White-Robed Chief

Zhe Liang also said helplessly, “We should have captured him a long time ago!”

“Doesn’t the House of Secret Guardians always act first before asking questions, and catch the person before launching an investigation?” frowned Chu Li, “Why didn’t you catch him first this time?”

Zhe Liang sighed, “It’s all thanks to how the Chancellors kept exposing our deeds. We did not dare to act presumptuously… That Ministry Counsellor Zhou has a lot of connections, and he even has friends all across the land. I’m afraid that even if we were to catch him today, he would be let out tomorrow.”

“When did this happen?” asked Chu Li, “Can we still catch up with him now?”

“The House of Secret Guardians have already sent the order to pursue him,” Zhe Liang gritted his teeth, “no matter what, even if he escapes to the Li Dynasty, we need to kill him!”

“You will definitely need to kill him,” Chu Li nodded his head in understanding. “Who went after him?”

“The Ning brothers,” said Zhe Liang, “the tracking techniques of the Ning family are second to none. Now that the Ning brothers are acting personally, they will definitely manage to catch him!”

“That is good,” nodded Chu Li.

Both of them looked as if they were walking slowly, but with each step they took, the wider their strides became. They entered the House of Secret Guardians in just a short amount of time.

When Chu Li entered the Main Hall, all they saw was a hall that was already filled with people.

Besides Fu Mengshan and Xu Huande, there were twenty or so other young men and elders.

Seeing as he entered the hall, they all looked over — some in curiosity, some in distaste; some in hatred, but none in fondness.

Chu Li was an anomaly in the House of Secret Guardians.

Ever since Siao Shi had killed the Secret Guardian of the Imperial House, he had been standing opposite them. If it weren’t for the fact that Fu Mengshan and Xu Huande wanted to lend his help in investigating the disciples of the Holy Church of Light, he would have been brushed aside long ago.

If Siao Shi wasn’t standing behind him, they would have hated him enough to have killed him happily.

No word was uttered in the Main Hall. It was as if the air had completely frozen over, and a heavy pressure was weighing on every single person.

If this Ministry Counsellor really managed to escape, every single person in the House of Secret Guardians would have to receive punishments. No one would be able to run away.

The worst case scenario would be getting kicked out of the House of Secret Guardians. Whereas a good outcome would mean being sent to guard the Imperial Mausoleum; the normal outcome would be getting stepped on to death.

Fu Mengshan gestured his hand, “Young Chu, come sit here.”

Among the gazes of dissatisfaction and anger, Chu Li calmly went towards Fu Mengshan and Xu Huande, and closed fist saluted.

“Young Chu, you are a good practitioner in tracking as well,” Fu Mengshan pointed towards the armchair on his right. “The Ning brothers are already after him, so they should be able to catch up. You should go too, to be on the safe side and guarantee success.”

“Commander, I want to take a look at the Minister Counsellor’s mansion,” Chu Li closed fist saluted and sat in the armchair.

Everyone glared at him in displeasure.

Not everyone could sit in that armchair. Since it was so close to Fu Mengshan, it should be the Centurian’s seat.

“Head Chief Chu, The Zhou Residence has already been reduced to a pile of ashes. There is nothing left,” a middle-aged man sitting opposite from him said, in an odd tone, “there is nothing left to see.”

“Before that guy left, he burned down the entire mansion,” Xu Huande said coldly, “it is obvious that he is burning all bridges behind him. It has ended up completely like the Li Dynasty!”

Fu Mengshan said, “Let’s go take a look. Your eyesight is good, so you might be able to find a clue.”

“So what if there really is a clue!” The middle-aged man said lightly, “The person has already fled, so the most important matter at hand now is to catch him. Or else, we will have bear all the consequences!”

“Elder Ma, you should really work on your impatience,” Fu Mengshan waved his hand, “the Ning brothers are tracking him, but Young Chu’s abilities are not just tracking. He might be able to discover something accidentally.”

