Resolve (Part 1)

"An old friend? What old friend? Where's the visiting card?" Zhang Rongfang composed himself and looked at the old Daoist priest.

These old Daoist priests were all recently recruited and were wandering Daoist priests who did odd jobs in the temple.

Although they are just itinerant monks, they still know a little about some basic Daoist classics. With a little training, they can even use this knowledge to persuade worshippers to donate money.

"Here it is." The old Daoist priest presented the visiting card with both hands.

Chen Han stepped forward, took the paper, unfolded it, smelled it, and touched the paper to make sure there was no problem before handing it over to Zhang Rongfang.

After receiving the visiting card, Zhang Rongfang glanced at the handwriting on it.

"Tanyang's Sun Family? Sun Qinghong? Sun Chaoyue's father?" He immediately recalled Sun Chaoyue, the chairman of the conference, whom he had met a few days ago.

That proud and Spirit Person woman, as elegant as a red rose.

The invitation stated that if he agreed, Sun Qinghong would personally visit him at 4 PM tomorrow.

"Daozi, should we accept?" the old Daoist asked in a low voice. "The person who sent the invitation is still waiting outside."

Zhang Rongfang shook his head.

"Although they are old acquaintances, the Tanyang Sun Family is of no value to me. Meeting them would be a waste of time. I'll turn them away."

Sun Chaoyue wasn't familiar with him; she had only greeted him briefly. She never expected that this family would take advantage of the situation and try to climb up the social ladder.

In addition, Sun Chaoyue's father, he remembered, was Ninth Grade Prefect.

Once upon a time, Ninth Grade expert was an unattainable top master in his eyes.

But now, that's just how it is.

In his position.

Even Ninth Grade wouldn't be qualified to be his bodyguard.

Below the Ninth Grade and above the Ninth Grade are already two different worlds.

***Inside a post station on the outer ring road of Citong.

Two strong men and women, wearing black veiled hats and dark green outfits, entered the inn and checked in, their hands on their waist knives.

The innkeeper led the two up to the second floor, where they opened the door to a large room in the corner.

As soon as the two entered, they closed the door behind them and quickly began to check their surroundings.

After confirming that there were no problems, the two went to the dining table.

The woman took out a large scroll, more than a meter long, from behind her back. When the scroll was unfurled, it depicted three wanted portraits.

"Sir, I have just received news from the yamen that someone seems to have secretly reported to the yamen the whereabouts of fugitive Sun Qinghong."

She pointed to one of the portraits.

"Goodness, this family really knows how to escape." Another man looked at the portrait on the table in surprise.

"In that case, we'll come and arrest him tomorrow," the man said solemnly.

"I'm afraid that won't work." The woman shook her head. "Although the Sun Family is in decline now, according to the information I've received, the Sun Family seems to have some connection with the newly appointed Guardian."

"Hiss Zhang Ying Zhang Shoujiao?!" The man gasped.

"That's right." The woman nodded.

"That's really troublesome. How did you get this information?" the man asked quickly.

"It was our fellow practitioners here who saw it while they were looking after an important person. Zhang Shoujiao was on the street, talking to the Sun Family."

"They made a note of it and then gave it to me beforehand," the woman replied.

"This is troublesome," the man frowned.

His name was Xue Zicun. He came from the Snow Rainbow Pavilion.

However, unlike many other experts in the Snow Rainbow Pavilion, he did not engage in protection work.

Instead, they were conducting a manhunt.

Pursue wanted criminals listed in various regions.

But even if he didn't take any protective measures, he had heard about what happened before.

"Dao Child Zhang Ying, Zhang Shoujiao of the Great Dao Sect. He is no ordinary person."

Many people were implicated in the case of Princess Yongxiang's disappearance, but Citong was the only one who escaped unscathed.

Not only was he unharmed, but he was Returning Cause promoted, effectively gaining the power of a full-fledged position instead of a deputy one.

