The next day.
Inside the Qinghe Temple.
Zhang Rongfang and several others, including Xiao Jiu, sat together at the table having a al. Outside, the sun was shining brightly, and a gentle breeze rustled the leaves with a crisp sound.
"Last night, I went to the houseboat by the river with Brother Chen Ling and Sister Yufeng from next door. Over there, you can fish for only five copper coins per trip with no ti limit. I was lucky enough to catch a two-pound carp!"
Since arriving in the county town, Xiao Jiu had been in high spirits; this place was infinitely better than the dull life in the mountains.
Every day, there was sothing new to do.
In the temple, the temple master Li Heng was always absent, ignoring the affairs. Here, no one watched over whether they did their morning and evening lessons.
No one supervised their practice of Literary and Martial Cultivation. With youthful exuberance, Xiao Jiu quickly bonded with the other three, enjoying themselves thoroughly every day.
"Fishing... If you can catch a good-sized fish with just five copper coins, that’s really lucky. The rice shop owned by the Wang family on the next street buys fish; it’s more profitable to sell them there than at the fish market," said Xiaowang, one of the nial disciples, with a soft laugh.
"The Wang family’s rice shop? I just saw it being sealed off when I went out to sell morning tea," Xiao Jiu replied in surprise.
"I saw that too. I heard so big boss from the Mi Gang was arrested for hiding military weapons," Xiaowang replied.
"Military weapons? Knives and swords?"
"No, crossbows..." Xiaowang lowered his voice.
Hiss...
The group looked stunned.
"Why would the owner of a rice shop hide crossbows? Are they planning a rebellion?"
"Who knows... I just can’t understand the minds of those rich folks."
Nearby, Zhang Rongfang continued eating, taking a bite of garlic-flavored twice-cooked pork while listening to the conversation.
Upon hearing that the Mi Gang rice shop was seized, his face remained calm, but he felt a sense of relief inside.
Hiding military weapons is a cri few can bear. The Mi Gang mber Chen He involved in this will barely escape with his life, if at all.
He isn’t even the mastermind. If the investigation reveals that the leader of the Mi Gang is behind it...the entire gang will be thrown into chaos.
Even if Chen He keeps his mouth shut. Where did that military crossbow co from? How was it obtained?
These things will surely be thoroughly investigated.
As long as the influential officials don’t want to risk being shot by a crossbow on the street, they will definitely pursue it heavily.
By then, the leader Shao Quanhua will undoubtedly be implicated and held accountable.
Once Shao Quanhua loses his influence and followers, he won’t have the power to target my master and senior brother.
Then everything will be resolved smoothly.
Zhang Rongfang felt elated, and ate faster.
After finishing his al, he rested for a while. Then he gathered his things, took his docuntation, and headed toward the city gate.
The issue with the Mi Gang had temporarily been resolved; next, it’s his own matters he needed to attend to.
The day after tomorrow was the day his senior brother was to get engaged, the first day of the month.
At that ti, he had nothing special to give as a gift to his brother. Just the right opportunity to venture deep into Red Mountain, hunt for so good stuff, and make fur gifts.
Zhang Rongfang had recently broken through in his martial arts secret skill, reaching the second tier of the Rejuvenation Purification Talisman Manual, combined with the first-tier Dragon and Snake Ascension Skill. Even in a fair fight, not in an ambush, he could defeat both Chen Wuyou and Jiao Teng.
Now he had a considerable ability to protect himself.
Exiting the city, he followed the official roads.
After walking a certain distance, Zhang Rongfang chose to leave the road, veering into the deep forest on the left side.
He didn’t wander too far or deep, only roaming within a dozen miles.
By noon, the bright sunlight made the plants in the forest appear a vibrant green, like translucent jade sculptures.
Before long, Zhang Rongfang noticed a goat munching on grass with its head down.
The goat was more than twenty ters away, leisurely chewing its food.
Zhang Rongfang stepped lightly, slowly approaching the goat.
But after only a few steps forward, he accidentally made a faint crackling sound underfoot.
