When Did It Happen?

A magnetic storm weapon capable of destroying communications equipment en masse in a short period. If such a weapon were truly deployed, the combat capability of the entire Outer States would be knocked down an entire tier. Shen Jingye considered having someone take official interrogation notes, but on second thought, he dismissed the idea. Once someone else entered to transcribe the session, Geng Shunxi would likely refuse to speak the truth again. Besides, there might be a mole inside the bureau right now. Once a written record was filed, the news would inevitably leak. Shen Jingye asked Geng Shunxi, "Where is the base for the magnetic storm weapons?" "On the seabed southeast of Jiahe Islet. I have the coordinates, as well as the license numbers of several ships that frequently travel to the base. I'll give them all to you, as long as you can guarantee my safety." Geng Shunxi recited the coordinates and license numbers. Shen Jingye took out a notebook and had just written them down when the lights in the interrogation room suddenly went out. A blackout? That was impossible! The Dark Star Bureau possessed three separate power systems: two tied to the city grid and one self-contained generator. Even if the municipal grid suffered a catastrophic failure, a blackout at the Dark Star Bureau remained utterly impossible. An electrician was about to head toward the distribution room to investigate when Shen Jingye ordered someone to stop him. Someone had infiltrated the Dark Star Bureau. Shen Jingye stepped back into the interrogation room and looked at Geng Shunxi. "I'll ask you one more time: is Du Wenming one of yours?" He had asked this question repeatedly. Geng Shunxi dared not make a sound, nor did he dare let even the slightest distinct expression cross his face. This alone confirmed that Du Wenming belonged to the Hundred Demons Workshop. Like the Workshop Master and several other senior figures, his very name was shielded by a curse. Du Wenming had participated several times in renovation projects for the Dark Star Bureau's headquarters. He understood the facility no less than Shen Jingye did. If he was the one who had slipped inside, sending an electrician to inspect the power equipment at this moment was tantamount to sending the man to his death. Shen Jingye drew out his mobile phone, only to find zero signal. He ordered the Communications Section to contact higher headquarters immediately, but the section chief reported back that every piece of communication equipment had gone completely dead. Was the magnetic storm weapon already operational? Shen Jingye immediately ordered all personnel in the Dark Star Bureau to assemble and prepare for battle. They had to move fast. Shen Jingye had no idea how many men Du Wenming had brought, nor could he gauge his current combat strength; he only knew Du Wenming could strike at any second. Prepare for battle... Could they even fight? Back at the farm, every security measure stood more than a tier above the Dark Star Bureau's, yet they still hadn't managed to stop Du Wenming. More than ninety percent of the bureau's manpower, carriers, and equipment had been deployed off-site on assignments. The personnel remaining at headquarters were mostly archivists, lab technicians, and logistical, non-combat staff. Furthermore, Du Wenming had personally participated in designing and renovating over ninety percent of the building's defensive installations. They couldn't fight. No one here could stop Du Wenming. Shen Jingye couldn't lead them to their slaughter; he had to get them out of the building. Shen Jingye wanted to order an evacuation, but he quickly realized that the odds of a full-scale escape were razor-thin. Ambushes were certainly set up around the perimeter. Moving everyone at once would make too much noise, allowing Du Wenming to intercept them effortlessly. Non-combat staff wouldn't even make it past the main gate before being wiped out. He needed to send a dedicated messenger to deliver word, and that messenger had to be their strongest fighter. Within the Dark Star Bureau, the operatives with real fighting power—including Chen Changrui—were all out in the field. With communications severed, Shen Jingye had no way to reach them. The only capable fighter left appeared to be... Everyone waited for Shen Jingye's orders. Shen Jingye glanced at the Boundary switch on the desk. The Boundary was their last hope. Shen Jingye assembled all personnel inside the interrogation room, preparing to activate the Boundary. He scanned every face present: a handful of remaining field agents, lab technicians, archivists, maintenance crew, janitors, gatekeepers... Leave them all in the interrogation room? No. Du Wenming's