Chapter 118: Wind Rises in Xingcheng

October 17th, morning.

The Xingcheng Supervisory Academy officially passed an appointment:

Appointing Li Lei of the Supervisory Academy as Deputy Inspector-General, concurrently serving as Captain of the First Brigade!

Chief Gu Zhenhui did not brag; he really did it.

At the end of September, he took advantage of the Tiger Blade Gang faction being overwhelmed to nominate Li Lei as Deputy Inspector-General and forcibly passed the approval.

Afterward, he sent this approval result to Datong Prefecture, waiting for the approval from above.

Then on October 9th, Datong Prefecture gave a reply—the approval was not passed.

This was something expected.

So Chief Gu Zhenhui began his second step of operation: letting Li Lei be promoted in position without being promoted in rank.

If it were in the past, his resolution could not have passed the approval of the Administration Hall at all, even if he were the General Manager, he could not act arbitrarily on many things.

But now the General Manager's faction had the upper hand, and the vast majority of officials were unwilling to go against Chief Gu Zhenhui at this juncture, so this resolution was finally passed.

Li Lei was officially promoted to Deputy Inspector-General of the Supervisory Academy on October 17th, concurrently serving as Captain of the First Brigade, promoted in position without being promoted in rank.

"Congratulations!"

"Congratulations, Captain Li—no, now I should call you Deputy Inspector-General."

"Old Li, don't forget us old brothers when you've made it."

"Old Li, from now on, we brothers will rely on you."

"..."

In the Supervisory Academy, after the official appointment came down, a group of people ran to congratulate Li Lei.

Li Lei received these people with a smile, busy and overwhelmed.

When he was first promoted to Captain of the First Brigade, the people who came to congratulate him were few and far between, because at that time everyone knew that Wu Yihua was about to become the Inspector-General, so not many people were optimistic that Li Lei could fight against Wu Yihua, and many people felt that Li Lei probably wouldn't be able to sit in this position of Captain of the First Brigade for long before being kicked away by Wu Yihua.

In fact, the situation afterward was just as most people expected; Li Lei's foundation as Captain of the First Brigade was too shallow, and it was too simple for Wu Yihua to want to hollow him out, having already made Li Lei struggle in the Supervisory Academy in just one month.

It was just that Li Lei never told his family about these things.

The turning point appeared in the operation last month, where Li Lei led the First Brigade to stand firm against the City Guard and the Tiger Blade Gang, winning hearts for himself!

With this incident, he finally stood firm in the First Brigade and truly had the capital to contend with Wu Yihua.

Now that he was promoted to Deputy Inspector-General, even if it was only a promotion in position without a promotion in rank, it was enough for him to raise a banner in the Supervisory Academy—his own banner!

Now the Supervisory Academy was no longer under Wu Yihua's sole control, and many people who couldn't stand the Tiger Blade Gang or Wu Yihua chose to defect to Li Lei's side.

So these people who ran to congratulate Li Lei were actually paying homage to a new leader.

In another office on the same floor, Wu Yihua sat on the sofa with a gloomy face.

The more lively Li Lei's side was, the more ridiculous he, the Inspector-General, appeared.

"My Lord, are we just going to watch this Li Lei be so arrogant? Aren't we going to do something?"

A confidant beside him said to Wu Yihua.

Wu Yihua shook his head, recalling the phone call he received last night, and a ruthless look appeared on his face:

"No rush. Let him be proud for a while. This might be the last pride of his life!"

After busy work until the afternoon, Li Lei finally finished dealing with everyone who came to congratulate him.

He sat in the newly moved-in office, rested for a while, picked up the phone on the table, and dialed a number.

A few minutes later, someone knocked on his office door.

"Please come in."

Li Lei said.

Someone pushed the door and walked in; it was Lu Sheng, the former Captain of the First Brigade of the Supervisory Academy.

This former high-spirited captain now had white hair at his temples and looked at least ten years older than before!

Back then, when they went into the mountains to encircle and suppress the Divine Peace Sect, such a big mistake occurred. Although the lost firearms were finally found and hundreds of Divine Peace Sect followers were caught, this matter still needed someone to take the blame.

The final result was that Huang Weiguang, the Inspector-General, retired early, and Lu Sheng, this former promising Captain of the First Brigade, was demoted to an ordinary clerk, completely retreating from the front line and only being able to hold a civilian position in the future.

