Tang Jianxing's Furious Rage

After the museum's prized treasure was stolen,

Captain Jiang and Gao Feng were both frantic, each mobilizing their forces.

At the same time, Gao Feng maintained order in the hall, concealing the fact that the museum's prized treasure had been stolen.

"Why put the genuine piece in a secret chamber? Wasn't that practically opening the door and welcoming Gold Rat in?"

Captain Jiang barked orders into his radio until his voice had gone hoarse.

Thinking back to what he had seen in the secret chamber, he had more or less understood the museum director's strategy.

"Gold Rat's reputation precedes him. It was understandable for the director to clutch at straws in his desperation." Gao Feng wiped the sweat from his forehead and sighed. "But the museum's prized treasure was stolen in the end. The two of us are going to lose face before the commander now."

"Damn it! Damn it!"

Captain Jiang cursed furiously. How was he supposed to face anyone after going back?

More than half of Jiangbei City's distinguished figures were here. Could they really keep this under wraps?

"That damn rat—of all things he could steal, he stole a famous painting!"

Captain Jiang paced as he roared, his eyes wide as bronze bells. "If he had stolen cultivation resources, I wouldn't have been nearly so humiliated."

"Maybe he came specifically for the painting's fame."

Gao Feng said this as a martial artist with little artistic appreciation, unable to understand Gold Rat's thinking very well.

"But Mei Ye from your squad," Gao Feng suddenly recalled Mei Ye, "he didn't really kill that rat, did he?"

Captain Jiang frowned and pondered for a moment.

"...Maybe they were accomplices."

Captain Jiang had a headache over Mei Ye constantly making earth-shattering headlines, but he understood the kid.

His blade was cold, and the man himself was colder.

Someone like that could not possibly lie.

"What if that kid really took down the rat?" Gao Feng leaned closer and lowered his voice. "I keep feeling that this newcomer is a bit earth-shattering."

"Bullshit."

Captain Jiang gripped his radio, saying in disbelief, "Even I, the captain, couldn't do it. If he managed it, I'd be Ultraman!"

"Captain Jiang."

Just then,

Tang Jianxing's voice came from nearby.

Tang Jianxing hurried over to Captain Jiang. He glanced at him and said, "The director has already been sent to the hospital. According to the doctor, he's fine."

Captain Jiang nodded. "Thank you, Young Master Tang."

Seeing Captain Jiang and Gao Feng looking utterly frazzled, Tang Jianxing thought that the two were probably in complete turmoil right now. He secretly rejoiced, though he offered consolation aloud.

"Gold Rat may be elusive as a ghost, but Jiangbei City's defenses are well supplied. He won't get away."

Captain Jiang's anger flared at those words. He had just boasted that he could stop the thief, only to be slapped in the face immediately afterward.

Now that Tang Jianxing had said it, he could not shake the feeling that the man was deliberately mocking him.

"Let's hope so."

Captain Jiang said this while suppressing his irritation.

Tang Jianxing watched Captain Jiang's gloomy expression, his eyes narrowing.

"Captain Jiang, since the museum's prized treasure was stolen, why are you still here?"

Captain Jiang let out a breath. Until he confirmed that Mei Ye had really killed Gold Rat, he would not say much. He had lost enough face tonight already.

"There's news of Gold Rat. We're waiting for someone involved."

News of Gold Rat?

Tang Jianxing raised a brow without showing it. So what if they had found something? By now, the man should have run far away.

They had received news and were waiting here for someone?

Did that carry some especially great significance?

Tang Jianxing considered it and came up with several guesses, but did not jump to conclusions... In any case, he absolutely would not believe that anything had happened to Gold Rat.

After waiting for several minutes, a Demon Suppression Bureau officer with a steady aura and early-stage cultivation arrived carrying a blade. In his other hand, he held a spherical object wrapped in cloth. Dark-red blood seeped from it, dripping onto the floor.

A head?!

For some reason, Tang Jianxing's heart lurched when he saw that sphere.

When Captain Jiang saw that Mei Ye had finally arrived, he did not put on airs and wait. Instead, he jogged over first.