objective was precisely the interrogation room. There was also the Carrier Section's storeroom; a Boundary had been installed there as well. He could put their own people in the Carrier Section storeroom and keep the captives from the Hundred Demons Workshop in the interrogation room. That was a viable plan, but the crucial problem remained: there might be a mole among their own ranks. If a traitor cooperated with Du Wenming from the inside, how could they counter it? After a moment's consideration, Shen Jingye singled out three individuals: his secretary Liu Ning, Investigation Section Chief Song Qingping, and Communications Section Chief Gu Hao. Among everyone left in the bureau, these three were the ones Shen Jingye trusted most. He took them into his office one by one, assigned each a separate task, and then handed the Boundary switch to Secretary Liu Ning. The Boundaries for both the interrogation room and the Carrier Section storeroom were activated. Shen Jingye told the group in the storeroom that he was heading to the interrogation room, and told the group in the interrogation room that he was heading to the storeroom. Yet he went to neither. Alone, he took the stairwell down to the underground parking garage. Under the present circumstances, the person with the highest combat strength in the Dark Star Bureau was Shen Jingye himself. By his calculations, Du Wenming would head straight for the interrogation room to execute all the core members of the Hundred Demons Workshop. If Du Wenming lacked the means to cross a Boundary, the captives would survive. If he possessed a way to breach it, Shen Jingye's only choice was to ensure the survival of his own people while getting the intelligence outside. The Carrier Section storeroom was heavily fortified and packed with gear; Du Wenming would unlikely storm it by force. Shen Jingye had to seize this window to slip out of the building, rally reinforcements from outside, and report everything to higher leadership. This was no rash gamble; it was grounded in his deep understanding of Du Wenming and a calculation cultivator's rigorous assessment of probability. Leave through the main gate? Shen Jingye ran a quick calculation. There was guaranteed to be an ambush near the gate. He went to the garage instead. As long as he drove out through the vehicle exit, he stood a solid chance of getting the word out. Just as he pulled open the car door, a voice that sent a chill down his spine drifted over: "Director Shen, where are you off to?" Du Wenming was in the garage! A low-probability event? No, this wasn't a matter of probability at all! It was a mole. Shen Jingye's head buzzed. Only those three knew he intended to leave the building. Could one of them truly be the traitor? And had the bureau's communications really been knocked out by a magnetic storm weapon, or was it... Du Wenming stepped toward Shen Jingye with a smile. "You've always liked projecting a thrifty, unpretentious image before your superiors, but standard perks should still be observed. Heading out without even a driver?" Shen Jingye forced a smile. "It's late, and the drivers are resting. I didn't want to disturb them." Du Wenming sighed. "It truly is late. Heading off to report on work at this hour—aren't you worried about disturbing the leadership?" "I'm not reporting on work. I'm going home to sleep. You know what my wife is like; if I'm even a little late, she throws a fit." "Right, Sister-in-law's mental state has caused you a lot of grief over the years. I've already arranged a clinic abroad dedicated to treating her condition, and I've set up schooling overseas for your child. "As for you, you've toiled for over half your life. I'll provide you with enough funds to retire abroad in absolute comfort. If you agree, come upstairs with me right now and deactivate the Boundaries. Once I kill those few from the Hundred Demons Workshop, I'll take you away with me." Shen Jingye appeared taken aback. "Director Du, what has gotten into you? Out of nowhere, why bring up retirement? "I'm a career bureaucrat. Old as I might be, I still want to climb the ladder. Talking about retirement now feels a bit premature." Du Wenming nodded. "If you don't want to retire, that's fine too. I heard you went missing for a spell before the New Year; you can simply disappear again for a while. Once some time passes, I'll let you return to resume your official post. How high you climb will depend on your own fortune." Shen Jingye shook his head. "That won't do. As you know, I had that mishap before. If I don't learn my lesson, the higher-ups will lose all faith in me." Du Wenming's brow furrowed slightly. "Beating around the bush this long—do you honestly not understand what I mean?" Shen