Chapter 683: Claiming Merit

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation  Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Chu Li greeted the two commanders with a fist salute. Without releasing his salute, he said, “Centurion Chen, you look well. It seems like the case is making good progress. Congratulations!”

Chen Donghai scoffed upon hearing the sarcasm in Chu Li’s voice. “Centurion Chu must be a busy man to be absent during such crucial moments. You should know that, compared to the Imperial Residence, the affairs of the Secret Guardians Hall is much more important. I’d like to ask Centurion Chu to be more careful. Don’t mix up your priorities!”

Fu Mengshan waved his hand angrily and said, “You two should cut it out already. Why are you still bickering at a time like this!”

Chu Li said, “Commander, the assassination last night has been snatched away by the Mei Yi Courtyard yet again. Isn’t this a little too much? They haven’t even solved the first case and they’re trying to take hold of a second one already. We might as well hand over all the cases of the Secret Guardians Hall to the Mei Yi Courtyard. Why would you still need the other Courtyards!”

Xu Huande scoffed. “We did think of handing the case over to you, but where have you been?!”

Chu Li gave a fist salute and apologized, “Commander Xu, I’m very sorry. I was held up by some matters last night, so I couldn’t rush over in time.”

“Chu Li, you seem to have a pretty good friendship with Prince Bao.” Xu Huande frowned.

They were aware that Chu Li had gone to the Imperial Residence of Prince Bao to attend a banquet, and that he had quite a close relationship with Prince Bao.

Chu Li said, “I managed to befriend Prince Bao during the previous hunting ceremony, and we’ve been in contact from time to time.”

“What a joke. Keep boasting! How could someone as honorable as Prince Bao befriend a small-time chief like you!” Chen Donghai sneered.

Chu Li smiled. “Even though I’m an Imperial Residence Chief, I’m also a centurion of the Secret Guardians Hall. No matter how respected Prince Bao is, he could never take the Secret Guardians Hall lightly!”

“Hehe…” Fu Mengshan waved his hand dismissively while laughing. “In Prince Bao’s eyes, centurions don’t actually matter that much!”

The Secret Guardians Hall was his pride, for he held a high position there, so when he heard Chu Li’s words, he became delighted.

Chu Li smiled and gave a fist salute in response. Chen Donghai glared at Chu Li with disdain, biting his lips and silently calling him a psychopath!

Chu Li smiled and continued, “Since Centurion Chen has snatched the case and has even made a pledge to solve the case within three days, I believe you must have already found some clues. You’ll be receiving a Rank-Four Military Exploit soon. Congratulations!”

“Humph, there’s no need for that!” Chen Haidong replied coldly.

Chu Li’s sarcastic and eccentric words left him feeling uncomfortable.

Chu Li raised an eyebrow. “Did Centurion Chen discover anything?”

Fu Mengshan said, “Right, Xiao Chen, do you have any leads on the case yet?”

Chen Donghai replied grimly, “Commander, I suspect that these two assassinations weren’t done by the same group of people. Their martial arts approaches were completely different and were both peculiar types of martial arts. It’ll be incredibly hard to investigate this thoroughly.”

Chu Li said, “In that case, Centurion Chen, it sounds like you don’t have any leads yet… You don’t have any leads on the first case, so when you heard about the second one, you immediately took it in order to try to scratch out a clue by comparing the two cases… Unfortunately, you found that these two cases weren’t done by the same people and have no correlation at all. Thus, until today, you don’t have leads on either cases, right?”

Fu Mengshan frowned. “Is that so?”

Chen Donghai scoffed. “Both assassinations had been executed in a clean and efficient manner. There was only one assassin involved in the first one, but for the second one, there were three. As for the martial arts they used, they were all very weird and unique.”

“You couldn’t recognize their martial arts,” Chu Li said, nodding, “which means you don’t have a lead! It seems like Centurion Chen won’t be able to meet the three-day deadline after all. At the end of this period, were you planning to ask Commander to give you a way out?”

Chen Donghai said, “Commander, I’d like to borrow three people from you — the Ning Brothers!”

Chu Li burst into laughter.

Chen Donghai said, “The Ning Brothers’ tracking techniques are unparalleled, and we’ve found some clues at the site of the assassination. If the Ning Brothers can join the party, we’ll definitely be able to track down the three culprits and catch the assassins soon!”

“The Ning Brothers…” Fu Mengshan looked to Chu Li.

