Black Goose City, military camp.
This was Qin Zheng's first time entering the interior of the military camp.
His usual range of activity, including the execution grounds, had all been considered part of the camp's exterior.
Otherwise, civilians would not have been allowed to come watch executions.
Yet the interior of this military camp gave Qin Zheng the feeling of a small town.
People came and went in twos and threes, some hurrying along, others strolling at leisure.
Following Wang Er, he arrived before a small courtyard built of brick and stone after walking for only a short while.
"Go in. The captain is inside."
Wang Er turned around and spoke to Qin Zheng with some restraint.
After speaking, he hurriedly turned to leave.
"Brother Wang, if you have time tonight, come to my house for dinner. Consider it a little celebration for my moving in."
Qin Zheng turned and called out.
Wang Er's body paused slightly. Then he turned back, smiled, and nodded. "Alright! Get inside quickly. Don't keep Captain Ji waiting too long."
With a smile still on his face, he turned and left again.
Qin Zheng withdrew his gaze and looked toward the small courtyard before him.
Gray walls and black tiles gave it a rather imposing air.
He stepped forward and slowly pushed open the courtyard gate.
It was another courtyard with a single entrance and exit, not much larger than the small courtyard he had just bought.
Several weapons—sabers, spears, staves, and the like—lay in the open space at its center.
A broad-built middle-aged man wielded a long halberd in one hand, swinging it with fierce, whistling force, Killing Intent pressing outward.
Qin Zheng could only stand by the gate and watch the man train.
He watched the white trails carved through the air by the halberd's blade with every swing, and the tremors it stirred in the air.
This garrison captain's strength was no less than his own current strength!
It might even surpass it!
Qin Zheng immediately came to that conclusion.
At the end, the middle-aged man spun repeatedly, swung his halberd, and smashed it violently toward the ground!
Under that immense force, the halberd rubbed against the air and produced a faint explosive crack!
With such force, the ground would surely be smashed open into a huge hole when that halberd came down!
Qin Zheng fixed his eyes on it, wanting to see just how much power the strike could unleash.
But in the end, the halberd's blade stopped a finger's breadth above the ground.
A sudden feeling of stifled discomfort rose in Qin Zheng's heart.
"You need strength, but you must also know how to use it. Otherwise, it will be difficult to unleash all your power, and you may even injure yourself!"
Ji Changyin withdrew the halberd, straightened up, and placed it on the weapon rack at the side.
Only then did he look at Qin Zheng and continue, "Come over. Sit here."
A set of stone table and stools stood to one side of the open space.
Ji Changyin sat down first. Only then did Qin Zheng step forward and take a seat opposite him.
"Thank you for your guidance, Captain."
Qin Zheng clasped his fists toward Ji Changyin.
Ji Changyin nodded, then said with a smile, "To comprehend a saber technique from the utterly ordinary act of chopping heads off..."
"I never expected such a talent to be under Ji's command."
Qin Zheng understood that his transaction aboard that pleasure boat yesterday had already become known to the man before him.
Thus, he shook his head and humbly said, "They are merely a few insignificant saber techniques, of little practical use."
He did not know that Ji Changyin had been seated upstairs from him during that transaction.
Ji Changyin smiled but did not continue the subject. Instead, he reached for the teapot on the stone table, poured a cup, and pushed it before Qin Zheng.
Then he continued, "That old fellow Shi Dian relied on a manual called the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill when he was young, murdering and setting fires, committing every kind of evil."
"But he also knew how to run things, so he remained safe and sound all these years, even establishing the Golden Cicada Gang in Black Goose City."
Upon hearing this, Qin Zheng immediately focused and listened carefully.
"Perhaps he had committed too much evil and brought Heaven's retribution upon himself. He did not have a son until he was forty."
"So he poured everything into that youngest son, doting on him in every possible way. It made his son arrogant and tyrannical, guilty of countless misdeeds."
"A few days ago, that brat failed to know his own place. He saw a young woman while out on the street, lusted after her beauty, and forcibly abducted her."
"After violating her, he killed her and destroyed the body. Before long, the yamen arrested him and delivered him to me. He was imprisoned awaiting trial."
"After that, you chopped off his head."
Ji Changyin slowly explained why Shi Yan had been executed.
This left Qin Zheng suddenly enlightened.
Shi Yan was the young gang leader of the Golden Cicada Gang, so why had he been arrested, imprisoned, and even beheaded?
In Black Goose City, only one person in the yamen could directly order them to come knocking and make an arrest!
No wonder Shi Dian had not dared resist and had only dared tamper with things during Shi Yan's execution.
Because that person was someone he simply could not afford to offend!
Although Ji Changyin was a garrison captain, he was only in charge of punishments in Black Goose City and could not meddle in other affairs.
Compared to that person, his deterrent effect on Shi Dian was naturally far weaker.
But now, Shi Dian's family was ruined and his people scattered. The Golden Cicada Gang was gone, and his son was gone too.
He had become a solitary man. Naturally, the person in the yamen no longer held the same deterrent power over him as before.
Therefore, Shi Dian's foremost target for revenge would certainly be that person in the yamen, not himself!
All sorts of thoughts flashed rapidly through Qin Zheng's mind as he made his deductions.
"During our last exchange, I cut him once and left him with some injuries, winning by a narrow margin."
"But that old fellow's cultivation is profound. He is already not far from breaking through. Since he has yet to show himself, it is highly likely that he is attempting to break through his realm!"
As Ji Changyin spoke to this point, his brows and eyes grew solemn, and his voice unconsciously became much heavier.
"If he successfully breaks through the great threshold of the fourth stage and advances to the Bone-Refining Realm..."
"Then even I will not be his match."
"At that time, he will certainly stir up a storm in Black Goose City to avenge his grievances."
"You and I are likely on his list as well!"
Qin Zheng's expression sank slightly at those words. He then looked at Ji Changyin across from him and said, "I hope you will enlighten me, sir!"
Ji Changyin's expression turned serious as he continued, "Bailiff Xu of the yamen is also a martial artist who has crossed the third threshold and entered the Muscle-Refining Realm."
"The two of us have discussed it and decided to strike first, to ambush and kill Shi Dian!"
"But if the two of us show ourselves, that old fellow Shi Dian will fear us and certainly will not reveal himself willingly."
"So we need someone he hates to the marrow of his bones, yet does not fear, to lure him out."
"Then Bailiff Xu and I can strike and suppress him!"
Having said that, Ji Changyin stared fixedly at Qin Zheng. The meaning could not have been clearer.
Qin Zheng was no fool. Naturally, he understood what the other man meant.
He was to serve as the bait!
Although, with his current strength, acting as bait should not put him in much danger.
But if Shi Dian's primary target for revenge was not him, he could simply develop steadily and push the Dragon-Elephant Prajna Skill to greater heights.
That would make him even safer. There was absolutely no need for him to take this risk now.
Qin Zheng narrowed his eyes as thoughts churned through his mind.
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