Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect Castoff
One day later.
Upon returning to East Birch Market, Song Wen was about to push open the gate and enter his own Small Courtyard when a look of surprise flashed across his face, followed by a somewhat unpleasant expression.
He noticed a young female cultivator in the Small Courtyard across the street.
The female Qi Refining Seventh Layer, was practicing her swordsmanship, repeatedly wielding her three-foot-long Azure Edge.
What angered Song Wen was that he had rented the Small Courtyard across the street, paying a full year's rent upfront. There was also a <Qi-Sealing Spirit-Isolating Formation> he had set up in the Small Courtyard, as well as a first-tier corpse beast.
Song Wen's mind raced, and he immediately understood the reason.
This must have been done by Zhao Dapeng.
He is the manager of this alley, responsible for the rental management of more than a hundred courtyards in the alley.
The female cultivator brazenly appeared in the Small Courtyard across the street and was even practicing her swordplay there, clearly indicating that she had rented the courtyard from Zhao Dapeng.
After Song Wen disguised himself and rented the courtyard across the street, he only went in twice at the beginning, and never went there again.
This led Zhao Dapeng to mistakenly believe that something had happened to the person who rented the courtyard, which is why he dared to rent it out a second time.
Song Wen hesitated for a moment, then turned around and knocked on the gate of the opposite courtyard.
"Squeak!"
The female cultivator opened the courtyard gate and, finding a complete stranger, asked, "Who are you?"
Song Wen smiled and said, "Hello, senior. My Zhang Cheng. I live across from you. I came to say hello since I have a new neighbor."
As he spoke, Song Wen's gaze swept over the female cultivator.
The female cultivator had a pretty face, but in the Cultivation World where beauties abound, she wasn't considered outstanding.
However, the female cultivator's figure was quite eye-catching. She was over five feet tall, not much shorter than Song Wen. Perhaps due to her long-term sword practice, her figure was extremely well-proportioned and tall, giving people a sense of competence and heroism.
The female cultivator's expression was cold; she didn't greet Song Wen with a smile just because he was the first neighbor to come and make overtures.
"My name is Ji Ruxue, and I just moved here yesterday."
Her tone was indifferent, giving off a sense of distance.
Song Wen seemed oblivious to the coldness in the other person's tone and continued speaking with enthusiasm.
"From now on, we'll be neighbors. I hope Senior Ji will take good care of us."
Ji Ruxue said, "If Fellow Daoist Zhang has nothing else to attend to, please leave. I still need to practice my sword."
Without waiting for Song Wen's reply, she pulled open the courtyard gate with both hands.
With a loud bang, the courtyard gate slammed shut.
Song Wen didn't care about Ji Ruxue's aloof attitude. While he was talking to her, he took the opportunity to observe the ground in the courtyard and house, and everything was intact.
Furthermore, Song Wen could sense through the Formation Plate in his storage ring that the <Qi-Sealing Spirit-Isolating Formation> was still operating normally.
This indicates that Ji Ruxue has not yet discovered the existence of the <Qi-Sealing Spirit-Isolating Formation>.
Song Wen turned around, intending to return to his own Small Courtyard.
As he turned around, he caught a glimpse of Ai Kun at the corner of the alley, accompanied by a woman in her thirties with light makeup. The two chatted and laughed as they walked.
Song Wen had never seen this woman before, and guessed she was one of Ai Kun's old flames.
Ignoring Ai Kun's messy affairs, Song Wen pushed open the courtyard gate and entered the Small Courtyard.
Not long after I sat down, I heard Ai Kun knocking on the door outside the courtyard.
Song Wen opened the courtyard gate, and Ai Kun entered the courtyard with a smug look on his face, sitting down on a chair.
Ai Kun pointed to the Small Courtyard across the street and asked in a low voice, "You wouldn't happen to have taken a liking to the female cultivator across the street, would you?"
Clearly, he had just seen Song Wen talking to Ji Ruxue across from him.
Song Wen shook his head, denying it, "How could that be?"
"You went out of your way to greet him, but I've never seen you greet any other neighbors. I advise you, you'd better not mess with that guy over there."
