Chapter 544: 631 Searching for clues about the lecherous monk

Two days later, not far from Dragon Gate, an army had quietly arrived.

The so-called Dragon Gate is the last line of defense that guards the Capital of the Wan Kingdom. It is of utmost importance to the Wan Kingdom, heavily guarded, and is protected by the natural barriers of surrounding mountains.

Huangfu Hao personally took two of his personal guards to scout, only to find that Dragon Gate was not heavily garrisoned; in fact, its defenses were rather lax.

The soldiers on the city wall could still drink and chat.

Huangfu Hao was shocked at the time.

Although there were no battles within the Wan Kingdom, such an important defensive line without a heavy garrison was absurd.

Huangfu Hao immediately returned to the main army and discussed with Zhang Lie and others:

"Stick to the plan set a few days ago, and be wary of deception."

The generals nodded; fighting in a foreign land indeed required caution.

According to the plan, Zhang Mu and Wen Jieming would lead three thousand troops to bypass Dragon Gate, ambush the must-pass area of the enemy reinforcements, and once ready, Zhang Lie would lead thirty thousand troops to attack Dragon Gate head-on, while Huangfu Hao and Bai Yongtao would launch a feint attack on the flanks.

But what Huangfu Hao didn’t expect was that there was no ambush at all; Dragon Gate was truly not heavily defended, with only a little over five thousand troops garrisoned within the entire line of defense protecting the royal army.

Zhang Lie took less than an hour to capture Dragon Gate, and when Wen Jieming and Zhang Mu returned with the ambush troops later, they had an expression like they had seen a ghost.

The generals never expected Dragon Gate to be captured so easily.

Huangfu Hao was also full of emotion; this was the easiest battle he had ever fought.

Even those Yellow Turban bandits were tougher than today’s battle.

"General, what should we do next?" The battle was so easy, so easy that all the generals felt a bit unreal, always suspecting there was a trap ahead, just waiting for them to step forward.

"Directly attack the Royal City." Huangfu Hao said resolutely.

They were already deep in the heart of the Wan Kingdom; whether there was a trap or not, they had to take the gamble.

Moreover, relying on the overall strength of the Imperial Guard, as long as they stayed steady, even if there was deception on the enemy’s side, they wouldn’t lose.

This time, when they came to the Wan Kingdom, Prince Zhen Nan had specially granted them a Red Sun Cannon.

...

Chen Mo, along with Wu Xin’Er and others, had arrived at Hang City and successfully excavated the Red Sun Bell that Ji Xi’Er had buried within the ruins of the Nan Zhou Ancestral Temple, and with Ji Xi’Er’s help, learned the location of the Nan Zhou Treasure.

The four Red Sun Bells are the keys to unlocking the Nan Zhou Treasure.

After gathering all four Red Sun Bells, Chen Mo did not leave Hang City immediately because, according to Liu Xuan, the licentious monk had been tracked in Hang City.

However, after secretly investigating in Hang City for more than a day, they found no trace of the licentious monk.

Seeing the second day about to pass without any leads on the licentious monk, Jiang Ruoqing said, "If it doesn’t work out, let’s find the Nan Zhou Treasure first, and then look for the whereabouts of the licentious monk slowly afterward."

Jiang Ruoqing did not want Chen Mo to be delayed further in Hang City because of her matter.

"Got it." Suddenly, Chen Mo exclaimed and said, "If Liu Xuan is correct, then the licentious monk has been in Hang City for nearly a month now; I don’t believe he could hold back from committing a crime for a whole month..."

"Go to the Government Office to check the case files." Wu Xin’Er knew what Chen Mo wanted to say and spoke ahead of time.

"Exactly, as expected, couples really do have a telepathic connection." Chen Mo nodded, not forgetting to say a little sweet talk.

Wu Xin’Er’s face turned rosy.

Afterward, the five came to the Hang City Government Office, stating they wanted to review the case files.

Since Chen Mo and his group hid their true identities and did not declare their identities, stating their purpose before entering, they were driven out and told that Government Office’s case files cannot be viewed at whim.

But when Chen Mo revealed his identity later.

In the Government Office hall.

Chen Mo was treated as an honored guest.

"Prince Zhen Nan, please have some tea." After the maid brought the tea into the hall, the County Magistrate of Hang directly took it, personally serving Chen Mo, and respectfully delivered it, with words and actions exuding flattery, fearing that something would displease Chen Mo, and then with similar treatment, served Wu Xin’Er, Jiang Ruoqing, Elder He, Ji Xi’Er.

After taking the tea, Chen Mo gently blew on it, took a small sip, then put the teacup down, and said, "County Magistrate Luo, I came to you because there is something I would like you to assist with."

County Magistrate Luo immediately declared, "If it’s something where Prince Zhen Nan needs my help, just say the word, and I will do everything in my power to accomplish it without any hesitation."

Chen Mo nodded, "This matter, I don’t want too many people to know about it."

"Understood, understood..." County Magistrate Luo nodded while driving away everyone except Chen Mo and his group, then waited on the side, ready for Chen Mo’s instructions.

After Chen Mo finished stating his requirements.

County Magistrate Luo immediately wanted to call someone to bring the relevant case files but recalling what Chen Mo had just said, he felt a chill down his spine and hurriedly stated he would fetch them himself.

County Magistrate Luo’s actions were swift, and in less than half an hour, he brought all the recent case files regarding the disappearance of women, assault cases, etc., from Hang City of the past month to Chen Mo.

Chen Mo took a look and saw there were probably hundreds of case files.

After filtering out the closed cases and some irrelevant case files, five case files remained that Chen Mo felt were related to the licentious monk.

All five of these were cases of missing women, and after reporting the cases, not even the slightest clue with any suspicious points was found. Since no bodies were discovered, they were determined to be missing persons cases.

According to County Magistrate Luo’s description, these five women were all young and beautiful, having a certain reputation in Hang City, with two being renowned courtesans in Hang City.

These two were the same ones mentioned on the merchant ship by the storyteller as Feng Shuang and Ling Long.

Both disappeared at night; Feng Shuang went missing on a pleasure boat, while Ling Long had been with Liu Yuanwai for the night, and during a trip to use the latrine, she disappeared.

But even with this information, it wasn’t of much help; Chen Mo couldn’t find any patterns among them, with the five having disappeared at intervals of one day, two days, and it had already been more than half a month since now.

Apart from having a slight connection to the licentious monk, Chen Mo couldn’t find any clues.

After instructing County Magistrate Luo to keep his mouth shut, Chen Mo and his group left the Government Office.

The locations and times of disappearance of these five women were all different, leaving Chen Mo with no leads at all.

After all, if a First Grade Martial Artist wanted to hide, it would indeed be difficult to find them.

...

Meanwhile, in a tall building in Hang City.

"Is the Nan Zhou Treasure possibly in Hang City? Otherwise, why would Prince Zhen Nan circle around Hang City continuously after visiting the Nan Zhou Ancestral Temple ruins, as if looking for something?" Chang Wuming analyzed, clutching his Broadsword.

The elder with a crippled leg also furrowed his brows, "Although this old man and Prince Zhen Nan are both First Grade Martial Artists, Prince Zhen Nan’s skills are too profound. I didn’t dare to follow too closely these past two days, for fear of being detected by him."