Jingye looked at Du Wenming. "Between the two of us, who doesn't understand whom?" Du Wenming rolled his ankle slightly. "You want to play the hero?" Shen Jingye brushed his fingers along the car door. "Hardly a hero. Just trying to fulfill my duty." Du Wenming chuckled. "You're talking to me about duty? What kind of nonsense are you spouting? Do you think you're drafting an official report? Others might not know you, but do you think I don't? Reaching a post like yours, don't you know what kind of man you are? Do you actually think you're a good person?" Shen Jingye considered it carefully. "A thoroughly good man, perhaps not. Half a good man, maybe. More than half, at least." Du Wenming twisted his ankle, and Shen Jingye's ankle twisted in unison with it, wrenching out of its socket. Ignoring the agony in his ankle, Shen Jingye pulled a tissue from the car and tossed it onto the concrete. The landing spot had been calculated precisely. Mid-dance, Du Wenming stepped right onto the paper, throwing his rhythmic steps into disarray. Shen Jingye seized the split second to break free from the control, dragging his fractured left foot into the car to start the engine. The car surged forward, rocketing toward the garage exit. Suddenly, his right foot on the gas pedal betrayed him, slamming down hard on the brakes. The car skidded to an abrupt halt. Shen Jingye glanced in the rearview mirror to see Du Wenming gliding gracefully across the floor, rapidly closing the distance. *** Li Banfeng sprinted toward the Dark Star Bureau building. Half a block away, the glove in his pocket suddenly began to tremble. "What's wrong?" "Our pathway's... Ancestor..." The glove couldn't even stammer out a coherent sentence. Xiao Qianshou? He was nearby? Shen Jingye's calculations were spot-on: there was an ambush at the entrance, and Xiao Qianshou stood guard outside. Li Banfeng engaged Golden Eyes of Keen Detail, Discerning Spiritual Sounds, and Exquisite Hundred Flavors, methodically scanning for Xiao Qianshou's position. "Master, there's move—" Before Qiansi could finish, her voice abruptly cut out. Li Banfeng looked up to find Xiao Qianshou perched atop a lamppost, dangling the Qiansi earring from his fingers. He gave a genial chuckle. "A fine Scrutiny Cultivator artifact. To hand it over just like that—doesn't your heart ache?" The glove trembled in terror, frightened that Li Banfeng would recklessly charge in and duel Xiao Qianshou. Li Banfeng had always treated his treasures like family, but acting impetuously now would only result in Xiao Qianshou stealing more and more from him, tilting the battle further out of reach. Retreating into the companion dwelling was impossible as well; Xiao Qianshou would undoubtedly snatch the key the moment it appeared. On paper, Li Banfeng stood no chance. The gulf between their cultivations and battle experience was simply too vast. The earring twitched frantically against Xiao Qianshou's fingertips, as though crying out to Li Banfeng for help. Xiao Qianshou flicked his fingers and tucked the earring into his sleeve. A primary function of the Universe in the Sleeve technique was severing the bond between a treasure and its master; otherwise, a newly stolen artifact could still turn against its thief in battle. However, this technique was heavily dependent on cultivation tiers. Low-tier Thief Cultivators utilizing Universe in the Sleeve found it nearly impossible to completely sever that spiritual connection. Beyond that, the outcome depended on the opponent's tier, the treasure's tier, and the depth of sentiment between master and artifact. If both the artifact and its owner stood at elevated cultivation levels, or if their emotional bond ran exceptionally deep, even a high-tier Thief Cultivator could fail. Yet Xiao Qianshou had utter confidence he would not fail. He had created the technique himself. In his eyes, the Qiansi earring was hardly a high-tier artifact, Li Banfeng was far from a grandmaster, and sentiment was nothing more than a punchline. He placed no faith in feelings, though he was happy to exploit them as leverage. "Little brother, you seem quite fond of this earring. Let's make a deal: return my disciple to me, and I'll hand the earring back to you. You won't be losing out! If you refuse, not only will you never see your earring again, but I'll still take my disciple, and you might not even walk away with your life." Li Banfeng remained silent, his fingers shifting slightly toward his right pocket. Xiao Qianshou caught the movement. "Still got good stuff? You really are generous. Whatever treasures you've got, bring them out; I'm happy to take every last one." "Boss, let me go!" the glove spoke up. "To have shared this bond with you