For some reason, the moment the kid from the Demon Suppression Bureau appeared, a dark cloud settled over Tang Jianxing's heart, forcing him to jog over as well.

"Mei Ye."

Captain Jiang hurried over, his gaze sweeping over Mei Ye with suspicion. "Are you telling the truth?"

"Of course." Mei Ye raised the head in his hand.

Smelling the thick stench of blood and seeing Mei Ye's calm, unruffled expression, Tang Jianxing could not help panicking.

No way!?

Captain Jiang hurriedly grabbed the head and ripped off the wrapping, revealing a bloody head whose eyes remained wide open in death.

Captain Jiang abruptly raised his head and stared at Mei Ye in shock, then lowered it again to look at the head. "This... is Gold Rat?"

His tongue trembled, and his brows drew tightly together.

No one knew what Gold Rat looked like. Disguise techniques were common among thieves, so with an unfamiliar head brought before him, Captain Jiang could not be certain that it was Gold Rat.

"Genuine, without question."

Mei Ye confirmed Captain Jiang's suspicion. Standing with his arms crossed, he seemed to be mocking Captain Jiang's eyesight.

Meanwhile, the moment Tang Jianxing saw Gold Rat's face, his heart practically stopped!

Wasn't this the thief he had hired?

How had he lost his head so soon?

Tang Jianxing looked up at Mei Ye, his expression ugly.

Just who was this kid called Mei Ye? How could he possess such ability?

Tang Jianxing's thoughts whirled as he wildly guessed at Mei Ye's background.

At the same time, with Gold Rat dead, panic drove him to consider the current situation.

He glanced at the head and thought that while Gold Rat had been killed, fortunately the museum's prized treasure was already in his hands. And judging from Mei Ye's appearance, the kid probably had not interrogated Gold Rat, so his identity had not been exposed.

Letting out a breath, Tang Jianxing's expression gradually returned to calm.

"Gold Rat... was killed that easily?"

Captain Jiang clutched the head with all five fingers and cried out in disbelief.

"It wasn't entirely my credit." Mei Ye explained, "I just met someone. He was Deng Bai's younger brother, Deng Hei. We encountered Gold Rat together. Deng Hei noticed that something was wrong with him and called me to take him down, but we couldn't beat Gold Rat. In the end, Deng Hei had to sacrifice himself to create the chance to kill Gold Rat."

As he spoke, Mei Ye sighed toward the sky, deliberately putting on a sorrowful expression.

"Deng Hei, Deng Bai's younger brother?"

Captain Jiang was utterly dumbfounded.

Brother, what the hell are you talking about?

Was what I saw earlier an illusion? You cut off Deng Bai's head with one slash, and now Deng Hei sacrificed himself for you?

Did that even sound human?

Captain Jiang guiltily turned his head. In his field of view, Tang Jianxing's face had darkened, and a blaze seemed to burn in his eyes.

It was over!

Captain Jiang closed his eyes in despair. This time, they had thoroughly offended the Tang family.

Mei Ye, I can't help you anymore.

You're on your own now.

"I don't think that Gold Rat was necessarily the real one."

Captain Jiang let out a long breath and said with feigned calm.

"I think so too."

Mei Ye deeply agreed. The process of cutting off Gold Rat's head had been far too clean and easy. He also suspected that it was a fake.

"Little Mei, you may have cut off someone's head, but what matters most is the museum's prized treasure. Without it, even a hundred Gold Rat heads are useless to our Demon Suppression Bureau."

Captain Jiang looked at the head dripping blood onto the ground, his tone full of regret.

Although Gold Rat had been executed, safeguarding the museum's prized treasure was their mission.

With the museum's prized treasure gone, how were they supposed to account to all of Jiangbei City tomorrow?

Captain Jiang's chest felt stifled, and he was suddenly overwhelmed by helplessness.

Beside him, Tang Jianxing heard them mention recovering the museum's prized treasure, and the corner of his lips curled slightly.

Even if the man had been killed, the genuine piece was in his hands.

He was still tonight's winner!

Just as Tang Jianxing believed everything was foolproof and leisurely watched the Demon Suppression Bureau members panic.

