Chapter 208: Letter

Shen Zheng’s case had finally been closed. After all, the Mutual Aid Group had been wiped out, so there was no longer any need to keep the truth hidden, which was why the ones who were still alive confessed.

But the results of the investigation were still not announced, even to this date. The university still didn’t know the specifics.

That night, Chen Chuan had learned a lot of details from Wei Jun, and he felt a need to tell Cheng Zitong about it. His mentor would learn about it later, but he could do it now.

He believed that after some people learned everything, they wouldn’t act like Shen Zheng’s sister never existed, especially those from the Aspiration Club. Shen Zheng had helped a lot of them before, so they would definitely want to know where his sister was.

Also, Chen Chuan wasn’t sure what He Xiaoxing would do after learning about this.

On one hand, the girl had nothing to do with He Xiaoxing, but on the other hand, Shen Zheng’s death was, without a doubt, connected directly to him. The mastermind behind Shen Zheng’s death was also still alive and well in Central City. He hadn’t been eliminated by the operation, so Chen Chuan had a feeling that He Xiaoxing wasn’t going to just ignore this.

Cheng Zitong thought the same and said, “I’ll tell Lao He about it.”

He organized the papers on the table before putting them back into his briefcase. Then, he stood up. “I’m going to get the chancellor to sign this. Wait for me.”

Once Chen Chuan sent him off, he threw himself into his training. Experience told him that fighting was the best way for him to grow.

Now, he had a better understanding of his training goals and direction. He knew what he had to improve upon first.

After the fight with Luo Qi, the overlap time with his second self had increased by another three hours. The increase wasn’t as high as from his fight with Tan Wang, but that made sense. Before his fight with Tan Wang, Chen Chuan had never fought against a Third Limit martial artist. He hadn’t known what sort of opponent he would face, but he didn’t back down. Instead, he was filled with expectations. At that time, he had fought for the sake of fulfilling his own goals and for his own destiny.

Meanwhile, when he went to fight Luo Qi, he was fully prepared. That fight was also for the sake of toppling Black Orchid Co. While it was for himself to a certain degree, it didn’t excite him as much as the one with Tan Wang.

Now, his total overlap time was at eighteen hours, so he was getting close to reaching his twenty-four-hour goal. He wondered whether he could reach it before he headed to Central City.

After Chen Chuan finished his daily training, he read through the throwing art manual Yu Gang had given him. While others would have a hard time learning refined force, it wasn’t the case for Chen Chuan. He would even say that it was as easy as breathing for him.

All that was left was for him to practice it.

Martial Valor University placed restrictions on students learning throwing arts, because when martial artists threw projectiles with refined force at a short distance, they were only a little weaker than firearms. The students could only learn and practice them openly after getting a weapons permit.

Projectile choice was very important in determining whether they could kill with a throw. Even though they could hurt anyone with a tough projectile after mastering a throwing art, it wouldn’t be enough to take out a martial artist.

For that, something sturdy was necessary, but it didn’t have to be a stone. Stones were just commonly used because they were everywhere. They were also easy to carry around.

Chen Chuan thought about asking a professional to polish some to improve their power.

***

Once the new semester began, time started flowing. In the blink of an eye, a few days passed. When Chen Chuan walked out of the dorm one day, he saw a student waiting for him while holding onto something.

He recognized Fang Zhiming and went up to him. “Fang Zhiming?”

The student greeted him right back. “Hey, Chen Chuan.”

“Were you waiting for me? Why didn’t you call instead?”

They studied in the same university. Even though he was a first-class student, and Fang Zhiming a second-class student, they often saw each other at the cafeteria and chatted a little. There was no gap between them, despite the different treatment they got.

“I was waiting for you. Chen Chuan, do you remember my family asking me to hand you a business card?” Fang Zhiming asked.

“I do. A former upperclassman from the company approached me later,” Chen Chuan added.

“Yes. I was talking about Min Lan. She came to me and said that she got some clues about something she had been investigating. She wanted to ask for your opinion, but you weren’t around. Back then, she thought that she might lose her chance if she continued waiting, so she went to pursue that clue. She said that if she didn’t contact me again within half a month, I was to give you this.”

Fang Zhiming handed over the thing he had been holding.

Chen Chuan took it and saw that it was a letter with beautiful handwriting on it.

For Chen Chuan.

After some thinking, he put the letter away and said, “Got it. Thanks, Fang Zhiming.”

Fang Zhiming sighed in relief. “I’m glad I delivered the letter to you. I was worried that I was too late and would end up inconveniencing you.”

After a pause, he looked Chen Chuan in the eye and said sincerely, “Chen Chuan, I really do admire you for all the things you’ve done.”

