The Modern Martial Immortal-Chapter 24: Aftermath

Lin Xiaowei, Zhang Qing, and Ye Yuhe all slumped like wilted eggplants, heads drooping in defeat.

Xia Wuyuan had no choice but to shift their focus. "Think of a way to get the victims out first."

Ou Zhengyang, Yulong International's chairman, sensed the situation slipping out of control. The fierceness he had shown earlier evaporated as he tried to quietly slip toward the door.

"Did I say you could leave?" Yaoguang flicked up a half-broken baton from the floor and kicked it with precise force.

Swoosh! A sharp whistle tore through the air as jin burst forth.

The baton shot out like a bolt. Ou Zhengyang had just turned toward the door when the broken weapon punched straight through his calf. He collapsed with a scream.

"Where are the goods that Director You mentioned?" Yaoguang stepped toward him.

"I-I don't know, I only handle operations..."

Ou Zhengyang's face went ghostly pale, sweat dripping like rain. "Young Master Su... The Ou family and the Su family work closely in logistics. For the sake of that partnership... Please spare me..."

"I will ask one more time. Where are the goods." Yaoguang raised his sword and aimed it at Ou Zhengyang's head.

"Su Yaoguang, stop killing people," Lin Xiaowei shouted.

"I am not killing people. I am killing fiends," Yaoguang replied.

For a moment, he studied Ou Zhengyang, expression blank. "Fiends who lived among humans."

That gaze alone made Ou Zhengyang shiver. A terror he had never experienced swept through him.

He realized that if he refused to speak, this madmanthe Su family's Third Young Master, would truly kill him.

"I don't know, I really don't know!" he screamed. "You Long handled everything! I never got involved! Every year I only received three portions of divine blood..."

"Divine blood!?" Xia Wuyuan jerked his head up.

"What is divine blood?" Lin Xiaowei asked.

"A special drug extracted from the human body. It is said to prolong lifespan. Taken in large amounts, it keeps one eternally youthful." Xia Wuyuan's expression hardened. "Ten years ago, it was completely banned by the World Health Organization."

"Then you are useless." Yaoguang ignored their conversation and simply lifted his sword.

"Basement level 4!"

Ou Zhengyang shrieked, "Basement level 4! All their dirty work happens on level 4! If there are really goods, they must be there! Swipe the card and take elevator 6 straight down!"

Yaoguang turned toward Lin Xiaowei and Xia Wuyuan. "Why are you standing there? Grab the card and go save them."

Xia Wuyuan and Lin Xiaowei rushed to You Long's corpse, searched him, and quickly found a card. They headed toward the door. But just as they reached it, Lin Xiaowei suddenly stopped.

"I'm staying," she told Xia Wuyuan.

Xia Wuyuan glanced at her, then at Yaoguang. "There is no point. If he truly is..."

He stopped, skipped over the words, and continued, "You will only throw your life away."

"What if he killed because he was forced to investigate the divine blood case?" Lin Xiaowei asked quietly.

Xia Wuyuan understood the reasoning. The Lin and Su Families had ties. Lin Xiaowei and Su Yaoyu were close friends. And besides, Su Yaoguang's identity was too sensitive.

Without absolute proof, the Su family's legal team would easily pull him clean from the entire incident. Even if they had personally watched him kill You Long, it would be labeled as a heroic struggle against criminals. Instead of prosecuting him, the police bureau might even award him a banner.

"Be careful," Xia Wuyuan said, then quickly left with Ye Yuhe, Zhang Qing, and the others.

Time was running out. As Yaoguang said, every second lost could cost someone their life. They could not afford to stop.

They did not dare call for backup. From Ou Zhengyang's earlier words, it was clear that the Shanlong City Police Bureau and Yulong International were already intertwined. They could not be trusted.

Even calling Yunmeng's Police Bureau for reinforcements would take over an hour.

"You all had better turn yourselves in. You might still receive leniency. Otherwise—" Lin Xiaowei turned toward Jiang Feng and the pale-faced security guards.

"We will turn ourselves in!"

"We were wrong! We should not have helped them!" They scrambled to speak before she even finished, terrified of suffering the same fate as their fallen colleagues.

Yaoguang ignored Lin Xiaowei as she locked them in a room across the hall. He knelt beside Ou Zhengyang.

