Chapter 143: Chance Encounter

As soon as the words fell, there was a rustling sound around, and the scattered gang members stood up one after another.

"No, no, no, no, no! —Gang Leader Wang, we really don't know anything! We really don't know anything..." Old Zhang almost threw himself on the man's legs.

Wang Shou nodded: "Since you won't say it, you are not allowed to investigate. In this case, Proprietor Zhang is forcing me to eat this dumb loss."

Hearing this, Old Zhang suddenly woke up: "Ah, no, no! Your gang has suffered such a misfortune, our building... our building has prepared a mourning gift... ten—twenty taels, no, thirty taels!! It will be sent to your gang tomorrow."

Wang Shou looked at Lingzi Guanshi Chai and sighed: "The reputation of the Lake Heart Gang is really too bad now. More than twenty of us came to ask for an explanation for our brother, and Proprietor Zhang actually thought we were after his thirty taels of silver."

"... Five, fifty taels!" Old Zhang was already in tears. "Gang Leader Wang, our building doesn't have much revenue in a year."

"It's not about the silver, Proprietor Zhao," Gang Leader Wang sighed. "Our gang's protector died in your building without any explanation. How do you think our brothers will feel when they see this building in the future?"

Is fifty taels of silver not an explanation?

Old Zhang thought, but didn't dare to speak.

Lingzi Guanshi Chai on the side interjected: "Actually, this matter is easy to solve. The brothers feel that an outsider's building harmed our protector, so it's hard not to get angry and make trouble. But if it becomes our own restaurant, naturally there won't be this emotion."

Wang Shou nodded and smiled: "If so, this case doesn't need to be investigated in this restaurant."

Old Zhang looked at the two. At this moment, it was as if blood rushed to his head. He wanted to throw everything away and scold the two of them, but his brain flashed, and he wanted to simply collapse to the ground and let them rob him.

These two ideas fought in his brain, and the longer it dragged on, the further the first idea went away from him.

Or perhaps some instinct of self-protection.

Under the pressure of the two people's gazes, Old Zhang's pale face became whiter bit by bit. He muttered, fear, anger, and panic filled his heart... his legs could no longer stand.

From beginning to end, he didn't dare to take out the warrant given by Bai Sibing, as if he had forgotten about it.

A powerful hand supported his arm and lifted him up.

The youth looked around and said: "Is it up to you to decide whether to investigate the case or not?"

Wang Shou glanced lightly: "The one who died is the protector of my Lake Heart Gang. If it's not up to us, who is it up to?"

Seeing Pei Ye said: "Murder cases are handled by the imperial court."

Wang Shou laughed: "The Great Ming law, sect grudges are cleared by sects. The imperial court only has the power of supervision. Now that our gang's protector has died here, we naturally have the right to find out the murderer and take back the blood feud—is the little brother not very knowledgeable about the law?"

Seeing Pei Ye sneered: "Recording in the Immortal Platform, recognized by the imperial court, and having its own inheritance is called a sect. You are just a gang that pulls things together, but you are really good at sticking gold on your own face."

Gang Leader Wang nodded: "Good words!"

Then he took out a plaque from his arms without expression: "The Seventh Cave of the Seven Serpents Cave of Bowang Prefecture, it turns out that in the little brother's eyes, it is pulling things together."

Seeing Pei Ye was stunned, and for a moment he was truly confused.

The Seven Serpents Cave was the largest sect in Bowang Prefecture today, and every year they had martial arts competition quotas allocated by the prefecture government, so they were naturally a proper sect.

But what did this have to do with the Lake Heart Gang? Why were they disciples of the Seven Serpents?

If you say the person in front of you is recklessly pulling the tiger's skin, it is completely not worth the loss.

Seeing Pei Ye was still stunned, the man suddenly sneered and shouted: "Seven Serpents disciples were murdered by others, the Seven Serpents Cave is investigating the case here! Tooth for tooth, blood for blood! Those who block will be regarded as accomplices, insulting me is like insulting the Seven Serpents!"

The field was quiet for a while.

"—Take these two accomplices and interrogate them!"

This, of course, did not comply with the law. Sects and sects can clear grudges by fighting, but if a sect investigates a case involving ordinary people, they must also be treated with courtesy, which is why the imperial court has the power of "supervision."

But now the "supervisor" left by Zhao Canjun was leaning on a tree on the side, chatting and laughing with a gang member, looking at this side, without the slightest intention of moving, just shouting from afar "Don't hurt people at will."

When the Lake Heart Gang was the Lake Heart Gang, its deterrence came from its fists. If your fists were bigger, it would fear you instead. But when the Lake Heart Gang was the Seven Serpents Cave, this fist not only became bigger, but also put on a golden "law" coat. At this time, even if you had bigger fists, you had to consider whether it was famous.

Old Zhang collapsed completely, crying: "Don't! Give it to you! Give it to you! You take it, but... this is not my restaurant either..."

Seeing Pei Ye's body tightened.

