Transcending the Nine Heavens

Sun Zhang Fa’s face was mournful, “I was just about to notify others of this news when I saw Li Hei Zi and Peng Hui Hui’s terrified faces running to find me. They told me that Liu Xiao San, Deng Xiao Wu, and Zhang Nang’s heads were hung at the citadel’s wall for public display, but they did not see Li Shun’s head. Immediately after there was news that all of Li Shun’s people were taken from top to bottom…! Sir… more than forty people… died because of one mistake!”

Sun Zhang Fa’s whole body trembled, “This morning, Li Hei Zi also disappeared. Peng Hui Hui went round about for half a day before coming out. When he did, he discovered that Li Hei Zi had died in the woods. Peng Hui Hui immediately came back and notified me. Only a little later, I was surrounded by people from Bu Tian Pavilion right where I was; it was lucky that I managed to escape via a secret passage way. But Peng Hui Hui is no more…!”

“In other words, all of your people, more than ninety altogether, are dead? You’re the only one left?” At first Yin Wu Fa was very angry, but as he listened, he became more somber.

Without a doubt, Bu Tian Pavilion was moving fast! Once they found a clue they immediately moved to annihilate. Sun Zhang Fa commanded almost a hundred people. As an external spy organization for Golden Horse Riders Department, this was a large one.

Moreover, they acted very carefully. And until now, all three branches had a single contact. This was the safest method. Everything was as it should be until two days… Yes, Yin Wu Fa had already started thinking about it the moment Sun Zhang Fa started talking about everything. Two days!

In just two days, they swept up everyone!

“I am the only one left…!” Sun Zhang Fa was a little dejected, “Since I established myself here, there was only one-communication; I don’t know if there are any other divisions here. I only know that during this time of bloodshed, besides seizing properties of officials, they killed almost four hundred people. In my estimate, four hundred was the number of people we wanted to develop at Iron Cloud Citadel…”

Sun Zhang Fa shuddered in fear, “According to my calculations, four hundred people… is about five divisions that we have here; all annihilated! Sir… I… I walked by the execution grounds every day to count heads… The number increases significantly with each day…!”

Sun Zhang Fa was an experienced person; of course he was capable. His estimate was almost in line with the truth.

But because of this, he did not dare to show himself; he did not even dare to reply to their signals. He disguised himself so completely that he even ran into a wall to make his face change completely…

Yin Wu Fa was originally angry, but he gradually grew more somber. The more severe the situation, the calmer he was! In his hands was the information on all contacts at Iron Cloud. He remembered them clearly.

In Iron Cloud Citadel, there were three Silver Horse Riders and five Iron Horse Riders! (TLN: Financial and intelligence gathering, respectively.) Silver Horse Riders could not be mobilized so there was only Iron Horse Riders left.

Among the five Iron Horse Riders, one of them was the leader, the other four Iron Horse Riders each had two spy forces under them. When Golden Horse Riders Department was founded, Diwu Qing Rou intentionally used this method. The two spy forces were also separated; both sides did not know each other.

The four Iron Horse Riders also did not know each other; each one was only responsible for his division.

Sun Zhang Fa was a subordinate of one of those people, and a leader of one of the two spy forces! He was also the first person that Yin Wu Fa found since entering Iron Cloud Citadel.

If there were eight spy forces total, then according to Sun Zhang Fa’s analysis, at least five were wiped out!

There were still three left!

That King of Hell Chu moved really fast!

There was a soft knock from outside. Yin Wu Fa grunted softly and the door cracked open. A person in black squeezed through, and asked, “May I ask… which one is the senior?”

Yin Wu Fa quietly looked at the man in black for a moment and moved his hand to tap the jade amulet on the table. Five gems were combined to make a meticulous amulet with the word “Three” in the middle.

“Ah, it’s Third King level master coming all the way here; please forgive my late welcoming!” The person in black was surprised and immediately knelt down.

“Stand up and tell me about your situation!” The man in black was brought in by two Revered level masters. Currently, the two Revered level masters left to look for other Iron Horse Riders.

Not telling is fine, too! Yin Wu Fa’s face became crooked. (TLN: He already knows the situation and is very annoyed.)

The two spy forces under this Iron Horse Rider had been reduced by more than a half. There were many of those remaining who turned themselves in. There were less than ten people that could still be used…

“Very good… very good! You have done well!” Yin Wu Fa ground his teeth, his right hand relaxing on the table slowly pressed down. A silent palm made a large hole in the table.

That Iron Horse Rider stood on the side, and did not dare to breath.

The atmosphere was heavy.

Not long after, two more Iron Horse Riders arrived. Immediately after, the leader arrived as well. No one else came after that. A little later, the two Revered level masters hurriedly came back looking grave, “Sir, the last Iron Horse Rider… had been caught! The entire spy network under him was decimated…!”

“Good! Good for one King of Hell Chu! He is really ruthless!” Yin Wu Fa’s anger turned into a smile. Before coming here, all the higher ups of Golden Horse Riders Department had guessed that their spy network in Iron Cloud Citadel would inevitably suffer a major blow, but none had expected such an upheaval like this!

More than half had been directly destroyed!