After a pause, Xue Zicun shook his head.

"If such a powerful figure, who could remain uninvolved even when a princess went missing, truly has connections to the Sun Family, then..."

"My lord, perhaps we should wait a little longer? Let's ascertain whether the Sun Family has any connection with this Daozi. If there is no connection, then arrest him directly. If there is a connection, then observe for the time being."

Anyway, Sun Qinghong was badly injured by us last time, so he can't get far." The woman replied quickly.

"That works too." Xue Zicun nodded.

*** Mingjing Medicine Store, the largest pharmacy in Citong.

Outside the gate, many sailors were carefully using trailers to push carts, carrying large sacks of medicinal herbs out.

The pharmacy's retail store.

Sun Chaoyue was covered in sweat after finishing her martial arts practice and came here to buy the medicine her father needed.

She wore a very short gray-white short-sleeved shirt and shorts, revealing her fair thighs and arms, and a fitted dark green trench coat over it, covering most of her exposed skin.

Practicing martial arts requires loose and unrestricted clothing, so she usually likes to wear very little to prevent sweat from soaking through and making her clothes stick to her body uncomfortably.

However, this makes the attire for practicing martial arts alone too revealing, with short sleeves and shorts barely covering the three vital points.

So to prevent any wardrobe malfunction, she put on an outer trench coat.

This kind of attire is very common among female martial artists.

A trench coat is generally used to protect the body from cold and wind after sweating.

Sun Chaoyue counted the remaining money in her purse.

After almost falling into the predicament of not being able to afford even juice.

She eventually went back and returned the hairpin she had bought for her birthday.

Now that she's undocumented, she can't work and earn money, so she's just living off her savings. She has to try her best to save money.

But that hairpin only cost two taels of silver, compared to when I was in Tanyang.

Back then, she would casually use incense costing hundreds of taels of silver.

The stark contrast between the current situation and the fact that even a two-tael silver hair accessory is a birthday gift now fills Sun Chaoyue with a pang of sadness.

"Little Yue, you're here to buy the medicine from last time again? I've prepared it all for you."

The voice of the pharmacy clerk pulled her back to reality from her thoughts.

Composing herself, Sun Chaoyue nodded.

"Hmm, I'll take three sets this time." She took out her money pouch, counted out twenty taels of silver, placed it on the counter, and pushed it over.

My father's injury is troublesome. He was beaten before, and if he had taken medicine quickly at the time, it wouldn't be so difficult to treat.

The key point is that, in order to avoid being pursued further, the father held his breath and hid in the mud.

As a result, the wound became inflamed and infected. He then forced himself to endure the illness and led the group on a several-day escape, which eventually caused the root of the disease to penetrate deep into his internal organs.

Sun Chaoyue watched as the shop assistant picked up the silver coins and weighed them on a small scale. Then he began to place the three packets of medicinal herbs wrapped in yellow paper in front of her.

This was the last bit of money they had. In fact, their family had been broke for a long time. If it weren't for the help from the thugs who tried to harass her, she wouldn't even have been able to afford the medicine this time.

What's worse recently is that the security situation in the entire Ci Tong Port has suddenly become so bad that people don't pick up lost items on the road and don't lock their doors at night.

The streets were filled with patrolling officers and constables.

Not to mention petty thugs, there wasn't even a drunkard lying on the ground.

The sailors who usually drank and caused trouble have also disappeared recently.

Occasionally, someone would be dragged away and whipped.

This lack of security has cut off Sun Chaoyue's last source of extra income. Picking up the medicine bag, she sighed softly and turned to leave.

"Huh? We meet again?"

Inside the shop, the short, stout shopkeeper, along with several others, was slowly approaching, accompanied by a tall, burly man.

The man glanced over, a look of surprise on his face.

Sun Chaoyue was also surprised that they would meet again by chance not long after.

"Zhang Ying?" She recognized the man.

"You're here to buy medicine too?" She didn't know what to say.

