Wang Jie nodded slowly. "It seems it was purely a coincidence."

He then looked at the topography of Beigouya Village again and said slowly, "This place wasn’t chosen by chance. Our line of investigation has been a bit skewed.

New orders. Effective immediately, investigate the situation in all abandoned villages in every town and township. Confirm any signs of human activity. Also, check any uninhabited houses in certain villages.

Also, conduct a detailed investigation of Beigouya Village and its surroundings to confirm any abnormalities.

Xiuwen, you will coordinate with the guards and provide armed protection."

"Yes, Deputy Chief!"

...

Accompanied by personnel from the Public Security Bureau, the two of them observed the details of Beigouya Village.

"Hey, Deputy Chief, don’t you think Li Changle’s wife is really out of line? Bullying an old woman like that."

A female guard next to them explained, "Actually, Li Changle’s wife is usually very filial to the old woman and has a good reputation. It’s just that the old woman has memory problems. She doesn’t recognize her own daughter-in-law anymore and thinks she’s a thief who’s come to steal things. That’s why there’s been some conflict."

Bu Xiuwen was extremely embarrassed.

Wang Jie stopped and looked at him, wanting to say something but holding back.

’Lecturing him is useless,’ he thought. ’Emotional intelligence and logical thinking are innate. It looks like Bu Xiuwen will have to stay in his position as field team leader. Any higher, and he’ll cause problems.’

After Wang Jie and his team finished handling the scene, they returned to the county seat.

There were many things to handle: the identities of the deceased, what to do with the sacrificial array, follow-up work arrangements, and so on.

Martial Artists were full of energy, and they worked until midnight. Watching Bu Xiuwen bouncing around and spouting nonsense, Wang Jie sent him out to get some late-night snacks.

Wang Jie stood before a map, contemplating. The current situation presented many difficulties.

First, there was a lack of specialized personnel and experience in dealing with heretical cults.

Second, the matter wasn’t being taken seriously enough. Some of the things Bu Xiuwen said weren’t wrong, but they were things that shouldn’t be said.

Third, and most importantly, they lacked strength.

’Don’t be fooled by the fact that they fled all the way here. They might sound like a bunch of pushovers, but being able to escape from the capital alive means they are definitely not weak. And they’re extremely cunning.’

Wang Jie decided to request support from his superiors.

There was no other choice. Besides the old chief, who was in the Inner Qi Realm, there was only one other person in the Inner Qi Realm within the entire Education Bureau system.

In all of vast Tianning, there wasn’t a single true fourth-realm master.

Moreover, one of these two was elderly with declining Qi Blood, while the other excelled at teaching and was relatively weak in combat.

If the enemy weren’t afraid of drawing attention from above by showing their faces, the situation would have already deteriorated completely.

"Deputy Chief, come take a break!"

Bu Xiuwen was back with late-night snacks in less than twenty minutes. He deftly cleared a table and called Wang Jie and the other colleagues over.

Wang Jie sat down. He wasn’t picky about food—as long as there was something to eat, he was fine. But when he saw what Bu Xiuwen had bought, he was instinctively displeased.

"Xiuwen, these are special circumstances. Get rid of the alcohol."

"Oh!"

He was a bit reluctant, but Wang Jie was an upright and serious man who always led by example and carried an air of great authority. Bu Xiuwen didn’t dare to challenge him.

Bu Xiuwen opened a cabinet, planning to put the two bottles of baijiu inside.

The group was hungry. Although Bu Xiuwen had bought a lot of food, they devoured it all like a whirlwind sweeping away clouds. The appetite of a Martial Artist was astonishing.

Bu Xiuwen suddenly remembered something, stopped his chopsticks, and said:

"Oh right, Deputy Chief, I received a piece of intelligence today."

"What intelligence?" Wang Jie asked nonchalantly. He didn’t think Bu Xiuwen could have anything reliable.

"Cult members entered the venue on the day of the martial arts tournament. The intel says their position was northwest of the second-year high school arena. It said the intel is highly accurate, but that’s all there was. Sounded like a joke."

Wang Jie shot to his feet, his expression grave. "Source? Who provided it?"

Seeing Wang Jie’s serious attitude, Bu Xiuwen was taken aback. "That guy from No. 2 High... my senior..."

"Mr. Yan?"

"Yes!"

Wang Jie grabbed his jacket as he started walking. "Let’s go. Notify the guards, emergency online meeting. By the way, when did Mr. Yan tell you this?"

"Uh... this morning, before we left..."

BANG...

Wang Jie slammed his fist on the table and roared, "Then why didn’t you say so at the time?"

Bu Xiuwen, somewhat frightened, looked down and tried to explain, "I didn’t think the information was important, so..."

Wang Jie let out a long sigh. He stared at Bu Xiuwen for a moment before giving a solemn warning.

"Xiuwen, if you’re not smart, then don’t try to be. You’re a field agent. Just learn to use your fists and stop trying to use your brain. From now on, if that Mr. Yan has any intelligence related to the cult, you report it immediately. Do not, under any circumstances, make your own judgment call."

Bu Xiuwen’s face fell.

"Understood, Deputy Chief!"

...

"Mr. Jia, the source of this intelligence is reliable and trustworthy! I believe we need to dig deeper into this information."

On the other side of the video conference, the top brass from the Public Security Bureau were gathered.

"Mr. Wang, I understand. We’ll start investigating right away. This intelligence is incredibly timely. We were at a complete loss before, and investigating the identities of these cult members was like looking for a needle in a haystack. If this intel is real, I’m confident we’ll have a breakthrough soon."

Wang Jie nodded slightly.

"I look forward to your good news. Also, if you find anything, do not, under any circumstances, alert the enemy. We’re casting a long line to catch a big fish."

Mr. Jia chuckled. "Of course. These cultists are cruel, vicious, and dangerously strong. Without protection from the masters of the Martial Arts Administration Bureau, we wouldn’t dare make contact with them rashly."

...

With a direction for the investigation, everyone felt an inexplicable sense of relief. Until now, they had been in the dark while the enemy was in the shadows—a passive investigation that was both work-intensive and inefficient.

Bu Xiuwen still couldn’t figure it out. ’What could they possibly find out from such a simple piece of information? Why are the leaders on both sides so excited?’

After the meeting, Wang Jie looked at Bu Xiuwen’s clear, clueless eyes and decided to explain the reasoning to him. ’He is my subordinate, after all,’ he thought.

"Xiuwen, do you know what our biggest difficulty is right now?"

Without waiting for Bu Xiuwen to answer, he continued.

"We have no clues or intelligence on this group of criminals. The county seat isn’t large, but thousands of people come and go every day. We can’t monitor them all. We’re short on manpower and equipment—all of which are problems.

But Mr. Yan’s intelligence allows us to narrow the scope of our investigation to a group of about fifty people. Not to mention, it was a high school tournament. The vast majority of the audience has social connections to the students. Either they have a student in their family, or a friend does.

It was a competition for a specific demographic.

We just need to add a few filtering criteria—for example, people with no connection to the students, unfamiliar faces, outsiders, and so on—and we can immediately narrow the targets down to single digits. And then, we’ll have our targets.

Once we confirm their base of operations, we can call in troops from the outpost. Aside from the Inner Qi Realm experts who will require a special encirclement, the rest are as good as dead. If we plan it properly, we might even be able to take them all out in one fell swoop."

Bu Xiuwen scratched his head. "So that intel really was that important. And to think I even complained to my senior about it."

"You!..."

Wang Jie was at a loss. ’How on earth did someone this stupid manage to cultivate to the third realm of martial arts? It shouldn’t be possible!’