The snow on the road had yet to completely melt. The mountain road was particularly difficult to walk on because it was very slippery. Most of the time, one wouldn"t even know if there was a rock, a pit, or a thorn underneath the blanket of snow. The sharp rock edges could easily scratch one"s feet and throw people off-balance. If it was a pit, it was very easy to sprain one"s foot while the thorns on the road would most likely pierce the soles of one"s feet...
Goldie was bouncing happily in front of Yan Liqiang, leaving a trail of paw prints on the snowy path. Yan Liqiang was behind Goldie and he had a hare in his hand while he easily made his way through the snowy path too.
Over these few days, his Martial Warrior realm had slowly stabilized and his newly established dantian had also taken a complete form. The improvement in his physical attributes brought a totally different experience and feeling to Yan Liqiang"s Nine Palace Wind Shadow Steps technique attained at the sixth layer. Every step he took on the snow was light but steady. Although couldn"t see the condition of the road beneath the snow, he imagined everything beneath the snow consisted of wooden stakes which were difficult to land on. Every contact Yan Liqiang"s feet made with the ground was akin to how a dragonfly touched the surface of water — light and fleeting. Regardless of what was underneath the snow, the moment Yan Liqiang"s feet made contact, he leveraged himself and bounced up. The craggy mountain road which was difficult to walk on became a place for Yan Liqiang to train his body technique and footwork. He was gaining something while relaxing.
When he returned to the village from the mountain, Yan Liqiang spotted s.h.i.+ Dafeng and a constable dressed in his official attire standing at the entrance of his small courtyard, seemingly waiting for his return. Yan Liqiang"s heart immediately thumped when he saw a constable at his door, and the fact that he had also come with s.h.i.+ Dafeng.
"Woof, woof!!" Goldie barked twice. s.h.i.+ Dafeng and that constable turned their heads and finally noticed Yan Liqiang who had just come down from the mountain path.
"Liqiang, here, here!" s.h.i.+ Dafeng, who was dressed in a leather coat, waved at Yan Liqiang and his face broke into a smile.
Yan Liqiang gave him a smile too and walked over to them as he remained calm and collected. "Brother s.h.i.+, why are you here?"
"Looking for you, of course. Luckily, I heard you mention about living here before so I asked the villagers around here. They told me that you"ve still been around over the past few days and even descended the mountain to buy some steamed buns in the morning. If I couldn"t find you here today, I would have had to send someone to Qinghe County to search for you…" s.h.i.+ Dafeng said, then glanced at the huge yellow dog beside Yan Liqiang. "You"re even keeping a dog?"
"Yes, I found it a few days ago on the mountain and it followed me home!"
s.h.i.+ Dafeng was going to reach his hand out to pat Goldie on its head. However, as soon as he reached out, the initially lovable Goldie instantly bared its teeth and fiercely glared at him. s.h.i.+ Dafeng forced two laughs and hurriedly retracted his hand. "Seems like you and this dog are brought together by fate…"
"So this is Young Master Yan Liqiang?" The bailiff spoke up.
Yan Liqiang nodded to the bailiff. "Yes, I am. Sir, you are here for…?"
"Well, Patrol Inspector Sun would like to meet you!" The constable gave him a smile and spoke to him politely. "If Young Master Yan is available, please take a trip with me to the city so I that can make a report!"
Yan Liqiang glanced at s.h.i.+ Dafeng who then winked back at him.
"Alright, please wait for a moment. Let me put my things away and go with you!"
Yan Liqiang opened the door to his courtyard and let Goldie inside. He then tossed the hare he hunted into the yard before he locked the door up again.
"Is it safe to leave the dog and rabbit together? Won"t the yard be in a chaotic state by the time you return...?"
"No worries, this dog is docile. Let us be off..."
"This way please!" The constable was relieved when he saw Yan Liqiang"s efficiency.
By the time they descended the mountain, a horse carriage was already waiting for them by the roadside. The constable directly went to grab a seat beside the coachman, leaving the carriage for Yan Liqiang and s.h.i.+ Dafeng.
Yan Liqiang and s.h.i.+ Dafeng climbed into the carriage. When the coachman shook the reins, the horse carriage started moving.
"Brother s.h.i.+, what is going on?" Yan Liqiang immediately pointed towards the front of the carriage and asked s.h.i.+ Dafeng.
s.h.i.+ Dafeng nodded, then deliberately spoke at a normal volume. "You"ve really been enjoying an easy life over these few days, walking a dog and hunting hares. Did you know h.e.l.l has already broken loose in Pingxi City?"
"If I didn"t come here, there"s nothing I can do if I stayed in the city either. We just happened to run into the incident that night by coincidence. As for the verdict, it will all be up to the Law Enforcement Office and the Prefectural Governor. We can"t do anything to help and we"ve already told them what we could. Now, we just have to make sure that we do not create more trouble for others…"
"Have you already been informed about the w.a.n.g Clan?"
"The w.a.n.g Clan from Huanglong County?"
