The Embroidered Uniform Guard and an Unexpected Encounter
After mailing the contract at the post office near his neighborhood, Chu Tianxing decided to head to yesterday's park to practice the Snake-Crawl Raccoon-Tumble movent technique.
Since it wasn't far, he skipped taking a ride and just walked there instead.
As he passed by a narrow alley, he suddenly noticed that the entrance had been sealed off with police tape and two black cars with flashing lights were parked nearby.
Dozens of curious onlookers had gathered at the alley entrance to see what was happening at the scene. So were even trying to sneak into the alley, but they were all turned away by several black-clad figures guarding the entrance.
These guards were all dressed in identical fitted black trench coats that made them look imposing and sharp. Embroidered on their lapels was a strange creature with the body of a phyton featuring a fish-fin tail and two horns on its head.
Chu Tianxing recognized that bizarre creature imdiately. It was a Flying Fish.
And those black-clad n with Flying Fish embroidered on their lapels were none other than the Embroidered Uniform Guard of the Great Ming Dynasty.
Historically, the Embroidered Uniform Guard had been the emperor's personal army, responsible for monitoring officials and gathering intelligence.
But in modern society where the emperor has been reduced to a figurehead, the Embroidered Uniform Guard's role has naturally evolved as well.
They no longer answered to the emperor but operated as an internal security departnt under governnt managent.
Their main responsibilities included maintaining social order and fighting cri. Basically functioning as the police force.
The minimum requirent to join the Embroidered Uniform Guard was achieving the Inner Force Realm in martial arts.
Throughout the entire Great Ming territory, there were a full million Embroidered Uniform Guards.
A law enforcent departnt made up of a million warriors, each at least at the Inner Force Realm, a million Embroidered Spring Sabers fighting cri and suppressing lawbreakers.
Now that's what you call intimidating.
So even though this world was full of martial artists, and the Great Ming had the world's largest population of Inner Force and True Qi Realm warriors, their social security remained top-notch globally.
Most civilian martial artists were law-abiding citizens who rarely abused their powers.
Right now, seeing the Embroidered Uniform Guard responding to an incident and sealing off the alley, Chu Tianxing couldn't help but drift over to check out what was happening.
However, he was not able to see anything of substance.
Several Embroidered Uniform Guards in modern-style Flying Fish robes stood guard at the entrance to keep the civilians out. Whatever was happening inside the alley remained a complete mystery to the gathered crowd.
Chu Tianxing mixed in with the crowd and listened for a while, but since all the spectators were just wildly speculating without knowing the real story, he quickly lost interest.
After waiting a bit longer and seeing there was really nothing to look at, Chu Tianxing quietly left the crowd and continued on his way to the park.
At the sa ti, deep within the alley...
In front of a garbage heap, a middle-aged Embroidered Uniform Guard in his forties stood with a grim face while staring at a corpse among the trash.
The body was withered and shrunken, nothing but skin and bones like a mummy that had been weathered for years. Yet the clothes on it were still fresh and bright, making the whole thing feel incredibly eerie.
Just then, a glasses-wearing Embroidered Uniform Guard walked up behind him and said grimly.
"This makes four victims this month. That psycho's got a nationwide manhunt on his head, and he still dares to commit serial cris. The guy's completely lost it.”
"And the interval between his cris is getting shorter and shorter. Before he ca to Canghe City, he would kill two people a month at most. But now, in less than a month, he has already murdered four... He's getting crazier and stronger."
The middle-aged Embroidered Uniform Guard frowned. "We need to catch him fast! Otherwise, there'll be more victims. Have we found any leads at the scene?"
As he spoke, he looked around at the other Embroidered Uniform Guards who were carefully collecting evidence with various instrunts.
A young Embroidered Uniform Guard who looked barely twenty and gave off total rookie vibes was sweating bullets as he said, "It's the sa as before. The scene has been wiped clean. The killer didn't leave behind any valuable clues..."
The middle-aged Embroidered Uniform Guard let out an annoyed grunt and asked, "What about the victim's identity?"
The rookie replied, "The victim is... Xu Zhou, a young official from the Canghe City Martial Arts Association, an Inner Force Realm warrior. He was only twenty-five, with all his Twelve Principal ridians and Eight Extraordinary ridians open. People thought he might reach the True Qi Realm before forty..."
The glasses-wearing Embroidered Uniform Guard said flatly, "The True Qi Realm isn't that easy to reach. How many warriors who opened all their ridians in their twenties never managed to condense a seed of True Qi in their entire lives? Still, I've heard of this Xu Zhou before. He won the city Martial Arts Tournant, placed in the top ten at the provincial level, and even competed nationally... He was quite talented with solid combat skills too."
The middle-aged Embroidered Uniform Guard's expression darkened.
