After several rounds of drinks, dusk was approaching.
These local banquets are so annoying. Tang Cheng wished he could be like Li Xingkong, able to come and go as he pleased, but unfortunately, he couldn't. After all, he held an important position and was very busy, so social engagements were often unavoidable.
Tang Cheng stayed there for almost the entire afternoon before finally escaping from the throngs of people urging him to drink. Everyone had begun their cultivation to varying degrees. While alcohol was originally quite harmful to humans, for cultivators, the harm was minimal; alcohol had become a mere beverage.
Even for cultivators with higher cultivation levels, alcohol no longer has an anesthetic effect, so they can't drink to get drunk; it tastes almost like drinking water.
If Tang Cheng were to drink freely, he could easily get everyone drunk, but he clearly had something on his mind, so he naturally controlled himself and didn't drink too much.
After the banquet ended, it was already quite late when Tang Cheng led his men to the Inspection Department.
Although he had drunk quite a bit, he hadn't forgotten that he still had Zhang Ru to interrogate.
When Tang Cheng and his group arrived at the Inspection Department, they found that things had changed since they left. The Inspection Department were blaring, as if something unexpected had happened.
After Tang Cheng arrived here, he was mostly sober, but still a little dazed. However, upon seeing the situation at the Inspection Department, he immediately straightened up.
Taking two steps at a time, Tang Cheng stepped forward and stopped a Inspection Department who was heading out.
"What happened? What's going on?"
The man was initially very anxious and became somewhat impatient after being stopped, but upon seeing that the person was Tang Cheng, his expression immediately changed.
"Team Leader Tang, something's wrong! The person has escaped!"
"Explain yourself, who ran away?"
The man seemed anxious, and his speech became somewhat unclear.
"It's Zhang Ru, the one you brought back this morning."
Upon hearing the name, Tang Cheng immediately pushed the man aside and rushed towards the Inspection Department's prison.
He was very fast, especially since he had used all his Magic Power. In just a few blinks, he arrived at the place where Zhang Ru had been imprisoned.
The area had been sealed off by the Inspection Department, and upon seeing Tang Cheng, the guards immediately made way for him.
Tang Cheng arrived at the prison where Zhang Ru had been held. The cell doors were open, and the prison was empty; there wasn't a single person inside.
"Who was guarding this area at the time? Call them over first."
Tang Cheng spoke to the group that had blocked this area.
"Captain Tang, we've temporarily detained that person and will bring him to you shortly."
One of them quickly spoke, and then went to the other side of the prison.
While waiting for someone to arrive, Tang Cheng carefully observed Zhang Ru's cell.
There were no signs of a struggle, the cell door showed no signs of being pried open, and there were no signs of any dispute outside the cell. It was as if this person had simply vanished into thin air.
But that's obviously impossible. If Zhang Ru had that ability, he would have run away long ago. How could he possibly wait until I catch him?
Did he also know of Li Xingkong's existence? Was he deliberately avoiding Li Xingkong?
Tang Cheng was completely baffled as to how this guy had escaped.
Shortly after, the man who had answered Tang Cheng's question arrived with a person whose hands were being burned.
"Team Leader Tang, this is the person who was guarding Zhang Ru back then."
Tang Cheng looked at the man who had been brought over; he appeared to be only in his early twenties, an ordinary young man.
Tell me what happened.
Tang Cheng asked, because at this point, regardless of anything else, this person's words were an important clue.
The man thought for a moment, then spoke.
"I was standing here, guarding his cell. No one came by, and then when I noticed it was getting quiet, I glanced back and found he was gone."
According to him, Zhang Ru seemed to have disappeared on his own, but this was the Inspection Department, a place used to imprison cultivators. How could he have escaped so easily?
No one around noticed, and even his guards only realized he was missing when things got quiet.
There's definitely something wrong with this situation.
Is there any CCTV footage from that time?
Tang Cheng then asked, "There aren't many other things in the prison, but surveillance cameras are definitely indispensable."
"Yes, but the server was recently under maintenance, so the surveillance footage may not have been recorded. Furthermore, Zhang Ru damaged the surveillance camera when he escaped, so there might not be any useful information."
The surveillance system is broken, the server is under maintenance—these are all lame excuses.
Tang Cheng was somewhat angry. How could surveillance cameras be removed in a place like this? What were these Inspection Department doing?
After thinking about it, he had no choice but to settle for the next best thing.
"Then give me the broken camera."
Since there were no saved surveillance videos and no usable cameras, Tang Cheng had to resort to other methods to view the surveillance footage.
Soon someone brought the broken camera to Tang Cheng. Looking at the camera, it seemed to have been punched through by a pebble, with a large hole in it.
It was as bad as it could possibly be, and Tang Cheng was at his wit's end.
This guy was caught by the Inspection Department, yet he still managed to escape. This dramatic turn of events was truly disheartening for Tang Cheng.
As for the person who was detained, Tang Cheng did not release him. Instead, he locked him up first. This time he was smarter and directly asked the personnel from the Earthly Capital Inspection Department who came with him to guard him. This time, there was no chance that anyone would escape.
As for the broken surveillance camera, Tang Cheng first had a technician take a look, and it turned out that the thing was badly damaged, and there was basically no way to read the data using existing technology.
Left with no other option, Tang Cheng had to ask Li Xingkong to see if he could find a solution.
When Li Xingkong received Tang Cheng's call and arrived at the Inspection Department, Tang Cheng was still sitting in his cell, pondering how this person had left.
"What happened? Wasn't the Zhang Family Village matter resolved?"
Led downhill, Li Xingkong arrived at the prison of the Inspection Department, where he immediately spotted Tang Cheng sitting.
Meanwhile, many people around him are conducting investigations.
"Ugh, don't even mention it. Brother Li, I actually need your help with something this time. Could you take a look at what's recorded in this security camera footage?"
"Let me take a look."
Li Xingkong took the broken camera and disassembled it. Many of its components had large holes punched in them, rendering it unusable. If any parts were still functional, there would have been no need for him to come and inspect the thing.