Chapter 48: Chapter 46 Goals
City Guard General.
Xu Hongyu, dressed in a white flying fish suit, led a group of dozens of people and went straight out of the Chief Officer, disappearing into the alleys of South City District in the drizzling rain.
Meanwhile, on the third floor of the Chief Officer, He Mingxuan stood by the window, watching Xu Hongyu’s departure with a cold and indifferent expression, standing with his hands behind his back.
“Sir, are we not going to intervene in the matter of the Black Crow Sect?”
A man dressed in a dark green Prefecture Chief’s uniform stood beside him, watching Xu Hongyu’s disappearing figure, and couldn’t help asking He Mingxuan in a low voice.
Gazing at South City District through the drizzle, He Mingxuan said indifferently, “Let her do it if she wants to, I also have some clues about the Black Crow Sect. I can guess their intentions to some extent, and this has already caused dissatisfaction among some people above. Intervening abruptly will do us no good.”
“Besides, the Black Crow Sect has been entrenched for many years, and their Main Altar is located underground, making it not so easy to deal with.”
Although destroying the power of the Black Crow Sect would definitely provide some profit, being a force that had taken root over many years, knowing its troublesome aspects made He Mingxuan decide not to intervene.
If it might turn out to be a thankless task, there was no need to compete for it. Now that Xu Hongyu utilized mostly her own forces, if the Black Crow Sect turned out to be sneakier and craftier, Xu Hongyu might even suffer a heavy loss this time. Her influence in the City Defense Division could be further weakened, making it even harder to suppress him as the Deputy General.
…
In the drizzling rain.
The large troop of the City Defense Division moved solemnly, with evil Qi surging. For a moment, every household almost panicked, closing their doors where the troops passed and the streets instantly emptied, not showing a single soul.
However, this large-scale operation was neither a search for bandits nor a collection of taxes; it was aimed at capturing the headquarters of the Black Crow Sect. The city guards headed straight for the Black Crow Sect’s headquarters almost without stopping.
Soon.
Headed by Min Baoyi, the city guards of Ninth District reached the headquarters of the Black Crow Sect.
This stretch of alley still had scattered figures, some civilians with numb expressions, holding incense sticks in their arms and hurrying to the temple of the Black Crow Sect to offer incense. Seeing a large number of city guards appear, they remained numb and unresponsive for a moment.
“Go!”
With a clanging sound, Min Baoyi pulled out his Servant’s Knife, pointed towards the Black Crow Sect’s headquarters, and said in a deep voice, “The Black Crow Sect deceives the common people, extorts Silver Coin, kidnaps people, and is utterly inexcusable… By the order of the Chief Officer, take down all members of the Black Crow Sect!”
Following Min Baoyi’s command, including Chen Mu and five Head Constables, early on had led their respective forces to swiftly encircle the entire headquarters of the Black Crow Sect, and then fiercely stormed in.
Chen Mu walked through the drizzle, encountering hardly any substantial resistance along the way; he did not even need to draw his sword. His fellow city guards, including Liu Song and Li Tie, swiftly finished off the battle.
In just a moment.
About a hundred members of the Black Crow Sect, either died or were captured, along with some poor civilians who had been deluded by the Black Crow Sect, were temporarily detained in a courtyard under the guard of Qin Bei.
Min Baoyi, along with Chen Mu, Wang Gong, and others, then arrived at the courtyard Chen Mu had scouted earlier, which was also the location of the secretive underground passage leading to the Black Crow Sect, and ordered the city guards to thoroughly search the area.
The courtyard was quickly turned upside down.
Soon, in a wall inside the inner room, they found a hollow, but they did not locate any mechanism.
“Everyone step back.”
After carefully examining the area, Min Baoyi waved his hand, signaling the still-busy search team to step back, then, with a clanging sound, he suddenly swung his Servant’s Knife twice, chopping at the wall.
Accompanied by cracking sounds, the hard, thick wall was shattered by Min Baoyi’s blade as if it were tofu, revealing a dark, slanting passage behind it.
“It seems this is the place.”
Min Baoyi squinted into the depths of the passage, but it was too deep to see what was at the end.
Wang Gong said in a grave voice, “This place is unknown, and there might be dangerous traps; I suggest we first interrogate those members of the Black Crow Sect to see if we can extract some useful information before proceeding.”
Min Baoyi sheathed his Servant’s Knife and nodded slightly, saying, “Well reasoned.”
Chen Mu also looked thoughtful at the passage, hardly encountering any resistance along the way, and the many members of the Black Crow Sect captured were merely ordinary members, not even a single incense master among them.
The easier it went, the more it underscored the importance of this underground passage. The high ranks of the Black Crow Sect must have retreated into this passage, completely abandoning the above-ground part.
