Li Chenfeng's body,apart from a small unknown fragment,had nothing valuable.However,neither Su Xin nor Tie Yaohua could determine what the fragment was.
The information within the secret base had been turned upside down.Now,the only certainty for Su Xin and Tie Yaohua was that something was indeed missing.The constables within the Six Fan Branch in Jiangnan Road were not fools.With so many secret bases losing contact,they must have noticed something was amiss or had traced some clues.Unfortunately,they were silenced in the end.
Su Xin spoke in a low voice,"Listening to Hu Jingyan's words earlier,Li Chenfeng should have arrived here before me.His purpose in coming to the Six Fan Branch's secret base was probably to search for information about me,to find my weaknesses and use them against me.However,he didn't anticipate that someone was here to silence the secret base.No,it should be that they had already silenced it.There are no bodies of Six Fan Branch spies here;that person was only here to destroy evidence.Li Chenfeng,unfortunately,witnessed something he shouldn't have,and that's why he was killed."
Tie Yaohua nodded in agreement,acknowledging Su Xin's analysis of the situation.
However,at this moment,Su Xin sneered,"But there's one thing.Although Li Chenfeng is the Martial Flower of the court,he has no official position.He has no connection whatsoever with my Six Fan Branch.So,why does he know the location of my Six Fan Branch's secret base?And it's not just Li Chenfeng;even Hu Jingyan knows.It's as if everyone knows.What kind of secret base is this if everyone is aware of it?Might as well hang a signboard of the Six Fan Branch on the streets of Jiangnan Prefecture;there's no need to hide any secrets."
Tie Yaohua looked somewhat embarrassed and said,"I don't know what's going on,but normally,only high-ranking Wind Chasers like you or higher-ranking heads would have the qualifications to know the location of Six Fan Branch's secret bases.Li Chenfeng and the others shouldn't have known."
Su Xin sneered,"The Six Fan Branch in Jiangnan Road is like a sieve,full of loopholes.Even the location of secret bases can be leaked.No wonder they were silenced."
It's likely that the person leaking the location of these secret bases is someone from the local headquarters of the Six Fan Branch in Jiangnan Road.Ordinary constables wouldn't know about these secret bases,and Wind Chasers and Investigation Agents,though aware,wouldn't have had contact with Li Chenfeng.The only ones Li Chenfeng could have contacted,who had the qualifications to know the location of Six Fan Branch's secret bases,were the high-ranking officials in the Six Fan Branch's headquarters in Jiangnan Road.
Whether the Six Fan Branch's headquarters in Jiangnan Road neglected their duties or intentionally leaked information was not Su Xin's concern.He couldn't control that aspect.
This secret base was completely destroyed,and Su Xin and Tie Yaohua rushed to the other secret bases overnight.The results were the same:people disappeared,and some of the information inside vanished with them.Now,the only clue they had was the fragment of something unknown.
Tie Yaohua pondered,"If the original Six Fan Branch spies were here,we could have found information about this fragment with our Six Fan Branch's records.But unfortunately,there's not a single spy left in the secret base.If we try to find that information now,it might take a month."
Su Xin was surprised,"Aren't you an Investigation Agent?Doesn't the intelligence information of the Six Fan Branch fall under your jurisdiction?"
Tie Yaohua rolled her eyes,and even in this slightly coquettish gesture,she exuded a sense of heroism.
"I am an Investigation Agent,that's correct.But I'm only responsible for gathering information,not for collecting and organizing it.There are specialized people within the Six Fan Branch for that.Various types of information are categorized,and if we want to look through them,we can only use the most primitive method of checking them one by one."
After a pause,Tie Yaohua seemed to recall something and suddenly said,"I seem to have thought of someone who can help us.With his knowledge and the records in his family,he should be able to find the origin of this fragment."
"Who?"Su Xin asked.
"Wang Shifeng."
Su Xin's expression suddenly became strange,"Ranked seventeenth on the Martial Arts List,Wang Shifeng,the'Grand Virtue Sword Spirit'?You want someone from the Confucian family,Xie Junwang's family,to help the Six Fan Branch?"
Su Xin had a relatively deep impression of Wang Shifeng.This person was from a Confucian background,with a somewhat old-fashioned personality,appearing a bit inflexible.However,being from the Confucian family and part of the martial world,would he really come to help those who served the court?
Even if the Xie Junwang family had many disciples holding positions in the court,Su Xin didn't believe they would come to help them.
Tie Yaohua explained,"The relationship between the Xie Junwang family and the Six Fan Branch is deep,or I should say,their relationship with my Tie family is deep.When the Great Zhou Dynasty was established,many Confucians still followed the Eastern Jin Dynasty.His Majesty,in a fit of anger,once wanted to exterminate the Confucian family.The Xie Junwang family was at the forefront of that.
