Chapter 70: Wooden Bead, Book, Ming Qitian

Shang Lang found the target the fastest among everyone.

Even though he had fought almost all night last night and suffered several wounds, Shang Lang was still one of the top combat powers under the masters in Fenghuai.

The martial arts he practiced were particularly good at rapid recovery and resilience under injury and fatigue. Dealing with these things now was naturally easy for him.

The place he was in was Qingfeng Alley. This was an old street, and from the houses and courtyards, the residents were generally wealthier. Walking all the way, there were many shops on the street, Li's Tailor, Old Lu's Wine Shop, Old Jiang's Jewelry... it seemed to be the most "prosperous" place in the city.

However, there were still few people on the street, so Shang Lang discovered the abnormality at a glance.

A girl in her prime ran into the jewelry store.

It was natural for a girl to buy jewelry, but this girl was brought in by a big dog.

"Big Black! Stop! Big Black!"

The girl was sweating profusely, stumbling as she was pulled by the dog leash. Suddenly, with a sharp turn, she looked up, and the big dog leaped into the shop by the street.

"Ah! Big Black! Don't mess with people's things!"

The girl was pulled into the door, almost tripped by the threshold, and before she could adjust, her body was pulled violently again—this dog actually lunged directly into the jewelry cabinet.

With a clatter of silver beads falling and crystals shattering, the girl's heart went cold, and the shopkeeper was so frightened by the black beast that suddenly rushed in that he vaulted out of the counter.

The black dog bit something from the jewelry stand. Turning its head, a pair of ghost-fire-like blue eyes frightened the girl into a scream, and she let go of the leash and sat paralyzed on the ground.

After the dog bit this thing, it seemed to have completed its mission. It opened its mouth, dropped the item on the ground, and bared a mouthful of sharp teeth to pounce on the girl.

"Ah!! Big Black!!" The girl screamed. Suddenly, her body felt light, and she flew backward, a figure blocking the front.

Shang Lang clamped the dog's mouth with one hand, blocked the dog's body that was undergoing mutation with his own body, and turned his head: "This dog of yours seems to have gone crazy. I will pay for the losses here, you go home."

"Ah? But, but..." The girl sat on the street in a daze, wanting to say something, but her collar tightened, and she was dragged away by a powerful arm.

Shang Lang turned his head back, only to see the shopkeeper slumped on the ground, looking blankly at the dog's body with ferocious bone spurs in his hand.

Shang Lang grinned embarrassedly: "Just pretend you had a dream."

True Qi from his hand pierced fiercely into the dog's mouth, interrupting the life of this thing.

Throwing it on the ground, Shang Lang picked up the thing it had bitten before. Holding it in his hand, it was a wooden carved bead the size of a walnut.

"What is this?" Shang Lang asked the shopkeeper.

"Yellow Flower Wood Dragon-Phoenix Bead, an ornament."

Shang Lang looked at it against the light. The carving was qualified, but it couldn't be called exquisite, and the exterior polish wasn't smooth either.

He squeezed it hard to crack it open. Inside, it was still wood, without any abnormality.

Zheng Zhao came to the Old River Channel.

There were many houses here, but they were arranged very neatly. There was not much cover in the alley. He leaped onto the roof of a high tree. Pedestrians came and went, but he saw no abnormalities.

'Could it be in the house?'

But if something strange happened at home, how could the family not discover it?

Zheng Zhao leaped down, grabbed a passerby, showed his waist token, and asked: "Which family has few people here?"

"Few people? They all live as families, so which family has few people?" The passerby was confused, "Officer, what do you want to ask?"

Zheng Zhao frowned: "At this time, whose family has only one or two people at home?"

The passerby thought for a while and said: "This... ah! I know! Officer, are you looking for the Zhao family mansion! Their whole family moved to the prefecture county, leaving only Old Man Lin to watch the house."

"Which family?"

"The biggest one..."

Before the words were finished, Zheng Zhao had already leaped up, floating straight toward the big mansion.

The passerby felt as if a big kite had been violently pulled away in front of him, so shocked that he took a step back. Turning his head, that "kite" was already in the sky.

"Mother..." The passerby was shocked and speechless.

Zheng Zhao stepped onto the roof of the Zhao family mansion. Here, the gray walls and black eaves indeed showed some nobility. This was a three-entry mansion, silent, but traces of constant cleaning could indeed be seen.

Zheng Zhao listened intently. A subtle sound from a room entered his ears. He floated down lightly, landed outside the room, and poked a hole in the window to peek inside.

He saw that the room was full of books. An old man with a hunched back was walking stiffly among the bookshelves. Occasionally, when he turned around, a pair of blue eyes flashed by.

Zheng Zhao made a gesture of waiting to his companion, and stepped into the room silently.

He followed behind the old man like a ghost, until the old man stopped in front of a bookshelf.

Zheng Zhao looked up and saw a big "Martial" written on the top of this bookshelf.

The old man pulled out a book, completing his mission.

The "Dragon Meat" that was no longer hidden began to infect wantonly. The old man's face immediately became ferocious, and scales and horns began to grow.

But this change only lasted for a second. With a "clatter," his head had been smoothly cut off and fell to the floor.

Zheng Zhao caught this book. The words on the cover were "A Brief Discussion on Profound Yu Yu Wuxue."

Zheng Zhao flipped through the book; as the name suggested, it was just some half-baked amateur listing every "powerful martial art" they had ever heard of in one big heap. The arrangement was chaotic and disorganized, comparing internal energy techniques with sword styles, placing Kunlun alongside bandit dens, and most of the descriptions were distorted, all sourced from the wild imaginings and legends of the streets.

Zheng Zhao flipped through it, and there was no interlayer or anything, so he tucked it into his bosom and returned to the county office.

Wang Yunzhang came to the Big Willow Tree.

This was a place where nearby commoners often rested and sat. At this time, there were three or five old men sitting and chatting. As soon as he arrived here, he discovered the target—that person was running straight on the street.

He called his companion to clear the way ahead to avoid involving the commoners, and he himself followed behind it, watching where it was going.

However, the further he walked, the more wrong it felt.

First, it had been running for too long, and second, if it continued in this direction, wouldn't it be returning to the county office?

At this time, a cyan and a white figure appeared ahead. He didn't know how Sister Xing Zhi and Xu Weizhou talked, but it looked like Ming Qitian and Xu Weizhou were going out of the city to meet the enemy.

The companion clearing the way ahead was already explaining the situation to the two. Wang Yunzhang was about to rush forward two steps, when he suddenly saw it lunge violently, leaping up, actually pouncing straight at Ming Qitian!

Then it was slapped to the ground by Xu Weizhou. This body was stepped on by Xu Weizhou, and it was evident that mutation had begun.

Wang Yunzhang rushed over, looking at Ming Qitian somewhat uneasily and strangely, rubbing his hands: "That... Ming Sword Master, I might have to trouble you to return to the county office again..."

Ming Qitian hadn't spoken yet, but Xu Weizhou's face turned black first.

Ming Qitian nodded. Sister Xing Zhi had already told her about the possibility of asking her to take things away, so she turned around.

Xu Weizhou also turned around. Wang Yunzhang was stunned for a moment and said: "Vice Minister Xu, you don't need to go back."

Xu Weizhou stopped, his face even blacker. ===== CHAPTER 71 =====