Chapter 69: Counter Framing
Translator: StackThatCoin Editor: AntiGod
Hearing the shout, a group of scouting officers who happened to pass by immediately changed their direction and sprinted over. Together with faint howls of wolves, a strong breeze filled with Wood elemental energy came blowing by. Tens of doughty men having the same appearance like Yan Bugui emerged from the darkness and surrounded Wu Qi and the company. They were clad in a black soft body armor and had a sharp longsword strapped on their back
Wu Qi's shout was, in fact, a little too loud, and the activity it brought was incredible.
From a long distance, dazzling beams of blue were soaring up into the sky one after another. Nearly one hundred Sky Patrolling Eagle Guards were screeching and flying fast towards Wu Qi's direction. From near and far, the howls of wolves were incessantly lingering in one's ear. It was as if the entire Ji City had turned into a wolf's nest, as these terrifying howls could be heard coming from nearly all directions. Figures of green were dashing toward the scene while bringing forth a strong wind.
In just the time it took to finish a pot of tea, nearly one hundred Sky Patrolling Eagle Guards had arrived in the sky above and kept wheeling at high speed. The movement of these blue shadows of strange birds had stirred up a wild wind. The raindrops were being blown by them and shot towards the ground like some piercing bullets. At the same time, more than three hundred beast warriors of Scouting Office, who had merged with the soul of a Wind Breaking Wolf, had also arrived. The top of the surrounding walls was fully packed with the men from Scouting Office.
Following that were the savage roars of lions that came from afar. A dozen of extremely tall, burly men, clad in a heavy armor and shrouded in a raging flame, were rushing together with a large group of soldiers. They had the soul of a Flaming Lion, which stood tall from forty to eighty feet behind their back
Everyone was fixing their gaze at Wu Qi. They had a strange look in their eyes.
From the group of burly men who arrived last, a man strode out. He had a soul of Flaming Lion that stood eighty feet tall behind his back, his body emanating a raging heat wave. Any rainwater that came close to him would immediately evaporate and turn into vapor, which made his entire body be enveloped in a thick mist. As he was one and a half feet taller than Wu Qi, he bowed his head and stared at Wu Qi's face, giving him a thorough look for a few moments.
"The 'best friend' of Yan Bugui? Hehe, a 'best friend' who would curse all his ancestors? Yan Bugui is really fortunate to have a friend like this!"
Wu Qi grinned, then let out a rather dried laugh. The aura emanating from this burly man was incredibly frightening. It was vigorous, immense, and extremely savage and violent. This was a real expert of Embryonic Breath tier, not an inferior fellow like Old Devil and Lord Flame who made their breakthrough by using some evil methods and sucking the energy from others. He was a genuine expert who had built a strong foundation, a true warrior who made the breakthrough step by step.
After letting out a few humorless laughs, Wu Qi cupped his fist at this man who looked only in his thirties and said, "General, can I know your name?"
The burly man laughed weirdly, brought his palm forcefully onto Wu Qi's shoulder and said, "My surname is Ji, and I have another surname of Yan, the same Yan as Yan Bugui. My name is Yan Jiuhui, the West Wind Guard's Chief Supervisor of Scouting Office, the grandfather of Yan Bugui. Did you say you want to curse all his... ancestors?"
The Scouting Office of Great Yan Dynasty was divided into five major factions of Wind Guards: East, South, West, North, and Central. Each took the responsibility of all internal affairs of the vassal kingdoms in the four directions, and in the land ruled by Great Yan Dynasty itself. The Chief Supervisor was the highest commanding officer of a division. He owned the authority of executing the criminal first and reporting to the emperor afterward. As a matter of fact, in many occasions, they could even execute one without making any report, and nobody would investigate and affix the responsibility for the incident.
Cold sweat started to roll off from Lu Chengfeng's forehead. The West Guards of Scouting Office were responsible for supervising all the vassal kingdoms on the west, and the Lu Kingdom was one of them. To some extent, these West Guards were a sharp blade hanging over the head of all influential and wealthy clans in the Lu Kingdom.
Although Great Yan Dynasty never interfered with the internal affairs of its vassal kingdoms easily, but when the Chief Supervisor of West Wing Guards really wanted to put his hand on the affair in the Lu Kingdom, who would have the courage to stand up against him? And who would say no to him? If Yan Jiuhui said he wanted to make some corrective actions in the Lu Kingdom, there would be many people jumping around and throwing stones at the Lu Kingdom.