has been my greatest blessing. I'm content." Xiao Qianshou had sharp ears and caught the glove's voice. "Hear that? My disciple knows how the world works; he's willing to come back to me. Why stand in the middle? Don't you feel a bit redundant?" Li Banfeng's fingertips twitched as he reached toward his right pocket again, a faint smirk surfacing on his face. "Old thief, the one who just spoke isn't your disciple—he's my brother. And the earring you just stole isn't an artifact—she's my sister. I have urgent business today and no time to waste on you. Give me my sister back, and get the hell out of my sight." Xiao Qianshou chuckled. "Boy, who do you think you're talking to?" Li Banfeng snapped his leg forward, kicking the lamppost in two. "Look at you, so young yet so bad-tempered!" As the post crashed to the ground, Xiao Qianshou vanished without a trace—the Thief technique, Coming and Going Without a Shadow. "Old thief, where did you run off to?" Li Banfeng's voice carried a hint of apparent agitation. Xiao Qianshou's voice echoed through the air: "Don't ask me. Why don't you try finding me? How about a wager: if you find me, I'll return the earring; if you can't, I take another item from you." "Boss, be careful!" The glove was terrified. This was the most dangerous position to be in. With Coming and Going Without a Shadow combined with Stepping on Snow Without a Trace, Li Banfeng couldn't sense Xiao Qianshou at all. Once Xiao Qianshou closed the distance, Li Banfeng's artifacts, spiritual objects, and weapons would be ripe for the picking—even the full repertoire of his techniques. Hidden in the shadows, Xiao Qianshou was in no rush to strike, nor was he eager to kill Li Banfeng. In his philosophy, murder had never been the proper business of a Thief Cultivator. He merely wanted to pin Li Banfeng down here and reclaim his disciple along the way. He thoroughly relished seeing Li Banfeng in this state. Watching Li Banfeng scan the surroundings in confusion, having lost his treasure without a clue where to look—that pathetic, helpless look on a victim's face was what Xiao Qianshou savored most after every heist. He watched as Li Banfeng felt his pocket, drew his hand back, clutching his treasure out of fear of losing it, while foolishly broadcasting its exact location to anyone watching. Letting such a fool suffer a bit would count as broadening the boy's horizons. Then he saw Li Banfeng turn his head and smile directly at him. Xiao Qianshou shivered. Li Banfeng could actually see him! How could he possibly see him...? Li Banfeng's figure vanished in an instant. Not good! Viewing Flowers from Horseback! Xiao Qianshou quickly swept the area and spotted Li Banfeng's silhouette in the brush beside the road. *Bang!* Even though he had caught sight of Li Banfeng, Xiao Qianshou's chest jolted as a wound opened up—Viewing Flowers from Horseback had taken effect a step faster. *How on earth did he see me?* Li Banfeng charged straight at Xiao Qianshou, preparing to trap him dead with Close the Doors and Bar the Gates. Xiao Qianshou had no idea Li Banfeng was a Homestead Cultivator, but he had no intention of letting him get close. He immediately shifted positions, leaping from the bank awning onto a lightbox behind a hotel, vanishing into thin air once more mid-flight. Li Banfeng scanned the surroundings. Just as Xiao Qianshou positioned himself for an ambush, Li Banfeng glanced behind the lightbox, and his figure disappeared again. *Bang!* A wound tore open across Xiao Qianshou's chest. Li Banfeng pursued once more, attempting to deploy Close the Doors and Bar the Gates, but Xiao Qianshou slipped away again. Though he had evaded the follow-up strike, Xiao Qianshou could not comprehend how Li Banfeng kept pinpointing him. Down in the parking garage, Shen Jingye had suffered multiple broken bones. Half-crawling and half-limping against the wall, he looked up at Du Wenming. "Your skills have improved considerably." "Drop the act," Du Wenming scoffed. "We've never crossed hands before; how would you know how skilled I am? You probably just heard a story or two from Li Seven. "Still, your methods have genuinely impressed me. I knew you weren't a raw beginner, but I never expected your attainments in calculation to be this profound. "Old Shen, it would be a pity for you to die here. Take my advice: go upstairs right now, deactivate the Boundaries, and leave with me!" Shen Jingye shook his head. "I wouldn't dare go with you. I don't trust your character." Du Wenming frowned. "Didn't I tell you to stop acting? How could your character be any better than mine?" Shen Jingye pulled himself to his feet, looked Du Wenming in the eye, and smiled faintly. "Still a little better than yours." Out