"Sir, there have already been more than a dozen reports today of houses being burned down. They all belonged to martial arts factions. Apparently, their leaders went to Cang Mountain to attend a banquet some time ago and haven't returned yet."
At the government office, Ye Hang, the prefect of Nanjiang City, sat in his chair with a deeply furrowed brow. One fire could have been an accident, but so many had broken out in a single day.
It was obvious that someone had set them deliberately. Such behavior was a blatant provocation against him, the man in charge of Nanjiang City.
"Send out every constable in the city who's good at investigating. Check the scenes for clues, and make sure this doesn't happen again," Ye Hang said.
"Yes, sir."
Since they were martial arts factions, open and covert clashes were naturally inevitable. Ye Hang knew that all too well.
As prefect, all he could do about these people was turn a blind eye. Trying to suppress them was worse than letting them be; he couldn't keep them on too tight a leash.
Unless they started fighting in the streets of Nanjiang City, leaving countless dead and wounded and dragging civilians into it, it wouldn't come back to haunt Ye Hang.
"By the way, has Lord Meng still not returned from Cloud Mist Mountain?" Ye Hang asked.
"No, sir."
"Several cases suspected to involve Demon Persons have occurred around Yunze Prefecture recently. I wanted to discuss them with him, but Lord Meng had to leave at a time like this." Ye Hang sighed.
In that case, the investigations would have to be put on hold until Meng Fang returned and they could discuss what to do.
Several confidential letters from various parts of Yunze Prefecture lay spread across the desk.