Star Gate

Chapter 325: Clouds Shift On All Sides (IV)

Hu Qingfeng couldn’t even say that two of his men were dead. He’d just condemned all of the attackers as evil supernaturals. Once he admitted that Huang Jie and Yu Xiao were among the dead.. he’d be in enormous trouble!

“Damn that Hao Lianchuan!” The look in Hu Qingfeng’s eyes chilled as he recalled something. Hao Lianchuan had insisted that he didn’t know the identities of the attackers, just that they were likely to be from Red Moon. He’d quickly framed the assailants as evil supernaturals with a few words and asked Hu Qingfeng for reinforcement.

Not only could the latter not say that the two Solars were likely to be Yu Xiao and Huang Jie, but he also had to cover for their absence!

“Damn it, damn it!” He was an utter fool if he still didn’t know who was among the dead. Hu Qingfeng glowered so ominously that the very sight of his face would terrify others! Hao Lianchuan had run complete circles around him! That guy definitely knew who’d died! He’d done all of this on purpose!

“The call... didn’t go through...” the woman said in a low voice.

Hu Qingfeng remained quiet. Of course not! They were dead and buried in a sea of flames. Where was that call supposed to go to?

“They’re dead!” he said solemnly after a while. “Don’t say anything and tell anyone who asks that they were reassigned to another mission and left the city early this morning...”

“Sir!” gasped the other two. Dead? So the battle that’d erupted before involved Yu Xiao and Huang Jie? Then... wasn’t the rest of the team also in danger?

“Everyone’s exchanging blows in the dark at the moment. Hou Xiaochen and the rest don’t dare move against us in the open. But... White Moon City is no longer safe ofr us!”

Yet, they couldn’t leave right this moment. That would place them in even greater danger.

“We can’t leave just yet.” Anxiety finally crept into Hu Qingfeng’s voice. “We need to show our faces even more in the days to come. Don’t go outside if you have no reason to. Stay within the provincial government buildings if you must!”

The more he turned the matter over in his mind, the more uneasy he grew. He would remember fatty Hao Lianchuan, that bastard! Just as they thought, all of Silver Moon’s Night Watchers were traitors! Hao Lianchuan had known who those two were, but he’d still killed them! Damn him!

......

At the same time.

A moderately sized office in the provincial government building.

Deputy Zhou had returned from the alley and was meeting with Director General Zhao.

“It’s Yu Xiao and Huang Jie who died,” the deputy said slowly. “Hu Qingfeng doesn’t know anything and is probably just discovering that something is off.”

The elderly man shook his head. “Hu Qingfeng is strong, but his mind is rather slow. At least half of those present had guessed who’d died, for example, the inspector general and He Yong from the royal family. And yet, he was unsuspectingly led astray by just a few words from Hao Lianchuan.”

“Is Hou Xiaochen behind this?” murmured Director General Zhao, to which he quickly shook his head. “No, if he was, then not even Hu Qingfeng would make it out alive. This means to say that this operation was Hao Lianchuan’s own making. That little fatty has quite the nerve!”

“It doesn’t look like that either.” Deputy Zhou shook his head. “Or rather, the plan was his, but the results were so unexpected that he had to destroy the scene of battle! if he was behind it, he wouldn’t need to obliterate everything. His goal would be to confirm the attackers’ identities and their connection to Red Moon. It wouldn’t be to dismiss the matter entirely when there is a lack of evidence.”

“What have you discovered?” The director general looked at his old friend of many years. His deputy was a meticulous person and looked to have found something.

“It might not be Hao Lianchuan who did the deed,” Deputy Zhou breathed out softly. “It was someone else whose identity cannot be revealed. They’re very strong to kill two Solars, but they cannot be known by the public. If it’s not Yu Luocha, it’s Li Hao!”

“Hmm?” The director general blinked. He ignored the first possibility and raised his eyebrows at the second name. “Li Hao?”

“Yes.” Deputy Zhou thought for a while longer. “For a Sunderer to remain unharmed when attacked by two Solars, that would be possible if it was truly Red Moon behind the deed. If not Red Moon, but Yu Xiao and Huang Jie, then those two must have discovered something. Is there a need for them to take Li Hao alive? Can they get away with him? Hou Xiaochen would come out of seclusion in that case. Could they get away then? Therefore... if they made a move, it would be to kill Li Hao. They wouldn’t seek to capture him!

“Hao Lianchuan arrived quite speedily—likely less than thirty seconds after the fighting began. That is a very long period of time for two Solars attacking a Sunderer. They would’ve killed their target a long time ago, unless they fought among themselves. But assuming they were in full control of their mental facilities, why would they indulge in internal discord at this time?

“Therefore... another possibility is that Yuan Shuo hasn’t left after all?”

Director General Zhao furrowed his brows and shook his head. “Yuan Shuo has indeed left! That part is true. We have word from the Near River province that Yuan Shuo has teamed up with the Jadelight Sword and conducted an incredible feat last night. They jointly destroyed one of Red Moon’s strongholds and killed a Solar. Yuan Shuo even left taunts for Ying Hongyue to wait for him in the central region, that he won’t come back before killing the man!”

