“Xiuling, something isn't right here,” Shen Rongqing said, lowering her voice. “Bao Yingchen hung on by a thread and fought his way back to the main hall with his last breath. At the very least, he should have asked someone to help detoxify him.”
Notebook in hand, Zhang Xiuling was busy recording the touching scene and brushed Shen Rongqing off: “Perhaps the poison in his veins has no cure.”
Shen Rongqing shook her head repeatedly. “Even if there was no cure, he had already made it back to his own turf. He should have at least had someone try.”
Zhang Xiuling wrote faster and faster. “Perhaps Chief Bao saw through life and death long ago.”
“What kind of joke is that? This is life and death! A person only has one life; who doesn't want to live? Rather than spending his breath finishing his dying words, he should have given himself a fighting chance.”
Zhang Xiuling chuckled. “That's a realm of enlightenment. Rongqing, do you understand what kind of realm this is?”
Shen Rongqing genuinely could not wrap her mind around it. “Xiuling, tell me, what realm is that? What kind of realm truly allows someone to see through life and death?”
“A realm isn't something that can be explained in words,” Zhang Xiuling said, her voice suddenly dropping low. “If you haven't seen through life and death yourself, then keep your mouth shut. You're in business, and you know far too little about gangs and sects. Keep talking, and you might not live to see tomorrow.”
This was the difference between Zhang Xiuling and Shen Rongqing. Both were women of rare talent and intellect, but Shen Rongqing was a merchant, while Zhang Xiuling was the sect master of the Baihua Sect.
Shen Rongqing still could not let it go. “Xiuling, don't you want to know the truth?”
Employing her technique of One Stroke, A Thousand Lines, Zhang Xiuling penned a few lines in her notebook and held it up before Shen Rongqing:
“Rongqing, one truth is not the same as another. Merchants care about genuine goods at fair prices; sects care that seeing is believing.
“In the sects, whatever can be seen is real, and whatever cannot be seen is false.
“Bao Yingchen is dead. You saw it, so that is real.
“Shen Jinzhong shed tears. You saw it, so that is real too.
“According to the rules, the Second Gold Seal will now become the Grand Gold Seal. The rules are real, and the gold seal is real.
“You saw all of these things. What you see is real; as for what you cannot see, it is best not to guess blindly.”
After reading those lines, Shen Rongqing fell silent.
Everyone present had witnessed the scene that just unfolded; therefore, it was real.
Compared to that, all her doubts held no meaning whatsoever. They would only bring her trouble, or even cost her her life.
Next, Shen Jinzhong had two things to take care of.
First, to give Bao Yingchen a proper burial. Whether as a sworn brother or as a subordinate within the sect, this was Shen Jinzhong's bounden duty.
Second, to deal with the traitor. Bao Yingchen had said all he had to say and singled out the culprit: Dong Kaibin.
Dong Kaibin was still dazed and bewildered, having no idea how to defend himself.
In truth, he had no need to fret over formulating an excuse, because Shen Jinzhong had no intention of giving him the chance to speak.
Several disciples pinned Dong Kaibin down onto the table, and Shen Jinzhong raised his blade without hesitation.
This, too, had been Li the Seventh's instruction: show no hesitation, leave no leeway, and do not permit a single moment of argument or maneuvering.
Dong Kaibin had his own cultivation; he was a tier-five Ascetic Cultivator.
He had his own men as well, with several retainers standing in the main hall.
He channeled his technique, attempting to break free, but Shen Jinzhong subdued him on the spot.
He shouted for his retainers, but cold blades were already pressed against every single one of their throats.
Dong Kaibin yelled hoarsely, “Whatever the Chu family did, I knew nothing about it!”
Whatever he screamed came too late. Shen Jinzhong lopped off his head with a single slash.
Watching the blood gush out, He Yuxiu felt a pang of regret.
What a waste of such a good pot of mutton.
At one of the banquet tables, someone murmured under their breath, “Was this really the Chu family's doing?”
