Just as Yu Qing left the inn, another guest also left, but did not tail him.
It was a man who looked like an ordinary passerby. After briefly observing the direction Yu Qing went, he went in another direction. After several twists and turns, he found Duan Yunyou, the leader of the Flying Eagle Gang, and reported the secret surveillance situation.
After hearing the report, Duan Yunyou was greatly shocked, “That big guy spent the night in the room of the proprietress of the Stone Heart Residence?”
The man said, “Yes, it is confirmed without a doubt. When I followed that Zhu Qing out of the inn, that Zhang Sui had not yet left Lian Yu’s room. Given the length of the night, it would be strange if there were no issues between a lone man and a lone woman.”
“Hiss!” Duan Yunyou slowly sucked in a breath of cold air, shaking his head in disbelief, “That is Nie Rifu’s woman. He actually dares to spend the night directly in that woman’s room. Even we could discover it. Given Nie Rifu’s control over Kuilei City, I find it hard to believe Nie Rifu would be unaware. What is the situation here? These guys are truly bold!”
The man added, “At last night’s banquet, the leaders of the Tianhong Gang, Shanhai Gang, Jinchin Gang, Xingyue Gang, and Zhenshan Gang were all present. It can be basically confirmed that Zhu Qing and his group dined with those gang leaders. Relying on just the three of us at the inn, it would be difficult to keep an eye on those gang leaders. Furthermore, the inn proprietress is also inconvenient to watch. At the very least, we are severely lacking in manpower.”
“To think they could actually dine with the leaders of several top gangs, these two guys seem to have quite wild connections.” Duan Yunyou muttered to himself before raising his hand to stop him, “There is no need to watch the inn proprietress. Watching someone on their own turf, who knows who is watching whom. It is no different from walking right into a trap.
Besides, those top gang leaders are not people the three of you can keep an eye on. They have many eyes and ears. It is very easy for you to be exposed if you watch them. Once your tracks are revealed, they will probably not be polite. Therefore, you do not need to worry about any of these. Just keeping a close eye on the two targets is enough.”
“Understood.” The man agreed.
Duan Yunyou asked again, “That Young Master Liang, with the background of the Liang family of Haishi, even Nie Rifu has to bow his head. How did he end up mingling with those people?”
To put it bluntly, even he felt that the gap in status between these top gangs in Tianji Mountain and the Liang family of Haishi was quite large.
The man said, “I really do not know about this, and it is not easy to inquire. I just saw such a person and took the opportunity to ask. I only know his name is Liang Ban, a young master of the Liang family of Haishi. As for other aspects, ordinary people simply do not know, and asking is useless. It is also not good to ask too many questions inside the inn, for fear of attracting attention.”
Duan Yunyou nodded, “You did the right thing. I will consider this matter regarding Liang Ban myself. You do not need to worry about it anymore.”
“Does the gang leader have any other instructions?”
“You may return to the inn first.”
The man bowed with his hands clasped, which essentially concluded the report on the phased surveillance situation. With no other instructions, he took his leave.
Duan Yunyou, who remained in his original spot, was not in a hurry to leave. After silently pondering for a while, he shook his head, “Lian Yu, Nie Rifu’s woman. No wonder, no wonder she has the confidence to compete for Copper Sparrow Lake. It turns out she took this alternative route. Her courage is truly not small. She does look like someone who can accomplish great things.”
There was a light in his eyes. Previously, he still had some doubts about whether the Scorpion Gang could take over Copper Sparrow Lake and find the Qilin Ginseng. Now, he saw a tangible hope and deeply felt that sending those people over was worth it.
Of course, there were still some doubts. Could getting involved with Nie Rifu’s woman truly be without consequences?
On the other side, after parting ways with Baili Xin, Yu Qing quietly tucked the delivered letter into his sleeve to hide it, as it was inconvenient to check it here.
He was also not in a hurry to return to the inn. Coming out in a rush and returning without doing anything would easily arouse suspicion. Who knew if someone was secretly watching.
He also had things to do. After all, he was still the leader of the Scorpion Gang, and it was normal to come out and meet with gang members every day.
He went directly to the gathering place of the gang members and communicated with several commanders for a while before returning.
When he returned to his room at the inn, looking through the window, he only then noticed that it was already dawn outside. He also discovered an extra person in the room and almost drew his sword. Paying closer attention, he realised it was Mu Aotie who had returned, sitting alone in the corner like a ghost.
