w.a.n.g Haofei, Mo Leng, and Ye Xiao"s lives ended in succession. Before the first signs of danger even appeared, it was already completely extinguished. The heavy rock at the bottom of Yan Liqiang"s heart instantly vanished without a trace. After a good night"s sleep at the inn, Yan Liqiang felt as though he was a new man after his own biological clock woke him up the very next early morning. He felt relaxed and refreshed as the joy and confidence of being in control of his own fate had once again returned to him.
After yesterday, his father, his friends, his family, and his own destiny had been changed. Yan Liqiang had a million reasons to celebrate and rejoice. More importantly, he managed to accomplish everything alone through his own efforts, struggles, and planning. If this were a project or mission, this was much more challenging, difficult, and dangerous than any other project or mission a.s.signed to him in his previous life. The slightest mistake would cost him his life. If the difficulty of such a project or mission wasn"t cla.s.sified as h.e.l.l level, then it would be expert level.
Yan Liqiang truly felt like he had grown quite significantly after making it past this stage.
After he woke up and completed his morning regime, his external cultivation, and was.h.i.+ng up in the bedroom, the sky had just turned bright.
Upon completing his morning routine, Yan Liqiang sensed that he was getting closer to pa.s.sing Stretching Tendon and Extending Bone stage when he was cultivating Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing. He"d probably pa.s.s this stage very soon. Then he would be able to immediately establish his dantian and officially progress into a Martial Warrior.
Knock, knock, knock...
Just when Yan Liqiang had hung his towel up in the room, a series of knocks rang out. He went over to open the bedroom door and found s.h.i.+ Dafeng and Shen Teng standing outside.
"Liqiang, how"s it going? Are you done?" s.h.i.+ Dafeng chuckled and patted him on his shoulder.
"I"m done and am about to go out!" Yan Liqiang said. He stepped out and shut the door behind him. "Did you all have a good sleep last night?"
"Not bad. How about you? You look good!"
Yan Liqiang laughed. "A clear conscience sleeps even through thunder. Of course I had a good sleep!"
"When I slept last night, I kept thinking about everything that happened. Even now, I still find it unbelievable. We only discovered a Shatu man and I didn"t expect to cause such a huge incident which involved even the Prefectural Governor. I heard that the young lord of that Prefectural Governor was one of our senior martial brothers at the martial arts academy. That"s really… really…" Shen Teng was still reflecting on the incident that had transpired last night. When he talked about Ye Xiao, he didn"t know how to continue his sentence.
"That Ye Xiao was indeed the sc.u.m of all sc.u.ms who was really less than an animal. Even his death couldn"t wipe out the heinous crimes he committed, right?" Yan Liqiang continued his sentence. "Brother Shen, there"s no need to ponder so much over this. G.o.d"s plans supersede our own. This is the fate of a person who had committed his full share of crimes. He thought no one would discover what he had done, and even if someone did, they wouldn"t be able to do anything about a young lord of the Prefectural Governor. Yet he forgot that G.o.d was watching his every move. In this world, everything is closely linked with one another. Hence, a slight change will affect everything else. Now that G.o.d decided to finish him, he wasn"t able to escape from it no matter how well he hid..."
"Well said!" A voice rang out. s.h.i.+ Changfeng appeared from another corridor nearby.
"Teacher s.h.i.+!"
Yan Liqiang and the rest hurriedly bowed to s.h.i.+ Changfeng. They usually didn"t really come into contact with s.h.i.+ Changfeng. However, after last night, they realized that s.h.i.+ Changfeng was indeed a warmhearted person who tried to defend them at all times. Hence, the respect they had for s.h.i.+ Changfeng increased even more.
"Did all of you have your breakfast?" s.h.i.+ Changfeng asked.
"Not yet!"
"Let"s go then. I shall treat you all to breakfast!"
"Hehehe, we won"t decline your offer then, Teacher s.h.i.+!" Yan Liqiang replied with a smile.
The four of them picked a slightly more silent corner to sit down in after they arrived at the inn"s dining hall. They ordered some noodles, steamed buns, and soup before they proceeded to enjoy their breakfast.
"I went to ask around in the Law Enforcement Office just now and got some information from those two Wanderers you all saw last night. They said they also realized that the Shatu man was in disguise and thought the goods he was transporting in the horse carriage were quite suspicious. So they tailed his horse carriage all the way to the boutique. Inside the boutique, they discovered a tunnel underneath the house but didn"t dare to enter recklessly so they released a signal to the other Wanderers…" s.h.i.+ Changfeng spoke calmly.
"Oh, I see…" s.h.i.+ Dafeng and Shen Teng both nodded.
Yan Liqiang only bit a mouthful of steamed bun upon hearing the news and didn"t make any further comments. Those two Wanderers were prideful; they naturally wouldn"t admit that they had only tailed the horse carriage because they saw the three of them following the horse carriage last night. But that was fine too. This way, it would be easier for the three of them to distance themselves away from the incident that happened last night.
