"Three young masters, please do not mind this humble tea."
In the reception hall, Xia'er poured tea for the three of them and spoke softly. Her gaze could not help but fall on Hua Manlou's face, as though she wanted to say something but hesitated.
The moment Lu Xiaofeng saw this, he knew he should not stay and get in their way. He quickly said, "Come to think of it, I still haven't offered incense to the Buddha."
He rose to his feet. "I'll go make up for it now."
Without waiting for the others to react, he strode out of the reception hall. With a burst of qinggong, he vanished from sight.
Zhou Ming naturally had no desire to stay and play the third wheel either. "Ah, I'll go too."
He left as well.
But once outside, Lu Xiaofeng was already nowhere to be seen.
Although he had long left a mark on Lu Xiaofeng and knew where he was, he was in no hurry to find him. He simply wandered leisurely through the temple.
He ran straight into Boss Qian.
"You... Young Master Zhou..."
Zhou Ming had never met Boss Qian, but Boss Qian knew him.
Or rather, anyone in the capital with even a little standing was bound to possess a portrait of Zhou Ming.
It was to avoid offending someone they should never offend one day.
Boss Qian naturally had one as well, so he recognized him at once.
Zhou Ming waved a hand. "I'm just here for a stroll. Hua Manlou is behind me."
"So Young Master Zhou knows me as well. How discourteous, how discourteous."
With that, he hurried away.
Hall of Rebirth.
This was where the ancestral tablets of believers' forebears were enshrined.
Believers placed their ancestors' tablets here to bask in the Buddha's light, to help their ancestors pass on, hear the Buddhist teachings, and escape the suffering of the six paths of reincarnation.
Lu Xiaofeng's gaze drifted back and forth among the many tablets before suddenly settling on one.
It read, "Late Father Yue Qing."
And before the tablet lay a string of prayer beads.
Lu Xiaofeng leaned closer, then took out the prayer beads in his own hand to compare them. As expected, they were exactly the same.
A voice sounded behind him. "Yue Qing's tablet? What clue is there here?"
Lu Xiaofeng turned around and said helplessly, "Why are you haunting me? Why are you always following me?"
Zhou Ming said, "Of course. We're competing now. We're rivals. The more clues I get from you, the better my odds of winning."
"Shameless!"
Lu Xiaofeng set down the prayer beads. "Do whatever you like, but stop following me."
With that, he turned and left. Zhou Ming did not follow him again, seemingly drawn to the prayer beads and staying behind for the moment.
Lu Xiaofeng had already seen what he wanted to see, so he turned back to find Hua Manlou.
Yet he saw several people standing outside those rooms. One was a burly man with a scar across his face, Boss Qian's trusted man, Fourth Brother!
He stood at the door, idly scratching his neck. When he saw Lu Xiaofeng approach, he said, "Young Master Lu."
"Oh? Boss Qian came?"
"Yes, he is inside discussing matters with the young master."
Lu Xiaofeng nodded. The young master of the money house had come to visit his wife and daughter, so it was only natural for Boss Qian to rush over.
Hearing the voice outside, Boss Qian took the initiative to come out and welcome Lu Xiaofeng in.
After closing the door, Boss Qian asked, "Hero Lu, have you found any clues?"
Lu Xiaofeng said, "I went to Jile Tower last night. It is packed with mechanisms and heavily guarded, so I found nothing."
"This..."
Boss Qian glanced at Hua Manlou and said, "In that case, Hero Lu, I will go with you tonight!"
He put on the appearance of doing everything in his power for the money house in front of the young master.
Lu Xiaofeng's eyes flickered. "All right!"
After discussing it, they decided to go to Six Doors at dusk to find Jiang Long and Luo Ma and coordinate their actions.
Lu Xiaofeng had not slept all night. Though his martial arts were formidable and such fatigue meant little to him, they would be going to Jile Tower after nightfall, and who knew what might happen. So he went to rest first.
At dusk, the two met at Six Doors.
Jiang Long and Luo Ma had led a large number of constables in a day-long search, yet they had indeed found no trace whatsoever.
Upon hearing their plan, they were naturally delighted and immediately agreed to cooperate.
Night fell.
