Star Gate

Chapter 153: Slaying Solar, Destroying Sunflare (II)

“Arf arf arf!” Panther barked with a small strut. Its nose twitched as it sniffed through the darkness.

The little black dog had been cleaning up the perimeter! Li Hao hadn’t taught it this skill. The young man glanced at Yuan Shuo—had his teacher?

“I didn’t teach it that,” the professor laughed sardonically with a bleeding mouth. “That dog is afraid of death and wanted to hide, but then discovered we were strong enough to kill our opponents. So now it’s afraid that we’ll yell at it for its cowardice, so it barks a few times to let us know that it’s putting in work too!”

“......”

Li Hao blinked, then broke out in laughter. He laughed and laughed until both teacher and disciple coughed up blood at the same time. Both of them had utilized the Incantation of the Blade of Blood. Li Hao was better off as his aura was weak. He couldn’t bring too much power to bear, but that also meant his backlash was less. Yuan Shuo, however, was gravely injured.

The young man quickly offered up the jade sword. Yuan Shuo took it without protest and operated the Breathing Method of the Five Styles to absorb a bit of sword energy. He stopped when his injuries stabilized and wouldn’t lead to his immediate collapse.

The professor quickly returned to the site of battle and sectioned the headless corpse on the ground into a dozen pieces. He piled all of the pieces together, swiftly jogged to the silver car, and took out an energy storage box. Yuan Shuo opened the box and put everything inside, then stood with the box in one hand.

“Clean up the blood, I’m going to take a look outside the city!” He rose into the sky with an angry bellow. “Don’t think of running, Red Moon vermin!”

Yuan Shuo broke through the air like he was chasing an enemy.

“The Qiaos have colluded with the evil supernatural organization known as Red Moon!” Li Hao promptly shouted. “They deserve death! To me, Inspectorate! Arrest everyone involved with the Qiaos!”

His angry shout brought a series of uniform footsteps from the distance. Mu Sen arrived before long, bringing a solemn group of heavily equipped inspectors with him.

Li Hao knew they would quickly be on the scene when he saw Mu Sen from far away. The Inspectorate wouldn’t ignore a massive battle erupting in their homegrown.

“A Solar ambushed my teacher!” the young man called out. “Teacher’s off in pursuit. Seal off the premises, Inspector General Mu!”

Mu Sen waved a hand without a word. The inspectors quickly sealed off the area. The inspector general was shocked when he took a better look at closer quarters. Another battle with a Solar! Were Red Moon Solars so worthless? How dare they send another when one had already died?

He saw Qiao Peng’s corpse and those of the bodyguards. The black shadow had dispersed and Qiao Feilong’s body was nowhere to be found. There were only some splatters of blood on the ground.

Where is Qiao Feilong?

The question flashed through his mind. Mu Sen only asked about the enemy. “Did the Solar get away? Or is Professor Yuan being chased by the enemy?”

The Solar’s presence had vanished just as quickly as it’d appeared. The inspector general had come quickly enough, but all he saw was a sea of fire and a blade the color of blood. He didn’t know any details.

The blade of blood likely belonged to Yuan Shuo and the sea of fire to a fire Solar.

But now? Did it mean that Yuan Shuo held the upper hand if Li Hao stood here, unharmed? If that was the case, the professor was terrifying!

A Dominator killing one Solar was an accident and luck, but matching a second Solar was pure strength. No one would chalk it up to coincidence a second time. One was not so consistently lucky.

“A Qiao Plenilune is at the Inspectorate for the reception.” Li Hao wasted no time. “Some of their Starlight and martial masters are present too. Eliminate them as quickly as possible!

“Inspector General Mu, Director Hao may not fully grasp the situation at the moment and the Plenilune might not know that the Qiaos are in cahoots with Red Moon. We should rush over there and you should kill the guy without another word!”

“Oh?” Mu Sen frowned slightly and glanced at Li Hao. The young man’s eyes were clear.

“Although Director Hao can handle a Plenilune that suddenly rages out of control, I’m worried about other people becoming collateral damage. What my teacher means to say is that collusion with the three great organizations leads to no mercy!”

The Plenilune might know something at this point, but that was fine. As much as he knew, he wouldn’t dare open his mouth while the situation remained murky. Meanwhile, Mu Sen was very conflicted. Just kill them... outright? What was teacher and disciple hiding?

But right now, he couldn’t ask anything. It wasn’t a convenient time and he shouldn’t ask even if it was.

“Understood!” Mu Sen nodded and grunted, “Seal off the premises. No one is allowed in and all trespassers are to be executed on the spot!”

He walked off with Li Hao to drive back. It was faster to take the car although the Inspectorate was close.

“Why don’t I contact Director Hao now?” Mu Sen proposed in the car. “With the director’s strength, he’ll quickly suppress the other without a chance of anything going wrong...”

“I hear that White Moon is collaborating with the three great organizations,” Li Hao answered calmly. “If Director Hao takes action, that will give the organizations something to find fault with! This matter has nothing to do with Director Hao, it is a private grudge with us Silver City Night Watchers! This stays within Silver City and does not carry over anywhere else. If Director Hao makes a move, that gives them an excuse to respond in kind and will ruin Night Watcher matters!”

Mu Sen could find no rebuttal. You’ve even thought of a perfect excuse for me!