"Teacher s.h.i.+, was the Prefectural Governor away from Pingxi City yesterday?" Yan Liqiang asked.
s.h.i.+ Changfeng"s eyes bore into Yan Liqiang. "The Prefectural Governor was away at Panshan County yesterday to inspect the winter irrigation works in the county. After receiving the news, he hastened on with his journey last night and just returned an hour ago…"
"I see." Yan Liqiang secretly thought to himself that everything was just as he had surmised. He only returned this morning, so the dust had already long settled since last night. The only thing Ye Tiancheng could do now was wipe his own a.s.s. Even so, he might not be able to perfectly wipe it clean.
"After breakfast, you all will follow me back to the martial arts academy. Things might be a little chaotic in the city in the next few days. Just focus on your studies and training in the academy. Don"t pay attention to whatever goes on outside!"
"Understood!" s.h.i.+ Dafeng and Shen Teng nodded. Both of them naturally understood what s.h.i.+ Changfeng meant by "chaotic". King Cobra"s case wasn"t even settled and now the young lord of the Prefectural Governor was involved in a serious case like this which cost at least ten lives. Not only that, he was even colluding with the Shatu people. Over the course of just one night, the incident that happened had most likely spread like wildfire across the entire city. So the Prefectural Governor had hurried back to put out the fire. There was no way this city would remain undisturbed.
"Teacher s.h.i.+, I"d like to take a trip home!" Yan Liqiang suddenly spoke up.
"Why?"
"Before I came to Pingxi City, my father was injured and he had yet to fully recover. It"s getting quite cold these few days. I"m a little concerned, so I"d like to return to check up on him!" Yan Liqiang told a half-truth; but even so, his reason was impeccable.
"Alright, I guess it"s fine for you to leave Pingxi City and return home for a few days!" s.h.i.+ Changfeng muttered to himself irresolutely, then nodded. "However, you must not slack off in your training after returning home!"
"Yes, Teacher s.h.i.+, I will keep that in mind!"
...
They left the inn after they finished breakfast and went their separate ways.
Yan Liqiang was prepared to return to Wuyang Village first to pack up before leaving Pingxi City later in the afternoon for Huanglong County to meet Yan Dechang — because Yan Dechang would bring a batch of kukri knives to the Weaponsmiths Quarter in Huanglong County tomorrow. If he met him at Huanglong County, then Yan Dechang naturally wouldn"t take a trip to Pingxi City.
After walking for less than five hundred meters away from the inn, Yan Liqiang met a group of people on the main street.
There were no less than a few hundred of them, both young and old, weeping all the way in their mourning garbs while beating on a gong. They carried the coffin and scattered paper money along the main street as they made their way toward the Law Enforcement Office.
Walking in the frontmost of the group were two old and gray-haired elderlies. The old man walked with a cane, supported by two other youths in mourning garbs by his sides. Tears coursed down the old woman"s cheeks. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. She was wailing loudly while walking. "Oh, my daughter! You have died so tragically! Since you went missing two years ago, Mother always dreamt about you telling me that you are cold. I only found out today that you were killed by the young lord of that Prefectural Governor and got tossed into a well where you have been in total darkness! Mother has come here today to bring you home…!"
"What is wrong with this world? Is there still any justice in Pingxi City? G.o.d, open your eyes and take a good look…!" Tears also coursed down the cheeks of the old man beside her. He walked while yelling towards the heavens in anger.
"The son of the Prefectural Governor was colluding with a different tribe to devastate the commoners! Where is justice?! Where is it in G.o.d"s name…?!" The people among the group who were scattering paper money cried out while they walked.
When people saw this group of people approaching, everyone on the main street gave way to them. Everyone remained silent as they watched the group make their way towards the Law Enforcement Office. Almost all of them were talking about the incident from last night. The eyes of a few uncles and aunts at the roadside reddened at the scene.
Even those bailiffs who were patrolling the streets could only stand aside in silence when they saw the group; they didn"t obstruct their path either. After all, most of these bailiffs were also ordinary people like the commoners in the city — they each had a conscience and compa.s.sion too.
Yan Liqiang stood by the roadside. He could only mourn in silence.
After the group of people pa.s.sed by, Yan Liqiang continued on forward and turned into another street. After walking for less than two li, he ran into another wave of weeping people who walked along the streets in tears, carrying a coffin towards the Law Enforcement Office...
Nearly every clan inside or outside the city which had girls going missing over the past few years rushed to the Law Enforcement Office upon receiving news about last night"s incident. All of Pingxi City was shrouded by a miserable atmosphere. The entire city grieved and their grievances soared to the skies. Yan Liqiang saw people weeping and wailing, searching and yelling out for their family along the way.
If Ye Tiancheng could still sit securely in his position as the Prefectural Governor after this, then he figured he should probably… just let the Great Han Empire be destroyed...