Chapter 48: A Case of Burning Rage

In the jungle to the west of the Anshen Sect's mountain stronghold, Li Fei was hiding on the branch of a large tree, observing the movements in the distance.

His position was just right for him to see the situation inside the stronghold clearly.

When Wang Ping and the others charged at the Anshen Sect leader, Zhao Yu, he had been waiting for an opportunity. Once all attention was drawn to that side, he decisively chose to break out in the opposite direction.

If Wang Ping and the others could successfully capture Zhao Yu and turn the situation around, he could just go back.

And if Wang Ping and the others failed, he would at least not be without a way out.

The final result proved that Li Fei's caution had saved his life.

From his branch, he watched the battle on the eastern hillside from start to finish, seeing the four imperial official martial artists fall one after another.

Then he saw the Anshen Sect members enter the stronghold to seize all the firearms and equipment, and saw them acting as if they were looking for someone, finally driving knives into the chests of several people.

Subsequently, over a hundred Anshen Sect members withdrew from the stronghold and came in the direction where Li Fei was hiding.

"Coming to catch me?!"

Li Fei felt a shock in his heart, but he quickly calmed down:

"There shouldn't be so many people coming to catch me; they are probably just wanting to retreat in this direction, and I just happened to be ahead of them."

He quickly climbed down from the branch and ran into the depths of the jungle.

Soon, the Anshen Sect leader, Zhao Yu, led a group of fully armed followers into the jungle where Li Fei was hiding.

Zhao Yu beckoned over a senior follower wearing a dark gray robe: "Someone fled in this direction earlier. You take some people and set up a maze array; don't let them track our trail."

"Yes, Sect Leader."

This senior follower took the order and left.

Soon, mist began to permeate the jungle, and the Anshen Sect members gradually disappeared into the fog.

In the mist, Li Fei watched the backs of the Anshen Sect members ahead and fell into hesitation.

Hao Yi had told him much common knowledge about sorcery, such as that if a martial artist wanted to avoid being affected by this maze array, they could only use their martial artist blood Qi and innate Qi to forcibly break it, just like Wang Ping had done earlier.

And if one did that, it would certainly alert the Anshen Sect members ahead. Therefore, the maze array the other side set up before leaving was almost foolproof.

But Li Fei was an exception.

He had the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl to share the vast majority of the mental interference for him, so he was almost unaffected by the maze array.

It was just that the trees and bushes before his eyes had slight double images, but as long as he focused and looked carefully, the double images would disappear, and he could see the real path directly.

This meant he could silently follow behind the Anshen Sect members, track them all the way, and thereby find the Anshen Sect's new location!

"Should I track them?"

With Li Fei's consistently cautious personality, at a time like this, he should prioritize his own safety and not take unnecessary risks.

But having witnessed the failure of this operation with his own eyes, seeing over a hundred fully armed inspectors instantly knocked unconscious, and seeing four powerful official martial artists taken down,

he had received a strong shock!

If even official martial artists could die just like that, who in this world could say they were certain to live past tomorrow?

Even if he had something like the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl, if he couldn't become strong quickly, would he suddenly end up like Wang Ping and the others one day?

"I must seize every opportunity to become strong; only then can I master my own destiny!"

Unknowingly, Li Fei's mindset had changed, and a strong sense of urgency arose.

He had seen with his own eyes those three martial artists in black robes who blocked Wang Ping and the others part ways with the Anshen Sect members, which meant the two sides were not together.

Moreover, in the battle with Wang Ping and the others, only those three martial artists had been blocking the front from start to finish, while the Anshen Sect members only cast sorcery and fired guns from behind, which meant the Anshen Sect had no martial artist-level powerhouses.

And without those three powerful martial artists who practiced strength, with only the Anshen Sect followers who used sorcery left, Li Fei, with the Ten Thousand Blood Pearl, at least had the power to fight.

Even if he were truly discovered, in terrain like mountain jungles, he would have a good chance to escape.

So, in the end, Li Fei decided to follow!

This was a risk, but also an opportunity. If he could find the Anshen Sect's new location and go back to report it, it would certainly be a great merit, so he wanted to try.

"What's going on?"

"Ah, my head hurts so much."

