Chapter 132 - The Clouds Disperse and the Rain Scatters

Why would Ye Dachuan decline? He agreed to it in a hurry as he grabbed Li Qingshan by the hands. “You truly are my bringer of good fortune, no, nobleman!” He remembered how Li Qingshan’s current status was already completely different from before.

Li Qingshan asked, “Where are protector Yan and the others?”

Ye Dachuan said, “They’ve returned to the Iron Fist school to tidy up. The Iron Fist school of Jiaping city said they wanted to visit you later at night, but I never thought I would see you first.”

Over a dozen guards arrived behind Li Qingshan. “Sir Li!”

Li Qingshan smiled. “This would be your sir Ye!”

“Sir Ye!”

Standing in front of the Parlour of Clouds and Rain, Ye Dachuan was excited. Would he be visiting the largest, most luxurious brothel on his first day in Jiaping?”

Li Qingshan said, “Sir Ye, don’t forget that we’ve come here today to make trouble.”

Ye Dachuan replied, “I haven’t forgotten, I haven’t forgotten. Squeezing money out of them is our priority.” Afterwards, he ordered righteously, “Charge in and sweep through this whorehouse!”

“Yes, sir!” The guards charged in like wolves and tigers, startling all the women in there. The guards came out, but when they saw the bringer of disaster, Li Qingshan, none of them were bold enough to stop them.

Ye Dachuan borrowed Li Qingshan’s might. “Where’s your boss? Where is he?”

A lady said fearfully, “We don’t know either.”

Ye Dachuan said, “Search!”

Li Qingshan stood aside and watched on as the group of guards from the government searched through the entire parlour. He quietly reminded Ye Dachuan. “Looks like they’ve already fled. There might be a treasury or something here, just like the Black Wind stronghold.”

Ye Dachuan’s eyes immediately lit up when he heard the word treasury. “Search the cellar!” With his sharp instincts towards money, he found the mechanism in just a while even without any further hints from Li Qingshan, opening up the door to the underground palace.

Ye Dachuan looked at the murky door and became slightly afraid, but his desire for treasure still triumphed. He ordered the group of government guards to enter first before pulling Li Qingshan along with him.

As expected, they found the imprisoned girls very soon, proving the guilt of the Parlour of Clouds and Rains. As for Zhao Liangqing and Furong’s disappearance, they were obviously explained to have fled from justice.

Ye Dachuan was not disappointed either. Although Li Qingshan had taken away their hundred treasures pouches, the underground palace still contained much gold and silverware, as well as general treasure. It amounted to quite a fortune.

“Congratulations, sir Ye. You’ve done a great service as soon as you’ve arrived in Jiaping city.” Li Qingshan smiled as he raised his head and looked at the paintings of dancing and floating women. He casually drew his Wind-entwining blade and tossed it out, brushing past the tip of a parlour guard’s nose and slamming into the wall near the entrance.

“If you don’t explain what we found today, no one is allowed to leave. You’ll be executed without mercy.” Zhao Liangqing would have never personally carried out the abductions. These guards and hired thugs would definitely be involved in the matter.

“What! Zhao Liangqing has vanished?” Zhuo Zhibo leapt up as he looked at Ge Jian who reported to him.

Ge Jian said, “Yes. Today, Li Qingshan took out a few accounts from the parlour and requested for a warrant from Zhou Wenbin to search the parlour again. In the end, not only were Zhao Liangqing and Furong absent, but they even found the abducted girls in the underground palace. They’ve already been taken back to the district government office. After being questioned by Zhou Wenbin, he has already judged Zhao Liangqing to be guilty and ordered for his capture. He has also confiscated all of the Parlour of Clouds and Rain’s property.”

Zhuo Zhibo sat down slowly. There was something off about all of this. As long as Zhao Liangqing remained here, there would be a time when he made a return. No one would be able to convict him. Had he returned to the sect to report this matter and come up with a countermeasure against this, which was why Li Qingshan managed to get the opportunity to do all this?

