Shadowy Pursuit

"Brother Lin!"

Su Haoming walked over, his face full of joy.

But after getting closer, he suddenly stopped and looked at Lin Yu hesitantly. "Strange... Brother Lin, why can't I sense your breathing or heartbeat at all?"

"Because a corpse naturally has no breathing or heartbeat."

Lin Yu explained with a smile, "This is a body I restored using Healing Magic. In essence, it's just a living corpse. My consciousness doesn't exist in this body either; it's hidden within the Sacred Tome, and I control it indirectly through mental power."

He paused and then added with a smile, "Of course, it's very simple to make the cardiopulmonary system function. I'm just too lazy to waste energy doing it!"

Before he finished speaking, the body's heart indeed began to beat again.

Su Haoming was filled with admiration and immediately said, "Brother Lin, since you already have a body, shouldn't we catch up to them?"

"Of course!"

Lin Yu snapped his fingers with a smile.

In an instant, faint light enveloped them, and they disappeared from their original spot.

"The Jinwu Guard is ordered to confiscate Chang'an Black Tea!"

"Anyone found hoarding or selling it will be punished with severe penalties!"

On the dimly lit Ghost Market Street, chaos reigned everywhere.

After Lu Lingfeng led his confidants and Chang'an Catchers to the scene, he saw people secretly trading Chang'an Black Tea. He immediately dropped his disguise and began arresting all involved personnel along the street.

Under the imposing banner of the Jinwu Guard, the Chang'an Catchers instantly became arrogant.

Normally, they would avoid the Ghost Market, but now they dared to scatter into the market in groups of two or three, wielding their sabers menacingly as they apprehended the Ghost Market Merchants selling Chang'an Black Tea.

"Move aside, move aside!"

"Jinwu Guard on official business, all bystanders clear the way!"

"You! Yes, you! Stay right there!"

"If you dare to take a step, don't blame my Tang saber for being blind!"

Arrogant shouts echoed from both sides of the long street, causing Su Wuming's mouth to twitch. He couldn't help but glance sideways, stealing a look at the reaction of the genuine Jinwu Guard beside him.

Fortunately, Lu Lingfeng had no intention of reprimanding these catchers. He simply walked down the street with a blank expression, his sharp gaze like arrows searching through the chaotic crowd, trying to find any stragglers who had escaped in the confusion.

Just then, two Chang'an Catchers pushed through the crowd, dragging a terrified Tea Peddler before the two of them.

The two stopped. The two Catchers immediately cupped their fists and saluted, saying excitedly, "County Lieutenant Su, General Lu, this scoundrel is a Tea Peddler we just caught. He says he's willing to reveal the delivery location of the Chang'an Black Tea!"

"Oh?"

Su Wuming and Lu Lingfeng exchanged a glance.

The latter coughed twice, adopting an official demeanor, and said indifferently, "Speak, where is it?"

The Tea Peddler's gaze flickered between the two of them, and he said cautiously, "If I tell you, will you let me go?"

"Hmm?"

Lu Lingfeng immediately frowned, scaring the Tea Peddler into shrinking his neck.

Su Wuming quickly stepped in front of Lu Lingfeng, warning him, "You shouldn't have said that. This is the esteemed General of the Guards. As long as your information is accurate enough, you can atone for your crimes and redeem yourself. It won't be a problem!"

One played the good cop, the other the bad cop, and they easily subdued the Tea Peddler.

He hesitated for a moment, then whispered, "It's where Yin Shirou used to live. There's a Secret Door there that connects to the complex Secret Tunnels beneath the Ghost Market. We used to trade in the tunnels."

Just as I thought!

Su Wuming thought to himself.

Lu Lingfeng frowned, staring at him, and said slowly, "Do you know the consequences of deceiving this general?"

The Tea Peddler, terrified, quickly knelt down and said with a wry smile, "Sir official, how would I dare to deceive you?"

"To tell you the truth, I would never have dared to say this kind of information before. But now that Yin Shirou has suffered Heaven's Punishment, we've been discussing amongst ourselves and think it might be related to this Black Tea, so we're all very scared!"

"To be honest, I can't wait to distance myself from this Black Tea. Why would I deceive you?"

Lu Lingfeng's brows relaxed. He turned his head and said in a low voice, "It doesn't sound like a lie."

Su Wuming snorted coldly and said indifferently, "If that's the case, why are you still selling Chang'an Black Tea today?"

The Tea Peddler was stunned at the question, then stammered.

Su Wuming's lips curled into a light smile as he said, "Speaking differently to different people is the basic quality of a Ghost Market Merchant. If you can't even do that, how can you establish yourself in a place like this!"

