"Nine-River Flood Dragon" Zuo Xinglie

Lan Prefecture lay in the south, Youzhou in the north, the two separated by tens of thousands of miles.

Ordinarily, no jianghu person in Youzhou should have known Zuo Xinglie's name.

But Skywind Rain-Listening Tower controlled the flow of jianghu information, so Wen Rou naturally knew of Zuo Xinglie.

There was a great river in Lan Prefecture called the Nine-Dragon River. Its surface twisted and turned through nine bends and eighteen curves, with countless water forts and bandits along its course, a chaotic mess.

Until more than ten years ago, when the grasslands' tyrant Zuo Xinglie burst onto the scene, sweeping through the countless water forts and bandits along the Nine-Dragon River and proclaiming himself Alliance Leader of the Thirty-Six Waterways Alliance.

As long as passing merchant ships paid a fee to the Thirty-Six Waterways Alliance, they could travel freely along the Nine-Dragon River. Only then did the river finally settle into peace.

Yet at the same time, another force on the Nine-Dragon River, the Mystic Whale Gang, hated Zuo Xinglie to the bone.

When the Nine-Dragon River had been in chaos, the Mystic Whale Gang had colluded with those bandits to extort merchant ships, filling their bowls to the brim.

Now that the powers on the Nine-Dragon River had been unified, the Mystic Whale Gang's source of wealth had been cut off. Naturally, they were unwilling to let the matter rest.

The two sides fought fiercely for years without either gaining the upper hand. In the end, the Mystic Whale Gang threw in with the Lu Clan of Tianshui City, a great Lan Prefecture family, and finally destroyed the Thirty-Six Waterways Alliance with the Lu Clan's help. Zuo Xinglie supposedly died with it.

According to Skywind Rain-Listening Tower's intelligence, Zuo Xinglie had died as well. Who would have thought he was still alive, hiding right beneath her nose?

If this news spread, Skywind Rain-Listening Tower's branch in Lan Prefecture would certainly be punished.

And as the one who had uncovered this intelligence, she would surely receive credit within the tower—a great merit indeed.

At that thought, Wen Rou's heart began pounding.

Chen Yuan looked at Wen Rou with a half-smile. "This information should cover the cost of Boss Wen helping me find someone, shouldn't it?"

Wen Rou gazed at Chen Yuan with eyes like silken threads. "Of course it does. Young Master Chen has given me such a great contribution that this humble woman hardly knows how to repay you."

"Then repay me later. Once we find him, I'll also need to trouble Boss Wen to help me put on a little performance."

Seeing Wen Rou's body about to lean against him, Chen Yuan rose directly to his feet. "Boss Wen, then I'll take my leave first."

Skywind Rain-Listening Tower's wind messengers and spies were no easy characters to deal with. This woman was like a rose covered in thorns.

Though she truly was seductive and alluring, Chen Yuan only wanted a straightforward exchange of interests with her.

Wen Rou's strength had not been revealed in the original plot, but Chen Yuan suspected that her true power might even surpass Jiang Kaitai's.

Wen Rou watched Chen Yuan leave so decisively. Her arms crossed over her chest, the flirtatious charm vanished from her face, replaced by thoughtful scrutiny.

"Interesting. Truly interesting. Just who are you?"

The original Chen Yuan had merely been one of Jiang Kaitai's adopted sons. In Linked Mountains City, he naturally counted as somebody, but in the entire jianghu, he amounted to little.

Thus, Wen Rou had never paid much attention to Chen Yuan. Perhaps once he became the Heavenly Wolf Gang's successor, she would spend a few more strokes recording information about him.

Who would have thought that the formerly inconspicuous Chen Yuan would give her such a tremendous surprise today?

First, he had exposed her identity. Then, he had told her that Zuo Xinglie was not dead and was right here in Linked Mountains City.

Neither was something an ordinary gang member could have come into contact with.

Wen Rou shook her head.

Now was not the time to investigate Chen Yuan's identity. She first needed to confirm whether Zuo Xinglie truly was in Linked Mountains City.

If this intelligence was real, the merit would be greater than all the credit she had accumulated while stationed in Linked Mountains City for so many years combined.

After leaving Worry-Free Tower, Chen Yuan returned directly to the Heavenly Wolf Gang's residence and waited for Wen Rou's news.

