Azure Cloud County Magistrate! Huang Yangping!

After speaking, Li Yanran felt somewhat despondent.

She had never expected this journey to bring her such devastating losses.

This time, Li Yanran had brought the two of them out to temper them.

Yet the Blackbird Guards under her command had all perished. Not a single one survived.

Especially Chen Lingfeng. He had been the martial arts genius she thought most highly of, a martial artist at Great Accomplishment of the Bone Refining Realm.

Barring any accidents, he would have needed only a few years to break through into the Marrow Refining Realm and become a Human Rank Blackbird Guard.

Before leaving, Li Yanran found a spot at random and buried Chen Lingfeng's body.

As for Su Tianqi, not even a scrap of bone remained.

Azure Cloud County City!

Huang Manor!

The residence of Huang Yangping, Azure Cloud County Magistrate, belonged to the most powerful man in the county aside from the County Magistrate Sir.

Moreover, County Magistrate Huang Yangping was a native-born man of Azure Cloud County.

Everyone knew that a local county magistrate was a local county magistrate, while an outsider county magistrate was an outsider county magistrate—the difference between the two was as vast as cloud and mud!

The Huang Manor's influence in Azure Cloud County ran deep, its roots tangled and intertwined. More than half of Azure Cloud County's upper-echelon forces were attached to County Magistrate Huang Yangping.

Sometimes, in certain local matters, County Magistrate Huang Yangping's words carried even more weight than County Magistrate Sir Ye Qingshan's.

Thus, the influence of the Huang Family in Azure Cloud County was plain for all to see!

Because of Huang Xuanjie's death, Huang Manor, once thronged with guests and bustling with carriages and horses, now wore a desolate, deserted air.

They were all afraid of rubbing County Magistrate Huang Yangping the wrong way at such a time.

After all, they knew very well the methods of that County Magistrate.

Deep within Huang Manor, in a spacious and solemn-looking room.

Three men were bound up, while an apparently aged old man stood beside them with his back bent. The old man was Huang Manor's Head Butler.

The mouths of the three men tightly bound to the floor with sturdy ropes were stuffed with thick rags.

These three men were the relatives of the four guards responsible for Huang Xuanjie's safety that day.

Their faces were ashen, their eyes filled with despair as they looked up at the man before them.

A middle-aged man nearly six and a half feet tall, dressed in Silk Brocade and golden-thread cloud boots, stood with his hands behind his back, facing away from them.

Huang Manor's Head Butler was the very man who had suddenly attacked Liang Cheng last time. At this moment, he respectfully spoke to the man ahead of him.

"Master, when Young Master Jie met with misfortune, these people tried to flee with their families at the first opportunity. This old servant captured them."

There was only one person whom Huang Manor's Head Butler could address as Master: the Huang Family Head, Azure Cloud County Magistrate Huang Yangping.

After hearing Huang Manor's Head Butler, Huang Yangping did not turn around. He merely raised a hand and gave a light wave behind him.

"Take them away. This official does not wish to see them again."

Huang Manor's Head Butler naturally understood the meaning behind Huang Yangping's words.

Not wishing to see them meant sending them to hell. That way, he would never have to see them again.

"Yes, Master!"

"Men, drag them away!"

Huang Manor's Head Butler immediately called out toward the door. Several servants quickly entered and dragged the men on the floor away.

Once they had all been taken away, the room fell silent again.

Huang Manor's Head Butler stood there with his body humbly stooped, silent as a cicada in winter, seemingly holding a deep fear of Huang Yangping.

For Huang Manor's Head Butler did not merely fear Huang Yangping's authority as a county magistrate. More than that, he revered Huang Yangping's strength.

That was right. Huang Yangping was a martial artist at Great Accomplishment of the Marrow Refining Realm.

Officials of the Great Xia Dynasty had to be versed in both the literary and martial arts!

In this world where martial arts existed, anyone wishing to become a court official of the Great Xia Dynasty—

Not only needed literary talent, but also had to be a martial artist who cultivated martial arts.

At this moment, Huang Yangping slowly turned around, walked to a large chair, and sat down unhurriedly. He reached out and picked up the teacup beside him.

"What did Ye Qingshan say?"

Upon hearing Huang Yangping's words, Huang Manor's Head Butler hurriedly replied, "In reply to Master, the County Office has already closed the case."

At Huang Manor's Head Butler's answer, not a ripple stirred in Huang Yangping's eyes, as though he had long expected this outcome.

Huang Yangping did not care in the slightest about Huang Xuanjie's death. He had more than a dozen sons; this was merely one illegitimate son among them.

The son on whom he had truly pinned great hopes was his eldest son, born to his principal wife—Huang Xuanzheng!

Several years ago, Huang Xuanzheng had joined the Prefecture Blackbird Guard. His Martial Realm had broken through into the Marrow Refining Realm, and his official rank was that of a Human Rank Blackbird Guard.

"Humph!"

"Ye Qingshan, one day, this official will seize the position of Azure Cloud County Magistrate."

At the mention of Ye Qingshan, terrifying killing intent spilled from Huang Yangping's eyes.

After the previous Azure Cloud County Magistrate had been transferred away, the position of county magistrate should, by all rights, have been his, Huang Yangping's.

What was more, he had attached himself to a certain lord in the Prefecture, offering him vast amounts of silver every year.

And yet, the Azure Cloud County Magistrate's post, which had been as good as his, was snatched away by some Ye Qingshan of unknown origin.

Even the lord to whom he had attached himself did not know why such a change had occurred.

Still, this Ye Qingshan was no simple man.

With his strength at Great Accomplishment of the Marrow Refining Realm, he could actually feel pressure from Ye Qingshan. Ye Qingshan had likely hidden his true Martial Realm just as he had.

Seeing his master seated, Huang Manor's Head Butler spoke again. "Master, there is one more matter. Master Jia Sheng requests an audience!"

Hearing this, Huang Yangping frowned deeply. Clearly, he was somewhat displeased with this Master Jia Sheng mentioned by Huang Manor's Head Butler.

But after pondering for a moment, Huang Yangping's tightly furrowed brow relaxed. "Let him in!"

There was no helping it. This so-called Master Jia Sheng was from Huang Yangping's wife's natal family—his wife's own younger brother.

Before long, a short, fat middle-aged man appeared outside the room.

The short, fat man wore luxurious Brocade Robe. The features on his face were squeezed together, giving him a crafty and sly appearance.

The instant he entered, the short, fat man pulled a miserable face and spoke to Huang Yangping ahead of him. "Brother-in-law, you have to save me this time!"

Looking at the miserable face of the man before him, Huang Yangping suppressed the anger in his heart and spoke expressionlessly. "What is it? What trouble has your pharmacy gotten into now?"

Without Jia Sheng even needing to speak, Huang Yangping knew what the man had come to him for.

"Yes, Brother-in-law. My pharmacy's business is about to go under. It's all because of that old fellow at the Lu Family Pharmacy!"

Jia Sheng spoke through gritted teeth, his heart brimming with hatred.

"Humph. You still have the nerve to say that."

"Last time, your pharmacy sold counterfeit medicine and killed more than a dozen people. If I hadn't sent someone to destroy the evidence, you would already be on the execution block!"

At Jia Sheng's mention of this matter, Huang Yangping's face darkened, and he immediately berated him.