Ambush

Qin Yang continued following the man in yellow, growing ever more astonished, even feeling a trace of fear.

This man in yellow truly was handing out money and silver to many impoverished commoners.

"First, they used bewitching methods to amass vast wealth. Then they distributed that wealth among the poor, turning them into believers of this organization."

After watching for a while, Qin Yang roughly understood.

If this Cult Organization had merely been amassing wealth, Qin Yang would not have taken it too seriously.

But after witnessing this scene, he sensed the terror of this cult.

This cult's ambitions were likely far from small.

The number of their believers in Linjiang City probably far exceeded imagination.

Qin Yang did not make a move and returned to Qin Manor first.

Just as he returned to Qin Manor, he paused in slight surprise.

On the pitch-black street, he happened to brush past a man in yellow.

Qin Yang remained outwardly calm. He walked past Qin Manor, turned into an alley, and only then climbed over the high wall.

"The man in yellow just now was not one of those who came out from the bald man's place."

"In other words, the bald man's place might be one stronghold. This cult has other strongholds in the city as well."

Qin Yang frowned slightly.

A chaotic, lawless place like Linjiang City truly was fertile soil for cults to grow.

He returned to his room and considered how to deal with the matter.

Yao Ya definitely could not be allowed to remain.

In his current state, he had likely been completely brainwashed. Even if Qin Yang tried to persuade him, he probably would not listen.

Keeping him around would only be like raising a rat in the rice bin.

As for that Cult Organization—

"Stealing my money won't end well for you."

Qin Yang snorted coldly.

The next day.

Qin Yang personally took Old Wu the accountant to Daliang Pharmacy to inspect the accounts.

Yao Ya seemed to have known this day would come. He did not even offer a single rebuttal and directly admitted it.

Qin Yang had the pharmacy staff disperse, then brought Yao Ya to the rear courtyard.

"Young Master, this old man only has one rotten life. Kill me or carve me up as you please."

Yao Ya spoke bluntly.

He knew that Qin Yang was no longer that good-for-nothing young master from before.

Decisive in killing, ruthless and merciless.

Having embezzled so much money from the pharmacy, how could Qin Yang possibly spare him?

"Shopkeeper Yao, you watched me grow up."

"I'll only ask you one question. Why did you embezzle so much money?"

Qin Yang asked calmly.

He wanted to learn more about the Cult Organization.

"No comment." Yao Ya shook his head directly and said nothing.

"Then go. For the sake of all these years, I won't hold it against you."

"Take care of yourself from now on."

Qin Yang waved his hand.

To him, Yao Ya was more useful alive.

Yao Ya was somewhat surprised. Since he could live, he naturally wanted to live.

"Thank you, Young Master!"

Afraid Qin Yang would change his mind, Yao Ya hurriedly clasped his hands and left as soon as he heard his life had been spared.

As for Daliang Pharmacy, they could only let an experienced pharmacist temporarily try serving as shopkeeper.

After dealing with Daliang Pharmacy's affairs, Qin Yang returned to Qin Manor to cultivate.

Until late at night.

He changed into Night-Robes and silently left Qin Manor.

He headed straight for the residence where the bald man lived.

He happened to see several men in yellow dispersing from the residence.

He climbed over the high wall, stealthily approached the window in the corner of the room where he had poked a small hole last night, and peered inside.

The bald man had set aside another portion of money for himself. He gathered it up, stood, lifted a stone brick from the floor, and placed the money inside.

Only after finishing everything did the bald man reveal a satisfied smile.

He picked up the candle and prepared to head to his bedroom.

The instant he stepped out of the room—

A Golden Gourd Great Hammer smashed viciously into that large bald head!

With this blow, Qin Yang had even employed the Mountain Fall Stance from the Po Jun Saber Technique.

He used the hammer as a saber. Either way, it was all about smashing, and the hammer's power was even greater.

Bang!

That large bald head truly was hard enough.

Qin Yang had originally thought he would smash the man's head into pulp. Unexpectedly, the skull did not crack; it was merely deformed by the blow, while his cervical vertebrae burst apart and drove into his chest cavity.

"So he had trained."

"This cult really isn't simple."

Qin Yang stepped over the bald man's corpse and entered the room directly.

He pried up the stone brick and discovered many silver notes inside, even gold ingots.

"So much money."

Qin Yang grinned and swiftly swept away the money before leaving directly.

He first went to the riverbank and threw the murder weapon, the Golden Gourd Hammer, into the river before returning to Qin Manor.

That way, it was done without anyone knowing, like spirits and ghosts at work. Who could guess that he had done it?

When the several men in yellow finished distributing the money and returned to the residence, they saw the bald man's horrifying corpse and were scared witless.

"Th-this... who did this?!"

"Did thieves break in?!"

"We don't know. We should report this to the Grand Sorcerer."

After discussing it, the men in yellow sent one person to notify their superior.

Around the time it took an incense stick to burn.

A burly man with a gloomy expression entered the courtyard.

This man's head was bald as well, tattooed with strange, pitch-black slender runes. They looked like a Black Snake coiled atop his head.

The burly man looked at the bald Sorcerer's corpse and frowned slightly.

At a glance, it was obvious these wounds could not have been inflicted by an ordinary person.

Even ordinary martial artists could not do it. At minimum, it had to be a Blood Transference Realm martial artist, and one born with immense strength at that.

"When you returned, did you see anyone suspicious?"

The burly man asked with a frown.

"No."

"When the few of us came back, we saw the Sorcerer's corpse lying here."

One man in yellow shook his head.

The burly man glanced at the corpse and found that it lay right at the threshold.

The man should have been smashed to death by some heavy weapon the moment he stepped outside.

That meant the other party had likely been lying in ambush long ago, waiting for the bald man to emerge.

He entered the room and had people search it. Before long, they discovered that one stone brick sounded hollow beneath it.

But when they lifted the stone brick, they found nothing.

"Murder and robbery, clean and efficient."

The burly man snorted coldly.

Now there were no clues at all. He did not even know how to find the murderer.

The only clue was that the murderer had used a heavy weapon.

Judging from the wounds, it should have been a heavy hammer.

"First collect Feng Guan's corpse and send it outside the city for cremation."

"Tomorrow, I'll send a new Sorcerer over."

The burly man could only swallow this mute grievance.

After killing the bald man and venting the stifled anger in his chest, Qin Yang returned to his usual cultivation routine.

He cultivated every day, not daring to slacken in the slightest.

That Cult Organization did not come knocking, clearly unable to find any clues.

Linjiang City, however, grew increasingly chaotic.

It was said that several major factions had fought until their heads were bloodied over the dock, and quite a few people had died.

Linjiang City itself lived off the dock. With the dock in chaos and fewer merchant ships coming and going, prices within the city soared wildly, leaving some commoners completely unable to survive and causing unrest to erupt one after another.

Some wealthy merchants' residences in the Outer City were looted by rioting commoners. The County Office ignored it entirely, maintaining only the security within the Inner City.

This led many wealthy merchants to either move into the Inner City or hire more Guards.