Cloud Thought Grand Hotel.
It had stood for several hundred years. If star-rated hotels were grand, impressive, and upscale, this place was understated luxury with substance.
Inside a private room.
Two rugged-looking young men with fierce, untamed bearing were puffing clouds of smoke as they waited for their guest of honor.
"Brother, we haven't even finished our own job. Is there really any need to fight Li the Big Lame and the Heavenly Principle Sect for food?"
The young man beside him tore into the braised chicken on the plate before him, stuffed one drumstick into his own mouth, then held the other out to his little brother.
He opened his mouth, making an "ah" gesture.
His little brother opened his mouth, and the young man shoved the chicken into it, meat and bone together.
Watching his little brother struggle, the young man wore a defiant expression. "Everything under heaven is there to be taken, isn't it? You spend every day walking the mountains and wading over knife edges, and you still don't understand? In this world, the treasures belong to whoever has the most ability and the best brains."
"Remember what your brother tells you: a dog won't grow fat without eating, and a man won't grow strong without greed."
"My mother died young. Didn't that little bastard Cao Yuan snatch everything that should've belonged to my family? That was when I understood: I, Cao Ying, would rather die of greed than starve to death. That's why I gave up a comfortable life in Cao Family Alley to hunt treasures in the mountains."
"Now I'm back. I've done pretty damn well for myself these past few years out in the world. I ought to prepare a generous gift for my old man, right? I reckon the mushroom men and mushroom horses would do nicely. They're just the sort of gift I could present with pride."
"Besides, I haven't even met Patrol Inspector Lu, but I've heard so much about him my ears are growing calluses. Another friend means another road, another wife means another home. However you look at it, this deal is worth making."
His little brother nodded vaguely. He didn't really understand, but whatever his brother said went.
His brother had dug him out of a pile of graves. Who else would he listen to?
Three knocks sounded at the private room's door.
Wen Yuquan pushed the door open and entered, with Lu Ding half a step behind.
He happened to be free today, so he had come along with Lu Ding. Besides, as the middleman, with friends on both sides, how could he not show up?
"Hahahahaha, Old Wen, long time no see! The last time we met was the last time! You've even gotten fat now, hahahaha!"
Cao Ying spread his arms and came in for a hug. Wen Yuquan's face went black as ink, but he didn't dodge, letting Cao Ying embrace him.
Lu Ding was also sizing Cao Ying up.
Short hair, a slit in his eyebrow, a suit without a shirt, and a piece of jade hanging around his neck. The outfit was tacky to the extreme, yet that face alone somehow gave it a distinctive bandit swagger.
It was different from the impression Ye Xuan gave.
Cao Ying came across as more ruthless, while Ye Xuan had a hooligan air.
As he sized Cao Ying up, Cao Ying was also sizing up Lu Ding.
The two were actually much alike.
Neither hid his edge, but unlike Cao Ying's ruthless bearing, Lu Ding exuded more brutality and utterly undisguised abandon.
That raised Cao Ying's opinion of Lu Ding another few notches.
He simply didn't like dealing with people who played mind games at such a young age.
Not because he couldn't outplay them. He had fought his way through mountains of blades, seas of fire, and treacherous currents, after all. When it came to cunning, Cao Ying had plenty.
Other people had eyes growing on their hearts; he had a heart growing on every eye.
"Patrol Inspector Lu, hearing about you is nothing next to meeting you. I've long admired your reputation. Let's get straight to the point-talk first, eat afterward. How does that sound?"
The way this man spoke and acted suited Lu Ding's tastes.
"Then let's talk first."
The three sat down.
Wen Yuquan said nothing, simply watching quietly from the side.
Cao Ying picked the bundle up off the floor and tossed it onto the table.
"Patrol Inspector Lu, everything's inside. Take a look. If it's suitable, thirty million can go straight into your account."
Lu Ding took the bundle.
The ginseng doll had been air-dried and lay quietly inside. It had a nose and eyes, exactly like a living person, only a different size. The reishi lay beside it, giving off a fragrance.
The Wrathful Rooster was tied up, its eyes bright and alert, full of vigor.
Both their appearance and medicinal potency were top-notch.
Lu Ding closed the bundle. "The goods are good, and I trust someone Wen Yuquan introduced. But I still need to remind you: I snatched these from the Heavenly Principle Sect. They don't have what it takes to snatch them back. Once they're in your hands, I don't know whether they'll bring fortune or disaster. I don't provide after-sales service."
"You needn't worry about that, Patrol Inspector Lu. I don't know if you've heard this saying: in the qi-refining trade, there are four you don't provoke-the officials of Bureau 749, the people who roam the mountains, ghosts that walk by daylight, and corpses that fly through the sky. You belong to the first, I belong to the second. They can't afford to provoke you, but that doesn't necessarily mean they can afford to provoke me."
So Cao Ying said.
The officials of Bureau 749 referred to its investigators. Provoke one, and a whole bunch could come; kill one, and a whole swarm would come.
As for the people who roamed the mountains, those were treasure hunters. They frequented deep mountains, ancient forests, and perilous death traps. Anyone with even a little reputation carried heaps of treasures and stacks of trump cards, and every last one was vicious and ruthless. Without those things, they would never have made a name for themselves.
As for their abilities, those went without saying.
The final two were ghosts that walked by daylight and corpses that flew through the sky.
Neither was anything ordinary.
Never mind provoking them-just surviving an encounter was enough to brag about for a lifetime.
As for why they were included, it was mainly to highlight the power and ruthlessness of the first two.
There were also rumors that the first two specialized in dealing with the latter two, like prescribing precisely the right medicine.
Since Cao Ying wasn't afraid, everything afterward became much simpler: eating, drinking, chatting, getting acquainted, and exchanging contact details. Lu Ding also remembered Cao Ying as someone worth knowing. In the end, everyone went their separate ways, each back to his own home and his own mother.
It had been pleasant enough.
Walking along the roadside at night, feeling the cool breeze with a huge sum of money in his pocket.
Lu Ding wasn't as excited as he had imagined.
He didn't know whether the money was too little or his psychological threshold had risen.
Or perhaps what he pursued had changed, from money, fame, and fortune to cultivation and strength.
"What are you thinking about?"
Wen Yuquan held out a cigarette as he asked.
Lu Ding took it. "Tell me, just what realm do you have to reach in cultivation and strength before it counts as high?"
Wen Yuquan immediately stubbed out the cigarette he had just lit and headed toward his parking space without looking back.
"You're showing off too fucking much. I can't talk to you. I'm going back to cultivate!"
He really had taken a blow.
In terms of time spent cultivating, he had more than ten times as much as Lu Ding, but in terms of combat strength, Lu Ding could outstrip him tenfold with his hands tucked away.
Other people called him a genius, too.
How had he ended up like one of the rank-and-file heavenly soldiers standing behind the Four Heavenly Kings when Monkey Sun wreaked havoc in heaven?
Every one of them was a peerless genius who had ascended after only a thousand years of cultivation, yet Monkey Sun swept them away in swathes, knocking down a whole line with one swing of his staff.
They didn't even get a proper shot of their faces before it was game over.
Cao Ying was badass because he had fought his way through life and death. He had earned it. Lu Ding was badass in a way that made no sense. Nobody knew why he was badass; he just was.
Poor Wen Yuquan had suffered blow after blow.
Lu Ding called out to Wen Yuquan as he drove past, "I'll buy you a meal next time."
"There'd better actually be a next time. I'm off. Stay safe on your way back. Don't get robbed."
Lu Ding laughed at that.
Rob him?
They would have to pay with their lives.
He drove back in the security vehicle he had borrowed from the Public Security Administration, with nothing obstructing him along the way.
Yan Feifan was still cultivating. He had probably realized that his insufficient cultivation might hold Lu Ding back. Ever since leaving the interrogation room that day, the kid hadn't stopped.
Lu Ding borrowed a large pot from the Public Security Administration's kitchen, boiled water, slaughtered the chicken, plucked it, chopped it into pieces, then threw it into the pot to stew with the ginseng doll and the reishi that had awakened into a spirit.
Two words: mouthwateringly fragrant.
It bubbled from morning until night. When he lifted the lid, fragrance rushed into his face. He took a spoon and tasted it to check the seasoning. The flavor was truly exquisite!
With one mouthful, a surge of pure spiritual qi instantly filled the qi vortex in Lu Ding's hollow aperture.