“Reacting so strongly, what is wrong?”
Gu Qingzhao and Pang Chengqiu both paused, but the latter still cupped his hands and accepted the order without asking for the reason, then turned and left.
“Wait.” Qingya suddenly called out to stop him.
Pang Chengqiu turned back to look at him, and Gu Qingzhao also stared at him, seeing his expression changing unpredictably.
After thinking for a moment, Qingya asked, “Are you saying that the three helpers of that dog Tanhua came to the door in person?”
Pang Chengqiu was somewhat puzzled, not knowing why he asked this, and nodded, “Yes, it is those three. Master Qing, I would not mistake even those three.”
“Did they come by themselves?”
“Yes, no one else.”
“Did they not look abnormal in any way?”
“Abnormal? Nothing abnormal… oh, wait, there is something. Master Qing, that fat fellow seems to have lost some weight, and he is wearing a monk robe, which looks quite striking. Is there a problem with this?”
“Were they not injured?”
“Injured? No, it does not look like it.”
“Then that is strange.” Qingya glanced at Gu Qingzhao, who had reacted and was lost in thought, and waved his hand at Pang Chengqiu, “Alright, go.”
Pang Chengqiu retreated with doubts.
With no one else around, Qingya asked, “Did you not say those three were heavily injured?”
Gu Qingzhao hesitated and said, “Yes, the severe punishments the three suffered were much more miserable than yours. That Tanhua meridians were completely shattered, and his cultivation was basically ruined. He was secretly taken away by the Ming Temple for treatment. Logically speaking, it is impossible for him to be wandering around like nothing happened so quickly. Besides, the news from Godmother should not be wrong.”
What she mentioned, the arrest and torture of Yu Qing and his two junior brothers, as well as Qingya arrest and torture here, had now become secrets. Including the fact that the three junior brothers were taken by the Ming Temple for healing, the Zhenhai Command had already sealed their mouths. To the outside world, none of these things had ever happened to them.
In short, the Zhenhai Command had never suspected these few people of being the murderers of Wang Xuetang. The murderer from beginning to end was Tu Xiukui!
And now Tu Xiukui was dead. It was heard that after being handed over to the personnel of the Sinan Prefecture stationed in the Sea Market, fearing suffering and torture, he committed suicide in prison to escape punishment.
Although the man was dead, the evidence of his crimes was solid. The people from the Sinan Prefecture secretly listened to the interrogation, including some evidence of the dirty deeds done by Wang Xuetang, which had already been grasped by the Zhenhai Command. Some witnesses from Xingluo Island had also been captured.
Saying that Wang Xuetang acted recklessly relying on the power of the Earth Mother was not surprising to outsiders. He had indeed done many wicked things relying on the power of the Earth Mother. During the rise of Zheluo Mountain, he had swallowed the interests of countless people and ruined countless families, leaving them with no place to appeal for justice. If he had not relied on the power of the Earth Mother, how could he have been so arrogant?
Basically, no one on the outside knew the truth of the matter. Basically, no one knew that Yu Qing and his two junior brothers and Qingya had been involved in this matter. The involvement of Qingya with Wang Wentian in the kidnapping of Xiao Hei was also completely wiped clean.
The winners flourish, the losers are bandits, and the dead all got what they deserved.
Qingya was puzzled, “It has only been two or three days, and the injuries are already healed?”
Gu Qingzhao said, “I have long heard that the medical skills of the Ming Temple have their unique aspects, but to heal such heavy injuries so quickly is indeed unbelievable. Right, since you are puzzled, why not meet them and probe their true strength face to face? Why refuse to see them for no good reason?”
“For no good reason, am I still in a good state?” Qingya pointed to his firmly bound and immobilised thigh, then patted his cheeks, “Did you forget? The first time we met, he brought the Youcha over, almost dragging us in and scaring us half to death. Wang Wentian is still waiting to die at the You Cliff, which is no different from being dead.
Meeting again, he caused the death of Wen Hou from Qianliu Mountain, and I became an accomplice. This time we meet, he directly caused the death of Wang Xuetang. If Godmother had not stepped in to save me, my life would have been lost in there. Even if I dodged a disaster, I ended up like this. He is coming to the door again, can you guess what will happen? It is impossible to guard against. If I am not careful again, before I finish what Godmother assigned me to do, he will deal with me first.”
Reminded of this, Gu Qingzhao thought it made sense and could not help but frown, “It is true. Every time he comes to the door, nothing good ever happens.”
Qingya said, “I am just wondering, is there no other living person in this huge Sea Market? Why do they come to me whenever something happens? Am I very close to him? He just came out of the Ming Temple, why is he rushing to me again? He is truly not treating himself as an outsider. What does he think I am? Can he just see me whenever he wants? I cannot indulge his bad habits.”
Gu Qingzhao asked, “Then what about the matter Godmother assigned to you?”
Qingya said, “Rest assured about the matter of Godmother. I have already arranged for someone to instigate the young master of the Chilan Pavilion to come over. That fellow is much more reliable in the Sea Market than the Wang father and son.”
Gu Qingzhao asked, “So you do not plan to meet that Tanhua face to face in the future?”
Qingya said, “Anyway, I cannot just see him because he says he wants to see me. I cannot be led by the nose by him. If we are to meet, I will take the initiative to find him. I cannot allow him to come with premeditated intentions.”