He was a direct victim of the Mutual Aid Group. During the follow-up examination, Zhong Wu had nearly killed him, so he could understand why Chen Chuan had done what he did.

“I saw you at the tribunal court that day. I know that you came to support me. Thank you,” Chen Chuan said with a smile.

Fang Zhiming was stunned. He wasn’t expecting Chen Chuan to have noticed him, and he felt quite moved. “You don’t have to thank me. I didn’t do anything…”

“You came to support me and helped in taking down Black Orchid and the Mutual Aid Group. Fang Zhiming, all of you did far more than you think,” Chen Chuan said seriously.

Fang Zhiming felt motivated by his words and nodded.

“I’ve given you the letter, so I’m going back now. I have a lot of training to do for the new semester, and my classmates are waiting for me. I’ll see you around, Chen Chuan.”

“Sure,” Chen Chuan replied. After he parted ways with Fang Zhiming, he went back into the room. Then, he opened the letter to read its contents.

Chen Chuan, I’m sorry for writing this letter to you. Do you remember the mission I told you about last time? We didn’t make any progress, but I found some clues recently. I wanted to ask you about them, but you weren’t around, so I decided to go ahead and conduct my own investigation.

Since some of my colleagues have gone missing while doing the same, I suspect that the company is behind this. I would even say that the top management is the one making them disappear. I have a feeling my friends and colleagues are involved as well. Among the people I know, you’re the only one I can trust.

I’ve organized the clues and sent them out in the form of a parcel. I’ve asked Fang Zhiming to give you this letter if I don’t come back within half a month. If possible, could you get the parcel and hand it over to an expert?

Chen Chuan pondered over this. Since the letter had made it into his hands, it meant that Min Lan hadn’t returned. This matter was more complicated than it seemed. He took out the business card Min Lan had given him and tried calling the number on it, but no one picked up.

Then, he called Min Lan’s company. To his surprise, the one who answered said that she was around, so he asked whether he could talk to her. After a while, the person told him that while she was around, they couldn’t find her, so they asked him to call later.

Chen Chuan hung up.

This was abnormal.

After thinking about his next step, he decided to first check the post office.

He successfully retrieved the parcel based on the address and tracking number Min Lan had given him in the letter, but he didn’t open it to read the documents.

His state summons hadn’t ended, so he couldn’t start something new. Besides, he didn’t have to tackle this issue himself.

After he returned to his room, he called Lei Guangcheng’s house, but the one who answered was He Nan. When she heard that he wanted to speak to Lei Guangcheng, she said, “Are you on campus? One minute, I’ll tell Lao Lei to call you.”

It took a bit of time for Lei Guangcheng to call back. “Do you need me for something, Chen Chuan?”

“A person I know discovered something and gave me a stack of documents. I believe that it’s connected to a cult ritual. Mr. Lei, since you’re an expert in this area, I’d like to send the documents to you,” Chen Chuan answered honestly.

“Can you come out?” Lei Guangcheng’s voice became stern.

“Yeah.”

“I’ll come to the university’s entrance within half an hour. Bring the documents with you. We can talk about it in detail once we meet.”

“Okay.”

A little over twenty minutes later, Lei Guangcheng’s armored car arrived outside Martial Valor University. Chen Chuan was already waiting for him. He got in and handed the documents to Lei Guangcheng, then told him what he knew about the situation.

With gloves on, Lei Guangcheng removed the wrapping and read through the documents. He didn’t tell Chen Chuan anything about what was written on them. Instead, he said, “After Black Orchid came to Yangzhi City, they helped some evil cults rise to power. Their goal wasn’t just to mislead the government, but also to search for something in hopes to change their unfavorable position in Central City.

“They set up a lot of ritual arrays in Yangzhi City. We’ve taken down many of them, but we haven’t managed to get rid of many of the evil cults that received funding from Black Orchid.

“Now that Black Orchid has fallen, some of them are lying low after destroying all traces of their existence, but that doesn’t mean that they’ve disappeared. If we don’t get rid of them completely, they’ll show up again in the future.”

“Is this the doing of an evil cult?” Chen Chuan asked.

“I’m almost one hundred percent sure of it.” Lei Guangcheng patted the documents. “As a group, cults need a fixed place to conduct their rituals. They need clothes, tools, and special materials, which all cost money.”

He then turned to the telegraph clerk. “Send a telegram to Lao Gao and tell him to go to Olive Street’s Green Hawk. Then, within fifty meters of where the company is, find three two-meter-tall black pillars located at the twelve, four, and eight o’clock positions.

“He should not pull them out. Instead, cut out paper dolls matching the number of Green Hawk employees and write their names on it, then paste them on. After that, he should go into the company to check who is there and who isn’t.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep