Chapter 27: Pulling and Tugging

Late at night.

Xu Bingkun was summoned by Huo Yu to the Huo residence.

"How do you serve as City Lord!" As soon as he stepped inside, Huo Yu angrily smashed a cup: "The person is right here in your Xiazhou, and he is a disabled cripple! As City Lord, you haven't found a single cripple all day long; what are you even doing for a living!"

Xu Bingkun's face remained expressionless.

Although he had secretly relied on the Huo family to be elevated to the position of City Lord, he also had his own hidden agenda; he was no loyal subject, and the secret raising of demons and monsters was his own little scheme.

Of course, with a fool like Huo Yu around, he could easily borrow the Huo family's power to keep the Demon Suppression Bureau completely submissive, even rendering Sheng Yuanyao a figurehead commander capable of nothing, let alone investigating his case, so he still had to coddle this fool.

He took a deep breath and put on a smile: "Young Master Sixth, our local government office Runners have very low cultivation; the opponent is a powerhouse who can casually kill even a sixth-grade Wu Xiu. If he deliberately conceals his tracks, the government office Runners truly lack the ability. The experts in the local area are mainly concentrated in the Demon Suppression Bureau, but we cannot command the Demon Suppression Bureau..."

Huo Yu recalled Sheng Yuanyao's attitude, suspecting she was truly colluding with Huo Shang, and felt even more furious: "A stupid woman who cannot tell good from bad, truly thinking that lowborn trash can gain any power? The Demon Suppression Bureau is not decided by her alone; go summon those Vice Commanders, I have my own plans!"

Xu Bingkun showed a slight smile: "Young Master is wise. Sheng Yuanyao is inexperienced and ignorant, thinking she commands a whole town and holding herself high. If she learns that no one obeys her orders, the gap will be too great; at that time, she will naturally submit to the Young Master, and perhaps even..."

Huo Yu was actually made somewhat expectant by this, nodding: "Go summon them."

A group of Demon Suppression Bureau Vice Commanders and even mid-level officials were summoned to a secret meeting at the Huo residence, while at this moment Sheng Yuanyao had no reliance on these people; taking advantage of everyone's attention being on the Huo residence and the search for Lu Xingzhou, she was free to do her own thing.

In the dead of night, Sheng Yuanyao quietly arrived alone at the Xiazhou Prison.

Even the originally planned "finding an excuse" was abandoned; Sheng Yuanyao directly produced a bell and shook it gently.

Those in this line of work always have some treasures; this Soul-Confusing Bell can make people briefly dazed, originally used for interrogation to extract words, but it is also very suitable for stealthy exploration.

Soon the prison guards' eyes became dull and vacant; Sheng Yuanyao strode forward boldly, took the keys from the warden's waist, and entered directly.

If there were indeed something fishy here, the guards were likely all Xu Bingkun's people; finding any excuse would alert them, so this direct approach was more practical.

Sure enough, after wandering around inside, Sheng Yuanyao sensed something was wrong.

According to the Juan Sect files she had reviewed, there should be nearly thirty death-row prisoners here, yet as she walked through, most of the cells were empty; counting them, there were only a little over ten, with the majority missing.

The death-row prisoners had been dealt with privately...

Sheng Yuanyao's face sank like water; she took out a small mirror again, probing each cell to search for the nearest traces of living life. Then, following the traces, she went out.

This method of detection was useless against powerful experts skilled in suppressing their aura, but it was perfect for checking half-dead death-row prisoners; the heat reaction of a living person would appear clearly.

After leaving the death-row prison and following for a while, not far ahead lay... the City Lord's Mansion.

Sheng Yuanyao took a deep breath, her expression extremely ugly. It was indeed true; the death-row prisoners had truly been secretly brought into the City Lord's Mansion... There was no other explanation; Lu Xingzhou had not lied; the City Lord was actually privately raising demons and monsters and feeding them blood sacrifices! What was he trying to do!