"Of course, if not, what else? No one is talking about King Cobra now. The w.a.n.g Clan in Huanglong County was seized due to the incident that night. A few hundred of their clan members, regardless of their gender and ages, were all captured and taken into custody on a prisoner carriage to Pingxi City. You weren"t there to witness their pathetic states…"
"I heard about it. But this has nothing to do with us. It"s a huge incident, and the Prefectural Governor and Law Enforcement Office will not falsely accuse them…" Yan Liqiang spoke with a sense of righteousness. He then slightly lowered his voice, "Oh right, what"s up with that Patrol Inspector Sun? How come I"ve never heard of such a person?"
"Patrol Inspector Sun is an imperial envoy sent from the Imperial Capital to patrol the provinces. He unexpectedly caught wind of the incident in Pingxi Prefecture when he had just arrived at Gan Province not long ago, so he purposely took a trip to Pingxi City in order to further understand the situation. Lord Sun wishes to meet us after he heard that it was the three of us who discovered the incident that night. I heard that Shen Teng hasn"t in Pingxi City lately because he had gone home, so they sent people to summon him back here. I recalled that you mentioned that you lived here, so I brought that constable here to look for you…"
"Oh, I see!" Yan Liqiang scratched his head awkwardly. "I wonder how high is the Patrol Inspector"s ranking…?"
"The Patrol Inspector ranks higher than the officials. I heard that even the Provincial Governor has to be respectful around him. So how high do you think his ranking is?"
Yan Liqiang had an idea now, but he didn"t expect that the incident in Pingxi City would actually attract the Patrol Inspector who was patrolling Gan Province here. Everything in Pingxi City was totally different than "last time". The ripples of the b.u.t.terfly effect had grown larger.
When the horse carriage entered Pingxi City, Yan Liqiang instantly thought Pingxi City was much cleaner. The number of soldiers and bailiffs patrolling the streets didn"t diminish — it instead increased while the thugs had all vanished without a trace. Pingxi City seemed to have put quite a lot of effort into welcoming the Patrol Inspector.
The horse carriage wasn"t going to the Law Enforcement Office. Instead, it went to a manor near the Plums Gardens and the Lake of Longevity.
The compounds of the manor were guarded by soldiers. Officials and horse carriages who were waiting for their audience with Patrol Inspector Sun were already forming a long queue on the road outside.
Aside from Pingxi Prefecture, officials from the few surrounding prefectures also made it here.
The constable brought Yan Liqiang and s.h.i.+ Dafeng to the compound of the manor, then handed them over to a low-ranking officer dressed in his official uniform. The low-ranking officer led both of them from the manor"s side entrance and to the side hall inside the manor.
"Wait here and don"t go anywhere. If you need anything, let the servants know. By meal time, someone will deliver your meals and drinks here. When you are summoned by Lord Sun, someone will bring you there!"
After giving a brief explanation to Yan Liqiang and s.h.i.+ Dafeng, the low-ranking officer left. He left two servant girls behind in the courtyard to standby for their orders.
Both of them waited the entire morning as though they were waiting to have an audience with the prime minister.
By noon, the maids who were left in the courtyard served a few dishes to both of them. After eating their lunch, both of them continued waiting in the courtyard.
By afternoon, Shen Teng was escorted here by someone else, and the three of them were once again reunited.
s.h.i.+ Dafeng smiled when he saw Shen Teng again and winked at him. "Long time no see, Brother Shen. You"re really dressed up. Could it be that you"ve been meeting some fair maidens from another clan back at home for an arranged marriage over these two days?"
Shen Teng, who was handsomely dressed as though he were a young lord from some aristocratic clan, instantly went red and retorted, "Lord Sun is an imperial envoy from the Imperial Capital. If we are going to meet Lord Sun, then we mustn"t be sloppy and should be dressed appropriately as an act of respect!"
"If Brother Shen is so confident of your own conviction, then why are you blus.h.i.+ng?" s.h.i.+ Dafeng continued teasing Shen Teng as usual.
"Who"s blus.h.i.+ng?"
"Liqiang has the best vision. Go ask him, who is blus.h.i.+ng?!"
"Alright, stop teasing Brother Shen, Brother s.h.i.+. Brother Shen is right, I was going to dress more appropriately, but it couldn"t be helped since I was in a rus.h.!.+"
Shen Teng started laughing. "Liqiang"s the best!"
"Oh right, I wonder if both of you know who exactly Lord Sun is?" Shen Teng leaned in and whispered to both Yan Liqiang and s.h.i.+ Dafeng when he saw that there was no one else in the room.
"Does Brother Shen know?" Yan Liqiang asked with a smile.
"I don"t really know in detail either, but I heard that Lord Sun is quite a figure. Back in the day, when he was a Prefectural Governor, his reputation spread far and wide because of an incident…"
"What happened…?"
"Lord Sun killed every single Shatu envoy who pa.s.sed by his territory when they were on their way to present a tribute at the Imperial Capital…"
"What?!"
When Shen Teng told Yan Liqiang and s.h.i.+ Dafeng the information he had heard about the Patrol Inspector, both of them were stunned. They didn"t expect that someone this crazy actually existed in this world.
...
Shen Teng"s arrival didn"t push forward the time Lord Sun was going to have an audience with three of them even in the slightest.
The three of them waited for the entire afternoon again. By evening after dinner, they were still waiting. Someone finally came to the small courtyard where the three of them were when the sky turned dark and informed them that Lord Sun had summoned them. The three of them then left the courtyard with that person to pay their respects to Lord Sun...