Chapter 125: Setting Out on the Escort

Ximen Kankan watched Qin Zhong's back disappear at the doorway, his eyes flickering.

That Dragon Flame Fat actually originated from the Western Regions!

The Western Regions are the territory of the Faxiang Sect!

Moreover, even Lao Qin had never seen this Dragon Flame Fat, which shows it is an extremely rare medicine; I fear there are very few places where it can be used. If it truly had widespread uses, it would be impossible for Lao Qin to have never seen it.

"Red Training Boy?... Could this fellow be a wanted criminal?" Ximen Kankan stroked his chin, recalling Duan Rong's inscrutable expression. A bad premonition rose in his heart, and he muttered to himself: "It seems the medicine Big Brother wants to buy really does involve some complications!"

Ximen Kankan jumped down from the tall, wide chair, paced the hall with his hands behind his back, his expression grave, and said: "No! I must warn that old fellow Qin Zhong one more time; I must make him swear a poisonous oath that he won't become impotent!"

Ximen Kankan remembered Duan Rong's threat, and a trace of fear suddenly surged in his heart!

Fan Yuanhai had originally thought that after the Sect received his report, they would issue a letter for him to return!

That was why he had been lingering in the pleasure districts every day, but now that he had received an urgent dispatch ordering him to investigate the case, Fan Yuanhai immediately focused his mind and began to ponder the mysterious case of Xu Ruhu and Xie Lei!

Although he had challenged Xie Daohan in the back hall of the County Government Office, accusing him of being the mastermind!

That was merely to vent his anger; in truth, if one really thought about this case carefully, the first person who should be ruled out is Xie Daohan.

Not to mention whether he would kill his own nephew!

If Xie Daohan were truly the mastermind, after killing Xie Lei and Xu Ruhu, he could have easily buried the bodies and destroyed the underground cavern!

Why would he need to expose himself and even bring a Coroner to the cavern to examine the bodies!

He is the Head Constable in charge of a county's criminal matters; he would still be capable of covering up such traces.

This point alone is enough to rule out Xie Daohan, not to mention that Xie Lei is the only seedling of his Xie family!

Now that Xie Daohan is pursuing the trail of the Corpse Rot Poison and the Whale Tiger Gang, he does not need to get involved!

After all, Xie Daohan is the local snake of Xiangu County; as the saying goes, snakes have snake paths, and Xie Daohan has his own methods of pursuit!

What he needs to do now is to investigate other clues to see if he can lock onto any suspicious figures.

Fan Yuanhai looked at the four ferocious portraits in his hand; these portraits were so striking that anyone who had seen them once would likely never forget them!

Fan Yuanhai pondered and decided to start with those four portraits and the medicine name called Dragon Flame Fat!

After all, the information sent via the Sect's urgent dispatch must have its purpose!

Perhaps he could identify suspicious figures from these two leads.

Having settled on his line of thought, Fan Yuanhai left Chunfeng Inn and headed straight for the Raw Medicine Shop on West Street. As soon as he entered the main door, a clerk immediately came over to greet him, asking enthusiastically: "Customer, are you here to fill a prescription?"

"Who is in charge of this shop?" Fan Yuanhai stood at the entrance, standing with his hands behind his back, and asked with an unfriendly tone.

The clerk was slightly stunned, and before he could react, Ma Chu had already walked out from behind the counter and said: "I wonder what the customer needs? The Manager of this small shop is in the back hall warehouse! I am the most senior clerk here; it is the same if you tell me your business!"

Fan Yuanhai directly revealed the Taiyi Order and said: "Do you recognize this order?"

Ma Chu was startled and immediately knelt down, saying: "This commoner pays respects to the Imperial Envoy!"

The clerks in the shop did not know why Ma Chu had suddenly knelt, but seeing his terrified appearance, they were immediately frightened into kneeling as well.

Fan Yuanhai's expression turned stern, and he said coldly: "It is good that you recognize it! Bring me your registration ledgers; I want to check the detailed records of everyone who has entered and left the shop in the last half-month!"

Ma Chu said: "Please wait, Imperial Envoy! I will go to the back hall to inform the Manager; the Manager has always been responsible for the ledgers!"

After Ma Chu finished speaking, he immediately went to the back hall. A moment later, an old man with white whiskers came out and personally ushered Fan Yuanhai into the back hall!

Ma Chu instructed the clerks in the main hall to be careful with business, and he followed into the back hall himself!

Fan Yuanhai flipped through the ledgers, reading ten lines at a glance, but did not find any registration for a medicinal ingredient called Dragon Flame Fat. He closed the ledger, looked at Ma Chu, and asked: "Has anyone asked about a medicinal ingredient called Dragon Flame Fat?"