Instinctively, she tightened her trench coat to cover the corset that was showing underneath.

It seemed that this action could alleviate her tension a little.

"Hmm. Is something wrong at your family? Do you need any help? I happen to have some spare capacity here." Zhang Rongfang glanced at Sun Chaoyue's attire.

A linen trench coat costing several hundred coins, and long, glossy black hair Qing Su it was adorned with only a wooden hairpin.

The shoes on my feet were worn-out sheepskin ankle boots with slightly yellowed edges. Looking up from the boots, I could see that the edges of the socks inside were also a bit torn.

Based on the previous visiting card from Sun Qinghong of the Sun Family, Zhang Rongfang immediately made a connection.

He never imagined that Sun Chaoyue, the young lady of Tanyang, would end up in such a state.

I originally thought that even if the Sun Family had declined, they were still Spirit Noble and Martial Cultivator, so they couldn't be that bad.

But now it seems that he misunderstood.

Zhang Rongfang changed his mind; he hadn't expected Sun Chaoyue to act this way.

Thinking that since they had at least met and were somewhat connected through Li Huoyun, it would be good to lend a hand.

That's what he thought, and that's what he did.

As long as it's not too troublesome, most things are just a matter of a word to him now.

Sun Chaoyue gently gritted her teeth.

"Are you misunderstanding something?"

She raised her pretty face and gave a natural smile.

"I just came back from martial arts training, and I'm just wearing some old clothes that I used to wear, so I guess I'm just making use of them."

We have indeed encountered some difficulties recently, but my Sun Family has not fallen to the point of accepting charity from others.

She looked at Zhang Rongfang, a final trace of stubbornness in her eyes.

"Thank you for your kindness. By the way, you don't think that I, a dignified Fourth Grade- rank Martial Cultivator, can't even earn a decent set of clothes, do you?"

"Is that so? That's good. Indeed, with Chairman Sun's talent, it's unlikely. I misspoke." Zhang Rongfang nodded.

"It's alright, you meant well. I'll be going now." Sun Chaoyue returned the smile.

The Sun Family's involvement with Secret Teaching is a serious matter, even for ordinary people.

Although she appreciated Zhang Ying's kindness, she did not want to involve others because of her own affairs.

She didn't know Zhang Ying's current situation, but regardless of her identity, once she was involved with the Secret Teaching, it would definitely cause trouble.

The Sun Family was once a powerful Prefect, but in the end, they all fell to this state.

Thinking of this, Sun Chaoyue strode out of the pharmacy without looking back, her steps quickening until she disappeared into the crowd, vanishing without a trace.

Zhang Rongfang looked away and continued to ask the pharmacy owner about the medicinal herbs he needed.

Having finished his previous Grain Avoidance Pill, he needed to purchase new raw materials and refine another batch.

As for Sun Chaoyue, it was indeed just a chance encounter.

His offer of help was merely a momentary impulse, as it was a rare opportunity to meet a fellow townsman named Tanyang in Citong.

Since the other party doesn't need it, he shouldn't offer it to them.

He quickly forgot about it.

***laugh.

The oil lamp flickered slightly in the night, and a little water boiled.

Sun Qinghong coughed twice and rubbed her stomach, which she had just finished taking medicine.

As the medication gradually took effect, the pain in the wounds on my back and abdomen slowly subsided.

The words of Tong Haocun, the head of the Tong Family, were still echoing in his mind.

The Sun Family has truly reached a dead end.

He had always had doubts.

The Tong Family was involved in that ship owner fraud case.

His money and jewelry, his savings of so many years, all vanished overnight.

Without evidence, he couldn't say anything, nor did he dare to.

However, Tong Haocun had previously mentioned that Snow Rainbow Pavilion's pursuers had already arrived in Citong and could come knocking on their door at any time.

Those damned Spirit Guard are the murderers who left such a severe wound on him.

If they discover where I am hiding... I'm afraid...