on the street, after suffering two consecutive blows, Xiao Qianshou finally noticed the problem. His own sleeve was smoking. It wasn't much—just a tiny puff escaping now and then—but that minuscule wisp was more than enough to betray his location. Where was the smoke coming from? There was no need to guess. For the smoke to coordinate so perfectly with Li Banfeng, it had to be coming from the earring. Yet the earring was trapped within his sleeve. Xiao Qianshou refused to believe that an artifact of modest rank could punch through his Universe in the Sleeve technique. There had to be a deeper trick at play. Xiao Qianshou was right; there was indeed a deeper trick. What he couldn't guess was that the force piercing through Universe in the Sleeve wasn't the Qiansi earring, but Li Banfeng's own technique: Enumerating One's Family Treasures. Homestead Cultivators countered Thief Cultivators; a Homestead Cultivator standing by his own threshold had no fear of thieves stealing his possessions. Enumerating One's Family Treasures was the pillar technique of a Homestead Cultivator and the one Li Banfeng wielded best. The Qiansi earring was part of his household; even tucked inside Xiao Qianshou's sleeve, she maintained a direct spiritual resonance with Li Banfeng, coordinating their assault as one. Xiao Qianshou was deeply astonished, yet he kept his composure. He resolved to destroy the earring at once. Yet he was uncertain of its exact grade; if he failed to crush it immediately, he would only hand Li Seven an opening to strike, which would cost him dearly. As the founder of a pathway, he possessed ten thousand tactical responses. Xiao Qianshou engaged Coming and Going Without a Shadow once more, pretending not to notice the smoke rising from his sleeve. Moments later, another puff drifted out. Li Banfeng glanced back toward Xiao Qianshou and took off at a sprint. A streetside trash bin exploded, scattering packaging, plastic bottles, and shredded paper everywhere. *Bang!* Xiao Qianshou had seen the smoke as well. Forewarned this time, he triggered Stealing the Beams and Replacing the Pillars in advance, swapping his position with the trash bin. Li Banfeng felt danger looming as Xiao Qianshou materialized right beside him. The glove cried out in alarm, "Everyone, look out!" No one could tell what Xiao Qianshou intended to steal; even the glove couldn't read his intentions. Xiao Qianshou thrust his left hand toward Li Banfeng's chest, aiming to steal a technique. The strike grabbed empty air. Li Banfeng reacted fast enough, slipping away with Carefree and Unfettered. With a second strike, Xiao Qianshou thrust his right hand toward Li Banfeng's throat—this time not to steal, but to claim his life. Li Banfeng could not use Carefree and Unfettered twice in such rapid succession. In desperation, he shoved his hand into his right trousers pocket once more. Xiao Qianshou laughed uproariously, his right hand abruptly veering down toward Li Banfeng's pocket. "Whatever good stuff you have, give it here!" As he laughed, Li Banfeng involuntarily laughed with him, afflicted by the Smile Cultivator technique, Universal Celebration. His physical movements slowed noticeably. When a Travel Cultivator fought a Thief Cultivator, speed decided life and death. Li Banfeng gripped the object but failed to pull it out in time; it was snatched away by Xiao Qianshou. By pure instinct, Xiao Qianshou knew the item was extraordinarily valuable. It was a shattered test tube, its viscous, sticky contents already leaking out over his fingers. Xiao Qianshou froze for a second. "What is this?" Li Banfeng glanced at the slime on his own fingers and answered earnestly, "Good stuff." Li Banfeng had crushed the vial himself; both of them were now coated in the fluid. This was the serum Critic had concocted for Du Wenming. It was indeed good stuff—for Du Wenming, it was a lifeline. For anyone else, it was a fatal pathogen. Pustules began erupting across both of their hands in rapid succession. Xiao Qianshou's expression turned ferocious, while Li Banfeng remained completely composed. "Come on, let's keep fighting!" Li Banfeng patted the glove, instructing him to guard all his possessions. Could the glove hold the line? The glove wasn't certain himself, but Li Banfeng trusted him. Li Banfeng fought Xiao Qianshou barehanded. Xiao Qianshou had lost all appetite for battle; his mind was consumed entirely by the erupting pustules. In the Outer States, he had offended Zhou Badou and Li Seven; in Puluo Province, he had crossed the peddler, Sun Tiecheng, and He Jiaqing. Making enemies didn't scare him—what wanderer of the martial world didn't have a few blood feuds? However, his strength hadn't fully recovered. If he became