Chapter 44: The Local Snake Eats the Dragon Crossing the River

The night rain had already stopped; on the open ground before the ruined temple, several apprentices who had clearly not slept all night were gathered around a rising bonfire, eating dry rations.

After resting through the night, most people's minds had stabilized somewhat, no longer as jumpy as the day before, where every wind sound and crane cry seemed like an enemy, and every grass and tree appeared as a soldier.

"Wu Ming, you all stay; I will go find the master!"

Throwing on his dried clothes, Yue Yue Yunjin, who had not slept all night, tossed out these words, and without waiting for a response, urged his horse and galloped toward Mount Fajiu Mountain.

The apprentices from the other families also grew restless; within a short while, some people also chased after him.

"Hah!"

Taking a deep breath of the earthy scent lingering in the air after the rain, Li Yuan held his hammer, assumed a stance, let both arms hang down, spread his legs apart, neither fully parallel nor fully straddled.

"I really want to try the stance training of a superior Wu Gong, its method of practice..."

Li Yuan merely thought this in his heart, wasting not a single moment, as he circulated and tempered his blood qi.

With the leaders of each family not returning, no apprentice dared to say they were going back to Huicheng; all morning, they stayed at the ruined temple waiting, while some went to nearby villages to borrow water or buy food.

Li Yuan swallowed a Zeng Xue Dan, stood in stance alone for half a day; the improvement of blood qi only required constant consumption and replenishment.

Truly simple and crude; as long as you have money, it works.

"Hmm?"

Near noon, the sound of urgent horse hooves rang out; Li Yuan slowly retracted his posture and saw Yue Yue Yunjin, his face deathly pale, fall from his horse.

"Senior Brother Yue?"

Wu Ming and others cried out in shock and rushed forward.

Yue Yue Yunjin's voice was hoarse; he seemed to have suffered a tremendous fright and was somewhat incoherent:

"Commander Qiu, Commander Qiu was killed by the great bandit Nian Jiu; the master, the master's whereabouts are unknown; only Leader Wang and Xia Hou Liang were brought back with severe injuries..."

"Commander Qiu, Commander Qiu is dead?!"

Several apprentices were all Long Long Daizhu: "This, how is this possible?!"

"How could Commander Qiu be killed by Nian Jiu?!"

Who was Qiu Long?

A fierce man who could wear a hundred-jin armor and, with a single person and a single blade, could slaughter an entire Shanzhai!

He was a venomous dragon crossing the river who alone suppressed more than a dozen factions up and down Gao Liu County, to whom even mountain bandits and horse thieves outside the city walls had to pay tribute every year!

"?! "

Li Yuan's brain went "Weng!"

When he came to his senses, his eyelids could not help but twitch wildly.

This is,

The local snake has eaten the dragon crossing the river?!

"Yue Yue Yunjin, what are you saying? What happened to our leader?"

"Leader Qiu is dead?!"

"Impossible, how is this possible?!"

The apprentices and members of the several families before the ruined temple were all horrified and wide-eyed; some also cried out and rushed toward Mount Fajiu Mountain; these were members of the Sanhe Gang and the Fishing Gang.

"Commander Qiu, Commander Qiu, he, he..."

Wu Ming was even stuttering.

"Dead, dead..."

Yue Yue Yunjin's body trembled; he shook and could not speak.

Li Yuan reached out and touched his forehead; it was a scalding patch, and he could not help but frown:

"Senior Brother Wu, Senior Brother Yue has a fever; we must return to Huicheng as soon as possible!"

"Yes, yes! Return to Huicheng immediately, notify, notify the Shopkeeper!"

Wu Ming came to his senses as if waking from a dream, dropped his hammer, carried Yue Yue Yunjin onto a horse, flipped himself up, and hurried back to Huicheng.

The other apprentices, one by one, were at a loss, still stunned by the shock of Qiu Long's death; at this moment, they also followed after them.

"A major incident has truly occurred!"

Li Yuan looked back at Mount Fajiu Mountain, a murmur rising in his heart.

Others were shocked and found it hard to believe; only he absolutely did not believe that Nian Jiu had killed Qiu Long.

It was just...

"They say Nian Jiu did the killing, then Nian Jiu did the killing, I suppose; hmm, in any case, it has nothing to do with me; it is a pity for Nian Jiu's bounty, I'm afraid no one will be able to claim it."

Picking up the hammer Wu Ming had dropped, Li Yuan also quickened his pace and followed after them.

Regarding the dirty struggles between these families and factions,

Li Yuan also knew a little; if he had the heart to scheme, he reckoned he could also mix out some benefits.

But why bother?