"That madman used to only target ordinary Inner Force Realm warriors, but now he's started hunting talented ones. Even soone like Xu Zhou, who competed nationally and had decent fighting ability, wasn't a match for him... Regular civilian martial artists who run into this guy are basically dead at. Hell, even most Embroidered Uniform Guards probably couldn't take him one-on-one."
The glasses-wearing guard nodded. "This is getting more and more troubleso..."
The middle-aged Embroidered Uniform Guard took a deep breath.
"Put all non-urgent cases on hold. Pull every available person we can spare and throw them all at this case. Also, notify the City Martial Arts Association and have them send their experts to coordinate with us in the manhunt. I want to see that psycho behind bars within ten days!"
Just as he said this, the middle-aged Embroidered Uniform Guard suddenly turned his head and barked, "Who's there?"
The surrounding Embroidered Uniform Guards all followed his gaze and saw that at so point, a figure in white holding a small floral parasol had appeared on one side of the alley.
The person wore a white trench coat with a standing collar and white leather shoes. Their shoulder-length hair was perfectly grood, their skin was pale as snow, and their features were beautiful. A pair of phoenix eyes gave them an almost seductive air.
But this person was definitely male...
He held the small parasol in one hand while the other was casually tucked in his pocket, quietly observing the Embroidered Uniform Guards.
Every single Embroidered Uniform Guard present was at least an Inner Force Realm warrior who had opened their Twelve Principal ridians, yet none of them had noticed when this white-clad figure had arrived.
Looking at the man in white, the middle-aged Embroidered Uniform Guard frowned. "Gu Dongcang? This is our Embroidered Uniform Guard cri scene. As soone from the Eastern Depot, sneaking over here without a word seems pretty inappropriate, don't you think so?"
The white-clad man nad Gu Dongcang smiled slightly and spoke in a voice that was sowhat feminine but not unpleasantly so.
"Captain Lin, I've co rely to inform you of sothing. That wanted criminal Feng Yufei whom your Embroidered Uniform Guard has spent half a year failing to catch, has had his whereabouts locked down by our Eastern Depot. From now on, you won't need to mobilize your forces to catch him; our Eastern Depot will naturally bring him to justice."
Captain Lin's face darkened. "Dostic criminal cases have always been our Embroidered Uniform Guard's responsibility. Your Eastern Depot is overstepping its bounds here, isn't it?"
Gu Dongcang smiled. "Feng Yufei isn't just involved in ordinary criminal cases. He's hiding great secrets. Otherwise, Captain Lin, how do you think he's managed to stay free and keep killing under your nationwide manhunt?"
He paused, and without giving Captain Lin a chance to speak, Gu Dongcang smiled faintly again. "Captain Lin, the Eastern Depot is taking over Feng Yufei's case. You can pack up and rest now. Just wait for our good news. Farewell."
With that, his figure flickered and vanished without a trace like a phantom.
Just as no one had noticed his arrival, none of the Embroidered Uniform Guards present could see through the movent technique he used to disappear.
Even Captain Lin, who had already condensed a True Qi seed and could break through to the True Qi Realm at any mont, could only barely catch a glimpse of his shadow.
After Gu Dongcang left, the glasses-wearing Embroidered Uniform Guard was silent for a mont before asking, "Captain, what do we do?"
Captain Lin's thick eyebrows knitted together as he said through gritted teeth. "What can we do? The Eastern Depot has taken over the case and specifically sent Gu Dongcang to deliver the ssage. They're clearly determined to get that psycho Feng Yufei. We..."
He let out a long, resentful breath and said hoarsely. "We can only do what Gu Dongcang said. Pack up, rest, and wait for news from the Eastern Depot."
***
At the park, Chu Tianxing had returned to the sa grassy clearing in the woods where he'd woken up yesterday. He was planning to practice his Snake-Crawl Raccoon-Tumble technique here.
This spot was quite secluded. He noticed that the area around where he had woken up yesterday was pretty deserted. He'd expected it to be empty today, but when he arrived, soone was already sitting on that bench.
It was a short, seemingly frail man wearing an ordinary jacket and sneakers. He had plain features and ssy hair, and was completely unremarkable in every way.
Logically, such an unremarkable scrawny guy should have seed completely harmless.
But the mont Chu Tianxing laid eyes on him, his heart inexplicably skipped a beat, his scalp prickled, and he instinctively felt the kind of wariness you'd have when spotting a venomous snake or hungry tiger.
However, he didn't let his shock show.
After calmly sizing up the scrawny man with a quick glance, Chu Tianxing pretended to be just so random passerby and casually strolled along the tree-lined path beside the clearing, acting like he was just cutting through to get to the lake.
But he had only taken a few steps when a low, hoarse male voice suddenly entered his ears.
"The mont you saw , your heart rate nearly doubled, your palms started sweating, your breathing got rapid... Why is that? Do you know ? Are you afraid of ?"
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