Chapter 37: Banner Officer, Hunt Down!

Staring at the chest in Li Chang'an's hands, the green-robed swordsman Liu Shu'an and the lean fellow both widened their eyes involuntarily, their expressions filled with sheer disbelief.

One had to consider that, unwilling to accept the failure of their assassination, they had merely conjured a half-true, half-false tale out of a bold, desperate impulse.

They had indeed seen an ancient chronicle recording the hidden treasures of the Azure Firmament Pavilion, and driven by the mindset of rather slaying an innocent than letting a chance slip by, they had searched this place a few times.

However, that ancient chronicle was actually a piece of junk casually bought from a street stall, and though they had hired a large crowd of fishermen to practically overturn this entire region, they had ultimately failed to find a single useful clue.

Consequently, both had long since convinced themselves in their hearts that the information in the chronicle was a fabrication conjured by some damned bastard to deceive people.

The only reason Liu Shu'an had brought it up before Li Chang'an was to see if he could lure him out, intending to later contact the Prison Suppressing Department via secret missive and find an opportunity to intercept and kill him mid-journey.

Never did they expect that Li Chang'an would actually believe it, not only boating with them to Lake Tai but even plunging beneath the waves all by himself to seek the treasure.

The turn of events up to this point was already absurd enough.

Yet, the most preposterous part was still to come; after taking a single lap swimming through the depths, Li Chang'an had actually emerged from the water holding a chest?

Although Liu Shu'an was currently unaware of what lay inside, this alone was enough to send his imagination running wild!

For a moment, his mind was in utter turmoil, and he even began to question the nature of existence itself.

One had to know that the reason they did not hesitate to serve as dogs for the Demonic Qing Court to become bounty hunters, aside from enjoying easily obtained wealth and honor, was primarily to acquire high-tier martial arts techniques from the regime.

Now, realizing he might have missed out on a treasure trove right before his eyes, Liu Shu'an found it exceedingly difficult to maintain his composure!

The lean fellow beside him, however, remained calm, whispering, "Perhaps it is merely an ordinary chest. Once the men from the Prison Suppressing Department kill him, we can find a way to intercept the chest and open it to see!"

Upon hearing this, focus returned to Liu Shu'an’s eyes, and he nodded, gritting his teeth as he said, "It can only be so. We cannot let the Prison Suppressing Department notice; we must find an opportunity to snatch it back and see what is inside!"

……

Aboard the warship stood more than thirty members of the Prison Suppressing Department.

Most of them were rank-and-file officers at the Martial Artist realm, with only eight small-banner captains at the Martial Master realm.

At first glance, this lineup did not seem overly extravagant.

Yet it was worth noting that Li Chang'an had only been out for a dozen days; no matter how swiftly the Prison Suppressing Department reacted, deploying additional personnel required time, and assembling such a formidable force in so short a period was proof enough of the gravity with which they viewed him!

Beholding Li Chang'an in the water with a face as cold as frost, the leading small-banner captain aboard the warship wore a beaming smile, turning around without the slightest hesitation to command, "That brat is a bit uncanny. Keep the warship back, prepare the Vital Energy Cannon, and we shall beat the drowning dog from right here on deck!"

To ensure an infallible journey, this warship ridden by the Prison Suppressing Department was also a spiritual artifact inscribed with formation runes, controlling the Vital Energy Cannon through secret methods; so long as it struck, it was enough to easily obliterate a Martial Master!

Had Li Chang'an been on land, the warship might not have posed a threat to him.

But now that Li Chang'an was in the water, the small-banner captain believed that the vital energy runes inscribed upon the vessel would reduce him to ashes in the blink of an eye.

Seeing a surge of majestic vital energy coalesce at the prow of the warship, Li Chang'an suppressed the murderous intent swelling in his heart, turning to swim toward the deeper expanses of the lake.

On any ordinary day, he would not mind playing a game with this warship.

After all, with his current strength, he was virtually invincible beneath the Martial King realm; such a warship was, at most, a slightly larger toy.

But at this moment, he held in his hands a chest containing complete manuals of martial techniques from the peak era of the Central Plains three hundred years ago, and he naturally could not risk losing them by fighting to the death against these relentless pests.

Thus, after making a rough calculation in his mind, Li Chang'an resolutely turned around and fled.

"Boom!"

Vital energy condensed into a single point as the warship fired a highly destructive blast of energy.

This was precisely why gunpowder remained undeveloped in this world.

Martial artists could replicate part of its effects through formations and vital energy, and consequently, no one bothered to ponder how to enhance the potency of gunpowder.

Li Chang'an moved with extreme speed in the water, like a swimming dragon, executing a swift flick of his tail to evade the onslaught of the vital energy cannonball.

The small-banner captain on the ship was utterly dumbfounded.

He had never imagined that Li Chang'an's speed in the water could rival his speed on land.

He could not help but curse, "How can that fellow be so fast? Does he not need to breathe? Or is he a Martial King expert?"

A Martial King expert was absolutely impossible.

If Li Chang'an were truly a Martial King, there would be no need for him to flee now; even with one hand tied behind his back, he could send them all to meet the King of Hell.

Seeing that the cannon fire failed to hit and that Li Chang'an was fleeing further and further away, the small-banner captain cast all caution to the wind, instantly ordering the warship to maximum speed to pursue him in a frenzied hunt.

This persistent harassment stoked a fierce anger within Li Chang'an, until he grew somewhat desperate, preparing to find a place to deposit the chest so he could turn back and slaughter everyone on the ship.

Yet just at that moment, a terrifying aura akin to the collapsing of the heavens suddenly manifested in the distance.

Alarm bells rang wildly throughout Li Chang'an's entire being, his hair standing on end as his speed suddenly surged, shooting forward like an arrow released from a bowstring.

To prevent the pursuing warship from tracking his wake, Li Chang'an instantly submerged dozens of meters deep into the bottom of Lake Tai, even slowing his metabolism and breathing frequency to a crawl.

Not long after, the originally placid ripples upon the lake's surface suddenly began to heave.

A slender figure with withered, yellowish hair and a gaunt frame slowly descended upon the warship, casting his gaze across the water with a flash of slight astonishment as he muttered, "Quite a burrowing rat indeed, to vanish right before my eyes!"

Beholding the newcomer, the countenances of the several small-banner captains aboard the warship first shifted to shock, and then, like mice seeing a cat, they reverently knelt on one knee, saying, "Lord Chief Captain, what brings you here!"

The gaunt and slender figure waved his hand, signaling them to forego formalities, and said calmly, "I heard that the lad whom the Prefect has his eyes on has actually come to Lake Tai, so I came specifically to take a look!"

He said no more, fixing his gaze upon the water's surface for a moment before his skeletal hands suddenly clawed downward, violently ripping dozens of cubic meters of lake water right out of the depths!

Fish and shrimp were still swimming within the hoisted water, yet there was no sign of Li Chang'an.

Seeing that his attempt had struck empty air, the gaunt figure let out a sound of surprised doubt, and after observing intently for a moment, he reached out once more, lifting an even greater volume of water this time, yet still Li Chang'an was nowhere to be found.

Failing repeatedly, the gaunt figure was no longer merely astonished; the expression upon his face suddenly turned dark and chilling.

With a flick of his sleeve, nearly a hundred cubic meters of lake water instantly dissolved into exploding droplets of rain; before the rain could even fall back to the surface, his entire person vanished from the spot, plunging directly into the lake!