Chapter 566 - 275: Flawless

Chapter 566: Chapter 275: Flawless

After Chen Cheng had walked a good distance away, Liu Yongzhen looked at Shen Qingpeng and Shen Qingxuan with a serious expression.

"Young Master Qingpeng, Miss Qingxuan, if you sneak out of the Shen Family residence again, don’t blame this old man for reporting it to the Patriarch."

"Grandpa Liu, we were just getting stir-crazy. We were only wandering around the Shen Family residence, we really didn’t plan to sneak out and have fun," Shen Qingpeng said with a cheerful laugh.

Liu Yongzhen was clearly not so easily fooled. "You two had best make sure there isn’t a next time," he said sternly.

"Don’t you worry, Grandpa Liu. There definitely won’t be a next time!" Shen Qingpeng promised, then motioned for Shen Qingxuan to leave.

...

Meanwhile, Chen Cheng arrived at the council hall in the Shen Family’s main residence. After exchanging some pleasantries with Shen Mingyuan, he stated the purpose of his visit.

"Grandfather-in-law, I fear trouble may be brewing in the Four Outer City Districts of Linji City. We need to make preparations in advance."

Upon hearing this, Shen Mingyuan was quite puzzled. "Ah Cheng," he asked, "have you received some kind of news?"

’After the main army deployed, the Shen Family immediately withdrew its personnel to the Inner City,’ he thought. ’The Shen Family residence is guarded by about a thousand men at all times, a force sufficient to handle even an Organ Refining Realm expert who wished them harm.

’We’ve stationed over five hundred Shen Family personnel at the Zheng Martial Arts Hall, in addition to the one hundred soldiers from the Protectorate Army who were already there. The security is ironclad—not even a fly could get into the Martial Arts Hall without alerting someone. It should be perfectly safe.

’As for the Four Outer City Districts, there are Officials from the City Guard Department and a thousand soldiers from the Protectorate Army maintaining order. There shouldn’t be any major trouble there either.’

Chen Cheng shook his head and answered honestly, "I don’t actually have any concrete news.

I’ve had a feeling that something was off for a while, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

Today, I suddenly thought of Yan Jian, which in turn made me think of Zhou Hongjun.

Both of them disappeared without rhyme or reason, vanishing without a trace. It’s always been an unsolved case.

My guess is that there’s a Black Lotus Sect expert hiding in Linji City. They must be the ones who secretly abducted those two.

The Inner City is stable enough for now, so we don’t need to worry about it. But we must be on guard in the Outer City Districts. If the Shen Family prepares in advance, we can mitigate some of our losses."

Shen Mingyuan pondered for a moment. "That is indeed a possibility.

But those Black Lotus Sect fiends always hide in the shadows. The Shen Family has numerous Jianghu Gangs under its banner, so how are we supposed to defend against this?"

Chen Cheng replied, "That’s not too difficult. We just need to order the experts from these Jianghu Gangs to return to the Shen Family residence in the Inner City after nightfall.

This would serve two purposes: first, it would bolster the defensive forces at the Shen Family residence, and second, the experts themselves would be under the Shen Family’s protection.

After all, if the Black Lotus Sect fiends do make a move, they’ll almost certainly do as they’ve done before and use the cover of night to abduct experts."

"Done. I’ll make the arrangements right away," Shen Mingyuan said.

...

Back in the Cyan Dragon Courtyard, Chen Cheng looked up at the clear sky and murmured to himself,

"I hope I’m wrong.

But if my predictions are unfortunately correct, then our only choice is to meet the threat head-on and use ruthless means to eliminate every last one of our enemies!"

’The Black Lotus Sect is hidden deep within the Great Wilderness Mountain Range, its main headquarters exceptionally well concealed.

’The Demon Suppression Department has investigated for years without finding a single lead, yet this time, Xia Lingfeng found the exact location with ease. There’s no guarantee the Black Lotus Sect didn’t leak the information intentionally.

’After all, with the Fog Concealment Cave Mansion about to appear, experts from all the Major Sects will be coming to Linji City.

’A reviled Demon Sect like the Black Lotus Sect, one that everyone wants to see destroyed, was bound to be dealt with sooner or later.

’How could an old monster like Ghostly Wound, who has lived for decades, even centuries, not be aware of this?

’From his perspective, the best course of action would be to abandon the old lair deep in the Great Wilderness Mountain Range and find a new place to start over.

’The Black Lotus Sect has caused trouble in Linji City before, so they must have another secret base nearby.

’If Ghostly Wound took advantage of the city’s experts being away to raid the city, he would be unstoppable in the Outer City Districts!

’After all, the Ancestors of the Jiang, Qin, and Wang families certainly wouldn’t intervene.

’I’m not afraid of Ghostly Wound myself, but I have to stand guard at the Zheng Martial Arts Hall and can’t just run off to the Outer City Districts to deal with him.

’Besides, I’ve always felt there was something strange about the Wang Family. Back when I went to Moshan County to slay demons, there were many signs from both Wang Xiongzhang and Wang Xiongying that suggested the Wang Family might be colluding with the Black Lotus Sect.

’If that’s really the case, Linji City is in even greater danger.’

...

「Several days later.」

A major incident in the Dongcheng District sent shockwaves through Linji City.

The Gang Leader of the Dongcheng District’s Copper Lion Gang, the Vice Gang Leader, and over a dozen Incense Masters had mysteriously disappeared from their headquarters.

City Guard Director Mao Yong personally led a team to conduct a thorough investigation, but they found no leads whatsoever.

It was, without a doubt, another bizarre and unsolved case!

This case, however, left Chen Cheng deeply puzzled.

The Copper Lion Gang was the newest Jianghu Gang backed by the Wang Family. Its Gang Leader, Wang Xiaoshi, was a distant relative from a branch of the Inner City Wang Family. Not yet forty, he had already achieved Great Success in the Bone Forging Realm.

According to rumors in the Jianghu, Wang Xiaoshi was the illegitimate son of the Wang Family Patriarch, Wang Tingxuan, born after a chance encounter with his own cousin’s wife.

This was supposedly why the Wang Family had expended a vast amount of Martial Arts Resources to cultivate Wang Xiaoshi to the Great Success in Bone Forging Realm, despite his mediocre Martial Arts Talent.

’Such a person would naturally be highly valued by the Wang Family. If the Wang Family was truly colluding with the Black Lotus Sect, why would they allow the Sect to abduct him?’

A few more days passed. Experts at the Bone Forging Realm and Muscle Strengthening Realm from two different gangs disappeared without a trace—one in the western Outer City and the other in the Beicheng District. These two gangs were under the respective control of the Qin and Jiang families.

City Guard Director Mao Yong personally rushed to investigate, but once again, he found no clues.

For a time, a sense of panic spread among all the experts at the Muscle Strengthening Realm and above in Linji City’s various Jianghu Gangs.

Following the Shen Family’s example, the Jiang and Qin families ordered the experts from the Jianghu Gangs under their command to return to the Inner City after nightfall. Only then did the abductions stop.