Chapter 37: Traces and Clues
"Big Brother, I heard from Dad that the Valiant Saber Guards acted with tyranny in the past, which led to their impeachment by the officials, and they lost the power to enforce the law in the Inner City. From the looks of it, they don’t just seem like tyrants... but their actions might not exactly be clean either,” Fang Zhixue said to Fang Chen.
Brother?! When Granddaddy Lu and the others heard the girl call Divine General Fang “Big Brother,” blood leached from their faces and a wave of terror swept through their body.
Is that the Divine General’s younger sister? Did they... did they just tease Divine General Fang’s younger sister?!
Captain Xu scurried to clasp his fist. Shock was written all over his face, and his voice was apologetic. "Fang... Divine General Fang, I failed to recognize you! Please forgive me."
It was no wonder the person before him looked so familiar. It turned out to be Divine General Fang! Divine General Fang—the man who wiped out the martial artists of the Qingsong Empire from the city just a few days ago! Even the Valiant Saber Guards used to avoid the martial artists from Qingsong! Since the day he purged the capital of those vermin, Fang Chen’s actions had become an interesting topic of discussion among the Valiant Saber Guards.
"Captain Xu, is this guy one of your men?” Fang Chen pointed at Granddaddy Lu.
Captain Xu's heart skipped a beat. His voice was muffled with nervousness. "General Fang, there seems to be a misunderstanding. This person is just someone I often deal with. I don’t really know him all that well."
Don’t know me all that well?! Granddaddy Lu was stunned and bemused. They were just drinking merrily together yesterday! How were they not familiar with each other?
"Well, do you know why I’m here?" Fang Chen asked again.
As he spoke, he had been assessing Captain Xu, seemingly trying to read his face.
Yuan Zhuang was also suspicious of whether Captain Xu was involved in this. He squinted and stared at Captain Xu unblinkingly.
“I-I don’t...” he replied, confused.
Fang Chen smiled and looked at Yuan Zhuang. "Lord Yuan, please."
Getting his cue, Yuan Zhuang recounted the events of the case. As he explained in detail, Captain Xu's face was drained of blood.
He just got himself involved in something terribly serious!
When Yuan Zhuang was done, Fang Chen added, "As soon as we arrived, Granddaddy Lu here approached us with his men and harassed my sister. Shortly after, you arrived. That makes me wonder... Are you connected to the disappearance of the two siblings?”
Captain Xu's expression changed. His voice emerged as a squawk. "General Fang, I only received news of the brawl that broke out here. That’s why I rushed over. I am not aware of anything else!”
"Oh? If you were really accidentally swept into this whole thing, then tell me, how should we deal with Granddaddy Lu, who harassed my sister and threatened the guards of the Grand Brilliance Bureau not to come to Chief Dragon Street, or else he would break all their legs?” Fang Chen asked.
Granddaddy Lu suddenly kneeled. "Divine General Fang! Forgive me for my ignorance! Please show mercy! I didn’t mean to offend you!” His voice trembled.
Captain Xu glanced at him and a gloomy light flashed through his eyes. He then turned to Fang Chen and said, “I will capture him and interrogate him properly! I will definitely give you a proper explanation.”
“‘Granddaddy Lu’; that’s how you address yourself, right?” Fang Chen ignored him and went over to the kneeling figure.
“No, no... Divine General Fang, please call me Little Lu...” Granddaddy Lu was so frightened he trembled like a leaf in the wind.
“Speak; who told you to threaten the constables of the Grand Brilliance Bureau?” Fang Chen smiled. “Give me a name.”
Granddaddy Lu remained silent for some time. After several breaths passed, he spluttered, “I... I took some money from someone, and he told me to keep an eye on Chief Dragon Street. He also said to scare and threaten anyone who tries to approach this courtyard specifically...”
He then described that person’s appearance to Fang Chen. But aside from their features, he didn’t know anything else.
After Granny Wu heard his description, she interjected, “My lord, that’s also the person who paid me to do what I did!”
A sneer rose on Fang Chen’s lips. “Whoever that is, I still haven’t heard a name. Looks like you want to do this the hard way. Lord Yuan, bring them back to the Grand Brilliance Bureau for questioning. We will do this the proper way. See if they committed other crimes and deal with those as well while you’re at it.”