When you take action against others, you have to consider being famous, but when others come to you, you can't stand and be beaten regardless of whether it's famous or not.

Just at this time, a clear, emotionless voice sounded from the outside.

"So you are from the Seven Serpents Cave, that's convenient."

The field was quiet.

Seeing Pei Ye turned his head and looked. Outside the crowd, a straight green shadow was stepping forward. The young girl was like a wing in green clothes, and the sword feathers were flowing with light, as if the soul bird released in Xing Zhi's hand had turned into a human.

She walked straight over. A man leaning on a millstone stood up and walked over, stretching out his arm to block—

The sword and scabbard were like a thousand-jin stick. The young girl walked without stopping, looking straight ahead, and waved her right arm. The man had already been knocked flying three or five zhang away, curled up and fell to the ground.

There was a chaotic movement in the field immediately, and the sound of sharp blades leaving the scabbard was heard one after another.

And the young girl ignored it and walked straight forward with her sword.

She only had one goal in her eyes.

Wang Shou looked at the young girl walking toward him. Her eyes were winged, her sword was decorated with feathers, and what she held in her hand was exactly the legendary "Lost Emerald Sword."

Li... Li Piaoqing!

"Are you Lake Heart Gang Leader Wang Shou?" Li Piaoqing walked without stopping and asked in a flat voice.

Wang Shou's face stiffened and he took a step back subconsciously.

"In..."

"Is Yanglou Street your Lake Heart Gang's territory?"

"Yes..."

"I heard your people were making trouble at Zhao's Tofu Shop," Li Piaoqing walked closer and closer.

Wang Shou swallowed his saliva: "Maybe the people below were messing around, I... I will discipline them well! Miss Li! I will discipline them well!"

Li Piaoqing had already passed Seeing Pei Ye.

"Miss Li! Zhao's Tofu Shop, she is not a person of the Cuiyu Jianmen either! This is a conflict between us common people. You are a direct disciple of Cuiyu, you cannot..."

"So this time I took the initiative to provoke the Seven Serpents Cave—didn't you just say you were a person of the Seven Serpents Cave?" Li Piaoqing said in a flat voice, and suddenly her tone turned cold, and her whole person flickered in front of Wang Shou. "—Cuiyu Seven Serpents grudge, bystanders retreat."

"Don't, Miss Li—"

A green sword scabbard had fiercely whipped on his face!

With the face as the source, the huge force brought his body to flip in the air for a week. And before landing, the next sword had already whipped up again.

Lingzi Guanshi Chai on the side drew his sword and rushed up, but a cold light flashed and he let out a miserable cry. The sword "ding-lang" fell to the ground, and blood flowed from his wrist.

And Li Piaoqing was clearly drawing her sword to injure him, but when her arm was withdrawn, the sword was already in the scabbard, whipping on Wang Shou in front of her without any pause.

It was as if she was just drawing her sword to stab in the gap of beating people, and Lingzi Guanshi Chai was indeed unable to get up.

Seeing Pei Ye had never seen this way of beating people. It was truly beautiful, calm, and heart-stopping. The young girl walked forward at a uniform speed step by step, sword shadows flying in her hands, and Wang Shou was almost floating in the air.

She beat him all the way to the courtyard wall before the young girl drew the last sword and let Wang Shou fall to the ground. Then she frowned and looked at the sword scabbard stained with some blood, and wiped it on him.

Wang Shou was almost unable to move.

Throughout the process, he used his Qi to tightly protect his body, so he didn't suffer too serious injuries.

In fact, facing this kind of humiliating beating, he was not without the power to fight back.

But he really didn't dare to fight back.

And he had to find gaps to wave his hands repeatedly at the hesitant gang members.

The moment he reported the name of the Seven Serpents Cave, although he seemed to be above ordinary people, at the same time, other sect members also cast equal and dangerous eyes on him.

He enjoyed the bullying of others being famous just now, and now he was shrinking under the heavy pressure brought by this name.

Once he fought back, it would be a fight between the Seven Serpents and the Cuiyu disciples—how dare he fight with the direct disciple of the Cuiyu Jianmen.

He would really die, and if he died, he died.

The "Great Ming Law" says clearly: sect fights, life and death are at one's own risk.

At this time, he lowered his head and shrank at the root of the wall, even more embarrassed than the waiter, hearing the young girl above him say coldly: "Yanglou Street, and this restaurant, if I let you touch it again, I will remove one of your hands."

Wang Shou looked at the ground and nodded repeatedly.

"Get out."

Within a few breaths, the field became clear.

"Miss Li, why are you here?" Seeing Pei Ye asked.

"I came to seek justice for someone," Li Piaoqing frowned slightly, took out a handkerchief and wiped the sword scabbard carefully. "It's you, Young Hero Pei, how is it so coincidental."

"The restaurant proprietor is my fellow villager," Seeing Pei Ye answered, turned his head and looked. Old Zhang was still sitting on the ground, looking blankly at the direction where the Lake Heart Gang left.

