Boss Qian and the Mysterious Man

Lu Xiaofeng woke up to find himself lying on a chair in a dimly lit room.

Two men stood before him: one, dressed in opulent clothing, looked somewhat familiar; the other was burly, with a scar across his face.

"You... you are... the boss of Datong Money House?"

The well-dressed man smiled and said, "Hero Lu has a good memory. However, I am not the boss of Datong Money House, but the chief manager of seventy-two money houses across the nation. My surname is Qian, and everyone calls me Boss Qian."

"Oh, it's you? You drugged me and brought me here. What do you want?"

Boss Qian's knees buckled, and he immediately knelt before Lu Xiaofeng, crying, "Hero Lu, please save me! In this Counterfeit Banknote Case, I am the biggest victim!"

Lu Xiaofeng couldn't accept such a gesture and quickly tried to help Boss Qian up. But Boss Qian stubbornly remained kneeling, continuing to weep and recount the immense impact of this counterfeit banknote case.

"Please save me, Hero Lu!"

Lu Xiaofeng had already agreed to investigate the matter, so he readily agreed again. After all, he still had a competition with Zhou Ming, and Boss Qian was closely related to this case, perhaps holding some unique information.

"Alright, I've always been more receptive to persuasion than force... Sigh, I promise to investigate this matter. Hurry and get up."

"Thank you, Hero Lu, thank you, Hero Lu!"

Boss Qian repeatedly expressed his gratitude.

Lu Xiaofeng asked, "Do you have any clues here?"

Boss Qian replied, "Ever since I learned of this matter, I've had my trusted men inspect the money house's banknotes. I haven't slept for three days and three nights, and there are no other clues."

Lu Xiaofeng had already noticed a table in the center of the room, with stacks of banknotes on it. He asked, "Are all of these it?"

"Yes, they are all banknotes with duplicate serial numbers. We can't tell the real ones from the fake ones, so we can only put them all here. There are over 400,000 taels! And this is just in the capital... Across seventy-two branches nationwide, who knows how many counterfeit banknotes there are in total!"

Lu Xiaofeng reached out and shuffled through the banknotes. Suddenly, his nose twitched, and he lowered his head to sniff around the table before picking out a banknote.

Seeing this, Boss Qian asked, "Hero Lu, is there something wrong with this banknote?"

"The smell!"

Lu Xiaofeng said, "When banknotes circulate, they inevitably pick up various smells from different places. But this banknote is very new, and the smell on it is incredibly clear, not mixed. This might be a banknote that was just manufactured not long ago and hasn't circulated much."

Boss Qian, also a martial artist, channeled his internal energy to his nostrils and sniffed. He indeed detected a smell.

"With banknotes, even the most extravagant spender would only keep them inside their clothes. But these banknotes carry such a deep and clear scent. That means these banknotes must have been kept in a specific environment for a long time!"

"Exactly! Clearly, a strong scent of wine, and also..."

Lu Xiaofeng took a deep sniff, his face showing a look of intoxication, "The scent of rouge! These two scents together... there must be fine wine and delicacies there, and many beautiful hostesses!"

The man beside him, Old Si, said in confusion, "Why must they be beautiful hostesses?"

Lu Xiaofeng said, "The scent of this rouge comes from the Great Yue Kingdom of the Western Regions, costing over a hundred taels a box. Do you think ordinary hostesses can afford it?"

Boss Qian asked, "But what's the use of that?"

Lu Xiaofeng said, "There's wine, there are beauties, and most importantly, there must be something that makes people take out these banknotes and leave them out for a long time. Preferably, it's a place full of temptation, where people spend lavishly, a place filled with the desire to consume! That's the key!"

Old Si said, "In the capital, there are many places like you described, but the latter kind, I'm afraid, would only be gambling houses. Gambling is completely banned in the capital. There might be some small underground gambling dens, but to combine them with the former two... Could it be Jile Tower?"

"Jile Tower? What Jile Tower?"

"Legend has it that outside the capital, there is a Jile Tower where all sorts of luxurious pleasures are provided. Many martial artists and wealthy merchants often go there to gamble heavily!"

Lu Xiaofeng asked, "Do you know where Jile Tower is?"

