Chapter Sixty-Two: Pursuit of the Killer

With a wet splatter, blood gushed from the severed neck, spraying out like water from a spigot. A fine head soared through the air and crashed to the ground almost simultaneously with the body.

Screams erupted from the women inside the shed—chaos broke out in an instant, and the once-composed gamblers were now gripped by terror. Even Director Wu was stunned. He had never imagined Gu Sha would kill so directly; that earlier incident with Section Chief Wang at least had some pretense—Wang brought it on himself by trying to be clever and missing several chances to back down before being killed. But this woman, she had barely spoken a couple of sentences, and yet she met her end just like that.

"How can this man be so ruthless?" Wu shuddered in fear, feeling lucky he hadn't tried to put on airs before—otherwise, he might already be lying in two pieces.

Amid the confusion, Gu Sha snatched a firearm from a city guard and fired two shots into the air, shattering the iron roof above. "Everyone, hands on your heads and squat down! I will only say this once!"

His thunderous command sent most people hurrying to comply. Yet there were still a few who, out of fearlessness or perhaps because they had secrets to hide, bolted for the back exit.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gu Sha fired the remaining rounds, emptying the magazine and gunning down the gamblers who tried to flee through the rear door. The rest quickly dropped to the ground in terror.

Then, wielding his Tang sword, Gu Sha leapt in a single bound to the back entrance, glaring coldly at the cowering figures. "Why did you run?" he demanded.

The man in front stammered, "N-no... I was just scared..."

With a swift stroke, Gu Sha beheaded him; his head tumbled to the floor.

Gu Sha pointed his blade at another. "Where is Old Nine?"

"I-I don’t kn—"

Another head hit the ground before the words were finished.

Turning to the third, Gu Sha didn't even have to speak; the man collapsed, stammering, "I know! I know! Old Nine was here just before you all came. He heard someone shout that city guards were arriving and fled. Before he left, he whispered something to his wife—I heard him say he was going to hide in the Law Enforcement Office!"

"Hmph." Gu Sha grunted, then turned to Director Wu. "Register everyone here. If this man is lying to me, every last one of you will be fed to the zombies!"

With that, Gu Sha dashed out the door.

Once he left, those still squatting inside the shed gasped for breath, many collapsing limp where they sat. Some even wet themselves in terror.

...

Gu Sha was quite familiar with the structure of the Bastion. He drove straight for the Law Enforcement Office. This office, tasked with internal security within the Bastion, was a force jointly established by several noble families. The building stood at the center of the Bastion, imposing and dignified.

Gu Sha parked his vehicle at the main entrance, tossed his credentials to the city guard on duty.

The guard glanced at the documents, snapped to attention, and saluted. "Sir! What are your orders?"

Gu Sha spoke in a grave tone, "Take me to your Law Enforcement Office's head, the patriarch of the Yang family."

The guard hesitated a moment. "Sir, please wait here, I’ll call ahead to confirm."

Shortly after the call, the head of the Yang family himself, who had only met Gu Sha earlier that day at the Association of Awakened, hurried out from his office to the plaza—startling the surrounding guards, who wondered just what rank Gu Sha must hold to warrant such personal attention.

"Mr. Gu," the Yang patriarch greeted anxiously, "has something happened?"

Although Gu Sha had clashed with the Bastion's upper echelon at the Association that morning, these were not ordinary people—past grievances were left behind, and the Yang patriarch showed him every courtesy. Besides, Gu Sha had previously discussed with Han Ze the intelligence that the Purification Society planned a terrorist attack on Tianhu Residential District, and as such, the upper echelons were well informed. Upon learning Gu Sha had come to the Law Enforcement Office, the Yang patriarch’s first thought was of the Purification Society.

Gu Sha nodded. "I’m tracing the Purification Society. I’ve found a suspect, but he may be hiding inside the Law Enforcement Office."

"What?" The Yang patriarch was shocked. "Who is it? I’ll order an immediate investigation."

"A resident of District Twelve East, known as Old Nine," Gu Sha replied, glancing at his watch. "You’d best hurry, Lord Yang. As far as I know, the Purification Society plans to detonate their bombs around nine tonight—it's already seven. Also, keep things discreet; we mustn’t alert the Purification Society. If they suspect the plan is compromised, they might detonate early. If I’m right, the Association of Awakened won’t be able to find those bombs in Tianhu District."

The Yang patriarch’s face darkened. "According to Chairman Han’s report, only two bombs have been found so far—one at your home, the one you discovered."

Gu Sha was surprised. "You found another? That’s better than I expected. The enemy hides them very cleverly—machines can’t detect them, only supernatural means work, but the Awakened assigned are too low-ranked... It seems I underestimated the Association."

The Yang patriarch looked embarrassed. "That second one... actually wasn't found through investigation. A city guard accidentally broke a resident’s vase during the search, and it fell out..."

Gu Sha replied dryly, "Impressive."

...

Soon, the Yang patriarch arranged for Gu Sha to wait with tea in his office while he personally investigated Old Nine.

Not long after, the Yang patriarch returned, his expression grim. "The trail has gone cold."

Gu Sha raised an eyebrow. "What happened?"

The Yang patriarch spoke in a low voice: "Old Nine did indeed hide here. He had some dealings with a high-ranking officer in our office—just a business arrangement. Old Nine claimed he’d made enemies, so he paid the officer to put him in jail for a few days. The director didn’t think much of it and locked him up. But when we went to fetch him just now, Old Nine killed himself."

"Are you sure it was suicide?" Gu Sha asked.

"Yes," said the Yang patriarch. "I saw it myself. He dashed his head against the wall."

"The trail isn’t broken yet," Gu Sha replied.

The Yang patriarch was taken aback. "What do you mean, Mr. Gu?"

Gu Sha arched a brow, checked his watch. "It’s seven thirty. If we haven’t raised alarm and the enemy hasn’t detonated early, we still have time."

"Rest assured," the Yang patriarch assured him. "The moment you arrived, I had all signals cut off and the office sealed. No one can send word out."

Gu Sha smiled, rising to his feet. "Lord Yang, if you’ll permit me to shed some blood in your Law Enforcement Office, I believe I can pick the trail back up."