Chapter 188: Tao Rong

Duan Rong returned from Heihu Gang just as the sky was beginning to brighten.

He had expended a great deal of energy on this trip, and had nearly run the red-date horse to death; when he returned the horse to the agency in the morning, the old man inspecting it had a dark face and deducted half of his deposit.

Although he had also run the horse until it foamed at the mouth when he went to Yezhu Lin before, there were always a few days of interval between entering and leaving Yezhu Lin, allowing the horse to rest.

But this time, he had made a round trip in a single night. Moreover, most of the horses at the agency were not true fine steeds and could not compare to the horses of an Escort Team.

Although half of his deposit was deducted, Duan Rong did not want to argue, so he rubbed his nose and accepted it.

He could not make a scene over this little bit of silver, as exposing his own movements would not be worth it.

When Duan Rong walked out of the agency, he had already put the matter behind him; he crossed the street and strolled to sit down in front of the beef soup stall diagonally opposite.

Duan Rong discovered that the habit of his hands trembling uncontrollably after killing someone seemed to have disappeared over the last two times.

He was not sure if this was called adapting or becoming numb.

Duan Rong drank a large bowl of beef soup and ate three large sesame flatbreads before standing up, letting out a satisfied burp, and walking back to Liu Lu with a swaying gait.

After returning to Liu Lu, he climbed onto his bed and slept until the afternoon before waking up.

After waking, Duan Rong, naked, washed himself thoroughly inside and out in the courtyard, then put on his clothes, went to the roadside to eat lunch, and after finishing his meal, returned to Liu Lu to practice Standing Stake until dusk.

Seeing the setting sun casting its golden glow on the willow trees in the courtyard, Duan Rong finally ended his practice, wiped the sweat from his forehead and body with a damp towel, and then, with a flicker in his eyes, left the Escort Agency and walked straight to a teahouse not far from the Ya Men entrance.

Duan Rong went up to the second floor, picked a seat by the window, and sat down; he ordered a pot of clear tea and a plate of snacks, and while drinking the tea, his eyes remained fixed outside the window.

Looking down from this position, one could see the main entrance of the County Office perfectly.

In the teahouse, many people were chatting idly; Duan Rong's heart stirred, and wanting to hear the latest public opinion, he suddenly projected his Divine Sense.

His projected Divine Sense completely enveloped the second floor of the teahouse.

The various noisy sounds in Duan Rong's ears immediately gathered into a sea of information, like a screen full of exploding bullet comments...

Duan Rong quickly filtered through the information, most of which was idle gossip about this or that family.

Several tables of tea guests were discussing the incident where the Ximen Family had been robbed by bandits on the road that morning; they were making up all sorts of details that sounded very convincing. If Duan Rong hadn't known the ins and outs of the matter so clearly, he might have actually been fooled by those gossips.

However, one piece of information caught Duan Rong's attention: a table of guests was saying that Tao Rong, the son of the Weapon Shop owner Tao Jiusong, had recently achieved the Great Accomplishment of the Inner Breath Realm Fourth Layer.

Upon hearing this, a wave of irritation rose in Duan Rong's heart. "Another Great Accomplishment."

Duan Rong immediately withdrew his Divine Sense. Among the messages, there was also a table in the corner of the second floor where a few petty thieves were whispering about scouting targets; Duan Rong only glanced at them once and then ignored them. As long as they didn't scout him, he wouldn't care, and he didn't even want to know who they were targeting.

The Jianghu is so big, there have to be a few rats, right?

By the time Duan Rong had drunk half of the pot of clear tea, the twilight had gathered outside the window, and lanterns had already been hung at the Ya Men entrance.

In the dim twilight, a familiar figure suddenly walked out of the Ya Men; catching sight of that figure, Duan Rong immediately rose from his seat and hurried out of the teahouse.

Yang Zhen walked out of the County Office gate with a look of exhaustion and heavy footsteps.

The night before last, Xie Daohan and Fan Yuanhai had joined forces to capture the evil doctor Shen Ping in a Gou Lan Yuan in Jinmao Lane.