Back then, Zuo Xinglie's entire family had been slaughtered. Only he and his granddaughter had escaped by faking their deaths, fleeing from south to north and settling in seclusion within Linked Mountains City.

In the final battle against the Mystic Whale Gang, Zuo Xinglie had fought desperately to break out, leaving his meridians completely crippled. He had also lost an eye and a leg, nearly all his martial arts, becoming a cripple.

Of the Nine Martial Realms, the first three were Body Tempering, Meridian Opening, and Blood Shifting. The middle three were Qi Forging, Sea of Wheels, and True Condensation.

At his peak, Zuo Xinglie had been an expert of the True Condensation Realm. But because his meridians had been destroyed and he could no longer use internal energy, his strength had fallen to the Body-Tempering Realm.

Of course, his physical strength remained. Even without internal energy, and even with one lame leg, he was still stronger than most Body-Tempering Realm martial artists.

If driven into a desperate fight, he could even battle a Meridian-Unblocking Realm martial artist.

In the original plot, not long after Jiang Kaitai blood-sacrificed the divine artifact, the Mystic Whale Gang sent people to Linked Mountains City to hunt down Zuo Xinglie, determined to exterminate him completely.

Zuo Xinglie fled desperately with his granddaughter and suffered severe injuries, only to be rescued by a player who helped conceal their tracks and escape.

To repay that person, Zuo Xinglie gave them his secret inheritance, the "Surging Waves, Flowing Clouds Formula" and the "Autumn Water, Startling Swan Saber Art."

Because Zuo Xinglie had been discovered by the player while fleeing for his life, the plot never mentioned where he had lived in seclusion before then. Chen Yuan could only search through Skywind Rain-Listening Tower's channels.

Zuo Xinglie had been a grasslands' tyrant on the Nine-Dragon River and the Alliance Leader of the Thirty-Six Waterways Alliance. The cultivation arts he practiced were naturally no ordinary ones.

The Surging Waves, Flowing Clouds Formula was a top-grade Profound Tier internal art, while the Autumn Water Startled Swan Saber was even a Lower-Grade Earth Tier saber art.

With these two arts, Chen Yuan's strength could surge by a great margin.

The Mystic Whale Gang's men would only appear after Jiang Kaitai blood-sacrificed the Seven Kill Stele. Chen Yuan could not wait that long.

But it did not matter. If there was no plot, then he would create one himself.

The process was unimportant. The result was what mattered most.

There was no need to carve a mark on a boat to seek a fallen sword, insisting on following a process identical to the original plot.

Duan Mubai's case had been an example. Sometimes, even if the process was the same, the result could still differ.

Wen Rou acted quickly. Three days later, a waiter from Worry-Free Tower came to the Heavenly Wolf Gang to notify Chen Yuan that the proprietress wanted to see him.

Chen Yuan followed the waiter out of the Heavenly Wolf Gang, but this scene fell into Chu Ziping's eyes as he entered the hall.

"Why has Third Brother been going out so often lately instead of properly cultivating in the hall?"

A trace of puzzlement appeared on Chu Ziping's face.

The old Chen Yuan had been like a shut-in, hiding in the hall's training grounds every day to practice martial arts and cultivate.

Recently, he had gone out more times than he had in the entire previous year.

"Who was the person that called Third Brother out?"

Chu Ziping asked a subordinate beside him.

The subordinate scratched his head. "It seemed to be a waiter from Worry-Free Tower. I heard that a couple of days ago, Third Young Master even went there himself. The proprietress called him up to the second floor, and he stayed there for quite a while."

"Has Third Brother's heart begun to stir?"

Chu Ziping revealed a strange smile. "That proprietress of Worry-Free Tower is seductive to the bone, though she seems a little old. Does Third Brother like mature women? Hahaha!"

The subordinate laughed as well. Men were always interested in such topics.

But Chu Ziping suddenly reined in his smile and said in a low voice, "From now on, keep a closer watch on Third Brother's movements whenever you're in the hall. Remember to tell me whenever he leaves and whenever he returns."

Previously, Chu Ziping had only regarded Qin Yuancheng as a rival.

But at some point, he had begun to feel that Third Brother had changed somewhat.