Su Xin shook his head,saying,"It's not that easy.Xie Junwang's family,as one of the six major aristocratic families,has a heritage of several hundred years,and they represent the Confucian tradition.It's not so easy to wipe them out.Although the Great Zhou Dynasty has the power to destroy Xie Junwang's family,the martial arts sects across the land will not stand idly by."
Tie Yaohua nodded,"Indeed,that's true.However,the Great Zhou Dynasty will not be defeated.A mutually destructive outcome would be disastrous,but the Great Zhou Dynasty has already established itself in the Central Plains.Xie Junwang's family,after suffering a significant blow,will inevitably decline.In the end,it was our family's leader,'Divine Eagle'Tie Ao,who mediated,persuaded His Majesty to cooperate with Xie Junwang's family,avoiding a catastrophe in the martial world.So,Xie Junwang's family has always been grateful to our Tie family."
Su Xin raised an eyebrow.This was a hidden truth,and probably only those from the Tie family and Xie Junwang's family knew about it.However,deep down,Su Xin couldn't help feeling disdain for Xie Junwang's family.They might claim loyalty to the fallen Eastern Jin Dynasty,but when the Great Zhou Emperor wanted to exterminate the Confucian family in a fit of anger,these people immediately backed down.It was at this moment that'Divine Eagle'Tie Ao stepped forward as a mediator,and Xie Junwang's family,looking aggrieved,joined the Great Zhou court.Surprisingly,the martial world expressed sympathy for them rather than viewing them as court dogs.Such behavior had a resemblance to Su Xin's knowledge of the Confucian family in his past life.
During the Chu-Han Contention,the Confucian family in the state of Lu sided with Xiang Yu,claiming to be loyal to him.However,when Liu Bang's army arrived,they surrendered one after another.The only difference was that the Confucian family in this era was not the powerless and corrupt Confucianism from Su Xin's past life.Xie Junwang's family,being the largest branch of the Confucian family,had numerous experts,and their martial arts technique,the'Righteous Qi of Grand Virtue,'was unparalleled in power.
After Su Xin and Tie Yaohua checked the other secret bases,it was already late at night.It wasn't appropriate to seek Wang Shifeng at this hour,so they returned to the inn.They planned to visit Wang Shifeng the next day.
Upon returning to the inn,Su Xin heard the voice of the system in his mind.
"Mainline Quest:Imperial Hawk.Quest Description:Confucians use literature to disorder the law,and knights use force to violate prohibitions.As an Imperial Hawk,you must have the determination of an Imperial Hawk.Kill those who disrespect the law!As an Imperial Hawk,eliminate five martial arts forces(second-rate or higher)within two years.Quest Rewards:Three advanced draws,twenty intermediate draws.Villain Points will be determined based on the overall strength of the sects destroyed,with a minimum of 1000 points.Failure Penalty:Your strength will drop by one small realm,and you will be required to forfeit any skill below a four-star rating."
"Hehe,it's been a while since a mainline quest appeared.Suddenly,it's a challenging one like this?"Su Xin's smile seemed a bit forced.
The rewards offered by the system were indeed generous,but the difficulty of the quest was undoubtedly proportional.Eliminating five martial arts forces wasn't difficult.Su Xin had wiped out entire families before,so finding five forces similar to the Zhu family and fabricating a crime to eradicate them was straightforward.However,the challenge lay in the requirement that the forces to be wiped out had to be second-rate or higher.
In the martial world,there wasn't a detailed rating system for these forces,except for the top ones like the three Buddhist monasteries and the four Daoist sects.The rest of the forces were broadly categorized.For a force to be considered third-rate,it needed at least several Spirit Illumination and one Divine Palace martial artist.To be a complete third-rate force,it had to have a dozen or more young disciples in the Acquired Realm,representing the hope for the future.
Su Xin had previously annihilated the Zhu family,which could be considered a third-rate force,but it wasn't complete.The Zhu family,apart from Zhu Zefang,who was a martial artist in the Divine Palace Realm,had no other Spirit Illumination martial artists.Without Zhu Zefang's status as a lay disciple of the Shaolin Temple,the Zhu family was just an insignificant force.
A second-rate force was stronger than a third-rate one.Even the lowest rank of a martial artist in the Elemental Infant Realm could be considered second-rate.A force with more than ten Divine Palace martial artists would also be classified as second-rate.
The difficulty of the quest lay in finding and eliminating five such forces within two years.Su Xin was confident in his combat abilities,but the challenge was in locating these forces and determining their strength accurately.
This quest,while demanding,was not the first time the Six Fan Branch had undertaken such tasks.Even if Su Xin's actions were excessive,there would be no righteous individuals coming forward to uphold justice.
However,Su Xin felt a bit uneasy.He hadn't received a mainline quest for a long time,and suddenly encountering one of this magnitude was indeed daunting.
