The facts proved that the gunman was highly professional.
He had cut off all surveillance feeds in the surrounding area.
After confirming this, Zhang Fusheng quietly left the villa district, but did not immediately return to the Martial Arts Academy.
"Never mind the rest, but only Master and the others knew that the Spring Thunder Technique had reached Minor Perfection."
He opened the gunman's phone and repeatedly watched the video on it.
The video showed a shabby room. The gunman's parents, wife, and daughter had all been tied up and thrown into a corner by the wall.
A window beside them was half-open, but the footage shook so violently that the scene outside could not be made out.
He turned the volume to its maximum. Aside from crying and cries for help, there were car horns and the calls of street vendors.
Zhang Fusheng listened carefully.
"There are two sesame cake vendors calling out, one selling sugar-roasted chestnuts, and the sound of women soliciting customers."
He raised a brow. Prostitutes were illegal in Jiangzhou City. The only place where they openly solicited customers was the Lower-Level District.
He listened to the audio several more times.
"Hm? Why is someone selling medicine too?"
Zhang Fusheng pressed his ear against the speaker and confirmed that there was indeed a faint cry of "Medicine for sale!" It sounded somewhat familiar.
It resembled the calls he had heard outside Ankang Tumor Hospital.
Recalling the scene outside Ankang Hospital and repeatedly verifying the audio, he narrowed his eyes slightly.
"It was outside Ankang Hospital."
Should he investigate?
Of course he should. If he did not find the person behind this, it was a sniper rifle today—what would it be tomorrow? The day after tomorrow?
An open spear was easy to dodge; a hidden arrow was hard to guard against.
He needed to investigate, but he would not go alone.
After pacing back and forth for a moment, Zhang Fusheng made a call.
"Master, it's me. Someone tried to assassinate me."
On the other end of the line, the plump old man who had been chuckling suddenly turned grave, and the teacup in his hand cracked like a turtle shell.
The old man asked,
"Do you know who it was?"
"Not sure. The killer accepted a public job at Bar No. 19. The employer gave him detailed information about me, including my First Refinement cultivation, my Great Accomplishment Visualization Method, and also..."
"The Minor Perfection level Spring Thunder Technique."
As soon as the words fell, the other end of the call went silent.
A long while passed.
Hong Tianbao finally spoke softly.
"Where are you?"
"Outside the eastern villa district, on a pedestrian street. There are a lot of Public Security Bureau officers in the villa district, and they've put up a cordon."
Zhang Fusheng asked,
"Should I come back now?"
"No rush. Wait there for me."
That was what his master said.
After hanging up, he looked toward the distant villa district. Public security officers, riot squads, and even two helicopters were circling in the sky.
Zhang Fusheng shrugged. With this kind of efficiency, if it had been the Lower-Level District, it would only have been a few gunshots and explosions. Having even one officer show up would have been a miracle.
He waited silently.
A few minutes later, his vision blurred, and the plump old man was already standing before him.
"You ran here?" Zhang Fusheng asked in astonishment.
"It wasn't far. Driving would have been too slow."
The plump old man's expression was cold and stern as he asked,
"Have you offended anyone recently?"
"Other than Zhou Quan, I can't think of anyone else. But he has no reason to know about the Spring Thunder Technique."
"Mm."
Hong Tianbao pondered for a moment.
"I asked your three senior brothers and sisters. Absolutely none of them leaked even a shred of information about you, much less the matter of the Spring Thunder Technique. What about you?"
"Neither did I."
Zhang Fusheng shook his head. After thinking for a moment, he added,
"But there is one person. I used the Spring Thunder Technique when I fought him. He may know."
"Who?" Hong Tianbao asked coldly.
"Uh, he seems to know you well too, Master. His name is Huang Qiuxian."
"Who?!"
The coldness on Hong Tianbao's face instantly vanished. After staring blankly for a moment and falling silent, he shook his head.
"It wouldn't be him."
He did not ask how Zhang Fusheng had encountered Huang Qiuxian, nor how they had come to fight.
Zhang Fusheng still gave a brief explanation before saying,
"I ran into him again this afternoon. He sent a technique into my body and told me to pass it on to you. He said it was an apology. It's called the Five Thunders Art."
Hong Tianbao's expression shifted unpredictably, and he sighed softly.
"We'll talk about that later. Are you sure the job was posted at Bar No. 19?"
"That's what the gunman said. He swallowed poison and killed himself." Zhang Fusheng handed over the phone and briefly explained what he had discovered.
"Ankang Hospital?"
Hong Tianbao frowned and abruptly asked,
"You haven't been there, have you?"
Zhang Fusheng was taken aback.
"I've only passed by occasionally. Is there something wrong with that hospital?"
"Yes. Something major, but the details are still unclear."
After thinking for a moment, the plump old man said,
"Let's go to the bar first."
"Yes, Master."
A plump old man who looked simple and amiable and a refined, scholarly youth walked side by side toward the long cordon around the villa district.
"Gentlemen."
A public security officer hurried over to stop them.
"Something unexpected has happened here. You'll need to wait for a while before entering."
His manner and tone were both courteous. He did not show the slightest disrespect because of the plump old man's and the youth's plain clothing.
This was the Upper-Level District.
Zhang Fusheng sighed inwardly. Just changing locations had changed the public security officers' attitudes. If this were the Lower-Level District, heh heh...
The first thing upon meeting would be three baton strikes. If you did not cooperate in the slightest, they would empty a magazine, then happily collect their vacation time.
The Federation was a Federation with clear-cut class divisions.
"Have your person in charge come over." The plump old man spoke calmly. "Quickly."
