At the Water Snake Gang headquarters, the heavy rain poured down, and the sky had finally darkened.
Wave after wave of arrows arced across the sky, piercing the curtain of rain and landing in the courtyard.
"Ah! Help me!"
"My leg! My leg is broken!"
In the courtyard, members of the Water Snake Gang fell in droves like harvested wheat, their shrill screams rising and falling in the stormy night.
The military-grade heavy crossbows and specialized bolts wielded by the Black Armor Guard were far superior to the crude weapons of a common gang.
The bolts were not only larger but also tipped with armor-piercing refined steel, making them incredibly sharp.
Two gang members, scared out of their wits, scrambled into a side room and desperately held the wooden door shut, thinking they had escaped. But a second later, with two muffled THWUMPS, heavy crossbow bolts shot straight through the solid wood door and, with undiminished force, pinned them both to the wall.
"Hold the line! Don’t panic!"
A Water Snake Gang Hall Master at Skin Tempering Realm Perfection swung a large saber, his Qi and Blood erupting as he executed the "Sweeping Thousand Armies" technique.
CLANG! CLANG!
The blade flashed, striking two of the descending arrows and slicing them in half in midair, along with dozens of raindrops.
Seeing this, he let out a wild laugh. "Hahaha! Brothers, don’t be afraid! The Public Security Bureau’s pathetic Black Armor Guard are just relying on their superior weapons! They’re nothing special!"
But before the words had even left his mouth, another overwhelming, merciless volley of arrows rained down from above.
The Hall Master gritted his teeth and swept his saber once more. Relying on his superb swordsmanship, he deflected three more arrows aimed at his vitals.
But he had ultimately underestimated the terror of a proper military formation. The most horrifying part of a military siege isn’t the strength of any single soldier, but the relentless, suffocating frequency of their attacks!
It was like fighting in a meat grinder. So what if you could block one, two, or even three waves of attacks? Faced with a ceaseless barrage like a violent storm, a man’s stamina will eventually run out.
Forget a Martial Artist at the Skin Tempering Realm; even experts in the Flesh Refining Realm, Muscle Forging Realm, or even the Profound Bone Realm have moments when their Qi and Blood circulation falters—a brief instant when old strength is spent and new strength has yet to generate.
You didn’t even have to be exhausted; revealing the slightest opening meant losing your life!
Just then, an arrow descended from a blind spot behind him and, with a soft THWIP, pierced his back.
"Argh!"
He cried out and collapsed. Before he could get back up, several more arrows descended, turning him into a pincushion in the blink of an eye.
Similar scenes were playing out all over the Water Snake Gang’s headquarters.
「Meanwhile.」
Hong Lei and Luo Gui were hiding in a room, watching the chaos outside.
Watching the foundation he had painstakingly built over many years be destroyed in an instant, Hong Lei’s face filled with fury, but he managed to suppress it.
Luo Gui’s expression was icy as he gently rubbed a ring on his left hand. His gaze drifted toward the pitch-black night sky.
"It’s about time. The Commanders from the Public Security Bureau will be charging in any second. This is the perfect time for us to escape!"
"Right. To the secret passage!"
Hong Lei could no longer stand to watch. He turned and went to the mahogany canopy bed, grabbed a mechanism on the headboard, and gave it a hard twist. With a low RUMBLE, the entire bed slid aside, revealing a dark, seemingly bottomless staircase.
"Incense Master Luo," Hong Lei said, turning his head, "I had this secret passage dug years ago, just in case. It leads to a pharmacy near the southern city gate. But with the Public Security Bureau causing such a commotion tonight, the gate is bound to be heavily guarded! I think we should use our disguise techniques to hide in the city and wait for things to calm down."
"No! We must fight our way out of the city tonight!"
Luo Gui flatly refused, his eyes glinting with an undeniable fanaticism and coldness. "Now that this stronghold is exposed, our lives are a small matter. The safety of the ’Holy Icon’ in this storage ring is paramount! As long as those two Commanders don’t intercept us right away, with our combined strength, it won’t be difficult to break through the city gate blockade! Once we’re outside, a Hall Master-level expert from my sect will be there to personally receive us!"
Hearing the words "Hall Master," a bright light burst forth from Hong Lei’s eyes.
’A Hall Master of the Black Lotus Sect was on a completely different level from anyone in his Water Snake Gang. They were experts at the Profound Bone Realm!’
’As long as they could hold on until a Profound Bone Realm expert arrived, they would be completely safe—unless Pang Xuan, the Mansion Master of the Public Security Bureau, personally joined the pursuit!’
"Alright! We’ll do as you say, Incense Master. Let’s fight our way out!"
Without further delay, the two flickered and vanished into the dark depths of the secret passage.
...
「Outside the Water Snake Gang’s main hall.」
Commanders Li Jingxuan and Ye Xiaohong each guarded a different direction, their expressions grim as they stared into the compound.
After several waves of arrow volleys, both the Water Snake Gang members and the hidden Black Lotus Sect followers had suffered heavy casualties.
Normally, when faced with such a relentless assault, the enemy would try to break out. Otherwise, they would just be trapped inside, waiting to be slaughtered.
But the anticipated breakout never came. Hong Lei, in particular, seemed to have vanished, leading them to wonder if he was even at the gang’s headquarters today.
"This is bad!"
Li Jingxuan’s heart suddenly leaped. His sharp intuition, honed by years of investigations, instantly alerted him. "Commander Ye!" he yelled. "There’s almost certainly a secret escape tunnel inside! Charge in and see!"
Before the words were even out of his mouth, Li Jingxuan’s seemingly fat and bloated body erupted with incredible explosive power. With a muffled BANG from a stomp of his foot, he shot over the two-and-a-half-meter wall like a nimble, fat crane, the first to charge into the compound.
