White-Robed Chief

He showed up at the Imperial Residence of Prince Kang.

Leng Shoushan came out personally to welcome him before bringing him into his own courtyard.

The Imperial Residences of Prince Kang and Prince Bao both took up roughly the same amount of space. Nonetheless, their respective layouts were entirely different.

There was a garden in all of their courtyards, yet this place was far from Prince Bao’s spacious Imperial Residence with a magnificent atmosphere, where the gardens were curated in an original and ingenious manner, giving off a great air of elegance.

Leng Shoushan’s courtyard also contained a garden and they were both sitting in a gazebo on a lake. There was a faint, delicate fragrance lingering in the gazebo.

Chu Li examined it using his Omniscient Mirror and found that this fragrance came from the wood used to build the gazebo, which was an exotic type of sandalwood. The fragrance it gave off could not only refresh and clear the mind but could also repel mosquitoes and other insects. Thus, it was the most expensive type of wood.

For most people, however, the dark purplish wooden pillars of the gazebo might seem rather unimpressive and not very luxurious at all.

Meanwhile, the lake water was so clear that they could see the mouth of a fountain at the bottom of the lake, from which spring water was constantly surging as if it was about to spray up from the surface of the lake.

The round wooden table inside the gazebo was also a dark shade of purple, creating a sense of grandeur and uncertainty.

“Brother Chu, we’ve been placed in a difficult situation this time.” Leng Shoushan took the jade pot and filled his silver cup for him and sighed. “It’s very likely that the order for my assassination came from Gu Qi.”

Given that Chu Li had been personally giving him much help and demonstrated how highly he valued affection and loyalty, Leng Shoushan deemed it most appropriate to call him a brother.

Chu Li replied, “Fortunately, Your Royal Highness came out unscathed.”

“Thankfully, my ninth brother has insisted on leaving his four Protectors with me. If not, it’s hard to say for sure what would’ve happened!” Leng Shoushan seemed to be experiencing some lingering fears from the incident.

Chu Li said, “This time, I’ve received orders to investigate my lord’s assassination case. I’ll try my best to track down the assassins.”

“Brother Chu, you’re going to investigate this case of mine?” Leng Shoushan quickly asked.

Chu Li nodded.

Leng Shoushan slammed a palm on the table. “Good!”

He had been very impressed by Chu Li’s marvelous methods of investigation and believed that with Chu Li joining in on the investigation, the assassins would never be able to escape.

“Even in your own residence, you must also be wary of further assassination attempts.”Chu Li reminded.

Leng Shoushan frowned and slowly nodded.

Chu Li went on. “Think about the assassination in King An’s Imperial Residence. When these guys go crazy, they have no regard for their own lives at all, so what could stand in their way?”

“Yes, I’ll be sure to be wary!” Leng Shoushan continued to nod in agreement.

The people at King An’s Imperial Residence were uncommonly capable as well and they even had a martial arts master like Chu Li keeping watch over the place. Nonetheless, the place had been repeatedly encountering assassinations from other masters of the martial arts world. Evidently, the common people did not fear the Imperial Residences at all!

“My Lord, how’s the condition of your injured Protectors?” Chu Li asked.

Leng Shoushan shook his head. “Their injuries are rather hard to diagnose and treat. None of them has fully recovered yet.”

“I’d like to meet them.” Chu Li requested.

Leng Shoushan raised his voice to call an elder over and passed on an instruction.

Soon after, four middle-aged Protectors in neat uniforms arrived at the gazebo. They were walking as slow as an old man. Three of them looked rather pale whereas the remaining one appeared to be turning purple and had difficulty breathing.

Leng Shoushan introduced Chu Li to them, and the four of them sized Chu Li up curiously.

Chu Li was a legendary figure of the Fairy’s Capital whose famous name they had also heard of, and while they had now found out that Chu Li was younger than they had expected, they did not look down on him, for he seemed rather calm and steady despite his young age, possessing a naturally powerful presence.

Chu Li examined the condition of their injuries one by one and took the opportunity to help them expel the inner forces within their bodies.

The reason for their lack of recovery was exactly because of the inner forces remaining in their bodies that had yet been driven out. In fact, although they had been consuming the Imperial Residence’s Spirit Medicine, not only would their condition not improve, their injuries would actually worsen. If this situation were to persist, they would only meet their end sooner.

“Will you be able to find the assailants?” Leng Shoushan asked.

Chu Li frowned in silence.

“Can they leave then?” Leng Shoushan spoke again.

Chu Li nodded.

The four of them gave Chu Li a fist salute and thanked him for his help.

After Chu Li watched them leave, he turned his gaze back to Leng Shoushan.

Leng Shoushan quickly questioned, “What’s wrong, Brother Chu?”

“The second person to whom I gave my assistance earlier is the informant,” Chu Li stated.

Leng Shoushan’s expression grew dark. “That’s Elder Xu. He’s already a senior in the residence!”

