Chapter 620

The 【Jingli Gui】 failed to deliver—they were all cut down already…

Now our face is seriously embarrassed.

Lang Qingyi was somewhat angry.

"Since the 【Jingli Gui】 are all dead, why did you summon the Qing Si?"

"Don't blame Lang Qingyi—we merely wish to report this incident and hope the Qing Si can uncover who is targeting our Dayang Caravan."

Guiyis don't appear without reason.

It just happened to possess the Third Miss, and after appearing, it specifically targeted and killed the only strong warrior of Dayang Fu—the Bing Keqing.

Correct—in Fang Yue's previous life, the Bing Keqing was the strongest warrior in Dayang Fu.

Hai Guanjia was busy handling the aftermath, but he was also thinking.

The 【Jingli Gui】's actions, aside from initially possessing the Third Miss, were specifically targeting important people for elimination.

First the Bing Keqing, then the Regimental Commander, finally the First Miss.

If not for Ye Daren's protection, the First Miss would have been in grave danger.

With the strength of our Dayang Caravan, uncovering the truth behind this would be extremely difficult.

But if the Qing Si intervenes, it's different—if they're willing, they'll surely uncover some traces.

Thinking of this, Hai Guanjia stepped forward and secretly slipped a bag of Blood Stone into Lang Qingyi's hand.

Lang Qingyi felt the weight in his hand, and his expression softened.

He snorted softly and said coldly, "Fine. Our Qing Si will investigate further. We'll notify you when we have news."

Once he heard the guiyi had all been killed, Lang Qingyi lost interest.

Within the Qing Si, the reward tiers for cases always classified killing a guiyi as major merit.

A follow-up investigation with no guiyi left is hardly worth the effort—it could even be passed off to the neighboring 【Lanshan】 for them to handle.

Seeing this, Hai Guanjia understood the man's enthusiasm had vanished, but he had no recourse.

The Qing Si, no matter how fallen, is still the Qing Si—not something a caravan like ours can command.

To motivate them, we'd need to pay a huge sum, which the Dayang Caravan cannot afford.

Unlike the Qing Si in Qingsi County, the Qing Si in Chunuan City won't move unless given sufficient benefit.

Even if cases pile up, no one will touch them.

Perhaps because Chunuan City is full of merchants who prefer to bribe first, over time, this culture of "pay first, act later" took root.

The Qing Si is now rotten to the core—openly slacking off, yet no one can do anything about it.

If you want the Qing Si to act, pay up; otherwise, they'll drag it out for months before slowly producing a result.

Lang Qingyi had Hai Guanjia bring Fang Yue over, asked a few detailed questions about the killing of the 【Jingli Gui】, then quickly led his men away.

"That's it?"

Fang Yue looked puzzled.

Hai Guanjia bowed with a servile smile as Lang Qingyi departed with the physical evidence.

Only after Lang Qingyi was far away did Hai Guanjia's smile fade, turning grim.

"Ye Daren, Lang Qingyi is suspicious."

"Huh?"

"That mirror—I swapped it out."

Fang Yue:???

"What do you mean? I don't quite understand…"

"Here's how it went: after Ye Daren killed the 【Jingli Gui】, I and the First Miss thoroughly searched the Third Miss's room.

We immediately discovered the mirror was suspicious, so the First Miss took it to her own room, planning to have it examined during daylight.

I suggested replacing it with a similar mirror and putting it back in the Third Miss's room, so when the Qing Si came tomorrow, we could test them.

But Lang Qingyi blatantly lied—he took away the swapped mirror, as if he'd known all along it was tampered with!"

Fang Yue: …

So dirty. People who play mind games are so dirty!

But I like it!

Fang Yue narrowed his eyes, excitedly saying, "So? Should I kill him?"

Hai Guanjia was startled: "No no no—he's a Qingyi! Whether he dies at night or day, 【Lanshan】 will investigate, and it'll eventually lead back to Ye Daren—that'll be a huge problem."

After a moment's thought, Hai Guanjia continued: "Besides, I suspect Lang Qingyi is merely a pawn—he doesn't truly know the details.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have failed to notice the mirror wasn't the same one.

So I believe… he was paid to take the mirror away for someone else.

The one who later receives the mirror and erases the traces is the true mastermind."

Fang Yue's eyes lit up: "Then I'll kill the mastermind!"

"... Agreed. But this needs careful planning. I'll have people watch during the day; at night, Ye Daren takes action to uncover the truth."

Hai Guanjia wiped a bead of sweat, calming the agitated Fang Yue.

Why hadn't I noticed before—Ye Daren seems to have an odd urge to kill people…

"At night… fine, I suppose."

Fang Yue felt a dull frustration—days without killing were unbearable.

"Also, Ye Daren, I'd like you to visit these three caravans on our behalf."

"This is…"

"These three—previously mentioned by the First Miss—are among the most likely suspects behind the Night Thief who kidnapped her."

Fang Yue took a look. These three merchant caravans were called the Fox Caravan, the Old City Caravan, and the Empty Mountain Caravan.

Fang Yue didn't know much about these caravans, but with Hai Guanjia's introduction, he roughly understood.

These three caravans were all competitors of their Great Sun Caravan, and from the procurement of merchant materials to the sale of finished goods, they were all in the same trade, and had even had grudges and fierce commercial competition such as bidding wars and price suppression.

"Either they're jealous that our Great Sun Caravan is about to turn things around through the 【Martial Arts Decision】, afraid we'll turn around and retaliate for the past. Or they want to capture the young lady and use her for threats and extortion, thereby crippling our Great Sun Caravan and robbing it of its competitiveness."

The Guest Bing Keqing was originally recruited for the 【Martial Arts Decision】.

Who could have imagined that an ungrateful wolf they couldn't keep would turn and bite its master.

If not for this, the current situation wouldn't have become like this.

Hai Guanjia sighed.

"Regardless, we still ask Lord Night to visit them on our behalf and gauge their reaction. We'll also investigate the 【Night Thief】 Hun Dawang and his subordinates, whether they entered the city today and who they had contact with. If we learn anything, we'll notify Lord Night promptly."

"Fine."

As a Supreme Guest, Fang Yue's benefits were actually quite good.

More comfortable than being a White-Robed in the Qing Division, and the pay was higher.

The pills that had been nearly used up, whether pills for boosting cultivation or pills for recovering injuries, had all been amply replenished.

Fang Yue could once again pop pills and cultivate, and with his genius-level Comprehension, the path of Martial Arts was as smooth as flat ground!

Thinking this, Fang Yue soon led his people out the door.

Woke up

(End of chapter)