"Y-Young Master Su, I already said everything. Can you call an ambulance... Your father Su Huaifeng and I, we even drank together once..." Sweat drenched Ou Zhengyang's forehead from pain or fear, or both.

"You drank together? Where was that hesitation when you ordered someone to attack me?" Yaoguang asked.

"They would have held back. They would never truly harm you..." Ou Zhengyang cried out.

Yaoguang looked at him without any piti, then calmly said, "Who was You Long's superior? I know he was speaking with someone above him. Tell me, and I might spare your life."

Ou Zhengyang's pupils shrank, but he quickly spoke in a firm, resolute tone. "There is no one else. You Long was the mastermind behind everything. They somehow acquired the technology to extract divine blood and borrowed Yulong International's facilities..."

He swiftly shifted the topic, crying injustice. "We didn't know at first that they were doing something illegal. If we had known, we wouldn't have dared approve their entry even with a hundred times the courage. With a treasure trove like Yulong International in our hands, why would we risk a crime that sends us to prison? We were tricked into jumping on their boat without knowing anything..."

"Judging from your reaction, it must be someone your Ou family cannot afford to offend," Yaoguang said.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I committed a crime, and I accept the punishment!" Ou Zhengyang immediately turned toward Lin Xiaowei, who had just returned to the doorway. "Inspector Lin, I turn myself in! When the time comes, whatever sentence I deserve, however many years in prison, I will accept them all! This is my punishment..."

"Years in prison?" Yaoguang placed his sword horizontally against Ou Zhengyang's neck.

Lin Xiaowei, who had just locked Jiang Feng and the others into a temporary holding room, seemed to realize something. She rushed forward. "Su Yaoguang, stop!"

The icy blade pressed to his throat sent Ou Zhengyang's fear soaring to its highest point. He struggled violently and screamed, "Inspector Lin, save me..."

Pssch! The plea had barely left his mouth when the Chengying Sword drew a clean and precise line across his throat. Blood sprayed upward.

Ou Zhengyang's eyes widened. He clutched at his neck with both hands, as if pressing down hard could make the blood seep out slower, as if doing so could keep his life from slipping away so quickly. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

"No!" Lin Xiaowei, who had rushed over, cried out with a trembling voice.

But she could only watch as Ou Zhengyang struggled on the floor, movements weakening until they eventually stopped altogether.

She snapped her gaze toward Yaoguang. He had killed someone, yet Su Yaoguang acted as though nothing had happened.

She found such coldness and such cruelty unbelievable, and yet she felt a chill straight to her bones.

Yaoguang wiped Chengying Sword on the sleeve of Ou Zhengyang's expensive suit and rose to his feet.

"You will help me testify that he was killed only because he resisted even when the evidence was irrefutable, right?" he said calmly.

"You... You..." Lin Xiaowei stared at him, chest rising and falling violently.

"Or do you think that with his status and connections, the law would have punished him? Five years? Three? One? Or perhaps a suspended sentence that he wouldn't even need to serve?" Yaoguang stood up.

Lin Xiaowei opened her mouth, wanting to refute him, but in the end, not a single word came out.

"Enough. Handle the rest yourselves," Yaoguang said and walked toward the door.

"Wait." Lin Xiaowei looked at him. "These past weeks, many martial masters have been murdered. Were they... killed by you?"

"I did not kill people," Yaoguang replied calmly.

Lin Xiaowei silently looked at the office floor, littered with corpses. How could you even say that?

Yaoguang seemed to realize that such a line sounded inappropriate in the current setting, so he changed his wording. "Those killed by me did not deserve to be called human."

"Su Yaoguang," Lin Xiaowei called out again just before he reached the door.

She drew in a deep breath. "I will trust that you do not kill the innocent. Someone of your status has no need to lie to me. But I hope... if something like this happens again, you can inform us..."

"You?" Yaoguang's tone remained indifferent. "Just like earlier, could you have extracted any meaningful information from Ou Zhengyang? By the time you managed, dozens of people would already be dead, and their bodies long disposed of. What would be left for you to investigate?"

Hearing this, Lin Xiaowei fell silent once more. Then she said, "I will be straightforward with you. It is just that the status of certain people, you included, restricts the way we can operate."

Yaoguang shook his head. "I will leave the aftermath to you."

With that, he turned and left.