I Cultivate in a Government Office

Chapter 216: Chapter 126: Yang Wenqing VS Zhang Qiming

His last sentence carried a hint of sarcasm.

"..."

A deathly silence fell over the conference room.

A muscle in Zhang Qiming’s face twitched almost imperceptibly. The look of expectation and feigned sincerity in his eyes receded like the tide, replaced by a grim coldness and a rising anger at being defied.

He leaned back in his chair, as if re-evaluating the audacious young man before him. After a long moment, he squeezed out a cold sneer through clenched teeth:

"Good. Very good. Yang Wenqing, you’ve got guts."

His voice turned frigid, no longer holding anything back. "I gave you a chance, and you threw it away. Do you think that little bit of evidence you have can really take me down? Do you think Director Qin and Gao Zhen can protect you forever?"

"Let me tell you something," Zhang Qiming said, leaning forward again, his gaze fixing on Yang Wenqing like a viper’s. "The Four Seas Company affair is just the beginning."

The threat in his tone was blatant and overwhelming.

"I can give up all my plans for Lingshan Town, even abandon some of my interests in Qianjiao County!" Zhang Qiming’s tone grew fierce and resolute.

"I’ll use every last bit of my power and resources, regardless of the cost or consequences, and throw it all at you. I’ll focus on you and you alone. I might not be able to stop you from eventually finding certain things, but I can make your investigation excruciatingly difficult. I can make the people around you pay a terrible price and leave this entire case riddled with holes."

His voice rose. "When that time comes, it’ll be mutually assured destruction, and no one will come out of this looking good! What you dig up might not be enough to do anything to me, but you and everything you care about could be utterly destroyed. And after you’ve fought tooth and nail, you’ll most likely find you’ve just been paving the way for someone else."

Yang Wenqing sat there, facing this monstrous threat and crazed demeanor, his back still ramrod straight.

He knew Zhang Qiming was telling the truth.

The pressure was like a mountain, the chill bone-deep.

But in that instant, Yang Wenqing’s gaze grew even sharper, even more resolute.

Then, he said softly, "Director Zhang, I understand what you’re saying."

Yang Wenqing’s tone was placid, as if all the crazed threats, the heavy stakes, and the declarations of mutual destruction were nothing more than a gentle breeze that failed to stir the slightest ripple in his Heart Lake.

This nonchalant response was like an invisible spike, stabbing viciously into Zhang Qiming’s sensitive ego. He felt ignored. A scion of some minor family he’d never taken seriously—a subordinate who should have meekly submitted to his mix of threats and rewards—was now answering him with an attitude bordering on indifference.

"You understand? I don’t think you understand anything at all!"

Zhang Qiming’s white uniform stirred without a wind, and an overwhelming pressure crashed down on Yang Wenqing like a collapsing mountain.

"Yang Wenqing, where do you think you are? Who do you think you’re talking to?"

Zhang Qiming’s voice was terrifyingly deep, a cold glint in his eyes. "Here, I *am* the rules."

The words had barely left his mouth when alarm bells screamed in Yang Wenqing’s mind. He instinctively mobilized the Spiritual Qi in his body. In the acupoint between his eyebrows, his thumb-sized Sea of Consciousness suddenly began to glow faintly.

HUMMM—

A translucent golden barrier of light instantly materialized around him, covered in fine, flowing runes. It was the Golden Light Body Protection Spell.

At almost the exact moment the barrier lit up, Yang Wenqing detected an extremely faint glint of cold light. In that split second, with no time to think, his body followed years of training and combat instincts, and he dodged sharply to his left!

SHHIIINNG!

The glint of cold light grazed the edge of the Golden Light Body Protection Spell, tearing a tiny fissure in the barrier. The icy aftershock sent a stinging pain across Yang Wenqing’s skin, but he used the opportunity to pour Spiritual Qi into his right hand and slam a backhand strike into the heavy wooden conference room door beside him!

BOOM!

With a tremendous crash, the wooden door and part of its frame were blasted outward, slamming hard against the opposite wall of the hallway in a shower of splinters!

