Further Advancement!

"Ahem, someone come and sprinkle some water, clean off the dust, find the plaque, pick it up and hang it up."

"Where's the doctor? Call the doctor over. I have several broken ribs and my right arm is broken too. It hurts so much."

"I can't take it anymore, I can't take it anymore! Do you have any Qi Replenishing Pill? Quickly, give me two, I'm going to die..."

"Someone help me up! Are they all dead?"

Lian Jingye, Hu Yan Shijing, and others shouted a few times, and with the help of the arriving helpers, they staggered to their feet and walked out through the hole in the wall.

They just came out of the cave.

Thunder rumbled softly.

The entire Gathering Righteousness Building collapsed with a roar, causing the robes of the group to flutter wildly and dust to rise everywhere.

Lian Jingye waved his hand to disperse the smoke and dust, then tiptoed to turn around and face the ruins, only to find that everyone was looking at him.

"What are you looking at me for? Is anyone inside? Hurry up and get them out!"

"By the way, what about the person who came with Lord Liang?"

"Here it is! Here it is!"

Lu Xinqing pushed aside the bricks and stones, revealing his head; his entire lower body was firmly pressed down by the beam.

Lian Jingye was busy sending people to move and lift the crossbeams.

Hu Yan Shijing put one hand on the shoulder of a gang member and the other hand on his Iron Mace, half-hopping and half-walking to the courtyard.

The sky was overcast and damp, with shallow puddles left by last night's downpour on the ground, some mud and sand at the bottom, and the sunlight reflecting off the ancient trees.

Under the tree pit.

Cheng Chong sat with his head down, his shoulders piled high with fallen leaves, and muddy water climbed up the seams of his burlap, mingling with Blood Water to form a dark red color.

Liang Qu stood under a tree with his long spear, gazing at the terraced fields behind the Sand River. The pond at the bottom of the valley was clear, and a thatched Thatched Hut stood beside it.

"Lord Liang... help... Cheng Chong..."

"He's not dead." Liang Qu turned around. "It's just that my Dantian was ruptured, and he lost too much Qi and Blood, so he fainted."

With Cheng Chong's dantian destroyed, he could no longer exert his strength, and with Liang Qu's current strength, he posed little threat.

Capturing a living person is far more meritorious than capturing a corpse.

Hu Yan Shijing sighed, "I never imagined Ying Jian would be the son of the Third Gang Leader, but how would we know if he didn't say so? He committed the heinous act of destroying the dike, which has drawn the ire of both heaven and man... it's truly..."

Liang Qu glanced at Hu Yan Shijing and said calmly, "I, Liang, always keep my word and don't nitpick. If I say I'll protect your lives, I will, provided that you did not participate in the destruction of the dike."

Hu Yan Shijing's old face beamed with joy, and he hurriedly raised his hands in a bow, saying, "Thank you, sir, thank you, sir."

"Do you remember what I did when I joined the Sand River Gang?"

Hu Yan Shijing was taken aback, and it took him a while to remember that Liang Qu had come to borrow a boat! "Arrange it immediately, arrange it immediately! I'll notify everyone right away and get you the best sailors! It's a blessing for the people to have an official like you in the River Conservancy Office!"

Liang Qu ignored Hu Yan Shijing's flattery. "Your Sand River Gang has to support so many people, provide for their food, clothing, daily necessities, promotions, and rewards. You must have Treasure Vault."

"Treasure Vault..." Hu Yan Shijing looked troubled. "There is one, but there aren't many good things inside. Last time... But if you want to see it, sir, there's definitely no problem. Take whatever you want; I'll make the decision! Lian Jingye!"

Lian Jingye was not far away, hurried over.

"Lord Liang is going to our Sand River Gang's Treasure Vault. Where is your key?"

"It's on my person."

Lian Jingye took out a long, oddly shaped spoon with a flower-like tip.

Hu Yan Shijing explained, "The Treasure Vault can only be opened with two keys. The former Gang Leader had two keys, and the Gang Leader and third Gang Leader each had one."