“Yes!” Yuan Zhuang was slightly taken aback, but he reacted quickly. He yelled at Granddaddy Lu and the others. “Get up! Get up right now!”
“Captain Xu, I’ll take my leave. There’s no need to send me off.” Fang Chen smiled at Captain Xu before bringing everyone away.
Yuan Zhuang turned to Captain Xu as they took their leave and a trace of satisfaction flashed in his eyes. “Captain Xu, I’ll bring them all back to the Grand Brilliance Bureau now. There’s no need to thank me for reducing the burden on the shoulders of you and your personnel.”
Captain Xu gritted teeth, then he plastered a smile. “Take care, Lord Yuan...”
He watched as Fang Chen and the others left. When they were finally gone, Captain Xu’s expression turned serious. He raised his eyebrows when he heard his subordinates whispering among themselves, talking about Fang Chen. He whipped around and snorted heavily. “Hmph! Aren’t you bunch chatterboxes most of the time? Why the hell have you turned so quiet all of a sudden just now?!
“My lord, that’s Divine General Fang! Why would we act out of line in front of him?! He had the guts to burn down the Qingsong Superior Academy in broad daylight!”
Everyone was suddenly excited at the mention, and a Valiant Saber Guard exclaimed, "Speaking of which, that was truly satisfying!”
"Indeed it was!"
"I had the privilege of serving in the army under the Divine General’s command back in the day. Unfortunately, I was later transferred to the Valiant Saber Guards. Otherwise, five years ago, I might have had the opportunity to fight alongside Divine General Fang at Three World Mountain."
"Yeah? You might have had the opportunity to be buried there, too,” someone jabbed.
Captain Xu was unconcerned with his subordinates’ chatter, and his expression turned serious. He couldn’t believe that he ran into Fang Chen. Moreover, he might have even offended him by accident. All because of that Granddaddy Lu!
But the more he thought about this whole thing, the more he felt that something wasn’t right, and he promptly brought his subordinates back to the station.
He then went into his superior’s office to report the matter.
After hearing his report, the commander nodded and allowed him to leave.
The commander didn’t dawdle after he left. He changed and quietly made his way to one of the luxurious manors in the Inner City.
Back in the Fang Manor.
Shortly after Fang Chen arrived, Tie Ma appeared in front of him, and he reported, “My lord, Commander Zhang Shuizhou of the Valiant Saber Guards, has entered the deputy minister of rites’ manor.”
"Alright." Fang Chen nodded slightly.
After Tie Ma left, Fang Chen’s divine soul emerged from his body and flew straight for the deputy minister of rites’ manor.
In the guest hall, Fang Chen saw Captain Zhang Shuizhou of the Valiant Saber Guards and the deputy minister of rites, Qin Dong, sitting together.
Commander Zhang Shuizhou took out two silver bills and placed them on the table while speaking in an icy tone. "Lord Qin, you didn't mention that the matter involved that person from the Fang family. Take your money back and don’t look for me ever again.” Both bills had a value of a thousand taels each. It was no small sum.
Qin Dong turned pale. "How could this matter involve Divine General Fang? What does he have to do with it?!"
"I don't know. You merely lost a maidservant back then. Why did the matter reach the Grand Brilliance Bureau? After so many years, it even attracted the attention of that person from the Fang Family. I don’t care what you do, but don’t drag me into it.” He stood up. “Goodbye.”
Qin Dong stared at the now empty spot that was Commander Zhang Shuizhou's seat, in a daze. Clear panic was in his eyes.
"Hmph! Look at you! You, a dignified minister, is scared witless just because you learned that Fang Chen is suddenly involved. Ridiculous!” a cold snort echoed, and an old woman walked out from behind the screen. She stared at Qin Dong mockingly.
Qin Dong stared at the old lady who appeared and tried to appear as courageous as he could. "Do you not know who Divine General Fang is?! Now that he developed suspicions, you better deal with it! After all, you were the one who caused this mess in the first place!”
Floating overhead, Fang Chen stared at the old lady, his expression gradually turning serious. “Cultivators... Hmm, looks like there are quite a few of those Spirit Blood Sect cultivators in the city."
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