Sinister Intentions

Zhao Cheng had been leading the way up front. When he noticed the commotion on Shi Yi's side, he had the next person take his place, then walked over with a cold expression and stared at Jiao Darong of the Five Tigers Gang.

"I'm warning you. You'd better not get close to my junior brother again. Otherwise, I don't think my master would mind paying another visit to the Five Tigers Gang and personally making your Gang Leader stop setting his sights on my junior brother."

Zhao Cheng spoke coldly.

The threat in his words was impossible to miss.

Even while moving forward along the road, he had kept an eye on Shi Yi's situation.

Lu Feng had been willing to let him bring Shi Yi out to gain experience because he trusted his abilities. Naturally, he could not let anything happen to Shi Yi.

Jiao Darong curled his lip at the sight, but he did not dare talk back.

Zhao Cheng was not merely Lu Feng's disciple. He was also the son of Town Clerk Zhao.

Town Clerk Zhao not only held an official position, but his martial cultivation was also formidable. He was an expert at the martial warrior level.

Therefore, Jiao Darong did not dare clash with him.

"Junior Brother, don't get too close to people from those gangs."

"None of them harbor good intentions."

Zhao Cheng looked at Shi Yi and spoke with a solemn expression.

Since getting to know Shi Yi, it was very rare for him to look so serious.

"Senior Brother, I know."

"I could tell he was up to no good. I was rejecting him just now."

Shi Yi answered earnestly.

He already had no favorable impression of people from the Five Tigers Gang, much less Jiao Darong, who looked like he was clearly harboring ulterior motives.

Jiao Darong thought he had concealed it well, but in Shi Yi's eyes, his clumsy act was riddled with holes.

"Good. As long as you understand."

"Back then, Ninth Senior Brother Ding Yu, whom Master had taken in, was sweet-talked by the Five Tigers Gang into joining them. Later, they even forced Ninth Senior Brother to take dangerous assignments. In the end, Ninth Senior Brother died in a gang brawl. When his body was sent back to the martial arts school, there was not a single part of him that was intact."

"After Master learned of it, he personally acted and injured the Five Tigers Gang's Gang Leader, making those gang forces no longer dare scheme against us."

"These days, the town has been anything but peaceful. Gang conflicts have been constant. That is why these gangs have been recruiting people everywhere."

"Judging by how Jiao Darong of the Five Tigers Gang acted today, they clearly haven't changed their wicked ways. He wants to scheme against you again and drag you into the mire."

"Once we get back, I'll tell Master about this."

"After we complete this mission, stay at the martial arts school and cultivate peacefully for a while. There's no need to concern yourself with gang matters."

Zhao Cheng roughly recounted what had happened in the past, making Shi Yi wary as well.

Ding Yu's death back then had been entangled with far too many schemes. The Five Tigers Gang had wanted to drag the Anyang Martial Arts School into the water.

After Lu Feng learned of it, he immediately took action and forcefully broke the deadlock.

Zhao Cheng knew that the struggle among the three major gangs in Anyuan Town had reached a white-hot stage. It was only because the Divine Constable Bureau had appeared that things had been temporarily suppressed, but that did not mean they would not act again later.

Once the people from the Divine Constable Bureau left, a great battle would inevitably erupt among the three major gangs.

At this time, all three major gangs were recruiting manpower in preparation for war.

That was why Jiao Darong had set his sights on Shi Yi.

This information was swiftly organized in Zhao Cheng's mind. Because he knew many things and had experienced quite a bit over the years, he was no longer the simple, innocent boy he had once been.

He only needed to connect the threads between the things he knew to reach the conclusion.

"Oh, so that was what happened."

"These people from the Five Tigers Gang really are sinister and unpredictable."

"Don't worry, Senior Brother. I don't like running around anyway. Unless there's something to do, I usually cultivate inside the martial arts school."

Shi Yi nodded, finally understanding the reason.

He had not been at the Anyang Martial Arts School for long, so the information he knew was limited.

