Chapter 154

"I, Xiao Mile Hao Ren, humbly serve as a member of the Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower. I have come to inform you, Mr. Bai, that recently the Six-and-a-Half Hall intends to act against you; please be very careful." This fat guy came out with big news, which Bai Lang already knew. "So I haven't yet encountered any assassins from the Six-and-a-Half Hall; did you guys clear them out for me? Thanks, thanks. Let me buy you a cup of tea as a token of gratitude." Bai Lang tapped the table to signal the old tea stall keeper to bring tea, then took out a small piece of silver and gave it to the old man, "The extra is a tip."

He looked at the smiling, chubby guy before him, nodded again to show thanks, then gulped down the tea in one go, stood up and left. Whether these people helped him drive away the assassins or not, Bai Lang would not join the Golden Wind and Drizzle Tower; however, it now seems the other side was just doing him a favor, not originally intending to recruit him—these two factions are scheming against each other, who knows how much betrayal lies within.

Undercover, double undercover, real undercover, fake undercover...... These people play it up to be even more extravagant than the imperial court......

Bai Lang currently has little understanding of the upper echelons of Great Yan, especially Ji City; figuring all this out would take time—given his status as an Innate Expert, someone should proactively send him various intelligence, could it not be that they want to use him as an enforcer...... If nothing unexpected happens, Bai Lang feels that the Great Yan government will likely approach him on its own and conscript him into a government department.

"Most likely it's the Six Gates, or something else? The court's bigwigs are probably all martial experts; otherwise they couldn't get by." Bai Lang holds this view: in a world where martial prowess resides in oneself, to say that those high-ups don't know martial arts is simply laughable; the strongest experts are surely those who hold great political influence, and Bai Lang firmly believes this. "Of course, if one takes the Buddha as ancestor, then the so-called 'politics' of this mundane world might be considered meaningless, which is also possible......"

Bai Lang, carrying his bundle, finally found a place to stay outside the city—the Mountain God Temple. Ji City has rivers and mountains; the mountains stretch continuously northward, the Yan Mountain Range comes from the west, forming the inner and outer mountains and rivers of the Great Wei dynasty in the west, then again reaches Great Yan to become the northern barrier of the capital, finally extending to the North Sea, separating Great Yan from the northern barbarians. This branch of the Yan Mountains lies forty li north of the capital, rising abruptly; although Bai Lang saw it was only over a thousand meters, maybe two thousand meters high, it already gave him an extremely majestic feeling.

Bai Lang chose this Mountain God Temple—because it's a bit far from the lower city, so hardly any beggars spend the night here, and besides the ruffians, there are no Mountain Bandits near Ji City, so although this place is dilapidated, truly no one loiters here. Bai Lang thought it was not bad; after tidying up a bit, he settled down here.

The mountain villages nearby are indeed all ruffians; such ruffians appear quite honest in daily life, but a lone merchant traveling the road who passes through is most likely never to return. Bai Lang, using part of the demolished bricks and tiles to repair the rear hall here, and after also cleaning the well, was discovered by the woodcutting mountain villagers, who immediately came later to "collect protection money."

These are all big, burly fellows, even including an old man; Bai Lang, seeing the ten or so men before him holding knives and spears, also gave a slight chuckle. These mountain villagers, upon seeing Bai Lang before them, also felt a bit hesitant—this Bai Lang is tall and big-bearded, his beard disheveled as if exploded, his appearance not looking like someone easy to provoke—because he always gives an impression of great might. However, the big guys are also numerous, and moreover the mountain villagers of Ji City are not short either, and they all have weapons in hand.

"Hey, young man! This place is where we worship the Mountain God; how did you tear it down? You must pay compensation!"

Bai Lang scratched his head, "Oh." Then he tilted his head, waiting for them to continue speaking, but the other side seemed to have nothing more to say, everyone stared at each other. Bai Lang had to go on, "The place of worshiping the Mountain God? Oh, you ought to repair it properly; when I wasn't here, this place was about to collapse."

The other party's anger flared up, "You damned bastard! Are you mocking us? If you paid today, it would be fine, but if you don't! Then we will offer you as a sacrifice to the Mountain God Grandfather!"

Bai Lang looked at them with strange amusement, "You really do have some martial arts; it seems you've at least opened the minor heavenly circuit? Here's what: you turn around and leave right now, I'll let it go today; if you insist on causing trouble—who knows who will end up as the Mountain God's blood offering?"

These people are indeed ruffians; with a shout they all rushed over. They all have a martial foundation, and after opening the minor heavenly circuit their strength is great; waving their weapons in hand, they actually look quite capable. However, Bai Lang is an Innate, he had a surge of evil fire in his heart, so he did not unleash strong qi; he simply lunged forward with his whole body, and in the flurry of his hands and feet he had already opened a slaughter.

Bai Lang took the initiative to meet them; he didn't want to make the front half of the Mountain God Temple a bloody mess—otherwise he'd have to wash the ground with water, which would be too troublesome. So he grabbed each villager with a claw and flung them far away, which would have been enough. However, his claw strike, though not directly breaking skin and flesh, had its force penetrate to the marrow; the muscles, bones, viscera inside were all crushed to a pulp, and then they were thrown dozens of meters, equivalent to being hurled off a cliff.

This Mountain God Temple originally lay on a depressed flat slope beneath the mountain peak, with a mountain stream flowing nearby; one side is a half-cliff with a drop of several tens of meters, while ahead is a gentle slope with steps. Bai Lang threw them down the cliff. Punches and kicks thrown out were the same; with Bai Lang's cultivation, a casual strike already breaks bones and severs tendons, and with an added great force he flung all these people off the cliff—one could say these so-called "ruffians" have all lost their lives.

In the mountains and forests, meat-eating beasts abound; these ten or so people are merely a few meals' worth for them, and Bai Lang does not think those beasts would dare to set foot in the Mountain God Temple—if they did, it would be perfect for him to grind his teeth on. The fierce man stood at the entrance, glanced at the cliff, let out a cold snort, then turned and went inside.

Forty li from the lower city is nothing to him; if he uses Lightness Skill, it's just the time of a meal to get there, and that place has tea houses and restaurants; in the morning, after washing up, running along the way is also good for practicing exercise, balancing movement and stillness is really not bad. Arriving there, he drinks morning tea, while listening to storytelling in the tea house, then gathers news; his little life is still quite comfortable.

In these days he has also come to know Ji City's situation quite well; indeed, all the bigwigs in the imperial court are experts, not to mention aristocratic families, even those who became officials through the imperial examinations have at least some martial ability—in this world's examinations, they don't just test literature; martial arts also require at least opening the minor heavenly circuit to be eligible to take the exam. Moreover, the Great Yan royal family possesses experts of a suppressing level, heard to be the old prince of the Clan Office.