Hey! Yu Qing instantly perked up. He walked over and plopped down beside Mu Aotie. At a glance, he saw the lipstick mark on Mu Aotie’s face, along with his somewhat messy hair. His nostrils flared, and he could even smell a woman’s fragrance on him.
Seeing him in this ghostly state, Yu Qing winked and nudged, knowing there could be no mistake. This guy, Old Nine, had indeed rolled around in the sheets with Lian Yu.
He could not help but stretch his body backwards, leaning comfortably against the backrest. Looking around at the elegant environment of the room, the sense of unfamiliarity of staying at an inn suddenly vanished, feeling no different from returning to his own home.
Glancing again at Mu Aotie’s unusually silent demeanor, he blinked and asked a question he already knew the answer to with a straight face, “Old Nine, what the hell is going on? I told you to go and talk to that proprietress, how did the talk take until now for you to return?”
How could Mu Aotie answer this? Several times he wanted to speak but stopped, ultimately not knowing how to begin.
Yu Qing took him for being shy, his sparkling eyes full of expectation, “What about the matter of the exam questions? How did it go?”
As soon as he spoke, he felt he was asking a redundant question. Lian Yu had already promised to help, and now with the bond of a single night together bringing a hundred nights of grace, did the result even need to be stated?
Just thinking about it made him grin from ear to ear.
However, he soon noticed something was wrong. This guy, Old Nine, was still acting hesitant and stuttering.
Yu Qing tapped his arm, “Hey, speak up, what do you mean?”
Mu Aotie squeezed out a sentence in silence, “I forgot to ask her.”
Yu Qing breathed a sigh of relief, almost startling himself. He had thought it would not work, and a massive ten million had been thrown into this.
If it was merely that he forgot to ask, he was actually more at ease. With the relationship Old Nine and Lian Yu now had, there should be no problem once he brought it up.
He truly had to admire Mu Aotie. He really just went off to enjoy himself and actually threw the main business to the back of his mind.
Of course, sorting out that woman, Lian Yu, also counted as main business, but he still had to remind him, “Old Nine, it is not long until the competition begins. You refused to ask her for the money when I told you to. Now we have thrown such a huge sum of money into this. You must get a clear answer from her as soon as possible. She cannot just pay lip service about helping us.”
Mu Aotie fell into deep thought again because of these words. He thought of how Lian Yu woke up and drove him away. Did she regret it? If so, he truly did not know if his words would still be of any use.
Yu Qing felt this was already a sure thing, so he did not push him, casually throwing out a remark, “Old Nine, I suggest you go look in the mirror and see how you look.”
Mu Aotie was stunned for a moment, then realised something and immediately got up to go to the mirror.
Looking briefly into the mirror, seeing his somewhat messy hair and then the lipstick mark on his face, he instantly felt ashamed. He had actually wandered around the inn looking like this. It was a miracle he had not run into anyone.
He hurried to the bathroom to wash up.
The cheerful Yu Qing took the opportunity to take out the letter and check it. It was indeed Qing Ya’s reply. As he read, one of his eyebrows raised, and one hand pinched the small moustache at the corner of his lip, twisting it repeatedly.
Regarding the situation with Liang Ban, Qing Ya briefly described it in the letter, seemingly not thinking there was much worth saying about this Liang Ban.
He was a collateral descendant of the Liang family, a very marginal one. He did look quite handsome, a pretty boy who had incurred quite a few romantic debts. Apart from using his face to seduce women, he was practically useless in every other aspect. It was unclear whether he had spent all his energy on his looks, leading to arrogance, or if his cultivation aptitude was genuinely poor. In short, his personal strength was not impressive.
Even the Liang family itself did not want to bother with this kind of person, simply not wanting to expose family scandals. Those in the know generally would not expose this weakness of the Liang family. Qing Ya was quite curious how Yu Qing had managed to provoke such a character.
Although he did not know what conflict had arisen between Yu Qing and Liang Ban, he still warned Yu Qing, saying that Liang Ban still had some self awareness. Logically speaking, he would not dare to cause trouble in Youjiao Port. Under the very nose of Youya, even the head of the Liang family would not dare to act rashly. How could you two have come into conflict?
In short, it is better to avoid trouble than to seek it. If it can be let go, then let it go.
If it truly cannot be reconciled, having a minor conflict with such a character is fine, but do not go too far. Causing death or severe injury would look very bad.
