Old Thousand-Layer Cake

He Zhao had never revealed to anyone that he lived at the Inn. He usually kept a low profile and rarely went out. Although he had been leaving more frequently lately than before, he had mostly disguised himself.

Unless Jin had been watching and plotting against him from the very beginning!

He had once wondered why the other man favored him so much. He had assumed it was to teach the Four Great Families a lesson—to arrange for him to take one of this year's only two Secret Blood Warrior slots and publicly express dissatisfaction.

Throughout this process, Old Jin himself had suffered no losses. The Aberration Flesh supplied to He Zhao had been purchased with gleaming silver. If anyone had been hurt, it was probably only the dog named Black King.

But now, it seemed that what he had thought was not the other man's primary objective. There was another hidden reason. Otherwise, why would he watch him for no reason? Unless his place in the other man's heart was very important.

Thirty taels of silver to become a disciple, fifty taels to learn boxing. What fucking feelings could there be between them? Important, my ass. There had to be another purpose.

"If this were transmigration and rebirth, I would definitely choose to run. Caution and staying alive would come first; face would not matter. But this is only a Simulation Scenario. If I cringed and dared not strike with a Heavy Punch, people would truly laugh at me."

He Zhao reined in the murderous gleam in his eyes, his eyeballs rolling wildly. Then, all at once, he thought of a good idea. Sometimes, disrupting an enemy's plans did not require an overly complicated scheme.

A vast amount of Spirit Power poured into his eyes, and his entire body abruptly vanished from the room.

In the Spirit Realm, Ruthless He Zhao lay prone on the ruined floor, slowing his breathing and minimizing unnecessary movements, doing his utmost not to let the Monsters discover him.

An hour later, night fell.

"Shopkeeper, he hasn't left his room." The Waiter came forward right on time to report.

"To prevent any accidents, call senior disciple brother and have him go with you. The other party has trained in boxing, after all. He isn't someone ordinary people like us can handle."

Senior disciple brother of Hengshan Boxing Gym, who had long been hiding in the Inn, immediately brought men upstairs and kicked open the door. After searching again and again, even tearing up the floorboards, they found no trace of He Zhao. The crowd fell into a brief silence.

"Where is he?"

"Damn it, how did Li Escape right beneath our noses?"

Senior disciple brother did not dare delay. He hurried to Hetu Dao Temple to report to Old Jin.

In the Spirit Realm, another half hour passed.

They must be running around like headless flies by now, right?

As Spirit Power surged, He Zhao returned to the real world.

His eyes swept over the wrecked room. He grinned soundlessly in mockery. That was all?

Ruthless He Zhao removed the Divine Concealment Ring, opened the door, and left. In the Bronze Mirror facing the doorway, the back of a child was reflected.

"I've turned back into Hetu Dao's Lesser Mystic. Even if Old Jin's people are watching nearby, they definitely won't recognize me as Li Liang." He strode openly out of the Inn. Several gazes swept across him in the crowd, then moved away.

Hehe, let's play slowly. I'll serve you an appetizer first. As he pondered, He Zhao melted into the crowd.

Elsewhere, senior disciple brother of Hengshan Fist, who had arrived at Hetu Dao Temple, reported the matter to Old Jin.

"That shouldn't have happened. How did the plan go wrong at such a crucial moment?" The Old Bastard, who had schemed for a full four months, was utterly depressed. He had set up the pot, lit the fire, and boiled the water. At the critical moment, just as he waited for the duck to enter the pot, someone told him it had flown away?

Smack—

As he spoke, Old Jin flew into a rage and viciously slapped his eldest disciple across the face, appearing exceptionally irritable.

"Could the target have guessed something and prepared in advance? Otherwise, he could not have escaped from layer upon layer of encirclement." Hetu Dao Master was not particularly angry. After all, he was not the one who had suffered the greatest loss.

"Impossible!" Old Jin slapped the table and rose, continuing, "The Aberration Flesh I prepared for him was not simply handed over for free. In order to make him guess the answer I had prepared beforehand, I specifically instructed several clever fellows to secretly spread word that there was some bad blood between me and the Four Great Families.