Seeing Pei Ye called him back to his senses. Naturally, it was a thousand thanks. Old Zhang took two bottles of exquisite wine buried and gave them to the two. The three parted ways, and Seeing Pei Ye and Li Piaoqing left side by side.

"I met Uncle Zhang when I went to visit Bai Sibing early in the morning. Bai Sibing recommended me to the Longmen Class," Seeing Pei Ye said while walking on the street.

"Ah? You also came from Grandpa Bai?" Li Piaoqing opened her mouth in surprise.

"Hmm?"

"I went to visit him early in the morning, then went to find the Lake Heart Gang, and then heard that the Lake Heart Gang came here."

"Hmm, then you should be the first one," Seeing Pei Ye remembered the old man's sentence "Actually you are already the third one."

The young girl nodded and said "Hmm": "Grandpa Bai said I came very early!"

"What are you doing visiting Bai Sibing?" Seeing Pei Ye asked curiously.

Li Piaoqing was silent for a moment, tilted her head and looked at her shoulder.

Seeing Pei Ye noticed that it was a small package.

"I took this case file," the young girl said.

"... Oh." Seeing Pei Ye didn't ask deeply for the time being. "Then are we going back to the martial arts hall?"

"Hmm... I want to go to the tofu shop I mentioned just now and tell her that the matter is solved. If you are in a hurry, you can go back first."

"It's not a few steps away anyway," Seeing Pei Ye said. "Let's go together. I want to go back to the martial arts hall to continue sparring with you on that 'Yellow Jade'."

"Good."

"Is your friend in this tofu shop?"

"... She is the widow of a good friend of my senior brother."

The two walked for a while. The young girl had been lowering her head, not knowing what she was thinking, and Seeing Pei Ye was still thinking about the corpse just now.

Suddenly Li Piaoqing raised her head and looked at Seeing Pei Ye somewhat hesitantly: "Do you think I was ruthless enough just now?"

"Ah?"

"It's when I was beating that person, do you think it was enough to deter him?"

"... I think it was quite ruthless."

"But actually, they were all skin injuries, and I didn't use too much force," the young girl had genuine distress on her face. She lowered her head and thought for a while, and this time her tone was much more certain. "No, I wasn't ruthless enough. I should have cut off one of his hands just now."

"..."

"Dealing with this kind of person, intimidation will never work, and a beating is not painful or itchy," the young girl said to herself. "He didn't know how many things he had done to bully men and women and rob by force before. Cutting off one of his hands just now would definitely be considered cheap."

"Then let's go to the Lake Heart Gang again."

"Good! —No, no, it won't work. The direct disciple of Cuiyu represents the face of Cuiyu. Once words are spoken, they are worth a thousand gold," Li Piaoqing frowned. "I just said that if he touches it again, I will cut off his hand."

"That's true." Seeing Pei Ye looked at the young girl beside him and suddenly said, "Did your senior brother teach you these words?"

Li Piaoqing looked at him in surprise and lowered her head again: "Hmm. Before, he was the first direct disciple. I followed him down the mountain and heard him say it. But, actually, he has already..."

The young girl's voice suddenly changed somewhat. Seeing Pei Ye turned his head and looked, and for the first time saw this stiff expression on this face full of spiritual energy. Her mouth was tightly pursed, and her face was very tight.

"Sorry."

"It's fine... Actually, the Cuiyu Jianmen has been holding on hard all these years," the young girl changed her breath and also changed the topic. "There were fifteen quotas for martial arts competition candidates this year, and we could only find fourteen disciples of the appropriate age who were in the Third Life or above. Fortunately, on the night before the submission, a junior brother broke through temporarily, which supported this face."

Seeing Pei Ye nodded lightly—if the dignified Cuiyu Jianmen could only send Second Life disciples to participate in the martial arts competition, that would be equivalent to completely exposing its weakness.

"This kind of decline started eight or nine years ago," Li Piaoqing said slowly. "And fifteen years ago, the Seven Serpents Cave started this kind of action—taking gangs from all over the place under their door."

"... Do they accept disciples so casually?"

"It's not accepting disciples. The Seven Serpents Cave doesn't teach martial arts, they just sell the name," Li Piaoqing said. "They changed the 'White Water Cave' to 'Hundred Water Cave,' meaning the sea accepts a hundred rivers. Then as long as they are willing, any unranked gang can take the name of the Seven Serpents Cave. They can do many things they couldn't do before with this name, just need to give the Seven Serpents Cave a share."

"This method is clever, dirty, and effective," Li Piaoqing said. "They gathered a large amount of silver, took this money to snatch disciples with talent. At that time, the Cuiyu Jianmen was the stable first place in Bowang Prefecture, with both name and reality. They were quite disdainful of their dirty methods, thinking that the green pine would not fall by itself. Yet they didn't expect that for fifteen years, generation after generation of disciples grew up, and the Seven Serpents Cave really gradually surpassed them."

This is not an extra update, it is today's update, because the author is going out and it is inconvenient to code on the car.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 144 =====