Neither figure touched the ground at all, trading blows back and forth in midair and exchanging nearly a hundred strikes in the blink of an eye.
The thudding clashes of their fists and kicks rattled the walls, sending dust cascading down in sheets.
Both fought at blinding speed, their limbs moving without a trace. Ye Huan could not see a thing clearly, catching only glimpses of two afterimages chasing and clashing at absurd velocity.
This actually made him breathe a sigh of relief.
Reinforcements had arrived!
And just in the nick of time.
Any later, and he would have been forced to strip out all his skill points and dump them into his movement technique.
That would have incurred an efficiency loss.
Not to mention the cascade of trouble that would come from exposing the foundation of his movement technique!
Thank goodness, he was genuinely saved now.
Ye Huan's body continued to plummet, sweeping past a sprawling complex of factory sheds before landing with a dull thud on the open ground in front of the mining area.
Golden Bell Shield!
His feet drove into the dirt like iron stakes. His body sank slightly, but he suffered no injury whatsoever.
Even without astral qi, its defensive power was several cuts above Iron Cloth Shirt.
—The mere impact of leaping off a rooftop could never hope to harm Ye Huan!
The resounding thud immediately drew a swarm of police officers and soldiers guarding the cordon.
"Who goes there!"
The soldiers raised their rifles, fanning out in a line.
The police crouched warily behind vehicles and began reporting over their radios.
"Don't shoot, friendly!"
Ye Huan called out, handing over his credentials before glancing up at the residential building.
On the rooftop.
A burly man with a buzz cut had just broken apart from the middle-aged man. Standing across from each other, they sized each other up.
"Who are you!" the middle-aged man barked.
"Drop the act, 'Teacher' of the assassin syndicate. Turned into a raving madman out of sheer embarrassment, did you, having the nerve to come after our people right here?" The buzz-cut man chuckled darkly, a thread of excitement lacing his voice.
The middle-aged man's expression had already darkened. Furrowing his brows, he said, "'Fierce Tiger' Xu Ping... At this hour, you ought to be back in the city making a debriefing report. Why are you..."
"Oh, so you scouted beforehand—the one who went back to the city was my twin brother! Hahaha, what a mess you've made of things—you're a dead man!" The buzz-cut man laughed boisterously.
The middle-aged man stood stunned for a moment, then realization struck him, and he sighed deeply. "So that's how it is. Even like this, it failed. To be terrifying to this extent... no wonder she's hiding out on the imperial frontier."
"What nonsense are you babbling?" Xu Ping frowned, baffled.
Yet Ye Huan internally cried out, *I knew it!*
Staring at the middle-aged assassin and catching the flicker of terror in the man's eyes, Ye Huan felt a chill creep up his spine. A shudder ran through him, raising goosebumps on his arms.
He understood now.
Merely by gifting a bottle of perfume, he had been forced to weather an assassination attempt.
These people had it far worse.
They definitely intended to strike at Xia Luoning for real.
Thus, the "inauspiciousness" they incurred was a colossal blunder in their reconnaissance: they had stalked him here to kill him, only to slam headfirst into "Fierce Tiger" Xu Ping.
He had merely gifted perfume, and there was still a chance of survival.
They wanted to kill her—what fate awaited them?
Several silhouettes scaled the walls of the residential building like geckos.
—Personnel from the Bureau of Investigation!
They surrounded the youth in black immediately.
More Bureau experts began appearing on the surrounding rooftops.
"Surrender, 'Teacher'!"
Xu Ping surged forward.
The man braced himself to take Xu Ping's strike head-on, his body recoiling sharply before rocketing backward. In a flash, he darted past several apartment blocks and streaked toward the far side of the mining area.
Xu Ping pursued relentlessly, trailing him all the way to another mine entrance.
The middle-aged assassin tore straight through the "SEALED" warning tape across the entrance, plunged inside, and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Xu Ping skidded to a sudden halt.
