The Qian Family Again (Seeking Follow-ups!!)

Every time he saw Chen Xian, Jian Shan would flash a lecherous grin. Now half his face was swollen, with a bloodied scab at the corner of his mouth.

Duan Cui was worse off—his left arm hung in a sling around his neck, and he limped with every step.

"What happened?"

Chen Xian dragged the two into the courtyard, slammed the door shut with a bang, and swept his gaze over their injuries, his brow furrowed tightly.

Jian Shan shrank his neck and let out a dry laugh. "Senior Uncle Ancestor, it's nothing. We just slipped and fell off the flying boat when we were heading down the mountain..."

"A fall leaves a fist mark?"

Chen Xian snorted coldly, pointing at the obvious red imprint of a fist on Jian Shan's face. "Tell me the truth—I'm not so old that I've lost my wits yet!"

Duan Cui's eyes reddened, and he hung his head in silence.

"I said we should wait until the injuries heal before coming to find Senior Uncle Ancestor, didn't I? Sigh~"

Jian Shan nudged Duan Cui with his elbow. Seeing that they couldn't hide it any longer, he gritted his teeth and let out a sigh.

"Yesterday evening, on East Street of the First Ward in Ask-Dao City... Duan and I were selling candied hawthorns at a stall when a group of masked men suddenly rushed out. Without a word, they smashed the stall and beat us up."

"The leader was clearly a martial artist, extremely strong—should be at the Transformation Realm, a bit stronger than me."

"And there were a lot of them. Ask-Dao City doesn't allow the use of Dao arts, so we were outnumbered... and..."

Jian Shan couldn't go on.

They were disciples of the Sword Sect, yet they'd been beaten up by a bunch of martial artists. It was too shameful to admit.

"Transformation..." Chen Xian pondered. In the martial realm, tempering skin, flesh, and bone roughly equaled the ninth level of Dao Disciple; external force, internal force, and transformation were about the first to third levels of Dao Master.

The one who struck was at Transformation, which meant roughly Dao Master second or third level.

Jian Shan was only a third-rank alchemist, with a cultivation of Dao Master first level; Duan Cui, though a sword cultivator, was only at Dao Disciple sixth level. It was no surprise they couldn't beat a Transformation Realm opponent.

But they were still disciples of the Xuanyun Sword Sect.

Who would go so far as to attack them just for selling candied hawthorns?

Unless they'd stepped on someone's interests.

"Did you find out who the attacker was? Or any proof of their identity?"

Chen Xian finished his thoughts and looked at Jian Shan again.

If they didn't know who it was, this beating would be for nothing. The Sword Sect might protect its own, but they needed evidence to investigate.

"Yes!"

Jian Shan nodded quickly, pulled a somewhat deformed dark-red iron token from his chest, and handed it to Chen Xian. "During the scuffle, Duan risked his life to tear this off the leader. Take a look."

Chen Xian took the token and saw the character "Qian" written in flowing gold script. His eyes widened in surprise.

He had seen a token like this before!

Li Youde, the steward of the Qian Mansion, wore an identical iron token.

"It was the Qian family who did this."

Chen Xian stroked his beard, squinting as his mind raced.

He hadn't expected the Qian family to act so tyrannically.

But Duan and the others were just selling candied hawthorns. If it were some jealous street vendor retaliating, that would be one thing. But the Qian Mansion was a wealthy household—what could they possibly gain from this?

For some reason, Chen Xian suddenly thought of Shou'er Tea. Could there be a connection between the two?

It was just a guess, though. He needed to confirm it.

"The Qian family?"

Duan Cui lifted his head, looking bewildered. He didn't remember offending anyone named Qian.

He had joined the Sword Sect through the Ask-Dao recruitment and had hardly ever come down the mountain in two years. He knew nothing about Ask-Dao City.

Jian Shan was a local of Ask-Dao City. He clenched his fists. "I knew it was them! The Qian family is so overbearing—they monopolize business in Ask-Dao City, and now they're even crushing us small-time vendors!"

"Whether it's the Qian family, the Wang family, or anyone else—if they touch my people, they're going to pay a price."

Chen Xian calmly sat back down on the stone stool, tapping his fingers rhythmically on the stone table.