Even when beating a dog, one must consider the master. Regardless of whether Liang Ban is a marginal descendant of the Liang family, nominally he is still a member of the Liang family. The face of the Liang family is there, and he is not someone anyone can just beat up. Stop when you have made your point. Not going too far is good for everyone, to avoid a situation that cannot be resolved.
After finishing the letter, Yu Qing picked at his small moustache, his eyebrows raised. He was quite surprised. He had not expected Liang Ban to be such a character. A whole group of people here actually did not know, which had caused him such great apprehension.
Having clarified Liang Ban’s background and removed a huge threat, he breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He could now focus on dealing with matters here in Tianji Mountain.
In the bathroom, Mu Aotie finished grooming and came out, stepping out with his heart in his mouth.
As expected, what he feared came to pass. Old Fifteen’s weird laugh had already sounded, “You cannot judge a book by its cover, and you cannot measure the sea with a pint pot. Old Nine, not bad. You took down the proprietress so quickly. Having you execute the honey trap was truly not a mistake at all. It is hard for me not to admire myself. Hurry up and tell me, how did you manage to conquer that woman? Let me learn a thing or two.”
The same enthusiasm he had back on the mountain, squeezing in among the surrounding senior martial brothers to listen to them talk about women, had returned, and his eyes were shining.
Mu Aotie instinctively wanted to argue, wanting to say that Lian Yu had been the one to initiate it. However, considering Lian Yu’s reputation, he swallowed the words back down. He turned away and ignored Yu Qing’s request, “There is nothing to say.”
To Yu Qing, this was tantamount to personally admitting the relationship with Lian Yu. He immediately let out another weird chuckle, stood up, clasped his hands behind his back, and paced, “Alright, I am easy to talk to, I will not force you. However, you must give me a clear answer regarding the matter I just mentioned today. Old Nine, it really cannot be delayed any longer. If it is delayed, there will be no time to prepare. You must get Lian Yu to finalise the matter today.”
Mu Aotie turned his head and walked towards his own room, “You go yourself.”
Yu Qing’s eyes widened in disbelief. He really wanted to say, it is not like I slept with her. He brought out the letter he had taken from behind his back, waved it in his hand, and probed, “Qing Ya’s reply has arrived. It contains a method to deal with Liang Ban, which can solve a huge trouble for Lian Yu.”
Mu Aotie stopped at the door of his room, suddenly turned his head to stare at the letter in his hand, then turned back and walked quickly towards him, reaching out to take the letter to read.
Seeing his concerned expression, Yu Qing knew he had guessed correctly. He quickly threw the letter behind his back and blocked with one hand, “If you are unwilling to go and demand an answer from her, what about my five million? Either you go and demand an answer from her, or you make her return the five million to me. Otherwise, do not even think about seeing this letter.”
Mu Aotie was speechless, but he also knew he could not win a physical struggle for it. He frowned, hesitated for quite a while, and tilted his head to look at the intense light that had just broken over the horizon outside the window. His mind was actually on Lian Yu’s side as well, wanting to go and see what was wrong with her.
Therefore, he finally nodded and reached out his hand to demand it, “I will go and find her right now.”
“You had better keep your word. Otherwise, do not blame me for playing the villain and breaking you two up. That is five million, and I am not joking with you.”
After this warning, Yu Qing threw the letter to him.
Catching the letter, Mu Aotie immediately unfolded it to read the contents carefully. After repeatedly confirming the meaning in the letter, a stone in his heart finally dropped. He then threw the letter right back at Yu Qing’s face and turned to stride away.
The sound of the door slamming shut echoed loudly.
Holding the letter, the cheerful Yu Qing waited for the good news, while also walking aside and rubbing the letter into fine powder.
Although it had not been long since he parted with Lian Yu, Mu Aotie, rushing over, looked forward to seeing her again. He did not take the rope ladder, but dashed up the stairs.
When he reached the door of Lian Yu’s room, he saw someone he did not want to see. It was Liang Ban, who was also walking over in this direction, waving a folding fan.
Seeing Mu Aotie, Liang Ban sneered. After thinking about it all night, he had also figured it out. Since Lian Yu had clearly fallen for someone else, why should he continue to endure this damn frustration? It was better to just lay his cards on the table, prepare to use the Liang family’s influence to pressure her, and see if Lian Yu dared to disobey!