The goat imdiately beca alert, turned around, and ran away, quickly disappearing into the dense forest.
Zhang Rongfang glanced down at his feet, where layers of leaves were spread underfoot.
He crouched down, using his hand to dig into them.
The thick layer of leaves had moist, nearly decomposed leaves at the bottom, overlapped by relatively intact leaves layer by layer.
The topmost leaves were almost all dry and crisp.
He pondered for a mont, then stepped forward.
There was still a sound.
He continued with a second step, then a third.
Zhang Rongfang stood in place, repeatedly testing how to walk on the leaf layer with less noise.
Despite his efforts, there was always sound.
He stopped, practicing how to walk quietly on the leaves.
*
*
*
The charge of hiding military weapons completely disrupted Shao Quanhua’s plans.
Early the next morning, she was dumbfounded upon receiving the news.
When she learned her brother had been arrested for it, she imdiately withdrew a large sum of money from the gang, heading to the yan to bail him out.
This matter spread like wildfire in the small confines of Huaxin County.
Within an afternoon, it was the talk of the whole town.
By the ti Zhang Rongfang returned from outside in the evening, the Mi Gang had beco the gossip focus during tea and dinner throughout the town.
As he walked from the city gate to the temple, he overheard several discussions about the Mi Gang.
Quickly, more news erged. Shao Quanhua was also put under watch, not allowed to move around freely.
The governnt sent out many people, rounding up mbers of the Mi Gang for interrogation at the yan.
One rice shop after another was closed.
Zhang Rongfang deliberately circled outside the Chen family house several tis, noticing the gate was open with soldiers searching inside.
The won and related family mbers of the Chen household stood in the courtyard with worried faces, silently watching the officers search, afraid to move.
Doubtlessly, the Chen and Shao families of the Mi Gang were near their end.
Imdiately, he headed back.
On the second day, he spent the entire day in the mountain forest, and just before evening, managed to bring back a strong stag.
He took it to the market to be slaughtered, cut off the antlers, and skinned it for preparation. It was just right as a betrothal gift for his senior brother.
*
*
*
Mi Gang headquarters.
The originally bustling small building of the headquarters had now beco increasingly desolate.
Many people had been taken away by the authorities for investigation, leaving only a few staff who were completely unrelated to the secret military case behind to look after the store.
At dusk, a black carriage slowly erged from the fog and stopped in front of the Mi Gang small building.
The carriage halted for just a mont, and after a few people got out, it quickly departed.
The people who got off kept their heads lowered, dressed in black clothes, and hurriedly entered the small building.
Inside a small room on the second floor.
The door creaked open, and three shadowy figures wearing black cloaks swiftly entered the room.
The last person closed the door with a backhand gesture and lit an oil lamp.
Only then did the three of them remove their black cloaks and reveal their faces.
The person at the front was precisely Mi Gang’s leader, Shao Quanhua.
She looked composed, letting out a gentle sigh.
Looking at the empty and disorganized room that had been thoroughly searched, a trace of disappointnt flickered in her eyes.
"Who exactly reported us this ti? Have you found out?" asked another person beside her in a deep voice.
As the oil lamp light slowly illuminated the speaker’s face, it was none other than Daoist Chen Zihan.
"Not clear. When I sent money and tried to ask, even the county supervisor didn’t know who it was.
All that’s known is that soone stole military equipnt at night and planted it in the second brother’s house, framing him," Shao Quanhua shook her head and said.
"Are we still sticking to the original plan this ti?" Chen Zihan furrowed his brows. In reality, he wasn’t as resolute as his wife.
Since his son was already dead, they could always have another child. Initially, he was sad, but there was no need to gamble everything; he still wanted to make a coback.
Of course, he also knew that his wife was seriously ill, and their son was her only hope.
Now that their son is gone....
"Of course, we must proceed. I suspect it was handled by Zhang Xuan, or perhaps others from Qinghe Palace. In this world, there are plenty who don’t want to see us do well..." Shao Quanhua said mildly.
