Chapter 60: I Have Baleful Qi Hidden in My Heart

At Anxin Villa, Lao Tian was sitting in the pavilion eating grapes.

Seeing Qin Jiang return, he hurriedly stood up and cupped his hands, "Congratulations, Boss, on ascending to the position of Fourth Master!"

Qin Jiang waved his hand, "No need for such formalities; keep things as they were before. I will allocate a portion of resources to you; you and Lao Meng must master the Third Layer of the Red Tiger Fist as soon as possible. When that time comes, you will both be Deacons just the same."

Tian Shangfei's face revealed surprise, and he bowed deeply with cupped hands, "Many thanks, Boss! From now on, you are like a second parent to me, Lao Tian! If you say go east, I will never go west! Whatever you point to, I will spare nothing to achieve!"

Meng An, who was following behind Qin Jiang, felt his mind go blank—*well, look at you, with your thick eyebrows and big eyes! *

Immediately, he knelt on one knee, straightened his upper body, and cupped his hands toward Qin Jiang, "Boss! Boss! I... I am the same!"

"Alright, I know, everyone sit down," Qin Jiang laughed.

After the three sat down, Qin Jiang looked at Tian Shangfei, who understood the gesture and took a booklet from his bosom to hand to Qin Jiang.

"Boss, these are all the shrines, Zuchi, and sacrificial grounds near Black Mountain City, including some gardens and ancient tombs; I have recorded them all one by one."

Tian Shangfei said; although he did not know what Qin Jiang wanted with these places, he had searched very carefully, even finding some ancient tombs deep in the mountains.

Qin Jiang did not speak, silently flipping through the booklet.

A moment later, he closed the booklet, a smile appearing at the corners of his mouth, "Well done."

There were no fewer than sixty locations recorded here; even if there was only a one-in-ten chance, that would still be at least thirty to fifty Potential Points!

Moreover, according to his speculation, if places like shrines contained Potential Points, they would contain far more than ordinary objects! He looked at Meng An, "Lao Meng, speed up your progress on your end. I will give you the authority to mobilize resources at the Deacon level. Anything that lacked sufficient silver before, take it all; put the bill on my account."

Nowadays, he was already the Hall Master of the Four Halls of the Red Tiger Gang; just the basic silver alone amounted to nearly two thousand taels.

Not to mention that he had also inherited the portions saved up by the Four Halls and Six Halls due to their lack of Hall Masters; the silver he currently controlled already exceeded six thousand taels.

In Black Mountain City, this was almost an astronomical sum of money! Even if the Four Great Families wanted to produce this amount, they would have to suffer for several months.

Upon hearing this, Meng An was overjoyed, "Rest assured, Boss! Within ten days, I will surely scour the city inside and out, clean!"

That night, Fengyi Fang.

The geographical location here was already close to the edge of the Inner City, the main reason being that Fengyi Fang had many funeral shops and produced a wide variety of coffins.

If you can think of it, there is nothing they cannot make.

Therefore, very few people came here on ordinary days.

However, a big shot from the Inner City lived here—an Elder of the Red Tiger Gang.

Under the moonlight, the bright white light illuminated the courtyard where Nie Dongsheng resided; usually, there was no one in the courtyard, and only Nie Dongsheng lived here himself.

"Bang—!"

The sound of a heavy object hitting the ground echoed in the night, but there was not even the startled cry of a small animal, which showed just how desolate this Fengyi Fang was.

"Red trees and withered leaves sweep through the gale."

Inside the house, Nie Dongsheng's voice rang out, followed by the opening of the door; he was seen sitting on a chair, his legs fixed with braces.

Suddenly, his expression changed as he saw the object in the courtyard—it was a pitch-black coffin!

"I wonder which friend this is; why not show yourself for a chat?" he said.

Thump.

A light landing sound came from the coffin as Qin Jiang landed gently upon it.

He looked at Nie Dongsheng with some surprise, "Nie Zhanglao, do you still enjoy reciting poetry before you die?"

Seeing Qin Jiang's face clearly, Nie Dongsheng's expression changed drastically, but he knew that at such a close distance, he could not possibly escape! Adjusting his breathing, he feigned composure, "So it is Fourth Master; I wonder what brings Fourth Master to visit?"

Hearing this, Qin Jiang jumped lightly off the coffin, the black baleful aura flowing like falling immortal mist.

"So Nie Zhanglao can also play dumb; I have already prepared the coffin, so why must Nie Zhanglao harbor any delusions of survival?

It would be better to sever your own heart pulse; it would count as keeping some dignity. On this day next year, I will burn a stick of incense for you."

The next day, Anxin Villa.

"Boss! Boss! It's bad! Something big has happened!"

Meng An ran into the courtyard in a rush; Qin Jiang was in the center of the courtyard, slowly practicing the Red Tiger Fist.

"Oh, my Boss! You're still practicing boxing?" Meng An was so anxious he was hopping, his face flushed red.

Qin Jiang pushed his fist out slowly, "What's the rush? You must have a calm spirit; a calm heart brings clarity. Speak, what is it."

