Chapter 180: Huang Gaozu

As the burly man's wrist moved, a figure suddenly drifted to the side of the turtle-servant. A flash of sword light appeared, and a thin sword tapped lightly against the back of the man's large broadsword.

That sword, thin as paper, tapped against the burly man's broadsword and was still trembling slightly, yet the force of the burly man's wrist rotation had vanished without a trace...

The burly man was greatly alarmed. He looked up at the person and saw a man in a brocade robe, about forty years old, with a slender build, a gaunt face, and deep-set eyes that were shooting a gloomy light as they stared at him.

The burly man's eyelids twitched. He drew his blade to slash at the man. The muscles on his right arm bulged, his Internal Breath fully unleashed, but the man stood still, merely flashing his sword light again to tap diagonally against the blade face of the incoming slash.

The burly man's erupting force suddenly felt as if a surging wave had crashed into a giant peak; the force recoiled, and his breath became chaotic.

The web between his thumb and forefinger split open, and the broadsword in his hand flipped over, nearly chopping into his own foot.

The burly man retreated two steps, looking at the sword-wielding man with shock and fear in his eyes, and said tremblingly, "Great Accomplishment realm!"

The burly man felt regret in his heart; he had originally intended to rely on his Inner Breath Realm Third Layer cultivation to get a free meal in this Huaying Pavilion.

He was just passing through; if he patted his butt and left the city now, who would know where to find him?

But he hadn't expected that such a backwater brothel would actually have a Great Accomplishment realm expert guarding it!

Duan Rong, who was watching the battle from the second-floor railing, narrowed his eyes and asked Jiang Qingyu beside him, "Who is this person?"

Jiang Qingyu said, "The expert guarding Huaying Pavilion, Huang Gaozu!"

Just then, Hu Huanhuan walked out from the Corridor, her beautiful eyes scanning the Main Hall without a hint of panic.

Seeing Hu Huanhuan walk out, Huang Gaozu said gloomily, "How should this person be dealt with?"

Hearing this, Hu Huanhuan turned her head to look at the burly man and said in a calm tone, "Doesn't he like ears? Leave him a pair of ears."

As soon as Hu Huanhuan's voice fell, Huang Gaozu's figure suddenly drifted, his sword light moving with him, trembling lightly as if it were a ribbon tied to his body.

Although the burly man could not see Huang Gaozu's sword path, he knew he was going for his ears, so he swung his blade to block horizontally. A flash of sword light appeared, and three fingers on his right hand were sliced off. The heavy and sharp broadsword fell, piercing into the floorboards beside his feet.

Then, the burly man only felt a figure flash before his eyes, and his two ears left his body...

Duan Rong, at the second-floor railing, suddenly had his pupils shrink as he looked at a figure in the crowd not far away who was watching the excitement from the second-floor railing.

That person was Fan Yuanhai!

When the Xu Ruhu Case first broke, Duan Rong had seen this person at the entrance of the Yuanshun Escort Agency.

That this person was still in Xiangu County meant that the Xu Ruhu Case had not yet passed.

And at this time, more than three months had passed since the case occurred.

Fan Yuanhai seemed to sense a gaze fixed on him; he suddenly turned his head and scanned the crowd on Duan Rong's side, but by then Duan Rong had already looked back toward the first-floor Main Hall...

Fan Yuanhai discovered no abnormalities and withdrew his gaze.

With the matter downstairs concluded, the group returned to Lanxiang Yuan, sat before the small tables, and continued playing the guessing game. Lan Ying rarely had the mood to play, Jiang Qingyu was naturally eager to cooperate, and Ximen Kankan loved to play anyway, so the atmosphere at the scene was immediately heated up...

Amidst the lively scene, Duan Rong sipped his drink and pondered, his eyes flickering.

The moment he sat before the table, Duan Rong suddenly projected his Divine Sense, and instantly, a hundred-meter radius was shrouded under his Divine Sense.

