The lead attendant lightly struck his palm with his fist, “That is correct. No matter how many people came back just now, once they are sniffed out by His Lordship’s nose, they will definitely have nowhere to hide.”
Hearing such words and glancing at the flaring nostrils of that big nose, Liu Piaopiao instantly realised something, and her heart immediately grew cold.
Seeing the leader below turn and walk towards the gate guards, Liu Piaopiao’s mind flashed back to the words about taking a bath and the like that she had previously heard from the gate guards. Her gaze flickered quickly, and she swiftly and quietly slipped away, vanishing into the massive castle building.
The lead attendant strode up to the guards at the gate and demanded in a deep voice, “Who came in and out just now?”
The two guards looked at each other, and one said, “It is late at night. Everyone who needs to rest is resting. There will not be many people coming in and out. It was just you lot just now.”
The lead attendant said, “I am talking about besides us.”
The man replied, “No one came in or out besides you.”
The lead attendant shouted angrily, “Bullshit. There must have been people coming in and out before us. Think carefully. If you dare to neglect your duties, wait and see how severely the superiors will punish you.”
The other guard said, “We do not know if anyone came in or out before that. We just took over not long ago and just started our shift. After we started our watch, only you came in. There really is no one else.”
The lead attendant said in a deep voice, “Send one person to call the two who were on duty before over here.”
The guard who answered first said, “We cannot leave our posts while on duty. If it is investigated, we will not be able to bear the consequences…”
The lead attendant interrupted him abruptly, “I am carrying out orders from the Grand Commander. Go. I will take responsibility if anything goes wrong. Hurry up!”
Hearing that it was an order from Qi Duolai, the guard immediately agreed and jogged away.
The lead attendant stood in place with his hands behind his back. Seeing the big nose sniffing and exploring everywhere, he waved to summon a subordinate and instructed, “Go quickly to find the Grand Commander and report the situation.”
This was the Sea Suppression Division. There were some matters he could not decide on his own. His rank was not high enough, and he had to ask Qi Duolai to come and take charge.
“Yes.” The man agreed and sprinted away.
He himself paced back and forth at the gate with his hands behind his back, waiting.
After waiting for a short while, the previous guard ran back, scratching his head and saying, “The two men from the previous shift have gone missing.”
The lead attendant glared and shouted angrily, “Can two living people just vanish into thin air? What are their names?”
Before the guard could even reply, the voice of Qi Duolai came from ahead instead, “What is all this noise?”
Everyone turned to look. Seeing that it was him, they immediately cupped their hands and bowed, “Grand Commander!”
Qi Duolai walked over and asked again, “Have the men been found?”
The lead attendant immediately reported the situation respectfully, “Not yet. The two guards currently on duty at the gate say they have not seen anyone and that they just changed shifts. We are now looking for the two witnesses from the previous shift. They should have seen who came back, but now we do not know where the men from the previous shift have gone.”
Qi Duolai raised an eyebrow and fixed his gaze on the two guards at the gate, “You just changed shifts not long ago, and you do not know where the men have gone?”
The two guards looked somewhat anxious and uneasy.
Just then, an attendant who had followed the big nose flashed over urgently and reported, “His Lordship has found two corpses in the bathhouse.”
As soon as these words were spoken, the group immediately sprinted away.
After turning left and right, the crowd ran into the internal bathhouse of the Sea Suppression Division and bumped into the big nose and others who were just walking out. The big nose was the very Lord they spoke of, whose real name was Wen Hou.
The crowd’s gaze skipped past Wen Hou, and they immediately saw the two corpses lying by the pool. They had already revealed their true forms, which were two apes.
Qi Duolai walked over quickly. The two apes were dead as doornails, their heads chopped off, with a pool of blood on the ground. He asked coldly, “Who did this?”
