64: Chapter 64 The Embroidered Uniform Guard's Mission!

The contents of the mission were revealed.

"Three days ago, Chief Constable Liu Heng of the West City County Yamen stole an important item and subsequently fled the city." Instructor Gao's voice was cold and hard, devoid of any emotion. "Your mission is to capture him and recover the stolen goods. Here is his portrait."

As he spoke, he took out a stack of pre-prepared portraits from his bosom and distributed them.

Lin Tian took one. On the paper, charcoal strokes outlined a burly man with a fleshy face and leopard-like eyes.

Next to it, small characters were annotated: Chief Constable Liu Heng, formerly of the West City County Yamen, cultivation at Second Grade Middle Stage, skilled in using a thick-backed mountain-cleaving saber, fierce in temperament, and possessed immense strength.

"Second Grade Middle Stage..." Many felt a secret shiver in their hearts.

Most of these newcomers had only just entered the Second Grade. Facing a chief constable who had been in the Second Grade for many years and possessed rich combat experience, the pressure was not small.

"Instructor, where did this person flee to? Where should we go to search?" Lie Yun of the Liehuo Martial Arts Hall asked loudly, his eyes flashing with an eager light.

"Unknown." Instructor Gao answered crisply and cleanly. "It is precisely because his whereabouts are a mystery that I need all of you to set out."

The ten people were divided into five groups, two people per team, heading respectively to the four cardinal directions of Heishan City and the northeast mountain forest area to conduct the search and arrest.

"Whoever can discover his tracks, manage to delay or capture him, and recover the stolen goods will be credited with the primary merit and will be handsomely rewarded!"

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the crowd, his tone deepening: "However, I must remind you all: Chief Constable Liu Heng's strength is not weak, and he is a desperate outlaw with an even fiercer nature."

"If you encounter him alone and do not have absolute certainty, you must not act rashly. Immediately use the specially made fireworks signal from the office to call for help and wait for colleagues to surround him. Remember, the primary task is to find him and keep an eye on him; capturing him is secondary. Your lives are paramount!"

"Alright, find a partner each. Depart after one incense stick's time, and head to your respective locations!"

Everyone acknowledged the order and quickly began to discuss grouping.

Lin Tian and Senior Sister Chen Yu exchanged a glance; no words were needed, and they naturally formed a group.

They were assigned to search the northeast direction, which was precisely the vast, primitive mountain forest outside Heishan City. The terrain was complex, making it the easiest place to hide.

"Be careful." Senior Sister Chen Yu lowered her voice, a hint of gravity in her beautiful eyes. It was their first mission, and their opponent was no mediocre hand, so she could not help but be cautious.

"Mhm." Lin Tian nodded, carefully looking over Chief Constable Liu Heng's portrait to memorize his features, and immediately said in a low voice: "This person is experienced and will surely seek out dangerous and secluded places to hide. We don't need to rush our search, but we must be thorough. If we truly discover him, do not act rashly; send the signal first."

Senior Sister Chen Yu nodded solemnly.

Very quickly, the five groups were set. They collected the whistling arrows and firework signals used for communication, took some dry rations and water, and left the Centurion Office, galloping off in different directions.

Lin Tian and Senior Sister Chen Yu exited the North Gate and headed straight for the vast mountain forest in the northeast.

They did not know that at this moment, inside Heishan City, dark undercurrents were also surging.

A county yamen chief constable stealing treasure and fleeing was undoubtedly a great humiliation and a major dereliction of duty for the West City County Magistrate. The yamen's constables and runners had almost all swarmed out, searching extensively in the city and the near suburbs, causing chaos.

However, as to what exactly was stolen, the Magistrate was tight-lipped, saying only that it was "important public property," and no one knew the specific details.

The Imperial Guard was responsible for the area outside the city, especially the search of dangerous mountain and wild areas, with a clear division of labor from the county yamen.

But everyone knew that anything that could make a county chief constable risk great danger and betray the government to steal it was definitely no ordinary item. However, at this moment, finding the person and recovering the item was the priority.

Entering the mountain forest, the clamor vanished instantly, replaced by boundless silence and layers of green.

Towering ancient trees blocked the sun and sky, vines were tangled, and thick rotting leaves piled up on the ground. The air was filled with the damp, decaying scent of soil and vegetation.

Searching was far more difficult than imagined. Chief Constable Liu Heng clearly had a premeditated plan; after leaving the city, he had deliberately erased most of his tracks.

Lin Tian could only rely on the map to slowly advance in a net-like fashion within the designated approximate area.

He needed to be alert for fresh human footprints on the ground, broken branches, traces of extinguished campfires, and even subtle scents that did not belong to wild beasts.

Three days of time passed quickly in the boring and meticulous search.

They traveled by day and rested by night, crossing several mountain peaks and passing through several deep, secluded canyons.

They encountered several waves of blind wild beast attacks, which they easily dispatched, but clues regarding Chief Constable Liu Heng remained elusive.

That afternoon, Lin Tian arrived at a secluded valley rarely visited by humans.

In the valley was a small pool of water; the pool was deep, dark green, and bottomless. The surrounding rock walls were slippery and covered in moss.

Scattered around the edge of the pool were some footprints and droppings of wild beasts.

