Wan Yitong stretched out his hand, tapping on the back of the scabbard with his finger. He looked at the three people below whose expressions didn’t look good. “Originally, I shouldn’t be taking care of this matter today, but my family’s Youngest Martial Brother was involved and I also happened to see it, so I can’t ignore this.”
Shi Yongtai, “…” Even if this wasn’t your younger martial brother, you’d still stick your nose into this matter anyways.
Shi Yongtai asked with a dark expression, “What does Immortal Wan want to do?”
Wan Yitong replied, “I have to be clear on the entire context first, so let’s stop here for the time being. However, don’t even think about starting a fight in Profound City either. You know whose territory this is.”
Wan Yitong saw from a glance that the two old guys down below who looked quite similar to each other were not virtuous crops. At the very least, they should have been above the Profound Realm in cultivation. Even if he and Lin Xuanzhi fought together, they still wouldn’t be able to win against even one of them. Lin Xuanzhi used a magic tool, coupled with his own skills and courage, to snatch back Qing Zhu from that fatal blow just now. It was already a miracle that they were unscathed.
Having the flexibility to adapt to any situation was the character of a real man, and Wan Yitong was not the kind of person who sought to impress even when it was beyond his abilities to do so.
However, Wan Yitong did not give up on taking verbal advantage of the situation.
“Tsk tsk, in my opinion, the three of you really have enough face, to actually bully a younger generation at your age.” Wan Yitong bowed his hand and spoke sincerely, “This humble one admires you.”
The two cultivators, one in black robes and one in brown ones, clearly looked like they wanted to beat him up, but when they saw the whole two squads of Wu family’s patrol soldiers standing next to them, they had to hold back for the moment.
Even a strong dragon couldn’t repress the local boss. If they broke Profound City’s rules, they were afraid that Yongtai Manor wouldn’t be able to remain in Profound City.
The cultivator dressed in brown clothes smiled a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, “You all shouldn’t be too wild either. It’s uncertain who will win.”
With a cold expression, Qing Zhu glared at Shi Yongtai with a pair of eyes that looked as though they had been tempered by poison. He sincerely wished to cut this person apart into a thousand pieces. In the end, the matter was concluded after both Qing Zhu and Shi Yongtai paid a considerable sum of money in compensation.
Ling Chigu was at home. Naturally, Lin Xuanzhi wouldn’t take Wan Yitong there. He first found a medical center to heal Qing Zhu’s wounds. After Qing Zhu had almost fully recovered, the line of people found an inn and booked a room there.
After closing the door, Wan Yitong frowned. “Although I don’t know what happened in the past between you guys, just from the Profound Realm techniques you revealed, it would be enough to give the Wu family a handle on you and allow them to lock you in the Wu family’s cell.”
Qing Zhu also spoke with some guilt, “I’m sorry, I couldn’t control my emotions for a while; thanks for your help today.”
Wan Yitong saw that this very good-looking young man had such a good attitude and was soft-spoken, so he didn’t intend to continue his admonishment.
He waved his hand, “This is nothing. Besides, Xuanzhi is my Youngest Martial Brother. I’m really overprotective of my friends.”
Lin Xuanzhi’s expression didn’t look very good. “Uncle Zhuzi, didn’t I say before that you should discuss with me first if there was something that wasn’t easy to solve? Why did you suddenly do such a dangerous thing today?”
If he didn’t catch up in time and pull Qing Zhu away, he was afraid that Qing Zhu would have suffered a serious injury right now.
Qing Zhu awkwardly responded, “It’s true that I was too impulsive. Someone reminded me before that Shi Yongtai had two powerful figures by his side. I thought I could suppress these two people with my cultivation level. Unexpectedly, both of them were also Profound Realm cultivators.”
Wan Yitong cautioned, “There are crouching tigers and hidden dragons everywhere in Profound City. Perhaps a person who seems down on their luck whom you casually bump into on the streets of Profound City would actually be a reclusive Profound Realm cultivator. The water in Profound City is deep. It’s better not to act rashly in the future.”
