Tiger, Leopard, Jackal, Wolf

"The Profound Heaven Sword Intent is something the Divine Sect doesn't care about background, only merit. They accept even barbarians and wild beasts, which is why it's often looked down upon by the orthodox sects of the Central Plains. Although the Nine Great Xuan Sects also don't care about background when choosing disciples, only aptitude and personality, shouldn't they at least choose people from the Central Plains?"

And frankly, it's not that I'm being discriminatory, but the selection criteria for disciples in the Xuanmen sect are indeed quite strict. Let alone those barbarians and non-Han people, even many demonic Divine Beast that have taken human form lack the necessary aptitude, and some are even illiterate. Who has the time or inclination to raise them from scratch?

The proper ancient mystical sects wouldn't even consider those with the lowest three grades of talent; they wouldn't have time to train such worthless trash.

... I'm so lucky I'm not trash...

However, considering that these reclusive immortals in the remote mountains can't even find many disciples among the people of the Central Plains, and they also need to cultivate the Five Arts, it's normal that illiterate aliens and outcasts don't meet the standards. And looking at the Profound Heaven Sword Intent's "I'm not targeting you, I'm saying all of you are trash" attitude, it's no wonder so many rogue cultivators and powerful families are begging to join the Ink Bamboo Mountain to cultivate the Great Dao. The Xuanmen truly looks down on them...

"Profound Heaven Sword Intent, in short, if you see things aren't going your way, just skin yourself alive and claim to be a protector of the Divine Cult. The Li Country won't dare to touch you."

Peeling off his skin is one thing! If he saw the person opposite him and peeled off his own skin, he'd be too scared to move! And can't we use a spell that doesn't sound so painful?

At this moment, the Si Nan in my hand started jumping back and forth again.

Li Fan quickly came to his senses and realized that he had been secretly learning the Divine Cult's extraordinary skills and had already arrived at the West Market by following the oxcart.

The West Market was clearly dominated by people wearing straw sandals; it was a melting pot of Three Religions and Nine Schools sorts of people, and their waist badges were quite impressive. The streets were teeming with people, and caravans of merchants and pack animals came and went in a constant stream, even more crowded than the East Market. Perhaps the East Market was designed to serve the aristocratic families, while the West Market was mainly geared towards merchants and ordinary people.

Meanwhile, Si Nan kept pointing at the oxcart heading north and then jumping towards the market to the west. Li Fan frowned as he looked and found that the oxcart was still there, but the eunuch who had been following him all the way around most of Changsi City had disappeared again!

They actually went their separate ways... does that mean their paths diverged, and they have to choose based on chance?

Hmph, I want them all!

Li Fan thought for a moment, then reached into his sleeve and pulled out Kun. "Sword Intent, you and Kun go follow that Nascent Soul Stage. I'll go catch that 'handler'."

Kun can move freely in and out of various barrier formations, while the Profound Heaven Sword Intent seems to be able to shield the Divine Sense of Nascent Soul Stage cultivator. These two, working together, managed to steal furnace slag from the sword furnace in Ink Bamboo Mountain for a month without anyone noticing. If they followed them to carry out espionage, escaping shouldn't be a problem.

Li Fan had followed the eunuch all the way and was quite certain that the eunuch was only at the basic Foundation Establishment, not even at the Perfected Realm yet, so capturing and interrogating him would be a piece of cake.

The Profound Heaven Sword Intent was fine, but it seemed to be bored and quite interested in how things would develop. 'Come on! Catch up with the oxcart ahead!' it said, sticking to Kun's head.

Kun stared at Li Fan with wide eyes.

"Sigh, I'll buy you tofu, okay?" Li Fan knew it too well.

Seeing that Li Fan had been tamed, Kun nodded in satisfaction and swam away, then turned back halfway and added a sentence.

'Kun, that thing just flashed.'

Then it swam away again.

Huh? What do you mean by "that thing" or "this thing"?

Li Fan was stunned for a long time, fumbling in his sleeves for a while before he realized what Kun was talking about.

It probably refers to the 'Rubik's Cube'.