"Now that the top Gang Leader and second Gang Leader are gone, it's just me and Lian Jingye each with one. Cheng Chong should have one too, but I doubt he's carrying it with him."

"My lord, come with me."

Lian Jingye looked up and led the way. Although Hu Yan Shijing his unauthorized consent to Liang Qu's trip to the Treasure Vault, he had no objection.

When facing Cheng Chong, Liang Qu displayed astonishing archery and spear skills.

He must have expended a lot of energy, but the key point is that he stayed in the back and wasn't injured at all!

The energy expenditure is high; you can recover by taking pills. Injuries don't heal quickly.

The entire Sand River Gang is now severely injured, and the remaining ordinary members combined are no match for Liang Qu.

After dismissing the two young gang members who were helping him, Hu Yan Shijing and Lian Jingye led Liang Qu through the courtyard and into a small room inside a mansion.

The two opened the Earthly Dao and went down about ten feet. In front of them appeared a steel gate with a circular buckle in the center.

Hu Yan Shijing lit the oil lamp, combined the two keys into one, inserted it into the hole, and turned it three times with force, causing the gears to whirr.

A crack appeared in the tightly sealed steel gate, Hu Yan Shijing pushed it forcefully.

There was no progress.

"Cough cough." Hu Yan Shijing red. "I fought too hard and I don't have any strength left."

Fighting Cheng Chong was truly a life-threatening ordeal, and coupled with the aftereffects of drug use, they were completely exhausted. It was already quite an achievement that the two of them could stand and talk.

Liang Qu remained silent, then stepped forward and pushed open the door himself.

"Gagaga..."

Lian Jingye raised a torch and stepped forward, illuminating the dark Treasure Vault. Inside was a long corridor with shelves hanging on both sides of the walls, but the shelves were empty, with only some worthless trinkets on display.

If you keep going in, there is a small room with two medicine cabinets inside.

One container holds metal treasures, and the other holds precious medicines and pills.

Liang Qu examined the precious medicines and pills one by one, taking away five bottles of Qi Replenishing Pill, two Blood Rejuvenation Pill, and in addition...

"I'll take this Zhu Fruit and this Jade Fruit. Is there a problem?"

Hu Yan Shijing a pang of heartache.

Zhu Fruit and Jade Fruit are the two best Treasure Plant that have been put into the Treasure Vault since the last major purge of the River Conservancy Office.

Lian Jingye hurriedly replied, "No problem, no problem. Even if you use them all, it's fine, let alone just two."

"Don't worry, I only want these, I won't take anything else."

As they were talking, Liang Qu had already walked out of the Treasure Vault, leaving Hu Yan Shijing and Lian Jingye stunned.

"Really not taking it?" Liang Qu turned around. "Aren't you leaving?"

"Let's go, let's go!"

The two quickly followed, closed the Treasury Gate, and walked out of the Earthly Dao.

"Arrange a Quiet Room for me. I need to process this now. Before I leave, make sure the boat is fully prepared and keep an eye on Cheng Chong."

"Don't worry, sir, everything will be safe and arranged properly!"

Lian Jingye and Hu Yan Shijing nodded repeatedly, and the two led Liang Qu to a Quiet Room in the mansion, just as they were about to leave.

Liang Qu stopped them and asked a question.

"Cheng Chong, what was he like before?"

Lian Jingye and Hu Yan Shijing hearing this.

"Very strong," Lian Jingye said. "Sir, you may not know this, but in the past, our Sand River Gang only had two Wolf Smoke Expert, one gang Gang Leader and one Gang Leader."

Throughout the entire Hua Zhu County, the influence of two Wolf Smoke Expert is among the most formidable.

"Where's the Second Gang Leader? Wasn't he Wolf Smoke?"

"Although the second Gang Leader holds the second position, his strength is only at the Galloping Horse Extreme Realm. He relies on his brotherhood with the Gang Leader, so many of his brothers are dissatisfied. The seeds of trouble were probably sown at that time."

Hu Yan Shijing added, "The Third Gang Leader is young and strong, reliable in handling affairs, rarely acts impulsively, doesn't even get close to women, and rarely does 'shady things' like the First and Second Gang Leader Gang Leader."

