Police cars rushed into Hanjing Garden and took the elevator to the floor where Xu Dongdong lived. Wang Lan had already received information about Xu Dongdong during the ti in the car.
Xu Dongdong was eleven years older than Xu Donghai. She had married five years ago, and her husband was part of their company’s managent team. He had left for Holy Cross Country on a business trip seven days prior and had not yet returned.
"WOOF WOOF WOOF—"
As they reached the door, they heard a series of intense barks coming from inside.
Wang Lan looked gravely at Hu Qing, who nodded. Wang Lan raised his Fla Sword and slashed open the front door. Kicking it open, he saw a ho in complete disarray.
"Are we too late?" Hu Qing took a deep breath. "If the n had reacted imdiately when they received the call, we might have made it in ti. Damn it!"
"Ai, imdiately access the community surveillance. Go through every person and vehicle that entered or exited the neighborhood within the last twenty minutes... no, make that half an hour," Wang Lan commanded.
"Yes!"
"WOOF WOOF—"
Another round of barking sounded, prompting both Wang Lan and Hu Qing to look over. In a corner of the ssy living room, inside a dog cage, a Golden Retriever stared at them with bright, intelligent eyes.
Hu Qing quickly averted his gaze and began searching for clues in the chaotic ho.
"WOOF WOOF—"
Wang Lan observed the Golden Retriever with puzzlent. There was sothing familiar about the dog, particularly its eyes, which were as spirited as Black Girl’s used to be when she looked at him.
Wang Lan approached the cage and saw that a lock had been added. He extended his hand, and flas erupted, visibly lting the lock away.
BANG— The Golden Retriever slamd open the cage and then bolted out of the house.
Wang Lan hesitated for a mont, but then his expression changed dramatically, and he hurried out. Just then, the elevator doors opened, and the Golden Retriever dashed inside. Wang Lan hurriedly followed, squeezing into the elevator just as the doors were closing.
The Golden Retriever looked up at Wang Lan. They stood in opposite corners of the elevator, warily eyeing each other.
From the Golden Retriever’s lively eyes, Wang Lan could tell that the dog was highly intelligent.
The dog had pressed the elevator button and selected the ground floor. When the elevator reached the ground floor and the doors opened, the Golden Retriever burst out and sprinted away.
Wang Lan quickly followed.
The Golden Retriever was extrely fast, running wildly once it determined a direction. After a few minutes, it would stop to sniff around before resuming its mad dash.
Wang Lan followed the Golden Retriever’s frantic run for half an hour. Their route led them to increasingly remote locations, gradually nearing an industrial park.
"WOOF WOOF—"
The Golden Retriever suddenly stopped and turned to look back at Wang Lan before squeezing through a gap in a fence. Wang Lan observed the company na. at Union Factory?
With a flash, Wang Lan followed. As he entered the at Union Factory, his eyes were drawn to the sealing tape on the door. It then dawned on him. Suzhou City had recently discovered a large quantity of uninspected, substandard pork. Consequently, authorities had taken strong asures to regulate the market, sealing multiple at Union Factories suspected of illegal activities.
This is a sealed at Union Factory. It looks like my guess was right; this Golden Retriever really can find its owner, Wang Lan thought as he cautiously sneaked into the shadows, keeping his eye on the distant Golden Retriever.
"WOOF WOOF WOOF—"
A series of urgent barks rang out. Wang Lan imdiately activated his long-range vision, bringing the scene before him into clear focus.
In a warehouse, directly in Wang Lan’s line of sight, a woman was suspended in a spread-eagled position, her hair disheveled and her head hanging low, making it impossible to see her face.
"Where did this dog co from!" A bare-chested, bald thug with tattoos on his neck ca to the window and spat.
"This is the at Union Factory; isn’t it normal for dogs to co here? Cats eat fish, dogs eat at."
"Speaking of which, Boss, are we still going to interrogate her? This woman clearly doesn’t know anything. Further interrogation is just a waste of energy."
"What? Zipper, even you’re going soft on her?"
"Bullshit! I’ve been sick of this for a long ti. I stopped considering myself human ages ago. If she really knew sothing and was being stubborn, I might have the interest to play with her. But it’s clear she doesn’t know, so what’s the point of us ssing with her further?"
"It’s one thing for us to know, but the higher-ups don’t care. If we don’t torture her to the end, they’ll think we didn’t try our best. Getting a result isn’t important; what matters is our attitude. Have you rested enough? Once you have, resu the interrogation. Hand the scissors; let’s start with her fingers."
"WOOF WOOF WOOF—"
The Golden Retriever let out a furious bark and charged at the window. However, the window was barred with iron rails. No matter how hard the Golden Retriever banged its head, even until it bled, it was to no avail.
"HAHAHA... Stupid dog! Keep hitting it; if you die, you’ll be tonight’s extra dish. But this dog... it looks kind of familiar, where have I..."
His voice cut off abruptly as a silvery Crescent Arrow pierced through his mouth, entering from the front and exiting through the back of his head.
"GURGLE... GURGLE..."
"Raki, what the hell are you gurgling about? Stop teasing the dog and get back to work..."
His words were abruptly cut off as Raki collapsed backward, blood gushing from his mouth like a fountain.
"Soone’s here! Who is it!" The remaining few imdiately tensed and jumped up. Their sharp eyes scanned the surroundings, but they couldn’t find the attacker.
Two of them pressed against the wall, watching Raki as blood spurted from his mouth. "It’s a sniper," one whispered.