Wen Hou turned and said, “By scent, these two should be the previous guards. There is also the scent of the target here. It seems the target we are looking for killed them to silence them. Judging by the situation, they just died. There are no traces of a fight at the scene, and no sounds of fighting were heard. The murderer should be someone the two victims knew. It can basically be confirmed that it is undoubtedly someone inside the Sea Suppression Division.”
“Killed them to silence them?” Qi Duolai turned his head to look at him. “That means he knew he was being tracked and knew he was exposed?”
Wen Hou nodded. “It should be like that.”
“Quite bold!” Qi Duolai snorted coldly, then shouted in a deep voice, “Sound the alarm bell. Issue orders to all departments. Immediately seal off the entire Sea Suppression Division. No one is allowed in or out!”
At the same time he gave the order, Liu Piaopiao had already slipped into a room. She did not know whose room it was at the moment. She sneaked inside and quickly tidied her somewhat messy clothes.
Just now in the bathhouse, in order to kill them silently, she, a rather aloof and coldly beautiful woman, had to undress.
A woman like her running into the men’s bathhouse had already startled those two men. Seeing her undressing, the two men were truly dumbfounded.
Liu Piaopiao said only one sentence, “Who told you to look?”
The two men immediately turned around. Before they could even mutter clearly about what Liu Piaopiao was going to do, and just as they were getting excited thinking they were in for a romantic encounter, their heads suddenly flew off.
Killing them to silence them was to make the Sea Suppression Division unable to determine who the target of the arrest was for the time being, buying time and space for her own escape.
Being able to remain calm and kill to silence them first instead of rushing to escape at this critical moment showed that she was truly worthy of having been the Grand Guard at Jianyuan Mountain. Her experience and ruthless decisiveness were displayed at the crucial moment.
After tidying her clothes, she quickly took off her twin swords and hung them at her waist. Then she took a cloak from the wall and draped it over herself. She pushed the window open, observed the outside briefly, and then jumped out. Sliding down the wall to the ground, she relied on her familiarity with the terrain and used it for cover to avoid the hidden sentries of the Sea Suppression Division. She fled into the deep darkness and quickly sneaked towards the brightly lit and bustling area.
Not long after, the alarm bell hung inside the Sea Suppression Division began to toll continuously.
The entire interior of the Sea Suppression Division immediately became noisy, and it could be said that it quickly descended into chaos.
The Left Envoy Yu Fei and the Right Envoy Shan Ashan were both alerted. Upon learning that it was Qi Duolai who gave the order, the two immediately found Qi Duolai to ask what was going on.
Qi Duolai waved his hand in signal, and the two corpses were carried in front of the Left and Right Envoys.
“There is a traitor inside the Sea Suppression Division. They have done something improper and killed two of our guards to silence them!”
Qi Duolai explained it simply like this, without mentioning the matter of tracking Yu Qing to find someone.
Seeing that a murder case had occurred internally and eager to catch the murderer, the Left and Right Envoys did not say anything else. They cooperated by issuing orders to seal off the Sea Suppression Division.
Just then, several flying riders flew in and circled in the sky above. Zhu Xuan had returned from Qianliu Mountain with his entourage.
Seeing the chaotic scene of flickering lights below, Zhu Xuan descended directly from the sky and landed among the sealing forces below.
“Commander!”
Everyone, including the Left and Right Envoys, bowed in greeting together.
Zhu Xuan paced through the crowd with his hands behind his back, looking around coldly, and shouted, “What is going on?”
Qi Duolai immediately stepped forward, asked Zhu Xuan to step aside for a word, and quickly reported the general situation.
“There really is a traitor!” Zhu Xuan snorted coldly after listening, and then asked again, “Can you confirm the traitor is still inside the Division?”
Qi Duolai said, “His Lordship is still confirming.”
Just as these words fell, a shout came from the distance, “Over here.”
Qi Duolai immediately gestured with his hand, and so Zhu Xuan and the other leaders all headed towards the source of the voice.
