Chapter 19 Staking Out

After three months of rigorous training, the thirty trainee Demon Suppressors improved their strength and were officially appointed as official Demon Suppressors of the Demon Suppressing Division.

Recently, a womanizer has been appearing in Qinghe County, committing a series of crimes. Several young women have already fallen victim to his crimes. The first task for the group after becoming official demon slayers is to capture the womanizer who has been committing crimes recently.

Osmanthus Lane in the west of the city, Locust Tree Alley in the east of the city, and Willow Alley in the south of the city were all places where flower thieves committed their crimes.

Thirty newly appointed demon-suppressing envoys were divided into ten groups and staked out various locations in Qinghe County, preparing to arrest the flower thief who had recently committed a series of crimes.

Shen Lian, Li Hu, and Chen Yun were grouped together. All three were martial artists at the Body Tempering Realm and had solid swordsmanship.

Shen Lian and Chen Yun are among the top in strength among the newly appointed Demon Suppression Envoys.

Many newly appointed demon-suppressing envoys staked out various locations in Qinghe County for several days, but to no avail; they failed to find any trace of the flower thief.

The moon was dark and the wind was high.

The newly appointed demon-suppressing envoys dispersed and staked out various locations in Qinghe County.

Shen Lian, Li Hu, and Chen Yun, dressed in plain clothes, hid in the attic of an abandoned house near Guihua Lane in the west of the city.

The three of them held their breath and scanned the street below.

They had been staking out the spot for several days, but had yet to spot the flower thief.

Li Hu lowered his voice and said, "Do you think the thief might hear the news and be too scared to commit any more crimes?"

Shen Lian shook his head and said, "According to the case file, this person's intervals between crimes are shortening, and he specifically chooses to act when it's late at night and everyone is quiet. I reckon he's about to make his move."

"Senior Brother Shen is right. This person is skilled in light footwork and knows the layout of the streets and alleys well. We need to be even more careful," Chen Yun said softly.

The three continued to lie in wait in the attic, hoping the flower thief would appear.

Directly in front of the pavilion was a mansion with a plaque reading "Zhang Mansion" hanging outside the gate. It was the residence of Zhang, a silk merchant in the city.

Shen Lian read through the case file. The eldest daughter of the Zhang family was sixteen years old and had just come of age. Half a month ago, the Zhao family had gone to a neighboring county to purchase goods, leaving only the female relatives and old servants at home.

This perfectly matched the conditions the flower thief needed to strike.

That's why Shen Lian and the other two waited in the pavilion opposite the Zhang residence.

Time passed second by second.

The streets below were deserted.

Li Hu yawned and rubbed his slightly sore eyes: "Brother Lian, Sister Yun, it seems we've waited in vain again tonight..."

"Silence!" Shen Lian whispered.

[Combat Strength]: 22~32

At first, Shen Lian didn't notice anything, but when he checked his surroundings for any high-level combatants, he coincidentally discovered a formidable opponent.

"Did you find anything?" Chen Yun asked in a low voice.

"The target has been spotted!"

Chen Yun and Li Hu were both taken aback upon hearing this, and then looked ahead.

The target has been spotted?

The two looked around carefully but found no one else.

A dark figure flashed by, stopping outside the Zhang family compound wall. It looked around warily, then lightly leaped over the wall, placed its hands on the top, and silently vaulted into the courtyard. The whole process was smooth and fluid, revealing its remarkable skill.

"The target has entered the Zhang residence," Shen Lian said. "Proceed according to plan. Hu Zi, you guard the front gate of the Zhang residence to prevent the flower thief from escaping through the front. Junior Sister Chen, you and I go around to the backyard and block his retreat. Commander Zhao said that the main objective is to capture him, but if he puts up a stubborn resistance, we don't need to hold back."

"clear!"

Chen Yun and Li Hu were invigorated. After staking out the place for several days, the flower thief finally appeared, and they finally had a chance to make their move.

The three quickly jumped down from the attic and then split up to carry out their respective tasks.

Under the cover of night, Shen Lian and Chen Yun silently moved towards the backyard of the Zhang residence, while Li Hu waited at the front gate.

Zhang Family Inner Courtyard.

The window of the attic boudoir was silently pried open, and a man dressed in black night clothes and wearing a black mask nimbly sneaked into the room.

A woman's soft gasp came from inside the room, which was then covered.

Shen Lian and Chen Yun moved swiftly, quickly closing in on the backyard of the Zhang family. The two of them, one on the left and one on the right, blocked off both sides of the wall.

