Li Chonglou had long been impatient to search for his father in Kunling.
However, due to his master being imprisoned and his need to protect himself and Liu Ping'er, he joined the Xiong Ying organization. Now, he was on a mission.
He couldn't split his focus.
But if he could get clues in Zhonghai, he would be overjoyed.
His master needed Shi Boqiong to save his master's wife. He himself had wanted to find the base in the past to change the fate of his master and senior sister.
For this purpose, he had even asked Wu Hao to establish a treasure appraisal platform.
But he never expected things to take a turn, and the base appeared on its own. The current direction of fate was completely different from his past life, with no reference point.
As for Wu Hao, with Lu Yunxu's help, he was developing freely.
And he, Li Chonglou, had his own responsibilities!
"Junior brother," Lin Ying glanced at the rearview mirror shortly after they got on the road.
A Toyota Prado was trailing them from a distance, following them onto the elevated highway.
Indeed, they were being tracked.
Li Chonglou understood without words. He peered intently. The driver was wearing a security guard's uniform and a baseball cap. There were several young men in similar clothing inside the car.
This car looked familiar, as if he had seen it in the Xingzhi Group's parking lot.
It was clearly after him.
Ordinary security guards wouldn't be driving a Prado around.
Li Chonglou calmly took off his watch, removed the power source, and threw it directly out the window.
Then he said, "They might be sent by Xingzhi Group to monitor me."
"This watch is also a listening device and GPS. I never found a reason to throw it away, but now I have a chance."
Being tracked meant his movements might have been exposed.
Or perhaps Kong Mo had become suspicious of him.
Either way, it was fatal to completing the mission.
Even his life safety would be under immense threat.
No matter how strong an individual was, they couldn't fight an entire criminal organization.
Let alone anything else, just a few guns firing continuously would be his end.
It seemed he had to capture these people tracking him and find out what was going on.
"Find a deserted place to stop and deal with these people." The brother and sister had the same idea. Lin Ying's eyes gleamed with excitement.
Li Chonglou grunted and drove off the elevated highway at an intersection not far away.
Looking at the car's navigation, there was a wetland park ahead.
It was the same place where he had fought Song Yi that day.
It was secluded enough.
The Toyota Prado seemed to sense Li Chonglou's thoughts and accelerated, closing the distance.
Soon, the two cars stopped one after another in the wetland park's parking lot.
Li Chonglou pretended not to know, got out of the car, and led Lin Ying into the park, walking towards the spot where Song Yi had knocked him into the water.
As they walked, they chatted and laughed, discussing how he had almost been killed that day.
"A disciple of Master Wan Laisheng?" Lin Ying exclaimed in surprise upon hearing Song Yi's identity. "You have a truly great life; it's a miracle you didn't die."
"In this era, fists are far inferior to guns, and martial arts experts are increasingly rare."
"Many have been exposed as frauds, but Wan Laisheng is undoubtedly a genuine master."
"His disciples have likely reached the Shenyun realm. You haven't even reached Qidong, so of course, you're no match for him."
"He didn't even intend to kill you. Otherwise, he would have shattered you with a single palm."
Li Chonglou's neck broke out in a cold sweat as he listened, filled with lingering fear.
So Song Yi was that powerful. It was foolish of him to try to escape using trickery.
It seemed Bai Jing's shoulder blade being broken by him was him holding back, or she would have died on the spot.
He was an expert in antiques but still knew little about martial arts.
However, Qidong and Shenyun were clearly realm names from the deerskin scroll's cultivation method.
He was currently only in Shentian, not yet having reached Qidong.
Two realms behind, one could imagine the difference.
It was like an ant encountering an elephant; the elephant could crush him with a single finger.
"Fortunately, we turned an enemy into a friend, and it also greatly helped a friend," Li Chonglou sighed with relief.
Fan Meng truly benefited from misfortune. If Fan Keli hadn't tried to kill him and brought out such an ancient master.
For her to regain control of the Fan family, the obstacles were as immense as being reborn from fire.
Experts of Song Yi's caliber would likely be a trump card for the Fan family, a core secret.
Even descendants like Fan Meng probably didn't know about him.
Fan Keli's attempt to steal a chicken had resulted in him losing the rice, and he had also blinded himself in the process.
Of course, these were just his speculations, not yet confirmed by Fan Meng.
However, it was irrelevant to him.
The two walked quickly, with the group following behind.
They reached the vicinity of the stone railing that he had knocked over by the lake. The railing hadn't been repaired, just like last time, indicating that this place was indeed rarely visited.
So, he simply stopped there, pretending to admire the scenery, thinking about how to lure these people over.
Unexpectedly, the group actively walked towards them.
As they got closer, they suddenly attacked, and several people immediately surrounded Li Chonglou and his sister.
The leader, taking off his hat, revealed a ferocious expression.
It was Ming Zi, one of Xingzhi Group's thugs.
"Who are you, and what do you want?" Li Chonglou pretended to be nervous, shielding Lin Ying behind him, asking knowingly.
Ming Zi tilted his head and grinned sinisterly, "Don't be nervous, Li Chonglou, right? I have a few questions for you."
"Where did you put the thing?"
This question left Li Chonglou bewildered and confused. "What thing?"
This time he didn't need to pretend; he genuinely didn't know.