"Dragon Flame Fat?" Ma Chu shook his head. "This small shop does not have this medicinal ingredient, nor has anyone ever asked about it!"

Hearing this, Fan Yuanhai sighed slightly, because he could tell that Ma Chu was not lying.

"This matter concerns a major case; whoever asks about this medicine must be reported immediately! Any concealment will be treated as harboring a criminal!" Fan Yuanhai said coldly: "Also, if this matter leaks out for no reason... you had better watch the heads on your own necks!"

After Fan Yuanhai finished speaking, he closed the ledger and flicked his sleeves as he left.

The old man and Ma Chu looked at each other, both with expressions of worry. Those who do business fear nothing more than unrest, and the person who came was a Sect Emissary...

Yuanshun Escort Agency, inside a cramped dormitory in the Middle Courtyard.

In the dim dormitory, the oil lamp's flame was like a bean, emitting a flickering light.

This cramped dormitory was empty, and in the corner where the lamp shadows fell, there sat a wooden basin; the contents were pitch black, looking as if unwashed clothes were soaking in it.

Suddenly, the clothes actually began to slowly bulge, just like rising dough...

Soon it bulged out of the rim of the basin, slowly expanding!

And it expanded larger and larger!

At the same time, the sound of firecrackers popping rang out!

Following that was the crack-crack sound of joints rubbing!

Inside that wooden basin, a ball of flesh had actually bulged up!

The ball of flesh expanded in circles, constantly twisting and wringing in reverse...

After a few breaths, the ball of flesh actually transformed into a sturdy, dark-complexioned youth!

It was precisely Duan Rong, who had initially mastered the Bone Shrinking Technique.

Duan Rong looked at the empty wooden basin by his feet and exhaled a breath of turbid air; he had finally managed to initially master this strange technique before setting out on the escort mission.

In this way, he would have one more means of self-preservation when going out on an escort.

Recalling the experience of bitterly honing the Bone Shrinking Technique over the past ten days or so, which was like scraping bones and pulling tendons, even though Duan Rong's will was like iron, he still felt his scalp go numb when he thought back on it now!

That was absolutely an inhuman purgatory!

Over these ten days, Duan Rong had spent almost all his time practicing the Inner Breath Third Layer and the Bone Shrinking Technique!

Although the Inner Breath Third Layer was still a long way from success, after ten days of bitter practice, his internal breath had climbed quite a bit; at the very least, it was much more profound than when he had achieved the Second Layer.

Moreover, every night before going to sleep these past few days, Duan Rong would devour a blade technique at the Small Success Realm!

After ten days of accumulation, he had already digested and absorbed nearly ten different types of blade techniques!

However, Duan Rong did not have the time to deduce these blade techniques in detail; after absorbing them, he would gain a slight understanding and then set them aside!

After all, time was tight, and he still lacked a mature train of thought regarding devouring and merging different Sword techniques; this aspect could only be left for the future to slowly deduce...

Seeing that tomorrow was the day he would set out on his first escort mission, Duan Rong felt a trace of excitement; he could finally walk out of Xiangu County and go witness the true world of martial arts!

Furthermore, he could finally take off this short-jacket outfit and put on the attire of an Escort!

Thinking of these things, Duan Rong stood in the cramped room, unable to help but feel a sense of yearning...

The next day!

The sky was already bright when an Escort Team walked out of the main gate of the Yuanshun Escort Agency!

Eight large iron-locked chests were placed on four two-wheeled horse-drawn carriages, with hemp ropes knotted into nets to secure the chests!

Duan Rong wore the Escort attire and rode a date-red horse, following within the team; because of his excitement, he had suffered from some insomnia last night, and his head still felt muddled at this moment!

Duan Rong swayed as he rode on the horse and could not help but yawn...

Xiao Yu rode a horse beside Duan Rong, and seeing his listless appearance, she glared at him fiercely!

Duan Rong immediately perked up and straightened his back; he was now an Intern Escort, and from now on, Xiao Yu would be his master, so he had to make a good impression on his master.

Duan Rong had originally thought that Xiao Yu would wear a female knight's outfit, with a bamboo hat draped in gauze on her head, just like they acted in martial arts dramas!

But Xiao Yu had tied her hair up and also wore an Escort's attire, and with her sword-like brows and star-bright eyes, she rode her horse with a Sword at her waist, making it difficult to tell if she was a man or a woman!

The Escort Team did not head directly out of the city!

When an Escort Team goes on a mission, it is customary to go to the City God Temple to pay respects to the City God to pray for the safety of the people and goods along the way; this had been a long-standing tradition of the Yuanshun Escort Agency for many years!

(End of this chapter)