Various scenes of exquisite, luxurious decadence and indulgence were instantly displayed before Duan Rong's "eyes."

This was also why Duan Rong had never dared to project his Divine Sense before; he was afraid he couldn't handle it—it was simply too stimulating!

This was far more stimulating than the 3D *Jade Mat* that was released in Hong Kong on Blue Star in his past life.

360-degree holographic high-definition stereoscopic imaging; as a former observer of 200GB hard drives, Duan Rong found it a bit hard to hold back at this moment.

However, Duan Rong's original intention in releasing his Divine Sense was not to watch these things; he knew Fan Yuanhai was nearby and couldn't help but want to use his Divine Sense to investigate.

Fan Yuanhai was, after all, a True Qi Realm Second Layer powerhouse. If it were normal times, even if he had the ability of Divine Sense Projection, he wouldn't dare to follow closely to investigate.

But, as it happened, the room where Fan Yuanhai was located was not far from Lanxiang Yuan... the timing was rare!

Recently, Fan Yuanhai had been very depressed. The Xu Ruhu Case had no leads, and he had been trapped in this backwater for over three months. Most importantly, he didn't know how much longer he would have to stay.

Not only were there no clues on his end, but Xie Daohan's side also seemed to have hit a dead end.

This case was inherently sinister; three months had passed, and even if there had been some clues, they had likely been obliterated by now.

Fan Yuanhai often came to Huaying Pavilion to relax recently. Among the Four Great Flower Shadows, he favored Lian Ying.

The Four Great Flower Shadows each had their strengths; Lan Ying was skilled at the zither, and Lian Ying was skilled at dancing!

At this moment, in Lian Ying's Lianhualuo, one maid was beating the drum rhythm, and another was playing the pipa. The sound was sonorous and powerful, the drumbeats dense as rain.

Lian Ying's dance posture was even more charming as water, wild and radiating!

That fair, tender waist swayed with the music like a snake; her brows, her eyes, her lips, and her teeth were all telling of amorous feelings...

Fan Yuanhai's elbow holding the wine cup paused there, the wine cup swaying slightly, and a wave of heat surged in his lower abdomen...

Just then, Duan Rong suddenly frowned.

He "saw" his childhood friend, Yang Zhen.

Yang Zhen was following behind Xie Daohan, having already ascended to the second-floor corridor of Huaying Pavilion.

As soon as Xie Daohan appeared, Duan Rong's Divine Sense immediately shrouded him. Duan Rong looked him over thoroughly from head to toe, not even letting a single button on his body go, let alone the hidden weapons concealed all over his body.

Xie Daohan and Yang Zhen walked to the front of Lian Ying's Lianhualuo and suddenly paused. Yang Zhen turned and stood sideways, holding his blade to guard outside the door, while Xie Daohan pushed the door and entered.

For some reason, ever since Xie Lei died, Xie Daohan had valued Yang Zhen quite a bit, often keeping him by his side.

Xie Daohan pushed the door and entered. The gazes of the people in the room immediately swept toward him, but the pipa music and drumbeats did not stop, and Lian Ying's dance continued. Xie Daohan walked slowly to the side of Fan Yuanhai at the table and sat down.

Xie Daohan and Fan Yuanhai had originally been quite at odds, but because of the case, they had gradually cleared up their past grievances. For a period of time, the two had often met to exchange information.

However, in the last month, Fan Yuanhai had become dispirited and had basically given up on the case.

Xie Daohan had come to find Fan Yuanhai for a reason.

As soon as Xie Daohan sat down, Fan Yuanhai poured him a cup of wine. Xie Daohan drank the wine, leaned into Fan Yuanhai's ear, and said, "Help me catch someone."

Fan Yuanhai curled his lip; he didn't want to get involved in other cases Xie Daohan was handling. "What kind of person is there in this Xiangu County that you can't handle?"

"The evil doctor Shen Ping!" Xie Daohan's voice came out eerily.

(End of this chapter)