Great Zhou: Emperor Wu, I need to check your taxes.

"According to the laws of the Great Zhou Dynasty, anyone who privately possesses three or more sets of armor is guilty of treason! One set of armor is worth three crossbow bolts; three sets of armor will send you to the underworld!"

"If this is confirmed, let alone shutting down the escort agency, we could even arrest and behead that old bastard Lai Junchen!"

"This is irrefutable evidence!"

"Let's do it, Lin Yun!"

Li Hong'er could no longer contain herself; her hand had already gripped the short sword at her waist.

"If we just rush down there and rip off those tarpaulins, the case will be sealed!"

However, Lin Yun did not move.

His gaze did not linger on the conspicuous armor, but rather passed over the bustling front and back yards, landing on a corner deep within the escort agency.

There, there is a lonely little house.

Lanterns hung everywhere in the escort agency, except for that small hut, which was completely dark.

Even the surrounding noise seemed to be shut out there.

Something's not right.

Lin Yun frowned; the auditor's sensitivity to "abnormal data" made him feel uncomfortable.

"What's wrong? The evidence is right in front of us, what else is wrong?" Li Hong'er asked anxiously.

"It went too smoothly."

Lin Yun shook his head.

"Since the jury dares to put something like this, which could cost them their lives, here, how could they be so lax in their defenses?"

"Look at those bodyguards, even though they're drinking, their position... perfectly surrounds those boxes in the middle."

"and……"

Lin Yun pointed to the dark little house.

"That room... gave me a very bad feeling."

"My gut feeling tells me that's the key."

"intuition?"

Although Li Hong'er was somewhat skeptical, she suppressed her impulse because of her trust in Lin Yun's accurate judgments in the past.

"What should we do then?"

"Send someone to investigate."

Lin Yun gestured to one of the guards hiding on the other side of the wall, pointing to the dark room.

The guard understood immediately, slid down the wall, and, under the cover of shadow, silently made his way to the dark room.

One step, two steps...

The guards successfully reached the window of the dark room.

Everything seemed normal.

The guard took out a tinderbox from his pocket and blew on it gently.

A faint flame appeared.

He cautiously approached the crack in the window, wanting to peek inside.

However, just as the flame approached the window crack...

"call--"

There was no word from them.

The flame on the tinderbox went out instantly!

Followed by.

The guard crouching under the window suddenly stiffened.

He remained motionless, maintaining the posture he had been in, as if trying to spy.

"What's going on?!"

Li Hong'er, who was in the tree, changed her expression and was about to ask a question.

Lin Yun covered her mouth with his hand, staring intently at the pitch-black window, his pupils contracting sharply.

"Don't make a sound! That brother is dead!"

Li Hong'er stared wide-eyed at Lin Yun, not understanding what he was seeing.

Although the hand covering her mouth had been removed, she still subconsciously held her breath.

"Dead? That's it...dead?"

She glanced at the guard who remained frozen in his spying posture under the window, and a chill ran down her spine.

There was no sound of fighting, not even a muffled groan.

A living, breathing expert at the third level of cultivation has vanished without a trace.

"There's a master in this courtyard."

Lin Yun's voice was so low that only two people could hear it, but his tone was unusually firm.

"Moreover, he is a master who likes to hide in the shadows and whose methods are extremely insidious."

"We miscalculated."

Li Hong'er took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down.

As an elite member of the internal security force, she quickly regained her judgment.

"That guy was at the third level of the cultivation realm; he was able to kill him in an instant before he could even warn anyone..."

"The opponent is at least at the fifth level of the cultivation realm, or even higher!"

She gripped the short sword tightly, her eyes sharpening.

"However, if it's the fifth level of the cultivation realm, with the two of us joining forces, plus the rest of our brothers, we might not be unable to put up a fight!"

"If we arrange things properly, we can force him to reveal himself..."

"Sister Hong'er..."

Lin Yun interrupted her impulsive thoughts with a hint of exasperation.

"The first principle of auditing is to avoid risks, not to gamble with probability."

"The fifth level is the best-case scenario."

"What if the opponent is at the sixth level of the cultivation realm? Or even the seventh level?"

"What if the opponent is not only a master, but also a poison master or a mechanic skilled in group attacks?"

"Your dozen or so people, are they even enough to fill someone's teeth?"

Li Hong'er fell silent instantly.

Yes, if it's a top expert at the sixth level or above, then it's not something that can be defeated by sheer numbers.

In this cramped security escort agency, it was like wolves among sheep.

"Then... what should we do?"

Li Hong'er's momentum weakened, and she looked at Lin Yun with a pleading expression.

"The problem now is not how to attack, but whether we can evacuate safely."

Lin Yun stared intently at the dark room, a fine layer of cold sweat beading on his forehead.

"I have a feeling... we've been locked in."

"It's like being targeted by a venomous snake."

"It's best not to make any rash moves now. That man killed one of our brothers but didn't do anything afterward, which means he's waiting."

"Wait for us to make a mistake, or... he's enjoying the thrill of the hunt."

Although Li Hong'er felt that Lin Yun was being overly cautious, she didn't dare to object when she saw the eerie dark room.

Just as the two were at an impasse.

Another bodyguard, hidden in the shadows, had obviously also noticed his companion's unusual behavior.

"Third brother? What's wrong?"

The guard called out in a low voice, and when his companion did not respond, he couldn't help but dart out from the shadows, wanting to go and check the situation.

One step, two steps...

When he was still ten steps away from the dark room.

"Whoosh—!"

An extremely faint sound of something cutting through the air rang out.

This time, Lin Yun and Li Hong'er could see clearly by the moonlight!

Suddenly, a burst of cold silver light shot out from the dark crack in the window!

Those were dozens of silver needles as thin as cow hair!

It moved with lightning speed, almost instantly piercing the body of the guard with a whooshing sound!

"Thump!"

The guard didn't even have time to scream before his body stiffened, and he fell straight down, silent forever.

And at the moment he fell to the ground, the once noisy front yard of the security escort agency...

The drunken bodyguards were still playing drinking games, seemingly oblivious to the commotion!

This bizarre scene sent chills down the spines of the two people in the tree.

"this……"

Li Hong'er swallowed hard, her face pale.

"This technique... is like a torrential downpour of pear blossoms!"

"To be able to instantly seal all the major acupoints on a person's body from ten paces away with such a tiny hidden weapon, without even drawing a drop of blood..."

She turned to look at Lin Yun, her cherry-like lips turning slightly pale.

"Lin Yun, you're right."

"This is absolutely beyond the capabilities of someone at the fifth level!"