Volume 4, Chapter 45 – Tracking the Culprit (Two-in-One)

Boom!!!

Bai Zhuqing had barely driven through the first intersection when another tremendous blast and tremor came from somewhere behind them.

“These people are insane…” Bai Leying’s little face had gone pale with fright. Even with the seat belt holding her in place, she still didn’t feel safe enough. She wrapped both arms around the back of the seat cushion and clung to it tightly as she said in a trembling voice, “This is basically a terrorist attack!”

She wasn’t stupid. At first, everything had happened too fast for her to process, but after those few text messages had been sent out, Bai Leying realized that someone was deliberately targeting the Shenming Sword Dao.

As for the explosions coming from other directions afterward, they were most likely timed bombs planted in advance, meant to muddy the waters and divide the attention of the Inspectorate and everyone else.

“They’re not crazy.” When Bai Zhuqing dealt with anyone other than Bai Xiang, she completely lacked that sweet, girlish manner she usually showed. Gripping the steering wheel tightly, she said coldly, “The kidnapping operation and the arrival of those delegations were almost perfectly synchronized. Add in the planted bombs, and that means the forces for tying people down, the forces for direct action, and the forces for disruption were all arranged in advance… Lunatics can’t pull off something on this level.”

So it was premeditated?

Bai Leying’s heart gave a violent jolt.

What did she mean by ‘forces for tying people down’?

Was her sister saying that Sister Xiang’er might be pinned down by those delegations and unable to get away in time?

Which meant that no matter what these people were after, they had already factored Sister Xiang’er into their plans?

Didn’t that mean it would be extremely dangerous for them to keep chasing now?

Bzzz—

Just as Bai Leying was spacing out, Bai Zhuqing’s phone suddenly started vibrating and ringing.

“Answer it for me.” Bai Zhuqing kept her eyes locked on the rear of the speeding sedan ahead. She jerked the steering wheel sharply, making the car swerve past pedestrians, and barked the order to her younger sister in a stiff voice.

At a time like this, Bai Leying didn’t dare fool around. She obediently answered the call for her, then obediently set the phone into the built-in holder in the car.

[Static… How are things over there?]

After a burst of noise, a somewhat shrill young male voice came through.

“Maoxu?” Bai Leying blurted out. “Why are you the one calling?”

[Is there some law that says I can’t help?] Bai Maoxu sounded as if he had just rolled his eyes and casually pushed up his large-framed glasses.

[Actually, this is also Grand Master’s order. She knows that Senior Brother Guo and I have been researching ‘urban grid-mapping’ lately, so I have the corresponding equipment and data on hand.]

Bai Leying was unconvinced. “Then Senior Brother Guo should be the one coordinating!”

[Senior Brother Guo has other things to handle.]

“You—”

“Leying, shut up.” Cutting off her younger sister’s little flare-up, Bai Zhuqing asked the phone directly, “What kind of help can you give me?”

[The Inspectorate stationed in Zhennan currently has seventeen public-security units on paper.] Bai Maoxu said, [Four were on duty today, and the enemy has already lured every single one of them away through various means. For at least the next ten minutes, your car is the only ‘team’ capable of tracking them with the naked eye.]

He was tactful enough not to bring up why there were no Shenming Sword Dao patrol disciples nearby. The reason was simple: with four Illusory Realm dojos visiting at the same time, a large number of disciples had been pulled back to take part in the ceremony. The forces outside were extremely limited.

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[As for your driving skill…] Bai Maoxu paused here. [Without my prompts and directions, losing them is only a matter of time.]

Bai Zhuqing curled her lip. “What guidance can you give me?”

[Don’t rush. Didn’t I just say that Senior Brother Guo and I have been researching ‘urban grid-mapping’? You can think of it as us creating a real-time model of the entire city, and the ‘Yalandi’ you’re driving has sensors installed that match this modeling network.]

“And what does that—”

[By the time I finish this sentence, a right-turn alley branch will appear ahead. Be careful not to accelerate too much.]

Before Bai Zhuqing could react, the target vehicle suddenly made a sharp turn and shot into an alley.

Screech—

She hurriedly turned with it. The view in front of her abruptly darkened as she followed it into the alley and kept racing forward.

Fortunately, Bai Maoxu had warned her in advance. She was just a fraction faster on the controls, so she didn’t overshoot the turn and save a great deal of precious time.

“You—”

[Don’t ask why. Of course I don’t know exactly how they’re driving, but I can see your trajectory on the map. Combined with the surrounding road conditions, I can infer it directly.]

“Have the people in the back end check who arranged today’s personnel assignments and arrest that person first!” Bai Zhuqing said at once. “That person is very likely involved too!”