The public security officer's expression changed. That tone, that bearing—some important figure had arrived.
He bowed and scraped while urgently calling through the radio. In less than half a minute, a middle-aged man hurried over.
Zhang Fusheng glanced at him. Two silver stars rested on his shoulders—an Intermediate Inspector, one rank below the Deputy Director he had seen that night.
In the Federation's public security system, there were ordinary officers, then detective ranks, inspector ranks, supervisor ranks, and governor ranks. An Intermediate Inspector already held no low status, probably the director of a district branch somewhere in the city.
"Old Master Hong!"
Though he had never met Hong Tianbao or dealt with him before, the inspector still recognized him at a glance.
Recognizing people and memorizing photographs were their most important basic skills, even more important than criminal investigation ability.
"Explain the situation." Hong Tianbao glanced at his watch. "You have one minute."
Without hesitation, the inspector spoke as if reporting to a superior.
"Preliminary judgment identifies this as an assassination attempt. The deceased was the attacker, identified as a senior painter from the Third District. He carried a Type One standard sniper rifle and a Type Two anti-martial-artist sniper rifle. The cause of death was poisoning. A poison capsule was found in his gum line, though the specific toxin is still awaiting analysis."
He continued in an unbroken stream,
"The target has not yet been identified. Nearby surveillance was comprehensively cut off. We are searching for biological traces left at the scene, and the cracks in the ground are awaiting expert appraisal."
"Within two hours, we can determine the target's strength and complete a model reconstruction to replay the process. If you deem it necessary, I can also apply to access Jiangzhou's satellite Sky Eye system and play back the footage."
Hong Tianbao raised a hand, cutting him off.
"Destroy all traces. You have half an hour."
The inspector replied without the slightest hesitation,
"I'll immediately notify the nearest construction company and cleaning company to repair and wash the roadway. No useful information will be left behind."
"What about the satellite?" Hong Tianbao asked blandly. "Will you reboot and wipe it yourselves, or should I shoot it down?"
What the hell?
Shoot down what?
Zhang Fusheng jolted.
"I'll immediately notify the Sky Eye department to clear the data. The system logs will be submitted to you afterward, ensuring that no one privately accesses or retains anything." The inspector remained respectful.
"Mm. Go do it."
"Yes, Old Master Hong." Without looking around, he jogged away. The surrounding public security officers also consciously withdrew, leaving an open space.
Zhang Fusheng swallowed.
"Master, you can even shoot down satellites?"
He wondered whether he needed to reset his understanding of a Martial Arts Master.
"Ultra-low-orbit satellite."
Hong Tianbao pointed somewhere in the sky and said calmly,
"A low-orbit satellite is only a hundred kilometers above the ground. It's within my eyesight—I can shoot it down with one arrow."
Zhang Fusheng's lips trembled.
Shoot an arrow over a hundred kilometers into the sky and bring down a satellite?
Were you Hou Yi or something?
Was the gap between martial artists and Martial Arts Masters really this vast?
Or was his master actually more than just a Martial Arts Master?
As wild thoughts raced through his mind, Zhang Fusheng suddenly felt something stir within him.
Someone was watching him.
No, monitoring him.
The spiritual sense granted by a Minor Perfection Visualization Method was unimaginably powerful, already extremely close to the realm where the cicada sensed the autumn wind before it stirred.
He almost instantly locked onto the source of the surveillance, but forced himself not to look in that direction.
Because his master had already turned to look over there.
With only a Great Accomplishment Visualization Method, he should not have been able to notice it.
"Master, what is it?"
He asked as if casually, following his master's gaze and seeing a white van parked quietly by the roadside in the distance.
"Target One, Chen Nuanyu, has left Bar No. 19. Captain, there's been a small disturbance west of the villa district—explosions and gunfire. The Public Security Bureau has arrived. Should we follow up and observe?"
Listening to the report, the burly man waved a hand and said casually,
"The west side? Have Vehicle Three observe it, but don't interfere."
"Yes. Synchronizing Vehicle Three's surveillance feed now." The girl nodded and transferred the footage to the secondary screen.
She suddenly froze.
"Captain, Hong Tianbao has been identified."
"Hong Tianbao?"
The burly man paused and looked at the screen. The surveillance image enlarged, revealing the plump old man and the youth named Zhang Fusheng standing within the cordon.
After a brief pause, his voice became urgent.
"Immediately notify Vehicle Three to stop observing and return. Tell them—"
Before he could finish, the plump old man a kilometer away in the surveillance footage had already turned around, his gaze fixed directly on the camera mounted on the vehicle.
It was as though he were looking straight at them through the screen.
The next second.
In the footage,
The plump, round little old man lifted the refined youth with one hand, bent his knees slightly, and shot forward like a cannonball, abruptly breaking the sound barrier.
The shockwave he unleashed even sent nearby police cars and public security officers tumbling!
One second.
Less than one second.
The plump old man had stopped before the white van. He set down the youth, extended both hands, and tore.
Accompanied by the twisting, shattering screech of metal, the van was truly ripped in half like a soft slice of toast, its occupants and equipment all smashed onto the ground.
"Damn it!"
The burly man cursed, tore off his headset and threw it away, then opened the door. With a leap, he shot dozens of meters into the sky before drifting lightly down like a feather.
"Old Instructor, it's been a long time." He spoke cautiously.
"You're... from the Investigation Bureau Vanguard Team, right? Little Liu?"
The plump old man raised a brow, and his expression eased slightly before abruptly turning solemn again.
"You're all here. Are cultists conducting large-scale activities in Jiangzhou City?"
Before you continue