Martial Dao: Peace by Force

Chapter 190: Chapter 146: Awe

The shopkeeper was a man in his fifties, wearing a worn-out cotton jacket and huddled behind the counter to warm himself by a fire. His expression softened only after he took their money. He poked his head out from behind the counter. "Yeah, there were. A few schoolgirls were having a shouting match over there. The things they were saying... real nasty."

As he spoke, he grew more animated and pointed outside. "Right over at the mouth of that alley. Three or four of them ganged up on one girl. I thought a fight was about to break out, so I kept an eye on it... and guess what? The one they were yelling at was a total badass. She took on all of them by herself and beat those girls so bad they were crying for their mamas. They couldn’t even get away."

"And then what happened?" Tan Xiao pressed.

"After that, the others ran off to the west, and the tough one chased after them." The shopkeeper pointed west. "They left a while ago and haven’t come back. So, who are you friends with? The ones who got their asses kicked, or the one doing the kicking?"

Wan Ze thanked him and turned to leave.

Tan Xiao followed him.

Sun Jing pressed her lips together, her head bowed, and said nothing.

The shopkeeper watched the three of them go, tutted, and pulled his head back behind the counter.

’What a shame. I didn’t even get the full story,’ he thought.

When they reached the alley’s entrance, Tan Xiao frowned. "Ah Ze, if it’s really like the shopkeeper said, Sun Fan should be fine. How tough can those goons Fu Min hired really be?"

Wan Ze didn’t answer.

He was thinking about something else.

’If she drove them off, why hasn’t she returned?’

Sun Jing had called and gotten no answer. He had called too, with the same result.

’Even if she was out playing the hero, she should have at least checked in at the dojo to let us know she was safe.’

"Let’s go in and see," Wan Ze said after a moment of thought.

The alley wasn’t deep. After a few dozen meters, it opened up into an old residential area.

The snow had stopped, but a biting wind still funneled through the alley’s entrance, creeping down their collars. A half-foot of snow covered the ground, and the spots where people had walked had frozen into slick, glistening patches of ice.

It was nearly dusk on a bitterly cold day, so there was no one else around.

Which made the tracks on the ground stand out clearly.

Tan Xiao crouched, pointing to a mess of footprints in the snow. "Signs of a struggle."

He took a few steps forward, and his expression changed. "There’s blood."

Wan Ze walked over.

A few drops of dark red stained the snow, forming a trail that led intermittently onward.

The three of them followed the blood trail for about a dozen paces before stopping at the corner of a wall.

A single shoe lay there.

It was a man’s athletic shoe, about a size nine, moderately worn and stained with blood.

Wan Ze crouched down, picked it up, and examined it.

The sole showed average wear, and the sides were caked with mud, as if its owner had run a fair distance. The blood was fresh.

He set the shoe down, his gaze fixed on the footprints as he slowly rose to his feet.

An image of the shoe’s owner was already forming in his mind.

’Around twenty years old, slender build, not a trained fighter... This kind of wear on the sole comes from a lot of walking, not from martial arts training.’

’Judging by the size and style, it was probably one of the local punks.’

He wasn’t too worried about Sun Fan getting hurt.

A Martial Artist in the Blood Tempering Realm was more than capable of handling a few punks.

Even if they were armed, as long as they weren’t trained fighters, she wouldn’t be at a disadvantage.

But this much blood seemed excessive.

He scanned the area. Scattered bloodstains stretched into the distance.

’If she was just dealing with the goons Fu Min hired, Sun Fan should know how to hold back.’

’That girl might be reckless, but she isn’t brainless.’

’Scaring them off would have been enough; she wouldn’t go for a lethal blow.’

’Unless...’

He pulled his gaze back, not wanting to follow that train of thought.

Tan Xiao came over, his expression grim. "This blood... it’s not Sun Fan’s, is it?"

He wasn’t sure.

’Logically, our junior sister is in the Blood Tempering Realm, so she shouldn’t get hurt easily. But how do you explain all this blood?’

Sun Jing stood behind them, her face pale. She bit her lip, not daring to make a sound.

