Two days later.
Thirty miles southwest of Eagle Sorrow Cliff.
Groups of three to five gray-clad Patrol Officers were spread throughout the dense forest, searching carefully.
After quite some time, Yu Liu, the newly appointed Vice Dean of the Patrol Institute, hurried over to a large tree.
Spiritual Light flashed around him as he leaped up to the top of the tree, which stood six or seven stories tall.
A middle-aged man in his forties stood quietly atop the canopy.
He stood on the tip of a single leaf. No matter how the canopy swayed, he remained perfectly still, like a reef in the sea.
Yu Liu steadied himself on a branch as thick as a finger and respectfully cupped his fists.
"Elder Hu, the scene was badly damaged. We couldn't find anything."
"Vice Dean Zhao and those three teams of Patrol Officers are likely dead."
Hu Changqing lightly stroked the beard beneath his chin and muttered, "Retaliation?"
He had sent Zhao Shaoyuan to investigate smuggling in order to crack down on the independent traders and make it easier to consolidate the business later. Yet the moment they made a move, Zhao Shaoyuan had vanished.
"Has someone else from the Other Courtyard meddled in Eagle Sorrow Cliff's mutual-trade business?"
"They're trying to steal business from me?" A cold gleam flashed through Hu Changqing's eyes.
They were stirring trouble on his turf!
"It's time to clean up Eagle Sorrow Cliff."
Just as he was considering a plan to squeeze people out and purge them, a burly figure suddenly shot up the trunk.
The man looked honest and simple-minded. After respectfully saluting, he said in a muffled voice, "Elder, Vice Dean, we found something!"
As he spoke, he turned over both hands and held up a bird the size of a sparrow.