Chapter 348

Li Rui's palm strike showed no hesitation; his figure surged forward, fingers like dragon claws reaching into the room.

He caught a glimpse.

Song Shi's men lay scattered in pools of blood.

They were utterly still.

Inside the room, two more black-clad figures remained.

Both had been stunned by Li Rui's earlier thunderous strike and stood frozen, unable to react.

Li Rui had no interest in fairness.

Thud! Thud!

Two more sounds.

The waters of Qinghe surged again with a rush.

In but an instant.

The two black-clad figures became fish food for Qinghe.

Only then.

Did he have a chance to survey the room's condition.

"What exactly happened here?"

Without a moment's thought, he reached for his signal arrow from within his robes.

No matter the situation, since this was Qinghe, solitary combat was out of the question—he must summon Nie Siming and all the city's experts.

Yet just as he pulled out the signal arrow.

A blinding flash of white cut before his eyes.

It was a blade!

Li Rui lightly tapped his foot, shifting half an inch backward, narrowly avoiding the slashing longsword.

He had dodged.

But Huacai Residence's room was not so lucky.

The wall behind him had been split open by the blade's aura.

A Xiantian martial artist!

Li Rui's heart lurched.

He saw a massive black-robed man gripping a huge blade, glaring at him with predatory intent.

The giant grinned, revealing a cruel smile:

"You're unlucky. Since you stumbled upon me in action, you might as well die."

The giant unleashed his Xiantian aura.

Black mist erupted from his body; a shadowy black tiger appeared behind him.

It was his aura form.

Black Tiger Devours Heaven!

Li Rui's gaze hardened; his waist-sheathed Zhanjiao blade flashed free.

The sword's ruthless brilliance made the giant wince in pain.

The giant's pupils shrank sharply; he sucked in a sharp breath: "Immortal Blade!"

He never imagined that a random man he encountered wielded an Immortal Blade.

Li Rui sidestepped, stepped forward, and brought Zhanjiao down.

The blade struck precisely at the center of the giant's greatsword.

Clang!

A sharp ring echoed.

The greatsword snapped clean in half; the severed tip spun through the air before embedding itself with a thud into the wall.

The neighbor's occupant was dead too.

Otherwise, screams would have erupted.

Li Rui's blade motion didn't slow; he swept upward, while his free right hand struck without pause, punching straight at the giant's face.

The giant broke into a cold sweat from Li Rui's ferocious assault.

'How is this man so brutal?!'

He sucked in another sharp breath.

With seasoned combat instincts, he abandoned the broken half of his blade instantly; the black tiger behind him roared and lunged at Li Rui.

A flash of blue light erupted.

A two-winged dragon shot forth from Li Rui's chest, colliding with the black tiger.

An invisible shockwave shattered the entire room.

Zhanjiao shrieked with dragon roars.

One slash.

The giant's chest was torn apart by Zhanjiao; chunks of flesh flipped outward as Xuanqi mixed with Zhanjiao's corrupt energy surged into his body, greedily devouring his life force.

Meanwhile,

the black tiger was driven back step by step under the dragon's assault.

The Yinglong shadow pierced straight through the giant's body.

He vomited great gouts of blood.

At that moment,

Li Rui's fist reached the giant's face.

Thud!

A dull crash—the giant's head exploded like a watermelon, red and white splattering the floor.

In less than three breaths, he was dead beyond any doubt.

Unworthy of three strikes.

A Xiantian martial artist had been slain by Li Rui so easily.

Having killed.

Li Rui finally had time to ponder one question.

Who was this man?

Why kill Song Shi's men?

And where was Song Shi?

He didn't even need to look—he was certain Song Shi wasn't in Huacai Residence; otherwise, with this giant's strength, Song Shi would have been silenced without a sound.

So he must have left—perhaps even left the city.

If he'd left the city,

it was almost certainly because of the Purple Gold Palace matter.

With this deduction, these men were almost certainly agents of the Purple Gold Palace.

Li Rui swiftly checked every room.

As expected.

Song Shi was not inside; all his men were dead.

As Li Rui pondered,

hurried footsteps echoed from downstairs.

First to appear was the Huacai Residence's shopkeeper, leading a patrol of soldiers up the stairs.

The commotion Li Rui had caused could not have gone unheard.

The patrol leader's face twisted from fury to sycophancy the moment he recognized Li Rui standing above.

"L-Lord Li? How is it you?"

Li Rui glanced at the leader coldly:

"Send word to Commander Nie."

A quarter-hour later, Nie Siming arrived on the Huacai Residence's upper floor with a squad of soldiers.

Fifteen minutes later, Nie Siming appeared atop Huacai Tower with a squad of soldiers.

Cao Wei had come too.

Though city security fell under the county magistrate's jurisdiction, this incident had occurred on Anning Guard's territory—leaving Cao Wei humiliated.