With the Military Register in hand and having obtained silver, he now only wanted to calm his mind to practice Wu Gong, push his blood qi to great mastery, and then break through to Internal Strength,

seeking more tiered and high-tier weapons; as for everything else,

this Daoist priest is too lazy to care!

Qiu Long is dead!

This news was truly like a thunderclap from a clear sky, shaking the entire Gao Liu County city.

On the way back to the Weapon Forging Shop, Li Yuan had already heard people gossiping — for the common folk of Gao Liu, this was even more shocking than the death of the Emperor himself.

Several apprentices had been pulled aside and peppered with questions.

Li Yuan followed Wu Ming and escorted Yue Yun Jin to the Four Seasons Medicine Hall before heading back to the Weapon Forging Shop. Along the way, he bought quite a bit of chicken, duck, fish, and meat, and picked up two flasks of medicinal wine as well.

Back at the shop, he first set half aside for Liu Qing to deliver to his second brother's house, and prepared to send the rest to the kitchen. After gnawing on dry rations for two days, he was truly craving something good to eat.

"My brother-in-law?!"

Before he even reached the kitchen, Fatty Sun, who had gotten the news, came hurrying over, his face full of anxiety:

"Li Yuan, where's my brother-in-law?! Is he alright? What happened? How could Qiu Long possibly have been killed by a wanted criminal?!"

"The Second Shopkeeper is still in the mountains. He should be fine."

Li Yuan held down the panicked Fatty Sun and comforted him: "Wang Dong and Xia Hou Liang were only heavily wounded — how could the Second Shopkeeper possibly have gotten into trouble?"

This wasn't entirely empty comfort, either.

Tang Tong's Wu Gong was higher than that of Chai, Yu, or the Sanhe Gang's gang leader, and his preparations were even more thorough — he was the only one among those who entered the mountains this time to be wearing an inner armor.

And it was a second-grade inner armor at that.

"Right, with my brother-in-law's Wu Gong that high, how could anything happen to him?"

Fatty Sun wiped his sweat, his mood steadied somewhat, and only then did he start asking about the events of this trip into the mountains.

"It's a long story — shall we stew the fish first?"

Li Yuan lifted the chicken, duck, and fish in his hands.

"Fine, fine."

Burdened with worries, Fatty Sun didn't trouble himself, and Li Yuan, deftly plucking feathers, scraping fish scales, and blanching them, set the chicken, duck, and fish all to stew.

As he did so, he also recounted the events of the journey into the mountains, only omitting his own affairs.

"So, none of you even saw the person?"

Fatty Sun was completely relieved. If even these apprentices were fine, how could his brother-in-law, that old fox, possibly have gotten into trouble?

"That was a wanted criminal of the imperial court — if we'd actually seen the man, I'm afraid very few of us would have made it back."

Li Yuan put the lid on the pot and casually grabbed a cucumber to munch on.

"That's true enough…"

"Li Yuan!"

Fatty Sun was about to say more when a sudden loud shout came from outside the door, the voice booming.

"Who is it!"

Fatty Sun's face was full of impatience, but the moment he stepped out the door he shrank back, the impatience on his face turning to tension:

"It's Zhou Jinzhong, one of the three vice commanders of the City Guards! Qiu Long led the team out of the city, and he's the one holding down the fort inside…"

"I haven't even eaten yet."

Li Yuan grabbed another cucumber before going out to answer the call. The moment his front foot stepped past the doorway, two City Guards were already pressing down on his shoulders.

"Commander Zhou, what do you think you're doing?"

Li Yuan stepped back to dodge, and Fatty Sun came out after him brandishing two meat-chopping cleavers, his face full of fury.

Outside the San Yuan Wai, over a dozen City Guards were glowering menacingly. Wu Ming and the others had all been pinned to the ground, their faces flushed red with fear and panic.

An armored middle-aged man with an expression of cold indifference simply raised a hand and pointed:

"Take them!"

"Commander Zhou is truly overbearing!"

Cao Yan, simply draped in a jacket, walked out from the back courtyard and swept a cold glance over the City Guards:

"May I ask what crime these apprentices of Cao Mou's have committed, that the City Guards should come in person to arrest them?"

"Shopkeeper Cao?"

Zhou Jinzhong's expression shifted slightly, and he cupped his hands in greeting:

"Some of our brothers reported back that something happened to our commander, so…"

"What? Brother Qiu ran into trouble?! With his Wu Gong, this — this…"

Cao Yan's face changed at once. Seeing Zhou Jinzhong nod sorrowfully, he sighed and looked toward Li Yuan and the inner-courtyard apprentices:

"Sigh, such a great matter — no wonder Commander Zhou lost his composure. Very well, you lot go along with Commander Zhou for a trip. You must cooperate, and hold nothing back!"