I, Zhang Shan, Will Definitely Lend Them a Hand

"We're looking for treasure. Keep your voice down—don't draw the Imperial Guards over here."

Peng Chun had devoted all his attention to searching for treasure and answered Shen Qing in a muddle.

His nose twitched slightly. "Strange. How did it get behind me again?"

Suddenly, Peng Chun froze. Behind me? Who had just spoken behind him? He was so frightened that he nearly pissed himself.

With a slight glance from the corner of his eye, he saw a corner of a silver robe. It was undoubtedly a Flying Fish Robe. Peng Chun's heart was caught between heaven and man. Why could he not sense even a trace of aura?

Wasn't he supposed to be an Acting Centurion? At most, he had only just entered the Xiantian Realm. How could his control over his aura be this perfect?

When had he entered the room? Why had neither he nor Liu Siyu, two seasoned Xiantian Realm experts, noticed anything at all?

Suddenly, Peng Chun's eyes widened as an even more terrifying thought surfaced in his mind.

Could Shen Qing have been standing in the room all along, while he and Liu Siyu simply had never noticed him?

Speaking of which, where was Liu Siyu? There had been quite a commotion on his side. Was Liu Siyu deaf? At least give some kind of reaction!

Peng Chun carefully turned his head, wanting to catch sight of Liu Siyu, but he found nothing.

At that moment, a hand reached out from behind him, seemingly holding something.

"Are you looking for him?"

Peng Chun finally saw what Shen Qing was holding out. It was Liu Siyu's head. Yet the expression on Liu Siyu's face was exceedingly peaceful, which proved one thing: when his head had been taken, Liu Siyu had not reacted in the slightest.

Shen Qing released his hand. Peng Chun did not dare reach out to catch it and simply let Liu Siyu's head roll across the floor several times with a gurgling sound.

Sweat poured down his body like a waterfall. Though Liu Siyu was only the deputy gang leader, his strength was not much weaker than Peng Chun's.

If Shen Qing could silently pluck off Liu Siyu's head, then taking Peng Chun's head would not be much of a problem either.

Peng Chun slowly turned around, forcing a smile uglier than tears onto his face.

"My lord, I... I accidentally wandered in here... Do you believe me?"

In the darkness, Shen Qing's expression could not be seen, but his voice remained calm.

"You are Peng Chun, aren't you? Then you've seen the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill as well?"

Peng Chun's pupils instantly contracted. A thought burst into his mind—Shen Qing knew the value of the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill too! This is bad. I need to run!

But in the next instant, his vision spun violently, as if he had taken flight. Then he saw, in the corner of the room, a headless corpse still standing. It was Liu Siyu's. As his gaze turned, he saw another headless corpse, blood still spraying endlessly from its neck. It was his own.

With a thud, his head hit the ground, rolled several times with a gurgling sound, and slowly stopped before Liu Siyu's head.

A breeze blew past. The dark clouds scattered, and cold moonlight shone through the window lattice onto Shen Qing's stern face.

"It seems you really did know about the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill."

He had originally planned to use Madman Swordsman Wang Xiu as a pretext to arrest Peng Chun, but now that spared him a great deal of trouble.

The Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill was no trivial matter. The fewer people who knew about it, the better. The principle that a common man became guilty merely by possessing a jade was something every transmigrator had to keep firmly in mind.

This world was vast and boundless. There would always be people unafraid of the Shen Family, and always those willing to risk everything for the Dragon Elephant Prajna Skill.

Leave himself future trouble? Shen Qing would absolutely not allow it.

[Congratulations, you have successfully plundered the trait: Slight Poison Resistance (Green)]

Someone lightly knocked on the door. It was Fang Ming.

"My lord, are you asleep?"

"Come in."

Fang Ming pushed open the door, his face brimming with joy.

"My lord, good news! Sun Yun has confessed all the locations where the stolen goods were hidden. He spent all the gold and silver, but there are still many secret manuals left behind. We recovered..."

Fang Ming's voice gradually grew softer, because he caught a strong scent of blood. Following the smell, he saw a headless corpse. "My lord, what... what is going on here?"

"My lord, are you all right?"

Shen Qing's voice remained calm as he pointed at the two heads on the ground.

"Two petty thieves who trespassed into an Imperial Guards stronghold."

Fang Ming's throat bobbed. He could clearly sense true qi constantly dissipating from the corpses. These were clearly two Xiantian Realm experts.

Suddenly, Fang Ming's eyes widened, and his voice rose several notes.

"Is that Yin Yun Sword Liu Siyu?! And Golden Powder Hermit Peng Chun?!"

"Why are they here? Are they from the Black Water Gang? Did they come to avenge the Madman Swordsman, or were they after the treasure?"

All at once, he realized something. These two were both seasoned Xiantian Realm experts, one at the second level and the other at the third. He abruptly looked up at Shen Qing.