Although the city's security was primarily the county office's responsibility, an incident occurring on Anning Guard's territory still brought him shame.

【93】 These past days, he had dealt with Song Shi, so he recognized these men at a glance.

"These are Commander Song's men?!"

Seeing the corpses, he was stunned.

He had dealt with Song Shi recently, so he recognized them at a glance.

Over these days, he had also dealt with Song Shi, so he could immediately recognize these people's identities.

He slowly turned his head toward Li Rui.

He wanted to ask: had Song Shi been killed?

Li Rui immediately understood Cao Wei's implication and spoke: "I came here on Commander Song's orders to deliver medicine, then encountered these villains. Fortunately, they were mediocre fighters—otherwise, this would have become a major incident."

Li Rui quickly understood Cao Wei's meaning and said, "I was sent by Master Song to deliver medicine, and then I encountered these villains; luckily, their Wu Gong is mediocre, or it would have caused a major trouble."

Not a single mistake in content, one by one, look carefully!

He said this not only for Cao Wei, but also for Nie Siming.

Mediocre martial skills

Cao Wei's lips twitched.

He knows that several of Song Shi's men this time are Sea Observation cultivators.

He himself might not even be a match.

When he arrived, he already knew three corpses were being retrieved from Qinghe, plus the one before him.

That means.

Conservatively estimated, Li Rui killed four Sea Observation martial artists tonight.

This is no small matter.

Cao Wei knew Li Rui was powerful, but never imagined he had grown to such a terrifying level.

Nie Siming paused, then said:

"Since we haven't found Song Shi's body, there's still a chance he's alive."

"Send people to search."

"Also, summon the coroner—find out for certain who did this."

He gave these orders in a few brief words.

Li Rui and Cao Wei immediately replied: "Yes!"

After giving orders,

Nie Siming said nothing more, showing not the slightest interest in Li Rui's appearance here or his killing of numerous experts.

But his expression was hard to read.

Aside from his noble birth, Song Shi held another identity: Imperial Inspector.

This time, he represented the imperial court in Qinghe.

If Song Shi truly died in Qinghe,

the matter would be enormous.

Nie Siming, as Garrison Commander, would surely be punished—not just him, but every official in Qinghe would lose all chance of promotion.

Something like this happened seventy years ago.

Most of the prefectural officials were demoted.

Those not demoted spent their lives stagnating, unable to advance a single step in the bureaucracy.

So Song Shi absolutely cannot die.

The only silver lining is that Song Shi didn't die inside Huacai Residence; since no body was seen, there's still a chance he lives.

Nie Siming is no ordinary man.

He could easily guess this affair was almost certainly tied to the mysterious Purple Gold Palace.

He couldn't help cursing:

"Damn useless fools!"

Another sleepless night.

One thousand soldiers of the Anning Guard.

Except for a few civil officials, every unit was deployed.

Only one goal:

Find the missing Song Shi.

Besides the Anning Guard, even the county government office and the Weiheshimao Office were fully mobilized.

Whether it was County Magistrate Jia Qi or Director Yan Zhongxing, neither wanted to be implicated by Song Shi's death.

They searched tirelessly for three days.

Anning Guard, General's Mansion.

Nie Siming, Li Rui, and Cao Wei were present; Jia Qi and Yan Zhongxing also arrived.

All their faces were grim.

Song Shi was found.

But when found, he was already a desiccated corpse—dead beyond any doubt.

Nie Siming clenched his teeth like a furious lion.

"Who did this?!"

Cao Wei stepped forward, bowing: "General Nie, the coroner has determined Song Shi was killed by the Blood Shadow Patriarch of the Ghost Ming Sect. As for those killed by Li Daoren in Huacai Residence, traces of demonic cultivation are evident."

"Ghost Ming Sect!"

Nie Siming was furious.

"So the Purple Gold Palace was connected to the Ghost Ming Sect."

The others turned pale at the name "Blood Shadow Patriarch."

The Blood Shadow Patriarch was a Land Immortal, his power unfathomable.

Killing any of them would be effortless.

Nie Siming quickly calmed down.

He understood: Song Shi was dead; further anger was useless.

Now they must find a way to make amends.

"Keep Song Shi's death quiet for now."

"Yes."

Li Rui and the others nodded in unison.

They knew full well what would happen if the court learned Song Shi was dead.

Concealing it was unquestionably the right course.

Though it couldn't be hidden long.

Their task was to uncover the truth and find a way to earn merit before the court discovered everything.

The group dispersed.

Li Rui walked out of the General's Mansion, lost in thought.

Only he knew Song Shi had another identity: Secret Guard, Dingshan Envoy.

Song Shi had come to pursue the Exiled Immortal.

Now Song Shi had died inexplicably.

Could it be

"Does the Purple Gold Palace harbor an Exiled Immortal?"

(End of Chapter)