White-Robed Chief

Chu Li frowned. “A disciple of Tempest Temple …”

He shook his head. “He shouldn’t be one.”

“But this is clearly the testimony that we got from him!” Chen Donghai said angrily.

He gripped that white paper like gripping a hot sweet potato.

Tempest Temple and Secret Guardian Hall were arch enemies and every year, they would fight each other until death, with endless sabotages. Even if there were no fatalities in this period, many people had been seriously injured and their martial arts have been crippled. Tempest Temple may look modest on the outside, but in truth, they were ruthless and did not have the virtues of a monk.

If the Secret Guardians Hall were dealing with other factions, they would still have the courage. Yet, it was indeed a headache because they had come up against Tempest Temple.

Commander Gu had always been afraid of Tempest Temple because he had not been able to please them since he took office. Tempest Temple had them suppressed under their heels, and the Secret Guardians Hall had turned to a defensive stance. Now, they did not dare to provoke Tempest Temple.

Chu Li glanced at the captive, then he looked at Gu Yan. “The testimony may not be true. To verify its authenticity, you need to thoroughly and patiently question him. If this person has ulterior motives, the first testimony is definitely false.”

“You think he has ulterior motives?” Gu Yan locked his eyebrows together. When he heard Chu Li’s words, he looked at him. “Not a revenge kill?”

Chu Li said, “It doesn’t look like a vendetta to me. If it was a revenge kill, he would not let those people die so easily. Although it’s satisfying to have all thirty-five killed, for a vengeful person, their deaths were too quick.”

“Then who is he?” Gu Yin frowned.

Chu Li shook his head and said, “That’ll require the interrogator of Secret Guardians Hall to slowly pry more information out from him. He might be the enemy of Tempest Temple.”

Chen Donghai quickly nodded his head. “It makes some sense!”

Gu Yu looked at Chu Li suspiciously. “Chu Li, as far as I know, you and Tempest Temple’s Fa Yuan are very good friends. You’re not defending Tempest Temple because of this right?”

Chu Li laughed and said, “Well, then I shall stop talking, lest there be any suspicion of me being on Tempest Temple’s side. However, I speculate that this person is indeed a disciple of Tempest Temple. You should be able to find out.”

“Since he’s a disciple of Tempest Temple, what else is there to say!” Gu Yu scoffed.

Chen Donghai said, “Chu Li, do you mean he’s a traitor of Tempest Temple?”

“Yes. I’m 80 to 90, if not 100% sure.” Chu Li nodded.

Gu Yu frowned and said nothing.

Chen Donghai swiftly continued, “Even Tempest Temple have traitors?”

Not that the Secret Guardians Hall had never tried instigating defection in Tempest Temple’s own disciples against them, but none have succeeded.

Chu Li smiled. “Which faction has no traitors? It all depends on whether you can find the opponent’s weaknesses. If you can find them, you can make them betray people!”

“Easier said than done!” Chen Donghai shook his head. “We haven’t been able to cause anyone to turn against Tempest Temple.”

“The Secret Guardians Hall is too weak. You can’t even defeat Tempest Temple, so how can you expect their disciples to rebel? Those who rebel would surely die. If you were a stronger faction, it won’t be hard to instigate a rebellion.”

“Well then, I’ll ask my men to thoroughly interrogate him again,” Gu Yu slowly said.

Chen Donghai said, “I’ll pass down your orders.”

Chu Li held up his teacup and took a sip before lowered it and made a fist salute. “Since the case is solved, I should be making a move too. Goodbye!”

“Hang on!” Gu Yu said in a low tone.

Chu Li frowned at him.

Gu Yu said, “This case hasn’t been settled yet. Didn’t you say that there is still a mastermind behind this?”

“That’s your Secret Guardian Hall’s issue,” Chu Li replied nonchalantly. “Don’t tell me you can’t handle it?”

Chen Donghai hurried back in and announced solemnly, “Commander, that guy is dead!”

Gu Yu’s expression sank. “Dead? How did he die?”

“He couldn’t endure the torture,” said Chen Donghai.

“Idiots!” Gu Yu tossed his teacup in a fury and yelled angrily, “Why did you guys kill him? How do you do your jobs?”