crippled by a virulent pestilence on top of that, things would become dire. After a few rapid exchanges, Xiao Qianshou flicked a ring on his left hand across his right wrist, cleanly severing his own right hand at the forearm. The slightest hesitation would have allowed the contagion to spread through his entire body. To bring himself to perform such a ruthless amputation at the critical juncture demonstrated the sheer resolve and foresight of a pathway ancestor! Li Banfeng punctured one of his own pustules and flicked the infected pus onto Xiao Qianshou's left hand. Gritting his teeth, Xiao Qianshou sprouted an additional hand from beneath his right ribs, snatched the ring, and sliced off his left hand as well. The hand beneath his ribs was Xiao Qianshou's original limb. After enduring immense hardship to recover three hands, he had lost every single one in a single night. Anyone else would have suffered a complete mental collapse. But a pathway ancestor was forged from different metal; Xiao Qianshou could endure it. He was a man who had clawed his own life back from the peddler's grasp! As they clashed, more pustules across Li Banfeng's body ruptured, spraying foul fluid across Xiao Qianshou's face. "You lunatic..." Xiao Qianshou was at a loss for words. Looking at Li Banfeng covered in sores, the disease had clearly taken deep root. If this stalemate dragged on, they would both die together. Xiao Qianshou had no desire to die alongside Li Seven. Combat was never his specialty, but no one surpassed him when it came to escape. After a few more exchanges, Xiao Qianshou's figure flickered and dissolved into nothingness once more. Li Banfeng looked back toward the Dark Star Bureau building and abandoned all thought of pursuit. He couldn't fall for the trap; the bastard had merely been stalling for time. Li Banfeng scooped up Xiao Qianshou's two severed hands from the ground, stowed them in the companion dwelling, and pulled the Qiansi earring from his sleeve. "Master, I was terrified," the earring whimpered, burrowing into Li Banfeng's chest. The gramophone looked at Li Banfeng's blistered body. "Precious Husband, how did you end up coated in such pestilence?" Li Banfeng engaged Sleep Soundly without Worry to purge the toxins from his system. "Darling Wife, I just traded blows with Xiao Qianshou. If I had managed to pull off Close the Doors and Bar the Gates or Expand the Domain and Open the Frontiers, I never would have let that old bastard get away!" The gramophone enveloped Li Banfeng in a cloud of soothing steam. "Precious Husband, Xiao Qianshou moves too quickly; executing techniques in front of him is no simple feat. Husband, check yourself carefully—did you lose anything?" Li Banfeng inspected his gear. Nothing was missing; in fact, he had gained something. The glove presented a ring. "Boss, this belongs to our pathway. The craftsmanship is exquisite—a rare treasure indeed." Li Banfeng glanced at it. "You took this from Xiao Qianshou?" The glove tapped its index finger. "I plucked it right off the hand under his ribs!" "Well done! A hefty reward for you!" Li Banfeng slipped the ring onto the glove's index finger and promised that once Xiao Qianshou's severed hands were refined, one would go to the glove and the other to the earring. Having purged the pestilence, Li Banfeng exited the companion dwelling and sprinted straight into the Dark Star Bureau. The building was pitch-black from the blackout. Li Banfeng swept through the floors. As he neared the Carrier Section, Qiansi whispered, "Master, there's a sound." Following the noise, Li Banfeng reached the Carrier Section storeroom and pushed the door open to find a crowd huddled inside. "Why are you all in here?" As Li Banfeng moved to step inside, Secretary Liu Ning shouted, "Director Li, don't come in! There's a Boundary here!" A Boundary? How could there be a Boundary inside the Dark Star Bureau building? A Boundary connected to the earth below and the heavens above; if a Boundary formed inside the building, shouldn't it have burned straight through the concrete floors? This had to be some specialized technology that Li Banfeng had yet to master. Liu Ning produced a Boundary switch, deactivated the barrier, and stepped forward. "Director Shen left orders: once we see you, we are to transfer command of the Dark Star Bureau to you. Here is the key to Director Shen's office." Li Banfeng took the key. "Where did Director Shen go?" Liu Ning replied, "Director Shen went to report critical intelligence to higher leadership." This was the assignment Shen Jingye had given Liu Ning before departing. Li Banfeng dialed Shen Jingye's phone, but no one answered. "Is everyone in the bureau accounted for here?" Investigation