White-Robed Chief

Chu Li sat at the stone table and gestured across from him/ “Let’s sit down and talk.”

The two obediently sat opposite him.

Chu Li began, “What did Commander Xu say?”

“Commander Xu is quite furious, this is a disciple of the Holy Church of Light!” scoffed Dong Qifei, “But it can’t be helped, everyone was giving chase, but we did not manage to catch him.”

“Even Chen Kong did not manage to catch him?”

“No,” Dong Qifei shook his head. “That bastard ran like a madman. The more he ran, the faster he got, a twist of martial arts and even his shadow disappeared, no one could catch up to him! …I’m afraid even you would’ve been unable to catch him, Captain!”

Yang Zongwen hurriedly glared at him.

Chu Li lowered his voice, “Does Commander Xu think that the Imperial Residence of King Cheng deliberately let him go, or that they had known about the news in advance?”

The two both shook their heads.

Dong Qifei said, “Anyway, Commander Xu is in a very bad mood, we thought we should tell the Captain about this!”

“I’m guessing you two came here to escape,” Chu Li glared at them, “since you’re afraid of Commander Xu’s temper!”

“Could it be an insider job?” Dong Qifei lowered his voice before looking left and right. “It’s too coincidental. The moment we reached, he escaped!”

“Do you think it’s a coincidence?” Asked Chu Li.

Dong Qifei shook his head, “I don’t believe that. There are no such things as coincidence!”

Yang Zongwen, on the other hand, replied, “Captain, I beg to differ. It might really be a coincidence.”

Chu Li looked towards Yang Zongwen. “Why do you say so?”

“Even if there was an insider, the timing would not have been so precise,” said Yang Zongwen. “He could have left quietly long ago if he wanted. After all, what he did was very risky.”

“What if the insider just did not manage to tell him the news in time?” Dong Qifei said stubbornly.

Yang Zongwen shrugged. “It’s also possible that the Imperial Residence of King Cheng did this.”

Chu Li waved his hand, “The point is he managed to escape!”

“Yes,” the two sighed.

They thought about how all their hard work had managed to slip right through their fingers and the two simmered in rage. They wanted nothing more than to drag that evil guy out and beat him half to death. It was a shame that this incident was shrouded in mystery; they could not figure out anything at all.

Chu Li muttered under his breath, “Let’s go, I want to go take a look.”

The two immediately perked up as they hurriedly got up.

——

When Chu Li entered the Secret Guardians Hall, Fu Mengshan and Xu Huande were both already there. Both of their expressions were stern with knitted brows.

Seeing him enter, Fu Mengshan waved and chuckled. “About time you arrived, Young Chu.

Chu Li closed fist saluted. “Commander, he escaped?”

“Sigh…” Xu Huande shook his head. “He escaped from right under our noses!”

He lamented that his Light-body Technique was inadequate. He watched that bastard run away but was powerless to do anything to stop him.

Fu Mengshan laughed. “I was just advising Elder Xu to stop beating himself up. It can’t be helped that our abilities were inferior to that person.”

Chu Li said, “Does Commander Xu suspect that there is an insider?”

“Whether or not there is an insider is insignificant, the results are the same,” sighed Xu Huande. “Even if we were to come face-to-face, we would be unable to stop him!”

“I was thinking, if all the Holy Church of Light disciples in Fairy’s Capital are this powerful, how will we be able to catch them?” Fu Mengshan shook his head and said, “The one you met last time, his Light-body Technique was also very powerful, wasn’t it?”

Chu Li nodded. “He had a secret skill which burned his Essence of blood, causing his speed to increase multiple folds.”

“Then how did you manage to catch him?” Asked Fu Mengshan.

“About that…” Chu Li laughed. “I have a secret tracking technique which requires the opponent’s Essence of blood. However, it would be useless on this person. I won’t be able to catch him.”

“Damn it!” Xu Huande slammed his fist down on the table in anger.

Fu Mengshan sighed. “Since he has escaped, there’s nothing we can do about it. Talking about it now will not change anything either. What’s more important is how we are going to prevent this scenario from happening next time.”

Xu Huande looked at Chu Li.

Chu Li said, “I should have gone too.”

The two knew his Light-body Technique was superior to that of normal people. If Chu Li went, he might have been able to catch that bastard.

