Chapter 20: Explosion

Tang Yun's expression was calm, without the slightest panic: "Lin Zhendong, do you think a gun can scare me?"

"Hmph, do you think I don't dare to pull the trigger?" Lin Zhendong's finger was on the trigger, ready to pull it at any time.

The crowd outside the warehouse was buzzing with discussion:

"This... what is going on?"

"Lin Zhendong... he... he is actually pointing a gun at Tang Yun..."

"This... this is too... too scary..."

"Tang Yun... will he... will he die..."

In the crowd, a man with a sharp mouth and monkey cheeks said: "I think this Tang Yun is dead for sure this time! Lin Zhendong is a notoriously ruthless character!"

Another burly man said: "I don't think so; this Tang Yun is no pushover either. Maybe he still has some backup plan..."

Just at this critical moment, Tang Yun suddenly took a document out of his pocket and threw it in front of Lin Zhendong.

"Look at what this is?" Tang Yun's tone was cold.

Lin Zhendong picked up the document suspiciously, opened it, and his face instantly turned pale.

This document was ironclad proof of Lin Zhendong accepting bribes from the Liu family!

"You... you... how could you have this?" Lin Zhendong's voice trembled, his eyes filled with fear.

Tang Yun sneered: "Did you think I didn't know about those dealings of yours? You actually betrayed the Lin family for money; you really are a beast!"

The gun in Lin Zhendong's hand dropped to the ground with a "clatter," and he slumped to the ground, trembling all over like a sieve.

"No... no... it's not like that... I... I..." Lin Zhendong was incoherent, his eyes unfocused.

Seeing this, Liu Tianba's expression changed drastically. He hadn't expected Tang Yun to be so well-prepared and to have obtained criminal evidence against Lin Zhendong.

"Tang Yun, you... you..." Liu Tianba pointed at Tang Yun, too angry to speak.

At this time, Tang Yun slowly walked to Lin Zhendong, looking down at him from above, his eyes filled with complex emotions.

"Lin Zhendong, do you know? You are actually my..." Tang Yun's tone paused, and a burst of noisy footsteps suddenly came from outside the warehouse, breaking the tense atmosphere inside.

"What's going on?" Liu Tianba frowned, a sense of foreboding rising in his heart.

Before he could react, the warehouse door was slammed open, and a group of police officers rushed in, led by Criminal Police Captain Li Gang.

"Police! Nobody move!" Li Gang shouted, and everyone's eyes were focused on him.

"Captain Li, what is the meaning of this?" Liu Tianba asked, pretending to be calm.

Li Gang sneered: "Liu Tianba, you are suspected of smuggling and drug trafficking; we are now officially arresting you!"

Liu Tianba's expression changed drastically, pointing at Tang Yun and roaring: "It's him! It's him who framed me!"

Tang Yun shrugged, looking innocent: "Boss Liu, you can eat whatever you want, but you can't just say whatever you want. I am a law-abiding citizen."

Seeing the police, Lin Zhendong's eyes flickered, and taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, he quietly slipped toward the back door of the warehouse.

"Want to run?" Tang Yun caught a glimpse of Lin Zhendong's movement out of the corner of his eye and snorted coldly.

Before Lin Zhendong could reach the back door, the lights in the warehouse suddenly flickered a few times, and then with a loud "boom," the entire warehouse shook violently.

"Not good! It's a bomb!" Li Gang's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly signaled his men to cover everyone's evacuation.

Tang Yun, however, stood still, his hands quickly forming hand seals, and powerful True Qi instantly surged out of his body, wrapping everyone around him.

The shockwave of the explosion swept in, and the walls and roof of the warehouse instantly collapsed, dust flying and blocking out the sky.

Just at this critical moment, Tang Yun saw one of Liu Tianba's men suddenly raise a gun at Lin Zhendong and pull the trigger without hesitation.

"Bang!"

With a gunshot, Lin Zhendong fell to the ground, blood staining the floor red.

Tang Yun was startled; he hadn't expected Liu Tianba to actually kill Lin Zhendong.

After the explosion, the warehouse turned into ruins, with broken walls and debris everywhere, and thick smoke billowing.

The police quickly launched a rescue operation, saving the people trapped in the ruins.

Tang Yun walked out of the ruins, unscathed, though his face was somewhat pale.

"Young Master Tang, are you okay?" Lin Xiyue ran over anxiously, looking Tang Yun up and down.

Tang Yun shook his head: "I'm fine."

He walked to Lin Zhendong's corpse, squatted down, and carefully examined it.

There was a bullet hole in Lin Zhendong's chest, the blood had already coagulated, his face was pale, and his eyes were tightly closed.

Tang Yun reached out and pried open Lin Zhendong's tightly clenched fist, discovering that he was clutching half a piece of a bronze tiger tally.

The patterns on this half of the tiger tally were exactly the same as the patterns of the Shennong Cauldron fragments recorded in the "Medicine King Scripture"!

Tang Yun was shocked. Could this half of the tiger tally in Lin Zhendong's hand be a fragment of the Shennong Cauldron?

He looked up at Liu Tianba, a cold light flashing in his eyes.

Liu Tianba, what secret are you hiding?

"Young Master Tang, what should we do next?" Asura Guard Captain Zhao Long walked over and asked in a low voice.

Tang Yun pondered for a moment and said: "Suspend the reconstruction of the trade route and rush to the Xiangxi Corpse Herder tribe overnight."

"Xiangxi Corpse Herder tribe?" Zhao Long was stunned. "Young Master Tang, why are we going there?"

Tang Yun did not explain, only saying: "You'll know when we get there."

Night fell, and Tang Yun led the Asura Guards, riding in a modified off-road vehicle, leaving the city and speeding toward the direction of the Xiangxi Corpse Herder tribe.

Xiangxi, located on the southwestern frontier of our nation, was a place full of mystery.

Here, mountains were stacked, forests were dense, the climate was humid, and miasma was pervasive.

Since ancient times, many legends about corpse herders had circulated in Xiangxi.

It is said that corpse herding is a mysterious profession; they can control corpses, making them walk like living people.

The purpose of Tang Yun's trip was to find the Corpse Herder tribe and unlock the secret of the Shennong Cauldron fragments.

The off-road vehicle bumped along the rugged mountain road. Inside the car, Tang Yun closed his eyes to rest, the image of Lin Zhendong clutching half a bronze tiger tally before his death constantly appearing in his mind.

What secret was hidden in this half of the tiger tally?

And why did Liu Tianba want to kill Lin Zhendong to silence him?

All of this was like a huge mystery, troubling Tang Yun.

A gust of eerie wind blew in from outside the window, and the temperature inside the car dropped suddenly.

Tang Yun snapped his eyes open and looked out the window.

He saw that outside the window, it was pitch black, unable to see one's fingers, with only the occasional call of an unknown bird coming from the distant mountain forest.

"Stop the car!" Tang Yun suddenly spoke.

Zhao Long was stunned: "Young Master Tang, what's wrong?"

Tang Yun didn't speak, just pushed open the car door and walked down.

He stood by the side of the road and looked up at the night sky.

In the night sky, dark clouds were dense, obscuring the light of the stars and moon, and the entire world was shrouded in darkness.

An inexplicable sense of unease surged into Tang Yun's heart. ===== CHAPTER 21 =====