NOVEL SIMPLE
Chapter 547 - Chief
Realizing that the people around him didn't immediately believe him, Li Huowang said, ”Let me speak to the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau! He'll know whether I'm speaking the truth or not the moment he sees my reflection!”
The man with the whip was about to point his index finger sternly toward Li Huowang, but his expression suddenly changed.
He hesitated for a moment before taking two steps to the left, which created a path in the middle of the encirclement.
Great! Li Huowang felt refreshed. The Chief had definitely heard him. With his spirits lifted, he clenched his fists and walked down the path.
He passed through a small forested area and soon saw a huge carriage parked by a stream. The horses pulling the carriage were grazing and drinking water.
“Greetings, Chief of the Surveillance Bureau!” Li Huowang bowed to the carriage. The curtains lifted, and the Chief appeared before him.
This wasn't Li Huowang's first time seeing the Chief, but he had only seen the latter from afar.
Today, Li Huowang finally had a closer look at the highest authority of the Surveillance Bureau.
Li Huowang noticed that the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau's physique was taller and wider than an ordinary person; he appeared like he had been magnified by one.
A large red Daoist robe obscured the Chief's figure, which made him emit a mysterious air.
At first, Li Huowang thought that the robe just had one color, but he realized that the robe's color was actually a gradient of red. Crimson words flowed seamlessly along with the gradient. Li Huowang's eyes were keen enough to see the strokes of the characters, but he couldn't read them at all. It was more bizarre than the women's script, and each stroke had its own style, resembling both a drawing and strokes.
????????????????????????...
He dared not look too long at it, as though looking at it for too long would hollow out his soul.
He composed himself as he looked at the withered grass on the ground. Moments later, he began to speak about the matter at hand.
“Reporting to the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau, I have a way to find the hiding place of Shai Zi! Shai Zi is full of tricks, and I am truly incapable of dealing with them. I hope the Chief will exterminate the Shai Zi for the people's sake!”
"No need to explain; I heard what you said earlier. I just have one question; how did you discover the existence of Shangji Guankou? And how did you find them?” asked the Chief of the Surveillance Bureau in a bizarre voice that sounded neither male, female, young, nor old. However, Li Huowang couldn't care less about the Chief's voice, as he was focused on how he was supposed to answer.
He couldn't say that Zhuge Yuan's illusion had told him about Shangji Guankou's existence, as he couldn't risk exposing his true identity.
“It was through a stroke of luck. I stumbled upon them,” Li Huowang explained.
“A stroke of luck? Heh, are the youngsters nowadays unable to fabricate lies anymore?”
Li Huowang immediately felt several sharp gazes landing on him, and they were concentrated on the spine sword behind him.
"Is it really necessary for you to know that, Chief?" Li Huowang said, "I'm not lying. I really have a way to find Shai Zi!”
“You seem very anxious. Why?”
“Chief!” Li Huowang’s voice raised a notch, and he sounded agitated as he said, “The Sitting Oblivion Dao dared to treat us—the Surveillance Bureau—as if were nothing on that fateful day! I simply can't withstand the humiliation!
“In addition, many people have perished because of their machinations! Now that there's a chance for us to bring Shai Zi to justice, I'm naturally anxious to see that day! ”
“So you want to make use of me?”
Li Huowang’s heart turned cold. The other party was too wary of him. In the end, he decided to tell the truth. “I dare not make use of Chief. I just feel that we are on the same side of such a matter as big as killing Shai Zi.”
“At least, you’re straightforward. Well, I do want to kill Shai Zi.”
Li Huowang relaxed, thinking that the matter was settled, but the Chief’s following words made him feel anxious again.
“But, I have something to attend to at the moment. I can’t spare any time for that right now, and it will take a while until I'm done with my matters.”
I still need to wait? Li Huowang looked up at the Chief. He stared at the darkness above the Daoist robe and said, ”Chief! What could be more important than killing Shai Zi?”
The Chief's strange robes trembled slightly as if the Chief was shaking his head, “You don’t understand. There are many things in this world that are more important than Shai Zi.”
“Enough. Even if I tell you, you won’t understand it. In the meantime, I need you to perform that stroke of luck once again. Find Shangji Guankou, and help me obtain some secrets.”
Li Huowang really wanted to refuse, but agreeing to the Chief's request meant that the Chief would also help him deal with Shai Zi.
A little wait wasn't that big of a big deal. Li Huowang also believed that he had gotten more than he had bargained.
Li Huowang didn’t know what thoughts the other party had; all he wanted was Shai Zi’s life.
“Rest assured, by the time you're back with the secrets that I need from Shangji Guankou, I should be ready to make a move by then."
“Chief, I can help you find Shangji Guankou, but it's a secret in exchange for a secret. Do you have enough secrets to exchange with Shangji Guankou?”
“Rest assured, I know much more than you do. You may withdraw now. It’s time for you to wake up.”
“Wait, Chief, how are you going to give those secrets—what... wake up?”
Just as the confused Li Huowang was trying to understand the meaning behind the Chief's words, the scenery around him dispersed like smoke, including the horses, the stream, and the people.
Li Huowang turned and saw a long line toward Shangjing's gates.
Li Huowang stood in place, unable to comprehend what he had just experienced. It was a surreal experience.
“A myriad of transformations, changing forms, rising, and disappearing. It is a transformation and an illusion. Truly worthy of the Great Liang’s Chief. What an amazing illusion technique,” Zhuge Yuan said, staring at the deep tread marks of a carriage on the ground with a rare look of admiration on his face.
Illusion technique? Li Huowang pondered. It turned out that everything he had experienced after stepping out of the city gates had all been an illusion. It was all fake.
Li Huowang felt a chill in his heart. He had unknowingly been deceived. If the other party had ill intent toward him, he would have died without being able to resist.
He wasn't one of the fighters on that fateful day, so he wasn't exactly sure about the Chief's strength. However, he was finally sure of it now. The highest authority of the Surveillance Bureau had terrifying power.
“Brother Li, calm down. Since he has agreed to help you, he wouldn't change his mind so easily.”
Li Huowang nodded. Indeed, the Chief is already on my side, so the stronger he is, the better it'll be for me.
Li Huowang drew out the spine sword and said to a young and slim woman next to him with a beauty mark on her lips. “Let’s not delay any longer. We’ll go to the Great Qi and look for Shangji Guankou.”
“All right.” the young woman said, smiling sweetly.