Chu Li did not speak any further.

Leng Shoushan inhaled a deep breath and said resentfully, “He must’ve been possessed by ghosts. How dare he betray the Imperial Residence!”

Chu Li advised, “My Lord, don’t be so anxious to take action. Let’s take some time to observe him and see if he actually has any intention of betrayal.”

“Ah…” Leng Shoushan smiled bitterly. “I’ve been so afraid that I’ll end up like my fifth brother, so I’ve been very careful to select only the most reliable Protectors. Who would have known…”

“After being attacked by the assassins, has My Lord not calmed down to consider the possibility of having an informant?” Chu Li asked.

Leng Shoushan shook his head. “I’ve just managed to calm my emotions, so I haven’t been able to think about those things.”

Chu Li informed, “This time, the assailants were disciples of the Holy Church of Light.”

“The Holy Church of Light? It’s them again!?” Leng Shoushan frowned. “What are they trying to accomplish here?”

The Holy Church of Light had been stirring up a lot of trouble some time ago and had just recently quieted down. Now, they were back again!

Chu Li sighed. “I’d also like to know what they’re up to. I’ll go and track down the assassins first. I’ll visit My Lord again at another time.”

Leng Shoushan hurriedly said, “Those guys from the Holy Church of Light aren’t easy to deal with. Be careful!”

Chu Li gave him a fist salute with a smile. “Please be careful too, My Lord!”

He soared up to a treetop and leaped off, disappearing in an instant.

…

Qin Jin and the others were in the main hall discussing what furniture to buy. They wondered whether they should just change up all of the existing furniture and buy some exotic flowers and rare herbs to decorate the courtyard, or have a fishpond and build two gazebos.

When Chu Li suddenly appeared, they quickly bowed to greet him.

Chu Li said, “Qin Jin, the four of you are coming with me to catch the assassins.”

“Centurion, please allow us brothers to go instead,” Ning Boyuan anxiously said, “Leave the tracking part to us!”

Chu Li shook his head. “There’s no need for any tracking this time round. Instead, we’re hunting them down to kill them. Other than the Outland, the disciples of the Holy Church of Light will have nowhere to escape!”

The Ning Brothers immediately became dejected.

Qin Jin laughed. “We can finally exercise a little. Our bodies are already getting rusty!”

Chu Li said, “We’re leaving right away. Do you guys need to prepare anything?”

Qin Jin and the others shook their heads.

“Let’s go then,” Chu Li said.

He led the four men out through the backdoor, hiding their tracks as they headed westward.

While hurrying along his journey, Chu Li sighed to himself. He had not expected this group of assassins to be so bold. Either they were confident that no one would be able to detect any slip-up, or they felt that no one would be able to catch them anyway. Instead of being on the run after their assassination attempt, they were actually still hiding in Fairy’s Capital!

“Regarding how the disciples of the Holy Church of Light should be dealt with, there’s no need for me to explain any further, right?” Chu Li asked. “Settle it as fast as possible. We mustn’t give them any chance of using their secret skill. Even if we had to endure some injuries, we must kill them off within a few moves!”

Qin Jin and the others nodded.

It was already noon right now. Under the bright sun, they arrived at a residential area.

This was a place where civilians lived. Each residence was not very big and seemed somewhat outdated. None of the people living here was from a rich family.

Chu Li stopped in front of a residence and pointed in the diagonally opposite direction. The four of them signaled their understanding that the assassins were in the neighboring residence.

Chu Li had already used the Omniscient Mirror to check out the situation inside.

Under the huge locust tree in the courtyard sat three middle-aged men clad in green clothing. They were languidly drinking tea while carrying a casual conversation among themselves.

The scattered shadow of the locust tree leaves was cast over them, leaving them carefree and at leisure.

Then, Chu Li and his four men happened to enter into those three people’s perceptual range.

“Something’s not right,” a dumpy man with a frown said. “I have an ominous feeling. This place isn’t suitable for us to stay for long. We have to leave immediately!”

“Brother Jiang, is there really something wrong?” A man with a long and narrow face sat up straight. “Is someone coming?”

“In any case, since I’ve been prompted by a sudden impulse, there must be some danger coming. We must leave at once!” The dumpy man stood up while keeping an eye out on his surroundings.

The third sturdy-looking man said in a boisterous manner, “You guys are scaring yourselves. Who could even tie the incident to us? Though since you’re having a bad feeling about this place, it’s better for us to leave then!”

The three men set their teacup down before rising to leave.

However, before they could make a move, Chu Li suddenly appeared behind the dumpy man as a cold glint of light flashed from his waist.

The dumpy man had acute reflexes, just as Chu Li had expected, as the man threw his short body forward to the ground.

Nonetheless, the Manifestation of Nature Restoration had already predicted this response from him. With that, the sword tip, which was now ready in place, speared into the back of the dumpy man and reappeared through his chest.