Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 85: Chapter 78: Aftermath of the Alley Fight, a Mysterious Old Road

Lei Ming was rushed to the hospital.

The distinct smell of disinfectant filled the long corridor.

Wan Ze sat quietly on a bench in front of the operating room, a dark, unfamiliar jacket draped over his shoulders.

Footsteps echoed from the stairwell.

Zhai Jia appeared, having just finished at the scene. He paid no mind to the dust on his overcoat as he sat down beside Wan Ze. ”The scene has been cleaned up...”

He trailed off, pausing for a moment.

He gave Wan Ze a strange look.

’God only knows what went through my head when I saw that alley littered with bodies...’ he thought. ’Fist-thick bamboo poles had pinned men to the walls like javelins. They were basically all one-shot kills, so clean and decisive you couldn’t help but call the perpetrator a virtuoso!’

The trajectories and kill angles were horrifyingly precise!

’He prided himself on knowing his own limits, but the world always had a way of producing one or two freaks of nature who defied all logic.’

’He had once thought his junior brother, Wan Ze, might fit that description. After witnessing the battle today, however, he was utterly convinced. He strongly suspected Wan Ze possessed a terrifying, innate combat instinct. He was a natural-born killer!’

”Are you okay?” he asked, deliberately softening his voice.

”Me? I’m fine.” Wan Ze turned to look at Zhai Jia, his gaze clear.

He then let out a soft breath.

He looked up at the operating room. The indicator light was still red.

Zhai Jia opened his mouth, then closed it. He had wanted to offer some comfort, but Wan Ze was far too composed. His mental fortitude was almost beyond belief!

He finally let out a soft sigh. ”That kid Xiaoming... he’s a great guy, just loyal to a fault. A little too reckless sometimes. But don’t you worry. He’s tough. He’ll definitely pull through.”

”Mm...” Wan Ze grunted in response, falling silent again.

”...I’ve already told your Third Senior Brother to drop everything and put all his resources into investigating that research institute. With Zhao Qilong involved and Xiaoming getting ambushed because of it, this is far from simple. We’ll probably be able to dig up something interesting... I just never expected the Secret Palace to get involved. But whether they’re connected to the research institute or not is still unclear...” Zhai Jia’s brow furrowed as he sank into thought.

He had already seen the body of the man who died in the warehouse.

It was Liu Chong... He recognized him.

He wasn’t some third-rate hack like Wang Buzhan, who boasted about being the ’Qingcheng Sword’.

Zhai Jia had first heard of Liu Chong years ago, not long after he’d become a Martial Artist, during a dangerous cross-regional operation.

A covert team from their Police Headquarters had been wiped out by him.

The Black Poison Needle was highly toxic and impossible to guard against!

And now, unexpectedly, the man was dead.

Zhai Jia didn’t know if Liu Chong had been killed by Wan Ze alone, or by Wan Ze and Lei Ming working together.

”Brother Jia, what about Zhao Qilong? Have you found him?” Wan Ze suddenly asked.

Zhai Jia shook his head. ”That’s the strange part. Our people have torn that area apart, but the guy’s just vanished into thin air. No sign of him, dead or alive. By the way, did Xiaoming say anything to you before he passed out?”

”Things were too chaotic. Brother Lei didn’t have a chance to say much.” Wan Ze shook his head and frowned. ”Zhao Qilong went to Brother Lei first. Later, he called me from Brother Lei’s communicator. He told me to contact a Dragon Eagle expert. I figured I was closer, so I went ahead myself. That’s when I called you, on my way there...”

”So Zhao Qilong found Xiaoming, and then they were both attacked... There has to be something we’re missing. Either Zhao Qilong has something they desperately want, or... he himself is their target?” Zhai Jia mused, then waved it off. ”Ah, forget it. We’ll just have to wait for Xiaoming to wake up.”

He saw Wan Ze’s distraught expression and felt a pang of sympathy. He adopted a deliberately casual tone. ”Hey, snap out of it. Don’t be so tense. It’s the weekend tomorrow. Go home, pack a change of clothes or two. I’ll take you to Laojun Mountain.”

”Laojun Mountain? What for?” Wan Ze looked at him.

”To keep me company. We’ll clear our heads, climb the mountain, look at the sea of clouds, and breathe in some of that crisp mountain air. All this fighting and killing... if you stay wound this tight, you’re going to snap,” Zhai Jia said with a completely straight face.

Wan Ze blinked, then wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry.

If he recalled correctly, Zhai Jia had previously urged him to go to Laojun Mountain to pray to the gods for peace and safety.

’So this wasn’t just about relaxing.’

”Brother Jia, I’m really fine... but alright. I’ll listen to you. It might be good to get away for a bit.”

A smile spread across Zhai Jia’s face as he clapped Wan Ze firmly on the shoulder. ”That’s more like it! You go home and get some rest. I’ll handle things here.”

Wan Ze looked toward the operating room and shook his head. ”I’ll wait until the surgery is over.”

”Alright. I’ll wait with you.”

Zhai Jia waited with him. A short while later, Situ Bai arrived at the hospital and asked what had happened.

”The Secret Palace again?”

Situ Bai didn’t seem too surprised, though. The previous joint crackdown by the Police Headquarters and the police department had been massive, and its Effect had been quite significant.

But the Secret Palace was a long-established organization of assassins with deep, tangled roots. How could it possibly be wiped out so easily?

The struggles of the underworld were never a simple game of black and white. More often than not, a single move could have repercussions for the whole system.

”So, the root of all this is connected to that Zhao Qilong?” Situ Bai asked.

He’d heard a little about Zhao Qilong.

He didn’t know much, though. Most of what he knew came from Lei Ming. He was a self-proclaimed detective from the Holy City, but in reality, he was someone who often collaborated with figures in the city’s gray areas. He had connections and sources.

Wan Ze nodded. ”It all just happened so suddenly. I tried calling Brother Lei’s communicator again later, but it was already off... Maybe the battery died.”