435: Chapter 435 Remnants of the Old Era, A Seventeen-Year-Old Unsolved Case

The next morning, in the suburbs of Jiangdong.

A standalone villa nestled amidst lush woods and emerald bamboo appeared exceptionally quiet and elegant.

Inside the study, a wisp of fine ambergris rose lazily from a Boshan burner in the corner, filling the entire room with a pleasant and refreshing fragrance.

Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, shining upon the mirror-smooth golden nanmu flooring.

It also illuminated an elderly man who was concentrating on wielding his brush in front of a large mahogany desk.

The old man wore a well-tailored gray practice suit; he had a lean figure and graying hair, yet his waist and back were as straight as a pine.

His wrist was steady, and he was writing rapidly with the brush's center tip.

On the mutton-fat jade rice paper beneath his brush, the character "Cang" was nearing its completion.

His brushstroke transitioned from fast to slow, finally giving a light lift at the end to create a suspended-needle posture.

The entire character instantly exuded a profound and majestic demeanor of restrained sharpness, waiting quietly for the right moment to strike.

"Sir, Mr. Wei Zheng requests an audience."

Outside the door came the servant's respectful announcement.

"Let him in."

The old man did not raise his head, his voice steady.

Wei Zheng then walked into the study and, seeing that the old man was still practicing calligraphy, did not make a sound to disturb him.

He merely stood respectfully to the side with his hands lowered, his gaze falling upon the wall beside the desk.

Hanging there was a framed piece of calligraphy inscribed with the four characters "Swallowing Mountains and Rivers", signed by "Shi Chengyi".

The old man dipped his brush in ink once more and, in one continuous stroke on another sheet of rice paper, wrote the character "Kill".

Unlike the previous character "Cang", the strokes of this character "Kill" were fierce, and the dagger-axe hook on the right was even more blindingly sharp.

A bleak and murderous aura of clashing weapons and iron-clad horses hit him head-on, as if one could hear the shouts on the battlefield.

Having finished writing, the old man gently placed his wolf-hair brush onto the brush washer, contentedly scrutinized his work, and said indifferently:

"Practicing calligraphy is like practicing the mind; when hiding, one must be as immovable as a mountain, and when killing, it must be as overwhelming as thunder."

"If one cannot conceal their sharpness, there can be no talk of truly decisive slaughter."

"What Teacher teaches is right, and the student will remember it well."

Hearing this, Wei Zheng immediately bowed and replied.

At this moment, a servant walked in carrying a tea tray and placed two cups of steaming Biluochun tea on the coffee table beside the sofa respectively.

Only then did the old man turn around, revealing a lean and gaunt Face with a warm and energetic gaze.

He was none other than the Officer Shi mentioned by Ma Donghe — Shi Chengyi.

"Sit down, Little Wei."

Officer Shi pointed to the sofa nearby and greeted:

"You haven't come to see me in a while. What is it, do you harbor resentment in your heart, blaming me for not promoting you before I stepped down?"

"The student wouldn't dare."

Wei Zheng quickly explained: "The student is merely a bit worried about you, Teacher..."

Halfway through his words, he did not know how to continue.

"Worried that I was squeezed out into a cold office like the Logistics Department, losing Face and having no Face to meet people?"

Hearing this, Shi Chengyi smiled and sat down in the main seat with an open-minded demeanor:

"I actually think it's quite good. In the past, I was so busy my feet barely touched the ground; how could I have had time to enjoy life?"

"Look at me now, practicing calligraphy and growing flowers every day, with no trouble finding me. Days are very leisurely indeed."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Shi Chengyi picked up his teacup and blew on the floating tea leaves.

However, his gaze did not fall upon the tea water, but instead sharply scrutinized Wei Zheng as he slowly spoke:

"Your spirit and energy are a lot worse since you came back this time."

"I have read the mission report; the responsibility does not lie with you, it was a mistake by the Intelligence Department, and there was also the reason of delayed follow-up support."

He put down the teacup, making a light sound, and shifted the topic:

"I know what you are thinking. At the end of the day, it's just that some people don't want a capable general of the 'Shi faction' like you to achieve new merits."

"That person surnamed Ling has an overbearing personality and has always been vindictive. After rising to power relying on the Research Department, he now controls more than half of the Action Department, and they also know you are someone I brought up."

"Even if I had forcibly promoted you to a Tier 1 Administrative Officer before stepping down, or transferred you to another department to be a supervisor, what of it?"

"It would just be a position in name only, being given small shoes to wear every day, cutting off your support at critical moments, and sooner or later throwing you into a pit. Just like this matter, it might as well be a warning."

"Rather than that, it's better to stay steadily in the Third Action Division; there are still a few old-timers there, and no one dares to touch you."

Speaking up to this point, Shi Chengyi looked at Wei Zheng, and his tone became serious:

"Therefore, you had better not participate in this internal competitive recruitment for Tier 1 Administrative Officers and Advanced Investigators."

Wei Zheng remained silent, only tightening his knuckles slightly on the hand holding the teacup.

