The Mastermind Behind Dark Stone

Host has obtained the Forty-One Styles of Water Splitting Swordplay

The life review ended. King Runner's lifetime of cultivated power merged entirely into Wen Qingkong's body, and along with it came the Forty-One Styles of Water Splitting Swordplay, which Wen Qingkong had also mastered to perfection.

Gaining such power, with his internal energy growing ever deeper and his strength greatly improved, should have been a joyous thing.

Yet Wen Qingkong could not bring himself to be happy.

Within King Runner's life review, he had seen Ninth Prince Xia Dian, as well as Prince Jiu's trusted chief eunuch, Cao Qingyu.

He had seen Cao Qingyu before. On the day he killed Zhang Quan, the eunuch before whom Zhang Quan had groveled was Cao Qingyu.

That day, Cao Qingyu had appeared to be only a little over thirty. Yet in King Runner's life review, Cao Qingyu had already looked exactly the same more than thirty years ago, without having changed in the slightest even now.

Just how profound did Cao Qingyu's martial arts cultivation have to be to preserve his appearance so completely?

A deep wariness rose in Wen Qingkong's heart.

With Cao Qingyu's level of martial arts, if Zhang Quan had not been such an insignificant figure that Cao Qingyu could not be bothered with him, Wen Qingkong likely would never have been able to kill Zhang Quan.

King Runner offered Prince Jiu a million taels of silver every year, making him an important source of Prince Jiu's wealth.

Now, Wen Qingkong had killed King Runner and all but wiped out Dark Stone in Mingzhou City.

Prince Jiu in Yujing City would certainly make a move.

Cao Qingyu would very likely send another King Runner, and he would surely investigate what had happened to the former one.

Wen Qingkong reburied King Runner and cleaned up the scene.

He had to prepare in advance for Dark Stone's possible next move.

Suddenly, Wen Qingkong halted. He recalled that he was a member of the White Lotus Sect, personally recruited by the White Lotus Sect's Holy Maiden.

Prince Jiu had concealed such a terrifying organization beneath his command. Wen Qingkong ought to inform the White Lotus Sect; that would count as a great merit.

As for Dark Stone's possible retaliation, once the White Lotus Sect intervened, Dark Stone would only focus on the White Lotus Sect and would not pay much attention to a small fry like him.

With that thought, Wen Qingkong hurried back to his home in the city.

He first wrote a secret letter, explaining how he had accidentally been caught up in someone else's affairs and pursued by Dark Stone, forcing him to kill Dark Stone's King Runner in self-defense, only to unexpectedly uncover Dark Stone's earth-shattering secret...

After finishing the secret letter, Wen Qingkong left home again and left the White Lotus Sect's marks throughout Mingzhou City, leading all the way to the Bureau of Entertainment in Mingzhou City.

This was the White Lotus Sect's method of contact.

Wen Qingkong believed that anyone from the White Lotus Sect in Mingzhou City would definitely go to the Bureau of Entertainment to find him once they saw them.

Having done all that, Wen Qingkong could finally rest.

After daylight broke, Wen Qingkong slept a little longer before getting up.

When Li Lan saw him rise, she hurriedly reheated the food and brought it to the table.

As Wen Qingkong ate, he said, "I have something to do later. You and Shuang'er can stay home, or you can continue setting up your stall on the street."

Li Lan nodded in agreement and sat quietly at the side, watching Wen Qingkong eat.

A knock came from the front gate.

Li Lan rose to answer it.

Wen Qingkong had already stepped into the realm of a Martial Arts Great Grandmaster. Though he was in a side room in the rear courtyard, with two courtyards between him and the gate, he could still hear Li Lan's voice at the entrance with perfect clarity.

A Martial Arts Great Grandmaster's five senses had reached an astonishing level.

The visitor was Zeng Jing.

Wen Qingkong did not know how Jiang Asheng and Zeng Jing had talked after he left yesterday afternoon, or whether they had fought. In any case, it now seemed that they had completely put their vengeance for the destruction of their families behind them and were living peacefully like an ordinary married couple.

Zeng Jing had come to ask whether Wen Qingkong was awake. Jiang Asheng had invited him over for drinks.

They claimed it was for drinks, but they probably wanted to ask whether he had found any clues at King Runner's residence.

Wen Qingkong considered it. Ninth Prince Xia Dian possessed immense power, had a top-tier expert like Cao Qingyu at his side, and commanded a massive organization like Dark Stone. Since Jiang Asheng and Zeng Jing were enemies of Dark Stone, they would be excellent allies for him.

Wen Qingkong stood and walked to the entrance.

"Perfect. I was in the mood for a drink too."

He nodded to Li Lan. Li Lan nodded back and closed the door.

Wen Qingkong followed Zeng Jing to see Jiang Asheng.

"You and Li Lan don't seem like a normal married couple."

"I never said we were married."

"I'm a tanner. Tanners are destined to grow old alone. I told you that."

"But I can tell that Li Lan has deep feelings for you."

"Deep feelings do not necessarily mean love."

"You should stop worrying about my affairs. We have a big problem."

Wen Qingkong's words startled Zeng Jing. She immediately realized that Wen Qingkong must have discovered an important clue at King Runner's residence.

If it was enough to trouble Wen Qingkong, it had to be connected to the mastermind behind Dark Stone.

When they arrived at Zeng Jing and Jiang Asheng's home, the wine had indeed been warmed, and there were several fine dishes as well, all made by Zeng Jing.

Once Wen Qingkong sat down, he did not beat around the bush and directly explained that Prince Jiu of Yujing City was the one controlling Dark Stone from behind the scenes.

"King Runner contributed a million taels of silver to Prince Jiu every year."

"This year's share has not been delivered yet. When the time comes and the silver does not arrive, Prince Jiu will certainly send people to Mingzhou to investigate. Then King Runner's death will inevitably be uncovered."

Jiang Asheng and Zeng Jing frowned deeply.

Neither doubted Wen Qingkong's words. The three of them were tied to the same rope, and Wen Qingkong had no reason to fabricate such a lie to deceive them.

"I heard A-Jing say that you came from Yujing City. Do you know anything about Prince Jiu?"

Jiang Asheng looked at Wen Qingkong.

Neither he nor Zeng Jing had ever left Mingzhou. As for the distant Yujing City, they had only heard of it and had never been there.

"Prince Jiu's power is immense. Among the entire imperial family, he is the prince most trusted by the Emperor."

"I'm only a tanner, so I do not know much about Prince Jiu. But I once heard that his trusted chief eunuch, Cao Qingyu, possesses extraordinarily high martial arts cultivation. He has likely already surpassed the realm of a Martial Arts Great Grandmaster and reached some mysterious realm unknown to others."

Wen Qingkong gave them a brief explanation.

But Jiang Asheng and Zeng Jing's expressions had already turned extremely grim.

The two of them were not weak, but facing King Runner, an experienced Martial Arts Grandmaster, had required all their strength. Let alone an expert who had surpassed the realm of a Martial Arts Great Grandmaster.

Moreover, Dark Stone was spread across the land. Mingzhou Dark Stone alone had already made them feel suffocated. Now they faced an even greater Dark Stone; merely thinking about it nearly drove the two of them to despair.

Knock, knock—

Wen Qingkong tapped the table, drawing their attention back to him.

"King Runner and the Dark Stone assassins who took part that day have all been dealt with."

"Now that we know the mastermind behind Dark Stone is immensely powerful, they may not be able to trace anything if we handle this properly."

"I'm telling you so that you can be mentally prepared, not so that you'll be crushed into despair."