Hu Xiaotian turned around and saw Fan Zongxi approaching in a black cloak. He patted the gray horse's head, then turned to meet him with a smile. "Then thank you for your kindness, Eunuch Fan."
Fan Zongxi came up beside Hu Xiaotian and stood shoulder to shoulder with him. The wind swept fiercely across the racecourse at night, lifting his cloak like a banner and making it snap in the darkness. Fan Zongxi said, "The people you described were probably Winged Warriors. They once belonged to the Heavenly Secrets Bureau."
"The Heavenly Secrets Bureau?" Hu Xiaotian asked. "How would they dare threaten the princess?"
"The Heavenly Secrets Bureau had three main branches," Fan Zongxi said. "First was the Formation Diagram Gate, skilled in laying formations and devising stratagems. Second was the Beast-Driving Gate, skilled in commanding birds and beasts. Third was the Mechanism Gate, skilled in making all manner of mechanical devices. After His Majesty ascended the throne, the Heavenly Secrets Bureau split apart. Some of its members fled out of fear of punishment for their involvement in the assassination attempt against His Majesty that year. That is why the bureau today no longer possesses its former glory."
Hu Xiaotian nodded. While escorting the Little Princess to Xiezhou, he had encountered Beast Tamers who attacked them along the way. Those people must have belonged to the Beast-Driving Gate. It seemed the Heavenly Secrets Bureau had possessed truly astonishing strength before its split.
"I have already reported this matter to the Third Prince," Fan Zongxi said. "Tomorrow, I will meet Commander Ji and give him a detailed account of what happened."
Alarm immediately stirred in Hu Xiaotian's heart. The Commander Ji whom Fan Zongxi mentioned was undoubtedly Ji Feihua. Could Fan Zongxi belong to Ji Feihua's faction? If so, he would