Xia Meng and Zhao Tiezhu immediately burst into the room. Xia Meng was in front, his rifle pointed slightly down but his finger tight on the trigger, his eyes sharp as a hawk’s. Zhao Tiezhu followed, the butt of his rifle pressed to his shoulder, its muzzle aimed steadily at Zhang Qiming. His muscles were taut, and he exuded the raw, murderous aura unique to the Government Soldiers.

"Yang Group Leader!" Xia Meng’s voice was tight with concern as his eyes quickly scanned Yang Wenqing from head to toe, checking for any obvious injuries.

Yang Wenqing took a deep breath, suppressing the roiling of his qi and blood from the sudden stress. A slight smile appeared on his face, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

Then, he waved his hand and said in a steady voice:

"It’s nothing, Captain Xia, Squad Leader Zhao. Relax. Director Zhang was just testing my skills, seeing if my Cultivation has improved recently. Isn’t that right, Director Zhang?"

He turned his head to look at Zhang Qiming, his eyes clear.

Zhang Qiming didn’t answer right away.

The aura around him quickly receded, but the shocked anger in his eyes hadn’t completely faded. Instead, it was tinged with a heavy disbelief. He stared intently at the fading golden light on Yang Wenqing’s body and at his eyes. After a long moment, he forced out a single question through clenched teeth:

"You’ve actually developed Divine Sense?"

His attack just now was intended to instantly disrupt several key meridians in Yang Wenqing’s body, throwing his Spiritual Qi into disarray. This would have left Yang Wenqing temporarily unable to lead the investigation, buying Zhang Qiming more time for his own plans.

But Yang Wenqing not only sensed it in advance but also dodged it with precision. That was something that could never be accomplished by luck or combat instinct alone. Only someone who had begun to open their Sea of Consciousness could be so perceptive.

"Good. Very good..." Zhang Qiming finally snorted. His gaze shifted from Yang Wenqing to the two men standing guard at the door, then returned to Yang Wenqing’s face. His expression was complex and difficult to read, a mixture of killing intent, apprehension, and the anxiety of things spiraling completely out of control.

He didn’t offer any more harsh words. He just gave Yang Wenqing a deep look, as if to sear his current image into his memory. Then, with a flick of his sleeve, he strode toward the doorway, stepped around the debris of the broken door, and vanished down the hall in the blink of an eye. The nearby guards saw him from a distance and scrambled to get out of his way.

Yang Wenqing didn’t see him off. After all, they had already torn away all pretense of civility.

"Yang Group Leader, are you really okay?" Xia Meng asked in a low voice, taking a step forward, his gaze still sweeping the surroundings warily.

"I’m fine." Yang Wenqing shook his head, walked to the shattered doorway, and looked down the empty hall.

He touched the spot on his right chest where the cold glint had grazed him. The skin under his uniform still had a slight, icy sting. He smiled at Xia Meng and said, "It seems we’re not far from the final answer."

Just as he finished speaking, Qian Lu walked over from the other end of the hall. Seeing the wreckage on the floor, he immediately asked, "What happened? Yang Group Leader, are you all right?"

Yang Wenqing shook his head and chuckled. "Director Zhang got a little overexcited when he heard how fast the investigation is progressing."

Qian Lu understood the implication behind his words and said at once, "Director Gao and Director Wang will be here soon, under the pretext of offering their sympathies."

Yang Wenqing nodded, then activated the Communication Array on his badge to contact Director Gao and report what had just happened. He then started walking toward the Major Case Team’s office and ran into a hurried Liao Tianming at the door.

"Yang Group Leader, are you okay?" Liao Tianming looked frantic. He had offended quite a few people by now. If this case were to be cut short and the people he’d crossed weren’t put away, his career would be over.

"Don’t worry. I’ll be fine until this case is completely closed." Although Yang Wenqing still felt a lingering sense of fear, he maintained a relaxed expression. As he spoke, he looked at Li Yue, Sun Yi, and Liu Xin, who had gathered around. Then he added:

"This is no time to relax. The answer is right in front of us. Let’s give it one last push!" He looked around as he spoke and asked, "Where’s Captain Wu?"

Liu Xin immediately replied, "Captain Wu said he had a new lead on a previous case. He left with his team early this morning."

Yang Wenqing paused, then asked, "Did you have someone follow him?"

"Yes!"