Chapter 73: Traitor! Ambush!

Of course.

Threatening and coercing door-to-door is aimed at ordinary factions.

But when facing a millennia-old powerhouse like the Yaoyue Sect, the Zhenwu Bureau must still proceed with caution.

But the Iron Spear Gate clearly does not get such treatment!

……

"My Lord Zhao!"

As the group arrived at the Iron Spear Gate's mountain gate outpost, Xie Chenglin, having received word, rushed out with a group of men to greet them; from afar, he bowed and laughed loudly, "I knew today's magpies were chirping for a reason—my Lord Zhao has arrived! Hah~"

"Master Xie."

Zhao Fuzhou approached while returning the bow, "I apologize for this intrusion—it is unavoidable. If I offend in any way, I hope you will forgive me."

"Oh?"

Xie Chenglin halted ten paces from Zhao Fuzhou, frowning at his words, "My Lord Zhao, what is this about today?"

"You don't know?"

Zhao Fuzhou feigned surprise, "You've joined the Changsheng Cult—surely you didn't skip the celebration?"

"You lie!"

Before Xie Chenglin could speak, a young man standing behind him flushed red, glared at Zhao Fuzhou, and growled, "Even if you're head of the Zhenwu Bureau, you can't just falsely accuse people! When did my father join the Changsheng Cult? Is this how the Zhenwu Bureau frames innocent people?"

"Exactly! Exactly! Who in Southern Yun doesn't know what kind of man our Master is?"

"The Zhenwu Bureau can't just falsely accuse people!"

"Lower your voice—the Zhenwu Bureau just wiped out the Guo family barely a month ago…"

"So what? If the Zhenwu Bureau thinks it can bully us like this, does it think all of Southern Yun's martial clans are dead?"

……

Behind Xie Chenglin, a group of Iron Spear Gate disciples burned with fury.

Selling Carefree Pills violated imperial bans, but those not primary offenders didn't deserve death.

But allying with the Changsheng Cult, joining it—that meant no one could escape.

Not only would they die, but even after death, they'd find no peace.

Even if they somehow escaped, they'd be hunted down; no refuge existed in all of Southern Yun, or even Heng Province.

The severity of the two crimes was incomparable.

Precisely because of this, the Iron Spear Gate disciples feared neither Zhao Fuzhou's power nor his status—they vowed to defend Xie Chenglin to the end!

Xie Chenglin himself was stunned and enraged, eyes reddening, voice trembling, "My Lord Zhao, has my Iron Spear Gate, or I personally, ever wronged you? If this is merely revenge, My Lord Zhao can simply arrest me—but please spare the others."

"Father!"

The young man behind Xie Chenglin cried out in anguish, "Let's fight them to the death! Even if we die, we won't let them smear us with filth!"

"You don't understand." Xie Chenglin shook his head sorrowfully, his hand trembling as he looked at the disciples behind him, "I can die—but the Iron Spear Gate's signboard must not be stained! That signboard—you must carry it forward and pass it on."

"Father!"

"Master~"

……

All the Iron Spear Gate disciples' eyes turned red, staring at Zhao Fuzhou and Chen Mu and the other Zhenwu Bureau members with suppressed rage and hatred.

'Impressive—no wonder he's a sect master.'

Chen Mu watched Xie Chenglin's performance; had he not seen the memory footage of Xie Chenglin eating people, he might have been moved.

He almost believed Xie Chenglin's tragic words!

"Tsk~" Zhao Fuzhou shook his head with a faint smile, "Master Xie, you're clearly beloved—but when you were eating people, did you ever think of them?"

"Shut up!"

"That's enough!"

"You've gone too far!"

……

Behind Xie Chenglin, the Iron Spear Gate disciples roared in fury.

The Iron Spear Gate's weapon was naturally the long spear; each man gripped his lance, holding it straight forward, ready to attack.

"Stop!"

A loud shout came from behind.

An elderly man with a round face and white hair and beard emerged hurriedly, leading a group.

"What's going on? What are you doing?"

The elder glared at the armed disciples and barked, "Are you trying to rebel? Put your spears down, all of you!"

"Elder Liu, these Zhenwu Bureau people are shamelessly tyrannical! They're slandering our Master for eating human flesh and joining the Changsheng Cult—isn't that nonsense?" one Iron Spear Gate disciple cried out indignantly.

Xie Chenglin eating people? Joining the Changsheng Cult?

Liu Qinghu froze, then glanced at Xie Chenglin, who wore an expression of helpless outrage.

Then he looked at Zhao Fuzhou, who maintained his calm smile.

"My Lord Zhao!"

Liu Qinghu took a deep breath, bowed to Zhao Fuzhou, and said, "My Lord Zhao, is there perhaps some misunderstanding here?"

"Whether there's a misunderstanding will be clear once my men go inside and search."

Zhao Fuzhou smiled lightly, "Elder Liu, will you allow it? I'll let you accompany us."

"This…"

Liu Qinghu hesitated.

Release the people of the Martial Suppression Office to enter the Iron Spear Sect's mountain gate garrison and search everywhere?

There has never been a precedent for such a thing.

But that doesn't mean it can't happen.

In a word, although the Iron Spear Sect is one of the major powers in Nanyun Prefecture, when facing the Martial Suppression Office, it still isn't qualified to go head-to-head.

Especially with Zhao Fuzhou, the person in charge — the Guo family's lesson is right before our eyes!

Others may not know the cultivation of the Guo family's old Innate expert, but Liu Qinghu knows it all too well. If it were him, he'd last at most ten exchanges before being defeated.

Yet Zhao Fuzhou slew him with a single sword strike!

Thinking of this, Liu Qinghu took a deep breath and said through gritted teeth, "Fine…"

"No!"

Xie Chenglin spoke almost at the same moment, waving his hand to cut him off. "My Iron Spear Sect has always sat upright and acted with integrity. How could we possibly be connected to the Longevity Cult? Lord Zhao, if you insist on the search, then kill me first! Compared to my life, the Iron Spear Sect's reputation cannot fall!"

"Very well."

Zhao Fuzhou nodded. "I'll grant your wish."

As he spoke, he raised his palm…

"Wait!" Liu Qinghu cried out.

Xie Chenglin's eyes narrowed.

Whoosh!

At that very moment, a flash of cold light suddenly appeared behind Zhao Fuzhou, aimed straight at his back.

So fast and without any warning that Zhao Fuzhou was stabbed cleanly on the spot!

"How could…" Chen Mu's pupils contracted, and he was about to retreat.

"Xu Siyou, been waiting long?"

Zhao Fuzhou's clear voice rang out, but it didn't come from the stabbed position — it came from three meters to the right.

Hearing the voice, the people present suddenly jolted awake. Looking again at the "Zhao Fuzhou" who had been stabbed through the back — where was the person? It was nothing but an afterimage!

The one who had stabbed "Zhao Fuzhou" was Xu Siyou, his face full of disbelief, his pupils dilating and contracting!

When they had set out, Chen Mu had even sighed in admiration for this Innate Guard of the Martial Suppression Office!

This fellow had been silent the whole way, and now he had actually launched a sneak attack on Zhao Fuzhou!

"Xie Chenglin! What are you waiting for? Kill them!"

Reacting, Xu Siyou let out a furious roar. Along with the shout, true qi surged and wrapped around his long sword as he charged at Zhao Fuzhou once more.

At the same moment, Xie Chenglin swung the long spear in his hand. True qi erupted, carrying a terrifying momentum as he thrust at Zhao Fuzhou.

"Kill!"