Translator: Myuu Editor: Myuu
Taking out trash like Wang Haofei meant that he would become nothing but an insignificant stranger, a transparent person, an ordinary new student of the martial arts academy in the Ye Clan’s eyes for a while. He probably wouldn’t have anything to do with the Ye Clan for the time being as he had already removed his most imminent crisis for the time being, thus giving him more preparation time. It was also for this exact reason that he was able to sleep extremely soundly tonight. This was probably the best sleep he had ever since he woke up from that surrealistic experience…
The next morning, Yan Liqiang woke up early as usual. He opened the window in his room to welcome the fresh breeze from the Lake of Longevity and began his morning regime.
The Lake of Longevity still looked the same. It was still very early in the morning and the sky was still dark. A few specks of lights were floating on the lake’s surface, shrouded by mist.
Yan Liqiang’s eyes had undergone some strange changes after being enhanced three times through Heavenly Bestowments. His eyesight was still the same as before when he was looking at things in close proximity, albeit slightly clearer. However, his eyes would exhibit abnormality as soon as he focused into the distance, his pupils in his eyes would instantly shine brighter. As they shone, his vision would be akin to that of a hawk, he could clearly see objects which were even ten thousand meters away. The few specks of lights in the distance on the Lake of Longevity, which was shrouded in mist, instantly grew clearer in his focused gaze…
Those were lanterns which hung on the pleasure boats sailing on the Lake of Longevity. However, the passengers on the boat were no longer travelers, but soldiers from Pingxi City. They stood on either side of the deck with powerful bows and crossbows in their hands while they watched attentively over the lake’s surface. Quite a number of them were also holding long bamboo poles which they used to poke around in the water. From the look on their faces, these soldiers had probably stayed up half the night on the pleasure boats. Most of them appeared to be quite exhausted, but they didn’t let their guard down for even a second…
Without a doubt, these soldiers were most likely deployed to the Lake of Longevity to search for King Cobra.
At the Lake of Longevity, there were also a few more small isles and some places filled with reeds. A thorough search of the area would definitely require quite a lot of time and effort.
King Cobra had very prominent features on his face. After being seen by those two ladies last night, the officers from the Law Enforcement Office immediately knew they were talking about the wanted criminal, King Cobra as soon as the portrait was drawn.
A serious wanted criminal, who had just committed a crime not long ago in Qinghe County by massacring many, had actually managed to slip into the prefectural city and even murdered a young lord from an influential clan. News like this would no doubt send shockwaves. While instilling terror to a great number of people, it also infuriated some, like the Prefectural Governor from the Ye Clan. As the individual holding the highest authority in Pingxi Prefecture, it went without saying that he couldn’t possibly allow an infamous criminal to run amok in Pingxi City, even if only for the sake of his pride and reputation as an official.
After Yan Liqiang was done with his morning regime and saw the pleasure boats which were still drifting along the lake surface while the sky had already brightened, Yan Liqiang’s face broke into a strange smile.
After he had his breakfast in the inn and settled the bills for his room, Yan Liqiang left Vista Paradiso.
The patrols on the streets of Pingxi City had obviously increased compared to yesterday, along with officials who abused their power. They were gathered around places like the alleys and street corners. Crouching on the floor or below the eaves, they had grassroots or toothpicks sticking out at the side of their mouth as they eyed the pedestrians, especially those who were wearing hats, bamboo hats or face masks.
Shortly after Yan Liqiang left the inn, he saw an old man wearing a bamboo hat come out from an alley by the roadside. He was walking normally in front of Yan Liqiang until two thugs suddenly rushed out from a corner of the street and came towards him. One of the thugs then deliberately bumped into the old man and pretended to fall down. The other thug knocked the bamboo hat off that old man’s head in the process, revealing his head full of gray hair and wrinkled face hidden beneath the hat.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” The old man flew into a rage.
“I’m sorry, my brother here is drunk…” One of the thugs said, then they both escaped into the alley in a flash and vanished.
The two thugs completely ignored Yan Liqiang, who was behind the old man.