With Bai Maoxu providing all-angle navigation, she relaxed slightly and finally had the spare attention to carry out further analysis.

The reason for checking personnel was simple. There was no way it was such a coincidence that after the other disciples were called back for the ceremony, Liu Yong’s squad had just happened to be left outside. There had to be an inside accomplice who arranged it.

[Someone already reported that~] Bai Maoxu’s tone rose. [Though I have to praise your intelligence, sadly, your reaction was a bit slow.]

“Who was it—”

[Calculating the angle of sunlight. In five seconds there will be a burst of strong glare. Get ready.]

Bai Zhuqing immediately narrowed her eyes and directed her Qi into the acupoints around them.

Five seconds later, the scene before her suddenly lit up. The car shot straight out of the alley, where the contrast between the dark zone and the sunlit zone created a blinding glare. Without preparation, she would definitely have gone blind for one or two seconds.

And in the little more than one second she remained clear-headed, she widened her eyes and saw that the target vehicle, instead of turning left or right like anyone would normally expect, dove straight down the steps ahead.

Cunning!

‘Jade Spirit’ can only warn me about information I can observe. Without Maoxu, I definitely would have frozen for a long time!

They even accounted for the disruption caused by temporary blindness from the light… These people really are professionals!

Meanwhile, back at the first explosion site, Zhu Sheng, dressed in disciple robes, was crouching half-kneeling on the ground. Pinching Dongzi’s cheek, he waved a fist in front of him.

“Dongzi?”

“Wake up, Dongzi. Tell me, how many is this?”

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Dongzi’s clothes had been blown to rags, and his entire face was blackened with soot. Staring blankly at Zhu Sheng’s fist—which didn’t have a single finger extended—he slowly said, “That’s one…”

This was bad.

Zhu Sheng was horrified. Had Dongzi been blown stupid?

“One fist…”

“You little brat.” Zhu Sheng laughed in exasperation, patted Dongzi’s face, and stood up, finally letting out a small breath of relief.

“I’ve already reported the personnel issue within the Dao,” he said softly.

“Don’t worry. We’ll definitely help you find Brother Yong.”

Dongzi grinned, then finally closed his eyes in exhaustion.

“We can’t shake them.”

Inside the target vehicle on the other side, the four ‘kidnappers’ were in contact with their superior.

“The other side’s driving is obviously inexperienced, but they still keep up with us. We suspect someone from Starwater Company is helping them in secret.”

[Then that’s very strange.] The voice on the phone sounded displeased. [We’ve already helped you block most of the satellite signals in that area. Are you saying they can still monitor your real-time position by satellite through the interference?]

That kind of thing was difficult even with the cutting-edge technology of the Federation nations. Lori Aurora had left in such a hurry that he had not fully transferred the equipment and technology. How could they possibly have that kind of capability?

“That’s simply the truth.” One of the four men, wearing sunglasses, frowned slightly. “This already exceeds the agreed scope of the mission. That’s not what you told us before.”

[That road leads to the State Chancery residence.] The voice on the phone fell silent for a moment. [It’s possible someone just happened to be going there to get something done.]

“Then that makes it the most important route.” The man in sunglasses was blunt. “The target would definitely be patrolling along that line. The chance of us running into her midway is extremely high.”

[What exactly are you trying to say?]

“A mission item outside the original scope means you pay more.” The man said it bluntly. “At least double the original amount.”

[…As long as you bring the person back alive.] The other side paused. [How is the target?]

The man in sunglasses lowered his head and looked at the unconscious Liu Yong, who was bound with rope and had a pink talisman stuck to his forehead.

“Everything’s normal.”

[I don’t care what methods you use—get him to the south gate within ten minutes.] The voice on the phone issued a dead-serious order.

“Will there be experts there to receive us?”

[Yes! And there’ll be a flying craft to take you away with it!] the caller emphasized. [Remember! Within ten minutes!]

“We’ll do our best.” The man in sunglasses smiled. “After all, we don’t want to die either.”

Screech—

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The two cars continued their high-speed pursuit through Zhennan’s urban district. As time passed, sweat began to bead on Bai Zhuqing’s forehead as well.

Ordinarily, with ‘Jade Spirit’ assisting her and Bai Maoxu giving timely reminders, maintaining this kind of high-intensity driving for over ten minutes would not have been difficult at her current cultivation level. But at the same time, she was still communicating by phone and splitting off a great deal of mental energy to construct facial models of those four kidnappers inside her mind.

It sounded unbelievable, but only those who had cultivated ‘Jade Spirit Mingxin’ could understand that this was far from fantasy.

Although Bai Zhuqing had only caught side views of them from a few angles at the time, and some of them had also been wearing sunglasses, masks, and other concealments, the eidetic memory granted by ‘Jade Spirit’ still allowed her to describe their approximate facial features by comparison.