Section Chief Song Qingping answered, "Everyone left behind at headquarters is here. The captives from the Hundred Demons Workshop were locked in the interrogation room, and the Boundary around it was engaged. Director Shen instructed that this switch be handed to you; before his return, only you possess the authority to bring down the interrogation room's Boundary." Li Banfeng headed toward the interrogation room. Liu Ning and Song Qingping exchanged glances with Communications Section Chief Gu Hao. Gu Hao remained expressionless. Director Shen had also assigned a task to Gu Hao before leaving. Judging by Gu Hao's demeanor, that task was something he could not disclose to Director Li. Yet what kind of task couldn't be shared with Director Li even now? Arriving outside the interrogation room, Li Banfeng deactivated the Boundary. Stepping inside, he found the floor covered in corpses. Every single detainee from the Hundred Demons Workshop lay dead. Not one was left breathing. Li Banfeng examined several bodies and found their necks unnaturally limp—their cervical vertebrae had been cleanly snapped. Just a little later, and the Dark Star Bureau members left behind would have faced total annihilation. With communications still offline, Li Banfeng headed up to Shen Jingye's office. The lock had been picked, and the interior was in complete shambles. Shen Jingye had likely left something behind in his office, but whatever it was had already been destroyed. Li Banfeng turned to Liu Ning. "Do any of you know who broke into the Dark Star Bureau?" Liu Ning glanced at Communications Section Chief Gu Hao, who remained blank-faced. Had Director Shen truly left him no instructions regarding this? Investigation Section Chief Song Qingping retrieved some files from his own office and handed them to Li Banfeng. "This is the report from the farm. Several members of the Hundred Demons Workshop there died from snapped cervical vertebrae. By Director Shen's assessment, they were killed by Du Wenming." Du Wenming. It was him. He was helping the Hundred Demons Workshop silence their loose ends. All the chaos in Yuezhou tonight had been orchestrated merely to buy time for this execution. Shen Jingye must have extracted crucial leads from the prisoners' mouths. He had gone to report the findings to the higher authorities, leaving materials behind for Li Banfeng. Now, those materials had almost certainly been taken by Du Wenming, and the Dark Star Bureau was cut off from the outside world. Li Banfeng immediately mobilized personnel to restore power and communications. The maintenance crew hesitated. "Director Li, Director Shen said the building isn't safe right now." Li Banfeng replied, "Don't worry, I'll go with you." Communications Section Chief Gu Hao spoke up: "Director Li, you don't need to worry; leave communications to me!" An hour later, power and communications were restored one after another. Li Banfeng checked in with each field team. Most suspects had already fled. Six had been shot dead on the spot, one had been beaten to death by a bystander at a barbecue shop across from Lu's Bookhouse, and three remaining crime scenes were still locked in fierce combat. They had to take someone alive! Li Banfeng rushed to the three contested locations. By six in the morning, one suspect was neutralized and two were captured alive by Li Banfeng. Li Banfeng handed the prisoners over to Chen Changrui. "Take them back for interrogation. We must extract who gave the orders. They might have curses on them, so handle the questioning carefully. Contact Director Shen as soon as possible; I'll be waiting for his word." With orders in place, Li Banfeng headed to Lu's Bookhouse. He was tracking Du Wenming. After so much had happened last night, including an incident right across the street from the bookstore, Boss Lu had to have some clues. The shop hadn't opened yet. Boss Lu was practicing pen calligraphy, a thick stack of copybooks piled beside him. Li Banfeng's hunch was right; Boss Lu indeed had information. "I nearly took Du Wenming down last night, but Xiao Qianshou, that old pincers, managed to slip into the shop." Li Banfeng looked surprised. "Slipping into your bookstore shouldn't have been that easy, should it?" Thinking back, Boss Lu let out a bitter chuckle. "The whole affair was bizarre, and the fight was utterly disgraceful—I fought with tied hands, fretting over every step. I was worried he'd cause a scene in the Outer States and ruin my business, yet worried he'd cross into Puluo Province and disrupt my other affairs. "Looking back, what if he had crossed over to Puluo Province? In Puluo Province, once he stepped inside my bookhouse, he never would have walked out alive. But there are too few