed his pace so that Zhu Cheng and his subordinates could keep up with him.

Along the way, Duan Rong kept his Divine Sense Envelopment spread out, leading this group as they snuck through the night, avoiding all patrols and inspections.

Very quickly, the group entered an alley. This narrow, pitch-black alley was almost completely filled by them.

Duan Rong poked his head out at the alley entrance to look, and saw that not far away, the three-story Taihe Tower still stood towering in the night.

He turned his head and said to Zhu Cheng at his side, "You all stay here and wait for my signal."

"Yes!" Zhu Cheng replied in the night, looking at Duan Rong's dark, bright eyes.

Duan Rong then immediately darted out of the alley entrance, his figure flickering as he headed toward Taihe Tower.

Through his careful investigation during the day, Duan Rong discovered that there were actually many hidden mechanisms within Taihe Tower; if he hadn't used his Divine Sense to penetrate and investigate carefully, even he would not have discovered them.

He had to eliminate the guards inside the building first before letting Zhu Cheng and the others enter, to avoid having too many hands and feet, which might accidentally trigger a mechanism—not to mention the chaos, it would also easily alert the enemy.

Duan Rong released his Divine Sense, completely enveloping the interior of Taihe Tower; every object, large or small, was now revealed in minute detail.

His figure leaped to the side of the building, his toes tapping on a bluestone slab like a dragonfly skimming the water, and he suddenly vaulted up. Like a flying bird or a bat, he leaped along the eaves, and then, almost soundlessly, dropped into the building through a window on the third floor.

Duan Rong's feet landed one after the other, his waist bending with a strange arc as if boneless as he slowly reached in from outside the window. His body straightened slowly inside the building in a peculiar posture, and only then did he reach back to gently close the window.

Under the detection of Duan Rong's Divine Sense, he discovered that an old man with white hair and beard was sleeping in the attic on the third floor! This person was at the True Qi Realm Great Perfection.

Duan Rong's feet stepped on the ground without a sound as he headed toward the attic. After walking a few steps, the distance closing, he could already hear faint snoring with his ears.

Duan Rong stood silently at the entrance of the attic; separated by a thin wooden door, the snoring inside was already very clear.

Qi flashed at his fingertips, and with a light swipe, the door bolt made a rustling sound and snapped in response!

And at that very instant, Duan Rong's figure suddenly erupted!

Like a ghost in the darkness, the moment the wooden door creaked, Duan Rong's left hand formed a claw and had already tightly clamped onto the old man's throat, while his right hand, tipped with Qi, struck the old man's dantian.

The old man's dantian was destroyed in an instant, his True Qi collapsing. At this moment, Duan Rong flicked his sleeve, and a puff of Medicine Powder was scattered onto the old man's face.

As blood spilled from the corners of the old man's mouth, he passed out. These several movements were completed almost simultaneously, without any hesitation, as smooth as one. The reason he could do this was because Duan Rong's heart was as still as water at this moment.

After the old man passed out, Duan Rong released the hand that was gripping his throat.

In the darkness, Duan Rong's eyes flickered, his Divine Sense sweeping through the old man to confirm there was nothing amiss, before he flashed out of the room like a ghost.

In a room on the first floor of Taihe Tower.

This room was at a corner, and the window was open, with the night wind blowing in with a howl. The person on the bed was sleeping on a bare wooden board; not only was there no bedding, but not even a straw mat was laid out.

The night wind blew, yet the person seemed unable to feel the chill.

He had already achieved the True Qi Realm Fourth Layer and had thick True Qi protecting his body; he truly felt nothing from this bit of cold air.

Zhao Yi was lying in the darkness, but his eyes jumped; from the open window, he seemed to hear a creak from the attic. Only one person lived in the attic of Taihe Tower.

"Doesn't that old man have a chamber pot? Why is he opening the door in the middle of the night?" Zhao Yi muttered in his heart.

However, he soon discovered that after that creak in the attic, it became completely silent.

Zhao Yi pricked up his ears and listened for a while, discovering that there was no more noise inside Taihe Tower, except for the slight howling of the night wind blowing past from time to time...

Zhao Yi closed his eyes and was just about to fall back asleep when, in the darkness, the creak of a door opening sounded once again.

This time, the sound was very close and very clear, because it was the door to his own room!

At this moment, this slight sound in the night felt like a thunderclap to his ears.

But in the darkness, at the same time that creak sounded, before he could even react, his throat was gripped by a hand claw like an iron hoop; the force was such that his throat bone could be crushed at any moment.

Almost simultaneously, his dantian suffered a heavy blow. Zhao Yi let out a muffled groan, instantly realizing his dantian was destroyed.

In the darkness, the person before him was clearly a supreme expert above the Qi Refining Realm. Moreover, he understood that it wasn't just his dantian that was destroyed; the old man in the attic had suffered the same fate. The faint creaking sound he had heard in the night wind earlier was no coincidence.

But who could it be, to be able to pinpoint and kill them so accurately?

This question had just flashed through his mind when a puff of Medicine Powder rushed into his mouth and nose. By the time he realized he should hold his breath, it was already too late; his vision went black and he passed out.

In the darkness, Duan Rong looked at the person lying on the bare wooden bed. This person was the waiter of Taihe Tower, the very man who had snuck into Zhu Zhengfu's mansion to investigate his tracks on the first night he moved into the Separate Courtyard.

Not far from the bed, through the open window where the night wind was howling in, Duan Rong walked over slowly and closed the window.

That old man and this waiter were the two experts guarding Taihe Tower. After a Martial Artist achieves the True Qi Realm, their hearing also climbs, allowing them to hear many subtle sounds.

This was the reason why Duan Rong had cleared these two people out with pinpoint precision as soon as he made his move.

(End of chapter)