Shen Lian listened intently and faint sounds of struggle could be heard coming from the inner courtyard pavilion. He frowned and gestured to Chen Yun.

Chen Yun understood and lightly touched the ground with her lotus feet.

He slipped into the inner courtyard, lay prone in the shadows, and drew his long sword, gripping it tightly in his hand.

At the same moment, Li Hu pressed himself against the stone lion at the front gate, his breathing extremely low, his hands gripping his long knife tightly. He stared intently ahead, waiting for the thief to show his face.

Inside the boudoir, the man in black was about to make his move when he suddenly sensed something unusual outside the window. He reacted swiftly, immediately releasing the woman in his arms and turning to leap out of the window.

The window frame was shattered by a burst of sword energy. Shen Lian walked over, sword in hand, his gaze fixed on his opponent.

"The Demon Suppression Division is investigating. Surrender now," Shen Lian said in a low voice.

The man in black remained calm. He suddenly rammed into the door, which shattered with a crash. He then shot off like an arrow into the corridor and headed straight for the path in the backyard.

"Where to go?"

Chen Yun emerged from the shadows, her long blade aimed directly at her opponent, unleashing a three-hit combo of "Wave Slash" to block his path.

The man in black shifted his feet and twisted his body with a strange movement to dodge, then threw three iron caltrops at Chen Yun's face.

Chen Yun swung her knife to block, but was forced back several steps.

The man in black leaped forward, using the momentum to dash towards the high wall in the backyard.

Just then, Shen Lian attacked from above, wielding a long sword and slashing down with the first move of the "Demon Subduing Sword Technique".

The "Mountain Splitting Strike" was powerful and heavy, unleashing a surge of blade energy that pressed down.

Bang!

The man in black dodged, and Shen Lian slashed a hole in the wall with his sword.

"Tiger, stop him!" Shen Lian shouted.

Upon hearing the sound, Li Hu, who was lying in wait at the front gate, suddenly rushed out from behind the stone lion and slashed down at the face of the man in black with a "mountain-splitting" technique.

Seeing that his path was blocked, the man in black did not panic at all. Instead, he rushed towards Li Hu, suddenly shifting his body to the side to dodge Li Hu's slash.

He then flashed and rushed towards the alleyway to the side.

He clearly knew the layout of the streets and alleys around the Zhang family's residence like the back of his hand. He moved swiftly and escaped under the cover of night.

Shen Lian and the other two immediately gave chase.

The alleyways were crisscrossed, and the men in black managed to evade the encirclement each time. Chen Yun approached several times, but was forced back each time.

Li Hu rushed out of the alley, nearly colliding with Shen Lian. He gasped, "He knows the terrain too well; chasing him like this isn't going to work."

Shen Lian's gaze swept over his surroundings.

This is already on the western edge of the city, with a complex network of alleyways. Further ahead lies the abandoned dyeing workshop area, which is riddled with secret passages. If someone manages to escape into it, it will be even more difficult to track them down.

"We absolutely cannot let him escape!" Shen Lian shouted in a low voice.

Chen Yun and Li Hu moved swiftly, following behind the man in black, but were quickly left far behind.

Shen Lian approached the man in black with his knife, only to see the man in black smirk and then suddenly flick his right hand, sending something hurtling towards him.

Bang!

Shen Lian swung his knife and slashed, a loud bang suddenly echoing through the alley, filling it with thick smoke.

"Shen Lian!"

"Brother Lian!"

Upon seeing this, Chen Yun and Li Hu immediately exclaimed in surprise, somewhat worried about Shen Lian.

"Ahem!"

A coughing sound rang out, and Shen Lian emerged from the thick smoke, his flying fish robe covered in white soot.

"I'm fine!" Shen Lian replied.

Seeing that Shen Lian was alright, the two were finally relieved.

Li Hu stomped his foot in anger: "What a pity, he got away."

"I never expected this person to have such superb lightness skills, and also to have various ways to save his life. We really underestimated him," Chen Yun said through gritted teeth.

Shen Lian looked in the direction the man in black had fled and said, "He's quite strong. In a one-on-one fight, none of us would be a match for him. Plus, he's very familiar with the layout of this place. Catching him won't be easy."

"Even with your strength, you're no match for them?" Chen Yun asked in surprise.

Shen Lian shook his head. His current combat strength was 20-28, while the black-clad man's combat strength was 22-32. In a life-or-death struggle, he was no match for him.

Upon seeing this, Chen Yun and Li Hu couldn't help but gasp.

Li Hu couldn't help but ask, "Brother Lian, what should we do now?"

"Let's go back to the Zhang family mansion first and calm them down," Shen Lian said.