Looking at Cheng Zhiwei's corpse, Chen Ye slowly let out a stale breath. His nerves, which had been stretched to their limit, finally relaxed a little.
From setting the fire to break the deadlock, to ambushing and killing Li Chunfeng, then luring Cheng Zhiwei in for a sneak attack, the whole series of moves had seemed as smooth as flowing water. In truth, every step had been taken on a blade's edge, and the strain on his mind and body had been immense.
In particular, when he had assassinated Li Chunfeng, the arrow Cheng Zhiwei had suddenly fired had nearly grazed his ribs. If he hadn't forcibly twisted his body at the last moment, Li Chunfeng might well have gotten away.
Fortunately, it was all over.
He didn't know whether Li Jun was dead. After all, given this world's level of technology, the explosives he'd cobbled together weren't particularly powerful. But that no longer mattered.
Li Chunfeng was dead, along with two Six Gates experts. The deed had already made its deterrent effect felt. The rest could be left to heaven's will.
Just then, firelight flickered faintly in the distance, accompanied by the sound of jumbled footsteps and shouts.
Chen Ye knew the pursuers had arrived. Without the slightest hesitation, he turned and plunged into the darkness, disappearing from sight.
Moments later, squads of men carrying torches and weapons poured into the area.
Constables from the Six Gates, soldiers from the Military Patrol Office, and officers from the Arrest Bureau... the capital's three great government offices had all gathered here.
As it turned out, even while giving chase, Cheng Zhiwei had not forgotten to leave special markers along the way, ones only members of the Six Gates could understand. That was how they had tracked her here so quickly.
But when they arrived, all they found was a corpse that was still warm.
"It's... it's Miss Cheng!"
"Quick! See if she's still breathing!"
An old constable tremblingly placed a finger beneath Cheng Zhiwei's nose, then shook his head, his face deathly pale.
Everyone present felt a chill shoot from the soles of their feet to the crowns of their heads.
Li Chunfeng, the eldest young master of Duke Anguo's Residence, had been beheaded in public.
Cheng Ming, a venerable and highly respected veteran head constable of the Six Gates, had had his throat slit with a single stroke.
Now, even Cheng Zhiwei, hailed as the most outstanding expert of the Six Gates' younger generation, had died a miserable death in this remote corner.
Not to mention Li Jun, the Duke of An, whose fate was still unknown!
Tonight, the Moon-Treading Great Thief had practically ground the faces of their offices into the dirt.
He had utterly torn a hole in the sky this time!
The leaders of the Six Gates, the Arrest Bureau, and the Military Patrol Office were all ashen-faced.
They knew they probably wouldn't be able to keep the black gauze hats on their heads.
After such an enormous calamity, they hadn't even caught a glimpse of the thief. How furious would the lords of the court and the emperor secluded deep within the palace be?
They didn't even dare think about it.
"First... let's take Miss Cheng's body back first," an old head constable of the Six Gates said in a dry voice, breaking the deathly silence.
Meanwhile, thanks to the desperate efforts of countless people, the great fire at Duke Anguo's Residence had finally begun to die down.
But for the people in the residence, fighting the fire was secondary. The safety of Li Jun, the Duke of An, was what weighed on everyone's mind.
With the eldest young master dead, the most they would suffer was a beating with the paddle.
But if the duke died too, then every last one of them, servants and guards alike, would have to be buried with him.
Thus, amid the wreckage of the tower, more than half of which had been blown down, over a hundred people searched like madmen, digging with their hands and hauling debris on their shoulders, fighting with all their might.
"Found him! His Grace is here!"
No one knew how much time had passed before that delighted shout lifted everyone's spirits.
Everyone pitched in to move the broken walls and rubble on top of him, finally digging Li Jun out, his body covered in blood and grime.
The Duke of An, whose power held sway over court and country, now looked wretched beyond measure.
He was covered in blood, one of his arms was severed, and one eye was a mangled mess of flesh and blood, completely blind.
Yet he was still alive!
When the explosion occurred, the place where he'd been sitting had happened to be in an angle between the roof beams, creating a small space in which he could survive. Only then had he escaped with his life by sheer luck.
No one dared delay. They hurriedly carried him out, and after some emergency bandaging, Li Jun slowly came to.
"Where is my son? How is my son now?" Those were the first words Li Jun spoke upon waking.
No one dared answer.
Everyone lowered their heads in silence.
Li Jun understood at once. He then struggled to his feet. "Take me to see my son's body!"
No one dared stop him, and before long, Li Jun saw Li Chunfeng's corpse.
Li Chunfeng's head had been carefully placed against the severed end of his neck. Someone had also straightened his clothes and wiped the blood from his face. From a distance, he looked almost as though he were asleep.
"Feng'er... my Feng'er..."
Tears streamed down Li Jun's aged face as he reached out with his intact hand, trembling as he tried to stroke his son's face.
But he was too distraught. His hand brushed against the head, and it rolled off, revealing the bloody, mangled stump of the neck.
Having lost an eye, Li Jun wasn't used to it yet. He couldn't make out what had rolled away, so he asked the people beside him.
"What was that? Why did my son suddenly get so much shorter?"
"Your Grace, th-that was the young master's head!"
"Aah-!"
Only then did Li Jun understand. He let out a piercing scream, his eyes rolled back, and he fainted on the spot.
Everyone fell into a panic again. After they finally brought him around, Li Jun didn't cry anymore. His eyes were bloodshot, and he looked like a vengeful ghost.
"Prepare my sedan chair. I'm going to the palace to present my grievance to the emperor!"
As Li Jun's sedan chair raced toward the imperial palace through the night, Zhang Bo, the minister of revenue, Lin Hong, the head of the Lin Family, and a host of other powerful figures received the news and hurried over.
When they saw the devastation at Duke Anguo's Residence, every one of them was shaken to the core.
And when they learned that Li Jun had gone to the palace to see the emperor, they conferred briefly before following him.
By the time the great procession reached the palace gates, a pale fish-belly white had appeared on the horizon.
The man currently at the helm of the Great Zhao Imperial Dynasty was its thirteenth emperor, Yang Zhao.
He had just turned forty that year and was in the prime of his life. But he was lazy by nature, and with the nation declining day by day, he spent all his time immersed in the arts of cultivating the Dao and seeking immortality. It had been a long time since he had attended morning court.
For an ordinary official, getting an audience with him was as hard as ascending to heaven.
But Li Jun, the Duke of An, held a special position. Moreover, urgent memorials from the Six Gates, the Arrest Bureau, and other offices had already reached the throne ahead of him. So Yang Zhao made an exception and received them in his own sleeping quarters.
As soon as Li Jun entered the hall, he fell to his knees. With tears and snot streaming down his face, he gave an embellished account of what had happened the night before.
He went to great lengths to paint the Moon-Treading Great Thief as brutal and hateful, and his own son's death as innocent and pitiful, yet he said not a word about the crimes his son had committed.
On the dragon throne, Yang Zhao listened to his tearful complaint, his frown deepening.
He spoke a few words to comfort Li Jun, then swept his gaze over the ministers below, who all wore similarly frightened expressions. His voice suddenly turned cold.
"By my decree, seal off the entire city. Let people in, but no one out! Order the Six Gates, the Military Patrol Office, and the Arrest Bureau to work together on this case. Mobilize all your forces and dig this Treading the Moon out for me!"
"I want to see just who dares to act so outrageously under my very feet!"