It was midnight, and the night was black as ink.
Ten miles outside Clearwind Ridge lay a secluded, nameless valley.
Yi Yang arrived without a sound, leading fifty Pacification Guards.
Three figures were already waiting at the valley entrance.
One was slender, dressed in dark purple combat clothes, and leaned against an old, crooked tree with languid ease. It was Yan Wuyuan, Deputy Chief Inspector of the Nether Spring Office.
Another was an ordinary-looking middle-aged man standing three paces behind Yan Wuyuan. His aura was restrained, like a sword sheathed in its scabbard, and he watched Yi Yang with a complicated expression. It was Zhou Fangyu.
The third was the newly appointed Candidate Chief Inspector who had filled the vacancy left by Yi Yang.
Behind them stood more than twenty figures in black, each with a deep, steady aura, like phantoms merging into the night.
At the sight of this gathering, Ning Xiong's brows knotted tightly.
He could sense that even the weakest of the black-clad figures behind Yan Wuyuan had reached second inner qi. The two Candidate Chief Inspectors, Zhou Fangyu and Wei Chang Geng, were both experts at third inner qi completion.
"Lord Yan."
Yi Yang stepped forward and cupped his fist in greeting.
Yan Wuyuan straightened away from the tree and brushed nonexistent dust from her sleeve, her pale amber eyes sweeping over Yi Yang and Ning Xiong.
"Is everyone here?"
"Everyone's here."
Yi Yang nodded.
The Nether Spring Office's Candidate Chief Inspector also stepped forward and cupped his fist toward Yi Yang. "Zhou Fangyu."
"My respects, Lord Yi."
Yi Yang smiled. "No need to be so formal, Old Zhou. We were brothers in the same office not long ago."
Hearing this, Zhou Fangyu lowered his head with a complicated look and replied respectfully, "I wouldn't dare.