When five or six young men came down at once, Chen Jiaying had no idea which one was Zhang Hupan. However, he could be certain that every one of them looked as ordinary as ordinary could be. He could not help feeling disappointed. Still, because he had great faith in the organization and did not believe that someone hired as a Guest Elder could be an ordinary person, Chen Jiaying was preparing to ask which one was Zhang Hupan. Before he could speak, though, impatient Wang Ming saw that the newcomers looked utterly useless and immediately looked down on this Guest Elder he had never met. In his impatience, he shouted rudely and without the slightest courtesy, "Which one of you is Zhang Hupan?"
When Chen Jiaying heard Wang Ming's attitude, his heart sank. This is bad! Anyone who could serve as a Guest Elder was exceptionally powerful and proud. Although Chen Jiaying had not been able to see through the strength of the young men before him, unlike Wang Ming, he had not immediately dismissed Zhang Hupan and the others. Instead, he suddenly remembered that some superpowered individuals looked just like ordinary people despite being extremely powerful. Their strength could not be judged entirely by age, but by how early their abilities had awakened and by the type of ability they possessed. For example, ice-type abilities were innately one level higher than water-type abilities. Zhang Hupan might well be an exceptionally powerful superpowered individual. Of course, Chen Jiaying did not believe that the young man before him was an internal martial arts expert, because that was impossible to fake. Unless he had reached the realm of concealing his qi and spirit and returning to simplicity, it was practically impossible—and even his martial uncle Song Feng had not reached that realm yet. Naturally, he did not know that Song Feng had now risen to the level of an immortal precisely because of the seemingly ordinary Zhang Hupan before him!
"Do not be rude, Wang Ming!" Chen Jiaying hurriedly stopped his disciple's discourtesy, then asked neither obsequiously nor arrogantly, "May I ask which of you is Mr. Zhang Hupan?"
Seeing that they were not beautiful women, the others immediately lost interest. They pointed at Zhang Hupan, then each returned to their dormitory to continue battling.
If someone else had shouted at him so rudely, Zhang Hupan might have simply laughed it off. However, as Wudang's supreme authority, he was inevitably furious when he saw one of his disciples' disciples behaving this way. If they had been disciples of another sect, Zhang Hupan would not have been angry, but Zhang Sanfeng had poured a great deal of effort into establishing the Wudang Sect, and Zhang Hupan cared deeply about every word and action of Wudang's disciples. Thus, Zhang Hupan merely darkened his face, cast Chen Jiaying a haughty look, and said, "I am Zhang Hupan. I do not know you, so what business do you have with me?"
Wang Ming was naturally furious at Zhang Hupan's arrogant attitude and was just about to lose his temper when Chen Jiaying glared fiercely at him and barked, "Get back in the car!"
Although Wang Ming was an arrogant man, he had been afraid of his master since childhood. After being reprimanded by Chen Jiaying, he did not dare utter a sound and returned to the driver's seat.
Only after Wang Ming had gotten back into the car did Chen Jiaying say politely, "My worthless disciple was born with a bad temper. Please do not take offense, Mr. Zhang!"
Seeing this, and realizing that Wang Ming was not a completely unreasonable person, Zhang Hupan let the matter go. He smiled to show that he did not mind.
Chen Jiaying secretly took out his Special Department identification card and said in a low voice, "My name is Chen Jiaying, and I am in charge of the Zhejiang Special Department. We have a matter that requires the assistance of Guest Elder Zhang. Please come aboard the car so we can talk." As he spoke, Chen Jiaying put away his identification card.
Zhang Hupan was no longer the inexperienced novice who had just descended from the mountain. He already knew something of the secret departments maintained by various countries, and naturally understood Song Feng's good intentions at the time. The moment he saw Chen Jiaying's identification card, he understood that Chen Jiaying must have encountered a problem he could not solve and had hurried over to seek help after learning that a Guest Elder was in Hangzhou. Zhang Hupan also knew that Chen Jiaying certainly did not know his identity. Otherwise, even with enormous courage, he would not have dared disturb their patriarch over such a minor matter.