“Zhong Chang, Wang Gong, you two guard this place; Chen Mu, you take people to search other areas for clues. I’ll go to Qin Bei’s side to see if interrogation can reveal some clues.”
Min Baoyi quickly arranged the deployment.
The people responded in unison and immediately sprung into action.
Chen Mu, having once explored the Black Crow Sect’s base at night, was quite familiar with the place. He led Liu Song and others to search room by room, but to no avail.
When they returned to the courtyard, they happened to see Min Baoyi walking over with a grim face, clearly, the interrogation had yielded nothing. The captured members of the Black Crow Sect didn’t even know about the existence of the main altar underground or the secret passages; just like the two people Chen Mu had randomly picked up that night, they knew nothing.
“Wang Gong, arrange for some people to go down and investigate,”
Min Baoyi said solemnly.
Since there were no clues and nothing was revealed through interrogation, the only option was to send people down to explore; after all, there were many members of the Black Crow Sect who could be sent ahead as cannon fodder to explore step by step. Sooner or later, they would be able to thoroughly scout out the underground area.
Wang Gong, also with a somber face, nodded. He certainly didn’t like the idea of heading underground without knowing anything, but there was no other choice at the moment. He soon grabbed a few members of the Black Crow Sect, commanded people to drive them, and began the investigation batch by batch.
A while later.
The first group that went down returned, all covered with blood stains. Among the four constables, one was severely injured and another slightly wounded, having been attacked by hidden crossbows in the tunnels. As for the Black Crow Sect members driven ahead, they were all dead.
After understanding the details, Wang Gong waved his hand, signaling the persons to go down, rest, and heal their injuries, and then he sent another group of Black Crow Sect members ahead and went down to explore again.
This continued repeatedly.
After a considerable time, about a dozen constables were injured, and over thirty members of the Black Crow Sect were dead, and the general situation of the underground passage gradually surfaced, yet the end of the pathways was still not found.
According to the clues, this passage was long, having already strayed far from their current location, approximately directed towards “Second District.”
According to the map, it precisely connected the centers of Second District, Ninth District, and Wutong Grove District.
“It seems their main altar is indeed located at the center of these three places.”
Min Baoyi spoke gravely.
Just as he was about to have this message conveyed to all parties, suddenly, footsteps were heard from outside.
“What’s the situation?”
A cold voice sounded, one that Chen Mu was very familiar with.
Turning his head, he saw a woman wearing a white robe and a broad hat walking into the courtyard through the drizzle, accompanied by a dozen constables. It was Xu Hongyu, the South City District Chief Constable, unseen for quite some time.
The continuous drizzle seemed like a curtain, adding a layer of hazy beauty to the cold visage under the broad hat.
“Greetings, Chief Constable.”
The constables in the courtyard did not dare to stare, offering their respects solemnly.
Min Baoyi also paid his respects, then swiftly briefed her on the current situation.
Xu Hongyu listened and nodded slightly, saying, “I will immediately reallocate personnel to guard this site, also halt the exploration in other areas, just open a breach from your side and then breach in.”
Since each of the three channels had traps and mechanisms, it was naturally unnecessary to waste manpower to advance on three fronts. It was sufficient to break through the passage on the Ninth District’s side and invade the enemy’s main altar.
But at that moment.
Suddenly, a figure dressed in a raincoat hurried over, it was Xu Hongyu’s personal maid, Xiaohe, whom Chen Mu had seen several times before. She approached Xu Hongyu with a serious expression and whispered something into her ear.
“Is that true?”
Xu Hongyu’s expression shifted slightly.
“Ninety percent certain.”
Xiaohe nodded gravely.
Xu Hongyu’s expression darkened immediately, and she said solemnly, “Stop the investigation, gather everyone, and follow me in to attack immediately!”
Min Baoyi and the others nearby also heard Xiaohe’s whispered report, and their expressions changed in response.
Chen Mu also heard it, his gaze turning icy.
The intelligence reported by Xiaohe was… the Black Crow Sect was using some secret technique to breed and control a type of grey-skinned demonic rat, referred to as ‘protector deities.’ These rats were not very strong in themselves, but their bite could cause mild spasms and seizures, or at its worst, drive people into maddening frenzy, attacking others, acting like a source of plague.
Currently, these grey-skinned demonic rats were not fully bred yet; only their offspring were spotted around the city. Once fully developed, they could quickly spread throughout the entire Outer City, where the fate of a million people could be controlled at their whim, potentially causing utter devastation!
At that time, even the major families of the Inner City could only act cautiously, and the Black Crow Sect would thus leap to become a power that could negotiate with the major families of the Inner City and seek influence.
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