Supervisor Bao had actually been in sheer torment over the past few days. Word had already reached him that after the transport train was ambushed, losing such "company assets" was an offense severe enough to bring down exceptionally harsh punishment upon him.
Being relegated to a desk job would be the least of it; he was highly likely to be fired and cast out of the company, an outcome entirely unacceptable to him.
Only when Chen Chuan brought back one of the subjects did he see a glimmer of hope to redeem his blunder. And now, catching sight of this downed airship stirred a burst of excitement within him.
If they could recover the second one as well, he would be able to make up for his mistake with meritorious service. Moreover, having rooted out the mole lurking within the company along the way meant the final outcome wouldn't be too terrible.
Once the airship drew closer, the lookout recognized it as what looked like a Red Sparrow-class airship from Haixi Dao's Longqi Company.
It was a small craft capable of relatively high speeds and exceptionally well-suited for short-distance flights, yet it possessed poor resistance against rain, snow, and strong winds. It seemed very likely that it had been brought down after running into the blizzard two days earlier.
As their airship slowly descended, more details came into view. The craft appeared to have collided with trees during an emergency crash-landing, causing the contents of its cabin to spill out.
Some distance away, the container Yuangan Company had used to store that person was visible, now more than half-buried in heavy snow and completely empty inside.
Observing from above, Chen Chuan judged that after the container had spilled out, someone had attempted to drag it over some distance.
Naturally, that was only possible because after Yuangan Company discovered these two ancient martial artists, their bodies had shrunk back down to normal proportions. Had they still been in their original state of standing over twenty meters tall, taking them anywhere would have been out of the question.
However, the marks of violent damage inside the container showed that the martial artist had refused to endure it any longer and chose to break out under her own power.
Yuangan Company's armed personnel lowered themselves down on guide cables. After a sweep, they dug up several frozen, stiff corpses from beneath the snow and also found the inner wrapping bag that had encased the martial artist. It was already empty, with clear signs of having been torn apart from the inside.
Though most traces were buried under the heavy snow, Chen Chuan caught a faint residual trace of a biological field after a few glances.
A martial artist's biological field had an intense presence. Restraining it at will required a certain level of physical and mental energy. This ancient martial artist was likely exceedingly weak as well, making it practically impossible for her to suppress it completely. Thus, he could track her down by following these traces.
He gave a few instructions to Supervisor Bao and once more set out along the trail left behind by the field.
After he departed, the assistant stepped forward and asked, "Supervisor, just ahead lies the territory of Haixi Dao. Should we file a notification?"
Supervisor Bao hesitated. Reporting this matter to Haixi Dao meant not only notifying them, but also disclosing certain information to their side.
Yet on second thought, this incident truly couldn't be concealed anyway. Furthermore, when dealing with Haixi Dao, failing to follow proper procedure would leave behind far too many lingering complications down the road.
"Let's file the notification," he said.
Chen Chuan judged that she couldn't have run very far. A prolonged decline coupled with the lack of high-energy nutritional support meant she had no way to sustain high-intensity exertion. At most, she could only manage basic walking, which meant she certainly wouldn't be far from the crash site.
The facts bore out his assessment. Even though he couldn't move too quickly because he had to read the field traces, he still located the escaped martial artist three hours later.
It was a white-haired woman resting with her back against a tree. Although her cheeks and skin were just as emaciated as Zharnik's, it was clear that she originally had a massive skeletal frame and must have been an exceptionally robust woman packed with muscle.
Her current state was far better than Zharnik's had been, likely because she had used some method to restore a portion of her strength.
The moment she spotted Chen Chuan, the white-haired woman let out a curse and smashed a large tree beside her with an elbow strike. Grasping the severed trunk with both hands, she hurled the half-trunk—crackling with deep crimson light—directly toward him.
The two were separated by dozens of meters, yet the trunk crossed the distance in the blink of an eye. In the next instant, with a booming crash, countless splintered fragments burst outward accompanied by scattering spiritual light.
Faint light flickered across Chen Chuan's hand. His stride did not falter in the slightest, his expression calm as he continued walking toward her step by step.
The white-haired woman let out another roar. She seemed to possess an even worse temper than Zharnik, actively charging straight toward him. In the process, her frame expanded outward by a considerable degree.
One hand held high and the other low, her five fingers slightly splayed, a tearing vortex of air seemed to form between her palms while the light around her body flickered like flames in the wind.
Her movements bore similarities to Zharnik's, yet there were differences as well. It looked very much as though the technique had been created for hunting specific quarry, carrying a rugged, ancient style.
Even so, the principle remained the same: when martial artists clashed, one had to at least maintain basic stamina to sustain a minimum threshold of strength and speed. If a party lacked even that, it could hardly be called a contest; at most, one could offer a post-battle compliment on their commendable courage.
