All Heavens: Dual Cultivation of Magic and Martial Arts Starting from the Republic of China

Chapter 71 Secret Message in the Fire

The middle-aged man's body, like paper scorched by fire, rapidly shrank and curled up—

In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a paper figure no bigger than the palm of your hand!

The paper figure's chest was pierced by a lightning-struck jujube wood dagger, and a strange smile was drawn on its face with cinnabar.

"This is—a paper substitute!"

Fu Ze's pupils suddenly contracted.

The Substitute Technique is a relatively common method in Maoshan magic, and the incantation itself is not difficult to draw.

However, to unleash its power, one needs extremely profound spiritual energy and a high level of cultivation.

Even with Fu Ze's current cultivation level, it would be difficult for him to use it.

This means that—at least in terms of cultivation level—the guy who secretly caused this trouble has a higher level of magical cultivation than Fu Ze!

Even higher than Feng Xuan!

Meanwhile, outside the cabin.

Zhao Rui had just shot down a gunman who was trying to escape from the stern of the boat when he suddenly looked up.

He saw a large patch of crimson fire suddenly shining through the cracks in the windows of the Yongji ship's cabin.

"not good!"

Zhao Rui's expression changed drastically, and he roared loudly.

"Brother Fu! Come out quickly!"

On the shore, Tang Ziming and his men had just subdued a man who was trying to escape.

Hearing Zhao Rui's voice, he turned around abruptly.

next moment.

Deep inside the cabin of the Yongji ship, all the crimson runes simultaneously lit up to their maximum brightness!

Fu Ze stood amidst boxes of weapons and explosives, and could clearly hear the faint hissing sound of gunpowder being ignited.

One place.

Two places.

More than a dozen places!

The cabin was ablaze on all sides!

Fu Ze's magic dagger crackled with lightning, and with his other hand he suddenly grabbed several golden talismans.

But almost at the same instant the talisman burned.

Boom!

A deafening roar suddenly tore through the darkness of the South Wharf.

The massive cargo ship Yongji was instantly blown apart from the inside of its hull by a surge of flames!

Boom!

The deafening explosion sounded like thunder crashing directly onto the South Wharf.

The massive hull of the Yongji suddenly shuddered, and its hull burst open from the inside. Planks, pieces of iron, and fragments of cargo boxes flew in all directions amidst towering flames, and scalding blasts swept across the pier, instantly knocking several nearby laborers who had no time to dodge to the ground.

There was a moment of deathly silence on the dock.

Then, complete chaos ensued!

"The ship exploded!"

"Run!"

"Fire! Firefighting!"

Some screamed, some fell to the ground, and some fled to the shore in a panic.

The two small boats that were originally moored next to the Yongji were also set ablaze by the flying embers. The boatmen were so frightened that they cursed and desperately tried to untie the mooring ropes.

Zhao Rui was standing on the side of the stern when the blast wave pushed him back several steps, causing him to crash into a wooden stake.

But he didn't care about the pain at all.

His eyes were fixed on the Yongji, which was engulfed in flames, and his face turned deathly pale.

"Brother Fu!"

"Fu Ze!"

Tang Ziming's expression also changed drastically.

He had just been leading Zhou Guangyi and Chen Wu in pinning down a man who was trying to escape from the back of the hold. No one expected the enemy in the hold to be so ruthless, abandoning all those guns and explosives to detonate the entire cargo ship!

"Help!"

Tang Ziming suddenly drew his gun and shouted sharply at those around him.

"Put out the fire! Untie the boats over there and tow them away! Quickly!"

There were already patrolling soldiers at the South Wharf.

The explosion on the Yongji came so suddenly that everyone was stunned. Then, hearing Tang Ziming's angry shout and recognizing him as the commander of the Third City Defense Battalion, some finally came to their senses.

"Quick! Move the buckets!"

"Untie the mooring lines and tow the boat away!"

"Don't let the fire spread to the warehouse!"

A group of people began to act in an orderly manner amidst the chaos.

Zhao Rui, however, had already rushed toward the Yongji.

He had only taken a few steps when a burning piece of ship plank slammed into his face. Sparks flew, forcing him to stop in his tracks.

The cabins of the Yongji were now completely engulfed in flames.

A huge hole had been blown in the hull, and river water was pouring in, but the ship was loaded with a large amount of gunpowder, wooden boxes, and oil paper. The fire not only did not go out, but burned even more fiercely.

