"When do we set off?" Li Qingshan asked.
"The sooner the better. It's best if we set off tomorrow!"
"Alright, then tomorrow it is!"
"Report to the prefectural city tomorrow. Oh right, give me a copy of the printed book." Hwa Seung-zan left behind the uniform and blade of a Scarlet Wolf guard before bidding farewell and leaving.
The next day, Li Qingshan changed into a set of handsome Scarlet Wolf uniform and arrived at the Hawkwolf Guard in Clear River city.
He made his way to the highest floor and knocked on Hwa Seung-zan's door.
The person who opened the door was Han Qiongzhi. As soon as she saw it was Li Qingshan, she shot a vicious glance at him before moving aside in exasperation, ignoring him.
Li Qingshan was confused. However, this first young miss Han had always been temperamental, so he did not take it to heart.
Hwa Seung-zan sat behind the table with his hands crossed and a smile on his face. He seemed confident at all times.
He gave a simple explanation of the mission. The Hawkwolf guard who had been killed was called Zhou Pei. He used to be a Nighthawk, but due to his meritorious service in the mission against the Truth-seeking society, a remnant of the White Lotus Sect, he recovered his identity as a regular Hawkwolf guard.
A few days ago, he was killed while carrying out a mission, and his corpse was sent back. The word "traitor" was carved on his body. It was suspected to be the work of a remnant of the White Lotus Sect.
When Li Qingshan heard the words "Truth-seeking society", he suddenly remembered that he had seen Zhou Pei before, and he had personally destroyed the Truth-seeking society. The suspected murderer was the leader of the Truth-seeking society, Qiu Ruiliu, who had once escaped from his hands.
He never thought the mission would land on him again in the end. The coincidences of the world really were unpredictable.
However, it was not actually a coincidence. There were several hundred cities under the jurisdiction of the Clear River prefecture. Hwa Seung-zan had countless missions on hand, but Li Qingshan came from the Hawkwolf Guard of Jiaping city, while Zhou Pei's post was in Jiaping as well, which was why he had specially given him this mission. It felt like he was returning home in glory.
The documents were placed on the long table, and both hands reached over at the same time. Li Qingshan and Han Qiongzhi looked at each other and looked at Hwa Seung-zan at the same time.
"Isn't that my mission?"
Hwa Seung-zan said seriously, "Although it is an investigation mission, it concerns the White Lotus Sect. Don't be careless. According to the rules, at least two people must work together. "
Li Qingshan withdrew his hand. He didn't say anything else. Han Qiongzhi was strong enough. Although she had a bad temper, he could reach Jiaping in the afternoon by riding on the clouds. After a little investigation, it would only take one or two days at most. There was nothing that he couldn't tolerate. Besides, she was a beauty after all. She would be able to relieve some of the loneliness of the journey.
Han Qiongzhi slammed the table. "No! I disagree! "
Hwa Seung-zan said solemnly, "This is the Commander's order!" No matter how unassuming they usually were, the Hawkwolf Guard still had a clear hierarchy, and their laws were strict. Unless Han Qiongzhi left the Hawkwolf Guard, she would have to listen to his orders.
Han Qiongzhi stared at Hwa Seung-zan. Then she glanced at Li Qingshan to the side. Suddenly, she seemed to understand something, and her face reddened slightly.
Watching the two of them leave, Hwa Seung-zan leaned back in his comfortable, high-back chair. "Junior sister, this is all your senior brother can do for you."
Ever since they were young. It was extremely rare for a man Han Qiongzhi admired. If that was not the rarest part, then what was even rarer was that Han Anjun admired this man as well. As her childhood friend, he obviously had to lend her a hand. When the two of them were alone, it was the best way to improve their relationship. If she returned to her hometown with Li Qingshan, that would be even better.
This was basically helping a friend. If Li Qingshan could rely on the Han family, he would also benefit endlessly. With Han Anjun nearby and Han Anguo looking after him from afar, he no longer had to worry about a lack of cultivation resources. It was basically a match made in heaven. It was just a joke back then, but he never thought there would actually be a chance for it to come true. He had to admit that Li Qingshan was developing quite well.
