Chapter 621: Chapter 117: Dinner Party (Part 2)

Under the same night sky, the courtyard of the Inspection Department seemed somewhat quiet.

Regarding guarding strength, the Zhi Ge Department’s prison definitely boasted the highest.

However, because Li Fei had been staying at the Inspection Department, He Jian and others occasionally had to interrogate prisoners, so the previously captured criminals had not been transferred to the Zhi Ge Department.

Tonight, Chi Chengyu was hosting a banquet, and Li Fei went to attend, taking Lv Wenxing with him.

In addition to this, Zhong Han, the Inspector General of the Inspection Department, had also taken a few guards to the banquet.

This made the defense strength of the Inspection Department relatively weakened.

Of course, the Inspection Department wouldn’t commit such an obvious mistake.

Therefore, they had borrowed in advance three Tao Foundation Stage experts and a dozen certified martial masters from the Zhi Ge Department.

Under the cover of night, the courtyard of the Inspection Department appeared calm, but it was tense on the inside.

Across the street from the courtyard, in a noodle shop, a middle-aged man dressed like a farmer walked in.

He ordered a bowl of noodles.

The shop owner soon came over with the noodles, leaned down, and whispered in a low voice:

“It has been confirmed, Li Fei is at the Red Sleeve Tavern.

The farmer-like man ate his noodles expressionlessly; he finished the bowl quickly.

Satisfied, he wiped his mouth, left the money for the noodles, and stood up to leave the shop.

One minute later, the man arrived outside the gate of the Inspection Department’s courtyard.

He walked towards the gate directly.

“Stop! Wha…”

Two guards at the courtyard gate tried to stop him.

But before they could finish speaking, one guard found his arm severed at the elbow!

Everything happened too fast, too suddenly.

The guard with the severed arm didn’t even start to feel pain before he dizzyingly spun.

The last thing he saw was his headless body, with a missing arm, slowly collapsing to the ground.

As for his colleague, his body was torn in half, blood and entrails spattered…

“Enemy attack—”

A piercing alarm whistle resounded within the courtyard.

The man who had broken into the courtyard of the Inspection Department in an extremely violent and brutal manner now had blood splattered on his face.

He showed an expression of utmost enjoyment, his eyes shifting from dull to manically crazed.

Bang bang bang bang—

Continuous gunfire shattered the tranquility of the night; bullets whizzed from all directions.

Within the man’s body surged a dark, ink-like force, which transformed into a fierce armor bristling with barbs that devoured all incoming bullets.

At close range, firearms could threaten martial artists below the Qi Change Middle Stage, and if dozens of rifles fired within thirty meters, even a Refining Strength Martial Master might find their Protective Force broken, leading to injury or even death!

However, as the man faced a storm of bullets, he demonstrated impenetrable defensive power, which proved he was a Tao Foundation Stage powerhouse.

He turned into a wraithlike shadow, charging towards the main building despite the bullets.

Almost as quickly, a figure burst out from the building, a blade striking the shadow with force.

Boom!!!

The air inside the courtyard vibrated intensely; a gust of wind appeared out of nowhere.

The expert with the blade was blown away.

“Dark Star Night Demon Power? It’s ‘Night Demon’ Suo Ze!”

The man blasted away was one of the Tao Foundation Stage experts borrowed from the Zhi Ge Department; he recognized the attacker’s identity.

‘Night Demon’ Suo Ze was a notorious practitioner of the Demon Path in Gan Province.

Demon Path practitioners enhanced their own strength by forcibly seizing fully developed Implants from others. Compared to ordinary martial artists, their danger coefficient at the Tao Foundation Stage was much higher.

Their Implants, being stolen, did not fully match with their own bodies and elicited certain rejection reactions; hence, the more Implants they took, the more severe the rejection.

Due to this, the number of Demon Path practitioners at the Tao Foundation Stage was very low, with each being well-known.

Suo Ze had already incorporated all five types of Implants seven years ago, and each he had seized was one that stimulated a Core Level Extraordinary Ability; hence, his Combat Power was above Level 7, at the Peak of Tao Foundation Stage!

Such a demon had been firmly at the top of Gan Province’s most-wanted list for the past seven years.

No one thought that he would brazenly break into the Inspection Department’s courtyard tonight.

After his identity was exposed, Suo Ze let out a satisfied laugh and surged into the building once more.

Soon, intense fighting sounds emanated from the building.

Concrete walls, under the power of a Tao Foundation Stage expert, were as fragile as tofu—wall after wall was breached, room after room became ruins!

The three Tao Foundation Stage experts from the Zhi Ge Department, all drawn to Suo Ze, attacked him in a group but still found themselves at a disadvantage.

At the entrance to the Inspection Department’s dungeon.

As soon as the alarm sounded, the guards there entered first-level alertness.

The thousand-pound stone gate at the dungeon entrance dropped immediately.

This gate, containing special materials, was hard to break even for a Tao Foundation Stage expert.

A dozen guards aimed their rifles all around.

Whoosh—

All of a sudden, a piercing sound of something cutting the air grew louder as it approached.

The guards instinctively turned to look, barely making out a shadow flashing by.

Bang!!!

The shadow struck with immense force against the stone gate at the dungeon entrance.

The violent wind knocked over the nearest guards; it was then they finally saw what had come flying—

A square iron hammer.

Complex patterns etched on the surface of the hammer glowed with light.

“Magic Artifact!”

