Chapter Ninety-Two: Reaction

As soon as the city gates opened, Qin Yi brought his father inside.

When they reached the Quanzhen Temple, Qin Yi led his father in and, before long, met the abbot, Qingchengzi.

Seeing Qin Yi, this great patron, arrive, Qingchengzi was overjoyed. “Feng Qin, you’re here? And this gentleman beside you is?”

“This is an elder from my family. He has a fondness for the Daoist canon and plans to stay here for a while to cultivate in seclusion. That should not be a problem, should it?” Qin Yi said as he handed over a banknote for five hundred taels of silver.

“A little incense money. I hope that, during this period, Abbot, you will take good care of this elder of mine.”

Qingchengzi accepted the banknote and said with a smile, “Ah, of course there’s no problem. You’ve given so much incense money that I almost feel ashamed. Rest assured, I’ll certainly look after your elder properly.”

“Many thanks.”

After a bit more idle conversation, Qingchengzi arranged lodging for them.

Inside the room.

“Father, here is a banknote for five hundred taels. Take it.” Qin Yi took out another five-hundred-tael note and handed it to his father.

“I only need a hundred taels. There’s no need for so much.”

“I still have several thousand taels on me.” Qin Yi simply stuffed it into his father’s pocket.

“Fourth Son, since you’ve got so much money now, why don’t we run? Let’s leave Xiangzhou behind and find some place in another prefecture to live in seclusion.”

After some thought, Father Qin still voiced his idea.

“Once I’ve taken care of what’s in my hands, I’ll leave Xiangzhou!” Qin Yi soothed him. He could not miss the new merit work that was about to land in his lap, so for the moment he could not leave Xiangzhou immediately.

“Very well.”

After reminding his father to be careful and take care of himself, Qin Yi hurried off.

...

Inside Xiangzhou City.

In an ordinary-looking rice shop.

This was merely one of the Golden Alliance’s strongholds in the city.

Within an underground secret chamber.

“Report to the steward. This subordinate has found out the news. That Hall Master Wu... is dead!”

Upon hearing the report, Lu Zuwei was so startled that the teacup in his hand fell to the ground, shattering into pieces with a crack!

“Impossible! Hall Master Wu is among the strongest hall masters in our Golden Alliance. He once fought three Ninth-Rank experts alone, killed one, and seriously wounded two. He merely went to deal with a minor constable. How could he possibly have died?” Lu Zuwei said in disbelief.

One had to know that this Hall Master Wu was a man who might very well advance to the Innate Realm in the future. His strength was beyond question!

“Who killed him?”

“It was, it was that Feng Qin!”

“What?” Lu Zuwei was stunned again.

He had originally thought it might be someone behind Feng Qin, or some other reason. He had never imagined that the one who killed Wu Yulong was actually Feng Qin.

That little constable!

“Hall Master, what do we do now?”

“If Feng Qin could kill Hall Master Wu, then his strength must be among the very best of Ninth-Rank experts. He is not someone we can deal with right now. We can only report this matter to headquarters. Even if we inform Hall Master Huang, he probably still will not act against Feng Qin.” Lu Zuwei said solemnly. The Hall Master Huang he spoke of was the only hall master stationed in the Xiangzhou region, and also his superior.

He made this judgment for two reasons:

First, since that Feng Qin could kill Wu Yulong, his strength could not be ordinary. The Xiangzhou spokesman, Hall Master Huang, certainly would not risk himself.

Second, why should Hall Master Huang avenge Wu Yulong? The Golden Alliance was not a monolith. Wu Yulong had originally been responsible for the neighboring prefecture, and his relationship with the Golden Alliance branch in Xiangzhou was only average.

He was reporting this to headquarters simply in accordance with the rules of the Golden Alliance.

...

In the loft atop a newly opened tavern on the west side of the city.

A slender woman in a green dress stood by the window, gazing at the flow of people surging along the street.

At the center of her brow was a green lotus tattoo, and her exquisitely beautiful face was untouched by the dust of the mortal world.

“Miss.”

A voice came from outside the door.

“Come in.”

“Yes.”

Soon, a delicate-looking maid entered.

“Miss, this is the information you wanted.” As she spoke, the maid handed a slip of paper to the woman in the green dress.

The woman took it and opened it to read.

“Feng Qin, from Huangsha Town in Jiangning Prefecture? He used to be a constable captain in Jiangning Prefecture City?” Li Yayuan looked at the information on the paper, somewhat surprised.

The night before yesterday, she had ordered Qiao Bin to subdue all the gangs in the western city, but unexpectedly, Qiao Bin died last night. She knew Qiao Bin’s strength very well; he had cultivated two Seventh-Rank martial arts to a profound level, and his overall strength was Ninth-Rank. He was also deputy flag commander and was her right hand.

At first she had thought that one of the gangs had a hidden Ninth-Rank expert, and that Qiao Bin had been killed in a siege by several gangs. But after deeper investigation, it turned out that Qiao Bin had been killed by Wu Yulong of the Golden Alliance.

And Wu Yulong had then been killed by someone named Feng Qin.

That was why this investigation was underway.

“So young, and yet he could kill Wu Yulong. His strength is no weaker than mine. I wonder where he learned his skills? The information above must be false.” Li Yayuan said calmly.

“Miss, according to our investigation, this Feng Qin is actually not from Huangsha Town. He came from Jinyuan County City, but that place has now fallen under the Red Sect Army, so investigating further may take some effort,” the maid said.

“Mm. You may go.”

“Yes.”

After the maid left, Li Yayuan still stared out the window.

“This person can be approached. If I can bring him into the sect, he would be a fine seedling indeed. Perhaps Master would like him.”

At twenty-four, he already possessed such strength; in the future, there was a very great chance he would succeed in reaching the Innate Realm.

...

In the afternoon, Qin Yi appeared outside Xiangzhou City.

After entering the city, he did not choose to return home. Instead, he quietly made his way to He Hongjun’s house and waited for him to come back.

At dusk.

“Chief, why are you at my home?” He Hongjun asked, staring at Qin Yi as he stepped out from one of the side rooms, taken aback.

“My house may be under surveillance, so I came here to see you for the time being,” Qin Yi explained.

He Hongjun understood at once. The strong man who attacked the previous night was probably the chief’s enemy.

“Did anything happen in the gang today?”

“No. We spent the whole day taking over those gangs’ properties, and Jiang Ying and the others were quite cooperative,” He Hongjun reported.

“Good.”

“I asked you to investigate that Qiao Bin’s background. How is it going?” Qin Yi asked again.

“Still investigating. So far we haven’t uncovered anything useful. According to the people from the Hongyun Gang, that Qiao Bin suddenly burst out of nowhere, killed their chief, and then seized the Hongyun Gang. By the way, Chief, the Golden Alliance you asked us to investigate still has no news for now,” He Hongjun said.