96. Gunshots

“You’re asking for death.”

These attacks might have been enough to injure an ordinary grandmaster of the martial arts, but Chen Fengyun was not, as they believed, a martial arts grandmaster at all. He was a cultivator, and such assaults could not harm him in the slightest; they only stirred his irritation.

With a cold snort, Chen Fengyun swept both hands outward, gathering up all the hidden weapons that had shot toward him from every direction. Then, with a sudden flick of his arms, he sent them all whirling back the way they had come, only faster than before.

Cries of agony rang out at once among the trees. Those warriors from the Eastern islands had never imagined that anyone could catch their attacks with such lightning speed and return them to strike back. Most were hit by their own weapons, and some were killed on the spot.

“Trying to run? Not so easy.”

At that moment, Chen Fengyun noticed several ninjas carrying Dog Lang and Yasui Kazuo, preparing to flee toward the underground base in the rear. He let out a thunderous shout, and a streak of golden light instantly vanished into the woods, flying toward the men from the Eastern islands.

This time, Chen Fengyun had used his flying sword. Hidden by the trees, even the three Chinese martial arts grandmasters in the distance could not see it; they only heard one scream after another from the woods, until silence finally fell.

When the sounds of the battle between Chen Fengyun and Yasui Kazuo had ended, a large crowd came surging in from afar. Among them were the martial artists from before, more than a hundred of Qin Tianxiong’s men, and at the very front were more than a dozen police officers led by Gu Changlin.

The moment they reached the woods, everyone was stunned. The surrounding trees looked as though they had been swept through by a gale, toppled at angles, with overturned roots and shattered trunks everywhere.

More than that, amid the chaos lay bodies strewn everywhere. Some wore kimonos, some were dressed in black, but all of them were from the Eastern islands. Among the dead were Yasui Kazuo and his disciple, Dog Lang, both renowned sword masters from the East.

As for Chen Fengyun, he stood on a lone tree not far away, gazing calmly at the gathering crowd as though what had just happened had nothing to do with him at all.

“They’re dead. All dead.”

Qin Tianxiong muttered to himself. These people from the Eastern islands had been sent to Dragonland by a major organization from their country. Now that they had all died here, he feared he would not be able to escape responsibility and would be hunted to death by that organization.

“Captain, all the dead are from the Eastern islands,” some of Gu Changlin’s officers reported after spreading out to inspect the bodies, then returning to his side in low voices.

“This is bad. So many dead people from the Eastern islands—if this is mishandled, it could trigger an international incident.” Gu Changlin’s face was livid. Since this had happened at Twin Heroes Manor, Qin Tianxiong was likely to be dragged into it. And if that happened, both Director Han and his own prospects might be ruined as well.

“No. We can’t just admit defeat like this. The only way to handle this according to our plan is to take down this Chen fellow and deal with the witnesses around here.”

With that thought, Gu Changlin exchanged a glance with Qin Tianxiong, and the two instantly reached an understanding. What they did not know was that on the branches of distant trees, three Chinese martial arts grandmasters were still watching everything.

“Chen Fengyun, did you kill all these people from the Eastern islands?” Gu Changlin asked loudly, while covertly signaling his men to record the exchange.

“Who are you?” Chen Fengyun looked over but did not answer; instead, he asked in return.

“I am Gu Changlin, director of the Eastern District Bureau of the Rongcheng Police Department. We now suspect that you are connected to the deaths of these international friends. Come with us and cooperate with the investigation.”

The more Gu Changlin spoke, the more confident he became. He represented the machinery of the state; no matter how formidable one man might be, how could he possibly oppose the machinery of the state?

“Cooperating with a police investigation is the duty of every citizen. Director Gu, I can tell you that these people from the Eastern islands suddenly went mad just now and attacked one another. In the end, they all died in the chaos, and I had nothing to do with it.

“What’s more, Director Gu may not know that these people are not international friends, but members of an international terrorist organization. Qin Tianxiong colluded with them and committed monstrous crimes. I hope you will investigate this seriously,” Chen Fengyun said in a clear voice.

The people around them were left speechless. Was he really trying to wriggle out of this so cleanly? The battle with that man from the Eastern islands had just been so earthshaking that the whole world knew about it, and now he was claiming they had simply fought among themselves. Did he have no shame at all?

“Chen Fengyun, stop making excuses! Many people just saw you fighting those men from the Eastern islands, and now you’re saying their deaths have nothing to do with you. Do you take us all for fools?” Gu Changlin shouted angrily.

“Whether you’re fools or not, I don’t know. But please produce evidence proving that I killed these people from the Eastern islands. Otherwise, I can sue you for defamation, officer.”

Chen Fengyun refused to admit anything.

“Hmph. Chen Fengyun, don’t think that talking your way out of it will get you through this. Today you must come with us to the police station for investigation, or it will count as resisting arrest.” Gu Changlin no longer cared to hold back. He directly ordered his men to raise their guns and aim them at Chen Fengyun.

“You have no evidence, but I do. Come with me.”

Chen Fengyun’s divine sense swept outward and found that more than a hundred of Qin Tianxiong’s men were already surrounding them from all sides, all armed, and it looked as though even the martial artists would not be spared. With a shift of his body, he was about to head toward the back mountain.

Bang!

From the darkness, someone suddenly opened fire. A bullet shot straight at Chen Fengyun. Gu Changlin’s heart jolted; he knew without question that it must have been Qin Tianxiong who fired, but at this point there was no time to worry about that. He shouted and pulled the trigger.

Bang, bang, bang...

Rat-tat-tat...

In an instant, every police officer opened fire on Chen Fengyun. Yet the gunfire did not come solely from handguns; the sound of submachine guns was suddenly mixed in, and the entire manor was engulfed in a storm of shots.

And not all of the fire was aimed at Chen Fengyun. Among Qin Tianxiong’s hundred-plus burly men, most were attacking the martial artists and the businessmen who had just seen and heard the truth.

“Bad news—the fighting has started inside. Charge in with me. Anyone carrying a gun is to be attacked at once; show no mercy.”

At that moment, Zhu Danfeng had just led a large force of criminal police, armed police, and special police to secure the main gate of Twin Heroes Manor. Hearing the dense gunfire from the rear, he immediately ordered everyone to rush toward the back and at once reported the situation to Ou Renzhong.

“What? There’s heavy gunfire at Twin Heroes Manor? I’m ordering you to control the situation immediately. I’ll come in person.”

Ou Renzhong immediately realized how grave the situation was. While hurrying toward Twin Heroes Manor, he also reported the matter to the city bureau chief and the deputy director of the provincial public security department, and requested that the armed police send armed helicopters for support.