Upon arriving at the location, they saw Wen Xi standing in front of a steep cliff face, pointing at a window on the high wall of the Sea Suppression Division. “The person came out from that place and left from here. As it looks now, they have temporarily escaped the Sea Suppression Division.”
“In the midst of a desperate escape, they actually dare to calmly kill to silence people inside the Sea Suppression Division. They are quite bold!” Zhu Xuan sneered continuously, then suddenly looked grim and solemn, and issued a resolute order, “Issue orders to the Sea Clan. Order the Sea Clan to immediately stop sending off guests. All ships that have not yet entered the Nether Sea Cloud Realm must turn back with their passengers. All ships are only allowed to enter, not to leave. Report any abnormalities immediately. Those who disobey the order will be killed!”
“Yes.” Someone immediately accepted the order and went to execute it.
Very soon, a team of Sea Suppression Division personnel transformed into flying birds and swiftly flew in all directions.
Zhu Xuan did not stop giving orders, “Transfer a guard of personnel. After His Lordship verifies their identities, they will accompany His Lordship to continue the pursuit.”
“Yes.” The subordinates accepted the order.
Zhu Xuan also cupped his hands to Wen Hou and said, “Lord, since matters have reached this point, I will have to trouble you to continue. There is no rush to return to Qianliu Mountain until the murderer is caught.”
“Very well.” Wen Hou cupped his hands and agreed.
Zhu Xuan turned back and continued to order, “Compile a complete list of all personnel in the Division who are not present at this moment. Do not leave anyone out. All personnel on the list must be found and detained. They will only be released after Lord Wen has verified their identities. The rest will go about their duties. In the sky and on the ground, set up checkpoints where necessary, and search where necessary. Carry out a comprehensive arrest targeting the missing personnel of the Division on the list. Listen carefully. If anyone dares to help the murderer escape, do not blame me for showing no mercy. They will be executed without pardon!”
When saying the last sentence, his gaze meaningfully glanced at the faces of Left Envoy Yu Fei and Right Envoy Shan Ashan.
“Yes.” The crowd cupped their hands and accepted the order in unison.
Zhu Xuan waved his hand grandly, and the crowd immediately dispersed to carry out the orders.
Hoo, hoo, hoo…
The deep, muffled sound of conch horns was blown successively along the entire coastline of the Sea Market.
People outside the Sea Clan could not understand the sound of the horns, but the people at the various docks all felt the commotion at the seaside. Demons, ghosts, and monsters created a scene of uproar on the coast.
“The price was agreed upon, and I have already boarded the boat. You are saying you will not carry me anymore. What kind of joke is this?”
“Hey, hey, hey. Why are you turning around? Why are you rowing back?”
“Look for the Sea Suppression Division? Why is the Sea Suppression Division sealing off travel?”
“Good heavens. I still have important matters to attend to. I cannot afford to delay. When will the seal be lifted?”
The ferry boats by the coast were one after another refusing to carry passengers. The cargo ships that needed to be pushed also had to accept the order cancellations from a group of merfolk. The ferry boats that had already sailed far away and turned into a dot of light were also turning around and returning one after another.
There was a chorus of shouting. When asked what was going on, the merfolk expressed that they did not know and would not take any responsibility, telling them to seek an explanation from the Sea Suppression Division…
“Selling flowers.”
“Selling flowers.”
Yu Qing, sitting with his legs crossed on the floor, was holding a piece of paper and comparing it with the map drawn by Hu Youli. The paper was the one given to him by Liu Piaopiao, which listed several ways to transmit messages. For some of the message transmission locations, he really had to compare the map first to confirm the approximate position.
This was a crucial matter of life and death, and he had to memorise it clearly in advance.
The sudden sound of hawking from outside made him look up abruptly. He quickly glanced at the paper again. That was right. It was the transmission signal listed by Liu Piaopiao, and it was the message transmission signal for emergency situations.
He was quite surprised. He had only received it not long ago and was just studying it. How could Liu Piaopiao give out the message transmission signal so quickly?
And it was an emergency signal at that!