The current situation was very troublesome. Originally, the case pointing to the City Lord was already a very troublesome matter; relying solely on the Xiazhou Demon Suppression Bureau could not overturn the table; it was necessary to secretly report to the top and have them lead a siege. But to report such a matter, one could not rely solely on the current clues; more concrete evidence was needed; how could this be investigated?

At this time, with the arrival of the Huo family representatives, Sheng Yuanyao found she could trust no one and use no one!

Even if she reported to the commandery to send someone to investigate, she could not be sure whether the person receiving the message would sell her out.

Sheng Yuanyao did believe the Huo family would not dare to raise demons and monsters, but going directly to tell Huo Yu, "Are your people raising demons and monsters?" This would be a huge scandal for the Huo family; they might make her disappear just to cover it up.

Lu Xingzhou's figure inadvertently flashed through her mind... Sheng Yuanyao herself found it ridiculous; at this time, the only person she could trust was actually this criminal...

But he was currently in the center of the storm; how could she bother him at this moment? Moreover, she did not even know where he was hiding now; she could not contact him.

Right... the hint to check the death-row prisoners came from Du Gu Qingli; she should be trustworthy and open to discussion.

Sheng Yuanyao hesitated not at all and sped towards the Shen Merchant House.

Unable to wait to have the guards announce her arrival, Sheng Yuanyao vaulted over the wall directly; the moment she landed, she saw Du Gu Qingli pushing Shen Tang's wheelchair, standing quietly in front, looking at her.

Sheng Yuanyao greeted them somewhat awkwardly: "You two, I have an urgent matter to discuss with you."

Shen Tang smiled: "I thought you came to find Lu Xingzhou; he is not here."

Sheng Yuanyao exploded: "Why would I come looking for Lu Xingzhou in the middle of the night!"

"How would we know..."

"I..." Sheng Yuanyao swallowed her anger: "Miss Du Gu, the matter you reminded me to investigate last time has results."

Du Gu Qingli paused for a moment.

She only then remembered that Lu Xingzhou had always called her "Miss Qingli," so the title "Miss Du Gu" actually felt strange and unfamiliar to her.

"So there really are demons and monsters?"

"Yes, in the City Lord's Mansion."

"What does Commander Sheng mean by coming to find me?"

Sheng Yuanyao briefly explained the current situation, adding: "This matter cannot be delayed; for every day it drags on, the demons and monsters may grow stronger; at that time, no one will know what kind of thing will be raised. But right now I dare not trust others temporarily, and Lu Xingzhou is in the vortex..."

Shen Tang suddenly interjected: "Are you sure it is in the City Lord's Mansion?"

"Yes, nine times out of ten."

Shen Tang smiled slightly: "Lu Xingzhou lacks manpower; he will need a chaos in the city to tie down the official forces. I was originally considering how to find an entry point to help him; isn't this ready-made? Killing two birds with one stone."

Sheng Yuanyao stood stunned for a while before realizing her meaning: "You... you don't mean to rush directly into the City Lord's Mansion?"

"Why not?" Shen Tang wheeled her chair straight out the main gate: "Xu Bingkun and his trusted attendants are all at the Huo residence right now; isn't this the most suitable time? Hesitating back and forth, how can anything be accomplished?"

Du Gu Qingli also pushed her forward without a word; Sheng Yuanyao stood dazed for a moment, stamped her foot, and sped after them.

Just as they arrived outside the City Lord's Mansion, a weak voice came from a corner: "Why are you here?"

The three turned to look; A Nuo was curled up in the shadows of the corner, holding a Burning Flame Talisman in her hand, staring at them blankly.

Shen Tang's gaze fell on the talisman paper in her hand, her expression equally strange: "You aren't here to set fire to the City Lord's Mansion, are you?"

A Nuo nodded blankly: "I set a fire to cause a disturbance and then I would go back to help Master."