Gu Qingzhao raised her round fan to cover her mouth and smiled…
“He is not here? Where did he go?”
Outside the main gate of the Jinghong Hall, facing the report of Pang Chengqiu, Yu Qing was quite surprised.
Pang Chengqiu shook his head, “Master Qing does not inform me of his every move, nor is it something I should ask about.” Having said that, he cupped his hands and turned to leave.
The three brothers looked at each other, then turned and left together.
On the bustling street, Nan Zhu asked, “What do we do now?”
Yu Qing said, “Let us go back to the place of Hu Youli first.”
Nan Zhu asked, “Are we not going to inquire?”
Yu Qing said, “We do not have many well informed acquaintances here. Since we cannot find Qingya, we can only contact that person.” He nudged his lips towards the highest terrain in the distance, the Zhenhai Command, hinting at finding Liu Piaopiao.
At present, this was the only option.
The three of them wandered around for a while. Yu Qing first found a message drop to contact Liu Piaopiao, secretly left the preset message seeking help there, and then familiarly found the house of Hu Youli.
After climbing onto the balcony, they found the door locked. They checked all four balconies at the front and back and found them all locked. Fortunately, it was not a Thousand Mechanism Lock. Ordinary locks were just decorations to cultivators. The three of them directly used their energy to break them open, not afraid of causing trouble if discovered. The neighbours all knew they were the residents here.
After entering, as they expected, Hu Youli was indeed not there, and Xiao Hei was not there either.
They saw a note at the stairwell, written by Hu Youli. It said she did not know where they had gone these past few days, and it was not good to leave Xiao Hei at home alone, so she took Xiao Hei out to the streets to do business.
Regarding this, the three brothers could understand. In this Sea Market, with the conditions of Hu Youli, if she did not work hard to make money, she would truly eat the mountain empty while sitting still. It was impossible to just guard Xiao Hei and do nothing.
Seeing the note and knowing they were safe, the three of them were relieved. Yu Qing turned back and opened the window, sending a signal to Liu Piaopiao, not knowing if she could receive the signal in time since they had not been back for these days.
Mu Aotie sat on the floor, took off his shoes, and untied the bandages on his soles.
As soon as one sole was released, it immediately attracted Yu Qing and Nan Zhu to walk over. Both squatted and surrounded the smelly feet of Mu Aotie.
The sole missing two toes now had the missing parts fully grown back. However, compared to the original two mature toes, the three newly grown toes looked obviously too tender.
After the other sole was released, the five missing toes had also grown back completely.
It was fine as long as they were okay. Yu Qing and Nan Zhu both breathed a huge sigh of relief, otherwise they would have felt guilty for the rest of their lives.
However, the three of them were not exactly happy.
Nan Zhu muttered, “I say, after the golden bones spread to the whole body, will the three of us turn into monsters like the three estate masters of the Liegu Mountain Villa? With hideous faces and growing two wings?”
Yu Qing said, “Those three estate masters did not grow golden bones.”
Nan Zhu muttered again, “Wu Hei and his son have golden bones. If it comes to the worst, turning into them and his son would be fine. At least they look normal, live long, and maybe we can also endure long enough to become experts in the Upper Xuan realm.”
Yu Qing snorted, “They live long, and their blood is also golden. Do we have that?”
Nan Zhu sighed, “This is neither here nor there. If it continues to spread on the vertebrae, will we eventually get a good death or a miserable life?”
Yu Qing said, “That iron faced man crawled out of the spring and turned into a monster with three heads and six arms. It is indeed different for each person. Worrying too much is useless. Let us just live well for one day at a time. At least it seems that none of the people related to that spring have had short lives.”
Although he said this, they all knew it was self consolation. Who knew if one day they would suddenly collapse on the ground.
Nan Zhu smiled bitterly and took off his monk robe, carefully grooming and putting it away, looking very treasuring of it.
In the middle of the afternoon, they saw the window of the monitoring point set by Liu Piaopiao half opened, knowing she had received the signal, and then they closed the window.
After nightfall, Hu Youli finally brought Xiao Hei back. The two of them did not know what had happened to Yu Qing and the others, so they did not feel anything abnormal.
After confirming their safety face to face, Yu Qing and the other two went out again under the cover of night, because Liu Piaopiao had also sent a signal.
After strolling through the prosperous Sea Market, the three of them slipped into an alley, took a piece of paper from behind a loose wall brick, and read the content after avoiding prying eyes.
The reply of Liu Piaopiao was similar to what the Ming Monk had told them. This time, even Liu Piaopiao could not find out the specific details. Even her superior, the Left Envoy of the Zhenhai Command, Yu Fei, was unclear. Liu Piaopiao herself was not in a good position to investigate too much, she just felt that Tu Xiukui was being used to take the fall.
After all, Liu Piaopiao knew that Yu Qing had the other half of the White Gauze, and had guessed that Yu Qing was the one who killed him.
Unexpectedly, it was this kind of situation. So the three brothers rushed to the Jinghong Hall again to find Qingya, but Qingya was still not there.
There was no way, they could not give up eating for fear of choking, so they could only hurry to do what they could do first.
The three of them headed straight for the North Market again, arriving at the Old Well Pit area, looking around for the signboard of Lingxi Zhai, looking for that shop with the swimming fish emblem.