Shen Jinzhong gritted his teeth and barked, “The Chus didn't even dare to show their faces! If they didn't do it, who else could it be?”
Indeed, the Chu family truly hadn't shown up.
Shen Jinzhong had thrown a mutton hot-pot banquet, but he hadn't even invited the Chu family, so how could they have come?
This was not the time for logic; what mattered right now were brotherhood and atmosphere.
By executing Dong Kaibin to avenge the Chief, Shen Jinzhong had shown ample brotherhood, and the atmosphere was firmly set.
Next came the funeral rites. The guests who had arrived for the feast naturally could not neglect etiquette, stepping forward one by one to pay their respects before the memorial altar.
As for an autopsy or examining the body, not a soul dared to bring it up. It proved Zhang Xiuling's point: Bao Yingchen was dead, and dead was dead.
Shen Jinzhong wore mourning garments, grief-stricken, nearly weeping himself unconscious.
He Yuxiu offered a stick of incense for Bao Yingchen and turned to Shen Jinzhong. “The accomplice has been dealt with, but are you just going to leave the mastermind alone?”
“What are you saying, Sister Xiu?” Shen Jinzhong said through gritted teeth. “Sanying Gate and the Chu family cannot share the same sky!”
“Good!” He Yuxiu nodded. “I'll remember those words. Old Bao's spirit in heaven can hear them too!”
Amid the coming and going of guests, a man dressed in a Western suit and a fedora entered the funeral hall.
He tapped Shen Jinzhong from behind. Had it not been for that touch, Shen Jinzhong wouldn't even have realized the man had arrived.
“Seventh Master,” Shen Jinzhong greeted him in a low voice after stepping into a corner. “The items you wanted—I've sent people to search for them. They should be found shortly.”
Li Banfeng nodded. “Did everything go smoothly?”
“Smoothly. Once Big Brother is buried, the rest will be easy to handle.”
“Don't wait. Keep the funeral simple.” Li Banfeng was somewhat concerned; if they waited any longer, something might go wrong with the cabbage.
Shen Jinzhong was anxious as well. “Tonight won't work anymore. I've already told the guests that the burial will be held tomorrow.”
……
“He's burying him tomorrow already,” Zhang Xiuling said with a sigh as she put away her notebook. “Shen Jinzhong truly is in a hurry.”
Shen Rongqing kept her voice down. “With a funeral held in such haste, doesn't anyone harbor suspicions?”
Zhang Xiuling nodded. “They do, and more than just one. But what does having suspicions amount to? They can only keep those thoughts in their heads. Thinking about it more won't change a thing. People may not understand this matter now, and maybe decades or even a century from now people still won't understand it. But what difference does understanding make? The Chief of Sanying Gate right now is Shen Jinzhong.”
……
While Li the Seventh and Shen Jinzhong were speaking in the funeral hall, Xie Juncong, the head of the Ghost Hand Sect, entered to offer incense.
“You must be Seventh Master?” Xie Juncong approached to greet him.
Li Banfeng was somewhat surprised. Very few people could notice him right away.
Shen Jinzhong stepped forward to make introductions: “This is the head of the Ghost Hand Sect, Sect Master Xie Juncong.”
At the mention of the Ghost Hand Sect, Li Banfeng sorely wanted to pin this kindly-looking old man to the floor and beat him senseless.
However, neither the timing nor the venue was appropriate, so Li Banfeng held back for the moment. Xie Juncong sighed wistfully. “Before Old Bao passed, he said he considered you a friend. He was a true hero, and I, Xie, admired him. From this day forward, I consider you a friend as well!”
“Senior Xie possesses immense virtue and eminence; I have long admired your renown…” Li Banfeng wore an expression of deep emotion and spun a few heartfelt lies off the cuff, brushing Xie Juncong off.
Bai Wuchuan, leader of the White Crane Gang, entered the funeral hall. He hadn't noticed Li Banfeng at first, but upon seeing Xie Juncong speaking with him, he also came forward to exchange a few words.
