Chapter 135: 112 Watching Him Build a High Tower

Chapter 135: Chapter 112 Watching Him Build a High Tower

“What’s going on?”

The sudden sound of gunshots startled everyone in the office.

Hao Yi stood and walked to the window to look outside.

“It’s the people from the Inspection Bureau and the City Guard Army.”

Shangguan Xiao also moved to the window, and looking outside, she said:

“It seems that Chief Gu has fired the first shot of the counterattack; he aims to make a move on the Martial Arts Hall first, quite a clever scheme.”

...

While speaking, she glanced at Hao Yi.

She seemed to have a kind of intuition that could directly pinpoint the heart of matters, always able to see through others’ intentions at a glance.

From Gu Zhenhui’s choice, she immediately felt that part of his reason was targeting Hao Yi.

However, Hao Yi didn’t care about these, so after glancing once, he sat back down at his seat.

At this moment, Li Fei also approached the window, looked outside, and pondered.

His views were the same as Shangguan Xiao’s; moreover, he believed that since Gu Zhenhui had made this move, he wouldn’t simply leave Hao Yi out of it.

Sure enough, it wasn’t long before a rush of footsteps could be heard outside, followed by a knock on the door.

Li Fei closed the wooden box in his hands, not wanting anyone to see the knife inside.

He planned to have ‘Green-faced Ghost’ use ‘Ghost Slash’, so the fewer people knew about this knife, the better.

“Come in.”

Hao Yi spoke calmly.

The door was pushed open, and Cheng Bi walked in.

“Greetings, Mr. Hao, I am Cheng Bi, a Fourth-Level Inspector from the Inspection Bureau.”

Without any change in expression, Cheng Bi glanced at Shangguan Xiao standing nearby and then offered a salute to Hao Yi.

Hao Yi, still seated, did not move: “What is it?”

“I’m not here for Mr. Hao; I’m looking for your student.”

Cheng Bi said with neither servility nor arrogance.

“Oh?”

Hao Yi’s gaze finally wavered slightly.

Cheng Bi then turned to look at Li Fei: “Today the Inspection Bureau needs to take action at the Martial Arts Hall, and we are short of hands. You will participate as well.”

Standing beside them, Shangguan Xiao couldn’t hold back: “He is a student of the Martial Arts Hall, so why should he participate in your Inspection Bureau’s action?”

Cheng Bi looked at Shangguan Xiao, did not answer her, but told Li Fei: “You have two minutes. I’ll wait for you outside.”

With that, he saluted Hao Yi once again and then turned to leave the office.

Hao Yi and Shangguan Xiao both looked at Li Fei, awaiting his explanation.

“Teacher, Aunt, in fact, I have another identity; I am a secret Inspector for the Inspection Bureau.”

Li Fei did not hide anything, directly revealing the invitation from Cheng Bi.

“What?”

Upon hearing this, Shangguan Xiao couldn’t help but let out a snort of laughter:

“Chief Gu has indeed made a shrewd move.”

At first, recruiting Li Fei as a secret inspector was just an incidental move by the other side. In reality, from the time Li Fei became a secret inspector until now, nobody had contacted him, nor had he taken the initiative to contact Cheng Bi—he was merely drawing his salary each month.

Now, all of a sudden, his importance surged.

If Chief Gu was going to target the Martial Arts Hall, even involving the City Guard Army, how could they possibly have a lack of someone like student Li Fei?

Knowing full well that Hao Yi was here, yet he wanted to call away Li Fei in front of Hao Yi, it would only be too obvious if he directly asked Li Fei to disclose his identity as a secret inspector.

In the end, it was all to show Hao Yi the relationship between Li Fei and Chief Gu, and also to show Hao Yi this good intention he had actively offered.

“It looks like you’re about to earn merits again.”

Shangguan Xiao said, smiling at Li Fei.

Since Chief Gu’s faction wanted to draw Li Fei in and show goodwill, they would naturally offer Li Fei ample benefits.

“Teacher.”

Li Fei turned to Hao Yi, wanting to hear his thoughts.

If Hao Yi didn’t wish for him to have any ties with Chief Gu’s faction, he could also choose to give up the role of a secret inspector.

“You don’t need to ask me; go and do what you think is right.”

Hao Yi did not offer advice to Li Fei, only saying so.

Li Fei was somewhat moved.

He understood the subtext of Hao Yi’s words: no matter what he did, Hao Yi would have his back!

“Yes, teacher. I understand.”

He gave a deep bow to Hao Yi, then placed the wooden box on the ground, and turned to leave the office.

“It seems, Senior Brother, that you care a great deal about this student.”

After Li Fei left, Shangguan Xiao spoke.

“He has talent. I hope he can forge a different path for himself.”

Hao Yi said, watching in the direction of the doorway.

Shangguan Xiao studied her teacher’s profile: “Actually, when you first told me you wanted Li Fei to cultivate the ‘Mixed Element Heavenly Gold’, I was skeptical. But after seeing Li Fei himself today, like you, teacher, I am also confident in him!”

…

In the corridor, Cheng Bi was waiting for Li Fei.

Seeing Li Fei exit, a hint of a smile appeared on his face:

“Let’s go. You and I are going to capture an important person.”

Li Fei was not at all surprised and merely asked:

“Who are we capturing?”

Cheng Bi replied in a deep voice: “The Hall Master of the Martial Arts Hall—Li Shengjiang!”

The Martial Arts Hall had a semi-official nature, and although its managers did not hold official posts, their authority was nonetheless considerable compared to many officials.

For instance, the Hall Master position—many said it couldn’t be exchanged even for an Imperial Official.

This was because of the two ‘lifelines’ of the Martial Arts Hall:

First, the creation of the ‘Implants’.

Second, the alchemy of the Martial Arts Elixirs.

In truth, these two ‘lifelines’ were controlled by Zhi Ge Court because all the raw materials were supplied by Zhi Ge Court, and the Martial Arts Hall was merely acting as their ‘contractor’, which can be viewed as an ‘outsourcing unit’ of Zhi Ge Court.

However, as long as humans were in charge, there would always be loopholes to exploit. Plus, the court provided policy support to the Martial Arts Halls across different regions, giving them a certain ‘quota’ to nurture students. Therefore, though the Martial Arts Hall was in the position of ’employed worker’, they had much to gain.