He struggled to understand this affair. For a second, he even suspected Zhao Liangqing was dead, but he dismissed this thought immediately. Who was able to kill Zhao Liangqing? He had already reached the peak of the fifth layer, only a step away from becoming a sixth layer Qi Practitioner. In all of Jiaping city, the only people who could kill him were Zhuo Zhibo himself and Zhou Wenbin. However, Zhou Wenbin would never take such a risk and become enemies with the Parlour of Clouds and Rain.

Only a bastard like Li Qingshan would be bold enough to be so reckless, but it had already been mentioned more than enough times that Li Qingshan was just a first layer Qi Practitioner. He was not Zhao Liangqing’s opponent.

Qian Rongzhi seemed to be in thought. Li Qingshan was basically a bringer of misfortune. Just last night, Zhuo Zhibo had set down a trap in the Parlour of Clouds and Rain, yet today, the parlour had been destroyed.

Zhou Wenbin had never expected such an outcome after just sending a few people to harass them a little either. The Parlour of Clouds and Rain was reduced to an empty shell. The girls all explained what they went through tearfully, exposing the many acts of violence the Parlour of Clouds and Rain had committed and identifying many servants and guards involved. Meanwhile, Zhao Liangqing and Furong were the two people behind it all.

He did not even need to report this to Clear River city. Zhou Wenbin’s authority in Jiaping was basically unmatched, so with an order, over a dozen heads struck the ground, beheaded cleanly. Several dozen people were also thrown into jail. Afterwards, he ordered for Zhao Liangqing and Furong’s arrest, and only then did he write a report to Clear River city for the prefect to question the Sect of Clouds and Rain. Your disciples have committed such crimes, so you need to explain yourselves at the very least.

Since they were under the reign of the Great Xia empire, they were forced to accept and abide by its laws. At a time like this, even the Sect of Clouds and Rain would be forced to expel Zhao Liangqing and the others to distance themselves from the matter.

With Zhou Wenbin’s prompt action, it only took him an afternoon to utterly amaze Li Qingshan. “Very impressive of you, sir.”

Zhou Wenbin paced around as he asked softly, “Tell me honestly. Were you behind this or not?”

Li Qingshan said, “Only if I had the strength.”

Zhou Wenbin stared at him for a while and saw nothing from Li Qingshan’s expression. This was just an idea he came up with on the spot as well, feeling that Li Qingshan would be involved somehow. He patted Li Qingshan on the shoulder. “Alright then. You have pretty good luck.”

At this moment, Qian Rongzhi and Diao Fei arrived at the government office as well to report to Zhou Wenbin.

Qian Rongzhi recovered her friendly manner. “How imposing of you last night, Qingshan. You really shouldn’t have done all of that without me. We joined together, so how could you not call me along?”

However, Diao Fei finally began to understand Li Qingshan’s dispute with Zhuo Zhibo. He was not bold enough to offend Li Qingshan, nor did he want to be on good terms with him, so he made do with a quick greeting.

Li Qingshan smiled at them and could not be bothered to answer. He bid farewell to Zhou Wenbin. After which, Ye Dachuan pulled him away to go find Yan Song for a celebration.

Diao Fei called out from behind, “Qingshan, hold on.”

Li Qingshan looked back. “What’s the matter?”

Diao Fei actually felt his heart skip a beat. This teenager who was more than just a few years younger than him actually made him feel fear. However, he had weathered many trials in the past after all. As such, after taking in a deep breath, he immediately composed himself. He was not a piece of trash inexperienced with battle like the procuress. He refused to believe he was not Li Qingshan’s opponent if they really did end up fighting with his strength at the third layer.

“From tomorrow onwards, we have to carry out a trial mission together. Shouldn’t we discuss it tonight?”

Li Qingshan frowned. “Together? A trial mission?” He had no interest in being stuck with the two of them.