"..."

Lu Lingfeng's expression turned grim. He waved his hand and said, "Tie him up!"

After the Chang'an Catchers dragged away the pleading Tea Peddler, Su Wuming said in a low voice, "Although most of what he said was false, his attitude when mentioning Yin Shirou was definitely not fake."

"Since yesterday, Yin Shirou and the forces behind him have lost a lot of prestige. These Tea Peddlers no longer revere them as they did before. The location he mentioned is indeed worth investigating."

"Then let's go take a look!" Lu Lingfeng nodded and waved his hand, "Leave some men to watch the suspect, the rest follow this general!"

"Yes!"

The constables all sprang into action. One group stayed to guard the suspect, while another followed Lu Lingfeng forward.

Before long, they arrived at Yin Shirou's former residence.

But unlike yesterday, the mansion was now completely dark, with no lamps or candles lit.

On the stone steps in front of the mansion, many homeless people from the Ghost Market lay scattered. Seeing Lu Lingfeng and Su Wuming approaching with sabers, these people immediately showed fear, scrambling up from the steps and fleeing into the surrounding alleys.

Lu Lingfeng did not order anyone to pursue. He scanned the surroundings and said in a low voice, "Beware of ambushes."

"Yes!"

The three Jinwu Guards and the constables drew their Tang sabers and slowly entered the mansion.

The moment the Jinwu Guard leading the way stepped over the threshold, a sharp whistling sound attacked from the rafters.

"Clang!"

Lu Lingfeng sliced the arrow in half with his saber, glared at the rafters, and shouted, "Who?!"

A black shadow flashed on the rafters and rushed out of the right-side window of the mansion.

"Chase!"

Lu Lingfeng roared and was the first to rush out of the mansion, heading towards the alley on the right.

Everyone, holding torches, followed. When they reached the end of the alley, they discovered it was a dead end.

"Where did he go?"

The Jinwu Guard squad leader looked at the wall in front of him with confusion.

Lu Lingfeng's gaze swept over the ground and quickly locked onto a raised floor tile.

He strode forward and lifted the floor tile, revealing a dark hole.

"It's a secret tunnel!"

The three Jinwu Guards exchanged glances and looked at Lu Lingfeng.

"General of the Guards, should we go in?"

"..."

Lu Lingfeng frowned, pondered for a moment, and gritted his teeth, "Go in!"

"Wait!"

Su Wuming, whose stamina was poor, arrived late. Seeing Lu Lingfeng and the others about to enter the secret tunnel, he hurriedly stopped them. Panting, he ran to Lu Lingfeng and the others' side and whispered, "General of the Guards, don't you think this is going too smoothly?"

"I know that, of course!"

Lu Lingfeng glanced at him and said, "But if you want me to watch him escape, I'm sorry, this general cannot do that!"

As he spoke, he swept his gaze over the crowd behind him and said loudly, "I will reward you all for capturing the tea merchant. As for this tunnel, those of you with families should not take this risk!"

Before his words fell, Lu Lingfeng snatched a torch from a Chang'an Catcher and jumped into the secret tunnel with three Jinwu Guards.

Seeing this, Su Wuming and the catchers beside him exchanged glances.

The catcher, Old Jia, hesitated, "County Lieutenant..."

"Sigh!"

Su Wuming sighed deeply and looked at them, "No matter what, we must not be led by the nose by the enemy. Listen to my orders, four people per team, spread out and look for any other secret tunnel entrances."

"Remember, gather first when you find one, don't act rashly!"

Everyone cupped their hands and said, "Yes!"

Soon, Su Wuming led the catchers and dispersed.

As the footsteps of the crowd gradually faded, two blurry figures quietly appeared.

"Good thing I followed!"

Su Haoming couldn't help but exclaim, "This early Lu Lingfeng is indeed quite reckless!"

Lin Yu, standing beside him, glanced at him and smiled slightly, "Have you thought about how you're going to appear?"

"...Huh?"

Su Haoming was slightly stunned.

Lin Yu chuckled, "We followed you secretly, you're not planning to reveal your identity, are you?"

"Don't forget, you have already embarked on the Path of Transcendence. How do you plan to explain this body of Magic Powers?"

"And me, your accomplice. If you reveal your identity, I'll probably have to rack my brains to come up with a plausible background. Why bother!"

Su Haoming admitted he was convinced and asked humbly, "Brother Lin, I'll do whatever you say!"

Lin Yu smiled, "Didn't I say it? There's no need to risk your identity. If you want to make a big move, just put on an Alias, make up a faction background, and let others fill in the blanks!"