As for Gu Yanying, it was best if she woke up from her daydreams sooner!
Arriving outside, Han Qiongzhi asked, "Was this your idea?"
"Of course not." Li Qingshan curled his lip. "First young miss, even if you can get whatever you want, there's no need for me, Li Qingshan, to resort to such underhanded methods."
Han Qiongzhi raised an eyebrow. "What, am I not worth your underhanded methods?"
"Worth it, worth it, very worth it. Can you wait for me? I need to go somewhere first." Li Qingshan gave a perfunctory reply as he looked around.
"That's more like it. Where are you going? Acting so mysterious, can't you see the light of day? "
Li Qingshan said, "Then let's go together!"
It was inconvenient to use spells in the city, so he walked slowly to a small building at the edge of the city. On the signboard hung the words "Cloudwisp Society".
Han Qiongzhi said in surprise, "This was done by your school of novels?"
Li Qingshan chuckled and did not explain. It was also his first time coming to this place. He was naturally here to see how his new book would be published.
Last night, Liu Chuanfeng had personally delivered the manuscript to him.
When Sun Fubai and Liu Chuanfeng heard about Li Qingshan's arrival, they came out to receive him together. When they saw Han Qiongzhi, they were slightly surprised.
There were many young masters and young misses from aristocratic clans in the Clear River prefecture, but rarely were they more powerful than the person before them. She was travelling with Li Qingshan, so they could not help but wonder.
For Li Qingshan's sake, Han Qiongzhi bowed towards Liu Chuanfeng in an indifferent manner. "What are you doing here?"
Liu Chuanfeng began to admire his beloved primary disciple's impressive methods even more. In the past, she would never look him in the eye when she saw him.
"You'll know with a single look." Sun Fubai welcomed the two of them in with a chuckle. They took a look around the Cloudwisp association.
In the hall upstairs, the various storytellers were currently reciting Li Qingshan's book, preparing for their future performances. They all agreed that Li Qingshan's writing was extremely fascinating, and it was extremely suitable for storytellers. However, due to the lack of ancient charm, and it was not in the style of scholars or beauties, it would take a lot of effort to get a singer to compose a tune.
Li Qingshan waved his hand. "If I can't sing it, can I act it?" He pulled out something like a play, and the group of people felt enlightened.
In another room, a group of painters illustrated the characters in the book. This idea originated from Liu Chuanfeng. He discovered that ever since he began illustrating, his pornographic books sold much better, and it became slightly easier to collect the power of belief.
In the workshop behind the Cloudwisp association, over a dozen printing machines he had bought from the mohist school were operating at full capacity, humming as they printed square characters onto white paper. All he had to do was insert the characters, and he could repeat the process. After being bound, he would be able to turn it into a book.
Li Qingshan looked around and expressed great satisfaction. "I really don't have the time to spare, so I'll have to trouble you with the matters here, uncle Fu."
Sun Fubai said, "We're all family. Don't you think you're treating me like an outsider by saying that?"
"When are we leaving?" Han Qiongzhi asked impatiently. These people from the School of Novels were just so weird. As cultivators, As cultivators, what was so interesting about mixing around with these mortals?
She also flipped through a stack of paper, but she found it boring after a single glance. Apart from cultivation methods, she had no interest in anything related to literature. She only felt that compared to fighting against the disciples of the school of the Military, he really was not that admirable. He, who wrote novels, really was not that admirable.
"Let's go right now." Li Qingshan thought about how his great name would spread through the Clear River prefecture before long, so he was in a great mood.
"Let's go together. Mine's faster."
Arriving outside, Han Qiongzhi was just about to take out the shuttle when Li Qingshan said something. Her face eased up slightly, but it immediately tensed up again. She was the first young miss Han. No matter what, she could not allow herself to lose face. Even if she had a good impression of him, she could not flatter him, let alone the fact that this guy was bold enough to treat her like nothing on Benevolence island.
The cloud rushed into the air, directly flying towards Jiaping city.
They returned along the path they had taken in the past. Li Qingshan sighed inside.