His only son died, and he himself was demoted to a clerk, with no future to speak of. For Lu Sheng, the blow was truly too great!

That was why he looked like he had aged nearly ten years in just a few months, and could no longer see half of his former style.

"Deputy Inspector-General, you were looking for me?"

After walking into the office, Lu Sheng bent his waist slightly and looked at Li Lei somewhat cautiously.

"Come, sit down and chat."

Li Lei sighed in his heart and signaled Lu Sheng to sit on the sofa in the office.

Then Li Lei stood up, walked over, sat next to Lu Sheng, and handed the other party a cigarette:

"Want one?"

Lu Sheng was startled and hurriedly waved his hand:

"Thank you, Deputy Inspector-General, but I have already quit smoking. I am truly sorry."

He lowered his head and bent his waist again.

"Old Lu, don't be like this!"

Li Lei pressed Lu Sheng's shoulder, "I, Old Li, am not a person who gets carried away by success. I still remember the favor you took care of me in the past."

Lu Sheng's body paused upon hearing this, raised his head to look at Li Lei, looked at each other for a while, and smiled bitterly:

"What is the point of saying these things now?"

"Are you willing to just let it go like this? And waste your life like this in the future?"

Li Lei looked directly at Lu Sheng and said in a deep voice.

Lu Sheng's eyes were dim: "If I don't let it go like this, what else can I do? My son is gone; what is the point of me climbing higher and earning more money in this life?"

This was the real reason why he was so discouraged.

If Lu Zhangwu were still alive, he would have cheered up for his son, but Lu Zhangwu was already dead, and his heart was completely gone.

"Actually, Old Lu, haven't you really suspected it?"

Li Lei looked at Lu Sheng and said slowly.

Lu Sheng's body trembled, and he raised his head abruptly to look at Li Lei: "What do you want to say?"

"During that incident back then, on the surface, it looked like the Divine Peace Sect did it, but Xiao Fei saw at the time that a person's blade was emitting cold air, using water-attribute force to block Wang Ping, a regular martial master of the Stop-Goe Academy."

Li Lei said in a deep voice, "Wang Ping is a peak Qi Transformation stage martial artist. There are not many people in the whole Xingcheng who can block him, and even fewer who use water-attribute force. And last month, Yu Hu exposed his Dao Foundation stage realm. Old Lu, don't you really suspect it?"

Lu Sheng clenched his fists.

How could he not suspect it!

After Lu Zhangwu died, he frantically wanted to find the murderer, but the Divine Peace Sect leader finally escaped with the elites of the sect, and the remaining people who were caught didn't know the inside story and didn't know who those few Force-Practicing Martial Masters were.

And the suspected target Yu Hu, first of all, only showed the middle stage of Qi Transformation to the outside world, and secondly, the weapon he was good at using was a staff, not a blade. Finally, and most importantly, Yu Hu himself appeared publicly in the city on the day of the incident.

Without actual evidence, suspicion could only be suspicion, not to mention that Lu Sheng was soon demoted.

A clerk without real power, what could he use to investigate the leader of the Tiger Blade Gang?

That was why Lu Sheng became more and more depressed day by day.

"Now it seems that Yu Hu actually has a great suspicion. I even suspect that it was the Tiger Blade Gang colluding with the Divine Peace Sect in secret back then!"

Li Lei said to Lu Sheng.

He actually had such suspicions long ago, but only now that he had become Deputy Inspector-General and truly had his own power in the Supervisory Academy could he say this suspicion out loud.

Lu Sheng stared at Li Lei, his eyes even becoming somewhat bloodshot:

"What do you want to do?"

Li Lei said word by word: "I want to find out the truth! I believe you want to too!"

"Good! How to investigate? What do you want me to do?"

Sure enough, Lu Sheng asked without hesitation.

"I will first find a way to transfer you back to the First Brigade."

Li Lei said his idea, "Then I will secretly authorize you to investigate this case, and I will fully support you!"

Lu Sheng looked at Li Lei: "Why are you doing this?"

Lu Sheng looked at Li Lei: "Why are you doing this?"

Although the incident last month allowed him to be promoted to Deputy Inspector-General, Yu Hu's words when he was on the street deeply stung him:

Without power, what do you use to maintain your justice? What do you use to maintain your laws?