“Therefore, it’s better to just kill them. We’ll say they’re all from Red Moon when they’re dead. They wanted to kill me before and my teacher killed Brokensky. So what if we kill a few more Red Moon members today?

“Martial masters take revenge for every slight they should address! If Red Moon does not accept this, we welcome them to continue fighting!”

Mu Sen seemed to be seeing Li Hao for the first time. He got into the car and quietly drove off at a fast speed. After a while, he suddenly asked, “Where have Liu Long and the rest of the team gone?”

“After Red Moon’s people!”

“......” Mu Sen cursed to himself. “We’re all of Silver City, so I’ll cut straight to the chase. What else do you need me to do apart from killing this Plenilune?”

There must be great secrets at stake here. Yuan Shuo’s fight would not go undetected as it had caused too great of a disturbance. When combined with a massive uproar outside the city, various factions would certainly seek to get to the bottom of the matter when the dust settled. So what should he do?

Li Hao glanced at Mu Sen’s back. “Publicize the fact that the Qiaos colluded with Red Moon! Qiao Mining Industries was the organization’s stronghold in Silver City. Father and son were outer members of the organization and this battle was the result of them scheming to ambush my teacher. It caused a massive battle instead...

“Additionally, it would be nice if Inspector General Mu could send someone to clean up the battle site as soon as possible. We can’t have anyone learning about the situation. It has to do with some of my teacher’s killing moves. If they’re exposed, he will be easily targeted.”

Mu Sen took a deep breath and patted the black communicator hanging over his ear.

“Wash away all of the traces of blood near Qiao Mining Industries. Burn all of the bodies on the spot to prevent mysterious power from polluting the surroundings! Recover order as soon as possible and have people clean out their building. Burn it all! Pour concrete into the damage inflicted on the streets and seal them off...” He barked out a litany of orders.

His orders would be very quickly carried out given the inspector general’s level of authority. As an agency of force, the Inspectorate would swiftly ensure that everything would be put back to order apart from a damaged Qiao Mining headquarters. It would be nigh impossible to glean any clues from the scene.

“If you have any requests, Inspector General, please feel free to voice them. I think my teacher will consider them.”

“No need!” Mu Sen rumbled. “I only have one thing to say. Next time... and I hope there’s no next time, but if there is, let me know ahead of time! You should know that a sudden battle, especially one of the Solar level, can easily cause massive casualties!”

Thank goodness it’d taken place in the commercial district and there was a curfew in place tonight. Who knew how many would be on the streets otherwise?

The inspector general could tell from this that the group was prepared. Otherwise, a curfew wasn’t necessary for tonight.

“I understand.” Li Hao nodded without responding further.

Various thoughts flashed through Mu Sen’s mind; they were close to the Inspectorate. “That Solar... Will we see them again next time?”

“No.”

Dead! Mu Sen reeled with shock. Although he had his guess, it was still stunning beyond belief to hear that the other was truly dead. A second Solar! Yuan Shuo was terrifying, absolutely terrifying.

“But everyone is to know that they escaped!” Li Hao supplemented.

“I understand!” Mu Sen nodded. Although it would enhance Yuan Shuo’s reputation and make him foremost among Silver Moon if the truth got out, that would also place him in greater danger. Saying that the enemy got away made the situation much safer—the caveat being that none of the three great organizations were willing to admit that they’d lost a Solar.

Was it an unknown Solar? It had to be, or there was no concealing the matter. No one would know about the death of an unknown Solar.

The car stopped as they talked; the Inspectorate was so quiet tonight that it was eerie. A formidable presence rose into the air—Hao Lianchuan was still holding down the fort. All of Silver City’s supernatural personages were gathered here tonight, nearly one hundred of them.

If he left after Mu Sen’s departure and during Liu Long’s absence... who knew what else would happen tonight? Thus, he didn’t move despite anxiety besieging him on all sides. The lack of a distress signal from Yuan Shuo was another major reason why he stayed. Perhaps Yuan Shuo can handle whatever situation he found himself in.

Hao Lianchuan slightly relaxed with relief when he sensed Mu Sen and Li Hao’s return. Their footsteps were resolute—a sign that the issue wasn’t great. So where was the Solar? There was a fire Solar!

Hao Lianchuan was already trying to determine which faction’s Solar was here tonight. There were limited numbers of them and they were mostly known, even when hidden. A fire Solar... Red Moon seemed to possess one, but most of their resources were concentrated in the central region. Was their Solar here on a solo mission to kill Yuan Shuo?

Were they crazy?

Yuan Shuo had a Solar notch on his belt and the director himself was here. Much of this didn’t make sense.

The two returnees entered through the door as Hao Lianchuan grappled with his thoughts. Every head in the hall snapped to them. Mu Sen carried a large blade in his hand and brimmed with portentous killing intent.

“Director Hao, someone attacked Professor Yuan and there’s been a massive battle on the city streets,” he solemnly explained with fury. “They ran from the premises and the professor is giving chase...”

“Is he alright?” Hao Lianchuan intoned.

“We’re not sure.” Mu Sen walked forward, as if wanting to make a report to the director. Hao Lianchuan, however, furrowed his brow and looked at his colleague. Although it was difficult to see through Mu Sen since he was a martial master, their proximity meant that Hao Lianchuan could sense the active state of the man’s internal force.

A revolt?

Has Mu Sen revolted and wants to ambush me?

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