Realm Walker

The moment Zhang Yuanqing saw the phone with its line still active, a vicious curse surged its way up his throat.

It was obvious now. The muscular man in the black tank top had dialed Xiahou Tianyuan before the fight even started, then left the phone right there. Every sound from the battle, including the man’s shout of ”Nocturnal Specter,” had been transmitted straight into Xiahou Tianyuan’s ear.

In other words, Xiahou Tianyuan now knew that the person who had killed his subordinates and snatched away his hostage was a Nocturnal Specter.

Given how rare the class was, Zhang Yuanqing’s stance on the Slaughter Cessation Palace issue, and his relationship to Wang Qian, Xiahou Tianyuan would have to be braindead not to suspect him first.

Was that man really a Fire Sage? How the hell was that a Fire Sage? Since when did Fire Sages have brains like this?

Zhang Yuanqing cursed inwardly, bent down to pick up the phone, and said in a raspy voice, ”Hello?”

Xiahou Tianyuan’s composed voice came through the speaker. ”Yuanshi Tianzun, it’s you, isn’t it? There’s no need for you to get involved in this. I have no intention of making an enemy out of you. I won’t seek retribution for the men you killed. Just leave the woman behind and walk away, and we’ll call it even. No, I’ll do better than that. I’ll give you a few items, or whatever you want. We can negotiate. Don’t hang up!”

He had to be on his way to the safehouse right then, and was desperately trying to stall for time and keep Yuanshi Tianzun on the line.

Zhang Yuanqing let out a cold laugh. ”I’m not Yuanshi Tianzun. Go fuck yourself!”

He hung up, tossed the phone into the fire, then launched a savage kick at the closed bedroom door. It flew open with an explosive crash, and Zhang Yuanqing burst into the room and swept his gaze across it.

In the corner by the window, a woman in a black skirt and white T-shirt sat curled against the wall. Her hair hung in tangled curtains over her face, and her wrists and ankles were bound with thick layers of tape. She stared at the stranger who had just kicked down the door, eyes wide with terror, like a quail frightened half to death.

”Don’t be afraid. I’m a Public Security Officer. I’m here to rescue you.”

As he spoke, Zhang Yuanqing reached behind his back and pulled the Bloodthirsty Blade from the void. A quick flick along her wrists and ankles, and the blade sliced cleanly through the tape.

The woman’s face was haggard, and there was a deep weariness in her bloodshot eyes. But as she looked at him, a faint spark of hope finally broke through.

”You’re a Public Security Officer?”

She seemed rather pretty, with delicate, refined features that bore a certain resemblance to Wang Qian. Her figure was full and voluptuous, perhaps because she had been carrying a child just recently, though her waist remained slender.

Zhang Yuanqing hauled her to her feet. ”No time to explain. I’m getting you out of here first. There’s a fire outside. Can you walk on your own?”

”Y-yes...”

The two of them ran out of the room, one after the other. Acrid smoke filled the air, sending the woman into fits of coughing, but she didn’t dare slow down. She clung to the young officer’s trail like her life depended on it.

When they reached the living room, Zhang Yuanqing said rapidly without breaking stride, ”I saw a black car parked outside the villa when I came in. Is it theirs?”

”Yes, yes,” she replied. ”I was brought here in a black car...”

She caught sight of the corpse in the living room, flames licking at its edges, and her face went white as chalk.

Zhang Yuanqing dragged the Fire Sage’s body out into the courtyard and began to pat down all four corpses.

”The men who kidnapped you. Were there only four of them?” he asked as he worked.

Even as he spoke, his hand had already fished a set of car keys from the potbellied middle aged man’s pocket.

”Yes, that’s what they said...” the woman replied, her face growing paler by the second.

She was just an ordinary person. When had she ever seen this much blood? When had she ever laid eyes on this many bodies? Did the young officer kill all of them?

Zhang Yuanqing tossed her the keys. ”Hold onto those. Let’s go!”

He bent down, clamped two corpses under his arms, grabbed the ankles of the other two to drag them along the ground, then took off, sprinting away from the villa with the woman in front of him.

The woman kept glancing back anxiously as she ran, only to realize that the young officer ahead of her was moving at full speed despite hauling several hundred kilograms of dead weight as though it were nothing at all.

”Unlock it and open the door! Hurry!” Zhang Yuanqing shouted.

He scanned the surroundings. The villa was in a sparsely-populated district, and since it wasn’t rush hour, nobody was passing through. As for security cameras on the roadside or nosy neighbors peeking through their curtains, he had no time to worry about that. Whatever they captured would show Xiahou Tianyuan’s face anyway.

The woman pressed the unlock button and opened the car door with trembling hands.

Zhang Yuanqing hurled all four corpses into the back seat, snatched the keys from her hand, shot a glare at the woman standing frozen in place, and barked, ”Get in!”

He yanked open the driver’s side door and climbed in.

Zhang Yuanqing had gotten his license back in his second year of high school. The driving school had been running a promotion at the time, offering student discounts and promising a license within a single summer break. Little Aunt had thought it was a great deal and paid out of her own pocket to send her nephew off to learn. He had passed every section on the first try, from the written exam all the way through the road test. His instructor had raved about his natural talent, calling him a born driver.

Of course, after getting his license, Zhang Yuanqing had never touched a car again.

He settled into the seat and glanced at the gear selector, and his expression froze. What the hell does PRND mean? This is nothing like a manual transmission...