Seeing this, Shi Chengyi sighed, and his tone returned to gentleness:

"Rest assured, I will say a word to Little Liu from the Personnel Department to speed up your mental health evaluation process."

"During this period of time, you should rest soundly and not think about those random things."

The study fell into silence for a moment, with only the occasional chirping of birds coming from outside the window.

Wei Zheng looked at the floating tea leaves in the teacup, his gaze also drifting.

"Teacher, I still miss the days back in the training camp."

He rubbed the scalding cup wall with both hands, his voice somewhat low:

"Although it was very hard, there was always a driving force bottled up in my heart, filled with hope for the future."

Hearing this, Shi Chengyi was slightly stunned, and then also fell into memories:

"I still remember that among the batch of trainees I led, your Aptitude was originally ordinary and very inconspicuous."

"Unexpectedly, in the final evaluation, you stubbornly relied on an unyielding brute force to take third place in total score, which really made me look at you in a new light."

As he spoke, his gaze drifted toward the tall ginkgo tree outside the window, as if he were seeing the illustrious years of the past once again.

"The selection methods back then were quite different from now."

"At that time, we Martial Artists were the pillars of the team, and everyone had undergone at least ten years of arduous training before being qualified to enter the Special Investigation Team."

"Thirty years before that, when I first entered the training camp, Chief Li was still around, and he personally served as our instructor."

"Every day before dawn, we had to get up to do horse stances and stake standing, standing for two whole hours each time. At night, we had to smear on medicinal ointments and practice striking arts on each other, hurting so much that we wailed like ghosts and howled like wolves, but the next day, everyone was full of vigor again."

"It was precisely because of this day-in, day-out arduous training that we forged our formidable physiques and indomitable wills, and that the Special Investigation Team gained its subsequent resounding reputation."

"At that time, which blind chaebol aristocratic family dared to challenge us? Those bullshit organizations abroad had to take a detour whenever they heard the name of the Special Investigation Team."

Speaking up to this point, he withdrew his gaze, the heroic spirit on his Face gradually fading away and turning into a hint of desolate self-mockery.

"Sigh, times have changed now. Technology has progressed, and there are all kinds of ways to enhance strength."

"When young team members go on missions, they routinely shoot a tube of strengthening serum first, prettily calling it 'efficiency'—how can they still calm their hearts down to Cultivate martial arts?"

"Teacher..."

Wei Zheng wanted to say something, but found that any words appeared pale and powerless.

"The general trend of the world cannot be shifted by human effort."

Shi Chengyi waved his hand, his expression seeming to have already let go:

"Which country isn't conducting human body modification experiments nowadays? I don't actually have too many opinions about these, I just feel that they are taking things to too much of an extreme."

"Martial arts are, after all, a treasure passed down by our Old Ancestors; they cannot be easily abandoned like this, and even more so should be deeply studied and carried forward."

"Yet even if I think this way, without support from above, no one is willing to believe it."

"Unless... another peerless figure like Chief Li can emerge, otherwise, facing the current of history, we are, after all, remnants of the old era; we must resign ourselves to fate if we have to."

He chattered on and on, and finally smiled again:

"When a person gets old, their mouth becomes naggy; don't take it to heart."

Wei Zheng looked at this former mentor of his, feeling a complex and unpleasant mix of emotions in his heart.

He knew that Shi Chengyi's abdication meant that the Martial Artist faction within the Special Investigation Team had completely lost its backing at headquarters.

From then on, they would be a group of dragons without a head, and the days for the remaining people would only become even more difficult.

"Little Wei, you don't need to worry too much either."

Shi Chengyi instead comforted him:

"In the future, lean closer to that Deputy Director Gu; he has just arrived and is precisely at a time when he needs manpower, and it looks like he is not cut from the same cloth as the one surnamed Ling. Perhaps... he will treat you old fellows kindly."

Seeing his teacher looking like this, Wei Zheng finally couldn't help but speak out the true purpose of his visit this time:

"Teacher, the student has come this time actually to report a matter to you."

"Oh, what matter? Tell me about it."

Shi Chengyi picked up his teacup, gently blew on the floating foam, his expression plain, as if he could no longer muster much interest in anything.

Wei Zheng took a deep breath, his voice subsequently becoming a bit heavier:

"Yesterday, at Junior Martial Uncle's house, I saw a true martial arts Genius!"

Subsequently, he described in detail step-by-step how he met Fang Cheng yesterday, as well as Fang Cheng's sun-like scorching aura, terrifying appetite, and the cultivation progress of "touching the threshold of condensing the true self".

Shi Chengyi's originally gentle gaze gradually became sharp as Wei Zheng narrated.

Upon hearing "heaven and man responding to each other, stirring the celestial phenomena", his hand holding the teacup shook imperceptibly.

"He was in seclusion in the Ma Family's water prison, and in five days he successfully established his intent, began shaping the realm, and even stirred celestial phenomena?"

There was a hint of solemnity in Shi Chengyi's voice.

"Absolutely true!"

Wei Zheng said affirmatively:

"With this kind of Aptitude, the student feels... I'm afraid it can already be compared to Chief Li back then!"