"Let’s follow it," Wan Ze said, leading the other two at a quick pace along the trail of blood.

They passed through the alley and turned onto a long street.

At the far end of the street, a crowd had gathered.

Thirty or forty people, young and old, were huddled by the side of the road with their necks shrunk into their collars. They were all pointing in the same direction, their faces alight with the excitement of gawkers.

"Something’s definitely happened." Tan Xiao’s heart sank.

The three of them hurried over.

In the clearing at the center of the crowd, a police car was parked. Its roof lights were still spinning, casting flashing red and blue strobes across the snow.

A young woman was standing next to the car.

She wore her hair in a high ponytail, a black bomber jacket, and cargo pants tucked into short boots. A length of rope, pilfered from who-knows-where, was coiled at her waist. She stood ramrod straight, her chin slightly raised, with a little "Aren’t I amazing?" smirk on her face.

In front of her, four young men were squatting on the ground, their hands tied behind their backs with rope.

Two police officers were taking a statement; one was asking questions while the other jotted notes in a notebook.

Sun Fan looked up and happened to see Wan Ze emerging from the crowd.

She raised an eyebrow, a smile playing on her lips. "How’d you guys find me? It was just a few petty thieves. A piece of cake."

Standing next to Wan Ze, Tan Xiao glanced from Sun Fan to Wan Ze and back again, a peculiar look in his eyes.

’Wait... since when are you two so close?’

Sun Jing had already run over and thrown herself into Sun Fan’s arms, her voice choked with sobs. "Sis! You scared me to death!"

Sun Fan was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and patted her sister’s back. "What are you crying for? I’m perfectly fine, see?"

She patted Sun Jing’s shoulder and gently pushed her back a bit, jutting out her chin. "See them? Those two. They tried to ambush me, and I took them down flat."

Tan Xiao walked over, cleared his throat, and put on a deliberately stern expression. "Junior Sister Sun, we’re not saying you can’t be a hero, but you need to be careful! Do you have any idea how worried we were? If you pull something like this again, watch out, or Master will put you in confinement."

Sun Fan stuck out her tongue. "I know, I know," she said, but her expression made it clear the words were going in one ear and out the other.

Wan Ze, standing off to the side, was more direct. "Let’s go. Back to the dojo."

Sun Fan was about to agree when the young officer taking notes nearby suddenly looked up. The voice seemed familiar. He stared at Wan Ze’s face for a second, then blurted out in surprise, "It’s you?"

Tan Xiao stopped in his tracks and turned to look.

Sun Fan froze too, her gaze darting between Wan Ze and the officer.

Wan Ze looked at the young officer, his expression questioning.

But the young officer recoiled as if he’d been burned, instinctively taking half a step back.

He recognized him.

’That face... I could never forget it.’

’That day... on the sixth floor... when that suspect, Jie Zhengyang, fell from the building... it was this man’s doing.’

’I still remember the terrifying signs of battle in the woods by the residential complex, how everything was torn apart.’

’No normal person could have caused that kind of destruction.’

’Afterward, the military showed up and classified everything. My mentor and I were both forced to sign non-disclosure agreements, forbidden from breathing a single word about it.’

’I thought I’d never see him again.’

’I never expected to run into him here, today of all days.’

’He looked at Wan Ze’s face, remembering the swath of destroyed trees, the inhuman signs of combat, the stone-faced military officials... and he couldn’t help but shudder.’

He swallowed hard, forcing back the words on the tip of his tongue. He just gave a stiff nod, then quickly lowered his head to continue writing his report, not daring to look up again.

Wan Ze glanced at him, puzzled as to why the man was so afraid of him.

He didn’t say anything.

He turned and started walking toward the end of the street.

His communicator suddenly vibrated. Someone had sent him a message. After reading it, Wan Ze’s eyebrow twitched slightly, but he didn’t let anyone else notice. "Let’s hurry back."

"Right," Tan Xiao said, falling into step behind him.

Sun Jing stayed by Sun Fan’s side, whispering something to her as they hurried to catch up.

They left a string of footprints in the snow, which were quickly erased by the wind-swept powder.

...

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