Huwali arrived at the suburban training base in a flustered, muddled rush, two hours earlier than the appointed time.
But once he reached the perimeter, he could go no farther.
The road had already been blocked off, and an Authority Wall had been erected. Even a bird trying to fly through would have been scanned several times over.
At this point, however, Huwali actually began to come back to his senses. From where he stood, he could see black smoke rising from the training base. Something major must have happened there.
Thinking back to the sudden call Lady Hametz had made to him earlier, and the matter she had instructed him to keep an eye on, Huwali more or less had a sense of the situation.
He steeled himself and went forward to contact the officers on duty at the roadblock.
The matter turned out to be easier than he had imagined. He gave the name "Pu Ren," claimed to be a colleague, and produced a summons document from the police branch in District Three of the City of Eternal Darkness as proof. After the officer on duty briefly communicated with his superiors, Huwali was actually allowed through.
Because the roadblock was still some distance from the incident area, the police even assigned a patrol car to take him there.
That was a little too courteous.
Huwali relaxed somewhat, knowing the situation probably was not too bad.
In fact, after making a few casual inquiries in the patrol car, he learned the basic outline of what had happened.
The training base still belching black smoke up ahead had been destroyed in a clash between two Celestial-level powerhouses. One of them was, of course, Lao Pu, the man he was currently going to see.
The other party's exact identity was unknown,