Mei Ye calmly reached into his clothes, drawing out a long, narrow object before everyone's eyes.

"Mission accomplished."

Before Tang Jianxing's horrified eyes and Captain Jiang's delighted ones, Mei Ye handed over the museum's prized treasure.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Tang Jianxing's pupils shook violently as he stared at the museum's prized treasure in Mei Ye's hand, his voice trembling.

"What's wrong, President Tang?"

Only then did Captain Jiang notice the person who had followed them over. He frowned as he asked.

Tang Jianxing ignored Captain Jiang, his gaze locked on the museum's prized treasure in Mei Ye's hand as though the entire world had betrayed him.

Wasn't the item with him?

Then what was this museum's prized treasure?

"This is genuine?"

Tang Jianxing extended a well-maintained finger, pointing tremulously at the museum's prized treasure.

"Could it be fake?"

Captain Jiang calmed down somewhat at that, but he still praised Mei Ye aloud.

"Little Mei, you did well. If this is the stolen museum treasure, then you've rendered a great service this time!"

Mei Ye nodded faintly in response.

Captain Jiang said no more. Carefully taking the famous Song Dynasty painting, he guarded it in his hands and flashed away to find an expert for authentication.

"Well? Is it genuine?"

Captain Jiang stood beside an old man and asked, his eyes constantly darting toward the famous painting, his tone anxious.

Tang Jianxing also wore an anxious expression, his palms drenched in sweat.

Others might have thought that he was worried about whether the local museum's prized treasure had been stolen.

But only he himself knew that this concerned his dignity!

It did not matter if Gold Rat was fake. He knew that.

But the painting he had just obtained could not be fake. Otherwise, where would he put his face?

The old scholar circled the museum's prized treasure and inspected it. After a detailed appraisal, he straightened up and revealed a relieved smile.

"It's genuine!"

"Wonderful!"

Captain Jiang and the others were overjoyed. Their faces had been saved.

The several Demon-Suppressing Guards nearby also breathed sighs of relief. At least their superiors would not dump the blame on them now.

Most people in the room beamed with joy. Captain Jiang even walked over and hugged Mei Ye. "Little Mei, you're my lucky star!"

Mei Ye rolled his eyes. Little Mei when he rendered merit, Mei Ye when he was being ordered around.

Only one person had completely turned to stone.

"Old Jiang, congratulations. The top merit this time goes to you."

Captain Gao walked over with a smile, looking at Mei Ye approvingly.

"Not at all, not at all. We were merely lucky."

Captain Jiang waved his hands repeatedly with a red face, yet his grin stretched from ear to ear.

"What's wrong, President Tang?"

In his joy, Captain Jiang noticed Tang Jianxing's stiff expression and could not help asking.

Tang Jianxing gritted his teeth. "Nothing. I'm merely surprised."

Captain Jiang nodded and said to the nearby museum staff, "Since it's genuine, please keep it safe."

With that, he left the room with a broad smile and entered the hall, where he told the gathered dignitaries that Gold Rat had been executed.

"Oh—!"

The prominent guests cried out in amazement, staring incredulously at the smug Captain Jiang.

"Gold Rat was nothing more than a wanted thief. Before our North River Demon Suppression Bureau, what was there to fear?"

Captain Jiang thrust out his chest and said disdainfully, "Our Demon Suppression Bureau has already taken his head. This is the price of provoking Jiangbei City."

Before everyone, it was inconvenient for him to produce the bloody head, but as a captain, his word was naturally beyond doubt.

Thus, all the dignitaries sighed in admiration, and flattering praise filled the hall.

Tang Jianxing, however, stood amid the crowd with his fists clenched, darkly watching the self-satisfied Captain Jiang. A trace of fury and unwillingness showed in his eyes.

Then he suddenly seemed to realize something and sharply turned his gaze toward a young man in the corner, leisurely sipping red wine.

Mei Ye held a wineglass and leaned against the wall, taking a light sip.

Malice surged toward him like a tide.

Mei Ye's hand paused. Seeming to sense something, he tilted his head to look over.

But that malicious gaze had already moved away.

Mei Ye frowned, then relaxed.

He swirled his wineglass and continued drinking.