“......” Deputy Zhou took a deep breath. “Can there be someone else behind Li Hao?”

If not... the implications were extremely terrifying. It was only now that the young man’s name fully entered their line of sight.

“Forget it.” The director general smiled after extended silence. “Let’s ignore this for now and wait for Hou Xiaochen to return.”

“Where’s he gone?” asked the deputy. The two seemed certain that Hou Xiaochen was not in the city and didn’t mind Manager Yu’s earlier appearance. They seemed to know her identity and strength beforehand.

“I’m not sure.” The director general looked outside the window. “Not only is he not in the city, but that one in the army is absent as well. The two have left together, ostensibly to take down a powerful foe. Regular people don’t merit this kind of attention. Hu Qingfeng’s presence is their best cover, he can prove that they’re inside the city. Let’s wait, news will spread soon. If a Nova or major figure dies soon, that’s probably where they are.”

Deputy Zhou had nothing to say to that. So Commander Yu was also absent? What kind of person warranted attention from both of them at the same time? He had some thoughts, but didn’t dare voice them. They couldn’t be spoken aloud even though there were only the two of them in the office. If his thoughts came to pass... then the northern region would be thrown into disarray for a while.

As a result, temporary peace might come to Silver Moon. They wouldn’t draw much focus for a bit. Whether it was Yuan Shuo or Hou Xiaochen, they demonstrated their strength to deter opponents and redirect attention elsewhere. These fellows were formidable and wouldn’t take action for no reason at all, much less suddenly kill others or erupt in hostility...

The martial world, Night Watchers, and army had reached an accord. It would seem that the situation in Silver Moon was more complicated than previously imagined.

Activity finally ceased at the provincial government headquarters for the night.

......

At the same time.

Li Hao was immensely enjoying his dinner. Wang Ming sat in a daze beside him and quickly offered a beverage after Li Hao had taken a few bites.

“Li... senior brother,” he stammered. “Have a drink and wet your throat!”

Li Hao took a sip and looked at the handsome supernatural. Wang Ming swallowed hard.

“Senior brother... our Five Styles discipline... is amazing!”

Li Hao smiled.

“Um... I didn’t see anything!” Wang Ming quickly changed tack. “I destroyed it all, there’s nothing left and no backup copies!”

Li Hao nodded without a word. Wang Ming seemed to recover enough of his senses to operate normally. He looked at his counterpart with an odd expression.

“Senior brother... do you think I still have a chance to learn martial dao?”

“I don’t know.”

“C’mon, senior brother, give me a chance!” Hope beamed out of Wang Ming’s face. “I want to learn martial dao, really, I want to be a martial master. I want to be a powerful martial master!”

“We’ll see. Teacher may have a way, I don’t.”

Fine then!

Wang Ming was quite dejected, but he couldn’t forget what he’d seen. Sword qi racing to the heavens, executing a Sunflare along the way, surging up to the clouds, and then...

That was all he saw! But he knew that two Solars had died and battle was almost over by the time Hao Lianchuan arrived. This unexpected senior brother of his was damned terrifying! So terrifying that he felt perhaps Director Hao was no match.

Not perhaps, but that he’d probably die to one sword stroke if he didn’t have the Flaming Phoenix Spear. Hot damn! Were martial masters really this terrifying??

Wang Ming served Li Hao with passion, his thoughts in a far-off place. Even now he couldn’t forget what he’d witnessed. It was crazy! Li Hao had also been incredible when he killed Zhang Ting, but not this incredible. He was improving so quickly that it almost terrified Wang Ming.

“What do we do next, senior brother? Are we going to be exposed?” Wang Ming asked with trepidation. They hadn’t killed regular people this time.

“What about it?” Li Hao continued calmly munching on his dinner. “If push comes to shove, teacher’s already demonstrated what to do. I’ll go look for him, what are you worried about?”

Look for teacher? Wang Ming took in a sharp breath. If his senior brother went as well and all these killing fiends were gathered together... That would be even more frightening! No, exciting. No wait, terrifying!

Wang Ming said nothing more. His mind ran with questions of how to become a martial master, a powerful one of the Five Styles. His discipline was firmly branded in his mind.

Li Hao looked out the window. Some people would guess certain things this time, so he needed to quickly become even stronger! He wouldn’t be able to keep the truth concealed from everyone—not that he wanted to. If he kept improving at such a rapid clip that he could kill Novas, it wouldn’t matter if they were focused on the fact that he could kill Solars.

The young man grinned. Hou Xiaochen, Manager Yu, Director Hao, Hu Qingfeng... Various names filtered into his thoughts. He felt that he could try jumping out of his spot and utilize absolute strength to become one of the many movers and shakers of the province. He wouldn’t have to passively accept events happening to him.

“The food’s pretty good, it’s really tasty,” Li Hao said after trying all of the food. “Buy some more next time, Ole Wang!”

“No problem!” Wang Ming responded excitedly.

Li Hao laughed when he flicked a glance at his colleague. This guy’s pretty interesting sometimes. It’s not like I eat people, so what are you looking at me like this for? Are you forgetting that you’re also a co-conspirator?