Light Fortress
Chapter 124 - 112: Punch First

Chapter 124: Chapter 112: Punch First

"Bang!"

A muffled sound.

It was the sound of a fist hitting a head.

Gu Shen stood at the restroom door, watching Crow lazily close the door, move to the washbasin, and wash his fists, stained with fresh blood.

"This guy used to be a bodyguard for the lady, but I discovered he had taken money from Zhao Qi behind her back... Eating out of one bowl and looking into another, that’s not the quality of a loyal dog," Song Ci explained in a soft voice as he washed his hands. "The ’Spiritual Imprint’ matter is unrelated to him, but considering his betrayal of the lady, I saw fit to mete out a small punishment."

Gu Shen stared at the slowly spreading pool of blood on the floor, deep in thought.

"Actually, you don’t need to explain."

Gu Shen said softly, "I’m not the kind of person who’s excessively compassionate..."

"Oh... Is that so?"

Song Ci smiled, "I thought you still carried some virtues of an exemplary student... such as not being able to stand the sight of blood, or seeing others hurt... That’s why I held back a bit when I struck."

At this point, he kicked a partition door nearby and sighed, "Unfortunately... the blood still flowed. You saw it, do you think I’m a villain?"

"Aren’t you?"

"Right... I suppose I am indeed a villain," Song Ci shrugged nonchalantly.

"The more revered on the surface, the more coveted in the shadows, I understand this principle," Gu Shen shook his head and said, "The lady’s name shines brightly on the surface in Da Du, but behind it, countless concealed weapons are poised and ready to strike."

"Yes, after all, she’s a ’weak woman’ without any extraordinary abilities, standing so high forces everyone to look up, and naturally, some are displeased."

Song Ci read the words ’weak woman’ slowly and meaningfully, obviously in jest, as no one really considered the lady a weak woman.

"The mundane rules only bind a few people."

"But fortunately... the rest fear my fist."

As Song Ci said this, he didn’t realize the faint smile in his eyes, which, to Gu Shen, likely indicated a sense of satisfaction found in his own value.

The lady often said she had a copper wall and iron barrier before her.

And to be referred to as the lady’s "copper wall and iron barrier" was also an honor.

Crow waved his fist with a light laugh, "Good, the investigation up to here is almost complete."

All four names on that piece of paper had been checked.

"All four suspects have been cleared, the last remaining one, even without evidence... is no longer significant."

Gu Shen knew who Song Ci was referring to as the remaining one.

The unknown brother previously deemed a traitor for accepting Zhao Qi’s money was still lying in a restroom stall, the toilet flushing incessantly. Gu Shen guessed this man’s head had been shoved into the toilet, his arm likely broken and pressing on the flush lever, continuously washing his own head.

In fact, to call him a traitor was not unjustified.

As a couple, why go so far?

The husband plotting to bribe the wife’s personal guard spoke volumes of his intentions, requiring no further explanation.

In reality, the only thing separating them was a barrier that hadn’t yet been pierced.

"Speaking of Zhao Qi... I actually have some leads," Gu Shen narrowed his eyes and slowly said, "Some incidents occurred in the old town area."

...

...

Fifteen minutes later.

Song Ci lit a cigarette and silently leaned against the large mirror.

Gu Shen roughly told Crow about the strange fog in the old town and his encounter with Shi Li... Of course, he omitted some irrelevant details, only mentioning the noteworthy points.

"You mean... Shi Li of the Sincere Heart South Hall has an identical Spiritual Imprint at the center of his forehead?"

"Exactly."

"I’m the doctor who removed the lady’s Spiritual Imprint... Precisely because of this, I sensed something was amiss."

Gu Shen paused. "How could such a coincidence exist in the world? The Spiritual Imprint planted on Shi Li’s forehead, exactly like the lady’s. This can only mean one thing... the person who planted the Spiritual Imprint on the lady and laid the Spiritual Lead on Shi Li is the same."

"Damn it..."

Crow’s expression darkened as he let out a cold laugh, "No wonder Zhao Qi went to the old town that night. This rat saw the Spiritual Imprint being destroyed and hurried to seek another... That night, I should have been the one throwing the punch, blasting this dog’s head open."

Gu Shen frowned.

What he was pondering, however, was another matter.

The Spiritual Imprint on the lady’s forehead was originally incomprehensible, undetectable even by the Deep Sea Tenth Layer’s Transcendents, yet was resolved by his own Chi Huo.

Now, it made sense.

Because the orchestrator of this intrigue was none other than the master of Blood Fire wielding the Compass, exactly as in the Zhou Yu case years ago, perfectly deceiving the Judgement Institute’s Spiritual Transcendents... It wasn’t that the Judgement Institute’s Transcendents lacked strength, but that this Compass master’s Extraordinary Traits were very special, likely extremely adept at concealing presence.

Incidentally, his own Chi Huo was the natural enemy of the Compass master’s Extraordinary Traits!

"I’ve continuously foiled his plans... no wonder he sent the Compass to me."

Thinking this, Gu Shen’s tension rose again.

The fire case implicated the Changjiu Foundation, this sequence of linked transcendental cases was like an elongated fishing line, liable to snap at any moment. Fortunately, each time the line seemed about to break, he managed to seize the other end.

