Chapter 192: A Poisonous Snake Lurking

Liang Qu grabbed Liu Wenyang by the collar, lifting him almost entirely off the ground.

In the drizzle, Liu Wenyang's nose bled profusely, his eyes wide with rage, blood choking his throat.

He suppressed the urge to cough, his breathing as heavy as a bellows.

Liang Qu stared at this ridiculous, overreaching face, yet in Liu Wenyang's eyes, he saw not a hint of fear or evasion.

"It wasn't you?"

Liu Wenyang tilted his head back and sneered, blood clogging his nasal cavity, slurring his voice.

"A real man stands tall and acts upright. If I didn't do it, I didn't do it. I didn't plan on leaving alive today, so why would I lie to you?"

As he spoke, he suddenly froze, baring his teeth, blood and rainwater winding down his face, his teeth stained scarlet.

"Someone is targeting you?"

Liang Qu loosened his grip, pulled his hand back, and slapped him across the face, leaving half of Liu Wenyang's cheek a bloody red.

"You have the nerve to call yourself a real man?"

The pain bit through his flesh and deep into his marrow.

Liu Wenyang was stunned, a surge of rage igniting instantly.

He gasped for air, his throat bobbing, his cheeks puffed out as if he were about to spit out a lethal, blood-sealing poison arrow.

Liang Qu withdrew his foot, his stance steady on the ground. He expressionlessly flexed his fingers, waiting for Liu Wenyang to stop being stubborn.

The drizzle cast a slick, oily sheen over the bluestone slabs, soaking their thin garments.

Liu Wenyang suddenly shivered.

"You're right."

He lowered his brows, his muscles and bones going slack, his shoulders drooping like a deflated fish bladder.

Liang Qu felt as if he were holding a sack of dead pork; he flexed his fingers, then let go.

"At least you have some self-awareness. But you, a mere Galloping Horse martial artist, dare to come and fight me?"

Liu Wenyang nearly choked on a mouthful of stagnant blood.

You know I'm a Galloping Horse martial artist too!

During that great battle, Liu Jie, who had personally experienced Liang Qu's strength, had died without a whole corpse. Aside from the water beast's assistance being plain to see, everyone else felt Liang Qu was strong, but that defeating Liu Jie must have relied on some underhanded trick.

Poisoning, sneak attacks, or plotting were all possibilities; that flying centipede poison insect was the best proof. No one believed he had won head-on.

And in fact, that was true.

Liang Qu's strength underwater far exceeded his strength on land; calling it an "underhanded trick" wasn't entirely wrong.

He guessed that Liu Wenyang had gathered some information, thinking that while Liang Qu was strong, his strength was limited and relied on the water beast, and with a sneak attack, his odds of winning weren't low.

He just hadn't expected the gap to be so vast.

Since obtaining the Mirage Insect, Liang Qu had never missed his two-hour dream training session, rain or shine.

Liu Jie was the opponent he had fought to the death most often in training; he could dodge his blade techniques with his eyes closed.

Coupled with the persistent drizzle, while not as formidable as he was underwater, he could at least perceive everything within a ten-zhang radius.

A human silhouette hiding sneakily in the alley, his Qi and blood suppressed to the extreme, indistinguishable from the bricks and stones—how could he not be suspicious?

The so-called sneak attack was as clear as a mirror under the sun, shining brightly.

A figure flashed at the end of the street. Liang Qu tilted his head, faintly recognizing the Cloud Hawk uniform on the person approaching.

The Three Judicial Departments had heard the commotion and arrived.

Liang Qu turned his head: "Even if you had succeeded, you wouldn't have been able to escape, right?"

Liu Wenyang exhaled, coughing lowly a few times.

"A son who does not avenge his father is no son at all. What does death matter?"

"One last question: how exactly did you know my whereabouts?"

"You come and go every day to only a few places. I just had to find a spot to wait."

Liu Wenyang had given up all hope.