They walked for less than two hundred meters before the old man was stopped by a patrol of several men who demanded that he take off his bamboo hat…
Yan Liqiang looked straight ahead and walked past the patrol and the old man. After walking for half an hour, he arrived somewhere near the Nine Dragons Bridge in the east of Pingxi City.
As the oldest business district in Pingxi City, the street to the east of Nine Dragons Bridge was still bustling with activity during the day. However, the western side of the bridge was where the Shatu people usually gathered, therefore, it appeared to be deserted.
On the lively street east of Nine Dragons Bridge, however, one place was an exception — the medicinal store. The entrance was shut and the store was out of business. The door and windows outside the store were quite damaged and seemed to have been deliberately smashed. At the entrance of the store, a few Shatu people sat on rugs with their scimitars hanging at their waist. They were blocking the entrance and part of the road. The walls on either side of the main entrance had been splashed with ink along with two lines of messy scribbles—’ If you kill someone, you pay with your life! If you owe money, you pay your debt!’
“What are you looking at!” The few Shatu people sitting on the floor didn’t seem to be bothered by the stares they got from the passersby. They’d occasionally snap back at them violently and fiercely like a hungry man-eating wolf. However, those Shatu people weren’t able to conceal the greed in their eyes when they turned around to look at the bustling street and stores.
Yan Liqiang was very well aware of the incident here. When he passed by the medicinal store, he only threw those Shatu people a single indifferent glance and moved on.
Not far from the Nine Dragons Bridge and right behind this bustling main street, there was an old Chinese residential area. Due to the fact that this area was closer to the Shatu community, separated by only a river, it was still alright during the daytime. However, by nightfall, many Shatu people would frequently stir up trouble and clamor at the Nine Dragons Bridge. Since the matter had gotten worse over the past two years, quite a number of residents in this residential area moved away one after another over this period of time. The room rentals in this area were pretty much the cheapest in Pingxi City.
After wandering around the residential area for a while, Yan Liqiang spotted a small courtyard with a rental sign. Without wasting much effort, Yan Liqiang immediately paid for a year’s worth of rental at an affordable price to the couple who made tofu, renting the small courtyard which they no longer lived in without going through any broker.
Upon renting the courtyard, he went off to shop for some daily necessities. After a busy morning, he finally settled into his first lodging point in Pingxi City.
Yan Liqiang had lunch in the city and exited the city in the afternoon.
King Cobra’s wanted poster had already been put up at the west entrance of Pingxi City and there was a big crowd looking at it. Yan Liqiang squeezed into the crowd and heard a scholarly person in front of the poster speak while nodding his head. “Anyone who can capture this wanted criminal, King Cobra, dead or alive, will be rewarded with a hundred taels of gold. Anyone who can tip off on the hiding place of this criminal will be rewarded ten taels of gold…”
The crowd of onlookers in the surroundings gasped at the mention of the reward of a hundred taels of gold, then broke out into discussions.
“What’s going on? What crime did this person commit?”
“Don’t you know this person is a criminal who can kill without blinking? Awhile ago he nearly wiped out an influential clan in Qinghe County. Last night, this King Cobra murdered a young lord from a wealthy clan in the city’s Plum Gardens. The Law Enforcement Office of the city is currently in a chaotic state…”
“How did he manage to slip inside the city?”
“Who knows?”
The King Cobra on this portrait bore more resemblance to the one drawn in Qinghe County. King Cobra’s sinister face, his slanted eyes and black mole were drawn with a standard close to those facial composites. It seemed like the skill of the Law Enforcement Office’s artist in this prefectural town was a lot higher than the one in Qinghe County. Even so, these line portraits drawn with calligraphy brush and ink were not that much different compared to real portrait sketches, especially those by Yan Liqiang, which could be said to be done with the standard of a professional composite artist.
Yan Liqiang secretly smiled while listening to the heated discussions going on around him, then withdrew himself from the crowd. He easily went past the inspection at the city entrance and returned to Wuyang Village.
In the afternoon of the same day, Yan Liqiang ascended the mountain again and wasted no time in practicing his blow dart technique.
After receiving three Heavenly Bestowments, Yan Liqiang could sense that the highest realm of this blow dart wasn’t only the third layer. He had a feeling he could make another breakthrough happen…