Watching her close in, Chen Chuan leaned his body slightly forward. That single, simple movement caused the impact point the white-haired woman had predicted to shift. She immediately attempted to adjust, but it was already too late. Chen Chuan thrust a punch straight between her hands. Before she could react, a powerful force slammed squarely into her face.
With just this simple punch, the Spiritual Fire across her body was instantly shattered. The jin penetrated inward, rolling her eyes back and knocking her unconscious in a heartbeat. The forward momentum of her charge kept her face momentarily pressed against his fist, while her limp limbs and torso trailed uselessly forward through the air.
Chen Chuan held his striking posture. A moment later, the white-haired woman slipped from his fist and hit the ground with a soft thud. After a short while, wisps of vapor rose from her form, and she shrank back to her initial appearance.
Chen Chuan glanced at the white-haired woman. Like Zharnik, she clearly followed the path of the Visage of the Aberrant and had reached an extremely high tier of cultivation.
It was just that both of them were far too weak to display much of their true capability. Their temperaments, however, were equally tough and fiery. The previous one had lashed out at the slightest disagreement, and this one had launched an attack without so much as a single word.
Since both of them preferred reasoning with their fists, he chose to respect their customs.
Chen Chuan stepped forward, intending to carry her off, when he sensed something and looked in a certain direction. A strange airship had appeared there, and a figure dropped from it. Just moments later, a sudden surge of air swirled around, and a man appeared atop a nearby knoll, followed only then by the sonic boom tearing through the sky.
Chen Chuan took him in. The man appeared to be in his thirties, with a rather long chin, a narrow face, a slender, flowing beard along his lips and chin, and hair tied into a topknot. His martial artist attire carried the distinct flavor of the old era, and he held one hand behind his back, projecting an imposing aura.
He looked at Chen Chuan and introduced himself.
"Chief Chen, I presume? I am Qi Huishi, External Affairs Officer of Center City in Haixi Dao. I happened to be in the vicinity investigating an incident, and just now we learned the general situation from the telegram sent by Yuangan Company. Hearing that a dangerous individual was loose out here, I hurried over. I didn't expect Chief Chen to have already found her.
"Chief Chen, please hand this person over to me for processing."
Chen Chuan looked at him. "Hand her over to you?"
"Correct. This is within Haixi Dao territory."
Qi Huishi spoke as if it were only natural. "According to the general convention governing the daos, when an over-limit incident occurs within a dao, whether concerning persons or property, personnel of the local dao may take charge of handling it. Therefore, this matter should rightfully be turned over to Haixi Dao."
Chen Chuan looked at him and said, "My apologies, but I will not be handing her over to you."
Qi Huishi frowned. "What do you mean by that, Chief Chen?"
Looking at him, Chen Chuan replied in a cool voice, "Mr. Qi, your status is merely that of an External Affairs Officer, while this matter involves national security and corporate secrets. If you wish to take this person or discuss this matter with me, have the chief of your Security Defense Department come speak with me directly, rather than citing some general convention that has no basis in statutory law."
Qi Huishi's expression darkened slightly. Haixi Dao's Security Defense Department chief was not a martial artist. Setting aside the fact that the chief wasn't present, even if he were, speaking with Chen Chuan would still not place them on equal footing.
In truth, martial artists usually held ceremonial sinecures; even when appointed to important posts, they were merely nominal figureheads. Someone like Chen Chuan, who held genuine executive power, was exceedingly rare.
Having said his piece, Chen Chuan paid him no further mind. His refusal to let the man take her stemmed from an instinctual feeling that Qi Huishi's presence here was suspicious.
For a martial artist not to remain in the Confluence, but instead come out to investigate some incident, and to happen to be right nearby—it was simply too much of a coincidence.
He stepped forward, scooped up the white-haired woman, hoisted her onto his shoulder, and prepared to head back.
Qi Huishi stood there in silence, his gaze locked on Chen Chuan's back. His fist slowly tightened, but in the end he relaxed it. Looking up, he called out, "Chief Chen, hold on a moment."
Chen Chuan turned his head.
Qi Huishi dropped down from the knoll and faced him. "Chief Chen, you are the one who captured her. Asking you to hand her directly over to us just now was indeed somewhat presumptuous, and I apologize for that.
"However, if you take her away just like this, it will be hard for me to give an accounting upon my return. I, Qi, have my own face to uphold as well. How about this: let us resolve our dispute through the ways of fighters."
He produced a key and flicked it with his thumb. The object flew through the air, spun several times, and embedded itself upright into a nearby rock with a crisp metallic clang.
"The key to a safe-deposit box at Wansheng Financial Firm. Inside are high-energy nutritional ingredients I have stored away, along with certain state-rationed auxiliary cultivation medicines."
He stared at Chen Chuan. "We spar. If you lose, I take the person, and Haixi Dao will cover the expenses of the battle—we can consider it making a friend. If I lose..." He gestured to the side. "You may take both the person and the key."
Chapter 853