Chapter 170: Walking the Street

August 28th, noon.

Little Fatty walked into the martial arts field with his head down. As soon as he entered the door, an arm stretched out in front to stop him.

"Hey! Looking for you?" Seeing Pei Ye withdrew his hand and smiled.

Zhang Dingyun looked up, a pair of round eyes drooping, looking unhappy: "What is it?"

"Why this expression? What did you go do?"

"Helping to arrange the Luzhou Poetry Gathering," Zhang Dingyun said muffledly. "Talk about your business."

"I'll ask you a sentence," Seeing Pei Ye said. "The direct descendants of the three sects, I see they have all arrived in the Prefecture City. Where do they usually live?"

Zhang Dingyun looked at him strangely, first looking back at the West Courtyard—the courtyard door was open, and the young lady and a tall man could be seen drinking tea opposite each other.

Turning back, he frowned and said: "Isn't Miss Li staying in the West Courtyard? Then Zhang Mozhu is staying at the Canghu Escort Agency, Bai Zhu Pavilion is in... Qijiao Shang Huaitong..."

Zhang Dingyun's face sank, and he said muffledly: "People are rich and imposing, they live in Bowang Garden."

"Oh..."

"Why ask this?"

"Curious."

Zhang Dingyun didn't seem to have much interest in talking, didn't mean to pursue it, swept his eyes at his shoulder and said: "The little cat is quite cute."

And walked inside.

However, just as he passed Seeing Pei Ye, the young man following behind revealed his appearance, and Zhang Dingyun was startled, standing still.

"Brother Yang!!"

Little Fatty's eyebrows opened: "Why are you here?!"

Yang Yan had already stripped off his disguise at this time, revealing the appearance he had when they first met in the forest. But in fact, it was far from it, because this face was clean and spirited, unlike the embarrassed, dull, and bloated appearance at that time.

Yang Yan gave an "Mm": "Come to stroll."

"Oh, come to study the opponents, right," Zhang Dingyun realized. "Hey! Actually, there's nothing to stroll here, these people are not your opponents. Why not go outside to stroll? I'll accompany you?"

"No need," Yang Yan tried hard to be serious. "Mm... many thanks, I'll just stroll with... Brother Pei."

"Oh, alright..."

Seeing Pei Ye then remembered their relationship and couldn't help but say: "Zhang Dingyun, aren't you here to seek justice for Chang Yue?"

". Zhang Dingyun was silent for a while, raised a pair of round eyes to look at him, and said earnestly, "Although for Chang Yue, not being able to fight in the Autumn Competition means half a year of preparation is in vain, but if Brother Yang doesn't participate, then what loses meaning will be the Autumn Competition itself."

".

".

Seeing Pei Ye looked back at Yang Yan. The young man's cheeks clearly had blood color surging: "Alright, alright, let's go."

Bidding farewell to Zhang Dingyun, the two walked out.

"I really didn't remember to ask before, what are you doing fighting in the martial arts competition?" Seeing Pei Ye said. "You shouldn't be able to participate in the Divine Capital Martial Arts Examination."

". I'm taking the prize, take it and leave," Yang Yan said. He was wearing the "clean identity" he had been carefully protecting. This identity could appear openly in front of anyone for a short time.

Seeing Pei Ye looked at the young man beside him who seemed to have faded away the blood color and sharpness along with the disguise. The heavy grievances he carried had not been uttered to this day, and naturally, he had his own things to do.

Looking at the young man's state, realizing that further questioning would probably make him embarrassed, Seeing Pei Ye stopped. At this time, they were passing by the West Courtyard. Seeing Pei Ye turned his head to look inside and waved at the young lady and the tall man inside.

And left the Changdao Martial Arts Hall.

Li Piaoqing put down the hand that was greeting, her gaze retracted, and her mouth didn't stop.

". Qijiao Shang Huaitong always has at least one Seventh Life by his side, but it is often not the same person. Therefore, we speculate that there should be two Seventh Lives, who take turns doing other affairs from time to time, thereby ensuring that at least one person remains by Shang's side," the young lady said slowly.

"Then there is that Eighth Life. We didn't see his tracks, but according to your statement, he will definitely come."

"Definitely will come."

"Mm, then there is the one upstairs," Li Piaoqing looked at the small three-story building. "The elder who

"I've checked; the face doesn't look like it's been disguised."

"Hmm, in any case, there should currently be one Eighth Life and three Seventh Lifes in the city; that's already more than half of the Seven Serpents' strength."

"Continue investigating; don't rule out the possibility that they will continue to dispatch more."

"Understood."

The man watched the two backs disappear outside the courtyard gate and suddenly asked, "What is the name of that young man brought back yesterday?"

Li Piaoqing was stunned for a moment: "I don't know."

——

On the street, Seeing Pei Ye and Yang Yan walked side by side toward Bowang Garden.

Seeing Pei Ye had originally intended to go out alone, but Yang Yan had followed him when he left, simply because in this situation, he couldn't bear to sit idly by and do nothing.

As the Wu Bi approached, crowds from various counties began to flow into the prefectural city. Small vendors and stalls became more numerous on the streets, and many people had scrubbed their family's carts and tools clean, starting to earn a living from this brief business opportunity that occurred three times a year.

Seeing Pei Ye was no longer as curious and fascinated by everything as he had been when he first entered the city; his mind was occupied with matters, and his eyes scanned his surroundings casually.

Then he saw the young man beside him with his gaze frequently glued to various things.

"... That, have you never been into the city before either?"

"Hmm?" Yang Yan turned his head abruptly. "Oh, we live far away and don't come in often."

"Oh—hey! Turn here."

"Seeing Pei Ye," Yang Yan caught up and said in a low voice, "I've been hiding and killing people these past few days. Let me ask, does your Bowang have any formidable figures—for the Wu Bi?"

"We have three sects and two counties," Seeing Pei Ye said. "..."

He pondered for a moment and smiled. "As it happens, let's take stock."

"The strongest candidate from Zheng Shou County this year is Xiao Qiu, a Fourth Life sword practitioner. He should be a lock for the top eight, but that's as far as he'll go. As for Xu Gu County this year, it's Zhang Junxue; she is definitely in the top eight, and she has a very good chance of taking a spot in the top four."

"Is Zhang Junxue that tall woman?"

"Yes."

"... She has the scent of a blade on her," Yang Yan said. "She should be much more formidable than she looks."

Seeing Pei Ye looked at him in surprise—this young man had never seen the woman's four blade strikes.

"But I can beat her. Who else?"

"Then there are the three sects. You've already met Li Piaoqing of Cuiyu; she is a Fifth Life. She should be a lock for a top-four spot, and she's very likely to enter the finals."

Yang Yan glanced at him: "Sorry, I have to beat her—who else?"

"Zhang Mozhu, the direct disciple of Bai Zhu Pavilion, is a Fifth Life and also a top-four pick. He should be only slightly weaker than Li Piaoqing. Since you consider yourself above Li Piaoqing, naturally you won't fear him either."

Yang Yan nodded and suddenly asked: "What level is that Qijiao Shang Huaitong you all mentioned?"

"I was just about to mention him," Seeing Pei Ye said. "Qijiao Shang Huaitong should have already entered the Sixth Life, is in the Sword Path Clumsy Realm, and it is said he has already stepped half a foot into the Dao Enlightenment Society. He is the pick to win the championship this time."

"Oh." This time Yang Yan thought for a while longer. "He is a formidable rival..."

After a moment of silence, he nodded slowly: "I can prevent this person from taking the championship."

My condition is poor today, my head is spinning; only this chapter.

(End of chapter)