Zhao Rui's eyes were red.

Fu Ze is still inside!

Even if he had reached the Transcendent Realm and knew magic, could he really survive an explosion of that magnitude?

Zhao Rui gritted his teeth and cursed under his breath.

"You're so tough, even an evil god couldn't kill you, how could you let a wrecked ship blow you up!"

He raised his hand to shield himself from the sweltering heat, and was about to force his way onto the ship.

Just then.

A muffled, loud bang suddenly came from the side of the burning Yongji ship's cabin.

boom!

A large section of broken planks, mixed with flames, suddenly exploded from the side of the ship's hull.

Immediately afterwards, a figure enveloped in a pale golden halo burst out of the sea of ​​fire!

After the man flew out of the cabin, he fell directly into the river.

thump!

Zhao Rui's eyes widened instantly.

"Brother Fu!"

Without thinking, he lunged straight to the edge of the pier.

The river surface was tinged crimson by the firelight from the boats.

A few breaths later, the water splashed loudly.

Fu Ze poked his head out of the water, panting heavily.

His clothes were burned to shreds, a small patch of his hair was singed, there were obvious burns on his left arm and shoulder, and a little blood was still hanging from the corner of his mouth.

But the person is still alive!

Zhao Rui seemed to suddenly relax, almost sitting down on the pier.

Then he started cursing.

"You're fucking scary!"

"I thought you'd been blown to bits!"

Fu Ze gripped a wooden post on the pier with one hand, coughed up a mouthful of river water he had choked on, and managed a weak smile.

"Don't worry! I'm very resilient."

Zhao Rui cursed and lay down, pulling him out of the river.

As soon as Fu Ze stepped onto the pier, his body swayed slightly.

That was really dangerous!

The sorcerer used a paper doll to detonate the explosives, giving him almost no time to react.

In the critical moment, Fu Ze only had time to activate three golden protective talismans at the same time, and poured almost all the spiritual energy in his Niwan Palace into the lightning-struck jujube wood magic dagger.

He then instantly used his energy to shatter the deck and fall into the hold, buying himself a brief moment. He then used his magic dagger to block the frontal explosion while simultaneously cutting through the hull, and plunged into the river.

Even so, he was still injured in the internal organs by the shockwave, and his back and arms were burned by the flames.

If we had been even half a step slower, we might have perished in the flames along with all that weaponry and explosives!

Tang Ziming hurried over.

Seeing that Fu Ze was still alive, he visibly breathed a sigh of relief.

"Brother Fu, how are you?"

Fu Ze wiped the river water off his face.

"He won't die."

"The sorcerer ran away."

"6

Zhao Rui's face immediately darkened.

"They ran away?"

Fu Ze nodded.

"The one I fought in the cabin was just his paper doll."

"He had already prepared an escape route. Detonating the cabin was not only to kill me, but also to destroy all the evidence here."

Tang Ziming could barely contain his anger.

"What a ruthless thing!"

Just then.

boom!

A gunshot suddenly rang out from the other side of the dock.

A man in a short jacket who had been running away in the crowd suddenly turned around and fired a shot at Tang Ziming.

The bullets struck the wooden planks of the pier, sending up a shower of debris.

Zhou Guangyi's expression changed.

"Battalion Commander, watch out!"

But the man only fired one shot; he never had the chance to fire a second one.

The gun in Zhao Rui's hand had already fired.

boom!

The man in the short jacket suddenly burst open his right knee, spraying a burst of blood.

He screamed and fell to the ground, still trying to raise his gun.

boom!

Another shot.

His wrist was also pierced, and the pistol fell into the muddy water by the river.

Smoke was rising from the muzzle of Zhao Rui's gun, and his usual playful expression was completely gone.

"If you want to run, then run honestly."

"You dare turn around and fire? Do you really think you, Master Zhao, are in a good mood tonight?"

Tang Ziming immediately shouted.

Arrest him!

Chen Wu and Zhou Guangyi rushed forward and pinned the man down.

Tang Ziming looked at the chaotic crowd around him, and his heart sank.

That person was clearly not alone.

The enemy likely has other spies and accomplices hiding around the dock!

But now the fire is getting bigger and bigger, and ordinary people and boatmen are all fleeing, so there is no way to catch all the suspicious people immediately.

Tang Ziming gritted his teeth and said.

"I'll go and mobilize troops to blockade the docks right away!"

Fu Ze reached out and stopped him.