“Seventh Master, the White Crane Gang hasn't had much dealing with you in the past, but a friend of Old Bao is a friend of mine, Bai Wuchuan.”
Li Banfeng cupped his hands in return. Once Bai Wuchuan walked away, Li Banfeng asked, “What is the background of this White Crane Gang?”
Shen Jinzhong replied, “In Puluo Province, the White Crane Gang is a major sect too. All of them are body cultivators, split into two factions: metamorphic body cultivators and transformative body cultivators.”
Li Banfeng didn't know all that much about body cultivators and asked, “What are metamorphic body cultivators and transformative body cultivators?”
“Simply put, a metamorphic body cultivator is a human turning into a beast, while a transformative body cultivator is a beast turning into a human. Bai Wuchuan is a metamorphic body cultivator who only took the leader's seat last year. By rights, the position of sect leader shouldn't have fallen to him. He had a senior brother who was a transformative body cultivator—an immortal crane that had taken human form. It is said he was in secluded cultivation for twenty years and achieved great success. A year ago, this senior brother emerged from seclusion to take over the seat, but unexpectedly vanished somewhere around Yaowanggou.”
An immortal crane that had vanished near Yaowanggou.
Li Banfeng felt as if he had seen that person before.
Hadn't that man smashed headfirst into the boundary line and disintegrated into ash?
To qualify as sect leader, the man's cultivation must have been quite formidable.
It seemed he should avoid entering secluded cultivation as much as possible in the future. Seclusion for too long might drive a person to do crazy things.
While he was pondering this, the master of Furong Zhai, Li Haoyun, entered the hall. Having spotted Bai Wuchuan chatting with Li the Seventh a moment ago, he came over to pay his respects as well.
“Seventh Master, we share the same surname. Let's look out for each other in the future!”
After exchanging pleasantries, Li Haoyun left. Li Banfeng asked, “What kind of business does Furong Zhai run?”
“The shuyu courtesan house business,” Shen Jinzhong said, raising his eyebrows. “Thirty percent of the courtesan houses in Lüshui City belong to Furong Zhai. Over in Kudaikan, they run plenty of businesses too.”
Furong Zhai, Li Haoyun.
For some inexplicable reason, Li Banfeng felt a certain fondness toward the man.
Several more guests arrived. Then a subordinate approached Shen Jinzhong and handed him a mahogany box.
Shen Jinzhong dismissed his man and passed the mahogany box to Li Banfeng. “Seventh Master, what you asked for—we got it.”
Li Banfeng took the box and opened it. Resting inside was a pair of Judge's Brushes.
Was this the fine treasure Chu Huaijun had gifted to Bao Yingchen?
Li Banfeng picked up the Judge's Brushes and turned them over in his hands.
They were indeed fine weapons; both the craftsmanship and materials were exquisite.
Yet when he held them near his ear and listened for a moment, Li Banfeng heard not a single sound.
He possessed the technique of Perceiving Spiritual Voices. If he couldn't hear any sound, it proved this pair of Judge's Brushes lacked any spiritual nature at all.
“A pair of weapons like this was worth Bao Yingchen risking his life for?” Li Banfeng found it hard to believe.
Seeing the change in Li Banfeng's expression, Shen Jinzhong quickly explained, “Seventh Master, let's make things clear: the moment this was found, it was brought straight to you. I haven't touched it.”
Li Banfeng glanced out into the courtyard and saw Xie Juncong, master of the Ghost Hand Sect, walking toward the gate.
“What kind of relationship does Sanying Gate have with the Ghost Hand Sect?”
Shen Jinzhong sighed. “With a sect like that, how should I put it? Offend them, and you invite trouble; get too close to them, and the trouble is even bigger. All we can do is muddle along so we don't fall out with each other—that's all.”
Li Banfeng caught up behind Xie Juncong in two strides and asked, “Senior Xie, are you heading back? Shall I see you off?”
Xie Juncong shook his head. “I'm not leaving tonight. I want to see Old Bao off on his final journey.”
