Chapter Ninety-One: The Farewell

“Master Qin, mighty and formidable!” Jiang Ying wiped the cold sweat from his brow and forced out a faint, stiff smile.

“Yes, yes—mighty and formidable!” Zuo Hanshan reflexively raised a hand and shouted along.

“How about your gangs all join my Golden Tiger Gang?” Qin Yi said indifferently.

“Huh?”

“This...”

“Of course, that would be wonderful!” Jiang Ying was the first to raise his hand in agreement.

What a joke. If they refused, could they even walk out of this tavern?

Hadn’t they seen how terrifyingly fierce this man was?

The others quickly came to their senses as well.

“Of course we’re willing!” Zuo Hanshan hurriedly chimed in.

“Yes, yes, yes!” Even the injured Qi Feng kept nodding.

“That’s good. Remember, what happened tonight must not be spoken of. Do you understand?”

“Absolutely, absolutely.” Everyone nodded repeatedly.

Qin Yi gave a satisfied nod, then looked toward He Hongjun, who was still standing dumbfounded behind a table in the corner.

“Old He, later you handle the transfer with these few men. Also send people to clean this place up. Remember—clean it thoroughly. I don’t want these corpses seeing the light of day again.”

“Uh, yes, yes, yes!” He Hongjun finally snapped back to himself.

Good heavens, just how fierce was his own gang leader?

...

Under the night sky, Qin Yi hurried home.

“People from the Golden Alliance!”

He had not expected that after killing that woman from the Golden Alliance in Jiangning County City last time, her husband would actually come looking for him all the way to Xiangzhou.

“It seems my identity has still been exposed. Since the Golden Alliance can find me, perhaps the Blood Cult can as well.”

Come to think of it, he had dealt the Blood Cult a nasty blow last time. If they bore a grudge, they might really come seeking revenge.

Soon enough, he reached home.

Seeing that his father was already asleep, Qin Yi could not help but breathe a sigh of relief. If that man had first gone to kill his father before coming for him, his father might truly have been in grave danger.

At that moment, one of the gang members outside the courtyard trotted in to report.

“Gang Leader, Hall Master Liu requests an audience!”

“Let him in!”

“Yes.”

Very quickly, Liu Chongjie came running in with eager, almost fawning steps.

“Gang Leader, just now the Deputy Gang Leader asked me to report a matter to you and see how it should be handled.”

“What matter?”

“A quarter of an hour ago, an uninvited guest suddenly broke into our Golden Tiger Gang, killed our two elders, Zheng Wei and Zheng Wu, forced out the information that you were at the Eight Directions Tower, and then swaggered away... Now both elders are dead, and the Deputy Gang Leader asks how you wish to deal with this.”

“Zheng Wei and Zheng Wu are dead?” Qin Yi paused slightly.

It seemed the man who had come to kill him had first gone to the Golden Tiger Gang. Not finding him there, he captured and killed the two men to force out news of his whereabouts, then headed to the Eight Directions Tower to kill him—only to never have expected he would be slain in return.

“The two elders were implicated by me. Give them a grand burial, and send each of their families two thousand taels of silver as compensation. In the future, take good care of their relatives,” Qin Yi said with a sigh.

“Yes.”

“Oh, and investigate whether there are any signs of the Golden Alliance in the city. If there are, report to me as soon as possible.”

“Golden Alliance?” Liu Chongjie scratched his head. He seemed never to have heard of it.

“Mm. It’s normal that you haven’t. Find a way to look into it.”

“Understood.”

“Also, investigate the background of that Qiobin from the Prosperous Fortune Gang,” Qin Yi said. Qiobin was at the ninth rank. Why had no ninth-rank expert previously come to reorganize the gangs in the western part of the city?

The reason was simple: the western district was the most chaotic and poorest part of all Xiangzhou City. There were no prosperous streets there, and the slums were concentrated in that area.

That was also why sixty to seventy percent of the city’s gangs were able to survive there without being swallowed up by the three strongest gangs in the city, because those three did not bother with the west.

“Understood.”

“Gang Leader, I have one more matter to report. This news only came in this evening,” Liu Chongjie said.

“What is it?”

“You once asked us to find you a literary cultivation manual from the Daoist path, did you not? This evening our men inquired and learned of a shop that sells calligraphy and paintings. The proprietor’s father had once been a disciple of a sect called the Infinite Dao Sect, though he only returned to secular life in middle age. It seems his father studied the literary cultivation method of the Infinite Dao Sect. Though there is still a matching Dao diagram in the old man’s room, the contents of the cultivation manual are only remembered by the old man himself, so we will have to wait for his return.”

“However, his father and his son went back to the countryside to visit family some time ago. He says they should be on their way back now, and will likely return to Xiangzhou City in two or three days,” Liu Chongjie said.

“Good. As soon as the shopkeeper’s father returns, come notify me at once,” Qin Yi said.

“Yes, Gang Leader!”

“Tell everyone to withdraw.”

“Yes.”

...

Back in his room, Qin Yi stared into the darkness outside and fell into silence.

“The literary cultivation method of the Infinite Dao Sect... truly, after searching high and low with no success, it comes entirely without effort.”

He knew the mountain gate of the Infinite Dao Sect was located in a state to the north, and that state was now occupied by the Northern Yuan.

So, he had to learn this literary cultivation method.

If he missed this opportunity, he might have to venture deep into enemy territory to search for it. In truth, he did not even know whether the Infinite Dao Sect had already been destroyed while trapped amid the enemy forces.

“Though it’s very likely the Golden Alliance will keep targeting me, and maybe even the Blood Cult too, I’m not afraid as long as they don’t send a congenital expert.”

With a new literary cultivation method, he could learn two more martial arts techniques, and by then his strength would surge once again.

“Still, Father’s safety is important. I should send him away first.”

Keeping him in the city was not safe enough.

Thinking of this, Qin Yi decided to send his father away that very night, first to Lingcheng County, where he would stay in the Pure Truth Taoist Temple for a while.

Once matters here were settled, he would go bring him back.

...

In the room.

“Father!” Qin Yi woke the old man.

“Mmm? Fourth Son, what is it?” Qin’s father opened his eyes groggily.

“Father, the city isn’t safe. I’m sending you to stay somewhere else for now. Once I’m done handling things on my end, I’ll come pick you up,” Qin Yi said.

“You’re sending me away again?” Qin’s father froze.

“Father, there’s no other choice.”

“Ah... fine then. As long as I don’t drag you down,” Qin’s father said.

...

In the dead of night, Qin Yi once again carried his father out of the city on his back.

Though Xiangzhou City’s walls stood fifteen meters high, with Qin Yi’s current movement skills, climbing out was no problem at all.

Leaving the city without incident, Qin Yi did not delay. Carrying his father, he headed toward Lingcheng, more than a hundred li away.

Along the way, Qin Yi relied entirely on his footwork to travel, stopping and starting as he went.

At last, by daybreak, he arrived outside the city gate of Lingcheng County.