"We can deploy personnel to extinguish the fire, evacuate residents, and seal off the outer perimeter."

"But don't announce the arrest of the mole immediately."

Tang Ziming was taken aback.

Why?

Fu Ze glanced at the Yongji, which was still burning.

"Since the ship was bombed, it means the other side already knew it had been exposed. If we continue with a large-scale search now, we'll at most catch a few small fry who didn't have time to escape."

"The truly important people have usually already prepared an escape route."

Zhao Rui also said in a deep voice.

"Preserve any evidence you can find first."

"With so many guns and explosives on board, it's impossible that there wasn't a trace left after they were brought in."

Tang Ziming forcibly suppressed his anger and nodded.

"it is good."

He turned to Zhou Guangyi and said.

"Take my token and immediately go to the nearby patrol posts to call for reinforcements. Just say that a cargo ship exploded at the dock and that we need to put out the fire, rescue people, and seal off the perimeter. Don't say anything else."

Zhou Guangyi immediately accepted the token.

"yes!"

"besides."

Tang Ziming looked at the man in the short jacket whose arms and legs had been broken.

"Keep a close eye on him. First, gag him, then search his body for poison pills, poison needles, or talismans."

"I don't want to see another living person die right before my eyes!"

Chen Wu nodded immediately.

"clear!"

After making the arrangements, Tang Ziming turned around and looked at Fu Ze and Zhao Rui.

"What do we do next?"

Fu Ze did not answer immediately.

He looked at the Yongji ship in the firelight and slowly activated his spiritual vision.

The explosion just now dispersed most of the magical traces on the ship.

The mixture of fire, smoke, river water, and the lingering malevolent energy of the dead was so chaotic that even spiritual vision could not detect it.

But Fu Ze did not give up.

The more the sorcerer wanted to destroy the evidence, the more it proved that there was something on the ship worth destroying.

A moment later, his self-illumination suddenly landed on the half-sunken stern of the Yongji.

The fire was slightly weaker there.

Amidst the churning river and burning planks, a faint, grayish-black aura lingered, never dissipating.

It looked like something sealed by magic was stuck beneath the wreckage of the ship's cabin.

Fu Ze's gaze sharpened.

"Arui".

"Um?

""

There's something under the stern.

Zhao Rui followed his gaze and could only see a patch of fire and river water.

Are you sure?

"Sure."

Fu Zedao.

"There are traces of magical runes on that place. Since the sorcerer specifically used magic to protect it, it's probably not ordinary goods inside."

Zhao Rui immediately tucked the gun back into his waistband.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's grab them!"

Tang Ziming glanced at the injuries on Fu Ze's body.

"Brother Fu, you just came out of the fire, let me send someone down."

Fu Ze shook his head.

"Ordinary people can't see the exact location, and they may not be able to avoid the residual spells."

"I'll give you directions, you guys do the work."

Soon, Tang Ziming brought over a small boat that had not yet been affected by the fire, and also called over several dockworkers who were familiar with the water.

Under Fu Ze's guidance, the group used long hooks to pry apart the burnt wooden planks near the stern of the boat, one by one.

Zhao Rui stood at the front, enduring the heat, and personally grasped an iron hook.

"A little to the left!"

Fu Ze stared at the gray-black aura.

"Go further down!"

Zhao Rui gritted his teeth and peered down.

The iron hook seemed to have caught something heavy.

"Got it!"

He used his arms to pull, and together with the two boatmen next to him, he pulled upwards.

Whoosh!

A charred metal box was pulled from the underwater wreckage.

The box wasn't large, about half a foot wide and a little over a foot long. It was wrapped in a layer of burnt oilcloth, and underneath the oilcloth were two blackened talismans.

Despite the wind and fire, the two talismans were not completely burned.

Fu Ze's eyes flickered slightly.

"Fire-avoiding talisman".

Zhao Rui wiped the cigarette ash off his face.

"Good heavens, they detonated the entire ship, but still went out of their way to protect this crate?"

Tang Ziming's face was gloomy.

"This means they originally intended to take the contents with them. The explosion was just a last resort to destroy evidence when they ran out of time."

Fu Ze nodded.

"Open it and take a look."

Tang Ziming asked everyone to step back a bit, and then personally used a knife to pry open the lock on the iron box.

Click.

The lid of the box is opened.

There were no guns, nor gold or silver inside.

There were only a few items.

A thin ledger tightly wrapped in oiled paper.

