We Got Lucky After Meeting Brother Wang

As Zhou Guican and Li Fucheng left together, Chen Yuanzhou asked Cheng Qingheng beside him, "Deputy Gang Leader, Zhou Guican is also a troublesome character. Should I find a mole to keep an eye on him?"

But Cheng Qingheng's mind was no longer on this. He had finally remembered who the young man in the straw hat before him was!

"Lao San, you stay here and keep an eye on him. I'll be back soon."

With those words, Cheng Qingheng vanished from the spot.

Hmm? The Deputy Gang Leader is reacting so strongly? Did he hook some big fish? Chen Yuanzhou thought, somewhat puzzled.

After the time it took for a cup of tea, just as Chen Yuanzhou was about to follow Zhou Guican and Li Fucheng into a restaurant, Cheng Qingheng suddenly appeared before him, accompanied by a figure both familiar and strange.

"Gang Leader!?"

Chen Yuanzhou was shocked. In his memory, their Gang Leader was always elusive, a dragon that showed its head but not its tail. Many members had been in the gang for years without ever seeing the Gang Leader's true face, and he himself had only seen him three times. He never expected to see him today.

A moment later, Cheng Qingheng turned back to Chen Yuanzhou and the others and said, "Song."

"Yes." Without a word, Chen Yuanzhou and the others obeyed Cheng Qingheng's order to retreat and quickly blended into the crowd, dispersing.

After a while, Shen Lingwan, the Yellow Gang Leader, spoke, "It's indeed the Third Young Master of the Blood Flame Sect Leader. I spoke with him at the last Lion Conquest Assembly, I wouldn't mistake him."

"But why would the Third Young Master come to our small place? No one even informed us, and our subordinates almost caused a great disaster," Cheng Qingheng said, still feeling a bit shaken.

Shen Lingwan pondered for a moment and said, "Perhaps someone has started to distrust us and wants to use this Third Young Master to get rid of us."

"Ah!?" Cheng Qingheng was greatly alarmed. "Could it be that the matter has been exposed? But we clearly..."

Cheng Qingheng stopped mid-sentence as he saw Shen Lingwan's gaze sweep over him and quickly shut his mouth.

"However, this Third Young Master doesn't seem to intend to be our enemy. Otherwise, he wouldn't have done so many foolish things as reported in your report. I'm afraid he's subtly reminding us of his presence, or... something else."

"Then... should I go and make contact with this Third Young Master?"

"No need. Since this Third Young Master wants to remind us in this way, it means he doesn't want to meet us face-to-face. Let's wait for him to come to us. In any case, proceed quickly in Yangchong County. As for this Third Young Master... send a few sharp guards to protect him. Never let anything happen to him on our territory."

"Yes, I'll make arrangements immediately." Cheng Qingheng turned and left quickly.

Watching Li Fucheng laughing heartily in the tavern, Shen Lingwan fell into deep thought.

Where did things go wrong... Could there be a mole? It seems I need to investigate thoroughly.

With that thought, Shen Lingwan instantly vanished from the spot, as if he had never appeared.

At night, Li Fucheng was reading the Eight Palaces Four Luo Book in bed. Tang Tingshuang beside him asked, "Senior Brother, you've been studying it every night for the past few days. Is this book really that interesting?"

"It's not that it's interesting, it's that it's very powerful. If I meet Brother Wang again, I must thank him properly. Perhaps what Third Uncle once said about meeting a benefactor when going out refers to someone like Brother Wang."

Tang Tingshuang couldn't help but cover her mouth and chuckle as she looked at Li Fucheng's beaming face. "But ever since we met that Senior Brother Wang, it feels like our luck has really turned around. We traveled all the way to Sunset Glow Town without encountering any trouble. Not only did we not cause any problems by helping out today, but we also made the acquaintance of a chivalrous hero."

"That's right!" Li Fucheng nodded repeatedly. "Once we establish ourselves here and have something to show for it, we'll definitely go to the Returning Heart Sect to properly thank Brother Wang."

"Achoo!" Jiang Beiran sneezed while refining pills in the back mountain.

Seriously, why has someone been talking about how handsome I am behind my back so often lately.

He sighed inwardly and continued to stoke the purplish-blue flames beneath the pill furnace before him.

Today, during his routine "mountain patrol," he had triggered [Alchemy]+1 five times in a row, giving him a sudden moment of enlightenment. He had then hurried to the "Secret Base" in the back mountain of Blue Heart Hall.

After slowly stabilizing the formed flames, Jiang Beiran took out various materials from his Universe Ring and tossed them into the pill furnace.

He refined until dawn. Smelling the herbal fragrance wafting from the pill furnace, Jiang Beiran nodded with satisfaction.

"Dong~" "Dong~" "Dong~"

Suddenly, a long and resonant bell chime echoed across the various peaks of the Returning Heart Sect.

Hmm? The bell to summon disciples. What happened? Never mind, it has nothing to do with me.

Jiang Beiran had already applied for secluded cultivation. During this period, he was exempt from all but the most critical matters, such as the sect's survival. For him right now, refining this batch of [Insect Gu Pill] was the top priority.

Meanwhile, shortly after the bell chimed, all the Young Disciples within the Returning Heart Sect gathered on Lotus Peak and lined up in an orderly fashion.

As all the disciples wondered why they had been summoned today, they suddenly saw five figures, led by the Fragrant Elder, ascend the stone platform.

"It's Senior Brother Wu and the others! Judging by their stance, our sect's performance this year must be excellent."

"Who is Senior Brother Wu?"

"You don't even know Senior Brother Wu? You must have just joined the sect. He's the King of Hell Dart—Wu Qingce. In the past two years..."

"Oh! So he's the King of Hell Dart! I've heard of his name. A few months ago when I went down the mountain, the storytellers were all talking about him, saying that anyone he wanted to kill couldn't escape even if they hid among thousands of people, because the King of Hell had already recorded their names."

"You're not entirely ignorant, I see."

"Senior Brother, do you know who the Senior Apprentice Sister standing next to Wu Qingce is?"

The senior brother immediately smacked the back of his head after hearing this.

"Ouch! That hurt. Senior Brother, why did you hit me?"

"Look at your eyes, they're about to pop out of your head." After glancing at the surrounding curious eyes, he whispered, "I'll tell you slowly after this is over. Be quiet for now."

"Yes..."

Amidst a flurry of hushed discussions, Fragrant Elder Wu Qiufang walked to the front of the high platform and said, "In this JB District Sect Tournament, five disciples from our Returning Heart Sect performed outstandingly and achieved excellent results. Furthermore, Chaotic Star Hall disciple Wu Qingce took first place!"

"Wow!"

An exclamation of surprise erupted from all the disciples below the stage.

The JB District Sect Tournament was an annual grand event that all major sects took very seriously, as it concerned their reputation. Reputation, in turn, meant a steady stream of new disciples. In Jiang Beiran's words, this competition was the "Gaokao" of the JB District. Whichever sect's disciple won the championship was equivalent to getting the "top scorer" of the Gaokao, bringing boundless benefits to the sect.