Holding the Rubik's Cube in my hand, although it didn't 'shine' as Kun had described, it was quite obvious that it had changed color.

It's still black, but there are clear differences between different shades of black. Especially when comparing individual squares and irregular patches, you can immediately tell that some black patches are not the same kind of black as the others...

Li Fan stared at the black magic for a while, fiddled around with it for a bit, but there was no reaction.

"..."

Forget it, I can't figure it out. I've taken on just too many tasks to manage. I'll just take them one at a time.

To avoid missing any more flashes of light, Li Fan held a Rubik's Cube in one hand, a compass in Si Nan other, a sword case in one hand, and took out the Immortal Binding Rope he had bought from the Heavenly Clothes with the other, tracking the attendant eunuch all the way through the West Market.

He wasn't going to follow this guy around anymore. He planned to find a quiet alley, pounce on him, tie him up, put him in his Heaven and Earth Sleeve, and then interrogate him slowly.

Hey, you know what, this guy seems to have really heard Li Fan's thoughts, and he made his way through the alleys with fewer people.

Li Fan then beamed with joy, activated his Unknown Face, and then pulled out seven or eight hands from his sleeves, grinning as he prepared to rush over, hug the person, and tie them up.

Then the eunuch stopped in his tracks. "You've been following me for so long, come out now, stop hiding."

Trap!?

Li Fan was startled, quickly retracting his hands into his sleeves. He turned and leaped backward onto the wall beside him, about to draw his sword case and kill...

Then a voice came from the other end of the alley.

"You actually managed to detect me?"

Li Fan suddenly turned his head, shocked!

There was someone following him! It was someone who also wore Unknown Face and a bamboo hat, had deactivated their invisibility talisman, and was wearing a cloak; judging from their voice, they were women!

Yeah, how did you find out? He didn't even notice!

"Heh heh, using your Divine Sense to probe my master is a grave offense of overstepping your bounds. Only ignorant people like you from the southern mountains would dare to be so disrespectful in the Jingji." The eunuch turned around, smiling effeminately at the woman. "But you, a country bumpkin, are so impolite, using magic to probe the carriage. You probably don't know who my master is, do you?"

Could it be, as the master says, that they've come for me? Have I somehow offended you, or rather, have I offended the people of the mountains?"

"This matter has nothing to do with the mountains, and I don't want to offend your master. I just have some private family matters to discuss with you." The woman wearing a straw hat and cloak was not flustered; she simply blocked the exit of the alley.

To his surprise, someone else had intercepted his plan. Li Fan narrowed his eyes and decided to eavesdrop for a while longer, planning to tie them both up later and take them all.

"Hmph, is it really just about asking about someone?" the eunuch said with a smile. "Well, you're in luck today. I have urgent business to attend to and don't have time to waste with you. Just ask what you need to ask."

So the woman nodded. "I want to know the details about Tiger Leopard Jackal Wolf."

Tiger Leopard Jackal Wolf?

Li Fan frowned. He seemed to be one of the four great dudes, right? He happened to be asking about the Guo family with his maid, and said that Guo Er was the leopard...

Suddenly, one of the squares on the Rubik's Cube in his hand lit up!

Li Fan nearly had a heart attack from fright and hurriedly covered his face with his hand, almost drawing his sword to kill someone. Fortunately, the two people at the bottom of the alley seemed to be blind, not seeing the light emitted by the Rubik's Cube at all, and completely unaware of Li Fan's presence.

"Tiger Leopard Jackal Wolf?" The eunuch's smile widened. "You don't even know their background? Are they really just people from the mountains of the south?"

The woman shook her head. "You don't need to test me. I've already said it has nothing to do with the mountains or your master. I'm just investigating some things and happened to find out about your background. Once I've ascertained the person in charge, I'll naturally go find him without interfering with your urgent matters."

The eunuch smiled and remained silent for a moment before speaking, "Tiger Leopard Jackal Wolf, jackals, and wolves—everyone knows them; the Four Young Masters of the Jingji."

The woman shook her head again, "I know, the four most notorious playboys of Changsi City. Don't try to fool me with your facade. I found out about you because I want to know what they really do! Some things aren't things ordinary playboys can do! What's their background?"