Lu Xiaofeng led Boss Qian and used the same method to climb into a coffin.
Before long, someone came to seal the coffin and carry them toward Jile Tower.
Behind them, Jiang Long and Luo Ma each led a group of constables in secret pursuit.
Then, as they followed, they suddenly realized they had lost them.
Night was different from day, and the coffin bearers were all martial artists with sharp eyes and keen ears, so they could not follow too closely.
All the way, they had been tracking not the people themselves, but the traces they left behind.
But once they reached this place, there were no signs of passage anywhere around them.
Naturally, they had lost the trail.
"Sigh!" Jiang Long let out a heavy sigh.
Inside Jile Tower.
Though it was not Boss Qian's first time here, he acted as if it were.
He walked to a gambling table in the middle of the first floor, looked it over twice, then took out a banknote from his robes. "I bet on big!"
The masked dealer smiled. "Guest, the rules of Jile Tower are that only gold, silver, and jewels may be wagered. We do not accept banknotes."
"You don't accept banknotes? Why not?!"
Boss Qian shouted, "The banknote in my hand is genuine, not counterfeit. Why won't you take it?"
His shouting drew the attention of most of the guests in the tower.
"Rules are rules!"
"What kind of rule is that? Do you suspect my banknote is counterfeit?!"
Boss Qian tore off his mask and shouted, "Take a good look! I am Boss Qian of Datong Money House! Could the banknotes in my hand possibly be fake?!"
"Boss Qian?"
"Why has he come to Jile Tower too?"
"Now this is getting interesting!"
There was never any shortage of people who enjoyed a spectacle, especially among those who had come to Jile Tower seeking amusement.
For a time, everyone stopped what they were doing and crowded around, eager to see how Jile Tower would resolve this.
"Hahaha..."
Amid a burst of laughter, the master of Jile Tower approached with several people and laughed. "So it is Boss Qian of Datong Money House. I never expected you to honor Jile Tower with your presence. It truly brings glory to our humble establishment! Very well, we naturally must give Boss Qian face.
But Jile Tower's rules cannot be broken. If Boss Qian insists on gambling with banknotes, it is not impossible, but he can only gamble with me!"
"Then let's gamble! Who's afraid of whom?!"
"Good! Clear the table!"
The master of Jile Tower immediately had his men clear a table, and he and Boss Qian took seats opposite one another.
One was the head manager of Datong Money House, while the other was the mysterious master of Jile Tower.
Their gamble drew everyone in the tower closer to watch.
Seeing this, Lu Xiaofeng slipped away without a sound.
Jile Tower was full of mechanisms. Lu Xiaofeng had already understood that this tower was likely the work of Yue Qing from the Luban Divine Axe Sect.
Of course, it could also have been Yue Qing's daughter.
But since they came from the same school, they would naturally share similar ideas when constructing such a large building.
Lu Xiaofeng had grown up with Zhu Ting, and through constant exposure, he knew quite a bit about such things.
Based on his knowledge, he moved lightly through the tower and soon found a secret chamber.
Just as he was about to open it...
"Don't move!"
Lu Xiaofeng indeed did not move. Turning around, he was already smiling. "Miss Wuyan, why are you here?"
"That should be my question..."
Wuyan smiled. "I saw you leave the crowd just now. Getting in here is not so simple. If you open the mechanism on the door incorrectly, all of Jile Tower will know."
"Miss Wuyan means..."
Wuyan smiled faintly, then removed a pearl hairpin from her head and inserted it into the mechanism on the door. After adjusting it twice, the mechanism door actually opened.
"Impressive! Wuyan... no, Miss Yue, you truly are remarkable."
Wuyan was startled. "You... you saw my father's tablet?"
"Yes."
Lu Xiaofeng nodded. "Only then did I learn that you are Yue Qing's daughter."
Wuyan said, "My father was held hostage by villains and, with no other choice, committed many wrongs. As for me, because I had some beauty, I was kept here to entertain men with smiles... Hero Lu is famed throughout the land. I do not know whether you can destroy Jile Tower, but I know this may be the only chance I will ever have..."
Lu Xiaofeng hurriedly said, "Miss Yue, rest assured. So long as we find conclusive evidence, Jile Tower will not survive many more days!"
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