"What do we do?"
"Use the hostage to threaten him!" one of them said. With that, he swiftly rolled across the ground, using an army-style evasion move to reach the hanging woman, his dagger flashing like a streak of cold light. He moved to place the dagger against the woman’s neck, thinking the sniper would then be forced to comply...
Suddenly, his movents halted. A tingling sensation hit him right between the eyebrows, and in an instant, endless darkness engulfed him.
"Chain—" The complexions of the remaining three changed drastically, terror quickly surfacing on their faces.
Hidden in the shadows, Wang Lan’s eyes sparkled. This arrow also confird sothing for him: the people in the warehouse were not Star Martial Warriors. They were just ordinary people.
Having confird they were not Star Martial Warriors, Wang Lan no longer had any reservations. His figure darted forward, transforming into a streak of light as he rushed toward the warehouse. Covering the distance of less than three hundred ters took him only about twenty seconds.
To the three n inside the warehouse, Wang Lan’s speed resembled that of a high-speed train charging at them—they had barely noticed him before he was already upon them.
BOOM— The wall collapsed thunderously, and Wang Lan’s figure entered the warehouse. His dynamic visual tracking activated, he swiftly scanned the entire environnt, ensuring there were no hidden threats. Then he moved to shelter the woman behind him.
"Brother, which gang are you from? Announce yourself!"
"Tianjian Bureau! I’m going to ask you so questions. Answer a single word incorrectly, and you die! What are you looking for?"
"Kid, keep talking like that and you’ll—AARGH!"
A flash of silver light zipped by, and an arrow instantly pierced his shoulder. Blood gushed profusely from the wound.
"Star... Star Martial Warrior?"
"This is your last chance. What are you searching for?"
"We are looking for... AARGH—" The voice abruptly cut off as the remaining two robbers suddenly clutched their heads and began to wail miserably.
Wang Lan’s eyes imdiately sharpened. The heads of the two robbers before him began to squirm violently, resembling balloons being squeezed.
POP! The heads of the two robbers burst open like smashed waterlons. A hideous beetle crawled out from each of their skulls.
Wang Lan’s fingers instantly shot out flas, a stream scorching the creatures.
Under the intense heat, the two beetles emitted horrifying shrieks and then turned to ash.
Wang Lan hurriedly rescued the hanging woman. Checking her, he found she was still breathing. He promptly pressed on her chest, but alas, she was just an ordinary person; Wang Lan’s Healing Star Martial Arts were ineffective on her.
WEE-OO WEE-OO WEE-OO—
The sound of sirens grew louder, and before long, the wail of police sirens could be heard right outside the warehouse.
Wang Lan carried the woman out. The Golden Retriever nervously circled him, its eyes never leaving the woman in his arms.
"Wang Lan, how is she?"
"She should be Xu Dongdong. She’s in critical condition; get her to a hospital fast."
"Feng, hurry and get her to dical care! What about the robbers?"
"Dead!" Wang Lan said somberly, shaking his head. "The robbers had beetles in their heads. These would quickly consu their brains if they showed any sign of betrayal. Moreover, these aren’t any beetle species known to humankind. I’m certain they’re not native to Sky Blue Star. The Demon Clan is behind this."
"The Demon Clan?" Xu Shiyun’s voice arose as he slowly materialized from underground. "Does Xu Donghai have ties to the Demon Clan? Are there Demon Clan spy teams in Suzhou City?"
"As one of Jade Country’s top-ranked major cities, Suzhou City is naturally of great interest to the Demon Clan. The spy teams we’ve captured likely represent less than a tenth of those the Demon Clan has deployed. The ergence of a new spy team wouldn’t be strange. But if the Demon Clan is behind this, what was their purpose in killing Xu Donghai? What are they trying to find from him? But that’s not my primary concern. What worries most is the Demon Clan’s clear attempt to prevent from participating in the provincial martial arts competition."
"The Demon Clan wants to sabotage the provincial martial arts competition?" Xu Shiyun’s expression changed drastically as he asked gravely.
"It’s a strong possibility. Right now, Xu Dongdong is our only clue. Saving Xu Dongdong is crucial; she might reveal what the Demon Clan is looking for."
"Then let’s go!" Hu Qing left so of his n behind to collect evidence and escorted Wang Lan and Xu Shiyun to the hospital with Xu Dongdong.
RING RING RING—
Wang Lan’s phone rang. Seeing the caller ID, he saw it was Jiang Xinyu.
"Hello?"
"Wang Lan, where did you run off to? The morning matches are over, and you didn’t even show up?"
"They’re over? That fast? How did you all do?"
"Sisi was unlucky; she faced Qian Shichen and lost narrowly. Xiangwen and Feiyu both made it through. Also, the challenge matches scheduled for this afternoon have been postponed. They might be in three days, or perhaps even later; the specific ti is still to be announced."
"I already know. I’m busy with sothing right now; I’ll call you when I’m done."
"Sothing’s up? Is it work-related?" Jiang Xinyu quickly sensed sothing.
"Yes."
"I heard... Xu Donghai is dead? Is that true?"
"Yes. I can’t say more right now."
"Okay. I’ll hang up."
When the three n arrived at the hospital, Wang Lan saw the Golden Retriever lying quietly by the entrance, ever vigilant. Its lively eyes scanned the gatekeeper, as if waiting for an opportunity. As soon as it saw Wang Lan get out of the car, it imdiately got up and trotted over, wagging its tail.
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