It had been ten years since that miserable incident at the Iron Fan Gate. Currently, Shao Bailong, the inheritor of the sect had become the head of the Iron Fan Gate.
Although this Head appeared about forty years old, the hair on both sides of his temples were white. Apparently, to him, the extermination of his family had been a devastating shock.
"Temporary law enforcement plate…" Shao Bailong said with some bitterness, "Dare I ask, are you a disciple from the Nine Raven Temple?"
Qin Wushuang shook his head: "No. Head Shao, it doesn"t matter about my background. The important part is do you want revenge, and to behead your foe."
A trace of emotion flashed across Shao Bailong"s eyes. He growled: "Do I want? This is such a funny question. In these ten years, even in my dreams I am thinking of how to kill that traitor!"
"Good, then please tell me your most recent information. Within one year, or as recent as half a year, there will be good news."
"Really?" Shao Bailong spoke with a doubtful tone. He looked at Qin Wushuang and he looked young. He was not a disciple of the Nine Raven Temple. Most likely, he must be a freelance martial artist from other human countries.
"Really!" Qin Wushuang spoke with a determined tone.
Shao Bailong revealed a bitter smile: "Great! Since you are so full of confidence, I will tell you."
"In fact, in these years, I have also trained many suicidal warriors and hired many a.s.sa.s.sins. However, all of them had failed. Each of them were full of confidence before they left. However, the result was—none of them had returned."
Qin Wushuang nodded: "Whether I come back or not, is not something you need to worry about. I only want to know some things. For example, his personality, his habits, and his exact role at the Nine Palace Faction."
Know yourself and know your enemy, and you would never be defeated. Qin Wushuang knew the importance behind this saying and it would not be easy. If any mistakes occurred at any point, it could cause the entire mission to fail. It would also influence his chances of getting the Spiritual Infant Fruit, affect his teacher"s future, and even his life.
Shao Bailong nodded: "That b.a.s.t.a.r.d is extremely malicious and mistrustful. He is extremely cunning and normal strangers will not be able to get close to him."
"How is his strength, does he have any bad habits?"
Shao Bailong said in a low voice: "He should be at the Middle Stage. He"s not hopeful about reaching the Advanced Stage. As for bad habits, he does have one—he is extremely lecherous."
Lecherous? Inwardly, Qin Wushuang felt joy. With this habit, he would have a chance. In many situations, being lecherous was a fatal flaw.
"Then, what is his position in the Nine Palace?" Qin Wushuang was also concerned about this question.
"Haha, his position at the Nine Palace? He holds an empty position, and could never enter the inner circle. Since he is an outsider, the Nine Palace is staying cautious of him. He should be playing a relatively important role at one of the secular powerhouses of the Nine Palace. He should be acting as a bridge between the Nine Palace and the Red Dragon Royal family."
After a moment of thinking, Qin Wushuang had understood. It should be some role like the Palace Emissaries at the Stargaze Palace. These were all exceptional people, but they could never become an a true part of the sect. They were only an external a.s.set.
Shao Bailong handed over a set of information from his chest: "These are all the information I have gotten in the past three years. Mister, since you are going, I would like to give you some advice."
"Please tell me."
"This Zhang Baidang is extremely sly and mistrustful. When you deal with him, don"t try to approach him. This will never work. It"s because whenever any stranger tried to approach him, he would become even more mistrustful and you will only reveal your intention to kill him. Before you even make a move, you would be killed. Don"t underestimate him for not being part of the inner circle of the Nine Palace Faction, it"s still easy for him to kill a few people."
Shao Bailong"s advice was sincere.
Qin Wushuang nodded: "Ok, thank you for your reminders. Your people will not expose my whereabouts?"
Shao Bailong denied: "The person that received you at the door and the person who led you to me, are my most trusted aides. There will never be any problems."
Qin Wushuang said leisurely: "That"s good. Head Shao, wait for my good news."
After he had finished, Qin Wushuang left the place after he had finished drinking that tea.
Then, Qin Wushuang returned to the branch of the Nine Raven Temple and returned the temporary law enforcement plate. That senior said with a smile: "Mister, are you leaving now?"
Qin Wushuang said: "What other instructions do you have?"
That elder said with a smile: "I have an advice, if it"s too difficult, don"t force yourself. You can still change your mission."
Qin Wushuang felt somewhat grateful: "Thank you for the advice."
That elder smiled helplessly when he saw Qin Wushuang walk out. As if sending him some blessing, he mumbled to himself: "Hopefully this young man can succeed. This task has been offered as a bounty for ten years and still has not been completed. Haha, the Nine Palace Faction is truly a weird one. A mission related to the Nine Palace, and two people from there had come."
One only needed to travel south from the Nine Raven to the Red Dragon Empire. The travelling distance was not as far as going to the Three Eastern Empires. Qin Wushuang used full power to travel. After seven days, he had arrived at the Red Dragon Empire.