Gu Shen recalled the streak of Blood Fire.

Muttering in his heart, he said, "I will survive... and find you."

"Brother Gu—"

A voice brought him back to reality.

Gu Shen looked up and saw Song Ci with a frowning, thoughtful expression. He had been so engrossed that he didn’t notice the cigarette butt burning down to his hand. Finally, he glanced at it, forcefully extinguished it on the wash basin, and said solemnly, "You just mentioned that the guy with the identical Spiritual Imprint on his forehead is from the Sincere Heart South Hall?"

"Yes... Sincere Heart South Hall, leader of the fourth group, Shi Li."

Gu Shen paused for a moment and said, "You mean to say..."

"You know... I’m a straightforward man without much brains," Crow said indifferently. "Now that there’s a clue, let’s follow it. I can’t just stand by and let the lady face such danger."

"It’s useless..."

Gu Shen furrowed his brow.

He knew very well that Shi Li’s records weren’t like those of normal people. Being part of an underground organization, Deep Sea was indeed vast and indeed connected the five continents... but they were not omnipotent. The Transcendents who had attempted to assassinate him were still missing to this day. Even with Deep Sea, what they could find were only the carefully fabricated records by the Changjiu Foundation.

Just knowing Shi Li’s name was pointless.

To them, a name... was just a code, a mere label that could be discarded at any time. How could such a person leave any trace through a simple name?

"Shi Li’s name is just a code," Gu Shen said. "Moreover, how do you plan to investigate?"

"I’ve already said... I’m just a simple man," Crow chuckled. "Seeing how serious you looked just now, did you think of a bunch of plans? Please don’t think too highly of me. Simple men do things in simple ways... often just relying on intuition."

He paused.

"But a simple man’s intuition is often accurate."

"I find Zhao Qi disagreeable, find Chen Jingtan disagreeable, find Chen San disagreeable, find Chen San’s four adopted sons disagreeable... and it turns out my judgment of people is pretty accurate."

"The only person in the entire Sincere Heart Association I respect is just one guy," Song Ci said calmly. "That’s why for all these years, I’ve only targeted the areas assigned by the lady in the north and haven’t acted against the South Hall, simply because that guy is still there. Otherwise, I would have charged in long ago."

"One person?"

Information about the Sincere Heart Association was limited, especially about the South Hall.

"Did you notice? The guy dancing in the bar just now... had two types of tattoos," Song Ci said softly while lifting a corner of his garment to reveal a black hibiscus tattoo. "One of them... is this."

Gu Shen drifted into his memories.

In his mind were the fleeting lights and the equally dark and fierce tattoo.

"The other one... is a shattered stopwatch," Crow said, narrowing his eyes. "In the north, the Sincere Heart Association has the ’Black Hibiscus’ tattooed, as per the lady’s will. And of course, those guys in the south wouldn’t imitate that... they’ve tattooed the ’Paused Clock’ to differentiate the members of the north and south halls. The best way to tell is by looking at the tattoos."

The Black Hibiscus tattoo was the lady’s will...

Gu Shen was stunned.

The hibiscus flower, the word ’Jin’ did not initially carry a deeper meaning, but when linked with the lady, the significance of the tattoo became very clear.

It was a tattoo left for his sister, Lu Nanjin.

"After dealing with the north, I wanted to say... looking over Da Du, below Titled, I am invincible," Crow said, narrowing his eyes.

He sighed softly, a hint of helplessness in his smile, "But I never thought that there would be a tough character in the Sincere Heart South, younger than me and stronger than me, though I don’t dislike him."

"Chen Mei, Chen San’s biological son, a solitary and estranged individual. The reason Chen San adopted four sons was because his own son was completely uncontrollable and had no interest in taking over the Sincere Heart Association," Crow laughed. "I admit... It’s because of this simple reason that I don’t dislike him."

Overlooking Da Du, unbeatable below Titled.

Anyone claiming such must at least be... from Deep Sea Eleventh Layer?

Would not lose to Han Dang.

Gu Shen reevaluated Crow, wondering if this flip-flop-wearing guy was really that formidable? He looked sloppy... but he quickly dismissed the thought.

Probably all those who had been hit by Crow had the same thought right before his fist landed on their faces.

"... Have you fought with Chen Mei?" Gu Shen asked.

"No."

Crow shook his head. "But I have a feeling... I am most likely no match for this kid."

"Why look at me with such eyes? Being unable to beat him isn’t shameful. I’ve run away plenty of times," Song Ci glanced at Gu Shen’s surprised look and said indifferently, "As I said, I’m a simple man and simple men know their limits."

"So regarding... the Shi Li case, what do you plan to do?" Gu Shen asked, somewhat exasperated.

Crow smiled.

He swayed his way from the restroom to the rocking crowd and picked out a man with a stopwatch tattoo.

With a "boom"!

A shattering sound interrupted the music at the event.

Everyone looked in shock at the man who had punched and the unfortunate soul who flew tens of meters across the room and crashed into a wall.

Crow took off his cap, revealing his face.

He gave Gu Shen a look from not far away, raised his eyebrows, and said softly, "Start with a punch... then talk."