Capítulo 49: Three Major Secular Organizations
Chuanjiang City.
The former Wan Mansion was now a scorched ruin.
One by one, bodies emitting the stench of burnt flesh were carried out by constables and laid side by side not far from the courtyard, covered with white cloths.
A large crowd of onlookers watched from a distance, discussing the tragic scene.
"Half a month ago, the Wan Mansion was still prominent in the city. In the blink of an eye, Master Wan was killed, and the Wan Mansion has fallen to the point of annihilation."
"Both of Wan Mansion's young masters are among these corpses. The Wan family has been completely wiped out. It's said that the only one who survived is Lady Wan, who is whereabouts are unknown."
"Do you think it was the work of the Dalu Sect?"
"I heard that Master Wan was killed because he was found to have robbed the Red Rock Mine and killed three Dalu Sect guards."
"It's possible that the Dalu Sect felt that killing just Master Wan wasn't enough to vent their anger, so they wiped out the entire Wan Mansion to deter anyone with ill intentions."
"That's not certain."
"I don't necessarily think so. The Wan Mansion had many enemies, and with Master Wan gone, no one would pay any attention to them. The Wan Mansion was bound to face calamity."
At this moment, a strong gust of wind suddenly blew, and a figure seemed to appear out of thin air, silently standing in the middle of the scene.
The terrifying speed of this arrival startled many people.
One middle-aged man with a determined face clasped his hands respectfully and said, "I am Huo Gaofei, the Chief Constable of Chuanjiang City. You must be Young Master Jiang from the Dalu Sect, correct?"
Jiang Heng also clasped his hands in return and replied, "I'm Jiang Heng, an outer disciple of the Dalu Sect."
He looked at the scene and asked with a grave expression, "Chief Constable Huo, what exactly happened? Did my junior brother also die here?"
Huo Gaofei led him to one of the bodies, lifted the white cloth, revealing the charred corpse.
"We found an identity token from your sect on this body."
Jiang Heng crouched down, took the identity token, and examined the body.
"Yes, this is my junior brother."
"Who is the murderer? Have you found any clues?"
Huo Gaofei took a deep breath and said gravely, "The incident occurred in the early hours of the morning. Due to the darkness, we couldn't process the scene immediately, so we started the investigation in the morning."
"At present, from what we can see, including the inner disciple from your sect, all of them were killed by having their throats slashed with a sword before being set on fire."
"The murderer must be a top-tier expert."
"As for the rest, we are still conducting the search, and there are currently no leads pointing to the killer."
At this moment, Jiang Heng noticed that Mi Wenjie's left hand was tightly clenched, as if he held something very small.
He reluctantly pried open Mi Wenjie's hand and indeed found a small triangular piece of blue fabric.
One side was a clean-cut edge, and the other two sides had extremely fine golden edges.
"What is this?"
Huo Gaofei noticed Jiang Heng's actions and came over to take a look.
"A piece of fabric, likely torn from the murderer's clothing."
Huo Gaofei took the fabric and examined it closely.
"Based on the shape, it should be a piece of a garment, but the material of this fabric is quite unusual."
"By the way, your junior brother had cultivation in the True Qi Realm, right?"
"That's correct."
Huo Gaofei contemplated for a moment.
"When we found your junior brother, his weapon was already drawn, indicating that he was prepared."
"To instantly kill a prepared True Qi Realm practitioner and leave behind a small piece of torn clothing, the murderer should be an Innate Realm expert. Even if he was careless, it would be impossible for him to be touched."
"An Innate Realm expert..."
Jiang Heng took a deep breath.
He had promised to protect Master Wan's relatives, but now the Wan Mansion had been wiped out.
Mi Wenjie, whom he had arranged to protect the Wan Mansion, had also died in this annihilation.
Although they didn't interact much during the mission, Mi Wenjie had always been cooperative with his arrangements, which had left him quite satisfied.
And now, Mi Wenjie had died because of his arrangements.
This made him feel a sense of guilt in his heart.
"Don't worry, Mi Junior Brother. I will avenge you!"
Jiang Heng stood up.
"Huo Captain, for this case, our Dalu sect wants to participate and be kept informed at all times," he said, looking at Huo Gaofei with determination.
"Naturally, as there are disciples from your sect among the deceased, any progress will be shared with your sect promptly," replied Huo Gaofei.
To some extent, sects had a degree of autonomy, especially when it came to cases involving their own members. For instance, the previous incident of the attack on a caravan was handled freely by the Dalu sect regarding the fate of Master Wan.
However, when it involved a large number of civilian casualties, the imperial court took charge. So, the Wan Manor massacre case would naturally be handled by government authorities.
After some more conversation, Jiang Heng left.
He knew he wasn't a professional investigator, and he could only await the results of Huo Gaofei's investigation.
After leaving the Wan Manor site, Jiang Heng didn't immediately return to the mining camp. Instead, he went to the Wanhe Trading Alliance in Chuanjiang City to purchase some Qi and Blood Pills.
In fact, Qi and Blood Pills, as cultivation resources, weren't exclusive to the Dalu sect. They weren't even produced by the Dalu sect but were procured in large quantities from the Wanhe Trading Alliance.
In this world, sects had clear hierarchical divisions: Primary sects, Intermediate sects, Advanced sects, and Peak sects. All sects fell under the jurisdiction of the Holy Land and had joint martial arts meetings every five years to reassess their rankings. Different ranks came with substantial differences in prestige and practical benefits, one of which was the purchasing discounts from the Wanhe Trading Alliance. The higher the sect's rank, the greater the discount.
Considering the overall consumption of various resources by a sect over five years, the differences in benefits between each rank were immense.
Within the Dalu sect's library, Jiang Heng had read books introducing this world's sect system. It not only expanded his horizons but also led to a suspicion: With the Dalu sect's formidable strength, it had to follow the rules diligently under the Holy Land's dominance. However, the Holy Land itself was merely a powerful but secluded entity. In the books, there was no mention of any major conflicts between Holy Lands. It seemed to suggest the existence of a much more powerful force controlling the world's balance on a higher level, just as the Holy Land discreetly maintained order within the empire.
Tier upon tier formed this martial world, one characterized by respect for martial prowess and meticulous order.
Yet, in this world, there were three secular organizations that transcended numerous dynasties and were respected by all powers as if they were official entities: the Wantong Money Exchange, the Wanhe Trading Alliance, and the enigmatic Qianshan Tower.
Clearly, these three major secular organizations held sway above even the Holy Lands.
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