There's a mole, abort the transaction

Lu Yuan realized Ji Yin was hinting at something. The next second, he suddenly grabbed Ji Yin's arm and cried out:

"Cultivator, there's actually one more clue-the most important one. I haven't told anyone about it yet.

"My sister has something on her that makes it easy to find where she is now.

"If the Internal Affairs Bureau acts now, you can catch all the cultists in one fell swoop!"

Cultivator Ji Yin froze at his words. Then his smile vanished, and he said coldly:

"Still spouting nonsense? You really think I'm easy to push around?

"Get lost!"

With a sweep of his arm, he slapped Lu Yuan straight out of the Internal Affairs Bureau, sending him tumbling onto the road outside the gate.

"Any random cat or dog can just barge in here. Fucking bad luck!"

Cultivator Ji Yin dusted himself off, then addressed everyone in the Internal Affairs Bureau. "Ahem. In a few days, an important person will be visiting Ning City.

"So I'll be going into secluded cultivation for a while. I won't fucking see anyone!

"Don't let people in to bother me like you did today. Do you understand?!"

"Yes!"

Everyone in the Internal Affairs Bureau answered in unison, wondering just what important figure was coming.

Meanwhile, Lu Yuan struggled to his feet, his whole body aching as though it had been pulled apart.

He looked at the heavily guarded entrance to the Internal Affairs Bureau and cursed angrily:

"Don't bully a young man for being poor!

"One day, I'll make you pay for this!"

The guards at the gate merely watched him coldly.

One of them couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.

With no other choice, Lu Yuan made his way back, supporting himself against the wall one step at a time, his departing figure looking especially bedraggled.

After he had walked down a street, someone called out to him. He turned to see Zhang Baocheng, who had come running after him.

"Lu Yuan, are you hurt?"

"No..." Dejected, Lu Yuan lowered his head and kept walking.

Seeing how upset he was, Zhang Baocheng tried to comfort him:

"Lord Ji Yin is famous for his unpredictable temper. Even we get beaten up by him all the time, so don't take it to heart."

"Brother Zhang, I know." Lu Yuan's reply was gloomy. "He's a cultivator, after all. Of course he can do whatever he wants. What does an ordinary person like me amount to in his eyes?"

Zhang Baocheng smiled awkwardly and walked alongside Lu Yuan.

"Lu Yuan, aren't you going to the police station? I called them for you just now."

"Even if I go, it won't do any good, will it? In the end, the matter will still come back to the Internal Affairs Bureau..."

"You can't say that." Zhang Baocheng turned serious. "Ji Yin isn't the only cultivator in the Internal Affairs Bureau.

"To tell you the truth, I'm a Two-Leaf Cultivator myself.

"As long as we can pin down the cult's location, we don't necessarily need Ji Yin's approval."

Lu Yuan noticed that Zhang Baocheng had mentioned "Two-Leaf Cultivator," which seemed to be a way of ranking cultivators. He didn't ask further, though, and simply remained silent.

As the two walked, they came without realizing it to a little garden where few people ever ventured, surrounded by lush red-leaf shrubs.

"Lu Yuan, you said just now that your sister has something on her that can pinpoint her location. Is that true?"

"It's true."

"Then why didn't you say so earlier?!"

"I was worried you wouldn't believe me."

Zhang Baocheng gripped Lu Yuan's shoulder and said, somewhat displeased, "Lu Yuan, I've believed you all along."

"I know you've been good to me, Brother Zhang," Lu Yuan replied.

"Then tell me what your sister has hidden on her," Zhang Baocheng said earnestly. "My rank may be lower than Ji Yin's, but I'm still a cultivator. Even if I run into cultists, I can put up a fight.

"Lu Yuan, I'm going to help you, no matter what.

"Just tell me how to find your sister, and I'll take people to rescue her immediately."

Lu Yuan looked at Zhang Baocheng, seemingly very tempted.

But after hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and refused.

"Forget it, Brother Zhang. The cultists are dangerous. If I tell you, I might drag you into this."

Zhang Baocheng smiled. "In our line of work, how could we be afraid of danger?

"If it really is dangerous, I'll call my colleagues for backup, so you don't need to worry about that.

"Tell me now."

Lu Yuan shook his head. "I'd better not."

He continued forward, but then he found Zhang Baocheng's hand clamped around his wrist like an iron vise.

Zhang Baocheng's smile was dangerous.

"Lu Yuan, it seems you really don't trust me."

"Brother Zhang, it's not that I don't trust you. Let go."

The smile finally disappeared from Zhang Baocheng's face.

"If you trust me, why won't you tell me?"

Lu Yuan was about to argue.

A tremendous force struck him in the chest. Lu Yuan's vision went black, and he passed out.

Zhang Baocheng picked Lu Yuan up and stuffed him into the trunk of a car, then got behind the wheel and drove toward the outskirts.

He didn't tie Lu Yuan up or put tape over his mouth or anything like that, because there was no need at all. With his strength as a Second-Grade Cultivator, keeping an ordinary student from waking up couldn't have been easier.

The car drove for more than half an hour before finally stopping outside an abandoned factory on the outskirts.

There was no one around. Weeds grew thickly by the roadside, and dismantled machinery lay in haphazard piles outside the wall.

Zhang Baocheng got out and pushed open the rusty iron gate, which let out a teeth-grating creak.

"It's me," he said calmly to those inside.

Two dark figures emerged from behind the wall. They had been standing guard in the shadows and had now recognized Zhang Baocheng.

"Welcome, Lord Guard!"

"Mm." Zhang Baocheng waved a hand dismissively. "There's a student in the trunk. Bring him inside."

With that, he entered the factory.

It had been abandoned for a long time. The stale smell of machine oil and dust hung in the air, and the factory passages were piled high with construction debris, as though no one had passed through in ages.

But after he passed through a dark, twisting corridor, an entirely different world lay beyond.

A row of beds stood against the wall, and mineral water bottles and instant noodle cups littered the floor. By the light of a swaying emergency lamp, more than a dozen people knelt in prayer beneath a wooden statue.

This was one of the cult's strongholds in Ning City, and everyone present was a cultist. Of course, the cultists called themselves believers of the holy faith.

"Lord Guard!" Someone spotted Zhang Baocheng entering and hurriedly knelt in obeisance.

Zhang Baocheng made a gesture to raise them and asked, "Where are they?"

"Inside."

Zhang Baocheng pushed the door open and entered. Xiao Bing lay on the floor with her hands bound behind her back, weeping quietly.

A few men sitting in a circle eating congee saw Zhang Baocheng enter. They hurriedly put down their bowls and stood in a neat line.

"My lord," said a sallow-faced middle-aged man, pointing at Xiao Bing. "Fortunately, we didn't fail you. We've brought her here."

"Oh." Zhang Baocheng responded coldly. "Did you check her when you brought her in?"

"We did. No one followed us, and the girl didn't have a phone on her either. No one can find her." The middle-aged man answered with a broad smile.

Smack!

A slap struck him across the face and sent him to his knees.

Zhang Baocheng cursed furiously:

"Useless trash!

"Her brother has already gone to the Internal Affairs Bureau!

"The girl has something on her!

"If I hadn't been there, that dog Ji Yin would already have brought people here to kill us!

"A bunch of useless trash! You can't do a single thing right!"