Council Hall of the Ye Family residence.
The atmosphere was so heavy it was almost palpable.
The Seventh Elder, Ye Chengzong, who was in charge of affairs in the Capital City, had a grim expression. The purple clay teacup he had played with for many years was crushed in his hand. Sharp shards pierced his palm, and blood dripped from between his fingers, but he was completely unaware.
"Investigate! Investigate thoroughly!" His deep voice was like a volcano about to erupt, filled with boundless rage. "In broad daylight, right under the nose of the capital, someone dared to lay a hand on a member of my Ye Family! This is a provocation, a declaration of war!"
Several key members of the Ye Family, responsible for specific affairs in the Capital City, sat below, all silent and trembling with fear.
"Seventh Uncle," a middle-aged man said, forcing himself to speak, "The guard captain, Ye Yong, was at the mid-stage of the Meridian Opening Realm, yet he was disarmed and severely injured in a single exchange, and the rest of the guards were instantly routed. The person who made the move must have been at least at the late-stage of the Meridian Opening Realm, and... their methods were extremely ruthless, like a professional assassin, or... a seasoned soldier who had experienced countless battles."
"Where are the traces at the scene?" Ye Chengzong asked coldly.
"Very few," the other replied. "The other party moved too quickly, leaving almost no effective traces of a struggle. The martial arts styles used were very diverse, making it difficult to identify the source. The valuables were stolen, seemingly a robbery, but interrogating the west city warehouse and... Ghost Face, clearly their intentions were not that."
" Lu Chen!" Ye Chengzong practically spat out the name through gritted teeth. "Besides him, who else has such a deep-seated hatred for my Ye Family?"
"We investigated Lu Chen's whereabouts yesterday immediately," the intelligence officer reported hastily. "He spent most of yesterday in the Archives Bureau, and several people can testify to that. He left in the evening, but his whereabouts afterward... are uncertain. However, according to our informants stationed outside the Sixth Prince's Residence, Lu Chen was not seen entering or leaving."
"Alibis can be forged!" Ye Chengzong sneered. "But how could a kid who just broke through to the Meridian Opening Realm possess such strength and ruthless methods?"
"This is also what puzzles me," the steward pondered. "According to the intelligence from the Hidden Dragon Trial, although Lu Chen is exceptionally talented, his fighting style leans towards the righteous and forceful path, which is slightly different from the cunning and ruthless nature displayed by the attackers this time. Moreover, if it really was him, why didn't he kill them to silence them? Merely injuring them and robbing them seems more like a... warning and humiliation."
A brief silence fell over the hall.
Indeed, if Lu Chen wanted revenge, wouldn't it have been more satisfying to simply kill those collateral relatives?
Why go through all that trouble?
"Could someone be using Lu Chen's name to sow discord?" someone speculated. "They want us to fight Lu Chen, or rather, the forces that might be behind Lu Chen, to the point of mutual destruction?"
Ye Chengzong's eyes flickered, his anger subsided slightly, and he regained the composure and suspicion of the Aristocratic Clan leader.
The power dynamics in the Capital City are deeply entrenched, and there are many who would like to use someone else to do their dirty work.
"Neither possibility can be ruled out," he finally said in a deep voice. "Increase surveillance on Lu Chen. I need to know his every move! At the same time, send more experts to strengthen the defenses of all strongholds, especially the warehouse in the west of the city! The things stored there must not be lost!"
A fierce glint flashed in his eyes. "Whoever dares to provoke the Ye Family will pay the price! Since he mentioned the west city warehouse... then we'll lay our trap! Notify the Shadow Guards to send a team there, equipped with Qi-Breaking Crossbow. Have Ye Consecrator the operation. I want to see if this cowardly fellow dares to come!"
"Yes!"
The Ye Family's machines started operating efficiently.
On the surface, they intensified their search efforts, putting pressure on the underground forces in the Capital City and looking for suspicious individuals.
Secretly, elite forces began to gather at the western warehouse of the city, and an invisible net was quietly cast.
This was exactly the effect Lu Chen wanted.
Through the Archives Bureau department, he keenly sensed the Ye Family's actions, both overt and covert.
The Ye Family suspected him, but couldn't be sure.
However, they increased their vigilance and even set traps at the warehouse in the west of the city.
These overreactions and paranoia are exactly what he wants to see.
The following days were anything but peaceful in the Capital City.
A fire broke out in the kitchen of a restaurant owned by the Ye Family late at night. Although it did not cause too much damage, it still left the Ye Family in a state of chaos and exhausted.
A steward from a collateral branch of the Ye Family, who was in charge of collecting debts, was found unconscious in a stinking ditch, and the money he had collected had vanished.
These incidents, though seemingly minor, struck precisely at the Ye Family's sore spots, causing them to continuously lose face.
Although the Ye Family had increased their vigilance, their opponents were elusive, formidable, and timed their attacks with extreme precision, making them impossible to defend against.
Like a hunter lurking in the shadows, Lu Chen constantly used his powerful Divine Sense and Movement Method to search for weaknesses in the Ye Family's defenses, striking again and again, succeeding each time.
He not only acquired a considerable amount of money and low-level Cultivation Resources, but also honed his combat skills through these actions, gaining increasingly refined control over his own power and a deeper understanding of the Ye Family's operating model in the Capital City.
He knew this was just the beginning.
The Ye Family has suffered such a great loss; they will certainly not let this go unpunished.
The real counterattack is probably yet to come.
The western warehouse, a key location with significantly strengthened defenses, was like an enticing bait, constantly drawing him in.
Lu Chen moved silently between several concealed locations around the warehouse.
"Twelve visible sentry posts and eight hidden guard posts."
"During the hours of Yin (3-5 AM) and Mao (5-7 AM), the guards in the southwest corner will be briefly less vigilant."
Lu Chen risked condensing his Divine Sense into a single line to investigate deeply, and finally discovered the secret behind that seemingly ordinary side wall—the array fluctuations there were the weakest, and behind the wall was an abandoned warehouse with relatively sparse guards.
However, he also confirmed that there was indeed a powerful figure in charge of the warehouse, and that condensed and heavy aura made him feel real pressure.
To go or not to go?
Lu Chen stood in the shadows, gazing at the warehouse in the distance that resembled a crouching behemoth in the night, his eyes gleaming.
The risk is high, but that warehouse is one of the Ye Family's important strongholds in the Capital City. It may contain important supplies, or even clues related to the Ghostface Organization.
Finally, he chose the southwest corner of the wall as his entry point, approaching silently like a cat. His Divine Sense, like the most sophisticated radar, scanned every corner around him. Once he confirmed the arrival of the shift change, he moved to climb over the relatively weak side wall.
However, just as he was about to climb over the wall, something unexpected happened!
A thick, nauseating, and pungent Yao Qi suddenly wafted from the depths of the warehouse!
At the same time, a non-human roar, filled with savagery and hunger, suddenly ripped through the silent night sky!
This Yao Qi... is definitely not from an ordinary Demon Beast!
Lu Chen's pupils constricted sharply, and the hairs on his body stood on end!
Such a powerful demon was hidden in the Ye Family's warehouse?!