Infiltration

"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"

Late at night, the City Lord's residence was anything but peaceful. The study, which hadn't been used for any proper purpose in ten years, was now in an uproar.

Shards of expensive antique porcelain littered the floor. Zhang Ning smashed the porcelain bowl in his hand and took a breath. "Damn it! This is going too far!"

That afternoon, less than forty-eight hours after his most beloved son had gone missing, Zhang Ning received news of him—a piece of facial skin with a black mole on it.

Though the skin was incomplete, as if something had gnawed away half of it, Zhang Ning recognized at a glance that it belonged to his son, Zhang Huan.

With his face in that condition, Zhang Huan's fate was obvious.

But that wasn't why Zhang Ning was so angry. A son was a son; if one was gone, then he was gone. Zhang Huan wasn't his only son, after all. He was simply his eldest, the one who had been with him the longest and whom he doted on most.

There was only one reason for Zhang Ning's fury: respect.

Judging by how this operation had gone, he couldn't see even the slightest respect for him from the local magnates. Most had simply gone through the motions. The only one who had taken any action had done so because someone of his had gone missing.

He had been here for nearly five years, yet had achieved nothing. It was all because the local magnates had been obstructing him behind the scenes, getting in his way.

Never mind anything else. If they'd been willing to donate money and manpower to build roads, the roads in Pei Commandery would have been widened long ago. Wasn't he merely requisitioning land at one-third of the market rate?

Wasn't he merely asking them to relocate without compensation?

They weren't even willing to make such a small contribution?

How had the Crimson Cloud Empire come to this? He had no authority at all!

How could anyone govern a country properly surrounded by a pack of vermin like them?

Once his anger had passed, Zhang Ning considered how he could expand his own interests as much as possible. Then an idea flashed through his mind: he could use this incident to claim that public security in Pei Commandery was inadequate, then order the constables to blow the matter out of proportion, treat it as a grave case, arrest a batch of people, and punish them severely.

That would let him pocket some extra money while also giving him a chance to test the waters and make the magnates yield, gradually eating away at their power.

After all, no one would want to provoke a father who had lost his beloved son and who had the noble cause of bringing a brighter future to Pei Commandery on his side.

"Hah! Huan'er, it's a good thing you died! A good thing!"

Delighted by the thought, Zhang Ning couldn't help clapping his hands in praise.

"What's a good thing?"

A man's voice, one he had never heard before, came from behind him.

Caught off guard by the question, Zhang Ning answered without thinking, "Of course it's good because I can make a fortune—who's there?"

Halfway through his words, Zhang Ning realized something was wrong and whipped around, but saw nothing. Instead, a cold finger rested against his neck. "If you don't want to die, don't shout or make a sound. Don't turn around!"

"Y-yes, sir!" Faced with an obvious threat to his life, Zhang Ning panicked. After a long while, he managed to stammer, "I-I'm innocent!"

"Innocent?" Zhang Ning clearly had plenty on his conscience. When someone appeared in the middle of the night, his first reaction wasn't to ask what they wanted, but to claim he was innocent. "I have no interest in whether you're innocent. I'm not here to take revenge for anyone."

Liu Tian made no attempt to hide why he had come. After a pause, he said, "I've heard that Boss Zhang, City Lord Zhang, is wealthy, and that you made your fortune in antiques. You have quite a few antiques related to the Lost Empire. Could I take a look?"

"Of course, of course." Hearing that the man hadn't come for revenge, Zhang Ning instinctively breathed a sigh of relief. Then he cursed inwardly. Who had let the secret of his wealth slip? How could a few antiques bring such a lawless ruffian down on him? "The antiques are hidden in a secret room behind my study. I'll take you there right now."

"Don't even think about trying anything. If I can get in here without making a sound, I can kill you without making a sound." Liu Tian released his hold on Zhang Ning, letting him turn around on his own, and warned him, "I came for just one thing. If you don't have it, I'll leave at once. As long as you cooperate, I won't hurt you. I don't want to make too much of a scene and have the Crimson Cloud Empire hunt me down."

"Of course, of course. Not just one—you can have nine or ten!" Feeling that his body was completely under the man's control, the experienced Zhang Ning immediately realized he had run into an expert. He hurriedly abandoned the little schemes that had only just begun to form in his mind. There were traps in the study, but against a super expert who could move faster than Zhang Ning could turn his head, they wouldn't do much harm. Since the man wasn't completely insane and was only after money, cooperating wasn't a big deal. He could always take twice as much back from the people below him later.

Having made up his mind, Zhang Ning walked over to the study's bookcase without doing anything that might arouse suspicion. He picked up a few books and said as he rearranged them, "I hid the secret room with a mechanism. I'll go in with you, sir. Don't worry, I won't run."

"No need." Liu Tian's voice followed him like a shadow, as if it were right beside his ear. "I'll knock you out, then wedge your body in the doorway. If there's a trap, you'll be the first to die."

"N-no, there won't be." Chilled by Liu Tian's cold, merciless words, Zhang Ning hurriedly waved his hands and sped up. When he finally returned the last book to its proper place, a faint sound rang out. The bookcase opened automatically, revealing a keyhole behind it. Zhang Ning pulled a key from his clothes and slowly unlocked it. On the other side was an antique mirror, which happened to reflect Zhang Ning and Liu Tian's faces.

Oh no!

Zhang Ning's heart lurched. The night before last, he had admired the antique mirror and forgotten to move it aside. He hadn't expected that, of all things, Liu Tian would come sneaking in without even wearing a mask. Zhang Ning didn't recognize the man behind him, but his facial outline seemed vaguely familiar.

"Sir, my treasure room is right in here." Zhang Ning hurriedly shut his eyes. "The light was too bright just now. I didn't see anything."

"City Lord Zhang, your luck really is terrible." Liu Tian ignored his explanation and sighed. "Do you know? When the strong make mistakes, they often don't suffer the consequences themselves. The weak do. And as it happens, I'm stronger than you."

"Just as you're stronger than those commoners."

"Help—" Realizing things had gone wrong, Zhang Ning was about to fight to the death, but suddenly a heavy blow struck the back of his neck. The sound he had been about to make caught in his throat. His body went limp, and he collapsed to the ground.

Ignoring Zhang Ning's corpse, Liu Tian strode into the treasure room. On the way here, he had considered whether to kill Zhang Ning. It wasn't for any other reason; he needed a City Lord's death to draw others into the fray and provoke a crackdown in Pei Commandery, ensuring his parents' safety during this period.

After all, from his earlier dealings with Second Uncle, it was clear that he didn't believe the claim Liu Tian had made—that the snake could kill ten of him in an instant. He still judged his combat strength by the time they had fought before.

But for a naturally gifted person like Liu Tian, even a momentary gap in combat strength could be vast. That meant Second Uncle's preparations might well be inadequate. To prevent anything unexpected, Liu Tian might as well create an even bigger upheaval to cover for it.

Still, considering Zhang Huan's death, Zhang Ning might already have planned to stay on guard and bring others into the fray. So, in the end, Liu Tian left the decision to fate.

And clearly, Zhang Ning's fate was lacking. His luck had run out...