Though Third Brother currently had nothing that could threaten him, Chu Ziping still instinctively developed a trace of wariness toward Chen Yuan.

This time, Chen Yuan followed Worry-Free Tower's waiter directly through the back entrance and up to the second floor.

When he pushed open the door, Wen Rou was dressed in a crimson chest-high ruqun, her makeup vivid and glamorous, adorned like a blooming peony.

Chen Yuan had noticed it—this woman truly had a great many clothes.

Every time he saw her, she wore a different outfit, never repeating one.

"Boss Wen, do you have news already?"

Wen Rou nodded. "Zuo Xinglie truly has been living in seclusion within Linked Mountains City. He and his granddaughter run a noodle shop in Peaceful Ward."

After saying that, Wen Rou clicked her tongue softly. "I've passed that noodle shop more than once, but I never imagined that the lame, one-eyed old man cooking noodles was actually the grasslands' tyrant who once roamed the Nine-Dragon River in Lan Prefecture—the 'Nine-River Flood Dragon,' Zuo Xinglie. These jianghu conflicts truly are like oil boiling in a raging fire, cruel to the extreme."

"From our ranks rise the winds and clouds beneath heaven; once entering the jianghu, the years press on. Worldly affairs surge like tides, people drift like water; one can only sigh—how many return from the jianghu?"

Chen Yuan shook his head lightly. "Once you step into this jianghu, do not even think of retreating. Washing your hands in a golden basin and leaving the jianghu is impossible.

"Unless you can intimidate the entire jianghu, slaughter until no enemy or rival remains, and trample the whole jianghu beneath your feet—only then are you qualified to speak the four words 'leave the jianghu.'"

In truth, there had been no right or wrong in the conflict between the Mystic Whale Gang and the Thirty-Six Waterways Alliance, only a struggle for profit.

The Thirty-Six Waterways Alliance collected a unified toll, kept the benefits for itself, and had rules and order, though it was domineering.

The Mystic Whale Gang, meanwhile, joined with the water bandits and pirates to extort merchant ships. Some paid more, some paid less; it depended entirely on the strength of each merchant caravan.

Both sides had killed until their eyes were red. As long as Zuo Xinglie remained alive, the Mystic Whale Gang would certainly pursue him to the bitter end.

Wen Rou looked at Chen Yuan in astonishment.

Those four lines seemed to encompass all the disputes of the jianghu. Their mood and unconstrained air sounded more like words spoken by venerable martial arts masters who had seen through the jianghu's storms and frosts.

For a young man like Chen Yuan, who could only be considered newly emerged from the thatched hut, to say such things was profoundly incongruous.

"Now that you've found him, what do you intend to do?"

Chen Yuan lightly tapped the table and said solemnly, "The Mystic Whale Gang's people already know that Zuo Xinglie is in Youzhou, but they probably have not yet found Linked Mountains City.

"I would like to ask Boss Wen to send people to act out a scene with me. Have them play Mystic Whale Gang members hunting Zuo Xinglie, then I will step in and rescue him. That should not be difficult, right?"

Wen Rou gave Chen Yuan a surprised glance, roughly guessing what he intended.

"It won't be difficult, but if we want the act to look convincing, we'll need to specially select some people. The Lan Prefecture and Youzhou dialects differ greatly."

As Skywind Rain-Listening Tower's person in charge in Linked Mountains City, Wen Rou naturally was not alone.

It was simply that those peripheral members were hidden in the shadows, while she alone appeared openly.

This was indeed work that only Skywind Rain-Listening Tower could handle.

The peripheral members of these wind messenger organizations came from all corners of the land. At best, they could disguise themselves as jianghu people from any region; at worst, as common folk, small merchants, and peddlers. Nearly every one of them could speak several regional accents.

If Chen Yuan used Heavenly Wolf Gang members, Jiang Kaitai would notice, for one thing.

For another, the Heavenly Wolf Gang was made up entirely of locals from Linked Mountains City. The moment they opened their mouths, they spoke with the thick rustic flavor of the Northern Lands' Youzhou dialect.

Using Heavenly Wolf Gang members to impersonate killers from Lan Prefecture's Mystic Whale Gang would be like dipping sticky bean cakes in white sugar and pretending they were snow-skinned rice cakes—an act far too easy to expose.