Chapter 63 Nothing Happened

In truth, asserting that nothing had transpired throughout the week would be imprecise.

Every evening, Lyte diligently reported his observations to Xie Hai Zhu, while his days were spent meticulously monitoring Xie Shenhong.

Yet, apart from a minor stir caused by Wendy’s transfer, no other unusual incidents had occurred over the past seven days.

Not a single attack by the remnants of the Sakura Empire had transpired.

The 99th Squad had convened at headquarters once over the weekend, only for Li Tianming to offer a few words of encouragement before promptly disbanding them.

During this period, he had neither appeared near the Xie family residence nor visited Sifang Academy for exchanges.

It was as if he had entirely forgotten his original objective.

The more this continued, the more a sense of urgency gnawed at Xie Shenhong’s heart.

He understood implicitly that Li Tianming and his cohort would never abandon their efforts to restore his memories, and he was equally certain that both the Empire and the Sakura remnants were secretly plotting something nefarious.

Furthermore, the knowledge he had brought from his rebirth had already become obsolete.

Indeed, nothing instilled greater dread than the unknown.

Fortunately, perhaps his silent pleas had finally moved the heavens, for as the lunch break concluded that day, Li Tianming himself sought him out.

“Shenhong, come with me; we have an urgent temporary assignment.”

Given that Lyte and Wendy were nearby, Li Tianming spoke in a normal tone.

“Captain, what about me? What about me?” Wendy eagerly stepped forward.

“You are on standby.” Considering Wendy’s nature, Li Tianming added after a pause, “This matter is confidential, and too many people cannot be involved.”

“How can this be…” Wendy pouted, displaying the slight grievance of being excluded.

“Should anything arise, please contact us immediately.” Lyte, who understood Li Tianming’s intentions, gazed at Xie Shenhong with concern.

“I will.” Xie Shenhong offered a nonchalant smile before calmly following Li Tianming away.

However, no sooner had they distanced themselves from the others and reached a somewhat secluded corner than Li Tianming eagerly dropped to his knees.

“Lord Shenhong, your subordinate dared to address you with such disrespect… I beg your forgiveness!”

“It’s fine. Rise. The mission is paramount.”

Throughout this past week, Xie Shenhong had encountered Li Tianming once or twice near headquarters.

Yet each time, Li Tianming displayed such an affected show of deference that Xie Shenhong now found himself utterly devoid of interest when speaking with him.

“As you command!”

Li Tianming remained kneeling, his head still bowed.

“Rise.”

“As you command!”

“In a moment, please continue to address me with your previous tone… This is an order.”

“Your subordinate obeys!”

‘Ah… this is exhausting.’

Xie Shenhong sighed inwardly, then silently followed Li Tianming into a taxi that took them to the military training camp in the Royal Capital’s Northern District.

The Imperial Navy was underdeveloped, meaning any enemy attacks would primarily originate from the west and north; consequently, the barracks for the Azure Dragon Knights and the City Guards were situated in the northwest, while the Deep Sea Crimson Knights’ headquarters lay to the east.

The camp they were now visiting belonged to the City Defense Force.

“We are here to investigate an attack.”

Li Tianming informed the gate guard, presenting his credentials.

“You are Crimson Hawk? Please wait a moment!”

The guard hastily contacted the surveillance room via walkie-talkie to notify the person in charge, and during this brief interlude, Xie Shenhong quickly questioned Li Tianming about the incident.

“The enemy attacked the City Defense Force?”

“Yes, the City Defense Force stationed to the northeast was attacked last night while on duty, and the assailants were killed by the reinforcements who arrived later.”

“Killed…”

“It wasn’t a murder to silence witnesses, nor was it a simple suicide. I can’t say for certain about the specifics; we’ll need to inquire further.”

Li Tianming, uncharacteristically, displayed a grave expression, his thoughts entirely consumed by the incident.

Witnessing this, Xie Shenhong breathed a sigh of relief inwardly.

He truly feared that Li Tianming, lacking discretion, would continue to make everything revolve around him, even in the face of such serious matters…

The City Defense Force’s company commander soon emerged to greet them, and before long, the two were ushered into the office of the Third Regiment Commander.

Seated within the office was a green-haired young man who, upon seeing them, immediately rose with an expression of nostalgia.

“Welcome… How should I address you both now?”

Finally, he had arrived. Xie Shenhong glanced at Li Tianming, awaiting his introduction.

Xie Shenhong had learned about this young man from the dossiers: an early-stage Martial Marquis, skilled in wind magic, and recently appointed as a City Defense Force regiment commander… Indeed, he was also one of the Seven Heroes of the Eastern Expedition.

“It has been a long time. I am Crimson Hawk, Li Tianming, and this is my team member, Xie Shenhong.”

“I see… It has indeed been a long time.” Green Maple cast a deep glance at Xie Shenhong before turning to Li Tianming. “You’re here to assist me with the investigation, I presume? The files are here; please take a look first.”