The eunuch laughed even more heartily, "Oh~~ you really are a country bumpkin who doesn't know anything. That's good, at least you're not stupid. When you had a conflict with the Four Young Masters, instead of rushing to your death, you knew to find a local first and find out their background."

"Alright, as a local, I'll tell you, a country bumpkin from out of town, about the open secrets of Changsi City."

Then the smile on the chamberlain's face disappeared, "They are the four young masters, not the four great dandies, but the leaders of the dandies. They are the destined leaders of the younger generation of Gyeonggi Province."

Li Fan and the woman were both stunned for a moment, "... The future leader of the younger generation?"

The eunuch cupped his hands towards the northwest and said, "To be frank, that person hasn't been involved in affairs for a long time. The people in the mountains, the palace, the immortals, the family, and the academy are constantly fighting and restraining each other, so naturally nothing can be accomplished. But some things have to be done by someone, Four Young Masters are the ones who handle things outside the city for those people in the city."

The villain is also this kind of person, and the four of them are the leaders of our kind. Hehe, it's common for people like us to be secretly harmed and disappear without a trace. Just relying on our background, without any means or abilities, we can't win people over.

But the four of them did it, and everyone knows it.

The simplest example is Changsi City, centered around Vermilion Bird Street. The eastern part of the city is a gathering place for noble Guo Bao and powerful clans, and Guo Bao, the eldest son of the Guo Family, is in charge of the eastern part of the city. The Grand Tutor Guo family, needless to say, is a powerful clan and noble family that all follow his lead. Whatever they want to do, Guo Bao can arrange it with just a few drinks.

But only the nobles in a corner of the city give Guo Bao face; his methods don't apply to all parts of Changsi City. That's why people like me are there to run errands and coordinate with all parties to get things done."

Li Fan seemed to understand something. The Guo Family was indeed the leader of the nobles and the Outer Sect. Guo Bao or Guo Zhao, although not the eldest son of the main wife, were still the eldest sons of the main wife. Although their official positions were not high, they could freely enter and leave the East Palace. It seemed that they were indeed the middlemen and white gloves connecting the East Palace, the nobles, the Outer Sect of Ink Bamboo Mountain, and various forces in the outer city.

But his words don't always carry weight. Power is something invisible and intangible. Every group has its own set of principles and its own powerful followers. Even a powerful dragon can't suppress a local snake.

If you want to dominate Changsi City, you don't actually need to wield two watermelon knives and fight your way from Guangzhaifang to the South Gate to prove your martial prowess. The city guards patrolling there will just hold you down first, okay?

The circles in the Central Plains value civility and politeness. Often, powerful and influential people don't need to actually use knives and guns or take action themselves. In fact, as long as they find some "errand boys" to pass on messages to their respective masters, run errands around the city, and relay a few words, they can get many things done.

Or conversely, if you don't understand the underlying rules and intricacies, and can't get in touch with the right people, the right methods, and the right forces beforehand, then you probably won't be able to accomplish anything in this chaotic metropolis.

The eunuch laughed again, "The east of the city is the territory of the nobles, while the west of the city is naturally inhabited by the common people. But in addition to the east-west division, Changsi City is also divided into north and south. This is simply because the Imperial City is in the north, and the closer one is to the Imperial City, the more powerful one becomes."

For example, the northeastern part of the city was inhabited by powerful families like the Guo Family, who had been wealthy and influential for generations. Some idle officials and disillusioned scholars lived in the southeast. Of course, some imperial relatives also lived in the southeast. After all, given their status, it was not appropriate to let them live too close to the Imperial City, lest it appear too favored and give rise to inappropriate thoughts. Therefore, the situation in each ward of the eastern city could not be generalized, but in general, it was well-ordered, depending on status, family background, and social standing.

The north and south of the western city were clearly divided. The West Market marked the boundary. The northwest of the city was inhabited by newly promoted nobles from humble backgrounds, including powerful local figures, foreign merchants, newly established aristocratic families, courtiers despised by the nobility, and imperial guards who fawned over powerful eunuchs. Of course, the most luxurious mansions belonged to the eunuchs in the Liqiu Palace.

