Xiangyang Residential Area.
Lu Feng rushed into the house, breathing hard, his forehead still damp with sweat.
"Dad, Mom, Mingxue! Get up! We have to go!"
His shout woke up his family, none of whom had managed to fall asleep.
"Xiao Feng, what happened?"
Li Qinglan opened the master bedroom door in her pajamas, and Lu Dahai followed her out.
"There's no time. Pack up quickly—we have to leave right now."
He rushed into his room and pulled his sister out of bed.
"Do you have any idea what time it is? What on earth are you doing?" Lu Dahai said, displeased.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Just then, a rapid knocking pounded at the door, striking Lu Feng's heart like a heavy hammer.
Could it be... Zheng Family members had found them so quickly?
Lu Dahai frowned and started toward the door.
"Dad! Don't open it!"
Lu Feng hurriedly stopped him.
But a man's voice, vaguely familiar, sounded from outside. "Lu Feng! Open the door, quickly! Bring your family and come with me!"
"Who are you?"
The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't remember who it belonged to.
"Gao Zhan, captain of the Chasing Wind Squad."
Gao Zhan?
Only then did Lu Feng remember that Captain Gao had rescued him the night Zhao Chang held him hostage.
It seemed the military already knew about his predicament.
He hurried to open the door.
Outside stood Gao Zhan in a military uniform, his expression stern. Two Military Region Warriors stood behind him.
"We have to go! Zheng Tong's death has already reached the Zheng Family. You'll be safest if you come with me to the base."
Gao Zhan spoke quickly, getting straight to the point.
Lu Feng nodded at once. "Okay. Thank you, Captain Gao!"
His parents and sister were still completely confused.
But when they saw the soldiers outside and heard Gao Zhan mention "Zheng Tong's death," they realized at once that their son had gotten himself into serious trouble tonight.
At the Zheng Family Villa, beside Moon Gazing Lake in the heart of Jinzhou City, a deathly silence filled the hall.
Zheng Tong's body lay on a long table draped in white silk. The unnatural twist of his neck was especially jarring.
Zheng Henian stood by the table, his thin hand gently stroking his grandson's face, which still retained a trace of warmth.
The old man who wielded immense power in Jinzhou seemed to have aged ten years in an instant.
"Who did this?"
His voice was soft, but the two bodyguards kneeling in the hall trembled all over.
"I-I don't know..." one bodyguard stammered. "The young master said he was going to the restroom at the Beast Fighting Arena, and then he..."
Boom!
Before he could finish, a blast of True Qi shot from Zheng Henian's palm. It pierced the bodyguard's chest, splattering blood across the blue marble floor.
The servants in the hall instinctively shrank back, not daring to make a sound. Even their breathing seemed to stop.
"Speak. Who did this?"
The other bodyguard went deathly pale, pressing his forehead to the floor as his whole body shook. "Spare me, sir! As soon as we found out something had happened to the young master, we had the Beast Fighting Arena sealed and searched, but... we found nothing."
At the time, the matches at the Beast Fighting Arena had just ended.
Zheng Tong said he was going to the restroom, and the two bodyguards waited for him at the venue's east exit.
But he never came back.
When they realized something was wrong, they rushed to the restroom and found Zheng Tong already dead.
They immediately demanded that the arena be sealed and searched, but its visitors were all influential people. No one was willing to cooperate.
And to protect the guests' privacy, the venue had no surveillance cameras.
Amid the flow of tens of thousands of people, the killer had vanished without a trace.
"I told you to stay by the young master's side and protect him at all times!"
Boom!
Palm Wind struck again, and the second bodyguard fell to the floor. Blood spread across the ground.
"Sir, we have a lead!"
The Zheng Family's old butler hurried into the Living Room, speaking urgently but respectfully.
"I looked into everyone who had a recent grudge against the young master. Besides He Qing, the deceased ringmaster, there's a high school senior named Lu Feng."
Zheng Henian slowly raised his eyes. "Are you saying this student killed Xiao Tong?"
"That's right. He Qing injured the bodyguards that day while standing up for this boy. I just sent people to his home, but his entire family had already left."
"Fleeing because he's guilty?" Zheng Henian's voice was hoarse. "Bring him back to me before dawn!"
The butler took a deep breath. "The neighbors said... Military Region personnel took them away."
"The military? Since when has a poor student been involved with the military?" A bone-chilling cold gleamed in Zheng Henian's eyes. "He killed my grandson. No one can protect him."
At the military base outside southern Jinzhou, Xie An hurried to Nie Song's quarters.
"Old Nie!" He quickly explained the whole situation with Lu Feng.
After listening, Nie Song slammed his fist on the table. "How could this happen?"
He was the Instructor at Jinzhou Base, responsible for internal affairs in the Military Region.
As the saying went, "The military does not interfere in politics, and the government does not command the military." This was a criminal case involving a government official, and they had no authority to intervene.
If Zheng Henian came to demand Lu Feng, they had no grounds to refuse to hand him over.
Besides, Nie Song and Xie An were merely civilian officials in the Military Region. Their martial arts cultivation was nowhere near Zheng Henian's.
"Old Nie! Please, think of something!" Xie An urged.
"You know better than anyone what the Zheng Family is like. If we hand Lu Feng over to a corrupt politician like that, you know what will happen to him!"
"Was there any evidence left at the scene where Zheng Tong was killed?"
"Probably not. It happened at the Beast Fighting Arena, which has no surveillance cameras. And the matches had just ended, so everything was chaotic. The Zheng Family won't be able to find the killer."
"Good. In that case, I have a way to deal with Zheng Henian. Where is Lu Feng now?"
"I've arranged for his family to stay in the Chasing Wind Squad's dormitory for now."
Meanwhile, in the base's residential area, inside the Chasing Wind Squad's dormitory building, Li Qinglan gripped Lu Feng's arm tightly, her voice trembling. "How could you do something like this?"
"Have you lost your mind? You actually killed someone? How did I end up with a bastard like you for a son?" Lu Dahai was so furious his face turned green.
"Dad, Mom, it's already happened. Stop yelling at my brother!" Only Lu Mingxue was still standing up for Lu Feng.
Gao Zhan stood off to the side, silently watching the family, not saying a word.
Suddenly, a booming voice descended from above—
"Lu Feng! Get out here!"
The furious shout made the windows tremble. Everyone inside turned pale with fright.
Gao Zhan hurried to the window and looked up.
An old man with white hair and a black robe hovered in midair, his hands clasped behind his back. He exuded an imposing air without even trying.
Lu Feng also went to the window and asked in shock, "He... he can fly?"
"A Grandmaster Realm Stronger can naturally fly through the air," Gao Zhan explained gravely. "That must be Zheng Henian. He's here for you."
"I thought the military was at the core of the Alliance. He dares to come here and demand I be handed over?" Lu Feng hadn't expected him to be so brazen.
"The military and the government are separate. You killed the grandson of a government official in the city. By rights, we can't shelter you."
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