Chu Li coughed gently and said, “Commander Chen, how many people are responsible for torture?”

“Three.” Chen Donghai said, “All in-house experts in torturing!”

Chu Li frowned and groaned.

Gu Yu scoffed, “Why, do you think it’s their problem?”

Chu Li looked at him. “You don’t think so?”

“Let’s go and see!” Gu Yu scorned.

The three of them left the main hall and walked around to the back before they arrived at a large underground stone room.

As soon as they entered the stone room, an eerie killing intent hit them immediately, and various torture devices with blood stains were placed all around, emaciating with a pungent smell of blood. The mere sight of it sent cold shivers down their spines.

A stone pillar was erected in the middle of the stone room and a person was tied to it. He had no signs of life.

The other three middle-aged men looked somber as they stared at the man.

When they saw Chu Li and the others, the three of them each gave them a fist salute.

“What’s the matter, you are all no longer novices. How did you make such a mistake?” Gu Yu was fuming when he went up to them. In a low voice, he said, “The man is dead, so his testimony has become useless. Don’t you understand?!”

If the captive was dead, the testimony would become nothing but waste paper. After all, dead men tell no tales. Besides, it was also possible to cook up any sort of testimony, so people would never believe it and that included the Emperor.

The three of them smiled bitterly. “Commander, we don’t know what happened to him too. He just died out of the blue?”

“Did he commit suicide?” Chen Donghai asked.

Chu Li interrupted, “His martial arts have been crippled by me. It’s impossible for him to commit suicide.”

“What’s going on then?” Chen Donghai looked at the corpse in puzzlement.

Chu Li’s eyes went back and forth on the three middle-aged secret guardians.

However, the three of them looked at him calmly.

Noticing Chu Li’s gaze, Gu Yu and Chen Donghai became curious.

Chu Li smiled. “Seems like a coincidence then.”

Gu Yu and Chen Donghai frowned.

The three secret guardians had calm gazes, without the slightest feeling of guilt.

One of the middle-aged secret guardians said, “Centurion Chu, you suspect that the problem lies with us?”

Chu Li said, “I did not expect that even the Secret Guardians Hall would be infiltrated.”

“What do you mean, Centurion Chu?” Chen Donghai quickly said, “The problem lies with the three of them? You better not be joking!”

The three middle-aged Secret Guardians have all entered the Secret Guardians Hall from a young age, and there were surely no issues with their family backgrounds.

Chu Li said, “You guys are disciples of the Holy Church of Light?”

The three of them frowned at him.

Chen Donghai’s facial expression changed. He took a step back and said in a low voice, “Disciples of the Holy Church of Light?”

He had experienced, first-hand, the horror of the Holy Church of Light’s disciples. They were a group of crazy madmen who were willing to die together with their enemies.

Chu Li looked at one of the middle-aged men with a square face and smiled. “Your cover is really deep. I’ve been in the Secret Guardians Hall for so long, but I have never realized. I’m very impressed!”

The square-faced middle-aged man frowned. “Centurion Chu, stop fooling around. I’ve never offended you!”

Chu Li said, “Holy Church of Light’s disciples have been murdered, right? Why would you, the Holy Church of Light disciples annihilate the whole Shangshu house and then shift the blame to Tempest Temple? What’s your intention? Forget it, you may not even know!”

The middle-aged man with a square face shook his head. “Why did you accuse me, Centurion Chu?”

Chu Li said indifferently, “I have no resentment and no enmity against you, but why do you Holy Church of Light people have to massacre the whole house of imperial court officials in such a cold-blooded way, not sparing even a three-year-old child. That’s really cold-blooded!”

The square-faced middle-aged man quickly defended himself, “How did I become a Holy Church of Light disciple all of a sudden?”

Chu Li turned his head and glanced at Gu Yu. “Check this person thoroughly, surely you can handle the rest without me?”

“Is he really a disciple of the Holy Church of Light?” Gu Yan said in a deep voice.

Chu Li smiled. “Believe it or not, it’s all up to you. I shall leave now!”

After Chu Li gave Gu Yu a fist salute, he turned around to leave. His heart was filled with anger. It’s the Holy Church of Light again!