The two officials who came back then left the Third Gang Leader behind, I think, for this reason: once the Third Gang Leader takes control of the Sand River Gang, he can completely eliminate all the previous conflicts.

Lian Jingye frowned. "Speaking of which, it seems Cheng Chong didn't really want to kill us?"

"How so?"

Liang Qu, having never directly confronted Cheng Chong's power, was not entirely clear about his specific feelings and the pressure he faced.

"Looking back, Cheng Chong clearly had a way to unleash his power, but he didn't use several favorable opportunities during the fight."

Once a breach is made in our Azure Serpent Formation and two members die, its power will be greatly reduced.

Secondly, if the Gang Leader truly harbored resentment towards us, why didn't he deal with me and Vice Commander Huyan before today? Why not take them down one by one? Why wait for the higher-ups to come and settle things together? And now we're in this predicament?"

Hu Yan Shijing thought to himself, "If that's true, Cheng Yingjian is indeed very outstanding, polite, strong, and has a commanding presence."

I can understand the Third Gang Leader's grief over the loss of his Gang Leader, but given his character, he shouldn't be capable of such a drastic act as destroying a dam.

Is there anything else?

"Oh, it must have been after Ying Jian died that the Third Gang Leader moved into the small Thatched Hut, the one below the terraced fields on the back mountain. Ah! I should have noticed it back then, Ying Jian's features did resemble the Third Gang Leader more than the First Gang Leader."

"How could I have noticed... I thought Cheng Chong was just putting on a show. After all, the Sand River Gang 'loyal,' and Cheng Chong was just paying his respects to the Gang Leader and Second Gang Leader..."

Is there anything else?

"I can't think of anything else right now, that's all I have."

Me too.

"Then after you go out, keep thinking about it, write down all the unreasonable parts, and put them together for me."

"Don't worry, sir, I'll take care of it right away."

"Go out."

The two closed the door.

The candlelight flickered dimly.

Liang Qu sat cross-legged on a futon.

moment.

Liang Qu couldn't come up with a solution and immediately gave up.

He was the Dushui Official; gathering evidence and catching the culprit who destroyed the dike would be enough to earn him credit. As for whether there was a bigger conspiracy behind it, let the Three Laws Department handle that brain-draining task.

In fact, it did allow Yu Dayi of Hua Zhu Magistrate to jump halfway out of the mire.

On the surface, the River Conservancy Office failed to conduct a proper investigation, which led to Cheng Chong's destruction of the dike in retaliation, and therefore it should bear the main responsibility.

Lord Yu's oversight was ineffective, and he bears secondary responsibility. If he operates well and manages things properly, he might still be able to stay in officialdom.

Xu Yuelong, however, was in deep trouble.

Liang Qu exposed the Whale Gang, but Xu Yuelong beat Wei Lin to it by sending his own men to purge the entire Huaiyin Prefecture, taking advantage of the information gap to steal most of the credit.

At the time, Xu Yuelong was unparalleled in his prowess, far surpassing Wei Lin, the leader. As a Wei Shao, and a minor conflict arose before the auction, or rather, after he won the bid.

Who would have thought that such a filthy affair existed between the Third Gang Leader and the First Gang Leader?

It's not easy to get Great Merit...

The Liang Qu is in operation, Myriad Victory Embracing Oneness. Gather your thoughts and improve your state of mind.

A quarter of an hour later, Liang Qu, who had recovered most of his strength, took out the Zhu Fruit and the Jade Fruit.

The former is undoubtedly an aquatic plant, while the latter is questionable, belonging to both aquatic and terrestrial environments, and it is unknown whether it contains any Marsh Essence.

Liang Qu has now opened all five orifices, and is only one orifice away from reaching the middle realm perfection and generating Gang Qi.

He was not far from the sixth aperture before. Whether he had it or not, it was enough for him to take a big step forward!

Liang Qu wiped the fruit peel and swallowed the Zhu Fruit.

[Marsh Essence +1678]