Watching Zhou Guican and Li Fucheng leave together, Chen Yuanzhou asked Cheng Qingheng beside him, "Deputy Gang Leader, Zhou Guican is quite a troublesome figure too. Should I get someone to keep an eye on him first?"
But Cheng Qingheng's mind was no longer on that matter, because he had finally remembered who the straw-hatted youth before him was!
"Lao San, keep watch on him yourself. I'll be right back."
With those words, Cheng Qingheng vanished from the spot.
Hm? The Deputy Gang Leader reacted so strongly? Did he hook some big fish? Chen Yuanzhou wondered strangely.
After a Cup of Tea had passed, just as Chen Yuanzhou was about to follow Zhou Guican and Li Fucheng into a tavern, he saw Cheng Qingheng suddenly appear before him, accompanied by a familiar yet unfamiliar figure.
"Gang Leader!?"
Chen Yuanzhou was stunned. In his impression, their Gang Leader had always been like a divine dragon whose head could be seen but whose tail could not. Many members had joined the gang for years without ever seeing the Gang Leader's true face. Even he himself had only seen the man three times in total. He had never expected to suddenly meet him today.
After a moment, Cheng Qingheng turned back to Chen Yuanzhou and the others. "Song."
"Yes." Without another word, Chen Yuanzhou and the others followed Cheng Qingheng's retreat order and swiftly blended into the crowd, dispersing.
After a while, Yellow Gang leader Shen Lingwan said, "It's definitely the Blood Flame Sect Leader's Third Young Master. I spoke with him at the last Lion Conquest Assembly. I can't be mistaken."
"But what is the Third Young Master doing in this little place of ours? No one even sent us word. Those brats under us nearly caused a catastrophe." Cheng Qingheng spoke with lingering fear.
After pondering for a moment, Shen Lingwan said, "Perhaps someone has begun to distrust us and wants to borrow the Third Young Master's hand to eliminate us."
"What!?" Cheng Qingheng was greatly alarmed. "Could that matter have been exposed? But we clearly..."
Cheng Qingheng had only gotten halfway through his words when he saw Shen Lingwan's gaze sweep toward him, and he promptly shut his mouth.
"However, this Third Young Master does not seem to intend to make enemies of us. Otherwise, he would not have done so many foolish things as described in your report. Perhaps he is secretly reminding us of his presence, or... he has some other intention."
"Then... should I make contact with this Third Young Master?"
"No need. Since this Third Young Master chose this method to remind us, it means he does not wish to meet us face-to-face. Let's wait for him to come find us on his own. In any case, hurry matters along in Yangchong County. As for the Third Young Master... send a few clever men to protect him. Do not let anything happen to him on our turf."
"Yes, I'll arrange it immediately." Cheng Qingheng swiftly turned and left after speaking.
Watching Li Fucheng laugh heartily inside the tavern, Shen Lingwan sank into thought.
Where exactly did things go wrong... Could there be a Mole? It seems I must investigate thoroughly.
With that thought, Shen Lingwan instantly vanished from the spot, as though he had never appeared at all.
That night, Li Fucheng lay on his bed reading the Eight Palaces Four Luo Book. Tang Tingshuang beside him asked, "Senior Brother, I've seen you studying it every night for several days now. Is this book really that interesting?"
"It isn't interesting—it's formidable. If I meet brother Wang again someday, I must thank him properly. Perhaps when third uncle said that one would meet a benefactor upon leaving home, he meant someone like brother Wang."
Seeing Li Fucheng's eyes gleam, Tang Tingshuang could not help covering her mouth with a smile. "Still, ever since we met Senior Brother Wang, it does seem as though our luck has turned around. We traveled all the way to Sunset Glow Town without encountering any trouble. When we stepped in to help today, not only did we avoid causing trouble, we even made the acquaintance of a chivalrous man."
"Yes!" Li Fucheng nodded repeatedly. "Once we have gained a foothold here and have something respectable to show for ourselves, we must go to the Returning Heart Sect and properly thank brother Wang."
"Achoo!" Jiang Beiran, who was refining pills on the Back Mountain, sneezed.
Honestly, why have people been talking behind my back about how handsome I am so often lately?
After musing to himself, Jiang Beiran continued urging the blue-violet flames beneath the pill furnace before him.
Today, during his routine "mountain patrol," he had triggered [Alchemy] +1 five times in a row. A feeling of sudden enlightenment washed over him, so he hurried to the "Secret Base" on the Back Mountain of Blue Heart Hall.
After slowly stabilizing the formed flames, Jiang Beiran took out all sorts of materials from his Universe Ring and tossed them into the pill furnace.
He refined through the night until dawn. Smelling the fragrance of medicinal herbs drifting from the pill furnace, Jiang Beiran nodded in satisfaction.
"Dang—" "Dang—" "Dang—"
Suddenly, a series of resonant bell chimes rang throughout the peaks of the Returning Heart Sect.
Hm? The bell summoning disciples. What happened? Forget it, it has nothing to do with me.
Jiang Beiran had already applied to enter secluded cultivation. During that period, he could skip everything except major events involving the sect's very survival. To him now, refining this batch of [Insect Gu Pills] was the foremost priority.
Elsewhere, not long after the bell rang, all the Young Disciples of the Returning Heart Sect gathered on Lotus Peak and formed orderly rows.
Just as all the disciples were guessing why they had been summoned today, they suddenly saw five figures walk onto the stone platform under the Fragrant Elder's lead.
"So Senior Brother Wu and the others have returned. Looking at this, our sect must have done very well in this year's tournament."
"Who is Senior Brother Wu?"
"You don't even know Senior Brother Wu? You must have just joined the sect. King of Hell Dart—Wu Qingce. Over these past two years..."
"Oh! So he's that King of Hell Dart! I've heard his name. A few months ago, when I went down the mountain, even the storytellers were talking about him. They said that anyone he wanted dead could not escape even by hiding among ten thousand people, because King of Hell had already written down his name."
"At least you have some knowledge."
"Senior Brother, do you know who that senior apprentice sister standing beside Wu Qingce is?"
Upon hearing this, that senior brother immediately smacked the back of his head.
"Ow, that hurt! Senior Brother, why did you hit me?"
"Your eyes are practically falling onto the ground." After glancing at the looks around them, he lowered his voice. "I'll explain it to you slowly after this is over. Settle down for now."
"Yes..."
Amid a wave of hushed discussion, Fragrant Elder Wu Qiufang walked to the front of the platform and said, "At this JB District Sect Tournament, five disciples of our Returning Heart Sect performed exceptionally and achieved outstanding results. Wu Qingce of Chaotic Star Hall even took first place!"
"Wow!"
All the disciples below the platform could not help crying out in surprise.
The JB District Sect Tournament was a grand annual event, and every major sect attached great importance to it. After all, it concerned reputation, and reputation meant a source of disciples. In Jiang Beiran's words, this competition was the JB District's "college entrance examination." Whichever sect's disciple won the championship was equivalent to producing the "top scorer" of the college entrance examination. The benefits to that sect were naturally limitless.
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