He looked over at the woman next to him. ”Can you drive?”

”Yes.”

”Then you drive.”

They swapped seats in a flash. The woman started the engine, gripped the steering wheel with both trembling hands, and floored the accelerator.

The car tore its way down the streets of the villa compound. Zhang Yuanqing, terrified that Xiahou Tianyuan might cut them off at the gate, urged her on relentlessly. A dozen seconds later, the compound’s main gate appeared up ahead.

”Don’t stop. Ram through it!” Zhang Yuanqing ordered, his voice hard.

”Are you really a Public Security Officer?” she asked, her voice cracking, on the edge of tears.

”Stop talking and ram through it!” he repeated, his tone leaving no room for argument.

She clenched her teeth, steeled her nerves, and mashed the gas pedal to the floor. With a thunderous roar of the engine, the black sedan smashed through the barrier and sped away without looking back.

”Head for the Kangyang District Public Security Bureau!” Zhang Yuanqing instructed her, then leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.

His original plan had been to eliminate the kidnappers, rescue the woman, and disappear without a trace, letting Xiahou Tianyuan waste his suspicions on elements from Slaughter Cessation Palace. But now his identity was most likely compromised. The old plan was dead. He needed a new one.

Good thing I prepared a backup. He opened his eyes, pulled out his phone, and dialed Fu Qingyang’s number.

He heard five rings before the line connected, and the centurion’s austere voice came through the speaker. ”What is it?”

”Centurion Fu, I’ve executed the required procedural justice.”

”And the result?”

”Target has been rescued. During the operation, four kidnappers resisted with lethal force and were eliminated. I’m currently en route to the Kangyang District Public Security Bureau with the bodies and the hostage. Requesting further instructions!”

”Excellent!” Fu Qingyang’s voice carried a note of approval. ”Bring the bodies back. Do not perform spirit interrogation yourself. Let Taiyi Sect handle it. We need a dual indictment. I’ll issue the order to arrest Xiahou Tianyuan on charges of endangering public security immediately.”

Zhang Yuanqing exhaled in relief, then pressed further. ”A charge like that alone probably won’t be enough to really hurt Xiahou Tianyuan.”

Fu Qingyang replied in his trademark calm, detached tone, ”Beyond endangering public security, Xiahou Tianyuan may also face charges of hiring assassins, murder, intentional bodily harm, rape, solicitation, and organizing prostitution. I’ll need to investigate thoroughly.”

Zhang Yuanqing’s jaw dropped. I’m still too young for this game...

”What about Xiahou Xin?” he asked.

”That depends on how Xiahou Tianyuan’s interrogation goes,” Fu Qingyang said coolly.

Brilliant, Zhang Yuanqing thought, then tried to push his luck further. ”And the Xiahou family?”

There was a moment of silence, then Fu Qingyang’s emotionless voice came through the speaker. ”Don’t push it.”

”Yes, Centurion!” Zhang Yuanqing replied, then hung up.

***

On the other side of the city, three imported luxury SUVs came screeching to a halt inside the villa compound. Xiahou Tianyuan watched through the window of the vehicle he was in as over a dozen property staff fought the blaze, some wielding garden hoses and others clutching fire extinguishers. Thick plumes of smoke billowed out through the open windows.

Xiahou Tianyuan’s face was dark and hard as iron. He sat in the car without a word. One of his bodyguards stepped out, entered the villa, and returned moments later.

He stood outside the vehicle’s window and bowed. ”The bodies of the men are gone, along with the woman.”

The bodies too... Xiahou Tianyuan clenched his jaw until the muscles bulged, wrestling his fury under control.

He pulled out his phone and called his father. ”Dad, the woman was taken by someone in the official organizations. It was Yuanshi Tianzun, the one I beat up the other day. I don’t know how he found this place. Everyone I had stationed at the villa is dead, and the bodies were taken too. What do we do now?”

For the first time, real panic crept into Xiahou Tianyuan’s heart. The Xiahou family had spent years cultivating their influence. Plenty of people within the Five Elements Alliance were either Xiahou family members or on the family’s payroll. But the Alliance was vast and fractured into countless factions, and not everyone feared the Xiahou name. Without evidence, without exposure, others were content to look the other way rather than pick a fight with such a powerful clan. But once evidence surfaced, everything changed.

”Why are you panicking?” Xiahou Xin said in a steady tone.

He considered the situation for a few seconds, then spoke again. ”Go turn yourself in. Immediately.”

”Turn myself in?” Xiahou Tianyuan exclaimed, his voice climbing in both volume and pitch. ”How can I possibly turn myself in—”

Then it hit him. ”You mean—?”

Xiahou Xin grunted in confirmation, his tone measured and sure. ”I shouldn’t have to tell you who to turn yourself in to.”

Relief washed over Xiahou Tianyuan’s face, and a smile crept back onto his lips. ”Understood.”

He would surrender to an official Walker sympathetic to the Xiahou family, using the act of turning himself in as a shield. Under no circumstances could he fall into the hands of an outsider, someone like Kangyang District’s steward, Fu Qingyang.

Xiahou Tianyuan ended the call. His smile vanished, and he slammed his fist into the seat in front of him, grinding his teeth viciously. ”Yuanshi Tianzun, I’m going to kill you. I’m going to find out who you really are and make you pay!”

***

Inside the speeding car, Zhang Yuanqing unlocked his phone, opened a messaging app, and sent Wang Qian a single line of text: Your sister is safe.