Chapter 265: Chapter 117: Monster Martial Pill! Star Patterned Gold Alchemy Furnace!_1
“Dafeng State City, could it be another storm is brewing?” Jiang Qian silently thought, a sense of urgency rising in his heart.
“Lock down the north, south, east, and west gates! No one is to leave the city for the time being!”
In a short amount of time, a huge stir occurred within the entire Dafeng State City, pigeons carrying messages fluttered about, and the soldiers stationed at the city gates received their orders and sealed off the gates.
“What… what’s all this commotion?”
In the streets, cavalry units crisscrossed, conducting house-to-house searches, startling the people. Dafeng State City hadn’t seen such a disturbance in a long time.
“I heard they are capturing a criminal! Someone murdered two Chiliarchs of the Dafeng Iron Riders at the Clear Moon Restaurant!”
“Quite the guts, to kill someone on Dafeng Iron Riders’ territory?”
Those with inside information knew the reason behind these events.
Many were shocked, killing within the city, and the victims were the Iron Riders’ Chiliarchs – this was audacity to the extreme!
Without a doubt, this was a slap in the face for the Dafeng Iron Riders. In no time at all, they locked down Dafeng State City and commenced a full-force search for the murderer within the city.
“As soon as the incident occurred, we sent messages by pigeon to lock down the entire city. That killer must still be inside! Search! Search every house. If anyone is uncooperative or suspicious, detain them first and interrogate them thoroughly!”
The commandants of the Dafeng Iron Riders mobilized all available forces to search the city, vowing to find the murderer.
But to their surprise, after almost scouring every possible location, they still couldn’t find a trace of the killer, as if he had evaporated into thin air.
The city lockdown had a significant impact, and after just two days, Dafeng State City reopened, allowing people to come and go, but with noticeably stricter inspections. Even the notice boards were plastered with wanted posters, depicting a dark-skinned man, who was actually Su Changkong in disguise.
But naturally, they couldn’t find Su Changkong this way.
“That murderer… he must have escaped,” the Dafeng Iron Riders conceded, knowing full well the killer of the Chen brothers had planned this and prepared an escape route. Catching such a master was indeed a monumental challenge.
“Was the murderer’s motive for killing the Chen brothers related to the events in Maple Leaf Village back then?”
Within the Dafeng Iron Riders, there were many who knew why the Chen brothers had met their end.
Back then, the Chen brothers claimed others’ achievements as their own, and while the Iron Riders’ higher-ups let the mistake slide, there was still a righteous person who learned of this and, in a fit of anger, took their lives as deserved punishment.
“It’s true, he claimed he was righting the wrongs, and upon hearing about the Chen brothers’ deeds, he acted and killed them,” revealed their superior, the Chief of Ten Thousand, Jiang Qian, silencing the higher-ups of the Dafeng Iron Riders.
“Let’s not let this incident spread any further. Investigate the identity of the murderer in secret,” a high-ranking leader of the Dafeng Iron Riders finally decided, knowing that the bigger the Chen brothers’ case got, the more the Iron Riders lost face.
Moreover, within the Iron Riders over the past two days, the story of the Chen brothers claiming merit unjustly had been spreading, and most members believed their deaths on what should have been their birthday celebration were well-deserved.
“What identity does this killer possess? They say his archery is extraordinary. The Chen brothers, although at least at the Qi-Blood Wolf Smoke Realm, held the office of Chiliarch. Barely showing their heads, they were shot dead by several arrows?”
“Commander Jiang Qian himself had a brief encounter with this person and seemed to have suffered a slight disadvantage; this person’s strength is not below Commander Jiang Qian!”
What intrigued people even more was the true identity of this killer, possessing strength not inferior to that of a Chief of Ten Thousand of the Dafeng Iron Riders, yet his physical features did not match any known master.
The storm gradually subsided, and the mysterious master’s acts of chivalry, of slaying the military’s scoundrel, became a topic of many people’s conversations after meals.
Three days later, in the early hours, a figure emerged from a clear little lake within Dafeng State City – it was Su Changkong!
By that time, Su Changkong had returned to his original appearance, completely different from the dark-skinned man he had disguised himself as before.
Su Changkong had not fled the city at all, but instead hid directly in Dafeng Lake within the city. With his Turtle Breath Technique, he could stay submerged and only needed to breathe once every long while, making it impossible for anyone to find him at the bottom of the lake.
After cultivating at the bottom of the lake for three days, just as expected, Dafeng State City couldn’t sustain such an extensive manhunt indefinitely. After searching the entire city for two or three days without finding any clues, the Dafeng Iron Riders gave up, or perhaps they didn’t want to cause any further impact.
Su Changkong hadn’t killed Jiang Qian earlier, partly because he didn’t want to cause more trouble, and partly to use him to convey his reason for the killings, making it clear that his intent was only to kill the Chen brothers and not to be an enemy of the Dafeng Iron Riders. He believed they would understand his message.
“It’s time to leave.”
Su Changkong exercised his body, activating his Qi and Blood, releasing a scorching energy that dried the moisture on his body. He then changed into a new set of clothes from his pack and walked calmly through the streets, heading out of the city.
“That portrait is really ugly.”
Su Changkong also saw the wanted poster with his image at the city gate. He shook his head speechlessly; at that time, he was in disguise, and his appearance, height, and build had nothing in common with him now.