Chapter 119: What? You Want Me to Go Undercover at Wufengqi? (Please Subscribe and Vote)

Three days later, on the first day of the third lunar month.

The Zhenhai Guard Command Headquarters training ground.

Xing Baichuan, the Commanding Officer, sat in the center on a grand master’s chair, his gaze fixed downward on the dense assembly of guard officers below. Among them, Wang Fugui stood casually beside Lu Yunchen, as if nothing were amiss, causing the veins at Xing’s temples to throb uncontrollably.

“How could it be such a coincidence? Everyone else is unharmed—neither that old mutt who just arrived from the capital nor the eunuch Park has gone missing. Yet, Cai Rong, who grew up in the guard city, disappears after just one outing?”

His trusted subordinate, Sixth-Rank Officer Cai Rong, had been missing for three full days. Since being ordered to find some fishermen to kill traitors and claim merit, he had gone out to bolster appearances but never returned.

The Zhenhai Guard Command Headquarters was neither a family faction nor a cult that held absolute power over its men’s lives; it could not afford to leave behind any "ominous" soul lanterns that might be used as channels for curses. Yet, when trouble arose, Cai Rong’s whereabouts were unknown.

Only yesterday, sensing something was seriously wrong, after several rounds of divination, they roughly deduced that his fate was grim. The protective aura that normally guarded officers showed no sign of presence; the identity of the killer remained a complete mystery.

Because neither the bodies nor any trace of the missing group was found, the case was not immediately reported. The intensity of investigations into disappearances and murders was, after all, quite different.

Still, following the principle that the beneficiary of a crime is the culprit, Xing Baichuan instinctively glanced at Wang Fugui but quickly averted his eyes.

“Lu Yunchen’s background is deep; it’s no surprise he learned of the Ministry of War’s plans ahead of time. But the order I gave Cai Rong to act decisively was known only to the two of us. No one else was informed.

“On that day, Wang Fugui was busy practicing sailing with Lu Yunchen—many people at Yue Harbor, including the informants I sent, witnessed this.

“Besides, does it make sense to preemptively hire assassins just because Cai Rong, a thousand-household officer, might challenge him? Is that the logic of a normal mind?

“Anyone capable of such a deed would be more ruthless than the fiercest pirates of the raiding factions.

“To provoke such a vengeful enemy and not kill him outright at the first chance—that would be truly terrifying!”

Xing Baichuan shook off the dark cloud over his thoughts and forced himself to find comfort:

“Besides Sixth-Rank Officer Cai Rong, a few of the ordinary hundred-household officers under me are quite capable, some even Seventh-Rank like Wang Fugui.

“Perhaps they can’t operate with finesse, only wound rather than kill, but knocking down this young man who supposedly just recently broke through to Seventh Rank shouldn’t be a problem.

“Let them try—it won’t cost me anything anyway.”

At this moment, Eunuch Park relayed the latest edict from the Ministry of War, inviting those hereditary officers without official postings to step forward and prove their abilities.

No sooner had the words fallen than excited challenges erupted in a rush:

“I, your humble subordinate, challenge Wang Fugui, the thousand-household officer of Baoshan!”

“I also want to challenge Wang!”

“I’ll go first!”

Even without Xing Baichuan’s special arrangement, among this group of recruited officers, the youngest-looking and least experienced “Wang Fugui” was obviously the easiest target—the proverbial soft underbelly quickly chosen.

Hearing the jeering that clearly did not take him seriously, Wang Cheng helplessly shook his head at Lu Yunchen beside him:

“To hold this iron rice bowl firmly, you still have to show some muscle.”

Lu Yunchen warned:

“Be careful.”

Wang Cheng waved him off:

“These rotten scoundrels have been thoroughly exposed by the Shanhai Society back to their ancestors eight generations ago. How can I be careful against them?”

Lu Yunchen corrected:

“I mean be careful not to kill anyone. If you embarrass Xing Baichuan, that’s one thing; but if Baoshan Guard pays a price, it’s a much bigger problem.”

Wang Cheng nodded in agreement, immediately straightened his posture, and without waiting for any further prompt, stepped onto the arena.

Among the substitute hundred-household officers, the one closest to the arena jumped up first.

Wang Cheng recognized him as an acquaintance.

“Guo Liang, Seventh-Rank local officer, known as Mountain Guardian Protector, makes a living harvesting swallows’ nests from cliffs.

“His apprentices gather nests below while he hauls ropes above, dedicated to finding a disciple tough enough not to die from a fall.”

Originating from the collapsed Xuanzhong thousand-household station, now called Meiling Harbor, Guo had turned to profiting from frequently replacing apprentices after the guard’s downfall.

Upon hearing the chance to reclaim power, he eagerly returned.

Upon stepping onto the stage, he immediately drank a bowl of pitch-black talisman water.

Then he strode toward Wang Cheng, each step causing the platform to tremble slightly.

His martial art, known as “Mountain-Lifting and Ridge-Shifting,” involved swallowing a Ridge-Removing talisman and a Mountain-Moving talisman, considered the most powerful among local officers’ specialties.

Guo’s fists, resembling zombie hands, slowly turned bluish-black, his lips curling into a sinister grin:

“Boy, fighting Japanese pirates isn’t child’s play. If you surrender now, you might still walk away whole.

“My strength is overwhelming; once I start swinging, I can’t hold back.

“We are comrades; broken bones and torn muscles aren’t pleasant.”