"The person who reported us thought they could rely on the authorities to defeat us. Such thinking is too naive and not quite Zhang Xuan’s style," said the third person.
The lamp illuminated his face, revealing him as none other than Chen He, who was supposed to be arrested and brought to justice!
"The person who reported us probably didn’t know at all that our military equipnt was actually sold by the county authorities. The county supervisor even gets a commission from it; catching us is rely for extorting more money," Chen He said with so distress.
He had spent a considerable amount of silver coins to co out this ti.
"No matter what, the person who frad us is definitely connected to Zhang Xuan. Once we target him, we can eliminate the root of the problem!" Shao Quanhua said calmly.
"First kill Zhang Xintai, then take his head to see Zhang Xuan. I want him to taste the pain of losing a son too!"
"Do it together?" Chen He asked.
"We’ll act together. After the betrothal, I’ll have Li Heng design an opportunity for us to act, kill Zhang Xintai first, and then deal with Zhang Xuan." Shao Quanhua affird.
"Indeed, eliminating a re second-grade figure first would definitely infuriate Zhang Xuan, making him easier to deal with," Chen He nodded.
"After succeeding, we’ll leave this place and go to Tan Yang," Shao Quanhua had it all planned.
"Good!" Chen He and his brother Chen Zihan nodded together.
Things had developed to this extent; after being extorted heavily by that county supervisor, their foundation suffered too much loss and staying here no longer made sense.
Moreover, most of Mi Gang’s people did not want to go against Qinghe Palace. They might as well take revenge and leave this wretched place directly.
"When exactly do we act?" Chen Zihan asked.
"Tomorrow night would be ideal. Let them enjoy a bit," Shao Quanhua gave a peculiar smile.
*
*
*
On the third day.
Senior brother Zhang Xintai hired a band in the city and found so idle n to lift a large gift box, marching noisily towards Yang Hongyan’s house.
Zhang Rongfang followed at the tail end of the group, along with a few other friends of his senior brother, smiling as they proceeded.
Soon,
The team arrived at the Yang family house, where sister-in-law Yang Hongyan was done with her grooming, gentle and charming, dressed in bright red ceremonial attire with a thin veil over her face. She was carried into the flower sedan chair.
Senior brother Zhang Xintai mounted a white horse, leading the way towards the other side of the county.
He had bought a set of houses there for use as a new ho after the marriage.
The procession advanced all the way and quickly arrived at the new house.
There were already plenty of people waiting on the streets to watch the scene.
Auntie throwing festive money held a wooden basin filled with copper coins, grabbing a handful and tossing them heavily into the sky.
Amid the jingling sound of falling copper coins, Zhang Xintai and Yang Hongyan shyly ran into the new house hand in hand with their heads lowered.
Inside the gate, sitting in the courtyard was surprisingly the old master Zhang Xuan.
He sat smilingly on the grand master’s chair with two elders beside him whom Zhang Rongfang had never t; they were not daoists but had a special aura.
Next ca the customary salutation and tea offering.
This was the common etiquette in Huaxin County.
As a mber of the family by the team, Zhang Rongfang entered the new house and began hosting guests who ca to congratulate them.
Record gift money, arrange als and tables, call out nas loudly, and so forth; nurous tasks needed to be handled.
They were busy until nightfall before the engagent concluded.
Zhang Xintai greeted the friends and neighbors who were gracious enough to co, then let Yang Hongyan rest in the room.
He himself prepared to check the recorded gift book.
Just as he was about to pass through the courtyard to the inner room, soone called out to him.
"Brother Xintai, could you spare a mont to speak?"
The person calling out was round-bodied, with a face full of genial fat, wearing the white robe commonly seen on disciples practicing cultivation, none other than Li Heng, the head of Qinghe Temple in the city.
"Brother Li Heng? Is there sothing urgent?" Zhang Xintai and Li Heng had an agreeable relationship, especially since he would be residing in the county in the future; it’s necessary to forge a good relationship with Li Heng.
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