When Lu Xiaofeng woke up, he was lying on a chair in a dimly lit room.
Two men stood before him. One was richly dressed and looked somewhat familiar; the other was powerfully built, with a scar across his face.
"You... you are... the owner of Datong Money House?"
The richly dressed man smiled. "Hero Lu has a good memory. However, I am not the owner of Datong Money House. I am the chief manager of seventy-two money houses across the country. My surname is Qian, and everyone calls me Boss Qian."
"Oh, so it was you? You drugged me and brought me here. What do you want?"
Boss Qian's knees gave way, and he dropped to his knees before Lu Xiaofeng, weeping bitterly. "Hero Lu, please save me! In this Counterfeit Banknote Case, I am the greatest victim!"
How could Lu Xiaofeng accept such a display? He hurried to help Boss Qian up, but Boss Qian stubbornly remained on his knees, continuing to cry as he described the enormous impact of the counterfeit banknotes.
"Please, Hero Lu, save me!"
Lu Xiaofeng had already agreed to investigate the matter, so he readily assented. Besides, he still had to compete with Zhou Ming. Boss Qian was deeply involved in this matter and might know some unique information.
"All right. I've always been someone who responds to softness, not force... Sigh, I'll investigate this matter. Get up already."
"Thank you, Hero Lu! Thank you, Hero Lu!"
Boss Qian thanked him repeatedly.
Lu Xiaofeng asked, "Do you have any clues here?"
Boss Qian said, "Ever since I learned of this, I brought my trusted men to inspect the money house's banknotes. We have not slept for three days and three nights, but found no other clues."
Lu Xiaofeng had long noticed a table in the middle of the room, covered with stack upon stack of banknotes. He asked, "Are all of these...?"
"Yes. They are all banknotes with duplicate serial numbers. We cannot distinguish the real from the fake, so we can only put them all here. There are more than four hundred thousand taels' worth! And that is only in the capital... Across all seventy-two branches nationwide, who knows how many counterfeit banknotes there are?"
Lu Xiaofeng ran his hand through the many banknotes. Suddenly, his nose twitched. He lowered his head and sniffed around the table, then picked out a single banknote.
Seeing this, Boss Qian asked, "Hero Lu, is there something wrong with that banknote?"
"The smell!"
Lu Xiaofeng said, "As banknotes circulate, they inevitably pick up the scents of many different places. But this banknote is not only very new, its scent is also exceptionally clear, without any mingling. Perhaps it was made not long ago and has barely circulated."
Boss Qian was also a martial artist. He sent true qi into the tip of his nose and leaned closer to sniff. Sure enough, he caught the scent.
"Even someone who spends money like dirt would only keep banknotes inside their clothes. Yet these banknotes have absorbed such a deep, distinct scent. That means they must have remained in the same environment for a long time!"
"Exactly! Clearly, there is a strong aroma of wine, and also..."
Lu Xiaofeng took a deep sniff, an intoxicated look appearing on his face. "The scent of rouge! Put those two scents together... There must be fine wine and delicious food there, along with many beautiful girls to drink with the guests!"
Fourth Brother, standing beside them, asked in confusion, "Why must they be beautiful girls who drink with the guests?"
Lu Xiaofeng said, "This rouge fragrance comes from the Great Yue Kingdom of the Western Regions. A single box costs over a hundred taels. Do you think ordinary girls who drink with guests could afford it?"
Boss Qian asked, "But what use is that?"
Lu Xiaofeng said, "There is wine, there are beauties, and most importantly, there must be somewhere that makes people take out these banknotes and leave them exposed for long periods. Preferably a place full of temptation, one that makes people spend money like water and stirs up the urge to splurge—a den of extravagance! That is the key!"
Fourth Brother said, "There are plenty of places in the capital like the ones you mentioned earlier, but for the latter kind, I fear there are only gambling houses.
Under the Son of Heaven's feet, gambling is completely forbidden. There may be some underground gambling dens, but one that combines with the first two... Could it be Jile Tower?"
"Jile Tower? What Jile Tower?"
"It is said that outside the capital, there is a Jile Tower. It provides every kind of luxurious pleasure, and many martial artists and wealthy merchants often go there to gamble heavily!"