Ye Xiaohong’s expression changed in a flash. He immediately drew the long saber at his waist and vaulted over the wall right behind him.
「On the second floor of a nearby tavern.」
Ding Yi, Master of the Flying Fish Martial Arts Hall, along with his beloved daughter Ding Mianyue and their group, stood at a window overlooking the street, silently observing the events at the Water Snake Gang’s headquarters.
Seeing the two Commanders spring into action, Ding Mianyue shook her head. "Father, it looks like your help won’t be needed. Those Black Lotus Sect fiends have already escaped!"
Ding Yi stroked his beard, saying regretfully, "The fiends of the Black Lotus Sect are like crafty rabbits with three burrows; they’re not so easily caught in one fell swoop. The Public Security Bureau has already accomplished a great feat by striking like lightning and eliminating this hidden Water Snake Gang stronghold. As for the rest... since our Flying Fish Martial Arts Hall has made an appearance tonight, our gesture of support for the Public Security Bureau has been made. That’s enough."
After speaking, he looked toward the top of a distant clock tower.
His gaze seemed to effortlessly pierce the night, landing on a figure standing there: Pang Xuan, the Mansion Master of the Public Security Bureau.
Pang Xuan sensed his gaze and gave a slight nod, then tilted his head to look in another direction.
On the top floor of a teahouse over there, several other figures were hidden.
The man in the lead was a hunched, wizened old man who looked unremarkable, even senile. Yet the seven or eight people behind him were all deferential, consciously maintaining a distance of more than three paces.
This old man was no ordinary person. He was Lv Qixiu, the Vice Pavilion Master of the Black Stone City branch of the Thousand Mechanism Tower, a major power that spanned prefectures!
A true, peak expert of the Profound Bone Realm!
He had transferred from Jian’an Prefecture in his younger days and clawed his way up. Not only did he break through to the Profound Bone Realm himself, but he also steadily grew the Thousand Mechanism Tower’s power in Black Stone City. Now, with the Outer City in chaos, he had, against all expectations, made an appearance here.
"Elder Lv, just look at this Public Security Bureau. All this thunder and no rain. In the end, they didn’t even catch one big fish and have come up completely empty-handed."
Standing beside the old man, Xu Xianzhou, the young master of the Spirit Snake Martial Arts Hall, snapped his jade-ribbed fan shut with a sharp CLICK. His tone was dripping with disdain and sarcasm:
"The incompetence of the Public Security Bureau is hopeless; they’re like mud that won’t stick to a wall. A pity that our families bothered to come and offer support. In my opinion, we’d be better off petitioning the State Mansion to dismantle the Public Security Bureau, let the elites from our Jian’an Prefecture take over, and establish a proper City Lord’s Mansion!"
This Xu Xianzhou hailed from a powerful and wealthy sect in Jian’an Prefecture and had always been arrogant, looking down from the bottom of his heart on the so-called local powers of Black Stone City.
Lv Qixiu’s cloudy old eyes stared into the distant night, his withered fingers still stroking his beard at a leisurely pace. He paid no mind to Xu Xianzhou’s words. His face, like old tree bark, was as placid as a still well, making it impossible to guess what he was plotting.
"SCREEE—!"
Just as all the factions thought tonight’s grand show was about to end with a whimper...
A sharp eagle’s cry suddenly erupted in midair!
The cry pierced through the heavy curtain of rain, instantly drawing everyone’s attention.
Qing Yuan’s body streaked across the night sky like a cyan flash of lightning, diving at incredible speed to land steadily on the shoulder of a handsome figure.
The newcomer was, of course, Su Yu.
After dealing with the other Water Snake Gang stronghold, he had rushed over to see how the situation here was unfolding.
"Security Guards, on my order! Head to all city gates and search! If you find any Black Lotus Sect fiends, kill them without mercy!"
Li Jingxuan’s face was ashen as he strode briskly out from the Water Snake Gang compound.
He had entered the courtyard and swiftly killed dozens of Black Lotus Sect members, including a senior deacon, but he hadn’t found a single Incense Master, nor Hong Lei, the leader of the Water Snake Gang!
This made him even more certain that they had escaped, so he immediately ordered his men to search everywhere for a secret passage.
Beyond that, he could only hope the Security Guards would find a trace of Hong Lei.
He knew in his heart, however, that the chances were slim. Once those Black Lotus Sect fiends disappeared, there was no telling where they might hide.
Finding them in Black Stone City would be like searching for a needle in a haystack.
’Wait,’ he thought. ’The only reason we found these Black Lotus Sect fiends in the first place was thanks to Su Yu. Maybe he can help with this, too... especially with that Blue-scaled Eagle of his!’
Li Jingxuan had heard the eagle’s cry moments ago, and now, seeing Su Yu arrive, his face lit up. He strode forward. "Younger Brother Su! Hong Lei and the Black Lotus Sect fiends have escaped! Can you have your Blue-scaled Eagle search for them?"
"Lord Commander, leave it to me!"
Without hesitation, Su Yu immediately activated Hawk Eye and began scanning the entire city.
’Just taking down these ordinary gang members means the credit for this operation is cut in half. And letting Hong Lei escape? That’s something I can’t tolerate,’ Su Yu thought.
’Hong Lei already holds a grudge against me. If he finds out I was the one who exposed the Water Snake Gang, he will definitely come after me!’
’I must eliminate this threat completely!’
"The secret passage has been found!"
At that moment, a shout came from the courtyard. Li Jingxuan immediately charged in, and a moment later, his voice echoed from within.
"The secret passage heads toward the south of the city!"
’Hawk Eye, activate!’
Hearing this, Su Yu immediately directed Qing Yuan to race toward the southern part of the city!