Green Maple handed the documents from the table to Xie Shenhong and Li Tianming in turn, then returned to his own desk, his gaze fixed intently upon Xie Shenhong.

However, rather than dwelling on the somewhat discomforting, piercing stare, Xie Shenhong prioritized resolving the incident and swiftly disregarded Green Maple, immersing himself completely in reading the materials.

“After you defeated the assailant, they vanished into thin air?”

After reading for a moment, Li Tianming frowned.

“Precisely. The assailant had likely just advanced to the Martial Marquis stage, and their control over magic was rather ordinary. My ‘Flying Petal Plucking Leaf’ pierced their body with a single strike, yet by the time I pursued, they had already disappeared without a trace.”

“Your speed is far too slow, isn’t it?”

“While my speed is indeed subpar among wind-attribute mages, they were simply too fast, leaving not even a drop of blood behind… It makes me wonder if they were a summoned beast.”

Green Maple’s deduction was highly plausible; summoned beasts leave no traces upon death and certainly do not bleed, perfectly aligning with the circumstances of this incident.

However,

“The nearby surveillance systems detected no magical fluctuations indicative of a summoned beast…” Xie Shenhong flipped to the page containing the surveillance data, confirming it once more. “The possibility of the assailant using an evasion technique is also extremely low… As for elementalization, with the Vermilion Bird Grand Array in place, only one individual in the kingdom could achieve it.”

In reality, there were two exceptions, but Nangong Yan’s public statement was that he had been injured ten years prior and had made no progress since, thus ostensibly, the kingdom possessed no Battle Marquises.

Only Xie Hai Zhu was capable of elementalization.

“However, the central system of the Vermilion Bird Grand Array has already confirmed that there are no new Battle Marquises within the city. Furthermore, if the assailant were a Battle Marquis, they would not have been defeated by me, unless they concealed their strength to avoid alerting others, or perhaps…”

Fearing eavesdroppers and judging the soundproofing barrier insufficient, Green Maple left the other possibility unsaid.

Yet, the other two immediately understood—the Vermilion Bird Grand Array had been compromised.

“It’s too soon to jump to conclusions.” Xie Shenhong shook his head.

This was not mere obstinacy; rather, over the past few days, Xie Shenhong had meticulously pondered Sima Le’s reasons for betrayal… or more precisely, the confidence behind his betrayal.

It was simply that the Empire had also unearthed relics from an ancient civilization.

Among these, a method that could evade the Vermilion Bird Grand Array’s detection and allow one to come and go without a trace… He couldn’t speak for others.

But if it were him, a method he had personally experienced came to mind.

“You’re right, I wouldn’t want that to be the case either.” Green Maple said.

“…”

Xie Shenhong pondered for a moment, then decided to remain silent for now.

After all, Li Tianming was the only one privy to more of the inside information.

“I’ll leave the rest to you.”

However, Green Maple seemed unsurprised by Xie Shenhong’s demeanor, offering a faint smile.

‘Big brother, have you forgotten something?’

Observing Green Maple’s discussion shift, sidelining Li Tianming and focusing on his own responses, Xie Shenhong could only sigh and nod.

“Yes, I will do my best to investigate this matter.”

As soon as the serious discussion concluded, Green Maple immediately pulled out his phone, his face alight with excitement.

“By the way, let’s exchange contact information… Seriously, I never realized you were such a beautiful girl! Why didn’t you say so sooner? You don’t have a boyfriend, do you?”

“???”

Xie Shenhong was utterly bewildered.

Li Tianming’s face instantly darkened. He swiftly stepped between the two, shielding Xie Shenhong behind him.

“Let’s go.”

“Oh, alright.”

Realizing the situation, Xie Shenhong nodded quickly and darted away.

“Hey, don’t leave! At least remember my contact info!”

Green Maple’s shout echoed from behind, followed by a series of magical fluctuations, suggesting the two had a brief skirmish…

Approximately five minutes later, Xie Shenhong waited for Li Tianming at the entrance of the grand camp.

“It was merely a trifle. Let’s return.”

Before Xie Shenhong could utter words of thanks or concern, Li Tianming stated coldly.

Naturally, once they had left the military camp and reached a deserted corner, he knelt down as usual.

“Lord Shenhong, I am deeply apologetic for allowing such an impudent individual to offend you.”

“It’s nothing. Next time, I’ll be more careful to protect myself… Besides, I believe if I firmly rejected him, he wouldn’t actually attack me.”

“Your subordinate guarantees that such a situation will never occur again!”

“Is there anything else?” Any fleeting goodwill Xie Shenhong had felt towards Li Tianming, spurred by his protection, vanished once more without a trace.

“There is— ”

Li Tianming, uncharacteristically, raised his head and looked at him.

“Your subordinate implores you not to investigate this matter!”