Someone exclaimed.

Then the hammer struck the gate once more with great force.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

In the blink of an eye, the hammer pounded continuously seven or eight times.

The guards around fired their rifles at the hammer, bullets producing a spray of sparks as they ricocheted off.

The hammer remained undamaged.

In a mere few seconds, the hammer crazily struck the gate dozens of times, leaving a clear dent in it.

This Magic Artifact was specifically designed for sieges!

If it could break through special-made city gates, what was a mere sluice gate in comparison?

Finally, with a resounding boom, the dungeon entrance’s sluice gate was completely shattered.

The next second, a figure enveloped in dark red Protective Force rushed towards them from a distance.

Judging by the speed and momentum of the approaching person, it was another Tao Foundation Stage powerhouse!

The guards at the entrance dared only to shoot to hinder the figure but didn’t dare to block the path, and ultimately could only watch helplessly as the person charged into the dungeon.

There were Martial Artists guarding inside the dungeon, but none were a match for the intruder, who cut through them like a hot knife through butter, killing all the way into the depths of the dungeon.

In a narrow corridor, He Jian stood guard with an emotionless face.

He hadn’t gone to the banquet that night but had instead been guarding the dungeon.

Hearing the sounds growing closer, he silently drew his side sword.

He had anticipated tonight’s prison break.

Li Fei hadn’t obtained the most critical piece of information from Liu Jiehui, but he did acquire relatively important intelligence:

The location of a significant stronghold.

Three days ago, the Zhi Ge Department and the Inspection Department had jointly sent people to search the stronghold.

As expected, it had already been vacated.

But Li Fei and He Jian’s goal wasn’t to gain anything from the stronghold but deliberately to startle the snake.

The oath-based Magic inside Liu Jiehui’s mind had been triggered, which meant that the people behind him would receive feedback.

Then, all of a sudden, an important stronghold was searched.

What would the person behind Liu Jiehui think?

Would they suspect that the oath-based Magic in the Implant had been cracked? That the secrets Liu Jiehui held could be exposed?

But for now, only the location of one significant stronghold was known, indicating that the true secrets hadn’t been divulged yet.

Under such circumstances, the figure behind the scenes would only be more determined to silence Liu Jiehui!

Hence, tonight’s prison break was only logical.

He Jian couldn’t be sure that they would indeed send someone to break out Liu Jiehui; it was a gamble that the secrets Liu Jiehui held were important enough to take the risk.

It looked like he had bet correctly.

However, the bait in this trap had not lured out a snake from the shadows but rather a python that picks its victims!

The appearance of ‘Night Demon’ Suo Ze was unexpected; he had managed to break through the dungeon gate and kill his way in so quickly.

This, too, was unforeseen.

He Jian wasn’t known for his combat prowess, but at this moment, he didn’t show the slightest intention of retreating.

The sounds of combat grew louder, the Force tearing through the air and punching through the walls echoed incessantly.

Even without witnessing it firsthand, the fierce momentum and powerful strength were enough to send shivers down one’s spine!

At a certain moment, He Jian’s gaze sharpened.

Here they come!

…

Red Sleeve Tavern.

The banquet officially began after Li Fei arrived.

Chi Chengyu sat in the central position at the main seat at the front, with Su Xuesong on the left and Li Fei on the right.

A dozen dancers clad in gauzy garments performed, their enchanting dances captivating, leading many present to have wandering minds.

After a dance finished, the audience erupted into applause.

Once the dancers had withdrawn, Huang Jin glanced at Shen Tuyue beside him, then suddenly stood up, walked to the center, paid his respects toward the three main seats, ending with a look towards Li Fei,

“Marquis Jing’an’s reputation hasn’t been seen for a long time. I, Huang Jin of the Red Dust Pavilion, would like to seek guidance from Marquis Jing’an.”

His words caused the atmosphere to quickly hush down, many showing looks of surprise.

Wasn’t tonight’s banquet hosted by Chi Chengyu especially to provide Shen Tuyue and Li Fei with a chance to spar?

Why had Huang Jin stepped forward to challenge first?

Chi Chengyu appeared somewhat surprised as he glanced at Shen Tuyue, not saying much.

After all, Huang Jin was also a direct disciple of the Pavilion Master.

Li Fei looked at Huang Jin and shook his head,

“Apologies, this Marquis does not wish to engage in combat tonight.”

Huang Jin was taken aback, not expecting Li Fei to refuse.

Somewhat abashed, he asked,

“Could it be that Marquis Jing’an thinks I am not worthy?”

This comment came across as somewhat impolite, Chi Chengyu slightly furrowed his brow, not understanding why Huang Jin had lost his composure.

He turned to Li Fei,

“My martial nephew here is obsessed with martial arts; seeing a high-level expert like yourself, he couldn’t help himself. I hope Marquis Jing’an won’t take offense.”

Li Fei nodded at Chi Chengyu, calmly saying, “It’s alright.”

He then picked up the cup from the table and took a sip, no longer paying attention to Huang Jin.

Seeing this, Chi Chengyu laughed and said to Huang Jin,

“Since Marquis Jing’an doesn’t wish to spar tonight, let’s find another opportunity in the future.”

Huang Jin, not satisfied, returned to his seat somewhat dejectedly.

“Marquis Jing’an is unwilling to spar with my teacher-brother, but what about me?”

Shen Tuyue, who had been quiet the whole time, suddenly spoke up.

…