Qing Zhu also suffered a big loss, so he repeatedly nodded with lingering fear.
Yan Tianhen pressed the phoenix hidden in front of his chest and asked Qing Zhu, “Brother Zhuzi, what actually happened today? With your temper, how can you suddenly start a fight with others?”
When Yan Tianhen mentioned this, Qing Zhu’s gentle eyes showed resentment again. He sighed heavily, “Ah Hen, Xuanzhi, the current Yongtai Manor was originally named Serene Herb Manor, and was a spiritual plant shop that your dad set up.”
Lin Xuanzhi was taken aback. He did hear the name “Serene Herb Manor” before. It wasn’t only in this life, but it was equally famous in the previous life too. However, those were all private property controlled by Yan Tianhen after he entered the demonic path. Moreover, Serene Herb Manor’s development was quite good. At least the name was very famous on the East Continent.
However, he never heard the name “Qing Zhu” again.
Lin Xuanzhi’s heart trembled with fear when he now thought about what actually happened to Qing Zhu.
“Go on.” Lin Xuanzhi spoke with a lowered voice.
Qing Zhu sighed and told Lin Xuanzhi the whole story.
After hearing this, Yan Tianhen was indignant, “This Shi Yongtai is so brazen. Daddy was so kind to him at the beginning, yet he did such a treacherous thing!”
Lin Xuanzhi’s face also grew colder and colder, “The most urgent task now is to find out who is the new master behind Shi Yongtai.”
Qing Zhu also nodded. “I’ve been thinking about it and still can’t understand who would have wanted to oppose Young Master. Over the years, although Young Master Zhan had been a recluse and seldom went out, and he even turned down lots of friendships, but he still didn’t offend many people. Furthermore, none of them were from powerful families either. But today, when the two men started fighting, I knew that things were not quite right.”
“What kind of thing is Shi Yongtai? He’s no more than a dog. Those people just want to control Serene Herb Manor through Shi Yongtai.”
However, was it necessary for them to send two Profound Realm cultivators to protect an insignificant little character?
Shi Yongtai was dispensable. Even without him, Serene Herb Manor could still be taken away by others. The “great backing” that Shi Yongtai spoke of, what was its purpose in doing so?
Qing Zhu didn’t understand, but he could see that the two Profound Realm cultivators today truly did want to kill him.
Lin Xuanzhi decided, “There is something strange about this matter. We need to check it carefully.”
Qing Zhu nodded. “If we’re really going to investigate, there may be people available on my side. Master Zhan raised a mercenary group that worked only for him before. I have the way to contact them here, but I just returned and didn’t understand their current situation, so I didn’t dare to use them casually.”
Lin Xuanzhi frowned, his heart could not help but think that his father really was capable.
Mercenary groups were very common in the Five Continents. They took the money and handled matters. Their employers bankrupted themselves supporting these groups in order to avoid disasters, but the risks were also extremely high. Lin Xuanzhi had heard of a mercenary group before. They had a dispute with their employers during the delivery of goods, which resulted in their employers having their heads cut off.
Mercenaries were mostly fugitives. They wandered in the most dangerous areas doing what ordinary cultivators were least willing to do and accepted high mercenary fees.
Dealing with these mercenary soldiers who licked the blood on knives’ tips really required some strategy.
Yet Lin Zhan actually raised a group of mercenaries?
Although Lin Xuanzhi also had this kind of plan, he had no financial resources to put it into practice for the time being. Firstly, mercenary soldiers who’d made great achievements today were really too expensive to employ. Secondly, if one raised them from scratch, there were too many matters they needed to get used to and there were many things that Lin Xuanzhi didn’t trust the mercenary soldiers to do.
Lin Zhan laid down the foundation, which would help him a lot.
Lin Xuanzhi composed himself, “Brother Zhuzi, I’ll have to trouble you to contact the mercenary group. It is not easy for us to find out the cause of this matter within a short period of time by ourselves.”