usable items in this shop—not even a few decent scrolls of calligraphy or paintings. I meant to write a few more scrolls and stock up on gear, but I bought the wrong things and ended up in a clumsy brawl." With that, Boss Lu produced a magic box. "The Hundred Demons Workshop sold this to me. I left some written traces on it, hoping to track down Du Wenming through it, but up until now, the writing hasn't picked up any resonance. It seems the lead is dead. If you have any of their goods on you, destroy them immediately; they're nothing but trouble!" Boss Lu gave the box a gentle poke with his fountain pen, and it instantly disintegrated into dust. He pulled several books purchased from the Hundred Demons Workshop out from behind the counter, drew a line across them with his pen, and reduced them all to ash. Having cleared everything away, Boss Lu offered a solemn warning: "Xiao Qianshou is the founder of a pathway. Even if his current strength doesn't match his glory days, his status and repertoire are far from ordinary. "Why he's willing to run errands for the Hundred Demons Workshop is something I can't fathom. There has to be a monumental secret behind this. The posture he showed last night felt just like when the Inner States went to war. You must remain vigilant." Stepping out of the bookstore, Li Banfeng immediately called Tang Changfa. "Destroy everything you bought from the Hundred Demons Workshop." No sooner had he hung up than Lightbulb called. "Seventh Master, Zhong'er's surgery is finished." "How is he?" "He's... alright..." "Tell me the truth!" "He's still breathing, but I can't really explain it. Why don't you come see for yourself?" Li Banfeng rushed to the hospital. Zhong'er remained in the intensive care unit. Mijian's eyes were swollen and red from weeping. Lightbulb cleared them with the staff, and Li Banfeng donned sterile scrubs before entering the ICU alongside Lightbulb. "Brother, Director Li is here," Lightbulb whispered into Zhong'er's ear. Guided by the doctor, Zhong'er's right index finger twitched slightly. Li Banfeng let out a long breath and asked the physician, "When will he recover?" The doctor replied, "This might be the best condition he achieves for the foreseeable future." Li Banfeng froze. "How long is the foreseeable future?" The doctor shook his head. "It's uncertain." "What did you mean by 'best condition'?" "He can respond to external stimuli." Responding to stimuli meant twitching an index finger. Li Banfeng stared at the doctor. "That's it?" The doctor tensed up. "We did everything we could." "That's it?" "His injuries were extraordinarily severe." "That's it?" "Future progress depends on how his body responds..." The doctor didn't dare say another word. Lightbulb pulled Li Banfeng back, escorting him out of the ICU. How could this be? Zhong'er could at least speak earlier—how had he ended up like this? It wasn't the doctors' fault; this was simply the limit of their skill. Li Banfeng said, "I'll find a way to contact Kang Zhenchang shortly. Wait here for me." Just outside the hospital, Li Banfeng received another call from Secretary Liu Ning. "Director Li, we contacted the higher leadership—they never saw Director Shen!" "What do you mean they never saw him?" "Director Shen said he was going to report on work, but the leadership..." Li Banfeng hung up and hurried back to the Dark Star Bureau, calling Secretary Liu Ning to his side. "Call every single senior official. Whether you know them or not, whether you're familiar with them or not, call them one by one. Tell them I ordered it!" Liu Ning nodded, walked to the doorway, and then turned back. "Director Li, before Director Shen left, he assigned separate tasks to me, Section Chief Gu, and Section Chief Song. None of us knew what the others were assigned. After you arrived, Section Chief Song and I both reported our tasks, but Section Chief Gu hasn't reported a single word to you. I'm a bit worried..." "Section Chief Gu? Gu Hao from Communications? Bring him to me at once!" Liu Ning returned moments later. "Section Chief Gu isn't in his office, and his phone won't connect." "Arrest him immediately!" Li Banfeng's veins bulged with fury. He dialed Shen Jingye's number again, but there was still no answer. An hour later, You Xuehan entered the office and said to Li Banfeng, "Seventh Master, we found Director Shen." "Where is he?" "We found Director Shen's body..." "When did it happen?" "Just now. We were checking the vehicles in the parking garage..." "When did it happen?" "Just now, inside the trunk of an official car..." "When did it happen?" You Xuehan didn't dare speak another word. "When did it happen?" Li Banfeng's eyes turned bloodshot, and he clamped both hands over his mouth.