Great Li Martial God

The Sheng Province level government office.

Gray-blue brick walls rose high and the threshold was wrapped in iron. The scarlet lacquered gates were carved with vivid, lifelike images of the Xiezhi, the mythical beast of justice. Yet in the middle of the day, the gates were firmly shut.

Hu Rui’an and his companions’ carriage came to a stop on the stone-paved street before the stone steps. The four major martial world families having mobilized large numbers of troops to besiege the Murong estate appeared to have already affected the entire city, and even the street in front of the government office was completely empty of people.

Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong lifted the carriage curtain, and Li Musheng and the others stepped out one after another.

At this point, Hu Rui’an raised his head and looked at the government office before them, and his brow suddenly drew into a deep furrow.

Cheng Zhong beside him noticed his unusual expression and asked quietly, ”Commissioner, have you found something?”

Hearing this, Hu Rui’an narrowed his eyes slightly, and a look of gravity passed through his gaze as he said, ”There is a smell of blood inside.”

Hu Rui’an had clawed his way up from the very bottom of the Tianjin Guards through nothing but his own ability over many years, and as a result his senses and experience in investigation work far exceeded those of ordinary people.

As the outstanding junior talents of the Tianjin Guards, Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong had detected nothing, yet Hu Rui’an had taken one look at the government office from the outside and immediately identified something amiss.

After hearing his words, Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong both had their expressions change, clearly reading what he was implying.Both of them immediately turned to look at the city government building before them, and a single thought arose in both their minds at the same moment: something had very likely gone wrong inside.

”Let’s go in and see what the situation is first.”

Hu Rui’an said nothing more, only indicating for Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong to go and open the door.

The two did not hesitate. Wu Shang walked up to the door, pressed his palm against the crimson door face, and sent a gentle pulse of True Qi through it.

The next instant, the locked bolt came apart without a sound, and the tall scarlet gate swung slowly open with a creak.

Behind the door, a stone-paved passage led straight to the main hall of the office. On the flying eaves of the building perched a flock of black crows, which burst up into the air at the sound of the door, flapping and scattering.

The entire government office was completely silent. Though the light between the halls and gates was not dim, the silence at this moment was distinctly unsettling.

Hu Rui’an stepped forward, crossed the iron-clad threshold, called to Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong, and walked directly toward the interior of the building.

Li Musheng looked the government office over with a slight frown and shook his head.

He simply went and sat down in a covered walkway at the front courtyard where flowering vines twisted along the beams, and did not follow into the rear of the building.

At the same time, the moment Hu Rui’an reached the rear courtyard, the sight that greeted him was bodies scattered in every direction. The doors, windows, brick walls, and stone pillars were all covered in bloody stains.

Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong moved at once to examine the bodies on the ground, while Hu Rui’an continued searching through the building.

In the end, in a side room off the largest hall in the government office, he found the body of Zhu Ziming still dressed in his provincial governor’s official robes.

Hu Rui’an’s eyelid twitched, and he immediately went forward to examine the body, finding no other external injuries and no sign of poisoning.

The actual cause of death was a single clean sword thrust directly to the throat. The time of death was approximately two hours ago.

Having assessed the situation, Hu Rui’an wasted not a moment more in the building and went straight to find Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong before returning to the front courtyard.

The main reason was that all three of them had been growing increasingly uneasy at having put some distance between themselves and Li Musheng. Being beside the man was the only thing that kept their nerves calm.

In the covered walkway, Li Musheng was leaning against the railing. Shen Anran and Murong Xiaoya had both stayed beside him.

After Hu Rui’an and the others left, Murong Xiaoya had also gone curiously into the rear courtyard for a look. But upon seeing the bodies scattered across the ground, she had come running back with her face somewhat pale.

It seemed that, even as the youngest daughter of the Murong family, she was encountering a sight this grim for what was likely her first time.

”Commissioner Hu, what is the situation?”

Li Musheng looked toward Hu Rui’an coming toward him, and Hu Rui’an shook his head with a grave expression, saying, ”Every last one of the one hundred and seventy-six officials and government runners inside the building, including Zhu Ziming, has been killed. Not a single person survived.”

”The killer struck shortly after these people reported to their posts, roughly two hours ago. As for the killer’s reason for the murders, that is unknown for the time being.”

Hearing this, Li Musheng gave a light nod, then glanced over Hu Rui’an, Wu Shang, and Cheng Zhong without asking anything further.

Given that Hu Rui’an was one of the Tianjin Guards headquarters’ best people, he naturally needed no direction from Li Musheng on how to handle the matter from here.

”An entire provincial government office’s officials wiped out in a single attack. Even if news of this reached the capital, it would shake the court to its core.”

Hu Rui’an’s expression was unpleasant as he said, ”This must be reported to Six Doors, the Tianjin Guards, and the Sheng Province garrison in the provincial city without delay. The three parties must join forces to seal off the entire government office, and then the court must be informed of what happened here so they can begin a formal investigation.”

As he spoke, Hu Rui’an looked toward Wu Shang and Cheng Zhong. He had been about to send the two of them to notify all three parties at once.

But thinking about their current situation, he immediately swallowed the words that had been about to come out of his mouth.

”Commissioner, perhaps this matter could be left to Brother Cao to handle.”

Wu Shang’s mind moved quickly, and he spoke up at once with the suggestion.

With the ghost in the Tianjin Guards branch office still unaccounted for, the last thing he wanted right now was to move even a step away from Li Musheng.

Hearing this, Hu Rui’an gave a nod, saying, ”There is no better option for now. We hold position here, and when Six Doors and the other parties send people, we see how things develop.”

With that, he passed the errand to Cao Gaoshan, who said nothing further and set off on horseback.

The six of them remained in the front courtyard of the government office. Li Musheng leaned against the railing, looking at the dense locust trees in the courtyard and shaking his head.

The situation in Sheng Province was showing every sign of growing more and more complicated. Court officials were secretly colluding with martial world forces, those martial world forces were engaged in violent feuds among themselves, and now an entire provincial city’s government office had been wiped out in one fell swoop.

One could only say that the martial world of Great Li was simply too chaotic. The entire journey had been nothing but relentless grudges, killings, and bloodshed in every direction.

As these thoughts passed through his mind, Li Musheng’s gaze suddenly shifted, and he looked toward Murong Xiaoya not far away.

She was wearing a lotus-pink jacket and skirt, and was standing at one side of the covered walkway looking rather listless, as though the waiting had left her with nothing to do.

The moment she found herself looking back into Li Musheng’s eyes, her frame gave a slight involuntary shudder, as though she had been startled.

She immediately lowered her head in a fluster, her fair hands clasping the hem of her skirt tightly, looking thoroughly ill at ease.

Seeing this, Li Musheng raised an eyebrow, thought for a moment, and after all rose and walked toward her.

Sensing Li Musheng approaching, Murong Xiaoya seemed to grow even more tense. Her lowered lashes fluttered like the wings of a butterfly in a state of constant agitation, and the look in her eyes was one of unsettled, flickering uncertainty.

Very shortly, Li Musheng came to a stop directly in front of her.

He rubbed his chin and looked her over. Her pretty face was completely flushed, the tips of her ears red enough to bleed, yet she pressed her lips together and was clearly trying very hard to look composed.