System: I Can Open Martial Arts Chests

Chapter 392: Chapter 227: Aftermath (Part 2)

"Ladies and gentlemen, I still have important matters at hand and cannot stay here for long. I must take my leave, until we meet again."

Of course, no one dared to stop him. However, a few who couldn’t resist wanted to come up and challenge him. Before they could make up their minds, Chu Qing was already like a wisp of smoke, vanishing in an instant.

He fought with Prince Xue, crossing over a hundred miles, directly from Brahma Shock City to the vicinity of Qingyan City.

This attracted the Vice Squad Leader of the Qingyan Sub-Pavilion.

However, a hundred-mile distance was nothing to Chu Qing.

With feet as swift as flying, and a figure like smoke, he swiftly returned to Brahma Shock City.

He was busy tonight and couldn’t go back to the inn first, so he headed to the City Lord’s Mansion.

He had promised to find Qi Zhenhai later, and it was indeed very late.

So much that when Qi Zhenhai was called up from his bed, he was full of morning grumpiness.

All of it vanished into thin air when he saw Chu Qing.

Kneeling on one knee, clasping his hands in salute:

"Greetings, Young Master."

Chu Qing waved his hand:

"Anything from the Shen family?"

"Yes, quite a harvest."

Qi Zhenhai immediately detailed to Chu Qing the confiscation of the Shen family, listing how much gold, silver taels, and silver notes they obtained, along with pearls, jade, and various divine weapons.

Chu Qing frowned:

"Anything else? For instance, clues about the Mirror of Sin?"

"There’s not much regarding the Mirror of Sin. Shen Juke is not a top expert on the Evil Extermination List, so his knowledge is quite limited.

"He only knows of a contact person, named ’Heizi’, but his whereabouts are unknown."

"Heizi?"

Chu Qing was slightly taken aback, suddenly recalling his previous contact person.

The man was named Baiqi...

And now there’s a Heizi?

Could there be a connection between the two?

However, the Mirror of Sin has always been cautious in their dealings, rarely leaving any clues.

Whether the name ’Heizi’ was Shen Juke’s oversight or left intentionally for future use, Chu Qing became aware of it.

But the content of their communications was mostly meant to be burned after being read.

"Additionally, regarding Ye Feifan..."

Qi Zhenhai glanced at Chu Qing, moved to the desk, and handed Chu Qing all the information about Ye Feifan.

Chu Qing took one look and knew this person was picked up by the Chen family from the street fifteen years ago.

When found, he was on the verge of death, about to die.

After being nursed back to health for a few months at the mansion, he recovered. Seeing him pitiful, the Chen family kept him as a servant.

He was also someone who understood social nuances and was quite liked by the Chen family...

If not for the incident ten years ago, he might have climbed the ranks over the years and become a steward or something.

He would have lived a life of comfort and security.

Later, after the Chen family was exterminated, Shen Juke took him in as a disciple after he provided false testimony.

To earn Shen Juke’s trust, he also targeted those who testified falsely back then...

For instance, the story of the Store Manager supposedly receiving two hundred taels of silver from the Chen family’s eldest son was his doing.

In retrospect, the reason should be that Shen Juke wanted to erase all traces that were detrimental to him... The Store Manager was a smart person, and upon sensing something wrong, he ran away. But to Shen Juke, he was an unstable bomb, potentially backstabbing him at any time.

They needed to find and kill him.

However, the Store Manager preemptively, together with Chen Sheng, filed a complaint against Shen Juke at the Blazing Hall.

This caused Shen Juke to inexplicably lose the initiative... It was ultimately Ye Feifan who played a role in framing Chen Sheng and the Store Manager, which led to the case being unresolved.

Since then, Chen Sheng was depressed, unable to avenge his family’s blood feud or retrieve his beloved, and eventually died in grief.

One could say Ye Feifan played a significant role in Chen Sheng’s death.

Of course, it could be argued that Chen Sheng wasn’t very useful...