A stack of blank military equipment transfer documents.

Three seals.

There were also a dozen or so neatly folded gray-black talisman papers.

Tang Ziming's expression changed completely after just one glance at the three seals.

He picked up one of them at once.

"This is the ordnance transfer stamp for the Third Battalion."

"But the real seal has always been locked up at the camp headquarters!"

Zhao Rui sneered.

"Fake?"

Tang Ziming's fingers trembled slightly.

"Look at the engravings, they're almost identical. If I didn't use it every day, an ordinary person wouldn't be able to tell the difference."

He then picked up two more seals.

The next moment, his expression turned even uglier.

"One of them is the stamp of the port's cargo inspection office."

"The other one is the seal of the Quartermaster Department of the City Defense Command."

Zhao Rui stopped smiling.

"Then this matter involves more than just your Third Battalion."

Tang Ziming remained silent.

The firelight illuminated his face, making his expression appear somewhat unpleasant.

A deputy platoon leader of the third battalion couldn't possibly obtain the seal of the city defense command's quartermaster department.

The person behind the scenes has already extended their reach to even higher places.

Fu Ze took out the account book and unwrapped the outer oil paper.

The records inside are very obscure.

There was no mention of "guns," "ammunition," or "explosives"; only the cargo batch, weight, ship number, and receiving code were recorded.

But Zhao Rui only flipped through a few pages before his eyes turned cold.

"This is not a regular invoice."

Tang Ziming immediately asked.

"You can tell?"

Zhao Rui pointed to one of the pages.

"This batch is labeled '40 boxes of long timber and 10 boxes of iron fruit.' At first glance, they certainly look like timber and fruit."

"But the weight at the back is wrong."

"If you convert it to guns and bullets, it's roughly forty boxes of rifles and ten boxes of ammunition."

He turned another page.

"And this batch, labeled 'Six Boxes of Red Medicine.' It was delivered to the Yongji ship three days ago."

Tang Ziming's expression changed drastically.

"Red medicine?"

Zhao Rui pointed to the cargo ship that was still burning.

"It's explosives."

Tang Ziming clenched his fist tightly.

This is no longer a matter of stealing a few guns or helping a few assassins.

Someone is continuously transferring weapons and explosives within Wenlong City!

What are they trying to do?

Does assassinating Liao Xibai really require so much preparation?

Fu Ze also thought of this.

"Their goal is probably not just to assassinate Mr. Liao."

Tang Ziming suddenly looked up.

Fu Ze said in a deep voice.

"You don't need this many guns and explosives to kill one person."

"Unless, they're planning something even bigger."

In the firelight, the three men's faces darkened.

Zhao Rui continued searching through the iron box.

Suddenly, he pulled a folded piece of paper from the inner lining of the ledger.

There's something else here.

There was no signature on the outside of the paper, only a very faint vermilion mark.

Fu Ze took it, and as soon as he unfolded it, he felt a lingering chill on it.

It is not an offensive spell.

It's more like a mark used to confirm identity and prevent others from easily viewing it.

However, after being washed by flames and river water, the mark has almost faded away.

Fu Ze gently brushed his fingertips with spiritual energy.

The cinnabar mark quickly disappeared.

The words on the paper became visible.

The above content is not much.

There are only three lines.

The old master has arrived, and the city gates have fallen.

The banquet will proceed as scheduled and cannot be changed.

The lanterns are lit three times to welcome the departed master to heaven.

Tang Ziming's face turned pale when he read the last sentence.

"Dinner!"

Zhao Rui's expression also changed.

"Are they going to make a move at the dinner party?"

Fu Ze stared at the three lines of text, without answering immediately.

This piece of paper must have been delivered to a contact person at the South Wharf after the failed assassination attempt at the city gate.

That means that after Liao Xibai decided to hold a high-profile banquet, the other party quickly learned of the news.

They may have already made preparations to deal with it.

Fu Ze's gaze fell on the words "Ming Yan remains the same, and cannot be changed."

As usual?

Why is it the same as before?

Unless, tonight's dinner was exactly what the other party had anticipated.

Or rather, regardless of how Liao Xibai makes his public appearance, they have already prepared a second killing spree.

Tang Ziming said urgently.

"I must go back immediately to inform the Commander and Mr. Liao!"

Fu Ze grabbed his wrist.

"etc."

Tang Ziming said urgently.

"What are you waiting for? The banquet is about to begin!"