“Then I’ll try to contact them.” Qing Zhu hesitated a little, “However, I’m not sure if we can still use them now. In the past, Young Master Zhan contacted them personally about matters. The head of the mercenary group seems to have reached some sort of agreement with Young Master Zhan. Two years have already passed, so I don’t know if we can still use them.”
Although Lin Zhan “raised” the mercenary group, the mercenary group still maintained their freedom. They were not Lin Zhan’s servants. They were free to accept other people’s requests when Lin Zhan didn’t give them an assignment.
A mercenary group was a typical “benefits above all else” type of group. Lin Zhan didn’t give them any tasks or money for two years, so the mercenary group would naturally proceed to find new clients — or wait for new customers to take the initiative to find them.
Lin Xuanzhi also understood the reason. He nodded. “When we get in touch with each other, we will see the situation and make plans. What is the name of the mercenary group?”
“It’s called Cloud Summit.” Qing Zhu answered.
Lin Xuanzhi, “….”
Qing Zhu looked at him. “I know you may not have heard of this mercenary group’s name, but they truly are good. At least they completed the tasks assigned to them by Young Master Zhan before.”
Lin Xuanzhi laughed, “No, you misunderstood me. I wasn’t looking down on them.”
On the contrary, although Cloud Summit’s reputation today wasn’t very prominent, in the near future, the mercenary group would be very prosperous.
However, they would shift from prosperity to decline not long after.
Although the head of the mercenary group was a man who could fight, he wasn’t very good at judging people. Lin Xuanzhi couldn’t remember exactly which request it was, but the group’s captain was heavily injured on one of the missions, and the vice-captain robbed him of his power. The former captain was thrown into the desolate wilderness like a discarded dog. Since then, nobody knew whether the former captain was alive or dead. A few mercenaries left one after another and Cloud Summit began to decline.
After the thought flashed through his head, Lin Xuanzhi was in no mood to mind other people’s business. Cloud Summit mercenary group’s fate was not something that he could decide.
However, Cloud Summit’s future did not prevent him from planning to employ Cloud Summit to do things now. After all, if nothing unexpected happened, then Cloud Summit would still be on the rise.
Qing Zhu composed himself. “Since Young Master wants to cooperate with them, I will contact them as soon as possible.”
Lin Xuanzhi nodded, “The price is negotiable.”
Yan Tianhen looked at Lin Xuanzhi and spoke hesitantly, “It’s not negotiable. I hope they don’t demand a lion’s share, just like my master.”
Lin Xuanzhi couldn’t help laughing. He pinched Yan Tianhen’s nose, “You really are a small money-grubber.”
Yan Tianhen gave a deep sigh, “Compared to that master of mine, I’m nothing at all. I truly concede defeat to him.”
Lin Xuanzhi and Qing Zhu nodded with deep empathy.
Huai Yu’s list, which could easily number hundreds of items, really gave Lin Xuanzhi and Qing Zhu a deep scare.
Qing Zhu thought for a moment, “I’ve already told my subordinates to purchase the items on the list, but many of them can’t be bought. We need to especially look for them. We may not have time to take care of Esteemed Huai Yu’s side for the time being.”
Yan Tianhen hurriedly assured, “Don’t worry about my master. Maybe he would have already forgotten about it by now. Don’t worry about him at all.”
Wan Yitong looked saw the situation and asked curiously, “What did Martial Uncle Huai Yu ask you guys to buy?”
Yan Tianhen sighed and handed the scroll to Wan Yitong.
After reading over it, Wan Yitong’s lips twitched uncontrollably. He patted his chest, congratulating himself, “Heavens! Luckily, I don’t have a brother detained by Martial Uncle Huai Yu’s side. Otherwise, even if I were sold, I’m afraid I still can’t satisfy his desire.”
Yan Tianhen nodded vigorously, “I never expected that my master would be such a person.”
Lin Xuanzhi gave Yan Tianhen a nudge on the head, “Just say it secretly; don’t let him hear it.”
