Chapter 96: Pursuit (1)

Little South Mountain.

Su Chen pointed at a craggy mountain path and said, “Yu Wei took this path in the illusion, but he didn’t go all the way down. Because I don’t know anything about the Little South Mountain, I wasn’t able to produce any more detailed content.

“As long as we have the direction, things will be easy enough. Leave the rest to my people,” Ji Hanyan nodded at the people behind her. A group of people wearing Investigations Bureau uniforms entered the mountain.

Ji Hanyan had taken twelve people with her on this expedition. They were few in number, but they were all elites, and the weakest one was a Qi Drawing Realm cultivator.

The rarest of all was that these people were all extremely skilled in investigative techniques. They were very experienced in pursuing people.

The twelve patrolmen dispersed in all directions and very quickly disappeared into the depths of Little South Mountain. All that remained was to wait to hear back.

This wait lasted all of three days.

Three days later, a patrolman returned, having discovered a dubious point.

A cave in the side of the mountain was covered in vines that covered up the mouth of the cave.

“The vines near the cave aren’t naturally-occurring; they were transplanted there and have been pruned as well. Human feces were found nearby, and the grass in front of the cave has signs of being well-trod. From this we can determine that that cave is extremely suspicious,” one of the young patrolmen said, sitting atop a not-too-distant tree as he pointed at the cave.

A satisfied expression appeared on Ji Hanyan’s face. “Well done, Little Blue. Grab the brothers and search the surrounding are a little more carefully. See if there are any other entrances or exits, but don’t get close to it. We don’t want to beat the grass and scare the snake.”

“Yes, sir!”

Simultaneously, Ji Hanyan began to ask for reinforcements.

The Spirit Race were truly existences that were tough to deal with. Su Chen and Ji Hanyan weren’t so excessively proud that they believed that they could handle the situation on their own.

Upon hearing that there were traces of the Spirit Race near Little South Mountain, An Siyuan immediately sent armed forces as backup to surround the mountain. He even came personally - this involved a member of a different race and was a big deal. Even the slightest neglect would be severely punished by Long Sang Country.

In the forest that the Little South Mountain protruded out of, An Siyuan and Lu Qingguang met with Su Chen and Ji Hanyan. Cloud Leopard also come; as a member of the Secret Task Force, whose duty was to preserve the peace of the country, matters involving the Spirit RAce also fell into his jurisdiction.

Sending so many experts wasn’t necessarily because they needed this many experts to deal with the Spirit Race individual. Rather, it was a fundamental attitude.

If the government wanted to apprehend a criminal, they wouldn’t send only two people just because the criminal was alone and only had a blade. They would definitely send out a group of nearly ten people to apprehend him and prevent any unexpected accidents from occurring.

From ancient times until now, using a much more powerful force to steamroll your opponents was the right path to take.

“If that’s the case, have you not seen that Spirit Race yet? And you can’t confirm that the Spirit Race individual is actually in there?” An Siyuan said in a low voice.

“Yes, we didn’t see it,” Su Chen replied. “As soon as we go in, it’s very likely that we’re going to alert our enemy.”

Lu Qingguang said, “But that also means that this expedition might not result in anything even though we’ve taken such big measures. We might only end up making a fool of ourselves. Is that right?”

Su Chen glanced at him with some surprise. “The Spirit Race is strange and is always difficult to deal with. When faced with an opponent like this, we cannot be cautious enough. Ending up empty-handed is par for the course. Why does Sir Lu require us to have a hundred percent certainty before making a move?”

Lu Qingguang froze for a moment, but he only harrumphed and turned around, ignoring him.

When he saw him act like this, Su Chen frowned.

In this past half a year or so, he had heard a few rumors floating around even though most of the time he didn’t leave his house.

He had only chuckled at these rumors, believing that they wouldn’t affect wise people. Now, however, it seemed like the situation wasn’t actually that simple.

What he could overlook, other people might not be able to ignore. Even if no hatred arose because of this, there might be a few knots in his heart.

If that was the case, their plan wasn’t a complete waste.