"Precisely because it's about to begin, we can't afford to panic."

Fu Ze folded the paper back up.

"Now we have two questions."

"First, since the other side was able to extend their reach into the city defenses, the armory, and the south dock, no one can be sure whether Commander Chen's entourage has also been bribed."

"Secondly, we cannot be entirely certain whether this piece of paper was actually found by us or was a decoy deliberately left behind by the other party."

Zhao Rui frowned.

"You suspect the dinner was just a pretext?"

Fu Ze shook his head.

"No."

"There must be danger at the dinner."

"We don't know exactly how they plan to make their move. If we send out a large-scale message now and alert those hiding around the banquet, they might launch their attack ahead of schedule, or they might use a different method."

Tang Ziming broke out in a cold sweat.

"What should we do then?"

Fu Ze made a quick decision.

"Commander Tang, have Zhou Guangyi take your personal seal and go directly to Chen Ji'an via the side road, or find Li Junfeng..."

"Master Feng Xuan."

The message only said one sentence: "The lights are strange; beware of sorcerers."

"Do not send the message through the city defenses, and do not let anyone unrelated know that we have found this piece of paper."

Tang Ziming nodded.

"it is good."

"And what about you?"

Fu Ze looked in the direction where the lights were brightest in Wenlong City.

"Arui and I went straight to the banquet."

Zhao Rui had already reloaded his bullets and sneered.

"It seems this dinner tonight is really not very good."

Tang Ziming called Zhou Guangyi over, whispered a few words to him, and handed him his personal seal.

Zhou Guangyi knew the matter was serious, so he didn't ask any more questions and quickly left along the alley behind the dock.

Tang Ziming left Chen Wu and the trusted soldiers who arrived later to continue guarding the scene, controlling the survivors, and sealing the iron box and account books.

After doing all that, he looked at Fu Ze.

"I'll go with you."

Fu Ze glanced at him but did not refuse.

"Walk."

Just as the three were about to leave, the man in the short jacket whose arms and legs had been broken by Zhao Rui suddenly let out a painful groan.

Fu Ze stopped and turned to look.

The man's mouth was stuffed with a wad of cloth, and his hands and feet were bound, yet a wisp of extremely fine gray-black energy slowly emerged from his chest.

It's almost exactly the same as the silencing spell on that swordsman from before!

Fu Ze's face darkened.

"Get out of the way!"

Chen Wu reacted quickly, immediately dragging the soldiers next to him back.

The next instant, the man in the short jacket froze.

It felt like something exploded from inside my chest.

boom!

Fresh blood gushed from his mouth and nose.

He instantly stopped breathing.

Tang Ziming's eyes widened in horror.

"Another restriction!"

Fu Ze stepped forward, squatted down, and examined the area for a moment.

"The other party has silenced them."

"

"Although the sorcerer escaped, he can still sense that these assassins have been captured. It will probably be very difficult to extract information from them now."

Zhao Rui gritted his teeth.

"Once I catch that thing, I'll make him taste what it's like to have a bullet through his head."

Fu Ze stood up.

"So we can't afford to delay any longer."

"Walk."

The three left the blazing South Wharf and hurried into the city.

Behind them, the Yongji was still burning.

The river wind blew the thick smoke into the night sky, and from a distance, it looked like a black shadow shrouding the south side of Wenlong City.

Meanwhile, on the other side of Wenlong City, a brightly lit scene unfolded.

Chen Ji'an hosted a welcome banquet for Liao Xibai at a very large clubhouse in the city.

There was a constant stream of carriages and horses in front of the guild hall.

Cars, rickshaws, and sedan chairs stopped one after another.

Director Zhao Mengqiu of the Department of Civil Affairs has arrived.

Finance Minister Shen Shuheng has arrived.

Chamber of Commerce President Lu Shaotang also arrived with several local business tycoons.

There were also newspaper editors, bank managers, academic celebrities, representatives of foreign firms, and several foreign journalists who rushed over after hearing the news.

Everyone knows that tonight's banquet is not just a welcome party.

Ten years ago, Liao Xibai followed Mr. Sun Yat-sen, traveling around to overthrow the old regime and establish the Republic of China. He was in charge of finances, confidential matters, party affairs, and participated in some of the most important political planning.

After Mr. Sun passed away, the group was leaderless, and various factions vied for power.

Liao Xibai went to Southeast Asia and did not return for ten years.

Everyone thought he might never come back.

But now, he's back—