He even retreated several dozen meters in rapid bounds before shouting harshly, "If you want to live, get out here right now!"
No sound came from within the mine.
Xu Ping stood his ground, guarding the entrance without moving.
Meanwhile, back on the rooftop of the residential building:
The youth in black had already been pinned to the floor by seven or eight men.
"Don't move!"
"Hands on your head, on the ground!"
Seven or eight martial artists barked in unison.
The black-clad youth struggled to get back to his feet, but two investigators hauled him up and, with two sharp snaps, crushed both of his arms.
The youth immediately behaved.
Watching this, Ye Huan couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
That youth in black was remarkably strong, a martial artist with all ten acupoints opened.
Fighting him would have meant risking life and limb with no certain outcome.
So there had been no point in fighting him alone.
Calling in the Bureau's heavy hitters for backup and letting them deal with the problem—wasn't that so much sweeter?
"Captain!" The martial artists rushed toward the mine shaft.
"Stay back!" the buzz-cut man roared. "This area is under quarantine, as if you didn't know!"
Before his words had even faded, blood-curdling shrieks from the middle-aged assassin echoed from deep within the mine.
His screams were excruciatingly shrill, wave after wave, each cry more horrifying than the last.
The entire scene fell dead silent.
With a stern, cold face, Xu Ping strode forward, pulled out a roll of caution tape, and sealed the entrance once more.
"You chose this suicidal path yourself... don't go blaming me," he muttered under his breath.
...
A few minutes later.
On the drill grounds of the mining area.
The youth in black was hauled before Xu Ping.
Without a word, Xu Ping's hands moved with lightning speed over the boy's body, kneading him until sickening crunches of fracturing bone echoed all over.
Watching this, Ye Huan felt a shiver of dread mixed with admiration.
—This was exactly how enemies should be dealt with!
Yet the black-clad youth glared desperately at Ye Huan.
"What are you looking at? I'm an investigator of the Bureau of Investigation. Try and come kill me again if you've got the guts," Ye Huan sneered.
It was a reminder.
"Damned brat, is that all the guts you have? Too terrified to fight, only daring to cry for experts to save your hide?" the youth cursed loudly.
Ye Huan retorted with disdain, "Picking fights and brawling is for street thugs like you. I'm a civil servant with a proper, official post."
"You think being an investigator makes you special? Stop flattering yourself!" the youth spat, heavily emphasizing the word "investigator."
Ye Huan gave a cold chuckle and kept silent.
He had pretended to be a disciple of the Taiyin Sect, but right now he acted as if he did not want his identity exposed.
The black-clad youth was equally terrified of exposing that truth.
—"Assassin syndicate targets disciple of the Taiyin Sect."
If word of that leaked out, this assassin syndicate out here on the imperial frontier would truly be wiped out.
Through this barbed exchange, both sides had reached a tacit agreement:
Keep Ye Huan's identity concealed.
It seemed that after hearing his master's agonizing screams, the kid had finally learned fear.
—A form of growth, in a way.
A large black off-road vehicle sped in from the mining district and came to a firm halt.
Xu Ping tossed the youth inside, bound him securely with specialized cord, slapped handcuffs and shackles onto him, and assigned a few trusted confidants to escort him before stepping out of the vehicle, satisfied.
"No stops. Straight back to the Bureau and into the cells!" he ordered.
"Yes, sir!" the men inside replied.
With a low roar of its engine, the vehicle accelerated away toward the exit of the mining area.
Only then did Xu Ping size up Ye Huan and introduce himself formally.
"You must be Ye Huan. I'm Xu Ping, captain of the Special Affairs Section's mining incident investigation team."
"Thank you, Captain Xu, for saving my life," Ye Huan said sincerely.
Xu Ping burst into hearty laughter. "I should be thanking you! Being stationed here day in and day out was boring me out of my skull. It's about time I had something to pass the time."
Without waiting to be asked, Ye Huan recounted everything that had just occurred.