The most powerful eunuch in the Li Country should be the Grand Eunuch in charge of the Imperial Seal in the Liqiu Palace. However, the inner and outer courts are different. High-ranking eunuchs do not actually have as much power as those who are favored by their masters. When the Guangling Heir was alive, the affairs of state were always handled by the Crown Prince. Therefore, the current leaders of the eunuchs are actually the group of inner attendants in the Crown Prince's palace.

However, eunuchs could not easily leave the palace, so the affairs of the western city were handled by the sons and nephews of these eunuchs. Therefore, there was not one wolf, but a pack. Although they were extremely powerful, they were still newly rich, not very bright, straightforward, and their methods were crude. They had a bad reputation, and the bad name of "spoiled brats" mostly referred to them.

The alpha wolf in this pack is surnamed Wang, but the truly formidable one is not Wang Lang, but his father.

The Wang Family was originally a family of military commanders in the border town. Ten years ago, they were promoted to the twelfth rank and served as the military governor of nine towns. They were newly promoted and became a new elite because of their military achievements in suppressing the rebellion of the rebel king Li Xinglong and the remnants of the Black Lotus Sect.

The head of the Wang Family was a sensible man. He knew that he had no real power in the court and wondered who had promoted him. So he took the initiative to find his clansman, Eunuch Wang, who was the Imperial Attendant of the Eastern Palace and concurrently the Left Imperial Guards General, and became his adoptive father.

That's why the Wang Family can now control the military power of Li Country. They have also become one of the regents, holding the official title of Grand Commandant and the honorary title of Pillar of State. Moreover, their promotion is based on legitimate military merits. Now, they can even rival the Grand Tutor Guo family in the army. Hehe, in fact, these are all the methods used by the Guangling Heir to suppress and balance the noble families back then.

So this Wang Lang is the biological son of the current Grand Tutor, and also the adopted grandson of the Crown Eunuch Wang. He was raised in the borderlands and didn't have too many of the vices of a spoiled brat. He is also skilled in martial arts. He usually likes to fly falcons and ride horses, and often goes hunting in the countryside. He doesn't really rely on the power of his adoptive grandfather and biological father to run rampant in the city.

Compared to the other wolves, Wang Lang was relatively reasonable and didn't kill too many people. Moreover, he had someone by his side helping him devise strategies, and he was very generous. The wolves in the west of the city couldn't beat him and were afraid of his family's current power. So, the west of the city was led by Wang Lang, and when the Guangling Heir was around, he opposed Guo Bao at every turn.

But there is another place in the southwest corner of Changsi City, where people live in straw sandals; it is a slum.

Such a place shouldn't exist at the foot of the capital, but the servants were too far away, making it inconvenient for the masters to use it. So, no one bothered with it. Millions of poor people gathered in that corner, making the dozen or so wards in the southwest a chaotic mix of all sorts of people. Even government officials dared not enter or leave casually. The various Three Religions and Nine Schools and heretics there wielded considerable power, and if used properly, could even form a formidable force.

The person currently managing the shady affairs of those low-class gangs in the slums of the southwest of the city for Wang Lang is his trusted confidant, his sworn brother, who is also said to be a cousin of the Wang Family by marriage, and from a clan of people from the mountains in the south. His surname is Lu, and he is a very shrewd and resourceful strategist who can talk to all sides and is very capable. No matter what he is asked to do or what he is entrusted to do, there is nothing he cannot accomplish.

The subordinates referred to him and Wang Lang together, calling him Lu Chai. He was indeed talented; he helped Wang Lang overpower Guo Bao and also brought order to the mess in the southwest, collecting a lot of tax revenue. He was also exceptional at settling disputes, which earned him the appreciation of the eunuchs in the palace. The wolves also received a lot of guidance from Lu Chai and respected him as their strategist and advisor, whose reputation was even greater than that of Wang Lang.

So, the Lu Family from the mountains to the south? Are they related by marriage to the Wang Family in Changsi City? Could this Lu Chai be referring to Senior Brother Lu's son!?

Hmm! The Rubik's Cube is lit up again! What's going on with this thing?!