Zhou Wenbin explained, “This has always been a rule of the Hawkwolf Guard. After joining the Hawkwolf Guard, you need to go through a few trial missions before you’re actually accepted. Afterwards, you’ll have to go to Clear River city and meet the two commanders. Normally, there are very few people who fail the trial missions. Most of the time, it’s just a formality. However, if you don’t accept it, it’ll give Zhuo Zhibo a reason to expel you.”

Li Qingshan understood that there were rules within the system. He said while standing there, “Alright, we can discuss it.” He was very curious about just what mission Zhuo Zhibo would give them.

They stated their backgrounds for the sake of formality. “Qian family of the Ancient Wind city.” A clan as tiny as that obviously did not raise Zhou Wenbin’s attention, but when he asked about Diao Fei’s background, the reply he received left him slightly surprised. “Green Vine mountain? Your master’s the Green Vine Elder?”

“Yes!”

“Did your master agree to you joining the Hawkwolf Guard?” The reason why Zhou Wenbin asked that was because clans were different from sects. Clans were all established in cities. They were under the reign of the empire and were willing for their clansmen to become a part of the empire. However, most sects were located in mountains or the wilderness, so they had their own rules that they followed. Most of them were reluctant for their disciples to become the hawk and wolves of the empire.

Diao Fei’s face sank, reaching an even darker skin tone, and his slanted eyes directly slanted upwards.

Zhou Wenbin did not ask any further. He put down his brush. “You can go now.”

After leaving the government office, Ye Dachuan said, “You must both be the young talents of the Hawkwolf Guard as well. I am Ye Dachuan, a vice magistrate of this district. Seeing how we’ve run into each other, would you like to go drinking with us?”

Qian Rongzhi and Diao Fei both looked at Li Qingshan. Li Qingshan said, “Let’s go.” Both of them agreed to it.

The four of them walked along the main street. Although it was near dusk, people still bustled about. However, they would see their Black Wolf uniforms and avoid them from a distance away. Even carriages would temporarily stop, afraid of getting in their way.

Only then did Li Qingshan realise that the Black Wolf uniform was actually so mighty. He arrived at the restaurant that Ye Dachuan had agreed on with Yan Song and the others, entering a private room upstairs. Yan Song and Li Long had already been waiting there. When they saw Li Qingshan, they stood up in a hurry. “Qingshan, you travelled so quickly.”

Li Qingshan casually introduced his two colleagues, and Yan Song said, “So you both come from great backgrounds. Nice to meet you.” However, he felt slightly taken aback inside. Out of the three of them, Li Qingshan had the weakest cultivation and background, yet they seemed to follow him as their leader without any objections at all.

Diao Fei and Qian Rongzhi greeted them out of courtesy as well. With their cultivation and identities, there was no need for them to take Yan Song too seriously.

After a few cups of alcohol, Yan Song asked Li Qingshan about his cultivation of the Innate Method of Practising Qi.

Li Qingshan said, “I’ve just reached the third layer. I probably need some more time before I can reach the fourth.”

Yan Song was surprised. The Innate Method of Practising Qi would increase with difficulty. He was not very surprised by how Li Qingshan could understand the first layer so quickly and reach the second layer, but after just a few days, he had actually broken through to the third layer already. This speed was truly rather surprising. “It has only been seven or eight days. I originally thought your talent for cultivation was only so-so, Qingshan, but I never thought I had actually underestimated you.”

“What! Seven or eight days?” Diao Fei and Qian Rongzhi were both stunned. Only then did they learn that it had not even been ten days since Li Qingshan formally began practising qi, yet he had already reached the third layer of the Innate Method of Practising Qi. He was basically a cultivation genius mentioned in the legends.

Li Qingshan smiled and did not provide any explanations. Who knew how many Qi Gathering pills he had eaten, and he had the sumeru ring of a Golden Core master to refine his true qi. If he failed to achieve something like this, his talent would just be far too mediocre.