Fang Ke, smiling and nodding, said, "As you wish, I will definitely be more attentive, and ensure the Liu family’s girl has a grand wedding into the Fang Family."
He bowed and excused himself, then turned and strode out of the inn.
Yang Ge watched him leave, exhaling a heavy sigh.
...
Yang Ge’s prediction was not wrong.
As Li Qing headed south to challenge the Jianghu, he indeed added fuel to the already fiercely competitive atmosphere of the martial arts world in the south.
Large groups of onlookers, pursuing Li Qing’s trail, moved throughout the southern martial arts community to watch him clash with various leading figures there.
There were also many who, fearing the world too tranquil, carried swords and imitated Li Qing, challenging well-known experts everywhere.
This directly pushed the popularity of Li Qing’s southern journey to a level it should not have reached!
As they say, Jianghu is not just about fighting and killing, but about human relationships and worldly affairs.
Arriving to challenge during a time when intense internal strife and bloody chaos reigned over Jianghu was disregard for social courtesies, focusing only on fighting and killing!
Even if Li Qing did not mean it this way, and acted very measuredly, others would assume that by showing up at this critical time, he was trying to put others down and harboring ill intentions!
Not to mention, those imitating Li Qing were indeed acting superior, harboring ill intentions, acting recklessly without restraint, and speaking in an even more unpleasant manner...
In normal times, reputable sects and veterans of Jianghu would step forward to stop and correct such harmful trends.
But now, with the major factions of the southern martial arts world struggling under the competition for dominance among three teachings, barely able to protect themselves, who had the energy to meddle in the affairs of others?
With no one to oversee and influenced by the increasingly heavy and vicious aura of the southern martial arts world, these practices naturally spiraled out of control.
If Jianghu in the past required discussing grievances and grudges in detail before taking action,
Jianghu now only needed a slight misalignment of gazes for swords to be drawn, engaging in life-or-death battles.
The strong preyed on the weak without fear.
The weak, naturally, would not just wait for slaughter, watching others treat them like dogs... Using the majority to bully the minority, using poison, assassination, or even rooting out issues, the contemptable devious tactics of the past naturally came out into the open, blatantly used.
With the atmosphere becoming this corrupt, humanity’s dark side began to run rampant without hindrance.
The term "morality," truly, became as insignificant as toilet paper in a latrine...
With the waters muddied to this extent, the bottom feeders of Jianghu who thrived on rotted flesh finally emerged brazenly to create trouble.
...
"Second master, big news, big news..."
Flea, brimming with excitement, burst into the kitchen only to be met by a face-full of dense smoke that could not be cleared; he nonchalantly waved his hand to dispel the thick smoke and prepared to continue.
But the next second, his expression dramatically changed, and he turned his head, sneezing and crying uncontrollably: "Wow, second master, what are you concocting... bless me, bless me... poison?"
In just a few seconds, he was choking so much that his face was covered in snot and tears, feeling as if countless fleas were running rampant in his nostrils.
"Making a fuss over nothing!"
Yang Ge walked out of the dense smoke, his eyes also reddened by the smoke but still gleaming: "Is it a big deal or a small matter? If it’s a small matter, don’t bother me while I’m preparing hotpot ingredients!"
Flea wiped his face haphazardly, astonished at the smoke-filled kitchen: "This is hotpot? Isn’t hotpot supposed to be clear broth?"
"Mind your own business about the hotpot!"
Yang Ge: "Get on with it!"
"Oh..."
Flea nodded and shifted back to his excited demeanor, his eyes sparkling as he said, "Second master, the latest news. Sect Hierarch Tang of the White Lotus Sect got beaten up!"
"What?"
Yang Ge, puzzled: "Who did it?"
Flea, unable to contain his glee, spread his hands: "Don’t know!"
Yang Ge: "You don’t know?"
Flea nodded vehemently: "Right, nobody knows who did it. Someone sneaked into the headquarters of the White Lotus Sect at night, went straight for Tang, and without a word started beating him up on the ground. According to the reports from the spies at the scene, it was like a stepmother disciplining her stepdaughter; Tang was utterly powerless to fight back... Current messages are still being verified, but the only certainty is that the person wasn’t from Quanzhen Sect nor from Ming Sect."
Yang Ge couldn’t help but raise the corners of his lips after hearing this, but quickly suppressed it: "What about that undying old man from Mount Longhu?"
Flea scratched his head: "Don’t know about that... you know, that living immortal, it’s beyond our ’Outside the Tower’ capability to keep tabs on him."
"True!"
Yang Ge thought for a moment, then nodded and asked again, "Has the Five Poisons Cult recently suffered at the hands of the White Lotus Sect?"
