Chapter 032: Xie Hongyun on the Verge of Tears

In the New World, the nights in the city were not particularly lively.

There were two main reasons for this. First, entertainment was scarce; amateur martial artists were busy striving to become professionals, and professionals were preoccupied with growing stronger. Except for a handful who had given up on martial pursuits altogether—those who idled away their days indulging in food, drink, and pleasure—everyone else had their own affairs to keep them occupied.

The second reason was the exorbitant cost of electricity, causing most people to use it as sparingly as possible.

As a result, when night fell, the city remained somewhat populated, but outside the city, people were rarely seen. Streetlights lined the highways, but their intervals were wide—nearly a hundred meters between each lamp.

It was by the pale glow of one such streetlight that Tang Mubai caught a clear look at Xie Hongyun’s face.

This man sat in the rear right seat of the car, next to the window, which was rolled down. His expression was dark and brooding. The absence of his three subordinates—sent out earlier and not yet returned—had clearly left him seething with anger.

The car rolled past the streetlight, heading in the direction of Maple Leaf City.

Once Tang Mubai was certain Xie Hongyun was inside, he slipped out from the cornfield, performing the lightfoot technique of “Skimming the Grass,” moving silently atop the rows of corn stalks. He chased after the car while drawing his bow and nocking an arrow.

As the vehicle carrying Xie Hongyun once again passed beneath a streetlight—

Whoosh!

The arrow tore through the night, shooting out like lightning and striking a tire.

Bang!

Clatter!

Crash—

The tire exploded, sending the car flying, before it crashed heavily to the ground and skidded for over a dozen meters. The massive chassis scraped against the road, throwing up a shower of sparks. The piercing screech of metal against asphalt echoed down the empty highway beneath the night sky.

Yet the passengers within the car were unharmed!

Almost the instant the vehicle came to a stop, all four doors flew open with a series of resounding bangs, each one kicked open with great force.

Four agile figures burst out of the car in quick succession.

“Who—”

Buzz!

The air itself trembled.

Xie Hongyun, his voice trembling with shock and rage, had barely managed to utter a word when a terrifying pressure descended from above. With a dull thud, he was flattened to the ground.

The other three suffered the same fate—no sooner had they leapt from the car than they were pinned down, rendered immobile by an overwhelming, oceanic force.

In the very next moment—

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Three arrows shot from the darkness, slicing through the air. With a series of sickening thuds, they struck each man squarely in the head, killing them on the spot.

[Detected loss of life force. Reclaim?]

“Yes!”

[Life force +161]

[Life force +154]

[Life force +159]

“These three were all beastmen?” Tang Mubai, bow in hand, strode forward in astonishment.

He had killed them outright to prevent any of them from possessing spirit objects like the “bone bead,” but to his surprise, all three slain men were beastmen!

“Boss Xie, just how many of these nonhuman creatures are hidden in your slaughterhouse?” Tang Mubai asked, curiosity piqued as he approached Xie Hongyun.

“You… you…”

Xie Hongyun was paralyzed with terror, his breath coming in ragged gasps. His pupils dilated, and his flushed face was written with both fear and disbelief.

A Grandmaster-level martial artist?

The youth he’d met for the first time only that evening—was actually a Grandmaster!?

Was he out of his mind, sending his men to kill a Grandmaster!?

A young man, barely twenty, who looked every inch a high school student—yet a Grandmaster!?

The moment Xie Hongyun recognized Tang Mubai’s face, he went mad with regret and terror.

He had actually ordered an assassination attempt on a Grandmaster…

If this wasn’t courting death, what was?

Overwhelmed by shock, remorse, and fear, Xie Hongyun suddenly felt the urge to weep.

How could a Grandmaster want for anything?

What possessed him to work in the slaughterhouse as an underling?

There was a limit even to playing the fool!

At this moment, Xie Hongyun wanted nothing more than to burst into tears.

Tang Mubai, who had been watching him all along, was taken aback by the tears welling up in Xie Hongyun’s eyes. Realizing what was happening, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you so frightened you want to cry?”

“I… I was forced into it!” Xie Hongyun took a deep breath, barely holding back his tears.

“I’m not a traitor to humanity—I was coerced by the Red Lake Group!”

Before Tang Mubai could say a word, Xie Hongyun hurriedly spilled everything he knew.

“It’s the Red Lake Group that colludes with the beastmen! In fact, they’re the largest shareholder in my slaughterhouse!”

“I don’t know what terms Red Lake Group struck with the beastmen, but they help those beasts get smuggled in, hiding them throughout Maple Leaf City.”

“My slaughterhouse was assigned six of them. Except for one that escaped, the other five have all been killed by you, Grandmaster Tang.”

“Oh, I killed that one too—in the warehouse,” Tang Mubai interjected.

Xie Hongyun fell silent.

“Well done! Grandmaster Tang, you did splendidly!” Xie Hongyun exclaimed, suddenly animated. “I’ve wanted to kill those six beasts myself, but there was nothing I could do. Red Lake Group protected them; even if I wanted them dead…”

“That’s enough, spare me the chatter,” Tang Mubai interrupted. “Red Lake Group is smuggling beastmen into the city. How are they doing it?”

“I don’t know,” Xie Hongyun shook his head.

“You don’t know?” Tang Mubai’s brow furrowed.

“I really don’t!” Xie Hongyun replied quickly, panic in his eyes. “I only manage the slaughterhouse. I’m not privy to Red Lake Group’s secrets, let alone how the beastmen are brought into the city. That’s far above my pay grade.”

Tang Mubai fell silent at his words.

He pushed his sixth sense to the limit, confirming that Xie Hongyun was telling the truth.

This man was just a minor figure in the Red Lake Group, a seventh-rank professional martial artist.

But Red Lake Group itself was one of the ten largest corporations in Maple Leaf City. Each of its board members was a Master-level martial artist, and the Chairman was a Grandmaster.

For a company of this stature to collude with beastmen—what could they possibly want?

Tang Mubai couldn’t fathom it, nor did he care to dwell on it. Such matters were best left to the Martial Security Bureau.

“How many people know about me?” Tang Mubai asked.

“Just eight. The other seven have already died at your hands, Grandmaster Tang,” Xie Hongyun replied with a nervous smile. “Rest assured, Grandmaster Tang, I’m tight-lipped. I would never reveal your identity!”

“I believe you,” Tang Mubai replied with a light smile. “Still, just to be safe, I’ll have to trouble you to write down everything you know—using blood—on this shirt.”

With that, Tang Mubai tore the shirt off one of the dead beastmen and tossed it in front of Xie Hongyun. He withdrew his oppressive aura and smiled faintly. “Once you’re done, I’ll escort you to the Martial Security Bureau.”

“To the Martial Security Bureau?” Xie Hongyun’s face darkened, but he quickly exhaled, resigned. “Fine. Turning myself in might be for the best.”

Turn himself in?

A glint flashed in Tang Mubai’s eyes, and the corners of his lips curled.

Xie Hongyun didn’t notice, obediently biting open his fingertip and, under the streetlight, writing on the shirt in blood.

When he finished, he respectfully handed it to Tang Mubai with a silly grin. “Grandmaster Tang, it’s done.”

“Good,” Tang Mubai nodded, taking the bloody shirt.

In the next instant, he unleashed his oppressive aura, enveloping Xie Hongyun.

Before the other man could react, Tang Mubai’s fist crashed into his chest, shattering his heart.

“I promised to escort you to the Martial Security Bureau. I never promised you’d arrive alive.”