Chu Li said, “The Ning Brothers are very busy. They have no time to help you.”

“Centurion Chu, this isn’t right!” Chen Donghai grunted. “The Ning Brothers are firstly the secret guardians of the Secret Guardians Hall, and then the Mei Er Courtyard’s people!”

Chu Li smiled. “You could technically borrow the Ning Brothers, but if this case gets solved, the Ning Brothers will be the main reason behind it!”

“What do you mean?!” Chen Donghai laughed coldly. “You want to take credit?”

Chu Li slowly nodded his head and said, “Yes, once the case is solved, ninety percent of the Military Exploit will belong to us, the Mei Er Courtyard!”

“Ninety percent!” Chen Donghai exclaimed. “Are you crazy? Ninety percent?”

Chu Li said, “Without the Ning Brothers, will you be able to solve the case?”

“… Who said we can’t?” Chen Donghai scoffed.

Chu Li nodded. “Never mind then. The Ning Brothers are very busy anyway.”

“But with the Ning Brothers, we can solve it faster,” interrupted Chen Donghai. “If this drags on for too long, the assassins might get away!”

Chu Li said, “How about this? If you’d like to use the Ning Brothers, then we’ll take ninety percent of the Military Exploit. If you don’t use them, then we won’t take anything from you. This is fair, isn’t it?”

“Like hell it’s fair!” Chen Donghai’s expression turned gloomy. “Chu Li, you’re being way too greedy!”

“If you want to talk about greed, who could ever compare to you, Centurion Chen!” Chu Li shouted.

Fu Mengshan waved a hand, glaring at them in disdain.

Chu Li said, “How about we, the Mei Er Courtyard, also take this case? Let us compete in this matter. Whoever can solve it faster and catch the assassins first will get the Military Exploit. How does that sound?”

He had already read the thoughts of Fu Mengshan. He knew about the fact that the Emperor had already spoken to Fu Mengshan and requested for the second assassination case to be handed over to him to solve.

He could not tell if it was a blessing or a curse now that the Emperor was taking notice of him!

Since the Emperor had already made the request, there was no way he could reject it. Thus, he might as well suggest the idea himself and leave a better impression.

“In that case…” Fu Mengshan paused.

Chen Donghai scoffed. “You think you can solve it?”

Chu Li said, “I know your Mei Yi Courtyard can’t solve it. If you want to try to solve this case, you’ll still have to depend on us!”

Chen Donghai scoffed. “Commander, I’ve made a pledge to solve it!”

“That pledge of yours was just a bet anyway,” Chu Li said indifferently. “Until today, none of your people have managed to find any clues. What’s the use of making such a pledge?”

Fu Mengshan frowned and turned to Chen Donghai. “Xiao Chen, let’s have the Mer Er Courtyard investigate this case too. It’s better to have two Courtyards working on a case anyway.”

“They’ll get in our way,” Cheng Donghai said. “Commander, if you really allow them to join in the investigation, then you can’t blame me for not being able to solve the case!”

Chu Li could not help but laugh. “Are you already trying to shift the blame to others now? Giving yourself a way out, huh?”

Fu Mengshan huffed. “Enough, it’s decided then! Chu Li, your Mei Er Courtyard will start investigating the second assassination case as well. Xiao Chen, don’t you forget about the first case.”

Chu Li gave a fist salute. “Thank you very much, Commander!”

He had read the thoughts of Chen Donghai and found out that the Mei Yi Courtyard did not have any leads. The pledge about solving the case within three days was just a hasty trick by Chen Donghai to steal the case from the Mei Er Courtyard.

Now, Chen Donghai was regretting his actions and was trying to shirk his responsibility using any means possible.

He kept using his words to instigate Chen Donghai to speak more, so that he could read the images appearing in the other party’s mind to hopefully discover some leads.

The three people who had assassinated Leng Shoushan had extremely high levels of martial arts with top-notch body movement techniques. They had used very strange fist techniques that possessed highly formidable power, managing to injure a few Protectors and even killing one of them.

The fatal wound suffered by the dead Protector was a punch he had received on his precordium. The fist force was not brutal, but because the location had been just right, it was fatal.

“Commander, I’d like to take a look at the body of the dead Protector,” said Chu Li.

Fu Mengshan nodded. “Okay, I’ll ask someone to bring you there.”

Chen Donghai glared at Chu Li in hatred, wishing him could murder him right there and then.

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