Xu Ping said, "There's no telling when or how these assassins will strike next. You're not necessarily safe right now, so you might as well stay by my side."
"Yes, thank you, Captain Xu. I'll stick with you tonight," Ye Huan replied.
—He had truly learned the hard way about how these assassins attacked again and again in relentless succession.
Xu Ping patted Ye Huan's shoulder. "Pay no mind to what that kid said. You've only opened three acupoints, while he's opened all ten, not to mention having a Jiuyao martial artist from the syndicate right there on the scene. Calling for backup was the only correct call!"
A martial artist of the Jiuyao realm.
Ye Huan couldn't help casting another glance toward the sealed mine entrance.
"No need to look at that shaft—there's something wrong in there that mortal strength can't handle. For now, we only enter the other mine," Xu Ping said.
"Understood! I'm at your command anytime, Captain Xu," Ye Huan replied, feeling relieved.
"You don't need to do a thing. Just hang in there tonight, head back to the Bureau with me tomorrow, and you'll be fine," Xu Ping said generously.
"Yes, sir," Ye Huan answered.
His phone vibrated.
It was Song Fushan.
"Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, Section Chief. Thanks to Captain Xu stepping in," Ye Huan said.
"Our Bureau operates on performance evaluations with clear rewards and penalties. You handed him a capture; he ought to be thanking you. Don't be too modest with him," Song Fushan said.
Xu Ping snatched the phone away and said, "Old Song, one at the Jiuyao level ran into the quarantine zone. We didn't catch him."
"Going to his death of his own accord? What a pity. But with your skill, how did you let him slip into that shaft?" Song Fushan asked in surprise.
"There are eight residential dormitories right here. If I went all out against him and he went berserk, he could have dragged me along while slaughtering his way through the civilian quarters," Xu Ping explained.
"Sigh, then there really was no other way. I'll hang up for now and make my report," Song Fushan said.
"All right."
Xu Ping tossed the phone back to Ye Huan.
"Come over to our Bureau's temporary garrison post and get a good night's rest. You won't have to do anything," Xu Ping beckoned to Ye Huan.
Seeing this, the military and police personnel no longer barred the way.
Xu Ping led Ye Huan to a building near the mine entrance and opened the door.
It had once been the security guardhouse for the mining area, now requisitioned for the Bureau of Investigation's use.
The room measured over fifty square meters, quite spacious.
Several martial artists were monitoring feeds on display screens.
The screens showed conditions deep within the mine; evidently, someone wearing surveillance equipment was exploring down below.
—Likely the relatively safer section of the mining area.
When Ye Huan walked in, several people glanced over at him.
"This is Xiao Ye from the Mysterious Affairs Section. He crossed paths with a Shidu martial artist who had all his acupoints opened, and our squad bagged him," Xu Ping introduced.
Hearing that, everyone perked up.
—All acupoints opened, practically on the verge of Jiuyao!
In a place like Lantie City, that was already an exceptionally formidable powerhouse.
Now that such an enemy had been apprehended, the credit belonged not only to Captain Xu Ping, but to the entire investigation squad.
They had been stationed here all this time with nothing to show for it.
With today's capture, at least they wouldn't get chewed out upon returning, and they might even see a bonus.
"Xiao Ye hasn't been with the Bureau long, so look out for him. Also, he'll be resting here tonight," Xu Ping said briefly.
Everyone greeted Ye Huan warmly.
Someone offered him a cigarette, while others brought over canned food, drinks, and the like.
Xu Ping nodded to Ye Huan, took a phone call, and stepped outside.
Ye Huan was also busy calling Su Haisheng, spinning a lie about a colleague dropping by and going out for drinks together, saying he'd head straight to work tomorrow and so forth.
Only after hanging up the phone did he finally relax completely.
He had finally survived this calamity.
That had been a Jiuyao-level assassin!
To be completely honest, he almost felt like lighting firecrackers to celebrate making it through this ordeal.
Chapter 58