"My lord, are you all right..."

He examined him several times. Shen Qing indeed had quite a bit of blood on him, but why did Fang Ming have such a strange feeling?

No matter how he looked at it, none of that blood seemed to belong to Shen Qing.

In other words, Shen Qing had effortlessly taken the heads of two Xiantian Realm experts in this cramped room, without making a sound or suffering the slightest injury.

Wasn't that far too outrageous?

Shen Qing glanced at the deep darkness outside the door and gave a cold smile.

"Has the martial world of Ning Province become too peaceful these past years? They even dare break into a Hundred Households Office?"

"Fang Ming, release every Silver Crow. Before dawn, I don't want to see a single carrier pigeon fly out of Luoshui City!"

The Silver Crows were a mutated breed of crows cultivated by the dynasty's Exotic Beast Palace, distinguished by silver feathers mixed among their black plumage.

They were specially assigned to the Imperial Guards. Fierce and incredibly swift, even ordinary Houtian Realm martial artists found it difficult to catch them. They were often used to hunt carrier pigeons and other birds.

Fang Ming dropped to one knee.

"Yes!"

Before long, a red firework rose into the sky, followed by dozens of silver streaks tearing through the night.

Yellow Sand Gang headquarters.

Gang Leader Jin Ji slammed the table until it rang loudly, his furious roars carrying all the way into the street.

"Damn it! Not only did we fail to seize the treasure, we even lost three inner disciples!"

"Gang Leader, what do we do?"

Jin Ji's face reddened slightly, but then he let out a sigh, his face full of stifled frustration.

"What else can we do? Ransom them."

"Notify every branch to hold a meeting. Have the branch leaders discuss what price we can afford to pay."

Several disciples exchanged glances, immediately wrote five secret letters, tied them to the legs of five carrier pigeons, and released them into the night sky.

But before the pigeons had flown far, they let out shrill cries. The disciples hurried back to the window, only to see two silver streaks flash past. The five pigeons were sliced apart as if by sharp blades, scattering white feathers across the ground.

A disciple in blue robes immediately grew furious and casually drew a large bow from his side. "Damn it, what the hell is that? It dares touch our carrier pigeons? I'll shoot it dead!"

Just as he pulled the bow fully taut, an aged hand pressed down the arrowhead. It was Jin Ji.

The blue-robed disciple was puzzled. "Gang Leader, if we don't shoot down those birds, our carrier pigeons can't get out."

Jin Ji narrowed his eyes. "If you want to eat prison food, feel free to try."

"Those are no ordinary birds. They are the Silver Crows unique to the Imperial Guards. Once you see them, it means this entire area has been sealed off by the Imperial Guards."

"If you see Silver Crows while out and about in the future, stay far away. Under no circumstances are you to provoke them."

The disciples looked enlightened, then craned their necks hard out the window, wanting to get a clear look at the Silver Crows.

Jin Ji, meanwhile, wore a face full of confusion.

"Though we hunted down that Rogue Cultivator in the city, we were restrained the whole time. We didn't harm anyone, and we compensated for the damaged houses."

"Strange. How strange."

Suddenly, Jin Ji thought of something, and his expression became even stranger.

"Could it be those idiots from the Black Water Gang again?"

South of the city, Hundred Households Office.

Centurion Zhang Shan was studying case files when he suddenly sensed something. He turned to look outside and summoned one of his General Banners.

Through the night, he immediately locked onto the Silver Crows flying at tremendous speed.

"What is going on with these Silver Crows? Where did something happen? Why haven't I received any news?"

The General Banner was equally puzzled. "My lord, I don't know either. There has been no message at all."

"According to the reports from the guards stationed in the streets, these Silver Crows seem to have been released by the West City Hundred Households Office."

Zhang Shan lit his pipe and took a deep drag.

"West City? A sect has recently been hunting down a Rogue Cultivator there, but I haven't heard of any other cases."

"Could the Centurion over there also be plotting to seize that treasure?"

"But if I remember correctly, isn't that side led by a newly arrived Acting Centurion? A newly arrived Acting Centurion dares reach out and snatch treasure in the face of so many Xiantian Realm experts?"

"This Acting Centurion is rather interesting."

The General Banner seemed to recall something.

"Oh, right, my lord. Half a quarter-hour ago, all the Silver Crows from the North City Hundred Households Office also took to the sky."

"And the newly appointed Centurion in West City is..."

Zhang Shan raised an eyebrow.

"Interesting! This is getting more and more interesting."

"Who cares who it is?"

"Men, receive my command!"

"Release every Silver Crow. General Sun, lead men to block the southern gate and thoroughly inspect everyone entering and leaving."

"No matter who is taking on the sect, I, Zhang Shan, will definitely lend them a hand!"