Especially for matters that had happened long ago, it was even harder for him to learn about them.

But now that he had heard this from Zhao Cheng, he completely understood Jiao Darong's scheme.

At first, Shi Yi had thought the Five Tigers Gang suspected him of being involved in Yu Daqiang and the others' disappearance, which was why they had arranged for Jiao Darong to test him.

Now, it seemed he had been overthinking it!

Or rather, the Five Tigers Gang did not care about the missing Yu Daqiang at all.

If one Yu Daqiang died, they could simply replace him with a new thug.

In a gang, once someone died, no one cared anymore!

All that talk about one brother dying and the entire gang going to avenge him was bullshit. It only fooled those who had just joined a gang.

The Five Tigers Gang is far too restless!

It seems that besides a pistol, I need to prepare some firearms with greater killing power to protect myself.

This thought surfaced in Shi Yi's mind.

They had already set their sights on him, so there was a chance they would make a move. If only he had large rocket launchers or something similar—he would have sent the Five Tigers Gang a few massive rockets and made them settle down!

"Fine. Just cultivate in peace."

Zhao Cheng nodded.

"Let's go. It'll be your turn to clear the way soon!"

Zhao Cheng continued.

The order for clearing the way was arranged according to each group's affiliation. Since he had been the first from the Anyang Martial Arts School to begin, after people from the other forces had each cleared the way once, it would start again with Shi Yi. Those who had only come once would not need to take part in Shi Yi's round.

Basically, everyone would participate in clearing the way.

The commotion around Shi Yi earlier had not been small, and quite a few people had noticed it, but they all pretended not to see.

No one bothered with a verbal conflict, including the people from the Divine Constable Bureau.

At this moment, the Divine Constable Bureau man was still staring at the special compass in his hand.

Before long, it was Shi Yi's turn to clear a mountain path.

Using a broadsword to clear the mountain path was somewhat strenuous. If Shi Yi had known earlier that they were coming to clear a path, he would not have chosen to bring the broadsword. He would have brought two short blades instead.

Fortunately, after cultivating for some time, his strength, stamina, endurance, and the like had all improved considerably. Otherwise, he would not have lasted long at all.

He had not expected that his first mission outside Anyuan Town would be clearing a mountain path.

Originally, he had thought they might encounter a few bandits too blind to know their place, or perhaps fierce beasts in the mountains. Then the broadsword in his hand would have had a chance to show its worth.

Who would have thought it would turn out like this?

Shi Yi did not know whether the broadsword in his hand was thirsty for battle, but he himself was beginning to feel tired.

If he had tools from Blue Star for clearing mountain paths, it definitely would have been easier and less tiring.

Before long, someone replaced Shi Yi.

This was long-term work, so everyone needed to conserve their strength.

Over the course of the morning, everyone finished scouting the three routes marked on the map.

They also encountered wild beasts in the mountains, but upon seeing so many people, the animals immediately fled.

Because of the Divine Constable Bureau's mission, Zhao Cheng and the others did not hunt those beasts. Though the beasts had some value, they could not let them interfere with the Divine Constable Bureau's task.

Everyone participating in the mission knew what Xu Tianlei had sent people to tell the various forces yesterday, so naturally they understood what was urgent and what was not.

Shi Yi had not come away empty-handed either. While clearing the path, those doing the work would gather herbs along the way. Zhao Cheng would explain a little to him, letting him learn the names and general effects of these medicinal plants. It gave Shi Yi a deeper understanding of the herbs in this world.

As for the two prescriptions Zhao Cheng and the others had given him before, he had bought the related medicinal ingredients in Anyuan Town, so he had gained some understanding of them. But it was not much, because there were countless varieties of medicinal ingredients, and combining them into prescriptions was even more complicated.

Even with Eidetic Memory, he would still need time to master this kind of knowledge.

As for books on medicinal herbs, he planned to begin systematic study only after he had nearly finished learning the Great Zhou Ten Thousand Character Classic.