“What use is accidental discoveries!” The middle-aged man, Ma Kun said in dissatisfaction, “Commander, what we have to do now is assemble our forces and catch that bastard before he flees all the way to the Li Dynasty. Capture him or kill him, we can leave all that for later!”

He looked towards Chu Li and said lightly, “Head Chief Chu’s martial arts are rumored to be amazing. Your Light-body Technique is also exceptional. Why don’t you hurry and catch up with the Ning brothers, and help them in their hunt!”

Chu Li shook his head and said calmly, “I want to see the Minister Counsellor’s mansion first!”

“What is there to see in a pile of rubble!” Ma Kun said coldly, “Head Chief Chu, are you trying to slack off?”

Chu Li frowned at him.

Ma Kun scoffed, “We are at a stage of life and death in the House of Secret Guardians. Everyone is desperately thinking of ideas, but Head Chief Chu, you are thinking of slacking off and not contributing. Are you deliberately trying to see all of us in the House of Secret Guardians flounder about before you release the anger in your heart?”

Chu Li frowned and said unhappily, “We have yet to be acquainted…?”

“Elder Ma, that mouth of yours!” Fu Mengshan glared at Ma Kun, and smiled towards Chu Li, “This is Centurian Ma Kun, he is in charge of assassins.”

Chu Li nodded his head, “I did not know Senior Ma had this kind of thinking. The reason to why I want to see the mansion is because I want to make clear exactly what happened there.”

“What is the point in that, you should stop that man first!” scoffed Ma Kun, “If you catch the person, or even kill him, it would still not be too late to investigate carefully then!”

Chu Li smiled, “If it were that simple, then everything else in the world would be easy.”

“What is so complicated about that?” Ma Kun said coldly, “It’s it obvious that Minister Counsellor has defected. We have been keeping an eye on him for some time now. He was acting inappropriately sneakily. It is a shame that he has a keen nose that he managed to snatch away the first move!”

Chu Li knew he was deliberately picking faults. When he entered the House of Secret Guardians, he had already predicted that this would happen.

Chu Li said, “You never know, that Minister Counsellor might be innocent!”

“Haha!” Ma Kun laughed loudly.

The others also burst into laughter, looking sarcastically at Chu Li.

Fu Mengshan waved his hand and said, “Young Chu, how did you get this idea?”

Chu Li said, “Has the investigation results from the House been finalized yet? Is it confirmed that there is something wrong with the Minister Counsellor?”

Fu Mengshan sighed, “It did not make it in time. However, he already ran. So it is obvious that he is guilty.”

Chu Li frowned and said, “He is a Minister Counsellor and has no upward mobility. Why would he need to defect? Even if he flees all the way to the Li Dynasty, he will still not be able to get a higher position.”

“There are plenty of reasons to defect,” Ma Kun laughed coldly, “it seems like you are an empleomania. You only want to be an Official, but you do not know that there are people out there who do not like officialdom and prefer to focus on their families’ safety, or prefer the company of women.”

Chu Li frowned, “Was he being coerced?”

“Who knows,” Ma Kun waved his hand carelessly, “there’s no point thinking about him. There is only one choice left now since he has already defected, and that is to kill him!”

Chu Li looked at Fu Mengshan, “Commander, I shall go and look at the Minister Counsellor’s mansion.”

“You… you…” Ma Kun grew furious. He glared at him and shouted, “My words are just mere farts to you, is it?”

Chu Li calmly looked at him, then towards Fu Mengshan.

“You…” Ma Kun took a step forward.

Fu Mengshan waved his hand, “Elder Ma!”

Ma Kun said viciously, “Commander, I think this little brat just wants to slack off!”

Fu Mengshan said, “Elder Ma, stop spouting nonsense. Young Chu is not that kind of person!”

“At this point, what is most important is catching that person, but he is finding excuses to dilly-dally. What is he if he is not slacking!” Ma Kun glared furiously at Chu Li, “If you were a subordinate of mine, I would have gotten rid of you long ago!”

Chu Li frowned without saying anything.

If it were not for his ambition to control the House of Secret Guardians, he would have gotten hostile long ago, and he would have straightaway given Ma Kun a tight slap.