An Siyuan also seemed to realize this. He glanced at Lu Qingguang, then said meaningfully, “Su Chen spoke correctly. This matter involving the Spirit Race is of utmost importance; we cannot be too cautious. Since everyone is already here, let’s prepare to go in.”

“Please, City Lord, wait just a moment,” Su Chen replied.

“What is it?” An Siyuan asked.

“There’s another group of people who are coming.”

“Another group of people?” An Siyuan was stunned. “Who?”

“Naturally, the Investigations Bureau,” Su Chen replied.

“The Investigations Bureau?” An Siyuan was stunned. “Why would they come?”

Chen Wenhui of the Investigations Bureau came from a Bloodline Nobility Clan and was a nephew of the Wang Clan. He had never showed An Siyuan any respect nor listened to his orders.

Su Chen calling the Investigations Bureau over as reinforcements was indeed strange.

Su Chen replied, “Of course they’ll come. Don’t forget, Vice Commander Ji is the Vice Commander of Bachuan’s Investigations Bureau. Her coming to Clear River City to handle a case naturally requires the local Investigations Bureau’s cooperation. Now that Vice Commander Ji has discovered traces of a Spirit Race individual, she must notify the Investigations Bureau, and they are duty-bound to send assistance for this case.”

Su Chen’s words were very factual, but An Siyuan was able to discern what he was thinking. “You mean......”

Su Chen calmly said, “The Spirit Race is powerful and can’t be underestimated. No one knows what kind of price we’ll pay fighting an existence like this. If a fight breaks out, perhaps a lot of people will die.”

When he heard these words, An Siyuan understood Su Chen’s intentions. He chuckled darkly, “That’s right, it’s impossible for no one to die in this battle. The Investigations Bureau is responsible for internal security. Assisting Bachuan in capturing this Spirit Race individual is part of their duty; it will be hard for them to avoid suffering loss.”

The people from the Investigations Bureau quickly arrived.

Chen Wenhui had brought seventy or so Investigations Bureau individuals with him. When he saw An Siyuan, his expression immediately became a bit ugly.

An Siyuan spread his hands. “Long time no see, Commander Chen.”

Chen Wenhui harrumphed and turned around, ignoring him.

Ji Hanyan was in business mode. “I don’t care what kind of under-the-table grudges you have against each other. Our task today is to deal with the Spirit Race. If either of you messes things up big-time, don’t blame me for reporting this to the higher-ups.”

Chen Wenhui harrumphed coldly, “I know what to do.”

“If that’s the case, then go and do it.”

Ji Hanyan took the lead and walked towards the cave.

This woman was really quite bold. She led the group all the way at the front. Su Chen, who was somewhat worried for her, could only follow closely behind. Cloud Leopard was not far off either.

The original plan of using the Investigations Bureau as expendables fell to the wayside.

However, this also set Chen Wenhui’s mind at ease a bit, greatly decreasing his suspicions of what was happening.

The cave was dark and damp, exuding an almost poisonous atmosphere.

The tunnel was winding and long. In the darkness, it was hard to tell how long it was.

One of the patrolmen lit up a crystal lamp, the light illuminating the path in front of the group of people as they groped their way forward.

After walking for who knows how long, they suddenly heard a roaring of flapping wings as a colony of bats flew in their direction, giving everyone quite the fright. Some people lost their cool and attacked. A wave of flames surged forward, burning those bats to a crisp, but it also caused quite a commotion. A massive wave of motion flew in their direction, complete with squeaking and flapping.

“Dammit, can you keep the noise down a little bit?” Chen Wenhui’s face reddened as he cursed at his subordinates.

It was his subordinates who had lost their cool and made the commotion.

“Forget about it. The Spirit Race has a lot of tactics up their sleeves. Even if we didn’t make a commotion, we probably wouldn’t be able to keep the wool over their eyes.” An Siyuan was still the most calm.

Since they had already made a lot of noise, everyone didn’t try to stay hidden anymore. They made quick pace as they continued to advance.

Finally, they arrived at a stone room.

Within the stone room, a black-robed person was standing their, his back to them.

A strange, enigmatic voice echoed throughout the room: “Welcome, everyone, to Silence’s laboratory.”