While he was on his way to the Red Dragon Empire, Qin Wushuang kept reminding himself to restrain his hatred. He must not let hatred muddle his brain and drive him to commit some unreasonable acts of vengeance. Since he was at the door of the Nine Palace Faction, most likely, he would be condemned to eternal d.a.m.nation as soon as he even thought of revenge.
It would be one thing if he fell into enemy"s hands, it would be extremely unfortunate if he could not bring back the Spiritual Infant Fruit. He would have greatly disappointed the leaders of the Stargaze Palace.
Thus, he told himself repeatedly: "This time, I am not here for revenge, but to carry out my mission. I will leave immediately after I"ve killed Zhang Baidang. As for revenge, I must wait for the right opportunity and when I"ve gained enough power…"
After he pa.s.sed the city gate, Qin Wushuang was not in a hurry to gather information. Instead, he stayed at a rather remote inn.
After he had settled in, Qin Wushuang wandered around and gained a deeper understanding of the roads and buildings of Red Dragon"s imperial capital.
This was planning ahead. In the case of a great battle, it would help him greatly to escape by knowing each road and the general layout of the city.
Qin Wushuang knew that if he went to ask for Zhang Baidang, with the intelligence network of the Nine Palace Faction, this news might arrive in the ears of this Zhang Baidang in just a couple of hours.
Thus, Qin Wushuang acted extremely careful and did not make any unnecessary movements. It was to avoid beating the gra.s.s to scare the snake. It would not be a equal trade if he sacrificed himself for nothing.
Since that Zhang Baidang was holding a position at the secular powerhouse of the Nine Palace Faction that responsible in connecting the Faction with the Red Dragon Royal family, this proved one point—This Zhang Baidang was doing well in the imperial capital.
Perhaps, he was not part of the inner circle of the Nine Palace Faction, but he must still be a bigshot among the secular world. It was like the Palace Emissaries of the Stargaze Palace. Although they were not core figures and at most, they were only in the middle stage, they would have it easy whenever they went out to run errands.
Because of this consideration, Qin Wushuang guessed that for sure, there must be many eyes that belonged to Zhang Baidang in the imperial capital.
After he had wandered around for a few days in the Imperial Capital, Qin Wushuang already had a clear understanding of all the different roads in the capital. Next, he decided to show himself in the public places.
He would especially go to bars and brothels.
From the information of Shao Bailong, there was one piece that was extremely important. It was about how Zhang Baidang was quite the lecher. For sure, a lecherous person would show his flaw.
Thus, Qin Wushuang decided to wander around all the major and famous brothels.
The brothel at the Red Dragon empire had a poetic name, it was called Wafting Fragrance Brothel. It seemed that this Wafting Fragrance Brothel had a.s.sembled all sorts of different famous courtesans from all human countries.
Qin Wushuang had decorated himself particularly and dressed himself up as a loose Young Master. When he arrived a few meters outside the Wafting Fragrance Brothel, a bunch of beautiful girls immediately went up to him.
"Oh my, isn"t it Young Master Li?"
"What Young Master Li, this is Young Master Zhang!"
A group of girls with heavy makeup crowded around him and pressed themselves closer to Qin Wushuang, the method they were the best at. Regardless of their intention or not, they would use a white silk fan, or a piece of sweet smelling handkerchief to swing at Qin Wushuang"s face.
Qin Wushuang knew that these girls had made up those Young Master Li, or Zhang. They were doing it as a gamble. If they guessed right, it might be a good thing. If not, they could also make a well rounded lie.
Qin Wushuang only smiled and walked upstairs.
He knew that since these girls with heavy makeup was receiving guests from outside, they would have the lowest ranking in the Wafting Fragrance Brothel. Most likely, he would not gain any useful information from them.
He believed that Zhang Baidang would not have such lowly tastes.
The female brothel keeper had already registered all of Qin Wushuang"s relaxed and calm manner in her eyes. Inwardly, she was overjoyed: "Another big fish is here."
She tidied her head ornaments, checked the mirror and walked out. She greeted him with a smile while twisting her already not very reputable waist: "Tsk tsk, such rarity. When did the Wafting Fragrance Brothel last welcome such an elegant and graceful Young Master. You appear somewhat new, I wonder…"
"I am a businessman from the Sky Travel Empire. I have heard a lot about the famous Wafting Fragrance Brothel and came to enjoy it."
"You do have very good tastes and you"ve come to the right place. It"s not me exaggerating, the girls in my brothel are from all over the many different human countries. We have beautiful ones, s.e.xy bodies, mature ones, and young ones. Anything you can think of, we can call them out. I just don"t know, what type do you like?"
Qin Wushuang smiled and said: "It"s not enough with you telling me, I must take a look. Hearing your words, there are no bad ones. I must choose them myself."
While Qin Wushuang spoke, he took out a pouch of gold with familiarity: "I will not return to my inn tonight. If you can earn my gold, then it"s yours."
Instantly, that female brothel keeper"s eyes lit up when she saw the gold. Her smile widened: "Such a generous Young Master! Ladies, why don"t you all come out quickly to see this young and accomplished Master?"