Flea thought for a moment, shook his head, and replied, "As far as I know, there isn’t!"
Yang Ge laughed, "That’s quite interesting. Keep me updated if there’s any new information."
After speaking, he turned around and strode back into the blue smoke of the kitchen. Soon, the sound of a spatula scraping against a pot emanated from inside.
Flea peered into the kitchen door, cautiously twitched his nostrils, and took a slight whiff of the dense smoke before yawning repeatedly.
"Right, right, Master Yang, there’s more news from Jiangzhe..."
Yang Ge’s voice came from the blue smoke, "Oh? Tell me!"
"Four days ago, Wei Heng, the overseer of the Western Factory, successfully caught the tail of that group. However, during the arrest, a mysterious grandmaster appeared and disrupted everything. Despite Wei Heng’s preparations and having Wang Kun from the Four Elders of the Imperial Horse Supervisor to reinforce the effort, all the suspects escaped..."
The scraping sound in the blue smoke abruptly stopped, "Four Elders of the Imperial Horse Supervisor? Grandmaster?"
Flea: "Yes!"
Yang Ge: "Who is this mysterious person?"
Flea: "Master Yang, we haven’t found out yet..."
Yang Ge: "There are only so many grandmasters in the world, and you still can’t find out?"
Flea: "Master Yang, our people had just got a lead on that group when Wei Heng’s actions messed it up. The clues we have are very limited. We only know that the identities of that group are extremely complex; they don’t seem to be from one faction but rather seem to be many forces twisted together, including even the shadow of the Tartars..."
"Since you had already tracked them down, why didn’t you tell me earlier?"
In the midst of the blue smoke, Yang Ge’s tone grew colder.
Flea replied hastily, "Master Yang, you spent a lot of money on this investigation. Without concrete evidence, how could we dare to bother you? If something went wrong, we couldn’t explain it either!"
Yang Ge was silent for a while, then asked, "Where has that group mainly been active?"
Flea: "Initially, they were mainly active near Shaoxing. However, after Wei Heng made his move, the group moved away entirely. Our men are still trying to follow them to see if they can pick up the trail again."
"Shaoxing?"
Yang Ge pondered for a moment and then asked, "I remember you mentioning previously that the Xie Family from one of the Seven Great Families of Jiangdong is located in Shaoxing. Do they have anything to do with this matter?"
Flea: "Master Yang, among the many clues offered in-house, none points to the Xie Family..."
Yang Ge: "Then is there evidence proving that this matter is unrelated to the Xie Family?"
Flea: "Master Yang, there isn’t!"
Yang Ge: "Then investigate it, Jiangzhe is so vast, and just so, these people are hiding in Shaoxing, which is not that large. The Xie Family, being locals, how could they possibly know nothing?"
Flea: "Yes, I’ll go back right away and send a message to the house to thoroughly investigate the Xie Family of Kuaiji!"
Yang Ge: "Don’t take me for granted. Although we are on familiar terms, if you try to deceive me or use me, I can turn my face just as well."
Flea: "I dare not, dare not! Even if I had the audacity to deceive, I wouldn’t dare deceive you, Master Yang... nor would the house dare!"
Yang Ge: "Then go and get to work. I’ll be waiting for your good news!"
Flea: "Yes, I will report to you immediately once there’s any news."
Flea hurriedly left the guesthouse, and rhythmic scraping sounds from the spatula echoed again within the kitchen.
Shortly after, the blue smoke in the kitchen had dissipated.
Zhao Cha clung to the kitchen door, cautiously peeking inside, "Big Brother... slurp... is the hot pot ready?"
Yang Ge put the freshly fried hot pot base into a small clay pot, carefully sealed it, "Don’t rush, the base has just been fried, needs to ferment for two more days to reduce the heat, to enrich the flavor, and we also need to wait a bit more for the vegetables..."
"Slurp."
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Zhao Cha took another drool-filled gulp, "Wait for what?"
Based on her experience, whenever her big brother devoted efforts to cooking, it was always super delicious!
This so-called laborious hot pot, Big Brother had been talking about for over a month... How good must it be?
Yang Ge: "Wait for when Niu Niu gets too stressed and leaps off a cliff."
Zhao Cha: "Huh?"
She was puzzled for a few seconds, quickly caught on, and said with gleaming eyes in a low voice, "Shall we let Niu Niu get stressed tonight?"
"What are you thinking about?"
Yang Ge couldn’t help but roll his eyes, "Didn’t I say the base still needs two more days to be delicious... Let Niu Niu get stressed tomorrow then."
Having said that, he himself couldn’t help but swallow a mouthful of saliva.