He said he wasn't leaving.
Could it be that he hadn't taken the item after all?
Li Banfeng asked no further questions and turned away.
Once Li Banfeng was far enough away, Xie Juncong pulled a white cotton glove from his sleeve.
He had lifted this glove from Li Banfeng. Though he didn't know what use the glove had, a Thief Cultivator had means to appraise treasures; he knew this was a magical artifact of extraordinary value.
Xie Juncong mused to himself, *Young man, suspecting me shows you've got some wits, but daring to come probe me so casually shows you still lack experience.*
Xie Juncong checked the time. Waiting until past two in the morning, while everyone was groggy with exhaustion, he seized an opportunity and slipped out of Gold Seal Hall.
When a Thief Cultivator makes a move, timing is everything.
What kind of timing was best?
Sanying Gate's Gold Seal Hall was heavily guarded. Under ordinary circumstances, even Xie Juncong wouldn't dare claim absolute confidence in sneaking inside.
Now, Shen Jinzhong had invited him to a mutton hot-pot feast, letting him walk right through the front doors of the hall in plain sight—no opportunity could be better.
As for whether Shen Jinzhong would settle scores afterward, that was hard to say, but Xie Juncong knew his priorities. The mission He Jiaqing had assigned him was far more important.
As the saying goes, to catch a thief you must catch the loot. Without evidence, even if Shen Jinzhong came knocking, Xie Juncong would never admit to anything.
Besides, Shen Jinzhong had just assumed the position of Grand Gold Seal and his footing was far from secure, so Xie Juncong was hardly afraid of burning bridges with him.
Upon returning to the old residence beside the City God Temple in Houtang, Xie Juncong took out the pair of Judge's Brushes. Just as he was about to contact Wan Jinxian to deliver the treasure to He Jiaqing, he suddenly noticed the brushes looked rather familiar.
It wasn't merely familiar—these were the very brushes he had hired someone to forge, the decoys he had used to pull off the swap in Gold Seal Hall!
How had they been swapped back?
Where was the real treasure?
Xie Juncong froze for a moment, felt around inside his inner pocket, and discovered that the glove he had taken from Li Banfeng was gone as well.
……
Inside the Portable Abode, the glove spat out a pair of Judge's Brushes and sneered, “That wretched old codger dares to steal anything. At his ripe old age, he's still so sloppy in how he does things! Master, take a look—what do you think of this quality?”
Li Banfeng smiled. “You're the expert here. Anything you set your eyes on is guaranteed to be the real deal.”
He carried the pair over to his own Judge's Brush and called out softly, “Ah Bi, two of your brothers have come to visit. Seeing as you all look identical, I won't bother thinking up new names for them. From now on, this one will be Brush Two, and that one will be Brush Three, while you'll still be Vile Brush. How does that sound?”
The Judge's Brush was asleep and paid him no heed.
The Judge's Brush in the second spot took the initiative to switch places with the third one; it wasn't too keen on being called Brush Two.
After waiting for quite a while, the two newly arrived brushes seemed to have zero resonance with his original Judge's Brush.
Li Banfeng frowned. “What's the meaning of this?”
*Hummm—*
The Portable Abode suddenly spoke up: “Ah Qi, bring those things to Room Three. Let this old man examine them for you.”
Li Banfeng took the Judge's Brushes and walked into Room Three.
In a grave tone, the Portable Abode said, “Ah Qi, put the brushes down first. Allow this old man to inspect them closely!”
“Put them down…” The glove sounded somewhat uneasy.
“Ah Tao, hold your tongue!” The Portable Abode's tone grew even sterner.
Li Banfeng placed the pair of Judge's Brushes onto the floor.
“What fine treasures! Hwahahaha!” The Portable Abode burst into raucous laughter as the pair of Judge's Brushes instantly melted, seeping into the ground and vanishing without a trace.
Li Banfeng stood dumbfounded for a long moment before yelling in fury, “You old thief, are you robbing me in broad daylight?!”
Chapter 398