Shen Ping was an expert at the True Qi Realm First Stage and was quite skilled in the use of poison.

The two had already severely wounded Shen Ping when they captured him. They stripped off his clothes on the spot and threw him into Death Row like a mangy dead dog.

For the past two days, Xie Daohan and Fan Yuanhai had taken turns interrogating him; during the afternoon interrogation, Fan Yuanhai had even crippled Shen Ping's dantian.

Yang Zhen had been the one taking notes for both of their interrogations, and after two days, he could see that Shen Ping had absolutely nothing to do with the cases of Xu Ruhu and Xie Lei.

He could see it, and naturally, Xie Daohan and Fan Yuanhai could see it too, so the interrogation of Shen Ping had stopped in the afternoon.

Yang Zhen had locked Shen Ping, who had been beaten into a bloody mess, back into the cell. Then, he summarized and organized the two days of interrogation records, placed them on Xie Daohan's desk, and only then walked out of the County Government Office with a weary expression.

Just as Yang Zhen reached the entrance of an alley, someone suddenly lunged from the shadows and pounced on him in a bear hug.

Yang Zhen was startled, his figure recoiled violently, and with a *swish*, he drew his blade and slashed at the person.

The person was surprisingly agile, dodging with a sidestep and shouting, "Are you trying to kill me!"

Upon hearing that voice, Yang Zhen's face immediately darkened, and he shouted angrily, "It's pitch black, you jump out of an alley and pounce on someone—you deserve to be killed!"

Seeing that Yang Zhen was angry, Duan Rong wrapped an arm around his shoulder and laughed, "Alright, alright. I'll be careful next time; I was just joking with you, wasn't I?"

"Is that how you joke?"

"My fault, my fault." Duan Rong apologized hurriedly.

Yang Zhen was angry because he thought his slash just now could have really hurt Duan Rong. But Duan Rong knew very well that it was now impossible for Yang Zhen to hurt him at all. However, he did not want to clarify his own realm to this childhood friend yet; that would be a bit too discouraging for him.

Duan Rong knew very well that Yang Zhen was actually quite proud at heart. Moreover, he had been stronger than his original self since childhood and had always looked after Duan Rong as a frail little brother. If he discovered that Duan Rong was now far stronger than him, the sense of defeat from such a contrast would surely be very hard to bear.

Seeing Duan Rong smiling and apologizing, Yang Zhen's anger finally dissipated; he sheathed his blade and said, "What are you looking for me for?"

"To drink!"

Upon hearing the word "drink," Yang Zhen laughed, "You really came at the right time; I've been exhausted to death lately and was just thinking about having a good drink."

"Of course, I'm the roundworm in your belly, aren't I?" Duan Rong said, reaching out to touch Yang Zhen's belly.

Yang Zhen slapped Duan Rong's hand away and said, "There are no roundworms in my belly, only wine worms!"

"Then I am the wine worm!"

"Why do you love being a worm so much?"

"What's wrong with being a worm? At least you don't have to be as tired as a human!"

"Hmm, that makes sense. Then I'll be a worm too."

"Hmm, alright." Duan Rong laughed, "You can be a stink bug."

"You're the fucking stink bug..."

The two chatted and laughed as they exited the pitch-black alley.

Under the dim light, Yang Zhen suddenly looked Duan Rong over and said, "Yo... this outfit is not bad, huh? Officially working as an Escort?"

Duan Rong's heart stirred; he only then remembered that the last time Yang Zhen saw him, he was still wearing short-sleeved work clothes.

Duan Rong then laughed, "How about it, not bad, right?"

Yang Zhen's eyes flickered, and he punched Duan Rong on the shoulder, saying, "Not bad! You kid have finally made something of yourself! Let's both work hard from now on."

In the dim light just outside the alley, Duan Rong looked at the bright-eyed Yang Zhen, and he could feel a long-lost emotion churning between them. Yang Zhen's attitude toward Duan Rong had undergone a subtle change; he had begun to treat Duan Rong as a partner of the same level, or one could say that deep down, he had begun to respect Duan Rong.

(End of chapter)