Seeing the phone still in the middle of a call, Zhang Yuanqing nearly choked on a curse. Clearly, before the battle began, the burly man in the black tank top had dialed Xiahou Tianyuan's number and left the phone right here.
The commotion from the fight just now, including the man's shout of "Night Wanderer," had all been heard by Xiahou Tianyuan.
In other words, Xiahou Tianyuan knew that the person who killed his subordinates and abducted the "hostage" was a Night Wanderer.
Given how rare Night Wanderers were, given his stance on the Palace of Halting Slaughter affair, and given his "connection" with Wang Qian, Xiahou Tianyuan would suspect him first if he had half a brain.
*Is he really a Fire Master? Is this motherfucker a Fire Master? Since when do Fire Masters have brains?* Zhang Yuanqing cursed inwardly. Leaning down, he picked up the phone and rasped in a hoarse voice, "Hello?"
"Yuanshi Tianzun, is that you?!"
Xiahou Tianyuan's calm voice came through the speaker: "You don't need to meddle in this. I have no intention of making an enemy of you. I won't hold the men you killed against you. As long as you leave that woman behind and walk away right now, our feud is wiped clean. No, I can even give you a few items, or whatever else you want—we can negotiate. Don't hang up..."
Xiahou Tianyuan was on his way, desperate to buy time and keep Yuanshi Tianzun in place.
Zhang Yuanqing sneered. "I'm not Yuanshi Tianzun. I'm your daddy!!"
He hung up, tossed the phone into the fire, and kicked open the closed bedroom door with a flying kick.
With a resounding crash, Zhang Yuanqing charged into the bedroom, his eyes sweeping across the space.
In the corner by the window, a woman dressed in a black maxi skirt and a white T-shirt was curled up against the wall. Her hair was disheveled, and thick duct tape bound her wrists and ankles.
She stared in terror at the stranger barging through the door, trembling like a terrified quail.
"Don't be afraid. I'm an officer, here to rescue you."
As Zhang Yuanqing spoke, he reached behind his waist, pulled the Bloodthirsty Blade from the "Void," and with light flicks between her wrists and ankles, sliced through the tape.
"You're an officer?"
The woman looked haggard, a veiled sorrow lingering in her bloodshot eyes, but as she looked at him, a faint spark of life finally flared.
Her features were delicate and pleasant, bearing a slight resemblance to Wang Qian—the elegant, graceful type.
Perhaps because she had recently almost given birth, her figure was quite lush, yet her waist remained slender.
"No time to explain. I'm getting you out of here—the place is on fire." Zhang Yuanqing hoisted her up. "Can you walk on your own?"
"Y-Yes, I can..." Wang Qian stammered.
The two rushed out of the room one after the other. Acrid smoke choked the air, sending Wang Qian into a coughing fit, but she didn't dare slow down, sticking close behind the young officer.
Entering the living room, Zhang Yuanqing spoke rapidly as he moved: "I saw a black car outside the villa entrance just now. Is it theirs?"
"Yes, yes... they brought me here in a black car..." Seeing the corpses in the living room being licked by flames, Wang Qian's face drained of color.
Zhang Yuanqing immediately dragged the Fire Master's corpse out into the courtyard and patted down the four bodies, not forgetting to ask, "Were there only four people who kidnapped you?"
As he spoke, his hand found car keys in the potbellied middle-aged man's pocket.
"Y-Yes, that's right." Wang Qian turned even paler. She was an ordinary person; when had she ever witnessed a bloodbath like this, or seen so many corpses?
Had the young officer before her killed all of them?
Zhang Yuanqing tossed the keys to Wang Qian and barked, "Take the keys. Let's go!"
With that, he bent down, tucked two corpses under his arms, grabbed the ankles of the other two to drag behind him along the ground, and sprinted out of the villa with Wang Qian.
Wang Qian looked back nervously as she ran, stunned to find that despite hauling several hundred kilograms, the young officer was moving at a brisk sprint.
"Unlock it, open the doors, hurry!" Zhang Yuanqing urged.
He quickly checked his surroundings. The villa compound saw little foot traffic, and since it wasn't commuting hours, nobody was passing by.
As for roadside surveillance cameras or anyone peeking through the windows of neighboring villas, he couldn't care less. In any case, whatever was caught on camera was Xiahou Tianyuan's face.
Wang Qian pressed the unlock button and shakily pulled open the car door.
Zhang Yuanqing tossed the four corpses into the back seat, snatched the keys from her hand, glared at the dazed woman, and barked, "Get in!"
He opened the driver's side door and slid inside.
Zhang Yuanqing had gotten his driver's license back in his second year of high school. The driving school had offered student discounts to drum up business and promised a license in a single summer break.
His aunt thought it was a great idea and paid out of pocket to send her nephew to driving lessons.
Zhang Yuanqing had passed Subjects One through Four on his first try, and the instructor had praised him as a natural behind the wheel.
However, after getting his license, Zhang Yuanqing had never touched a car again.
*What the hell does PRND mean? This isn't like a manual...* Settling into the seat, his eyes swept over the gear shifter, and his expression instantly froze.
"Can you drive?"
"Yes."
