44: The mastermind behind this

"What do you mean by that?!" Wang Weidong asked anxiously.

"These Mystic Cannons are all for show, and even the people firing them have run away! They have already evacuated through the secret passages in the valley. If we wait here for another day, where will we find them?!" Qi Huaiyi sighed.

"Is that so?! Is this news confirmed?!"

"Confirmed! This is my special combat number, only Director Yu and a few command personnel in the Southern Division know about it. Someone must have found out about the Dark Night Organization's situation and urgently informed me! General, look, there's even a live feed here. The Dark Night Organization members are evacuating through two secret passages inside the valley. One of them has those Fusang People and Snow Eagle People, and I believe that killer is also among them!"

"This... pursue them immediately! Oh, do you have information on the location of the secret passage exits?" Wang Weidong asked.

"Yes! Both exits have been found!" Qi Huaiyi said excitedly.

"Very good! I didn't expect the Southern Division's intelligence capabilities to be so strong now, it's a huge help! What are we waiting for then? You two teams go to those two exits to ambush and capture them, and I'll lead my team to pursue them from behind!"

"Yes!!!" Qi Huaiyi and Hai Xiang responded in unison, splitting up to act...

Indeed, after everyone began their operation, they discovered that most of the Mystic Cannons on the platforms were actually ordinary cannons disguised as Mystic Cannons, with only a few genuine ones. The cannonballs nearby were also pitifully few, and the gunners had long since disappeared!

Wang Weidong roared, slashing out with his saber, and a section of the building collapsed with a crash. No way, was it still a shoddy construction?

Charging further in, they found that there were indeed many traps and hidden weapons inside, but they posed very little threat to these military experts. Following the information provided, everyone quickly found the entrances to the two secret passages and immediately split into two groups. Wang Weidong pursued the secret passage with the Fusang People and Snow Eagle People...

Night Hawk's voice no longer appeared, evidently he too was shocked by the opponent's speed of action, wishing he could escape faster. He never understood in his dreams how Qi Huaiyi and Wang Weidong had detected his empty fort strategy and delaying tactics, and how they could find the secret passage exits so quickly. All of this was too incredible for him and shattered his previous perception of the Great Ming military and the Jianxuan Envoy Department's capabilities...

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! Didn't Prince Ding's people say that Yu Xun and the others hadn't found anything at all? So what's the situation now?!" Night Hawk muttered to himself, speeding up his escape...

He was extremely cunning, choosing to escape through the secret passage that did not have the Fusang People and Snow Eagle People, because he knew that the official's primary target would definitely be those Fusang People, especially that killer. Therefore, there would definitely not be any powerful experts pursuing him in this direction. As expected, with his abilities, when he escaped the secret passage, Hai Xiang and the other Xuanwu Guards had not even arrived at the exit to set up an ambush, allowing him to easily escape!

As for his other subordinates, Night Hawk had no intention of taking them with him. He would just let them fend for themselves. After all, in terms of hard power, the Dark Night Organization could not contend with the military forces and Xuanwu Guard elites. The things he said to Qi Huaiyi earlier were pure bragging, definitely an empty fort strategy...

In fact, Night Hawk really hadn't expected the Great Ming to suddenly send military forces and Xuanwu Guards to encircle and suppress them. The information he had received from Prince Ding earlier indicated that the hijacking operation was extremely successful, not only were the Fusang People and Snow Eagle People full of praise, but even Prince Ding had sent people to commend them. Therefore, the Dark Night Organization members had been celebrating during this period and hadn't even noticed the official's covert operation to evacuate the populace, only realizing it when the encircling forces suddenly appeared at the valley entrance. As a result, in their hasty response, they suffered heavy losses, and the assassins lost their fighting spirit. After all, this kind of direct confrontation was not what these assassins were good at, so Night Hawk had no choice but to order a retreat. He himself, relying on his high Cultivation, covered the rear. To buy time for the retreating people, he even came up with a brilliant idea and temporarily employed an empty fort strategy and delaying tactics. However, he hadn't been smug for long when he saw Wang Weidong, a Martial Master, directly attack in the early stages. He was scared out of his wits and immediately turned to flee...

"Alas, I guess the Fusang People and Snow Eagle People are also doomed. It's truly extreme joy turning into sorrow. This old lair is ruined, it really pains my heart... However, a cunning rabbit has three burrows, that's not just bragging. I, Night Hawk, will be back, and when Prince Ding becomes the Crown Prince, I will definitely be among the meritorious officials!!!" Night Hawk hurled a string of harsh words towards Dark Night Valley and turned to leave...

"Prince Ding? Crown Prince?!"

Long Yuan had been monitoring this operation. The information Qi Huaiyi received earlier was sent by him after he used network technology learned on Earth to hack into the Southern Division's System, thereby allowing the Great Ming side to directly break into Dark Night Valley. This made him a little proud, because if it weren't for his information, Qi Huaiyi and the others might have been bluffed by Night Hawk. If they had stayed in the valley for another day, they wouldn't have even seen a shadow of an assassin.

At this moment, he obtained another astonishing piece of information from Night Hawk's soliloquy: the mastermind behind this hijacking incident was very likely Prince Ding! That is, the fifth-ranked imperial prince of Great Ming, Prince Ding!

Prince Ding's goal was, of course, the position of Crown Prince. Why would he plan this hijacking incident? Was even the previous attack incident part of his plan?

Who did he want to strike? He even went so far as to collude with Fusang People and Snow Eagle Country people to harm the young Genius of his own country...

Long Yuan also wanted to know who Prince Ding wanted to strike, but because the Heavenly Dao Eye's current information retrieval range had not yet reached the two Imperial Capitals, he could not accurately ascertain it. However, it could be imagined that this person must be another imperial prince who could potentially obtain the position of Crown Prince. One could find out by seeing who was most affected by this incident.

"Hmm, it's very likely an imperial prince in charge of foreign affairs. If Prince Ding succeeds in this matter, the arrogance of the Fusang People diplomatic envoys will definitely increase even more. Conversely, it also indicates that Great Ming has somewhat failed in handling foreign relations, for example, casually arresting someone and blaming foreigners is a bit too simple and crude... From this perspective, I have inadvertently intervened in a battle for the Crown Prince position. Goodness gracious..."

Long Yuan quickly recited a Heart Cleansing Mantra, deciding to forget about this matter. For him now, he absolutely could not get involved in such a major event, otherwise, a slight oversight could lead to him being crushed to pieces. The reason he helped Qi Huaiyi was simply because he didn't want to go to the South Capital Yingtian Prefecture to meet those Fusang People diplomatic envoys. After all, the less he showed his face now, the safer he would be...

He collected his thoughts and focused on Cultivating. Today, he would break through to the Martial Master Realm!

If outsiders knew about this, they would be incredibly shocked, because a 16-year-old boy was actually going to break through to the Martial Master Realm. Even in the Imperial Capital, such a thing would be a major event. The number of people who could achieve this was absolutely few and far between. Perhaps some people in Great Ming's history could do it, but it certainly wouldn't exceed the number of ten fingers. After all, under normal circumstances, a 16-year-old boy would have just Awakened his Martial Dao talent, and the time truly spent on Cultivating Cultivation Technique would be extremely short. Except for those top Geniuses who started Cultivating from a young age, the vast majority of people would remain at the Martial Apprentice stage...

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