"Let's rest for a moment and replenish some water."

Lin Tian walked to the edge of the pool. He first cautiously picked up a fist-sized stone and threw it forcefully into the center of the pool.

"Splash!" The stone entered the water, creating a ripple and quickly sinking. Apart from a dull echo, there was nothing unusual.

The pool was extremely deep and did not look like it could hide a person, and if there were large aquatic beasts underwater, they should have reacted to being disturbed by the stone.

"The water is too deep; it doesn't look like a place to hide." Lin Tian observed for a moment and came to a conclusion.

He took his waterskin, filled it with the clear pool water, ate some dry rations, and after a brief rest, continued to search deeper along the valley.

However, just about one incense stick's time after he left, "Glug, glug..."

In the center of the originally calm, dark green pool, a series of dense bubbles suddenly rose up.

Immediately following this, the water surface broke with a splash, and a wet, muscular, burly man suddenly burst out from the water, kicking up a large spray.

He clung to a rock on the edge of the pool, gasping violently like a fish out of water.

"Damn it... that was really mother-f***ing dangerous!" The big man wiped the water from his face, cursing with lingering fear, his voice hoarse. "I almost got strangled to death by the tentacles of that ghostly thing at the bottom of the pool... Fortunately, I don't know which wicked person threw a stone into the water just now, startling that beast, so I took the opportunity to chop off its head with one slash!"

He caught his breath, a ferocious and triumphant smile appearing on his face, and carefully opened his tightly clenched left hand.

In the palm of his hand, there sat an extraordinary fruit the size of an egg, bright red as blood throughout, crystal clear like top-quality agate!

The surface of the fruit had a faint luster flowing over it, emitting an alluring fragrance and majestic life essence.

"Hehehe... the legendary 'red blood vermilion fruit'! A heaven-and-earth exotic fruit that can cleanse the marrow and change the meridians, significantly boost Qi and blood, and help people break through Bottlenecks!" The big man's eyes erupted with fanatical light.

"That dog magistrate sewed the treasure map into the chair cushion; did he really think it was undetectable? It still ended up being fished out by me! With this treasure, I might be able to break through the barrier, step into the realm of a Rank 3 Martial Artist, or even... comprehend the mysteries of 'Bright Energy' Major Achievement! By then, the sky is wide for birds to fly, and who can do anything to me?"

This person was none other than the leopard-eyed chief constable on the wanted poster—Chief Constable Liu Heng!

The "treasure" he took was not gold or jewelry, but an ancient animal-skin map recording the location of this rare "red blood vermilion fruit"!

At this moment, the fruit was already in hand.

He quickly took out a pre-prepared jade box from his waterproof oilcloth pouch, carefully placed the bright red fruit inside, closed it tightly, and tucked it away carefully.

Having done all this, he looked around vigilantly. Confirming no one was there, he quickly took off his soaked outer garment, wrung it out, changed into a spare set of gray cloth clothes, identified his direction, and sneaked deeper into the mountain forest.

Lin Tian, who had already left the valley, naturally could not know about any of this.

However, perhaps it was fate, or perhaps it was an intuition for danger.

After Lin Tian had explored deep into the valley for about half an hour, a low and threatening beast roar suddenly came from the dense forest ahead, and an aura several times more powerful than the wild beasts they had encountered before permeated the area.

"Not good, it's a big one!" Lin Tian's expression changed slightly, sensing that the aura was at least comparable to a Second Grade Early Stage Martial Artist, and it reeked of violence.

"Retreat!" Lin Tian decided instantly.

The mission was to find a person; there was no need to fight to the death with such a powerful Yao Beast, wasting energy or even getting injured.

With tacit understanding, they converged their Qi, slowly retreated, and bypassed that area.

After circling around, without realizing it, they had circled back to the vicinity of the pool they had passed by earlier.

Just as they were preparing to fetch water again to rest, Lin Tian's gaze suddenly froze, stopping at the edge of the pool.

He saw that on the moist mud at the edge of the pool, in addition to the few footprints they had left earlier, there were several extra... wide footprints that were clearly from someone who had just come ashore from the water not long ago, still bearing water stains!

The footprints sank deeply into the mud, showing that the owner was not light in weight.

Even more eye-catching was that in the shallow water area near the pool, the originally dark green pool water now faintly revealed a trace of abnormal... dark red?

In the air, besides the scent of water vapor and vegetation, there seemed to be a trace of an extremely faint... smell of blood that had not yet completely dissipated?

"Someone... came out of this pool?" A sharp glint flashed in Lin Tian's eyes. "And they were injured? Or... killed the thing in the pool?"

Lin Tian squatted down, carefully examining the direction and depth of those footprints, and then glanced at the dark red pool water.

He slowly stood up, casting his gaze toward the deep, secluded mountain forest where the footprints extended.

"Who is it?" He whispered to himself, already having a seven or eight-tenths guess in his heart.

In this desolate, deep mountain forest, appearing here just after they left, with water-stained footprints and possibly stained with blood... apart from that Chief Constable Liu Heng, whom they had been searching for bitterly for three days, who was good at hiding, and who might be carrying the "treasure," who else could it be?

The prey seemed to be not far ahead.