"How did I suddenly fall asleep?"

"Where is my gun?"

"Where is my stab-proof vest?"

"..."

In the stronghold, the unconscious people woke up one after another.

"Zhangwu!!"

Suddenly, Lu Sheng's tragic voice rang out.

The people around looked over one after another, only to see Lu Zhangwu lying in a pool of blood, already breathless.

"Ah—"

"Ah—"

"Ah—"

Lu Sheng held his son's corpse and shouted three times, almost crazily.

This promising Inspectorate captain had lost his composure in front of others for the first time.

The surrounding Martial Arts Hall students saw this scene and could not help but feel a sense of shared grief.

If even the Inspectorate captain's son could die so easily, what about them?

Soon, the death toll was tallied.

Besides Lu Zhangwu, three Grade A students and five inspectors were killed; the Anshen Sect seemed to be killing randomly, without any pattern.

As for Li Fei's disappearance, it was not discovered for the time being.

"It's possible that while the others were unconscious, these few people woke up early and were killed as a result."

Someone offered a guess.

"Take all the bodies and withdraw the team."

Lu Sheng stood up, holding Lu Zhangwu's body, and said with a deathly pale face.

That night, everyone returned safely to Xingcheng.

The operation failed, over a hundred firearms, two hundred stab-proof vests, and sidearms were lost, five inspectors and four Grade A Martial Arts Hall students were killed, and most crucially, four official martial artists were missing.

This was a major case that hadn't happened in many years, a serious case!

The entire Xingcheng was shaken.

"What is the Inspectorate doing? So many people acting together with guns, and it still ended up like this?!"

In the Xingcheng Administration Hall, Chief Gu Zhenhui slammed the table in his office in a rage.

After the Great Lan Dynasty changed from an imperial system to a dual constitutional monarchy over two hundred years ago, the administrative structure in various places also changed.

From high to low, it was divided into 'Province, Prefecture, City, Town'. The highest administrative official of a town was called the Town Mayor, that of a city was the Chief, and above that were the Prefecture Guardian and the Provincial Inspector.

Chief Gu Zhenhui was the number one person in Xingcheng, holding administrative power. The incident that happened during the day was reported to him immediately, thereby triggering his rage.

"What does the Zhige Academy say?"

Gu Zhenhui asked after slamming the table.

He had just turned fifty this year; in terms of age, he was actually still 'young' and had a chance to go further and strive for the position of Prefecture Guardian.

But now that such a vicious case had occurred within his jurisdiction, it naturally made him furious.

"My lord, the Zhige Academy is applying to have the Sifa Academy send people to assist them in tracking the whereabouts of the Anshen Sect."

The Secretary-General said.

Gu Zhenhui rubbed his temples: "Issue an order to the Sifa Academy, telling them to send people to assist the Zhige Academy in the investigation. Tell them, whoever can find the whereabouts of the Anshen Sect first, I will surely reward them heavily!

Also, tell Huang Weiguang, I only give him ten days. Within ten days, he either gives me a satisfactory explanation, or he submits his resignation!"

"Yes."

The Secretary-General nodded and accepted.

The Administration Hall's order was quickly passed down, and the three most important institutions—the Inspectorate, the Zhige Academy, and the Sifa Academy—all went into action.

The Sifa Academy sent several mages to follow the Zhige Academy's official martial artists into Luoshan, and the Inspectorate again sent over a hundred people into the mountains, and this time, Inspectorate Chief Huang Weiguang led the team himself!

Not only that, the Inspectorate also issued a bounty order:

"As long as you can provide effective clues about the Anshen Sect, you can receive a reward of up to ten thousand yuan!"

Inside the Luoshan stronghold, Li Lei was leading people to check the villagers here one by one.

This time Huang Weiguang led the team himself, and most of the inspectors he brought were still from the First Brigade, because this was the Inspectorate's most elite force, only Lu Sheng was no longer allowed to participate.

And Li Lei had actively applied to participate in this operation because Li Fei had gone missing and hadn't been able to return with the others.

On the other side, Hao Yi also learned the news of Li Fei's disappearance. He left the Martial Arts Hall immediately and rushed toward Luoshan.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 49 =====