"You drive."
The two swiftly swapped seats. Wang Qian started the car, gripped the steering wheel with trembling hands, and slammed on the gas.
The car sped through the villa compound's streets. Afraid of being boxed in at the gate by Xiahou Tianyuan, Zhang Yuanqing urged her to go faster.
A dozen seconds later, the estate gates appeared ahead. Zhang Yuanqing said in a low, firm voice, "Don't stop. Ram through it!"
"Are you really an officer?" Wang Qian asked, tears in her voice.
"Cut the crap! Ram through!" he repeated, hardening his tone.
Gritting her teeth, Wang Qian steeled her resolve and floored the accelerator.
Amid the roar of the engine, the black sedan smashed through the guard post's barrier and sped away.
"Head for the Kangyang District Public Security Bureau!"
Having said that, Zhang Yuanqing leaned back against the seat and closed his eyes to rest.
His original plan was to kill the kidnappers, rescue Wang Qian, keep his own involvement strictly anonymous, and let Xiahou Tianyuan suspect the Palace of Halting Slaughter.
But now his identity was almost certainly compromised. The previous plan wouldn't work; he needed a new one.
*Good thing I had a backup plan...* Zhang Yuanqing opened his eyes, fished out his phone, and dialed Fu Qingyang's number.
After five ringing tones, the call connected. Fu Qingyang's aloof, ascetic voice came through the speaker: "What is it?"
"Centurion Fu, I have executed procedural justice."
"The result?"
"Target has been rescued. During the operation, the four kidnappers resisted fiercely and were eliminated by me. I am currently escorting the corpses and the hostage to the Kangyang District Public Security Bureau. Awaiting your instructions!"
"Very good!" Fu Qingyang praised. "Bring the bodies back. Do not question their spirits yourself; let people from the Taiyi Sect do it. We need corroborating charges. I will issue the arrest order for Xiahou Tianyuan immediately on the grounds of endangering public safety."
Zhang Yuanqing breathed a sigh of relief, then asked, "I'm afraid a charge like that won't deal serious damage to Xiahou Tianyuan, will it?"
In a calm, cold tone, Fu Qingyang uttered words that left Zhang Yuanqing dumbfounded: "Aside from endangering public safety, Xiahou Tianyuan might also be guilty of hiring contract killers, intentional homicide, intentional assault, rape, soliciting prostitutes, and organizing prostitution. I will need to look into this thoroughly."
*I'm still too naive...* Zhang Yuanqing asked, "What about Xiahou Xin?"
Fu Qingyang said calmly, "That will depend on how we interrogate Xiahou Tianyuan."
*Great idea!* Zhang Yuanqing asked again, "What about the Xiahou family?"
Fu Qingyang said dryly, "Know when to stop."
"Understood, Centurion!"
Zhang Yuanqing hung up.
On the other side, three imported commercial vans sped into the villa compound.
Pulling up outside the villa, Xiahou Tianyuan saw over a dozen property management workers fighting the fire with hoses and extinguishers.
Plumes of thick smoke billowed from the open windows.
Xiahou Tianyuan's face was livid. He sat in the car without a word while his bodyguards opened their doors and entered the villa.
Soon, a bodyguard hurried back and bowed by the car window. "The bodies and the woman have been taken."
*Even the bodies were taken...* Xiahou Tianyuan clenched his teeth until his masseter muscles bulged. Suppressing his fury, he dialed his father Xiahou Xin's number.
"Dad, that woman was taken by the authorities—it was that Yuanshi Tianzun, the guy I beat up the other day... I don't know how he found this place... Everyone I stationed at the villa is dead, and the bodies were taken too... What do I do now?"
At this point, panic began to creep into Xiahou Tianyuan's mind.
The Xiahou family had cultivated their influence for years; many in the Five Elements Alliance belonged to their faction or had accepted their favors.
Yet the Five Elements Alliance was colossal and faction-ridden; not everyone feared the Xiahou family.
Without evidence or public exposure, people wouldn't bother locking horns with the Xiahou family. But with hard evidence, things were completely different.
"What's there to panic about!" Xiahou Xin remained composed. After a few seconds of silence, he said, "Go turn yourself in immediately."
"Turn myself in?" Xiahou Tianyuan's voice spiked. "How could I turn myself in—"
He abruptly realized. "You mean...?"
Xiahou Xin gave a low hum of affirmation, his tone steady. "You don't need me to teach you who to turn yourself in to, do you?"
A wave of relief washed over Xiahou Tianyuan, and a smile broke across his face. "Understood."
Naturally, he would surrender to official stage practitioners allied with the Xiahou family, using self-surrender as a shield to seek protection.
Under no circumstances could he fall into outside hands—such as Fu Qingyang, Deacon of Kangyang District.
Hanging up the phone, Xiahou Tianyuan's smile vanished. He slammed his fist savagely into the back of the seat, snarling through gritted teeth, "Yuanshi Tianzun, I'm going to slaughter you! I'll dig up your real-world identity and make you pay!"
Inside the speeding car, Zhang Yuanqing lit up his phone screen, opened his messaging app, and sent a text to Wang Qian: "Your sister is safe."
Chapter 85