They were asking him for something out of the blue.
So, it wasn't surveillance after all.
"Stop playing dumb. You know yourself," Ming Zi's face hardened. He pulled out a dagger and threatened, "I'll give you one minute. If you don't confess honestly, I'll first kill this woman in front of you."
"Then I'll drown her in the lake and then kill you!"
His voice and demeanor were extremely fierce.
If it were an ordinary woman, she would have likely wet herself with fear by now.
Unfortunately, they were facing Lin Ying.
Even top second-generation heirs like Yang Qian were dealt with as they pleased. What about these petty thieves?
Li Chonglou was even more at ease, spreading his hands in helplessness. "I really don't know what you're talking about."
Hearing this, Ming Zi's eyes flashed with malevolent intent, and the veins on his hand holding the dagger bulged.
The muscles on his face twitched.
Before coming, Kong Mo had only given him general instructions: find Lu Dong and capture Li Chonglou.
But to snatch the credit, he brought his own men.
However, at his level, he wouldn't know exactly what "thing" Li Chonglou had hidden, which led to the current situation.
Neither of them knew what the so-called "thing" was.
What could Xingzhi Group have that was in his hands?
Could it be the watch he had just thrown away?
Never before had Li Chonglou been so bewildered. He truly couldn't guess with human intellect.
"How dare you play dumb with me! Take him down; I'll search him anyway!" Ming Zi's eyes flashed fiercely, and he ordered his subordinates forward to subdue the two.
In his view, Li Chonglou was just an antique appraiser, skinny and with no martial ability.
Lin Ying, a beautiful woman, was even less of a threat.
He wouldn't even need to draw his knife; they would obediently surrender and obey.
Several subordinates stepped forward.
As soon as they approached Lin Ying, a whistling sound filled the air. Lin Ying's high heels swept out like a spear.
Crack!
Two thugs were instantly sent flying like baseballs, falling into the lake with screams.
Like fluttering moths.
"A martial artist?" Ming Zi's eyes widened, and he exclaimed.
He had been wary of Li Chonglou, but he never expected this woman to be a master.
Two subordinates were instantly kicked away.
Without time to think, he lunged forward with his dagger, intending to stab Lin Ying.
Unfortunately, his movements were like a snail in Lin Ying's eyes.
A slight smile curved her lips, and a direct kick sent Ming Zi into a "crow flying" posture, following his subordinates.
The remaining two subordinates' eyes widened like copper bells. Seeing their companions fall into the water, they knew they were no match.
They turned to run.
However, as soon as they turned, Lin Ying grabbed them by their collars, like lifting chicks, one in each hand, and threw them to the ground.
Li Chonglou squatted in front of them, lightly patting one of their faces. "Who do you work for?"
"I... I..." The man trembled all over, glancing at Ming Zi splashing in the lake, stammering.
"You want to be like him? I'll send you down." Li Chonglou spoke without preamble and kicked him directly into the lake.
He also landed heavily on Ming Zi's head, knocking him unconscious on the spot.
"I'll talk, I'll talk..." Another person was so scared he was about to wet himself. He quickly confessed, "Brother Ming told us to come and catch you. We are from Xingzhi Group..."
"I'm also from Xingzhi Group! Don't you recognize me?" Li Chonglou glared, feigning anger. "Is it Kong Mo who wants to catch me? Why does he want to catch me?"
"He said... he said you have something on you," the man replied, his voice trembling.
Li Chonglou's pupils contracted, and a bad feeling welled up within him.
He had been working at Xingzhi Group for several days without collecting any useful evidence.
Kong Mo's defenses were so strict that he had no way to act.
The batch of bronzes from last time had gone silent, their whereabouts unknown, and the police had not intercepted any news.
At this time, Kong Mo had become suspicious of him and wanted to find something on him.
What exactly was this thing?
Could it be the base?
Impossible. If he also knew the secret of the base, how could Tong Zhaolin have let him take it away?
Forget it. He couldn't figure it out, so he wouldn't think about it for now.
Bang!
Seeing him lost in thought, Lin Ying kicked the last person into the lake as well.
The five men, like dumplings, were splashing in the water, trying to climb out. But the embankment by the lake was a vertical dam made of concrete, about 1.5 meters high.
Without Li Chonglou's skills, it was almost impossible for ordinary people to climb up.
Unless someone came to their rescue.
There were rarely any tourists in this wetland park, and it was in the middle. If they wanted to get help, they would probably have to soak in the water for a while.
Li Chonglou didn't have time to bother with them. He returned to the car with Lin Ying.
Then they went to the hospital together and informed Bai Jing of the matter.
"So, your identity has been exposed?" Bai Jing looked worried.
Besides worrying about Li Chonglou, she was more concerned about the mission.
She was a soldier. Her life was secondary; the country's affairs were paramount.
If the mission wasn't completed, she would have no face to return to the team.
"Uncertain. If it were exposed, Kong Mo should have directly tried to kill me, not ask me for something..." Li Chonglou shook his head and denied it.
The current situation was confusing, but he wouldn't give up if there was even a sliver of a chance.
It seemed he had to find Tong Zhaolin to inquire about the situation.
If all else failed, he would have to resort to extreme measures.
A cold glint appeared in Li Chonglou's eyes.