451: Fellow countryman?

Boom! A heaven-shaking explosion echoed through the streets, instantly waking the County Magistrate from his doze. He had been working hard all day and was still sorting through case files at curfew. Exhausted, he had fallen asleep at his desk, only to be startled awake by a sound like a thunderclap.

Therefore, Zhou County Magistrate hurriedly summoned his subordinates to find out what had happened. To his surprise, the yamen runner returned in moments, accompanied by two disheveled individuals. It turned out they were city guards who had witnessed exactly what had occurred on the street.

The County Magistrate naturally did not believe it. However, seeing how adamant they were and that they were both injured, he led his men toward the street. Along the way, the repeated, deafening thunderclaps shook the air. When they finally arrived, the Magistrate was truly dumbfounded.

He saw two people... no, they should be called two humanoid monsters, fighting fiercely in the street, locked in an inseparable battle.

Their fight had no technique; they relied entirely on the destructive power of their Physical Body. And that destructive power was truly boundless. Houses were like paper in their hands; a single punch could reduce an entire building to ruins.

The young man wearing strange white clothing was better; he knew to avoid residential houses and the crowds on the street when he attacked. But the guy who looked like a monk but wasn't had no such scruples. He was ruthless, grabbing the young man and throwing him into buildings. He swung him around for a long time, but the young man wasn't hurt; instead, over a dozen houses were knocked down. Dingyuan County was well-built, with most houses being brick and stone structures, so they were sturdy. Who could have imagined that the two of them could smash these houses like eggshells?

"At the time, the two of them were fighting so intensely that the sky seemed to darken. Your subordinate is ashamed; I could not get close at all, nor could I apprehend those two culprits. Fortunately, the young man still had some sense. Seeing that they could not defeat each other, he seemed anxious. He turned to the big guy and taunted, 'Big guy, you brainless fool, if you have the guts, follow me...' With that, the young man leaped into the air and flew toward the west outside the city... Yes, that's right, he flew. Can you imagine? He was like the Immortals of legend, he just flew away!"

Zhou County Magistrate smiled bitterly and said, "Although I have always heard from the elders that there are Sword Immortals, Immortals, and demons in this world, this is the first time I have truly witnessed it..."

Di Renjie chuckled and said, "I can imagine that..." He added silently to himself, "Because that's how we flew here!"

Tang Ku did not care about that. He leaped into the air and looked toward the west. Sure enough, he saw a tall mountain with a large chunk sunken in the middle, clearly having suffered severe damage.

Zhou County Magistrate and the crowd of yamen runners stared blankly at Tang Ku's actions, their mouths twitching, unable to speak for a long time.

"Zhou County Magistrate, is the direction you mentioned that mountain over there?" Tang Ku asked, pointing to the west.

"Yes, that's the place!" Zhou County Magistrate instantly snapped back to reality and replied, "So the Holy Monk is also an Immortal. I was wondering why Your Majesty would send an ordinary monk to participate in this case. It turns out you are also an Immortal capable of flying!"

Di Renjie was about to introduce Tang Ku's identity, but was stopped by Tang Ku. He landed beside the Magistrate and said softly, "Hmm, Zhou County Magistrate, I have a question to ask you! You said those two were dressed strangely and did not look like people from the Central Plains, is that right? Can you describe their attire?"

"Yes!" Zhou County Magistrate thought for a moment and then said, "The guy who looked like a monk was wearing a crimson monk's robe, had no incense burn marks on his head, and was barefoot. His face looked like a Persian's, and he was tall and burly, with muscles all over. Judging by his height, he must have been over nine feet tall. The young man, however, had the appearance of a Great Tang person, but he was wearing... a white, round-necked garment with short sleeves, somewhat similar to barbarian clothing. His lower garment also looked like barbarian trousers, but they were deep blue and very tight. His bulging muscles stretched the clothes out of shape... Oh, right, there was a very strange pattern embroidered on his clothes. It seemed to be some kind of logo or totem. I have already had someone draw it, and it is in the county office... Oh, Zhang Jiuge, go to the courtroom and bring that drawing, as well as the strange things we found while investigating the scene. Let's see if the Holy Monk recognizes them!"

"Round neck, short sleeves... and deep blue, tight-fitting trousers..." Tang Ku rubbed his temples, "Why does that sound so much like two things I can imagine!"

Seeing that Tang Ku seemed very troubled and not knowing what he was thinking, Di Renjie went to examine the traces of the fight at the scene.

It had to be said that the destructive power of the two people's battle was indeed considerable. Basically, the nearby houses had all been smashed into ruins. Even with government funding, they did not know when they could be rebuilt, which was truly lamentable.

Before long, that Zhang Jiuge came running back with a blue cloth bundle and handed it to the Magistrate. The Magistrate took it, opened the bundle, handed a piece of white paper from inside to Tang Ku, and said, "This is the pattern embroidered on his clothes. It looks like some kind of religious symbol..."

Tang Ku took the paper, just opened it and glanced at it, then closed it again... He thought his eyes were playing tricks on him... After a long silence, he opened it again, then closed it again... His face was full of disbelief.

"Master, do you... recognize the pattern on this?" Di Renjie could not help but ask curiously.

Tang Ku nodded, then smiled bitterly and handed it to Di Renjie: "This pattern, in a certain world, is known to almost everyone..."

Di Renjie opened it and took a look, only to find a pattern resembling a checkmark drawn on it. One curved point looked extremely thick, with two sharp ends pointing in the same direction, the bottom one long and the top one short. It did indeed look very strange.

The moment Tang Ku handed the item to Di Renjie, he suddenly caught a glimpse of other things in the bundle out of the corner of his eye.

He snatched the bundle back into his hands and said in shock, "This... how is this possible? But, if it's impossible... then how do you explain that checkmark? No... no, there's something wrong here..."

Inside the bundle lay two items quietly. One was already so burnt that its original appearance was unrecognizable, but Tang Ku could tell at a glance that it should have been an exquisite keychain, seemingly a figurine of some cartoon character. The other was a torn red banknote. Although the banknote was damaged, the undamaged part clearly featured the complete portrait of the Great Instructor!