Lu Chengfeng gave out a dry cough and took two steps forward, bowed and greeted Yan Jiuhui. "Greeting, Chief Supervisor, my name is Chengfeng."
Yan Jiuhui laughed, waved his hand at Lu Chengfeng and said, "Stop talking rubbish! What this little guy said just now has been heard by many people. Hehe, in Ji City, I, Yan Jiuhui is a man with foundation and face, but this little guy had just thrown his curse over on my face. Tell me, how am I, Yan Jiuhui, going to face other people in the future?"
Yan Jiuhui ferociously gazed at Wu Qi, who seemed to act as if nothing had happened. He smacked his lips, rested his glance back to Lu Chengfeng's face, and said with a cold smile, "Who are you? What exactly is going on tonight? Hehe, more than three miles of 'Mount Collapsing Wall' was brought down. Who is the one that has such an unresolved blood feud with you and wants to kill you?"
Suddenly, Yan Jiuhui stretched his arm out and grabbed toward Lu Chengfeng's neck. While laughing out loud, he said, "Well, why should I waste my time talking to you, a bunch of little babies? I can just bring you back and give you a cruel torture, then I'll know everything! My boys, capture these guys, prepare your tools and let's give them a good time!"
Wu Qi took a step forward and blocked in front of Lu Chengfeng, thrusting his palm out and chopping toward Yan Jiuhui's wrist meridian. With an indifferent voice, he said, "Why are you so angry, Chief Supervisor? I was forced to be rude, and if not because of that shout, I think all of us would not be able to survive this dreadful night."
As he saw Wu Qi actually having the courage to counter his attack, a bright flare flicked in Yan Jiuhui's eyes. He then suddenly laughed, retracted his palm and clenched into a fist, thrusting it towards Wu Qi's palm. "Alright, come… Show me what you got! If you can win over me, I'll bear tonight's incident for you!"
When the fist and the palm collided, Wu Qi could only feel as if a huge mountain was pressing down on him. The tremendous force made his feet lose the grip on the ground, and he was pushed back after letting out a muffled snort. The scorching hot force of fist burst into Wu Qi's arm meridians. However, they were neutralized by the shivering energy which the demon ghost had injected into his meridians just now. As the fire and water were restricting each other, the shivering energy and the hot energy quickly balanced out. The innate energy in Wu Qi's meridian rippled and surged, and his arms, which had turned stiff just now, immediately recovered to their normal state.
On the other side, Yan Jiuhui's body was seen trembling. Although he had knocked Wu Qi back with his fist punched on Wu Qi's palm , yet his body was swayed by a strange spinning force found in Wu Qi's palm, causing more than 80% of his force to miss the target. As a result, his body shook, and the force that missed the target pulled and dragged his body, making him stagger a couple of steps forward. The fist slammed into a wall on the roadside, breaking up a large hole in it.
"What a powerful punch!" Wu Qi shouted loudly.
"What an extraordinary palm strike!" Yan Jiuhui retracted his fist and was astonished. From top to bottom, he fiercely glanced at Wu Qi. "What a surprise, you've reached Xiantian realm at such a young age! Eh? Just now that little guy said he is Chengfeng? Don't tell me that he is Lu Chengfeng? And you, little guy, don't tell me that you're his hanger-on, Wu Qi?"
Lu Chengfeng's expression was filled with joy. He answered hastily, "Chief Supervisor has heard the name of Chengfeng before?"
"Pooh!" Yan Jiuhui spat a lump of thick phlegm on the ground, then he slapped on his own head forcefully and shouted, "My grandson, Yan Bugui had mentioned you before. Hey, aren't you supposed to wait for your reward in the Lu Kingdom? Why are you coming to Ji City?"
A light howl of a wolf was heard. Bringing together a few men, Yan Bugui was seen approaching fast from afar. A green shadow flashed by the scene as Yan Bugui leaped and landed on the street. He gave Wu Qi a look, then said happily, "It is indeed you! Wu Qi, words coming out from your mouth are really... hard to digest!"
Yan Bugui shook his head, then turned to Yan Jiuhui and reported, "Chief Supervisor, Lu Chengfeng is the descendant of Duke Yan Le. I assume, the purpose of his visit is to verify his bloodline in the Imperial Family Court, so he can have his name return to the Book of Family and inherit Duke Yan Le's title of nobility, as well as the post of West Supervisor."
Yan Bugui turned to Lu Chengfeng and smile, then he continued with a deep voice, "We've just received the news, The Grandmaster of Imperial Family Court, Yu Xuan, is on his way here, together with Maiden Rongyang.