If Hao Yi hadn't stood up at that time, what would the result have been?

So Li Lei's thinking underwent a transformation without knowing it.

In the past, he only wanted his family to be safe and sound, and he would do his duty in the Supervisory Academy, trying his best to be worthy of the clothes he wore.

But now he didn't think so anymore.

He wanted to gain more power so that he could better protect his family and maintain the laws in his heart!

So he took the initiative to find Lu Sheng and took the initiative to start laying out his plans.

Lu Sheng had climbed up step by step from an ordinary inspector of the First Brigade. Over more than ten years, he was deeply rooted in the First Brigade, and he had managed many human relationships in the Supervisory Academy and in the black and white worlds of the entire Xingcheng.

Even if Lu Sheng had now been demoted to an ordinary clerk, his role could not be ignored.

So Li Lei wanted Lu Sheng to help him. With the help of this former 'Crown Prince' of the Supervisory Academy, he could better master the First Brigade and have greater confidence to fight against Wu Yihua!

"Good, I can fully help you."

Lu Sheng looked directly into Li Lei's eyes, "But one point: once I really find out that Changwu's death is related to the Tiger Blade Gang, I will take revenge at any cost!"

His son was already dead, and there were not many things he cared about in this world. Now his only thought was not to let his son die in an unclear way.

He wanted revenge!

"Can."

Li Lei reached out to Lu Sheng, and Lu Sheng also reached out.

The hands of the two 'Crown Princes' of the Supervisory Academy were tightly held together like this.

That night, Li Fei, who had finished a day of training, returned home.

"I'm back."

Li Fei shouted after entering the door, and then saw Li Lei sitting in the living room listening to the radio.

"Li Shu."

"Hmm."

Li Lei nodded to Li Fei, his attention still on the news broadcast by the radio:

"... The attack by the horse bandits lasted for more than ten minutes, and they didn't retreat until the inspectors from the local inspection station arrived. This attack resulted in a total of seven deaths and twenty-three injuries in Luojia Town, with a loss of nearly a thousand yuan in money."

"Horse bandits?"

Li Fei was stunned when he heard this, walked toward the living room, and sat opposite Li Lei.

"It is reported that a group of horse bandits has been active in the Qiuping Mountain range area and has repeatedly harassed towns and villages near Liucheng. The horse bandits who attacked Luojia Town early this morning may be the same group as the horse bandits in the Qiuping Mountain range. Hereby remind the general public, please try not to leave the city in the near future. The Xingcheng government will come up with a solution as soon as possible to ensure the life and property safety of the general public."

"Below is an entertainment news report, famous..."

With a snap, Li Lei turned off the radio.

He had never been interested in any entertainment news.

"Li Shu, what is the situation with these horse bandits?"

Li Fei asked.

Luojia Town was more than twenty kilometers away from Xingcheng and was a town near Xingcheng, also under the jurisdiction of the Xingcheng government.

Now that Luojia Town had been attacked by horse bandits, it was impossible for Xingcheng to sit idly by.

"Currently, it is only a guess that they may be the same group as the horse bandits in the Qiuping Mountain range, drifting to the Xingcheng side."

Li Lei said.

The nearest place in the Qiuping Mountain range was also more than eighty kilometers away from Xingcheng. In the past, the horse bandits in this mountain range would choose to harass towns and villages closer to them, so this area of Xingcheng had always been free from horse bandits.

"Then do these horse bandits need the Supervisory Academy to go and suppress them?"

Li Fei asked with concern.

Li Lei shook his head: "The responsibility of the Supervisory Academy is within the city. Going out of the city to encircle and suppress the Divine Peace Sect back then was because the Divine Peace Sect was discovered in the city at first, and this case was handled by the Supervisory Academy from the beginning. But things like horse bandits belong to the scope outside the city and are not under the jurisdiction of the Supervisory Academy; that is something the City Guard needs to solve."

The responsibility of the City Guard, besides defending the city walls of Xingcheng, was also to be responsible for the safety of the areas around Xingcheng, so things like going out of the city to suppress bandits were under the jurisdiction of the City Guard.

"City Guard, horse bandits?"

Li Fei frowned slightly and turned to look to the side.

The rustling sound of leaves constantly moving came from outside the window.

The wind had risen.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 119 =====

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