Lu Xiaofeng asked, "Then do you know where Jile Tower is?"
"No one knows where Jile Tower is. It is said that the tower can fly. It flies in at night and flies away during the day."
"Oh..."
Lu Xiaofeng asked, "Then do you know how to get there?"
"No."
"Hm." Lu Xiaofeng stroked his two mustaches and smiled. "I just thought of someone. He will definitely know."
As Lu Xiaofeng was about to leave, Boss Qian hurriedly saw him out.
It turned out that this dark room was a secret chamber behind the money house.
Only after Lu Xiaofeng's back had completely vanished from his sight did Boss Qian turn and return to the room.
He could not help but smile.
There had been only one purpose behind that performance just now: to steer Lu Xiaofeng toward Jile Tower.
The counterfeit banknote matter had already been exposed. Luo Ma and Boss Qian had devised a plan to sacrifice the rook and save the king, abandoning Jile Tower to protect themselves.
But a place like Jile Tower could naturally not be mentioned by Luo Ma, an officer of the law. That left Boss Qian to act and tell Lu Xiaofeng about it.
Everything had gone according to plan, so naturally he had reason to be pleased.
"Hehehe..."
Boss Qian's gaze sharpened. "Who is laughing?"
He looked at Fourth Brother, only to find Fourth Brother staring back at him in surprise.
Their eyes met, and both felt a chill run through their hearts. Looking around, they discovered that at some point, a figure had appeared in the shadows of the secret chamber.
"Y-you... who are you?!"
Boss Qian was horrified. This secret chamber was tiny, and with the abilities of the two of them, they could notice even the slightest movement.
Yet neither of them had sensed that there was another person here!
When had he arrived?!
"Who am I? A man about to die does not care about his own fate, but instead worries about who I am?"
"A man about to die?!"
Boss Qian quietly retreated two steps, moving Fourth Brother in front of him.
"Have you come to kill me, sir?"
"A man about to die is not worth my taking action."
"You call me a man about to die with every other word. How come I did not know I was going to die?"
Boss Qian slowly backed away, only to feel something flash past him. The figure was already blocking the door to the secret chamber.
This lightness skill!
Alarm bells rang in Boss Qian's heart, and he hurriedly retreated.
Yet he had already given up any hope of escape.
With the other man's lightness skill, even if they left the secret chamber, they would be caught in the blink of an eye.
And with such lightness skill, even if the man merely held a knife and slashed across their throats without any technique at all, they would not have time to react.
Yet the man had kept wasting words on them. That instead proved he did not intend to kill him.
"Do you truly not know why you are going to die? It is enough to deceive others. Why deceive yourself as well?"
Of course Boss Qian knew why the man said this. After all, he had done only one thing these past few days.
"Do you mean... Lu Xiaofeng will trace it back to me?"
Many people became famous through luck, but Lu Xiaofeng was absolutely not one of them. The moment you drew him into this game, it was as good as placing a blade against your own neck with your own hands!"
The mysterious man said, "Of course, even if you had not used Lu Xiaofeng, you would merely have died a little later. Six Doors needs evidence to make an arrest, but the Imperial Guards and the Eastern Depot... suspicion alone is enough!"
Boss Qian naturally understood what he meant.
Unless this matter was thoroughly resolved, even if they escaped once, they would not be able to escape forever.
Unless they never made counterfeit banknotes again.
At the same time, they also knew that the truly ruthless powers in the imperial court did not care about evidence at all. As long as there was suspicion, they would act immediately.
That was why Boss Qian and Luo Ma had made this plan: to end everything here and now, while the matter was still in the hands of Six Doors.
"A master such as yourself surely did not come here merely to tell me all this out of boredom. May I ask what advice you have?"
"Hehe, you are quick to react."
The mysterious man said, "I do have a way to let you completely free yourself from all this."
"What way?"
"Live only after being driven into death!"
"Driven into death..." Boss Qian repeated. "...and then live?"
"Exactly. Like..."
The figure suddenly moved, and in the next instant, he was already before Fourth Brother.
Under Fourth Brother's terrified gaze, a stream of true qi pierced through his throat.
Blood burst forth!
Only then did the mysterious man's voice drift over.
"...this..."
Before you continue