"It's Nie Zhanglao; Nie Zhanglao is dead! I heard he died in his home last night, and there was a coffin placed in the courtyard. Early this morning, the servant delivering vegetables discovered it," Meng An said.

Qin Jiang nodded, adjusting his breathing, "Mm, I know." *Mm??? * Meng An looked at Qin Jiang, somewhat bewildered, his eyes filled with heavy confusion, "Boss, I said, Nie Zhanglao is dead."

"I know, my ears aren't deaf yet."

As he spoke, Qin Jiang slowly retracted his fists and stretched his arms.

"Then you..." Meng An was hesitant to speak; this was an Elder! A big shot who could rank in the top ten of the entire Black Mountain City!

"Let's go, let's go take a look," Qin Jiang said.

Before long, the two arrived at the Red Tiger Gang headquarters; outside the door of the council hall sat a coffin, the very one Qin Jiang had gifted to Nie Dongsheng last night, which had cost him eight mace of silver.

Walking into the council hall, everyone including the Gang Leader, the other Elders, and the Hall Masters were already there, missing only Qin Jiang.

Once Qin Jiang sat down, Lu Xuanwu spoke, "As it stands now, even just based on the items searched so far, it is enough to prove that Nie Dongsheng was a traitor to our Red Tiger Gang."

The Hall Master of the Second Hall, Kong Hai, was stunned, his one-word eyebrows knitting into a 'grass' character shape, "Nie Dongsheng is a traitor?!"

Besides him, Sun Qianzhao and Chen Feng also revealed looks of shock.

Even Qin Jiang, the person involved, was somewhat surprised—Nie Dongsheng was a traitor?

In other words, by coincidence, he had actually done a great favor?

Chen Feng frowned and could not help but speak, "If this old thing was a traitor, then is it possible that the deaths of the previous few Hall Masters were all his doing behind the scenes?!"

Lu Xuanwu narrowed his eyes slightly and nodded slowly.

"Bang!"

"I saw long ago that this old thing was no good!"

Chen Feng slammed his hand on the chair armrest and stood up, walking straight to the coffin in the courtyard, and violently flipped the lid off.

Hiss—when he saw the pile of rotting flesh in the coffin clearly, even though he was accustomed to life and death, he could not help but gasp.

Which ruthless person did this?! To actually beat someone into such a state?! "Alright, Elder Chen, there is no need to do anything more regarding the Nie Dongsheng matter; the most important thing right now is to find the traitor within my Red Tiger Gang."

Lu Xuanwu looked at Kong Hai to the side, "How about leaving this matter to the Second Master and Elder Sun?"

Kong Hai's 'grass'-shaped eyebrows relaxed, his eyes filled with killing intent, "Of course, no problem, I would be more than happy to!"

Back then, the four Hall Masters swore an oath of brotherhood, known as the Four Red Tigers, but now only he, the eldest, remained.

He only hated that he could not personally kill that fellow Nie Dongsheng! If he did not pull out his tendons, break his bones, and skin him alive, it would be hard to quell the hatred in his heart! "I ask the Gang Leader to hand over the corpse of the Nie dog to me, so I may hack him into eight pieces before the graves of my brothers! It shall serve as a tribute to the spirits of my brothers in heaven!"

He slammed one knee heavily onto the ground and cupped his fists.

Chen Feng walked in, raised his hand with a hesitant expression, "Second brother, forget it, see for yourself."

Kong Hai's straight eyebrows furrowed into a 'grass' shape again, "Elder Chen, what do you mean by this? Could it be that you actually want to bury this old dog?!"

"Sigh, it is truly impossible to reason with you!"

Chen Feng walked straight to the chair, sat down, picked up a teacup, and began to drink.

When Kong Hai first joined the gang years ago, he felt that this guy was definitely a brute, and he had thought he would improve after becoming a Hall Master.

But looking at him now, there had been no improvement at all.

Kong Hai stood up and went to the front of the coffin, stared intently for a moment, and only then recognized that this mass of rotting flesh was Nie Dongsheng.

"See it now?" Chen Feng pursed his lips.

Kong Hai realized he had spoken wrongly just then, muttered an apology in a muffled voice, and then cupped his fists toward Lu Xuanwu.

"Gang Leader, please hand this corpse over to me; I will burn it into charcoal, grind it to dust, and scatter it before the graves of my brothers—it will be a fitting end!"

Upon hearing this, the teacup in Lu Xuanwu's hand could not help but tremble; after a few seconds, he nodded, "Very well."

Setting down the teacup, he looked at the crowd, "Although Nie Dongsheng's death is a good thing for my Red Tiger Gang, it also means that an expert has arrived in the city, so we must be extra careful.

Fourth Master, stay behind; the rest of you may return for now."

After the others left, Lu Xuanwu slowly picked up his teacup and took a sip, "Fourth Master, you were a bit too reckless this time."

Qin Jiang did not refute upon hearing this, slightly closing his eyes in contemplation.

A moment later, he opened his eyes, "I have baleful energy hidden in my heart."

(End of chapter)