"Why? Is there something special about her?" Song Wen asked.
Ai Kun said softly, "It's said that she's an outcast from the Mysterious Heaven Sword Sect. People who are expelled from major sects have too much karma on their hands; it's best not to get involved with them."
Song Wen nodded, agreeing with his words.
Ai Kun spoke earnestly, as if he had been through it all.
"Some women are okay to touch, but some women you should never touch, or you'll suffer the consequences."
Seeing the wistful expression on Ai Kun's face, Song Wen Wendao,
"You'd better mind your own business. Anyone could see how smug you were when you walked in. And that woman at the end of the alley, who's one of your old flames?"
"Don't talk nonsense. I have nothing to do with her. It's just that I patronized her business a few times when she was in the brothel. Now she's reformed and married a kind and honest Spirit Plant husband."
Song Wen gave a wry smile: It seems that it's the same in every world; in the end, it's always the honest people who suffer.
"She's already married, so why are you all smiles?"
Ai Kun raised an eyebrow, a lewd smile on his face. "The Blissful Union Sect's brothel is about to open."
After Ai Kun left, Song Wen disguised himself and went to Zhao Dapeng's residence.
He came here for two reasons.
First, rent a new courtyard.
Secondly, we need to investigate Zhao Dapeng. He's a Late Qi Refinement cultivator, and he'll have to pay the price for provoking a Foundation Establishment cultivator like myself.
Song Wen did not intend to kill Zhao Dapeng directly in the market.
With Zhao Dapeng Beast Taming Sect as their backer, killing Zhao Dapeng in the market would trigger a thorough investigation by the Beast Taming Sect, and the tenants of Zhengtiao Alley would inevitably be the focus of the investigation.
There's no need to create trouble for yourself!
To kill Zhao Dapeng, we must do so outside the market area.
"Knock knock knock!"
After knocking on the courtyard gate a few times, Song Wen waited quietly outside.
A moment later, Zhao Dapeng opened the door impatiently. Seeing that Song Wen was a stranger and his cultivation was only at the Qi Refining Fifth Layer, he asked in a stiff tone.
"What do you want? Speak quickly."
Seeing Zhao Dapeng's sour face, Song Wen was too lazy to speak to him politely and said coldly.
"Rent a house."
Zhao Dapeng reached into his Storage Bag at his waist and a map appeared in his hand, showing more than a hundred courtyards along the entire alley.
Zhao Dapeng handed the map to Song Wen and said.
"See for yourself. The yards without names on them are uninhabited."
Song Wen glanced at the map and noticed that Sun Daxiong's yard next door was actually marked as vacant.
After Sun Ru disappeared, Sun Daxiong became depressed, and no one knew where he went.
Pointing to Sun Daxiong's courtyard, Song Wen said, "I want courtyard number thirty-six."
Zhao Dapeng said, "The rent is ten Spirit Stone per month, and it must be paid on time, otherwise you will be evicted."
Song Wen nodded and handed over thirty Spirit Stone. "I'll pay for three months first."
"What's your name?" Zhao Dapeng asked.
"Guo Tao!"
Upon hearing this, Zhao Dapeng channeled his spiritual energy towards the map.
The map suddenly changed, and the name Guo Tao appeared on the map of courtyard number thirty-six.
Just then, a voice suddenly came from the courtyard.
"Ah... brother, it hurts so much! It hurts so much!"
The sudden sound immediately attracted the attention of the two people at the door.
Song Wen instinctively looked towards the courtyard, following the sound.
Then, Zhao Dapeng's rat-eyed, simple-minded younger brother appeared in the courtyard, clenching his teeth and looking pained.
A flicker of panic crossed Zhao Dapeng's face as he hurriedly pulled open the courtyard gate to block Song Wen's view.
"Go to courtyard number thirty-six yourself. If you can't find it, ask someone for directions to the courtyard where Sun Daxiong used to live. I have something urgent to attend to, so I won't take you there."
After saying that, Zhao Dapeng didn't wait for Song Wen's reply and closed the courtyard gate directly.