Endless Winter: My Camp Upgrades Infinitely-Chapter 1280 - 421:

The ninth year of Great Xia, February 19th

The sky had just lit up, and the fluttering snowflakes were growing more intense.

The bitter cold wind was likewise intensifying, ravaging the land at a dramatically rapid pace.

Accompanying the rising sun and increasingly blazing sunlight, it not only failed to bring any warmth to the ground but instead added more chilling coldness to the already bone-piercing air.

The entire city of Hongmen had largely fallen into silence, with only the Ministry Building and the city gates showing signs of light.

Fourth floor of the Ministry Building, at the morgue of the Prison Department.

"Greetings to Lord Guardian!"

Lin Kai, just returned from outside the city, hadn’t had time to change his tattered white robes, and his headdress was slightly disheveled. His left hand tightly gripped a grass-stuffed doll, and with a surprisingly somber expression, he asked the guard in a deep voice, "Is Lord Li here?"

"Lord Li, Lord Zhao, and Lord Tong are all present!"

Upon hearing that they were both present, Lin Kai immediately pushed the door open and entered.

"Greetings, Guardian Lin!"

Inside the morgue, Li Longkai, Zhao Bao, and Vice Chief of Punishment Tong Xingsheng were gathered around a corpse. Upon seeing Lin Kai enter, they immediately bowed and greeted him.

"No need for formalities."

The three of them raised their heads, and Li Longkai, seeing Lin Kai’s somber expression, quickly guessed something and asked in a low voice, "Sir, couldn’t catch up to that person?"

Lin Kai shook his head, first handing the grass-stuffed man in his hand to Zhao Bao, and then said in a deep voice, "Liu Yuan and I were both tricked by this grass-stuffed man..."

He had pursued all the way from Fengyang Village in the Peak Mountain Realm, intentionally driving the target toward Hongmen. Though there were some twists along the way, ultimately, just east of Hongmen, about ten miles out, he successfully cornered the person alongside Liu Yuan and the elite scouts coming from the city.

But just as he and Liu Yuan were ready to slay the target, the person who had been running under his nose for so long suddenly turned into a grass-stuffed man.

After hearing Lin Kai’s explanation, both Li Longkai and Tong Xingsheng shifted their gaze to the grass-stuffed man in Zhao Bao’s hand, their brows filled with apprehension.

Zhao Bao then, holding the grass-stuffed man, furrowed his brows and said, "After all, someone from Chen Cang, indeed there are some skills!"

Upon hearing this, Lin Kai was first stunned but quickly reacted. With a look of joy, he asked, "Has the identity of the deceased been confirmed?"

This time, there were two individuals intercepting him; he had killed one in advance at Fengyang Village and had Li Longkai send the corpse back first. Without identifying the deceased’s identity, how could Zhao Bao be so sure both individuals came from Chen Cang?

Sure enough, Zhao Bao immediately nodded and said, "As soon as the body arrived, I let five Vice Chiefs of Punishment come to check. This person had a thin paper-like mask on his face. Upon revealing the true face beneath, both Xiang Liang and Bai Shanning immediately recognized it..."

Xiang Liang and Bai Shanning were just transferred to Hongmen last month as Vice Chief of Punishment. Just last October, they, along with Hou Ming, participated in the North Fifth District mission to capture Chu Yan’er and seven others.

Although that mission failed to successfully capture Chu Yan’er and the others, Minister Xia Chuan later expelled them in force, informing Hou Ming of the identities of Chu Yan’er and the Chen Cang Little Princess, and her unique painting skills, among other specifics.

The 23 Silver Order Prison Wardens who participated in the capture in the North Fifth District that day later learned through Hou Ming about these details.

Obviously, putting these aside, Xiang Liang and Bai Shanning had actually already had an encounter with Chu Yan’er and the others while escorting Mu Longhe back to Xia City last September, passing through Qinghepu Station. The one leading them back then was Chu Dongning.

"According to Xiang Liang and Bai Shanning, this person is called Chu Dongning, who last September led a group of six from Hongmen, heading north of Xing River to Xia City under the guise of a visit, living in the North Fifth District for over half a month. Later, Chu Yan’er sneaked into the Inner City, where they were caught by the Lord and Minister..."

"I know about this, I heard Director Yuan mention it earlier this year!"

Lin Kai directly interrupted Zhao Bao; he had even reviewed the travel records and found that the document for Chu Dongning’s group of seven was signed off by himself, leaving him fearful. Fortunately, this group didn’t cause major chaos in Xia City; otherwise, he would have had to bear significant responsibility.

Not to mention, among the 28 children nearly harmed at Yuan Mansion back then were his three sons Lin Shou, Lin Lie, and Lin Meng. If not for being detected by the Lord in time, Lin Kai would indeed be a father who harmed his own sons. Since then, when issuing travel documents, he has become much more cautious.

Thinking about all this, Lin Kai still showed a fearful expression, walked to the table, and uncovered the thin mask on Chu Dongning’s face, saying in a heavy voice, "Paper mask, in this case, the appearance of the other person is also likely fake, it’s hard to catch him after he got away this time..."

Lin Kai paused, then suddenly thought of something and raised his head, "Right, last year there were a total of seven in Chu Dongning’s group. Could the one who got away be one of the other six?"

Zhao Bao immediately clasped his hands and said, "Rest assured, Sir, I’ve already sent Xiang Liang and Bai Shanning to find the painter from the Artisan Department. With their collaboration, it’s not hard to restore the appearances of the other five. Additionally, I’ve sent someone back to Xia City; the Prison headquarters there should have a true portrait of the Chen Cang Little Princess, we can first secretly verify around the city, if we can’t find..."

"Then let’s directly disclose it to the public, let these six become infamous in the Nine Towns!"

Lin Kai followed up Zhao Bao’s words, his face full of anger, and continued, "Isn’t fond of stirring trouble secretly? Then let them have to wear masks while moving in the Nine Towns Territory from now on..."