The forces of Blossom Falls, especially its underbelly, were all bewildered when they received the news. They obviously all had known of the new Law Enforcement Representative in the town government, but how could they expect this? At first, they weren’t worried. Even if this representative was a lawful man, there’s no way they would be able to find any of their serious operations. He was from the Yellow Qilin Academy; they should know the general gist of things, which may be enough to pick up some lackeys.
The Law Enforcement Representative had done something even worse. He had arrested exactly two lackeys from each of the main forces of the Blossom Falls underworld and taken down a couple of gangs, a few influential independents, and several businesses used as fronts for criminal activities. The number of people taken in totaled fifty people exactly. Usually, this would just mean the representative is better at their job than expected, but exactly two lackeys from each main force and exactly fifty people were taken down; that was no coincidence. This was a declaration of war, and the top brass of the underworld were meeting to discuss what would be done about this new ‘Enforcer.’
…
“Hwooh!” sighed Yù Quán. “That was a good day's work. How did things go for you?”
Rèn Chāngmíng nodded. “Great! Everything went according to plan, but I found out that bringing certain criminals to justice can be good for my cultivation.”
“...What’s you’re cultivation art again?”
Rèn Chāngmíng thought for a second before answering. “I don’t have one, but I do have an innate ability to cultivate because of my enlightenment.”
“Tch… Lucky bastard,” Yù Quán responded while rolling his eyes. “I just realized I don’t really know how your enlightenment works. You should explain it to me sometime so I might be able to help you find a cultivation method. It might make you cultivate even faster.”
Rèn Chāngmíng agreed. Although he didn’t have the time now, it was best if Yù Quán knew how he cultivated so he could help him get opportunities if they presented themselves.
“Should we keep going, Senior Brother?”
Yù Quán shook his head. “I think that’s enough for today. We each got twenty-five criminals. We’ll just do it again in a couple of days.”
Rèn Chāngmíng nodded. “Should we do it the same way? One from each of the forces Su Chunhua knew about?”
“Yeah, I think that would be best.”
“Is there some sort of special reason or plan for doing so?”
Yù Quán looked up and slightly smiled. “Nah, it’s just satisfying doing things in a pattern.”
…
A few days later, the main forces involved in the Blossom Falls underworld had gathered. Dong Chuanli, Supreme Wolf Sect. Hēi Guoliang, Hēi Family. Liao Meifang, Darting Shadow Sect. Gao Heng, Grand Artisan Sect. Dragon, Blossom Falls Black Market. Other than the Hēi Family, these are all small-town sects. But the Hēi Family does business in so many areas that it would be impossible to monitor everything closely. So, the Hēi Family works in groups in general areas, similar to that of branches. That made everyone at the meeting a small force, except the people behind the black market, which was unknown even to these forces.
“Welcome everyone,” said Dragon. He was a tall man wearing all-black, elegant robes, save for a jade dragon mask covering his face. “This emergency meeting was called to discuss the new Law Enforcement Representative that has been… running amuck.”
Ptoo! A shorter, burly man with a large beard spit at the sound. “Who dares take down the men of my Grand Artisan Sect?”
“Now, now, Gao Heng. We cannot let such a person drag us into acting unsightly. We are in foreign lands,” said Liao Meifang. She said it softly but with an almost mocking tone. But, Gao Heng took no offense, as it was just how she spoke. The slender, fair-skinned beauty was a naturally playful and jeering woman. She wore a black and purple silk dress and carried a fan made of purple lace.
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After listening to the short exchange, Hēi Guoliang decided to chime in. “You people of the Láiyuándào region have nothing to worry about. If we can keep company with the likes of this barbarian, Dong Chuanli, how could we judge you?”
Dong Chuanli rolled his eyes. “A barbarian would attack you for such words. I would rather get to the point. This representative’s name is Yù Quán, and he is a student of the Yellow Qilin Academy.”
Hēi Guoliang scoffed in response, while the others hummed while scratching their chins.
“While his identity is appreciated, what we really need to know is how he knows so much,” Dragon finally replied after some thought.
“Could there be a mole?”
Dragon shook his head. “They hit every one of you and many more independents. There would be no reason for one of you to give up your own guys.”
“...What about one of your people?”
Everyone else went silent. They knew whoever was behind the black markets couldn’t be simple, and to accuse them, even if correct, could end horribly. But to their surprise, Dragon simply shook his head. “There are very few people who work for or with me, and I know them all personally. On top of that, losing any of your forces, even the independents, would cost us resources. How could I?”
All of them nodded, and the person who had said that let out a sigh of relief.
“In fact, I don’t think it’s a mole at all.”
The rest of the council looked at each other, then back at Dragon. If not a mole, what could it be?
“I’ve looked into every case, and what it seems to be is that every single one has one thing in common… notoriety. While they aren’t known enough by the public for a brand new representative to come in and catch them, they are known enough for a born-and-raised Blossom Falls citizen, especially if they are a bit involved in what we do, to know of them.”
This made sense. Nobody of great importance had been taken in, except for the independents, but even they weren’t that significant. At least, they were insignificant enough not to know how to cover their tracks effectively.
“So, the representative got his hands on a citizen who just happened to know enough?”
Dragon turned his back to them with his hands held behind him. “Or interrogated. It doesn’t matter either way. I don’t think it’s possible for them to do any significant damage for the time being. Let him gain some contribution, and we’ll deal with him before he becomes a real problem.”
“Shouldn’t we go after him now so the problem never has a chance of getting to that point?”
Dragon turned back to them, hands still behind him. “If we took action right after he did all this, it would only place a target on our backs. I suggest you find ways to help your people or hide their connection to your sects.”
They all stood and did a short, respectful bow and began heading out. Before they all left, Dragon called out to Hēi Guoliang, who promptly turned around and stood before him.
“Yes, Dragon?”
“And how about that thing I asked your family for?”
Hēi Guoliang began to sweat a bit. “U-um… I was told by the main branch their has been an unexpected accident involving the package…”
Dragon seemed to tense up slightly. “Accident?”
Hēi Guoliang looked down at his feet. “It seems the smuggling group that was chosen to transport it at random just happened to be attacked.”
“Hmm… who were the smugglers?”
“A group of bandits, sir. When searching for them, we found that the whole delivery was gone, and their bodies were found tied up.”
Dragon began pacing back and forth, processing the information he was receiving. “And what did the bandits say?”
“...We couldn’t get them to speak. They were barely alive and seemed traumatized. But there was one thing that was quite worrying.”
“Yes?”
Hēi Guoling swallowed hard and looked back up to see Dragon. “Both of them were missing their eyes, with no damage to the areas around them.”
Dragon was taken aback but remained silent. “So many out-of-the-ordinary events. What is becoming of this world?”
…
Yù Quán
Realm: Body Tempering Realm
Stage: 1st Level Skin Tempering
Main Cultivation Art: [Stolen-eyed Mùmùlián Body](Level 3)
Strength: 850 Catties
Qi: 2220/2220 wisps
Mùmùlián Core: 22/100
Strange Fire: (Level 2)Murderous Flame(x1)
Techniques:
[Mùmùlián Eye Stealing](Level 3)
[Mùmùlián Eye Refining](Level 3)
[Murder Mantra](Level 1)
[Yellow Qilin Dance](Level 1)
Attributes:
[Strange Fire: Murderous Flame]
[Star Gazing Eyes](Level 1)
[Top-Quality Maned Hog Ferocity Eyes](Level 1)
[Low-Quality Winged Watcher Awareness Eyes](Level 1)
[Low-Quality False Dragon Pride Eyes](Level 1)
[Low-Quality Death-Dealing Dama Killing Eyes](Level 1)(x2)