“Who is in charge of contacting Official Tang?” Yin Wu Fa asked.

“Official Tang did not let us initiate contact. Plus, his whereabouts are currently unclear… We have been searching everywhere, but have found nothing!” The leader of the Iron Horse Riders said respectfully.

“Oh? It seems that the odds are against Official Tang…!” Yin Wu Fa took a deep breath and said, “Find all documents you have collected on King of Hell Chu and bring them to me!”

The four looked at each other, and smiled wryly, “Sir, since you have come here, of course we know that you want to deal with King of Hell Chu, but… it is extremely confusing… cough, cough…”

The leader of the Iron Horse Riders looked extremely gloomy.

“What’s the matter?” (walkthejianghu.com)

“This King of Hell Chu… cough, cough… there are many documents about him…!”

The four immediately took out thick stacks of documents and placed them on the table, perfect for covering the hole made by Yin Wu Fa.

“So much information…?” Yin Wu Fa looked the meter-tall pile of document. His countenance was normally gloomy and rarely became excited, but now, his eyes rolled.

“Is it really this much?” Yin Wu Fa asked in disbelief.

“Yes…! Sir, we still feel that there is not enough…!” The four faces looked ashamed.

“Not enough…?” Yin Wu Fa silently looked at the pile of documents that probably contained more than one hundred thousand words… and still… still not enough? Is this King of Hell Chu some creature that had lived for thousands of years? How is there so much information?

“You can sit down; I will look at the documents for a bit!” Yin Wu Fa was filled with anger, but had no reason to let it out.

The four people submissively sat down.

Sun Zhang Fa also wanted to sit down, but the moment his rear touched the seat, he heard Yin Wu Fa snap his finger. A Revered Martial Artist immediately advanced and grabbed him. Everything suddenly became dark in front of his eyes; he did not have the chance to even know what had happened.

Crack, and his neck was broken.

That Revered Martial Artist looked as if he just did a small task, and carried the corpse out with ease.

The four Iron Horse Riders felt their heads buzzing, but immediately after, they relaxed. Lower ranking spies never had the chance to see their faces. Today, Sun Zhang Fa saw all four of them at once. If Yin Wu Fa did not deal with him, they would not let Sun Zhang Fa live another day anyway.

No matter how loyal and dedicated, it was still no match for loyalty and dedication to oneself…

“Bam!” Yin Wu Fa slammed the table and turned toward them. He looked as if he wanted to eat them up, “These are the information you collected on King of Hell Chu?”

Cold sweat poured out on their foreheads.

“Damn! This is a mess, not information!” Yin Wu Fa rarely got angry, but this time, he could no longer control himself.

The documents on King of Hell Chu were too chaotic!

“King of Hell Chu! Unknown face; normally wears a fierce mask and a black cloak. There are rumors that Chu Yang is sixteen years and eight months old. It is said that he comes from Beyond the Heavens Sect; disciple of the master of Purple Bamboo Garden, Meng Chao Ran. Later, he was expelled from the sect for accidentally killing his elder martial brother over a girl. He went to Iron Cloud…”

This was one small section in the pile of documents.

“King of Hell Chu! Unknown face; normally wears a fierce mask and a black cloak. There are rumors that Chu Yang is twenty-two years old. It is said that he is a student of the great Hong He Scholar – Qi Cheng Xin; well-learned, talented, and resourceful. Not a type of person to use force. Appointed by Tie Bu Tian to be minister of Bu Tian Pavilion…”

Another section.

“King of Hell Chu! Unknown face; normally wears a fierce mask and a black cloak. There are rumors that Chu Yang is twenty-one years old. It is said that he is a disciple of a reclusive Emperor level expert. Even though he is still young, his cultivation is already Martial Great Master. According to the words of his fellow disciples, he is a ferocious character who likes to eat people’s hearts…!”

Another section.

“King of Hell Chu! Unknown face; normally wears a fierce mask and a black cloak. There are rumors that Chu Yang is nineteen years old. He is the godson of the number one general in the continent, Tie Long Cheng. Since his youth, he was well versed in literature and martial arts. Tie Long Cheng hid him for more than a decade, and he finally took over Bu Tian Pavilion. He is Prince Tie Bu Tian’s left arm…”

Yet another section.

“King of Hell Chu! Unknown face; normally wears a fierce mask and a black cloak. There are rumors that Chu Yang is a descendant of the Chu clan from Middle Three Heavens. Went out to train and became Minister of Bu Tian Pavilion…”

There were many of such things, and none of them agree with each other. This King of Hell Chu had more than twenty origins! Moreover, each document had some witness, some evidence…

With such information, such intelligence, how could the King level master not go nuts?

So many Kings of Hell Chu like this? Which one was real? In other words, which one in this pile of documents was real? After all, there was only one King of Hell Chu!

“This is all the information on King of Hell Chu that you people found?” Yin Wu Fa pounded the thick stack of documents on the table and said with an icy voice.

All four people were soaked in sweat. Their legs shook as they unanimously nodded. There was something they really wanted to say, but they did not dare. The dead Iron Horse Rider collected the most articulate information on King of Hell Chu. While half the information that he collected were already sent here, there was still much more…