"You go; I'll handle it here." Shen Tang took the talisman from her hand, smiling with curved eyebrows: "It seems our pace is consistent with your Master; go back and tell him there is nothing to cut ties over."

Even Du Gu Qingli said: "If you had allied with us earlier, Huo Yu's strength wouldn't be enough for us to kill; it's all just pretense."

A Nuo was silent for a moment, then sighed: "He didn't want to implicate you in this battle alone; Huo Yu is nothing, not even as good as a sweet potato; Sister, you underestimate us master and disciple."

Shen Tang asked: "Then what is it?"

"Master doesn't want you to be recorded in the Huo family's ledger in the future. We can leave after finishing this job; the sky is high and the sea is vast, no one can find us, but you still need to establish yourself in Xiazhou and develop the sect; you can't run from the temple, so Master wanted to leave you a prescription..."

Speaking here, A Nuo paused, raised her head, and showed a cute smile on her small round face: "Since Sisters have already gotten involved, then we can only... make sure Huo Yu's people all cannot return."

Over there, Huo Yu was gathering the Demon Suppression Bureau's personnel for a secret meeting, planning how to search for Lu Xingzhou the next day—when Lu Xingzhou sent him another grand gift.

"Young Master! Young Master!" The Huo residence guards stumbled into the hall: "Old Master Huo has been returned—left dumped outside the gate!"

Soon after, two men followed, carrying the unconscious Old Master Huo inside.

On the steward's clothing were blood-written characters, starkly clear: "Eldest Sixth Young Master—is this all you've got?"

All the officials present kept their eyes down, pretending not to notice, daring not to laugh even in their hearts.

Huo Yu's face flushed purple with rage; he slammed his fist on the table and rose: "Where's the man who delivered him?"

"Only a shadow seated on a wheelchair headed toward Danxia Mountain…"

"Then why are you still standing there! Chase him! How far can a man on a wheelchair get?" Huo Yu stormed, stamping his feet: "You're all here now—seal the mountain and search!"

"Young Master, please remain calm," one of the guards finally spoke: "My brother and I will go after him alone… Earlier, we dared not leave, fearing a diversion. Now that so many are here, we can protect you—just let us go and return swiftly."

These two fifth-rank guards were Huo Lei and Huo Ting, lifelong household guards trained by the Huo family since childhood—they had even seen Huo Shang in their youth.

Of course, they'd also bullied him.

Huo Yu took several deep breaths and nodded: "Very well… Earlier, I sent only Fu Shu out—I underestimated this worthless brat and got Fu Shu hurt. This time, both of you go together—I refuse to believe that cripple can fly or vanish into the earth!"

Huo Lei and Huo Ting bowed, then vanished instantly.

Following the direction toward Danxia Mountain, they could clearly sense traces of explosive Qi signatures left behind during escape—remarkably powerful.

Yet after chasing a long distance, even reaching the foot of Danxia Mountain, they still saw not a single trace of the man.

Huo Lei whispered to his brother: "I'm wondering—either Lu Xingzhou has accomplices, or his wheelchair is a lie; he's not disabled at all, just pretending weakness to lower others' guard."

Huo Ting agreed with his brother's judgment: "Yes. Twice now he kidnapped the steward and returned him—appearing and disappearing without a trace. No cripple could do that. And this style… it feels familiar."

Huo Lei's heart tightened: "Does it remind you of the Hall of Yama? At least this stealth technique is very similar."

"And it's the kind of meticulous, well-planned Yama Hall style from a few years ago—luring, distracting, forcing the enemy to expose weaknesses before delivering lethal strikes with pinpoint precision. Few could dismantle a heavily guarded force like this. Lately, the Yama Hall hasn't pulled off anything like this…"

A shrill laugh echoed from midair: "Looks like the Yama Hall still has a reputation—the Huo Family has even studied us specifically…"

The two brothers turned pale with shock.

(End of Chapter)