Shi Chengyi fell silent.

He put down the teacup, slowly stood up, and paced back and forth in the study.

He then walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, with his back facing Wei Zheng, looking at the lush, century-old ginkgo tree in the courtyard outside the window.

Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting mottled light and shadow upon his body.

Yet his entire aura seemed to be isolated from this study, sinking into unfathomable thoughts.

What Wei Zheng's words stirred up in his heart was far more than surging waves!

A Genius who could be compared to a young Li Guizhen?

What he calculated in his heart first was the authenticity of this matter.

Wei Zheng was brought up by him single-handedly; his personality was steady, and he would never shoot without a target.

Then, this young man named Fang Cheng had an Aptitude of at least seventy to eighty percent of what Wei Zheng described.

Five days, establishing intent, shaping the realm, heaven and man responding to each other...

This was not Aptitude, this was a miracle!

What did this mean?

A sharp glint flashed in Shi Chengyi's eyes.

This meant that the traditional martial arts lineage might still have hope of a comeback!

The reason why the faction surnamed Ling could run rampant relied precisely on those mass-produced "super soldiers" from the Research Department.

They were indeed stronger than ordinary Martial Artists, but they had an obvious upper limit; not only was their Foundation unstable, but their spiritual level was also prone to problems.

As for the martial arts lineage, what it never lacked was heritage; what it lacked was simply a Peak combat strength that could hold down the fort and make everyone admire them.

This Fang Cheng might just be the lever capable of prying open the entire chess game!

He didn't need to change the current mainstream situation of the Special Investigation Team; that wasn't realistic.

But as long as he existed, as long as he could use pure martial Dao to display power surpassing that of modifying the body through experimental means.

Then, he would be a living banner!

He could reunite the increasingly declining and disheartened Martial Artist faction!

Shi Chengyi's heart, which had long been as calm as an ancient well, beat violently and uncontrollably.

This was not only for himself, for those disciples and old subordinates who had followed him but been suppressed for many years, but even more so to continue the Legacy left behind by Chief Li within this team.

He slowly closed his eyes, then snapped them open, his eyes bursting with astonishing radiance.

"Let him come see me!"

Shi Chengyi abruptly turned around, his gaze like lightning as he looked at the student sitting on the sofa, his tone unquestionable.

A wry smile appeared on Wei Zheng's Face instead:

"Teacher, I'm afraid he can't come."

"Why?"

"He... seems uninterested in our Special Investigation Team."

Shi Chengyi frowned:

"Didn't he apply for this spring selection together with that kid from the Ma Family?"

"No."

Wei Zheng shook his head: "I asked, and Ma Donghe said it was because he couldn't pass the background check."

"Background check?"

Shi Chengyi snorted coldly:

"What a small matter! With such a Genius, how can he be buried among the populace? He ought to serve the country!"

"What are those people in the Personnel Section doing for a living? Simply outrageous! I'll go have a proper argument with them right now!"

As he spoke, he stood up and walked toward the desk, preparing to make a phone call to hold them accountable, completely lacking that plain-as-water demeanor from before.

"Teacher, you've misunderstood."

Wei Zheng hurriedly dissuaded him: "It's not that he was stuck by the background check, but rather that he... didn't apply at all."

Shi Chengyi's footsteps paused, and he froze.

Wei Zheng explained:

"Yesterday, after leaving the Ma Family, I used my status to retrieve that Fang Cheng's file from the archive of the Dongdu Metropolitan Police Department."

"He is an only child, his mother is still alive, but his father... seventeen years ago, because he was suspected of a serial murder case, died in a fire, and the conclusion given by the police was suicide out of fear of crime."

"If it were simply a serial murder case, the problem wouldn't be too big, and it could be resolved by operating a bit."

"The key is that this case involved another even larger event."

"What event?"

Wei Zheng said word by word: "Guangwu Gate shooting."

Shi Chengyi's pupils shrank abruptly, and he drew in a sharp breath.

How could he possibly not know about this matter?

That was a major event recorded in the annals of the Great Xia Republic, which directly led to social transformation!

In the early days of the Republic, the high-handed rule of the military government aroused strong dissatisfaction among the people.

That year, a massive protest movement broke out in Dongdu, with tens of thousands of citizens taking to the streets to march.

Just as the parade procession passed through Guangwu Gate Square, a group of masked gunmen suddenly opened fire from the surrounding buildings, conducting indiscriminate shooting at the crowd.

On the spot, dozens of innocent passersby and journalists fell in pools of blood, and even a famous civil rights activist at the time was seriously injured and nearly killed.

The military government at the time claimed that this matter was done by a rebel organization, intending to create chaos and frame others.

However, the people didn't believe this rhetoric at all, so public opinion was completely detonated, and the scale of the protest expanded unprecedentedly.

This matter became the last straw that broke the camel's back, ultimately forcing the military government to step down and transfer power to the newly elected government.

After taking office, the new government's first thing was to swear to thoroughly investigate the matter, organize activities to commemorate the victims, and actively capture the fugitive murderers...