Xu Huande did not mention the news that got leaked because only the two of them knew about it. If it was not him, then it might have been Chu Li who had deliberately divulged the news in order to shift the blame to the Imperial Residence of King Cheng.

However, he also felt that Chu Li was not the type to use these kinds of methods. The more he thought about it, the more he felt like it was just a coincidence.

This was all due to the continuous impediments of the Imperial Residence of King Jing, no matter how careless the Holy Church of Light disciple might have been, he would have been on guard!

“Chu Li, forget about this one, can you find another one?” Fu Mengshan sighed hopelessly. “Without knowing their true objective, I am unable to feel at ease. The Emperor is waiting for our reports!”

Chu Li nodded. “Where is the Commander planning to search next?”

“The Imperial Residence of King Jing?” Said Fu Mengshan, “The cries for King Jing to succeed the throne are very high, the Holy Church of Light will not let this opportunity pass by.”

“The Imperial Residence of King Jing has already been searched,” Chu Li shook his head. “I helped them with that. That spy has already been killed.”

“The Imperial Residence of King Ping?” Fu Mengshan immediately shook his head after suggesting this. “Sigh… King Ping is at the frontier, it will be hard to visit!”

King Ping stayed at the frontier and was recently promoted to General. The only people left in the Imperial Residence of King Ping were the elderly, women and children. If the Secret Guardians from the Imperial House were to visit, it would look like they were picking on the weak. King Ping would definitely not agree to it.

“Besides the Imperial Residence, there should be some at the houses of important ministers,” Fu Mengshan said. “Or we could start searching the Prime Minister’s Residence.”

Chu Li smiled bitterly.

That really was a thankless job. If he asked to search them, he would become a thorn in the important ministers’ sides.

Fu Mengshan looked at his bitter smile and let out a helpless sigh. “Young Chu, I don’t have a choice either. I have to force myself to do this, because who else will do such a thankless job?”

Chu Li replied, “Searching like this will be useless too. The disciples from the Holy Church of Light will not tell us anything.”

“Then what do we do?” Sighed Fu Mengshan.

Chu Li muttered, “We can only try to get ideas from the Holy Church of Light itself. Has no one from our Secret Guardians Hall managed to infiltrate them?”

“No one,” Fu Mengshan shook his head. “We tried, but not one managed to succeed.”

The main hall quietened down, its occupants full of frowns and disappointment.

After a long while, Chu Li coughed softly.

Two gazes immediately turned towards him.

Chu Li said, “I do have some news, but I don’t know if it’s legitimate.”

“Hurry up and spit it out!” Xu Huande said hurriedly, “Stop holding back!”

Seeing how eager they were, Chu Li stopped teasing them. “Have the two commanders heard of the Great Light Scipture before?”

“Great Light Scipture…” The two muttered.

Both of them shook their heads.

Chu Li continued, “I heard that they might be looking for the Great Light Scipture.”

“Where are they searching for it?”

Chu Li shrugged. “The Great Light Scipture is said to be somewhere in Fairy’s Capital, but it has not materialized yet. As for where exactly… they are currently searching for it’s location.”

“If you knew this, you should have said so earlier!” Xu Huande glared viciously at him.

Chu Li shook his head. “It came from the mouth of the person who killed Imperial Inspector Hu. It’s very difficult to tell if these kinds of people who are not afraid of death are telling the truth or not. It would be better if we could find a few more spies and verify their claims against each other.”

However, the two thought differently.

The more they saw Chu Li the more they got angry. He definitely did it on purpose!

Chu Li said, “I only said it out of consideration after seeing that the Secret Guardians Hall really are really at a dead end.”

“Commander, the Crown Prince Leng Tao seeks an audience,” Zhe Liang’s voice suddenly called from outside.

“Let him in!” Shouted Fu Mengshan.

Leng Tao entered quickly with a young Scribe carrying a box of items trailing behind him.

When Leng Tao saw that Chu Li was present, he instantly stopped in his tracks, unconsciously wanting to escape.

He immediately snapped back to his senses and glared hatefully at Chu Li. Then, he turned his head away from him and carelessly closed fist saluted. “By order of my great father the King, I have brought that person’s belongings here to help the Secret Guardians Hall in their investigation and pursuit!”