"Although that line was never used, during the last boxing assessment, while deliberately praising him, I secretly glanced at a Zhang Family junior. He also noticed this old man's movement."

Good heavens, what an Old Thousand-Layer Cake.

You thought I was on the first layer, but in truth, I was on the second.

"Or perhaps the people responsible for watching him alarmed the target?"

In response to Hetu Dao Master's question, Old Jin shook his head again.

"In order to avoid alerting him, this old man instructed my men only to ensure that he did not leave the city. You know that my businesses are spread throughout Wancheng. Why would there be any need to follow him?"

"Then the people sent to his door today must have made him realize there was a conspiracy." Hetu Dao Master gave the only possible answer.

"Blame me? By the timetable, tomorrow at the start of the month, he would come to let this old man inspect his boxing progress. Then I would announce the ownership of the two Secret Blood Warrior slots and bring him along with the Sun Family junior to the temple.

"But those Golden Cicada Sect bastards could not wait and insisted on attacking Wancheng tonight! I have waited more than ten years. Could I let them ruin this opportunity? Besides, my eldest disciple led a group of skilled men to ambush the area around the Inn. It was foolproof. Who could have expected him to escape without a sound?"

To be fair, Old Jin's plan had been highly successful in its early stages. He had even deceived He Zhao, who believed he had "guessed" the reason. Yet even if no one had been sent to his door, Old Jin was destined to draw water with a bamboo basket and come up empty.

Hetu Dao Master actually understood his friend's frustration quite well.

Jin had only plotted for four months, but what about him?

Fifteen years!

How many fifteen years did a person have in life?

"Take it easy. Perhaps next time, you can still find a target suitable for refining a Human Pill."

"Bullshit! A person who can digest over a hundred jin of Aberration Flesh a month with a human body—this old man has lived more than sixty years and only ever seen one: Li Liang. What about me? Do I still have another sixty years to live?"

Facing the spray of saliva, Hetu Dao Master calmly took a sip of tea.

You fucking at least still had a bit of hope. As for special eyes like Spiritual Vision, I feared I would never find a second pair in this lifetime.

"Alas!" X2.

The two men sighed at the same time. Those standing around them did not dare even breathe heavily, afraid they would follow in senior disciple brother's footsteps and get slapped across the face.

"D-Dao Dao Dao Master!!"

The old servant responsible for contacting the Bureau of Peculiar Individuals rushed in, flustered and panicked.

"Mount Tai may collapse before one without changing his expression; a herd of deer may rise to his left without making his eyes blink. How utterly improper to lose your composure like this?" Hetu Dao Master rebuked him, clearly dissatisfied with the old servant's performance and feeling that he had lost face before his old friend.

"N-no no no! Zhao Zhao Zhao—"

"Who are you looking for?"

"Zhao'er is back!" The old servant finally got his emotions under control and spoke a complete sentence without stammering.

"What?"

Hetu Dao Master sprang up with a whoosh and dashed outside, utterly lacking the calm, unruffled bearing he had displayed moments ago.

"Zhao'er!!"

The two words rang with genuine feeling, and everyone in the room could not help sighing at the bond between the two.

"It's good that you're back. Good that you're back!"

As soon as the words fell, without even asking why He Zhao had vanished, Hetu Dao Master grabbed his arm and dragged him back to the main hall.

"Dao Master, who are these people?"

Ruthless He Zhao gave him no chance to speak and directly asked Old Jin and the others.

"Old Jin of Hengshan Boxing Gym, along with his disciples."

"Old Jin? I have long admired your name! Long admired your name!" He Zhao extended both hands. The Old Bastard froze, then subconsciously reached out and clasped them. Immediately afterward, before everyone's eyes, the two vanished from the hall, leaving behind a group of dumbstruck people.

Thanks to Green Vegetable Pork Rib Soup for the reward of 151 Qidian coins, and thanks to Book Friend 20200705004903471 for the reward of 100 Qidian coins. He He He He received 2 Qidian coins, JO Fang JO Zhu received 2 Qidian coins, Deep-fried Shrimp Cake received 2 Qidian coins, I Keep a Firefly received 2 Qidian coins, and Unforeseen Gan received 2 Qidian coins.