Jian Shan and Duan Cui were both working for him. If he just let this slide, who would ever put in effort for him again?

Besides, he was the Senior Uncle Ancestor of the Xuanyun Sword Sect.

If disciples of the sect were bullied and came to him for help, he couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

What kind of elder would that make him? How could he earn the respect of the disciples in the future?

But his current strength as Senior Uncle Ancestor wasn't exactly impressive...

Chen Xian sighed inwardly. His gaze suddenly fell on Lin Xiaoyan, who was fiddling with a candied hawthorn nearby.

A smile immediately spread across his face. "Xiaoyan! Staying cooped up like this isn't good for you. How about I take you into the city for a change of scenery?"

Lin Xiaoyan looked up, swept his eyes over the two beside him, and said indifferently, "Your disciple will follow your lead."

Jian Shan and Duan Cui were startled by the sudden movement of the "beggar" lifting his head.

Why was the Heavy Sword Hall's top disciple also at the Grandmaster's place, and in such a disheveled state?

Jian Shan was a disciple of Pill Peak, and he suddenly recalled some recent rumors within his peak.

Lately, a junior sister from Talisman Peak had been coming around looking for Senior Brother Tang Yu, and word had it that she had only just broken off her engagement before throwing herself at Senior Brother Tang.

When Senior Brother Tang ignored her, she came looking for him every day.

Could it be that Senior Brother Lin was the one who got dumped?

Jian Shan shot Lin Xiaoyan a subtle, sympathetic glance.

Then he cupped his hands toward Lin Xiaoyan and bowed: "Jian Shan of Pill Peak greets Senior Brother Lin."

Duan Cui snapped out of it as well and quickly performed the same courtesy.

Lin Xiaoyan's gaze lingered on Jian Shan for a moment before he nodded coldly: "Mm."

He had no goodwill left for alchemists at all.

"Let's prepare to head down the mountain. I'll take you to seek justice."

With Lin Xiaoyan joining them, Chen Xian felt much more at ease. After all, he was a major figure at the sixth level of Sword Master; unless Qian Yue made a move himself, no one from the Qian Family could do anything to him.

"Grandmaster... we've taken the pills. These injuries will heal in a day or two."

"At worst, Senior Brother Jian and I can just switch streets to set up our stall. It wouldn't be good for you to fall out with the Qian Family!"

Duan Cui was a blockhead and still tried to dissuade Chen Xian.

Chen Xian raised an eyebrow. This Duan Cui was far too honest, but honest kids were more likely to get taken advantage of, and he couldn't stand to see that.

He casually stuck a candied hawthorn stick into the straw bundle and said with a faint smile: "I've long since fallen out with the Qian Family. One more time won't make a difference."

"Uh..."

Duan Cui froze, and Jian Shan looked curious too, but the Grandmaster offered no explanation.

"Take this! We're going out on business, no drinking allowed."

Chen Xian casually slapped the gourd of wine out of Lin Xiaoyan's hand as he was pulling it out, then shoved the straw bundle full of candied hawthorns into his grasp.

Lin Xiaoyan stared at the gourd rolling on the ground, wine spilling out, his face twisted in conflict.

"Get lost with that!"

Seeing he still wouldn't give up, Chen Xian kicked the gourd flying over the courtyard wall.

A moment later.

The four of them each shouldered a straw bundle and stepped onto a tiny flying boat.

"Jian Shan, is this flying boat of yours reliable?"

Chen Xian gripped the edge of the boat tightly, feeling the small vessel beneath him wobble as if it might fall apart at any moment.

"It should... be reliable, right? Disciple doesn't actually know?"

Jian Shan swallowed hard. His flying boat was rated for three passengers, and they were completely overloaded now!

And so, the four of them flew toward Ask-Dao City in a state of nervous terror.

Meanwhile, at the Qian Family's Discipline Hall, a chorus of screams and wails rang out.

[Big Goose begs for follow-through reading these two days!!! Last Tuesday, follow-through reading fell just short of getting on the recommendation list. Tomorrow is another recommendation evaluation follow-through day. Please, everyone, take a moment these two days to scroll to the latest chapter, or the book will die off~ Wuwuwu~ If we successfully get on the recommendation, there will be bonus chapters!]