Liang Qu frowned in thought.

"Brother Liang?"

The two men from the Three Judicial Departments arrived at the scene. The leader looked slightly surprised at the sight.

"Brother Zhang! What a coincidence."

Liang Qu greeted him.

He hadn't expected that every time they met, it would be the same person.

The Ghost Mother Sect interrogation, the Fengbu County cleanup, and now this—three for three.

Did the Three Judicial Departments have a quota system? The more they did, the more salary they got?

Seeing it was an acquaintance, Zhang Zhiyun sheathed his waist blade: "I heard the commotion earlier and came to take a look. What's going on here?"

Liang Qu twisted the collar, forcing Liu Wenyang to turn his head.

"Brother Zhang, who does he look like to you?"

Zhang Zhiyun lowered his head to examine him. Although his face was covered in blood and his nose was swollen, he still overlapped with the memory of a certain head, bearing a striking resemblance.

"Liu Jie?!"

"It's Liu Jie's son, Liu Wenyang. I don't know how he found out my whereabouts, but he ambushed me halfway. As for the result, Brother Zhang, you see it. Speaking of which, didn't the Three Judicial Departments catch him before, or did he escape?"

Zhang Zhiyun shook his head: "Caught by our Three Judicial Departments? How could we let him escape? Speaking of which, this is actually Brother Liang's problem."

"Me?"

"Brother Liang, you attacked the Whale Gang and caused quite a stir. The three gang leaders' families don't live in the main headquarters.

While the core members were wiped out, the small fry all ran away. We only caught a small portion afterward."

Liang Qu scratched his head.

"I was stretched too thin at the time; it couldn't be helped."

"It doesn't matter. Most of them are just ordinary people anyway. Liu Wenyang is the biggest one who escaped, but he's been caught today."

Zhang Zhiyun unhooked a chain from his waist and handed it to his companion, who stepped forward to bind Liu Wenyang's hands.

"Then I'll take him back?"

"Do you need to file a report?"

"It's so late, forget it. We both know what happened anyway."

Zhang Zhiyun smelled the scent of spiced mutton on Liang Qu, guessing he had just returned from a banquet and was likely tired, so he decided to do him a favor.

"Then many thanks, Brother Zhang. There is one more thing: how exactly did Liu Wenyang know my whereabouts? I'll trouble Brother Zhang to help me 'ask' him. If there's an answer, please remember to let me know."

Liang Qu emphasized the word "ask."

He wouldn't fully believe Liu Wenyang's one-sided story.

When it came to interrogation, the Three Judicial Departments were more professional; a quick test would reveal the truth.

Zhang Zhiyun understood.

"Brother Liang, rest assured. Within two days, I will definitely give you a result."

Liang Qu bowed.

"Many thanks."

Under the curtain of rain, the men from the Three Judicial Departments left with Liu Wenyang.

"And here I thought the trouble was solved."

Liang Qu sighed.

Honestly, when Liu Wenyang suddenly jumped out, he was somewhat happy, thinking he had figured out who had spent money to track his whereabouts that day.

One doesn't fear a thief stealing, but a thief plotting. Pulling out a poisonous snake lurking in the shadows was undoubtedly something to be happy about.

He hadn't expected that the person who did the asking that day was likely someone else.

However...

Liu Wenyang's words provided a piece of information he hadn't realized before.

Liang Qu had quite a reputation in Yixing Town, and he was handsome, so everyone knew the few roads he frequently traveled every day.

Just like Liu Wenyang, if one really wanted to ambush him, they just had to know a few locations and wait; they would eventually run into him.

Rashly contacting the household staff would only make it easier to expose oneself.

Whoever was doing this could basically be confirmed as an outsider who knew nothing about the local situation, was unaware of Liang Qu's prestige, and perhaps wasn't even very smart.

Not very smart.

Not a local.

Meeting both conditions, Liang Qu did indeed have a candidate in mind... ===== CHAPTER 193 =====