Right after Yan Bugui finished his words, Yan Jiuhui's face immediately changed strangely. From top to bottom, he gave Lu Chengfeng and thorough glance, then he turned to Wu Qi and laughed coldly, "All the ancestors? Huh? Hmph, all the ancestors!"
After laughing coldly for no apparent reason, Yan Jiuhui shouted, "Why do you know about this news only now? Someone had deployed a military ballista in Ji City, and even used the Wind and Bone Piercing Dart which is used specifically towards Xiantian realm experts, yet I never receive any report from the office? They even triggered the Mount Collapsing Wall just for the purpose of killing Lu... young mister Lu. Hmph, I really want to know who is so bold to do all this?"
Yan Bugui bowed towards Yan Jiuhui and said with a bitter smile, "The ballista came from the third battalion of Yellow City Guard. As for who the culprit behind this is, the line that leads to it was completely cut off. Moments ago, the Treasurer who was in charge of third battalion's military equipment was found dead in the bed of his concubine. In addition to that, the news about Maiden Rongyang paying a secret visit to Duke Yu Xuan was blocked by someone. I only got the news a few moments before this."
Wu Qi, Lu Chengfeng, and Yan Jiuhui's expression changed suddenly.
Wu Qi gave Lu Chengfeng a look, but Lu Chengfeng shook his head with a gloomy expression.
"Excellent, someone really has the guts to juggle the intelligence in my office. Who is the guy?" Yan Jiuhui asked with a sneer.
Yan Bugui let out a mild cough, then a name came out lightly from his mouth - Qin Qingshui.
Yan Jiuhui's expression became even more unsightly. He stomped his feet ferociously and said, "This is outrageous, does he really think that no one can stop him?"
Before his words could fade completely in the air, a sharp, soft voice was heard coming into the scene, "Yan Jiuhui, am I the one who you refer as outrageous?"
A rapid sound of footsteps came together with the voice. A middle-aged man was seen swaggering towards their direction. He had a long horse face, but a body 2/3rd of a normal body’s width, so skinny that it made him looked like a cleaver. Amidst the raging rainstorm, the man was clad in a loose and baggy white robe. The strong wind blew and waved the robe violently, as if the skinny man would be brought into the sky anytime now.
The man was Qin Qingshui, the Chief Supervisor of Center Wind Guards, in charge of the highest authority in the Scouting Office that looked after the territory directly ruled by Great Yan Dynasty. In addition to that, to a certain extent, he had the authority to supervise all four East, South, West, and North Wind Guards of the Scouting Office.
The strong wind blew Qin Qingshui's white robe and made them flap with noisy sounds. With an arrogant expression, he pointed his finger at Lu Chengfeng and said, "This man is the suspect who killed Taba Qingye, the prince of the Xian Kingdom who was held as a hostage here. Somebody, bring him and his accomplices back. I want a thorough interrogation with them. Find out how they obtained the ballista and The Wind and Bone Piercing Darts from the military, which is all controlled military equipment. I want an in-depth investigation. I want you to find out who is the person they colluded with, and what made him so daring that he committed a crime in Ji City!"
Lu Chengfeng was struck dumb and looking at Qin Qingshui, then he refuted with a stern voice, "Your excellency, it is me, Lu Chengfeng who was ambushed by someone!"
Qin Qingshui rolled his eyes, let out a cold laughed and shook his head. "What a joke, do you think my eyes are blinded? It is obvious that you're the one who colluded with some scums in the military, set up a trap and ambushed the prince hostage of Xian Kingdom. Somebody, capture this fellow and all his accomplices!"
Wu Qi frowned. This Qin Qingshui was obviously here for Lu Chengfeng.
Meanwhile, Lu Chengfeng was fixing his gaze on Qin Qingshui. He had no clue why this man was picking on him.
Yan Jiuhui's eyes went wide, then he roared with a deep voice, "Qin Qingshui, things are not as what you just said." He stretched his arm out and stopped the large group of men behind Qin Qingshui from moving further.
Qin Qingshui tilted his head up, staring into the dark clouds and thunderbolts in the sky, and said indifferently, "Yan Jiuhui, you better not forget this… You're now standing in Ji City, and I, am the Chief Supervisor of Central Scouting Office. None of the things that happened here are your business, and you have no right to interfere!"
He slapped away Yan Jiuhui's arm, then shouted with an aggressive voice, "Somebody, bring them away and throw these criminals in the jail of Scouting Office!"
Like wolves and tigers, a group of beast warriors sprung forward ferociously.