Once they were in the car, Chen Jiaying gave him a brief account of the entire situation. When Zhang Hupan heard that the Japanese he hated so deeply were behind it, he was filled with anger and decided to teach those arrogant Japanese devils a lesson.
"Let's go. Take me to where the Japanese devils are hiding." Zhang Hupan's face darkened as he waved to Wang Ming, who sat in the driver's seat.
On the way, Chen Jiaying was deeply uneasy. He truly could not gauge Zhang Hupan's strength, yet he felt awkward asking him directly how strong he was. However, those Japanese devils were simply too powerful. If Zhang Hupan was not strong enough, it would be better to wait until the people from headquarters arrived before taking action. Although that would increase the risk of the technological achievements being moved elsewhere, it was still better than suffering casualties without gaining anything.
Seeing Chen Jiaying's hesitant expression, Zhang Hupan naturally knew what worried him. He secretly found it irritating that this fellow did not even trust his own patriarch. Naturally, he was not going to tell them that he was their patriarch. He could only smile and say, "You should be Wudang disciples, right? What is Song Feng to you?"
Although Wang Ming was reckless, anyone who could enter the Special Department could not be stupid. The moment he heard Zhang Hupan casually address Song Feng by name, he immediately realized that the man sitting behind him was no ordinary person. As his master, Chen Jiaying understood even more clearly. Although this young man might not necessarily surpass Martial Uncle Song, he should at least be someone on the same level. Thus, he relaxed at once.
However, Zhang Hupan's next action truly left him stunned. Zhang Hupan merely brushed Chen Jiaying's arm lightly, and Chen Jiaying immediately felt a vast warm current flow through his entire body. In an instant, his injuries vanished without a trace. He also vaguely sensed that his cultivation had risen by an entire level. After circulating his energy through one complete cycle, Chen Jiaying was delighted to discover that his cultivation had indeed advanced by a level and had reached the Special Department's Four-star level.
Chen Jiaying was overjoyed and repeatedly thanked Zhang Hupan, while his judgment of the young man beside him became even more uncertain. No matter how powerful Song Feng was, Chen Jiaying was certain that he could not have accomplished this. Perhaps only the legendary cultivators could do such a thing, but cultivators were far beyond someone of Chen Jiaying's level. When he thought of cultivators, he suddenly remembered that Zhang Hupan's way of addressing Song Feng had sounded rather like an elder addressing a junior. Chen Jiaying could not help looking at Zhang Hupan with reverence and secretly thought, No wonder there was no record of him in the files.
How could ordinary cultivators accomplish such a thing? Only an expert at Zhang Hupan's Nascent Soul Stage could naturally accomplish all this in an instant. After healing Chen Jiaying's injuries, Zhang Hupan paid no attention to his gratitude and simply closed his eyes to rest.
The car soon arrived at the Songxia Japanese-funded Enterprise, where the Japanese ninjas were hiding. It was already deep into the night, and the industrial district in Xiasha was completely deserted. In the darkness, the Special Department personnel who had been lying in wait here saw the person in charge's car and hurried over to report. The person making the report was the capable young man from the meeting room: "There are five Japanese devils. They have not appeared since entering the main gate. Because the security here is tight, and we were afraid of alerting them, we did not dare investigate any farther."
Chen Jiaying nodded approvingly and said, "Chen Wu, you did well. You can investigate boldly now, but try not to alert their guards." Chen Wu was excitedly preparing to carry out the order when a young man who had been standing beside Chen Jiaying stopped him and said, "There is no need. This is Chinese territory. We are here to catch thieves, so there is no need to sneak around like this!"
Perhaps Zhang Hupan's words appealed most to Wang Ming. His gaze became filled with admiration, though he still did not know what had happened in the back of the car. He merely thought Zhang Hupan was young and hot-blooded, and said regretfully, "We would also like to charge in and deal with these devils directly, but if we do not have absolute certainty that we can find them and catch them red-handed, they may turn the tables on us. It could even trigger a diplomatic incident between the two countries." Clearly, anyone who could enter the Special Department did have something going for him; his recklessness did not make him lose sight of the bigger picture.
Zhang Hupan, however, merely said with disdain, "Those five fellows have only learned a little of the superficial basics of the Chinese Five Elements Technique. Do you really think they can escape from me?"
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