"No one knows where Jile Tower is. Legend says the tower can fly, arriving at night and flying away during the day."

"Oh..."

Lu Xiaofeng: "Do you know how to get there?"

"No."

"Hmm," Lu Xiaofeng stroked his mustache, a smile appearing on his face, "I remember someone. He must know."

As Lu Xiaofeng prepared to leave, Boss Qian quickly saw him off.

It turned out that this dark room was a secret chamber behind the money house.

Only after the figure of the other man completely disappeared from his sight did Boss Qian turn back into the room.

He couldn't help but laugh.

The performance he had just put on had only one purpose: to lead Lu Xiaofeng to Jile Tower.

The matter of the counterfeit banknotes had been exposed. Luo Ma and Boss Qian had devised a plan to sacrifice a pawn to save the king, abandoning Jile Tower to protect themselves.

However, a place like Jile Tower could not be mentioned by Luo Ma, an official. Thus, Boss Qian had to be the one to inform Lu Xiaofeng.

The plan went smoothly, which was naturally cause for celebration.

"Hehehehe..."

Boss Qian's gaze sharpened: "Who's laughing?"

He looked at Old Si, but Old Si looked back at him in surprise.

As their eyes met, they both felt a chill run down their spines. They looked around and discovered that a figure had appeared in the shadows of the secret room at some unknown time.

"Who... who are you?!"

Boss Qian's heart was filled with terror. Within this small, cramped secret chamber, with their combined strength, they could sense even the slightest disturbance.

Yet, neither of them had noticed that someone else was present!

When had he gotten here?!

"Who am I? Someone who is about to die, yet you're more concerned about who I am than your own fate?"

"About to die?!"

Boss Qian took two steps back, shielding his fourth subordinate in front of him.

"Are you here to kill me, sir?"

"Someone who is about to die isn't worth my effort."

"You keep saying 'about to die.' How come I don't know I'm going to die?"

Boss Qian slowly retreated, but felt a gust of wind brush past him. The figure had already appeared, blocking the entrance to the secret chamber.

This Qinggong!

Boss Qian's internal alarm bells went off, and he quickly retreated.

However, he no longer held any hope of escape.

With the opponent's Qinggong, even if they left the secret chamber, they would be caught in the blink of an eye.

Moreover, with such Qinggong, even if the opponent simply used a knife and slit their throats without any technique, they wouldn't be able to react.

Yet, the opponent had been talking to them all this time. This actually proved that the opponent wasn't here to kill him.

"Do you truly not know why you are going to die? It's enough to fool others, why try to fool yourself?"

Boss Qian certainly knew why the other person was saying this, as he had been doing only one thing these past few days.

"Are you implying... that Lu Xiaofeng will find out about me?"

"There are many people who gain fame by luck in this world, but Lu Xiaofeng is not one of them. The moment you drew him into your scheme, you essentially placed a knife around your own neck!"

The mysterious person said, "Of course, even if you hadn't used Lu Xiaofeng, you would have only died a little later. Six Doors needs evidence to make an arrest, but the Imperial Guards and the Eastern Depot... only need suspicion!"

Boss Qian naturally understood the meaning of these words.

If the matter wasn't resolved completely, even if they escaped once, they wouldn't be able to escape in the future.

Unless they stopped manufacturing counterfeit banknotes from now on.

At the same time, they understood that the truly ruthless forces in the imperial court acted without evidence. As long as there was suspicion, they would act immediately.

That was why Boss Qian had devised this plan with Luo Ma, to stop everything at the current stage, at the Six Doors stage.

"I presume a master like yourself wouldn't come to tell me this out of boredom? May I ask for your advice?"

"Heh heh, you are quick to react."

The mysterious person said, "I do have a way that can help you completely escape this predicament."

"What way?"

"To court death to find life!"

"Court death..." Boss Qian repeated, "...to find life?"

"That's right, just like..."

The figure suddenly moved, and in the next instant, appeared before the fourth subordinate.

Under the fourth subordinate's terrified gaze, a surge of true qi pierced through his throat.

Blood spurted out!

The mysterious person's voice slowly drifted over.

"...this..."