I Cultivate in a Government Office

Chapter 198: Chapter 119: The Investigation Team Enters Lingshan Town

”Come in.”

The door opened, and the newly appointed vice director, Wang Ren, walked in with a smile. He first nodded to Liu Qin, then turned to Yang Wenqing. ”Wenqing, busy? I’m not interrupting, am I?”

”Vice Director Wang, please have a seat.”

Yang Wenqing gestured for Liu Qin to leave.

Liu Qin understood, quickly exiting and closing the door behind her.

Wang Ren sat down across from Yang Wenqing, his tone casual yet concerned. ”The situation in Lingshan Town is murky. A brute-force investigation will likely be a waste of effort.”

Yang Wenqing watched him without replying, waiting for him to continue.

Wang Ren smiled and said,

”I’d like to recommend someone who might be able to help. It’s Old Qian from the General Affairs Department—Qian Lu. He’s been with the bureau for over twenty years. He’s honest and reliable, and he handles miscellaneous tasks like paperwork, running errands, and coordination flawlessly. The key is, his hometown is in the Lingshan Town area. His family used to run a small business selling mountain goods and medicinal herbs. Even though they closed up shop long ago, he still has some connections there.”

”He’s a Qi Cultivator, stuck at the Second Refinement for years, but his senses are sharp and he’s much more agile than an ordinary person. If you take him along, he could be useful for gathering information you can’t ask about directly, or for dealing with the local riffraff.”

The recommendation was perfectly reasonable.

Yang Wenqing smiled. ”Vice Director Wang, there’s no need for formalities between us. You can speak plainly.”

A flicker of embarrassment crossed Wang Ren’s face before he said frankly, ”I have some business interests in Lingshan Town myself. The situation there isn’t looking good, so I wanted to send someone to check on things. He can also help share some of your burden.”

After a moment’s thought, Yang Wenqing said, ”Thank you for your consideration, Vice Director Wang. I’ll take him.”

”Excellent. I’ll have him report directly to you.” Having achieved his goal, Wang Ren’s smile became more genuine. He exchanged a few more pleasantries before standing to leave. ”I’ll let you get back to it. If you need anything coordinated at the bureau, feel free to contact me anytime.”

After Wang Ren left, Yang Wenqing called Liu Qin back into the office and gave his orders:

”Tell Li Yue and Sun Yi they don’t need to see me when they get back. Have them go to the warehouse to pick up their gear and meet me in the parking lot at three this afternoon. Also, inform Captain Wu of our departure time. And notify the Civil Affairs Bureau’s office that I won’t be waiting for them—they need to assign a deputy group leader to us as soon as possible.”

”Yes, sir!”

Liu Qin jotted down the instructions and hurried away.

Yang Wenqing then quickly signed several requisitions for case files and equipment. He went to the warehouse to draw a Type-3 B-Grade semi-automatic rifle, a full box of Explosive Bullets, and two vials of healing pills and recovery potions.

「Half an hour later.」

Communications came in from Vice Director Gao and Director Zhang. A combat team selected by the operations department and a medical examiner had received their orders and already departed for Lingshan Town in a combat Flying Shuttle. Furthermore, a squad of Government Soldiers would arrive at the bureau within ten minutes to accompany Yang Wenqing to Lingshan Town.

「One hour later.」

On the docking platform behind the bureau, six fully armed Government Soldiers stood before three armored transport Flying Shuttles emblazoned with the City Defense Bureau insignia. They were inspecting two disassembled, portable runic mortars that had already been loaded, and carefully inventorying the newly delivered special ammunition crates.

Nearby, Li Yue and Sun Yi were already in position. Both carried rifles on their backs along with tactical backpacks, their expressions grim.

Wu Qianjun, leading two middle-aged guards and carrying a sizable pack, nodded at Yang Wenqing’s arrival in greeting.

Just then, an official Flying Shuttle from the Civil Affairs Bureau landed. A sharp-featured man in his forties, wearing a dark coat, disembarked, followed by several young clerks.

The man walked off the Flying Shuttle and strode quickly up to Yang Wenqing, extending a hand. ”Yang Group Leader, it’s an honor. I’m Liao Tianming from the County Civil Affairs Bureau’s office, under orders to assist with your work.”

”Director Liao, thank you for coming.” Yang Wenqing gave his hand a brief shake. This was an assistant director, a rank equivalent to his own.

At that moment, Director Zhang and Vice Director Gao appeared. After a few brief words of instruction, they personally saw Yang Wenqing and the others onto the Flying Shuttles.

Yang Wenqing, along with Qian Lu (Wang Ren’s recommendation), Liao Tianming, Li Yue, Sun Yi, and Wu Qianjun, boarded the command vehicle in the center. The rest of the personnel, the five Government Soldiers, and their heavy equipment boarded the two escort vehicles at the front and rear.

After the Flying Shuttles took to the sky, Yang Wenqing looked around at the group grimly and said, ”We have only one month. Report any findings to me immediately, no matter how late it is. During this operation, the investigation team’s directives are absolute. Understood?”

”Understood!” the people in the vehicle responded in unison.

Wu Qianjun, looking at a map, added, ”The terrain around the crime scene is complex and heavily forested. The attacker is likely familiar with the local environment and may even have preset observation points or escape routes. We’ll need to expand the search area during the on-site investigation.”

Yang Wenqing didn’t follow his line of thought, saying only, ”Let’s focus on the tasks I’ve assigned for now. We’ll discuss specifics once we arrive on-site.”

As he spoke, he activated the Communication Array in his badge. It was Yang Yong, contacting him through the Major Case Team’s Third Squad’s Communication Array. Once connected, Yang Yong’s voice came through: ”Brother Wenqing, Yang Tie is on his way to Lingshan Town. He’ll establish himself there as a traveling merchant. You can have him handle anything you need. We’ll take care of things at home.”

A flicker of emotion crossed Yang Wenqing’s eyes, but he cut the Communication Array’s signal without a word of reply.

The specialized Flying Shuttles were fast. Half an hour later, the rolling mountains and wilderness below gradually gave way to a settlement that, while somewhat crude, was already showing signs of considerable scale.

They had arrived at Lingshan Town.

Looking down from the sky, the town’s central area had already taken shape. Three buildings were the most prominent: the Town Hall, the security post, and the resource distribution center. All three were built with a mixture of locally quarried, grayish-white megaliths and rammed earth, giving them a sturdy, practical feel born from a race against time.