Chapter 42: Arrest

The next morning, Chu Danqing took Da Bao to maintain order at the porridge distribution.

The porridge was distributed by the government, not the Lu family, but they lacked manpower, so they asked local aristocratic clans for help.

The Lu family themselves had been caught off guard by this snow disaster and needed to buy grain—where would they have surplus to relieve the famine?

Upon arriving, Chu Danqing circled the area with Da Bao to serve as a deterrent.

Afterward, he found a suitable spot to sit and pulled out his notebook to read carefully.

He was nominally maintaining order, but in reality, minor disruptions like cutting in line or quarreling didn’t require his intervention—he only handled major disturbances.

“Chu Gongfeng, you’re awfully idle,” Tie Yan walked over, his gaze falling on Chu Danqing’s notebook, his tone tinged with bitterness.

He brought his disciples to distribute talisman water, accumulating faction contributions to complete his mission.

One hundred and fifty points per day—exactly seven days to finish.

As for the other disciples, Tie Yan could only leave them to fend for themselves.

He’d wanted to take on a higher-reward faction mission, but his first attempt ended in disaster: three disciples died.

One of them was even a member of Longhu Alliance; now only Han Ying remained his loyal follower, while the rest had their own agendas.

Chu Danqing looked up at Tie Yan—his situation was far from favorable.

Joining the Taiping Dao faction had the lowest overall difficulty—and the lowest returns.

“You’re quite idle too, Fang Shi,” Chu Danqing replied with a meaningless remark.

Fang Shi was Tie Yan’s title—a sort of group leader managing believers.

Aside from Tie Yan, all other Dimension Disciples who joined Taiping Dao were merely believers.

Without sufficient strength, one couldn’t attain the position of Fang Shi.

They needed to become Fang Shi within seven days to activate the next trial mission.

“All the third-tier items in the faction shop are in your hands, right? Name a price—I’ll take one,” Tie Yan, sensing Chu Danqing’s attitude, cut straight to the point, speaking softly.

Chu Danqing shook his head: “I traded for the second-tier item—do you think I still have 4,500 faction contributions?”

“If I really had that much, I’d rather save up for the top-tier item.”

As he spoke, he gestured toward his notebook.

He and Tie Yan weren’t even acquaintances—why should he tell him the truth?

Besides, Tie Yan’s tone and attitude made Chu Danqing uncomfortable: what did he mean by “name a price and share one”? He just wanted to take advantage.

He couldn’t even scrape together 1,500 faction contributions—what right did he have to offer something worth as much as the Lu family’s body-cultivation secret medicine?

Even if he had it, it would be a hidden trump card—he’d never trade it away.

Tie Yan had hoped to bluff, but he’d already guessed the truth.

If Chu Danqing had 7,500 faction contributions, he’d have fought for the top-tier refined-level inheritance skill in the faction shop.

His gaze settled on Chu Danqing’s notebook, and a new idea surfaced in his mind.

“Your notebook can be reread, Chu Gongfeng—could I borrow it to copy?” Tie Yan leaned in, whispering: “One thousand Paradise Points—consider it a friendship offering.”

Chu Danqing snapped his notebook shut and said: “Tie Yan, I treat you as a rational person—don’t treat me like a fool.”

“With your measly offer, how could you possibly think it’s worth my notebook’s contents?”

He’d been given a polite face, and now the man thought he could push further.

Copying was fine—but at least offer a fair price.

Tie Yan merely assumed that since both sides represented their respective factions, neither would act too brazenly in public.

Da Bao shot out his massive hand with blinding speed, gripping Tie Yan’s entire head and hurling him into the crowd of Taiping Dao believers.

“If you dare provoke me again, I’ll send you to meet Taiping Dao’s Huangtian,” Chu Danqing said coldly—he’d never liked Taiping Dao, and last night they’d retaliated against him.

Tie Yan scrambled to his feet, fury flashing in his eyes—but quickly suppressed it.

The man was stronger than him, and his faction was larger—starting a conflict would only hurt him.

But the believers weren’t pleased with Chu Danqing’s actions—they gathered around him, all glaring with hostility.

“Even if Fang Shi Tie Yan erred, it’s none of your business as an outsider. Taiping Dao has always—” the lead Taiping Dao priest began, using faction power to intimidate.

He didn’t care about their personal feud, but Chu Danqing’s act had shamed Taiping Dao.

But before he could finish, he was interrupted.

“So? Can Taiping Dao ignore imperial law?” A cold voice rang out.

Xiong Quan, clad in armor, pushed through the crowd with a group of soldiers, his gaze sweeping over the Taiping Dao members present.

“Law? Taiping Dao has always obeyed the law—how can you, a Commandant, falsely accuse us?” The priest’s expression shifted slightly.

“Obeyed the law? Hah.” Xiong Quan sneered, then bellowed: “Your crimes are exposed!”

“Spreading witchcraft, assassinating the former Commandant, murdering the Governor’s Lady, plotting to kill the Governor—every last one of you from Taiping Dao will come with me.”

At his words, everyone erupted in shock.

A murmur spread through the crowd.

“You’re lying!” Han Ying, furious, shouted without thinking.

But Xiong Quan didn’t even glance at him—he merely waved his hand, and the soldiers began arresting Taiping Dao members.

The Dimension Disciples who had joined Taiping Dao were included too.

Unlike the obedient locals, the Dimension Disciples naturally refused to surrender.

“Anyone who resists will be killed on the spot,” Xiong Quan issued his order again.

“Chu Mo, Xiong Quan can move against us today—he can move against you tomorrow.”

“Join forces—kill him first!” Tie Yan’s face darkened as he tried to drag Chu Danqing into the conflict.

Chu Danqing ignored Tie Yan entirely, speaking calmly: “What Xiong Quan said isn’t false.”

This was the information gap caused by low status—joining a low-barrier faction came at a cost.

To Tie Yan, it seemed Xiong Quan was clearing the field.

In truth, the government and aristocratic clans were moving against Taiping Dao.

But Tie Yan didn’t know the truth—he assumed Chu Danqing might be involved too.

So when he heard Chu Danqing’s words, he gritted his teeth, grabbed Han Ying, and fled.

Xiong Quan looked at Chu Danqing and gave a single nod: “Chu Gongfeng, we can cooperate next time.”

Then he led the captives away—he needed to extract valuable intelligence from them.

As long as the key figures were caught, the rest who escaped didn’t matter—they could be wanted.

After they left, Chu Danqing understood why Lu Yin had been uncertain about the plan.

He’d been waiting for the government to extract information from Taiping Dao members before deploying his own moves.

With the chaos settled, Chu Danqing sat back down and resumed reading his notebook.

(End of Chapter)