Arrest

The next morning, Chu Danqing took Da Bao to maintain order at the porridge distribution.

The porridge was being distributed by the government, not the Lu Clan. It was only because they were short-handed that they had asked the local aristocratic families for help.

The Lu Clan itself had been caught off guard by this snow disaster and needed to purchase grain. Where would they have surplus food for disaster relief?

After arriving, Chu Danqing took Da Bao on a round of patrols to serve as a deterrent.

Once that was done, he found a suitable place to sit down, took out his notebook, and began reading it carefully.

They called it maintaining order, but matters like cutting in line and making noise did not require his involvement at all. He was only responsible for handling major disturbances.

"Attendant Chu, you certainly have it easy." Tie Yan walked over, his gaze falling on the notebook in Chu Danqing's hands, his tone dripping with sourness.

He had brought the apostles under him to distribute talisman water, using it to accumulate faction contribution for completing their mission.

One hundred and fifty points a day; after seven days, it would be just enough to complete it.

As for the other apostles, Tie Yan could only let them fend for themselves.

He had wanted to take on missions with higher faction contribution, but his very first mission had ended in disaster, costing the lives of three apostles.

One of them had even been a member of the Dragon-Tiger Alliance. Now, only Han Ying remained steadfastly loyal to him, while the rest of the apostles all had their own agendas.

Chu Danqing looked up at Tie Yan. The man had clearly not been doing well.

Joining the Way of Peace faction had the lowest overall difficulty, and likewise, the lowest rewards.

"Fangling Master Tie is quite free himself, to have time to chat with me," Chu Danqing replied with a meaningless remark.

Fangling Master was Tie Yan's position, similar to a small team leader who managed believers.

Aside from Tie Yan, the other Dimension Apostles had merely become believers after joining the Way of Peace.

Their strength was insufficient, so they had no way of obtaining the position of Fangling Master.

They needed to become Fangling Masters within seven days in order to activate the next stage of the Trial Mission.

"The third-place share in the faction shop is all in your hands, isn't it? Name your price and let me have one." Sensing Chu Danqing's attitude, Tie Yan went straight to the point and spoke in a low voice.

Chu Danqing merely shook his head. "I exchanged for second place. Do you think I could still have four thousand five hundred faction contribution left?"

"If I really had that much, I might as well save a little longer and exchange for first place."

As he spoke, he gestured at the notebook in his hand.

He and Tie Yan were neither kin nor friends. Why should he tell him the truth?

Besides, Tie Yan's attitude and tone made Chu Danqing deeply uncomfortable. What did he mean, name your price and let me have one? He was obviously trying to take advantage of him.

Tie Yan could not even scrape together one thousand five hundred faction contribution. With that level of ability, what right did he have to produce something equal in value to the Lu Clan Body Tempering Elixir?

Even if he did have such an item, it would be a trump card. How could he possibly be willing to trade it?

Tie Yan had merely been trying to bluff him, though he had his own guesses about the actual situation.

If Chu Danqing had seven thousand five hundred faction contribution, he would definitely take a gamble on the Fine-grade Inherited Skill for first place in the faction shop.

His gaze fell on the notebook in Chu Danqing's hand, and another idea suddenly surfaced in his mind.

"You can read that notebook repeatedly. Attendant Chu, could you lend it to me so I can copy it?" Tie Yan leaned closer and said in a low voice, "One thousand Paradise Points. Consider it making a friend."

Chu Danqing snapped the notebook shut and said, "Tie Yan, I treat you like a normal person, so don't treat me like an idiot."

"With your three melons and two dates, what makes you think you can exchange them for the contents of my notebook?"

Give him an inch, and he thought he could climb onto Chu Danqing's nose.

Copying it was certainly possible, but he should at least offer a sincere price.

Tie Yan simply believed that, since they represented their respective forces, Chu Danqing would not go too far in public.

Da Bao shot out a huge hand with lightning speed, directly gripping Tie Yan's entire head and flinging him into the crowd of Way of Peace believers.

"Provoke me again, and I'll send you to meet the Way of Peace's Yellow Heaven." Chu Danqing had never had much goodwill toward the Way of Peace, and he had even suffered their retaliatory blow last night.

Tie Yan climbed to his feet in a miserable state, fury rising in his eyes, but it was quickly suppressed.

Not only was the other party stronger than him, his backing was greater as well. A conflict would only be disadvantageous to him.

But Chu Danqing's actions displeased the believers. One after another, they surrounded him, each wearing an unfriendly expression as they stared at Chu Danqing.

"Even if Fangling Master Tie was in the wrong, it is not for an outsider to the Way like you to discipline him. Our Way of Peace is—" The Way of Peace Daoist at the forefront opened his mouth by trying to use his faction to crush them.

He did not care about the grudge between the two sides, but Chu Danqing's actions had caused the Way of Peace to lose face.

But before he could finish, he was interrupted.

"What? Can your Way of Peace ignore the laws and discipline of my Imperial Court?" A cold voice rang out.

Fierce Fist, clad in armor, pushed through the crowd with a group of soldiers. His gaze swept across the Way of Peace members present.

"Laws and discipline? Our Way of Peace has always obeyed the law. How can the Prefect slander us without cause?" The Way of Peace Daoist's expression shifted slightly.

"Obeyed the law? Hah." Fierce Fist was utterly disdainful. Then he shouted, "Your crimes have been exposed!"

"Spreading witchcraft and curses, murdering the former Prefect, assassinating the governor's wife, and intending to murder the governor himself—all of you from the Way of Peace are coming with me."

The moment those words came out, everyone erupted in uproar.

For a moment, the crowd broke into hushed discussions.

"Bullshit!" Han Ying was enraged beyond measure and cursed without regard for the consequences.

Yet Fierce Fist did not even spare him a glance. With a wave of his hand, the soldiers began detaining the Way of Peace members.

The Dimension Apostles who had joined the Way of Peace were included as well.

Compared to the natives who obediently allowed themselves to be seized, the Dimension Apostles naturally had no intention of surrendering without a fight.

"Anyone who dares resist will be executed on the spot." Fierce Fist issued the order once more.

"Chu Mo, Fierce Fist can make a move against us today, and he can make a move against you tomorrow."

"Join hands with us and kill him first!" Tie Yan's expression changed abruptly as he tried to drag Chu Danqing into the water.

Chu Danqing directly ignored Tie Yan's words and said leisurely, "What Prefect Fierce Fist said was no empty threat."

This was the information gap caused by having too low a status. Joining a low-threshold faction came at a price.

In Tie Yan's eyes, Fierce Fist was clearing the field.

In reality, the government and the aristocratic families were making their move against the Way of Peace.

But Tie Yan did not know the truth. He only believed that Chu Danqing might have been involved as well.

Thus, upon hearing Chu Danqing's words, he gritted his teeth, took Han Ying with him, and fled at once.

Fierce Fist looked at Chu Danqing and merely nodded. "Attendant Chu, perhaps we can cooperate next time."

With that, he took the captives back. He needed to pry valuable intelligence from this group of Way of Peace members.

As long as the important figures had been captured, the rest who escaped were of no consequence. They could simply be wanted.

After everyone had left, Chu Danqing understood why Lu Yin had been uncertain about the plan.

So they had to wait for the government to extract intelligence from the Way of Peace members before he could make his arrangements.

Once matters had settled, Chu Danqing sat back down and continued reading his notebook.