Hao Ren pocketed the crystal ball and then he left the barren Kano Mansion. As he stepped out of the house a cloud of flame swallowed the place quickly and left a scorched ground. The entire Iron Mountain City was alerted and many experts came over to investigate but they found no clue.
Samaira was the only one who knew what was going on. She quickly pointed at the people to look at the wall that still stood amongst the ruins and asked, "Director Til, can you see what is going on here?"
Director Til was shocked to see the situation. He discerned the text on the wall and shivered before he yelled, "Iron Guards, seal the city. We have been infiltrated by Demon Moon remnants. Call Captain Hyde for me, right now."
His voice was loud but it was heard only by the soldiers of the Iron Guard. They were quick to react, the entire city was sealed and all the travelers were confined inside. Hao Ren had just reached his old accommodation when he saw Xiao Yu standing on the side and asked, "Did you think I sent you out for a vacation?"
Xiao Yu shook her head and said, "No, Master. These days the chances of finding a mansion are very low, and I only managed to find one today."
Hao Ren narrowed his gaze and thought that the coincidence of this to happen on the same day as the day when he took action against the Kano Family. He understood that this happened because Samaira intervened.
He said, "Good. Take me there."
Xiao Yu nodded and led him through quickly. It took them a few minutes to leave the refining hall area and they came to the western parts of the City Center. The place was running with city guards and they looked very alert. A few of them passed by Xiao Yu and Hao Ren, but their initial intention to stop them was strangled by the shiny badge hanging on Hao Ren's chest.
After they came across the third team, Hao Ren asked, "Sir, what is going on? Why is the city center so vacant?"
The guard replied, "Master, someone has attacked the Kano Family mansion and they have caused great destruction. We are conducting an investigation. Please get back to your home as soon as possible."
Hao Ren thanked the guard and left with Xiao Yu. They appeared before a barren mansion and Xiao Yu said, "Master, this place has been cleaned. We can stay here directly."
The young man nodded and they moved inside the place. Hao Ren knew that it wouldn't be long before he would be visited by someone from the council. He decided to act quickly and created a teleportation array inside the forging room of the mansion.
He came out and said to Xiao Yu, "I am going to forge sword, if someone comes looking for me, tell them to wait for a bit."
Xiao Yu nodded, and Hao Ren went inside the forging room to quickly access the teleportation formation and appeared in the Crescent Moon Empire.
As soon as he came to the palace the young man moved to Xiao Mei's lab and entered the place and he tossed the crystal ball to Xiao Mei who asked, "What is this?"
The young man said, "This is a device that is used by the new enemy to communicate with each other discreetly."
Xiao Mei took a deep glance of the device before she sent it inside the scanning machine. The computer whirred and Xiao Mei said, "This is a good thing, but lacks a little security."
Hao Ren raised his brow and Xiao Mei said, "The arrays they use create prominent spirit connections, similar to broadband. We can trace them by tweaking with them a little."
The young man nodded and asked, "So, if I ask you to come up with a device to track down these people, how long will it take?"
Xiao Mei replied, "Twenty-four hours, I will not give it to you without running any tests."
Hao Ren nodded and said, "Fine, do it your way but be quick, I will go and handle things on my side, and will come back tomorrow. Also, halt all the official and research travel of the officials, completely and call them all back as soon as possible. Send out a command, tell the rest of the Spirit Shimmer Continent to hold back and seal their lands. We are facing a Shadow Empire, the one that exists in the shadows of all the other nations. It is going to be a tricky situation and these people have a lot of information to put us in a tough spot."
Xiao Mei nodded and Hao Ren tossed her an image stone before he left the place in a hurry again. After a few minutes, Hao Ren appeared inside the forging room, and waved his hand to disperse the isolation array. Then he controlled his body and created some sweat on himself before walking out of the forging room, only to find Xiao Yu standing outside the door, and he asked while using a towel, "What is going on?"
The young lady replied, "Master, someone from the Southern district has come over to ask you a few questions."
Hao Ren nodded and asked, "How long have they been waiting for me?"
Xiao Yu replied, "They have been waiting for fifteen minutes, now."
The young man said, "Good, rush out of the front door, and circle around the back door, conceal your aura."
Xiao Yu nodded and Hao Ren made his way to the living room, where he found three people sitting on the couch. Hao Ren took a deep breath and spoke up with a smile, "Hello, how can I help you? I apologize for the delay in forging a sword."
The trio stood up and greeted him with cupped fists. The young man asked, "Hello, Master Ren, are you aware of what is going on in the city?"
Hao Ren nodded and replied, "Yes, I am aware, on the way to this house, we encountered some city guards. So, I asked them about it. It is very sad that something is going on, please tell me what can I do to help?"
The middle-aged man who appeared to be the leader of the trio asked, "Master Ren, we found from the records that you had visited the Directorate today?"
Hao Ren knew if he lied, they would suspect him more and so he nodded, and replied, "Director Samaira took me there for a new badge."
The second man, who wore a black scaled long cap on his head, asked, "What is it that you were doing there?"
The young man smiled bashfully, "You see, Officer, I had just broken through the barrier of the ninth star master, so Director Samaira was taking me to the Directorate, however, we couldn't go through the process, as something big had occurred when we were on the way to meet with Director Kano."
The third person, who was a lady, asked, "Do you know what it could have been that delayed your promotion?"
Hao Ren shook his head and said, "I have no idea because Director Samaira just sent me back and that's all. How can I question someone so high above my station?"
The officers found it reasonable, it would be direct punishment if someone was to question the directors. At this moment, the young man said, "I apologize, but we have just moved to this place and the basic grocery is yet to be bought from the market. I shall fetch you with water."
The trio shook their heads and the middle-aged man said, "No worries, Master Ren, we will be heading out now, if you recall anything out of the ordinary, please contact us at the Investigation Office."
Hao Ren nodded and bowed to them before watching them all leave. After making sure that the people had left, the young man turned his head to call Xiao Yu, and asked, "They didn't detect you it seems, how?"
Xiao Yu replied, "Master, I have a soul silencing brooch made by Lady Samaira. She gave it to me so that I could do her work with ease and undetected."
Hao Ren remarked, "I didn't expect her to be so generous, but it is good. Go out and buy regular supplies."
Xiao Yu nodded and was about to leave when Hao Ren said, "Tell Samaira to lay low, and I will handle things my way."
The young lady nodded, before she left and Hao Ren entered the forging room with a cold gaze. He was going to kill the people of the Demon Moon Shadow Empire, and for that he needed strength and a plan which needed some time to be cooked.
Han Lingshi was sitting in the spirit vessel heading to the north of the Spirit Siphon Continent and she looked back at the direction they came from with some worry on her mind. Hao Mei asked, "Are you worried about him?"
Han Lingshi nodded and the latter said, "He will be fine, don't worry, that guy is even more cunning than all of us combined." For original chapters go to Novᴇl_Fire(.)net
This caused Han Lingshi to chuckle and reply, "That I agree on."