The crowd below roared in agreement:

“Ah, Guo got the jump on him; we’ve lost our chance.”

“How many moves do you think Guo will need to finish him? I guess no more than five.”

“I think just three…”

Before the bet could begin, a loud crash resounded.

A black shadow was hurled backward, slammed against the arena wall, hanging there like a painting before slowly sliding down.

The crowd was strangled into silence.

“Next!”

Only when Wang Cheng impatiently urged from the stage did they regain their senses and turn to see him lowering his fists.

His right arm had swollen like a balloon, now thicker than an ordinary person’s thigh, yet his feet remained firmly planted, not shifting an inch.

What was more astonishing was that no one could discern what technique he had used to overwhelm Guo’s Mountain-Lifting and Ridge-Shifting.

Joking aside, Wang Cheng was the man who had survived a dragon’s stomp unscathed; compared to him, even the most powerful seemed frail.

“Old Guo was careless; now it’s my turn.”

Another challenger, the White Water Gentleman, appeared cautiously, staying at the arena’s edge and sending a pack of bewitched otters to attack Wang Cheng.

Unexpectedly, at Wang Cheng’s snap of his fingers, the otters immediately collapsed in a row, exposing their bellies and whining for petting.

Boom!

Another crash echoed as the White Water Gentleman, whose face had turned green with anxiety, caught only a fleeting shadow before also being hung on the wall.

Wang Cheng looked back and beckoned the audience:

“Who else wants to come? Come all at once. If I win, I’ll give you my position as Fifth-Rank Commander of Baoshan.”

He understood the truth that striving for peace through struggle preserves peace, while seeking peace through compromise spells its end.

Having just risen to a high Fifth-Rank position, commanding real power over a thousand-household station, he knew that to live peacefully in the future, he had to subdue them all.

If not today, trouble would come knocking in myriad ways.

Only this moment, hesitation filled the hearts of these hundred-household officers.

Two experts had been knocked away with a single move each—this was no mere stroke of luck.

Only under the cold gaze of Commanding Officer Xing Baichuan did three idle Seventh-Rank officers muster the courage to jump onto the arena together.

As they looked up, a foul wind swept over them, and a huge black shadow suddenly blotted out their vision.

It was Wang Cheng, whose height had inflated like a balloon to nearly ten feet, almost reaching the eaves.

Without any special technique, he uprooted a weeping willow next to the stage and swung it at them.

Violent! Brutal!

One strike overwhelms ten techniques!

He paid no mind to their skills—just one word: Smash!

Crash! Crash!

“Wait, we surrender!”

When the dust settled, all three were neatly hung on the wall.

Aside from a few stifled groans, the arena was deathly silent.

Wang Cheng’s mastery of physical transformation, called “Jiao Morphing,” was a unique skill he acquired after learning the foreign Star Binding Technique.

Unable to trace the origin of this skill, the crowd felt its profound mystery.

In Wang Cheng’s hands, everyone looked like nails to be hammered.

His gaze swept over the audience again; neither guard officers nor recruited officers dared meet his eyes calmly.

Eunuch Park sneered, ignoring Xing Baichuan’s displeased expression and rasped:

“The imperial selection system clearly has no flaws; those dismissed truly lack the virtue to hold their rank.

“Commander Wang, you may return first—”

The matter seemed settled.

Suddenly, a civil official in a cyan Seventh-Rank robe, around his early forties, entered the training ground with many attendants flanking him.

Though only Seventh-Rank, the assembled officers immediately rose to greet him.

Whether it was the Commanding Officer, Eunuch Park, the Dog Thousand-Household, or the well-connected Lu Yunchen, none dared be arrogant, all clasping hands respectfully:

“Lord Wang!”

Wang Cheng resumed his normal form and bowed with the others, suppressing a sharp glint in his eyes.

For he recognized this man’s identity.

Besides the noble Han family’s “Dragon Heir,” the direct instigator of the chaos in the East Sea—the Inspector Censor Wang Bengu!

Though his rank was low, the Inspector Censor was the emperor’s “eyes” in the provinces, empowered to execute first and report later, with direct access to the throne.

Wherever the Inspector went, even the most powerful governors and military commissioners showed utmost respect.

At least outwardly, this Inspector Wang appeared a just and upright man, one who did not engage in idle chit-chat with the guard officers.

After settling down, he casually said:

“Gentlemen, Lord Yu Zhifu of the ‘Yu Long Qi Hu’ has just been promoted to Supreme Commander for Anti-Piracy in Min Prefecture.

“He has issued an order encouraging the public to provide intelligence on the largest pirate force in the East Sea—the Five Peaks Banner.

“However, I anticipate we will inevitably clash with those bandits. It would be better to dispatch reliable elite undercover agents directly into the Five Peaks Banner to obtain first-hand intelligence.

“What do you think?”

Wang Cheng thought:

‘If this man is not truly foolish, then he must be truly wicked.

“Sending spies is never done so openly.

“Usually, these operations take years of planning, involve heavy bribes, strict secrecy, and single-line communication.

“To announce publicly that you’re sending spies—is this a martial arts champion selection?

“If this isn’t a deliberate death sentence, it means the real spy is someone else, and this is a decoy to draw the Five Peaks Banner’s fire.

“Either way, whoever goes is doomed!”

He had thought this matter would not concern him.

Unexpectedly, the Inspector’s face lit with admiration as he pointed at the young hero standing outside:

“I just saw this young man outside—valiant and extraordinary.

“Why not entrust such an important mission to him?”