159 Night Raid

Seeing me, an awkward expression finds itself on Yue's face as one of the other assailants ask, "Is there something wrong Inspector?"

"*Sigh* it's nothing, you all should take care of this, I won't step in unless I really have to. Or can the Imperial Guards really not handle this?" Yue says as she backs up towards the balcony while also giving me a knowing glance.

The man she was just talking with raises a brow, before turning towards us, but before he can say anything, I lunge forward to beat them to the punch as my two fist land a clean hit onto two of the other assailants.

"Damn you! we were going to give you a chance to surrender peacefully but that's no longer an option. Apprehend the criminals, dead or alive!" Yells the man who is presumably the captain of this squad.

So he says, but following my lead, the battle had already begun as Lia gets several good shots in on one of the guards, some of which were headshots, killing her almost instantly. A few bullets to the brain on not even the extra defences provided by the System can keep a person from dying, although it seemed to have taken a few shots to actually penetrate the skull.

Leaving the two guards I dropped to the floor, I move over towards my next foe. With Aurelia keeping three enemies busy on her own and Wanjing draining the two I downed previously, I provoke the other five Imperial Guards to fight me.

"You're all so weak! Is this really the famed Imperial Guard of Shenzhou, I can take you lot on, one against five!"

Behind the five guards who are charging at me, Yue is smiling and nodding her head in satisfaction after hearing my provocation. As for the five who are already in my face, I just swing around and slap them with my tail. Apart from the guy giving out orders, the other four not only got hit with the full force of my tail but are also affected by my corrosion. Wanjing, having finished off the two from earlier, has already made her way to two of the people I knocked down again, draining their qi as they scream in anguish. As for the other two I hit with my tail, a good Shrapnel Breath to face ends them.

Other than the Captain, I really wasn't kidding when I provoked them and said they were all weak. With the exception of Lia, whose stats still need more time to grow, the guards really can't compare, and Lia can compensate for her comparatively low stats with her guns. Now all that remains is the Captain who is mostly uninjured and Yue who has been standing in the back this whole time.

Unlike his subordinates, the Captain actually has stats that are close to Lia's from before we went to the tomb, averaging at around just under ten thousand. Yue, on the other hand, will be much more of a problem, as she is easily one of the strongest people I've met to date.

Name: Hong Yue

Race: Adult Scion of the Vermilion Bird

Tier: 10

Titles: Vermilion Successor, Boss of the Scarlet Wings, Scarlet Feather

Level: 33

HP: 1,606,563 MP: 1,709,109 SP: 2,050,931

STR: 2,119,296

VIT: 1,640,745

DEX: 2,392,753

INT: 1,845,838

WIS: 1,880,020

MND: 1,862,929

Although I said person, just like me and now Lia, she is also a monster taking a humanoid form. If the experience requirements are the same as Lia's, then it's amazing that she's reached level 33 at her age. It'll be really troublesome for us if she joins the Imperial Guard.

Backing away towards Yue, the Captain like guy yells, "what are you doing, Inspector Hong Yue!? All my subordinates have been killed, what the hell are you still waiting for!?"

"Fine, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to move a bit," Yue says as I sense spacial fluctuations around the ring on her hand and a large red polearm, the end of the red shaft is shaped like a feather while the curved blade has an eerie red glow to it. Lifting her arm up, she swings down with such a tremendous force that it generates gale force winds. All I can say is, it's a damn good thing she's on our side.

"Ahh! What do you think you're doing!" the Captain yells out as he is squirming on the ground with both of his left limbs having been cut cleanly off.

"I never said I was going to help you once I joined the battle," Yue says with a look of disgust as she stares down on the last of the Imperial Guard.

"You damned traitor! Do you really think you can get away with this!?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. After all, you, my good sir, are the only one left of this night raid and soon, no one will be left to expose the matter."

Yue slowly raises her arm, bringing her weapons into the air, but before making another move, Wanjing yells out, "wait! Let me finish him, I want to absorb his qi."

"Ok with me, I didn't like this guy much anyway, he doesn't deserve my blade," Yue says, as her expression softens while turning her head to me, "I didn't think we'd meet again so soon, and under these unusual circumstances at that."

"Is this..." Aurelia says, trailing off.

"Yeah, if I'm not mistaken this should be the woman that Cory spent her day with. But you never mentioned that she was a government official or this strong, Cory," Lia says.

"Of course I didn't, I never looked into it, so I didn't even know until now. And thanks for the help, not that you really had to do much."

"Don't mention it, besides, I should apologise for not telling you about my official job. I never meant to hide it, it's just my identity is somewhat special, so I kinda avoided the topic naturally without really meaning to. But given the situation, I believe a proper introduction is due. Hong Yue, a Scion of the Vermilion Bird. By day I'm an Inspector for the government and by night I'm the boss of the triad, Scarlet Wings, known as Scarlet Feather."

As she hears Yue introduce herself, Wanjing turns her attention towards Yue as she says, "wait, you mean you're THE Scarlet Feather, one of the major backers of the Treasury?"

"Is she famous or something?" Aurelia asks.

"To be precise, she's infamous, especially when the upper-class is involved. Founder and boss of the Scarlet Wings, their main activity is stealing from the bureaucratic families. This is what pushed them to prominence over the past decade since their founding, but other than that, they also thought to dabble in smuggling and assassination. About six years ago they became one of the backing powers behind the Treasury."

"That's some pretty accurate information and for the most part, it's correct. I would guess that you too are in a similar industry."

"I do a bit of smuggling, but my aunt is a manager at the Treasury and is good at collecting information, which is who I get this from."

"I see. So Cordelia, what are you and your friends going to do now? I should tell you that these guys had already sent a report regarding your presence in Shiping."

"How long do you think we have before more show up?" I ask.

"Probably a little under a week. However, I might be able to push things back a little, so with a bit of luck, I might be able to buy you about a week and a half."

"Then I'll have to ask you to do so, we have some things going up in the special auction. What about you, is this whole thing going to be ok for you?"

"You four are the only ones left other than me that know about this, so I think it will be fine. As for the time being, I'll extend my stay in Shiping until you all leave just as a precaution, I don't want my new friend to get into some trouble after all. Anyways, I'll come by in the morning to help deal with the mess that way made here and explain it to the owner. I'll be heading back now, sorry to disturb you tonight."

As Yue leaps off the balcony and flies away, we begin to clean up the room a little before going to sleep. I eat the bodies that have been scattered around and begin making a new wall to close up the broken glass door to the balcony, meanwhile, the others are dealing with the blood and glass shards. After the room is at least passable we decide to head to bed and deal with the rest in the morning.