Chapter 37: Xu Hua Reappears

Yang San's heart was probably already buried in the soil.

Buried together with those dead fellow disciples of the Heaven and Earth Alliance, with less than three feet between heart and heart.

How could this not be considered heart-to-heart?

Li Rui looked at the words "Uniting Fellow Disciples" on the panel.

He gave a fierce thumbs-up.

This time he obtained an S-rating again, only ten points away from unlocking the next talent.

Li Rui felt anticipation rising.

Outside the Heaven and Earth Alliance headquarters.

On the street, peddlers from all over were carrying shoulder poles, a scene of bustling traffic.

Early on, one could hear the hawking of peddlers.

"Have you heard? Yesterday, Constable Liu of the County Office died on the way home; which heinous villain is it, daring to kill even government people? Counting it up, this should be the eighth one, right?"

Breakfast stall.

Several burly men were biting into oil cakes while talking.

"Isn't that so? The fast squad is almost killed off; I heard the County Magistrate is furious and swore to kill that villain on the spot; this is simply the greatest shame of Qinghe."

"Exactly, our Qinghe hasn't had such a heinous thing happen for more than ten years, right?"

But soon.

The topic of these men shifted from the serial killer to denouncing the owner of the breakfast stall for raising the price of oil cakes again.

Of course, every day's topic would end with whose widow's butt was the perkiest.

In the corner.

A man with a bushy beard stood in the shadows, coldly watching the Heaven and Earth Alliance, a flash of wariness in his eyes.

The empty sleeve of his left arm was the most eye-catching.

Indeed, this person was the traitorous disciple of the Huaqing Sect.

Xu Hua.

Nowadays, even those former fellow disciples of the Huaqing Sect probably wouldn't recognize that this sloppy man could be linked to the dashing and handsome Xu Hua.

"The people who should be killed have all been killed; could it be this horseman?"

Xu Hua pondered.

The branch Helmsman of the Heaven and Earth Alliance was at the peak of the Eighth Rank.

He was no match.

A horseman actually became a Hall Master of the Heaven and Earth Alliance; no matter how you look at it, there's a problem, and it's highly likely he obtained a great fortune, possibly a secret technique.

But when he inquired, that Li Tangzhu wouldn't even leave the house once a month.

Xu Hua stared at the gate of the Heaven and Earth Alliance for a long time, then finally turned and left.

If the secret technique wasn't stolen by that horseman, he was powerless; he couldn't just rush into the Huaqing Sect to demand it.

Asking him to give up was even more impossible.

Back then, he had ambushed his fellow disciples and defected from the sect precisely for that secret technique; if even the secret technique was gone, his actions would appear incredibly ridiculous.

"Li Rui!"

On the other end.

County Office morgue.

Kong Xiannian and Zhao Wei stood side by side, their faces extremely ugly.

A wound running across the entire neck made people shudder.

Constable Liu was dead.

Just yesterday.

The same weapon, the same wound; even without a coroner to verify the injury, they could determine that this matter was definitely done by Xu Hua.

"You will pay the price for this provocation!"

Kong Xiannian was angry to the extreme.

This time he was ordered to pursue Xu Hua, but before he could find the person, Constable Liu, who followed him to handle the case, died first; this was undoubtedly a naked slap in the face.

How could he endure it?

Once word got back to the Huaqing Sect, he would definitely be ridiculed.

Zhao Wei's eyes narrowed slightly.

"Now only Li Rui is left; why don't we lure the snake out of the hole?"

He grinned.

Now Xu Hua's only target left was Li Rui; using Li Rui would definitely lure Xu Hua out.

Kong Xiannian's eyes brightened.

Zhao Wei continued: "We can set up a net around the Heaven and Earth Alliance, and we will definitely be able to find Xu Hua."

"Let's do it."

Only by catching Xu Hua as soon as possible could he minimize the impact of this matter; if he completed the task before Liu Fu, he might even be looked upon highly in the Huaqing Sect.

Zhao Wei nodded.

He didn't suggest throwing Li Rui out as bait directly.

Even though he had a grudge against Li Rui, the Huaqing Sect was much stronger than the Heaven and Earth Alliance, and he couldn't commit the self-damaging act of using his own Hall Master's life to exchange for merit for his sect.

Even if he wanted to do it, the Helmsman wouldn't agree.

"Li Tangzhu, how about letting me handle this Huaqing Sect operation?"

Ying Liu and Li Rui had been in a cold war for a long time.

Today, he suddenly came to the door.

Li Rui narrowed his eyes slightly: "Deputy Hall Master Ying, this is a rare opportunity to perform meritorious service; I really don't want to miss it."

In the morning, he received the news.

The Helmsman asked each hall to send one person to assist the Huaqing Sect in dealing with the Ghost Gui Ming Jiao.

After Ying Liu learned of this, he came over the first time.

Even though Zhao Wei intended to favor Ying Liu, there were many things he couldn't cover with one hand; this order was issued directly from the Helmsman to each Hall Master and did not pass through the Deputy Helmsman.

Ying Liu was anxious.

The reason he valued this Huaqing Sect mission so much.

Was that he heard a big figure from the Huaqing Sect might personally come to Qinghe to wipe out the Ghost Gui Ming Jiao.

If he could perform meritorious service and attract the attention of that big figure, he might have a chance to become a disciple of the Huaqing Sect.

The Heaven and Earth Alliance was not bad.

But compared to a behemoth like the Huaqing Sect, it was far too inferior.

It wasn't that except for a few Hall Masters of advanced age, the other halls were all Hall Masters personally taking the field.

"Deputy Hall Master Ying, you are making it very difficult for me."

Li Rui looked embarrassed.

Ying Liu's eyelids twitched.

How could he not see that Li Rui was clearly deliberately raising the price, making him bleed.

But thinking of the potential great fortune, he gritted his teeth.

"A Ninth-Rank pill worth 300 taels."

Li Rui sneered: "Deputy Hall Master Ying, are you not willing to let the opportunity to join the Huaqing Sect fall into someone else's hands?"

Ying Liu's face sank.

He had originally hoped that Li Rui didn't know about the Huaqing Sect, but now his hope was dashed, and coupled with the already stiff relationship between the two.

If he didn't pay a heavy price, the opportunity would definitely slip through his fingers.

Ying Liu hardened his heart: "An Eighth-Rank spiritual pill."

But what he didn't expect was that Li Rui still shook his head: "Since Deputy Hall Master Ying is not sincere, then please return; although this old man is old, I can still eat a shi of rice."

Ying Liu's eyes spewed fire.

Greed!

This old man in front of him was clearly trying to blackmail him.

Shameless, hateful!

He had cursed Li Rui ten thousand times in his heart, but the situation was stronger than the person; he was now begging for help, and only Li Rui's nod would work, no one else's.

Ying Liu was not a fledgling who had just entered the Jianghu; no matter how angry he was, he still squeezed out a smile and didn't fall out with Li Rui.

"Add another 100 taels of silver."

"180 taels."

Ying Liu clenched his fists tightly, turning faintly white; this time he had gambled away his entire foundation.

"Good!"

Li Rui's mouth lifted slightly.

"Congratulations, Deputy Hall Master Ying, the quota for the Huaqing Sect mission is yours."

Ying Liu listened to Li Rui's light words and almost vomited blood.

How did this old man in front of him look more and more like those treacherous auctioneers at the city's auction house?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 38 =====