“The height data is…”

“The shoe-size data is…”

“One of them has broad outer ears, short earlobes, rounded cheekbones, platinum-colored eyebrows, and extremely developed muscles at the back of the neck. Another is relatively lean, with protruding cheekbones. Oh, right—his fingernails are very long.”

[Based on your description, they should be the notorious ‘Mantis Mercenary Corps’ from the ‘Gray Zone.’]

That voice came from Bai Leying’s phone.

Because of signal interference, the onboard radio was not very efficient. Using phones directly as receivers worked better: one phone was linked to Bai Maoxu, while the other was linked to Starwater Company’s Zhennan headquarters. And the owner of this voice was none other than the ‘Wheelchair Princess,’ Aurora.

[I won’t go into specific examples, but in short, they’re extremely good at things like disguise infiltration, kidnapping, and breaking out afterward.]

Bai Zhuqing asked, “How good are they in a fight?”

[In the ‘Gray Zone,’ they’d count as minor experts. All four of them have trained in ancient boxing and Luohou Qigong. The one with the long nails you mentioned is their leader, Mantis. He once obtained a Yu-clan sword manual and is skilled in a fast sword style like a soft whip.]

“Not enough.” Bai Zhuqing felt her heart grow heavier and heavier. “Trash on that level wouldn’t dare cause trouble in Zhennan on their own.”

[I’ve already had the information team analyze the reason.] Aurora’s tone was extremely earnest. [But we still need a little time for comparison.]

With the split inside the Aurora Family, she and her father Lori had already completely staked their future on Bai Xiang, on the four daos of Maozhou under her protection.

Although they had failed to bring the Star Tower Group brand over successfully and had only managed to peel off one of its subsidiaries, ‘Starwater,’ and settle it in Zhennan, the present Starwater Company could no longer be compared with the branch office of the past.

Lori had still brought out quite a lot of covert technology and advanced equipment, including databases and information vaults that only he had once been authorized to access.

There were things the old Starwater Company couldn’t do that the current Starwater absolutely could.

“Can you investigate Liu Yong’s personal background?” Bai Zhuqing asked.

[Yes.] Aurora replied. [I’ll have them do it.]

Hearing all this from the side, Bai Leying’s cheek twitched involuntarily.

Logically speaking, Liu Yong had previously been a Chilong Daoist. His identity file should have been retrievable only by the Great Yu administrative departments.

But this company actually had information on him too.

They said some prince of the imperial court had shares in it?

Were those even legitimate shares…?

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As time passed, the two cars drew closer and closer to the south gate.

[Pay attention.] Bai Maoxu warned. [The defensive forces at the south gate stopped responding ten minutes ago. They most likely have reinforcements waiting there!]

“Where’s Grand Master?” Bai Leying asked anxiously.

“Big Sister suggested Grand Master go into the mountains to relax and prepare for a breakthrough.” Bai Zhuqing shook her head, and her gaze suddenly turned sharp.

“Brace yourselves!”

Screee—

She slammed the accelerator. The car instantly erupted with powerful thrust, cut across a shortcut, smashed over several peddlers’ stalls, then shot up from the steps with a whoosh and rammed straight into the target vehicle.

Bang!!!

Steel crashed into steel. The two cars slammed hard against each other, and the enormous inertia and impact sent the front vehicle spinning and flipping through the air. After several heavy bounces, it smashed into the ground and at last lost the ability to move.

“Huff… huff…”

Bai Zhuqing was not much better off, but with her cultivation she could still endure it. Kicking open the already warped car door while panting, she sprang out with the Qingwu Sword in hand and sprinted toward the front at high speed.

But at that very moment, a powerful sense of danger enveloped her. ‘Jade Spirit’ screamed out warnings at her, forcing her to look up overhead. She caught sight of a blurry figure descending little by little from the sky with the sun at its back.

That kind of pressure…

Her eyes widened.

How was that possible!?

“So you actually chased them all the way here. Little girl, I have to say, your courage is worthy of praise.”

The figure slowly descended, revealing a woman in a black dress with her hair coiled up. She was actually sitting cross-legged in midair like a Buddha, and her face seemed veiled by a smoky, cloudlike illusion, making it impossible to see her true features clearly.

That aura and pressure… she was in a realm similar to Cui Yuanhao’s!

Bai Zhuqing gritted her teeth.

This trouble had just become very serious…

“Although I don’t know how your elder sister managed it, with cultivation like mine, if I get too close, she would be very likely to notice me.”

The woman in the black dress let out a cold snort.

“But now you’ve delivered yourself to my door, and she isn’t here.”

“So you can’t blame me… for showing no mercy!”