After all, he was only the eldest son of a merchant family, incapable of contending with a seasoned rogue like Shen Juke, and he never expected the servant whose life was saved by the Chen family would betray him so harshly.

He was just an ordinary person with some talent in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and his mutual affection with Liu Sanniang was not that intense.

Faced with the injustices of society and the Martial World, ordinary people like them could do little.

If Liu Sanniang hadn’t coincidentally met Prince Xue, things might not have ended as they did.

Her greatest show of courage was ten years ago when to save Chen Sheng, she was willing to follow Shen Juke, and ten years later, leveraging her life, she walked away from the Shen family.

And ironically, the deepest harm done to her by Shen Juke was out of genuine feelings.

However, these were all matters that Ye Feifan never mentioned to Chu Qing that night.

Since being saved by Chu Qing, Ye Feifan habitually acted out roles alongside him, weaving truths and lies, thinking Chu Qing couldn’t see through them, not knowing that Chu Qing saw through everything clearly.

What he wanted was no more than a tool... It was useful to expose Shen Juke.

Had he not painted a big picture for him at that time, giving him hope as fleeting as a reflection in a mirror or moon on water, with Ye Feifan’s cunning, the final outcome would be uncertain.

They used each other, and once done, they were discarded.

Chu Qing himself did not adhere to high moral standards, and upon reviewing the information brought by Qi Zhenhai, he felt even less pity for the person.

And the thoroughness of Qi Zhenhai’s investigation was thanks to Ye Feifan.

He and Shen Juke manipulated each other, using whatever was available. The reason Ye Feifan took on the Store Manager and Chen Sheng was not only to show loyalty but for his own sake... If Chu Qing hadn’t pretended to be that so-called ’senior’, forcing Ye Feifan to hide his true nature, these things wouldn’t dare to be openly discussed.

When faced with a real life-and-death crisis, these were his trump cards to save his life.

Ultimately, it all fell into Qi Zhenhai’s hands.

"He’s not dead, found amidst the ruins, although his meridians were shattered in the aftermath of the duel between two great masters, and his legs were crushed by boulders...

"He’s been saved now, but the future is bleak..."

Qi Zhenhai cautiously glanced at Chu Qing.

After all, this person was brought by Chu Qing, and met such an end, Chu Qing must have some resolution.

Chu Qing waved his hand:

"He’s of no consequence, handle him as you see fit."

"Understood."

Qi Zhenhai breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, knowing that to Chu Qing, this person held no importance, so it didn’t matter.

He then brought out a box.

Handing it to Chu Qing with both hands.

Chu Qing opened it and was taken aback:

"[Heaven and Earth Shocking Mist Technique]?"

"It was found in a hidden compartment in Shen Juke’s study, Shen Juke’s martial arts."

Qi Zhenhai said.

He was very tempted to keep it for himself, as the Heaven and Earth Shocking Mist Sword was tremendously powerful, truly a Secret Technique.

But he dared not go against Chu Qing in presence.

Chu Qing stared at the secret manual, deep in thought.

After a while, he closed the box and handed it to Qi Zhenhai:

"Give this secret manual to Li Hanguang...

"He had years of friendship with Shen Juke, and being forthright and honest, he should pass this manual to ensure the preservation of the Secret Technique, or ensure it doesn’t fall into the wrong hands."

Chu Qing had no interest in martial arts that needed to be learned from scratch.

Li Hanguang was a decent person, willing to go against the Mirror of Sin for someone he only met once, like Cao Qiupu.

Such a straightforward man would certainly find a worthy successor for Shen Juke’s skills.

Better than Shen Juke’s ripe and unsavory students, either malicious, cunning, or ruthless.

The fact is, Shen Juke earned the title of Hero over the years, aside from that conscience-wrenching act ten years ago which forced him to commit other wrongdoings, overall, he vanquished evil and defended righteousness in the Martial World often.

Had it not been for the incident ten years ago, he truly would have been a Hero to be admired.

How could his judgment be so poor, failing to produce a capable disciple?