Han Qiongzhi had always been bold and unrestrained, but when she faced him, she thought about why Hwa Seung-zan had arranged this. She wanted to get along better with him, but she was also afraid of embarrassing herself. If she lost her temper as she pleased, she would just be like a young girl in love. It was not her style at all.
It was not just her usual style. In Li Qingshan's eyes, she was just like a young girl, yet she just had to pretend to be something else right now. It was very awkward. For a moment, he was actually unable to say anything.
Fortunately, Li Qingshan's sighs came and went quickly. A while later, he began chatting with Han Qiongzhi, and only then did Han Qiongzhi let out a sigh of relief. However, she was still tense, doing her best to maintain a sense of propriety. This just happened to be what she was the least proficient in.
As they spoke, Li Qingshan felt that the first young miss Han's personality had suddenly changed drastically. She had become reserved. Although she had lost some of her sharpness, she had also lost some of her straightforwardness. He found this strange, but they were not exactly close, so he could not delve into it.
Never did he understand that his venting chaotic battle in the school of the Military would touch on her tiny feelings.
After four hours of travelling, he saw a lone mountain in the distance, standing on the side of a great river. A hawk spread its wings on the mountain, overlooking the city below.
The cloud vanished beneath his feet, and Li Qingshan landed firmly on the top of the mountain. He looked around. It's been a while, Jiaping.
The Black Hawk commander, Fang Enshang, led all the Black Wolf guards on the mountain to receive him. There were quite a few former members of the Hawkwolf Guard among them. All they saw was Li Qingshan in his Scarlet Wolf uniform, with a great beauty from the Scarlet Wolf guard standing beside him. Just her composed bearing alone was incomparable to regular women. They were filled with indescribable envy, as well as some sour jealousy.
When Li Qingshan first joined the Hawkwolf Guard, they had personally witnessed him. He was just a kid from the mountains. Never did they think he would reach such heights in just a short year or two.
Fang Enshang bowed politely. "Fang Enshang greets the two sirs."
Li Qingshan returned Fang Enshang's bow. Han Qiongzhi went up and patted Fang Enshang's shoulder. "Little Fang, long time no see. Why are you still at the sixth layer?"
Fang Enshang said, "You're still as unforgiving as ever, second senior sister. How can my talent match up to you, senior sister? And fellow Qingshan, when I first saw him, he was only at the fifth layer." Because Han Qiongzhi was second in the school of Legalism, she was referred to as the second senior sister.
"Thank you. I think commander Fang's bearing has changed drastically instead. You've matured quite a lot." Li Qingshan only felt that Fang Enshang had lost some of his naivety and gained the bearing of a commander.
"You're two grown men, yet you keep praising each other. Don't you find it embarrassing? Tell me, just what happened?"
Having escaped from the awkward situation where the two of them were alone, Han Qiongzhi returned to normal and immediately took charge. She asked about the ins and outs of the matter as she got Fang Enshang to take them to inspect Zhou Pei's corpse. It was possible to tell that Han Qiongzhi was very experienced in handling situations like this, so Li Qingshan was willing to serve as a foil. He said nothing.
In the chilly morgue, a layer of white cloth was lifted, and a body that had turned blue lay there. Sure enough, the word "traitor" was carved into the body.
Li Qingshan had seen life and death before, so he treated it like nothing. He only frowned in thought. He felt like with priest Qiu's temper, he did not seem like someone who would do something like this. This seemed more like the revenge of a third-rate member of the jianghu.
To a large extent, the Truth-seeking society had not been destroyed by the hands of the Hawkwolf Guard. Instead, it had been destroyed by Niu Juxia who had appeared out of nowhere. Even if he knew Zhou Pei was a spy, his hatred should not have run so deep. Wasn't a single stab enough?
Han Qiongzhi showed no fear at all. She studied the corpse, but she did not show the bashfulness of regular women. Instead, she became furious. She covered the corpse with the white cloth and said, "How audacious of you to provoke the Hawkwolf Guard like this. Little Fang, do you have any leads?"
Fang Enshang said, "I was just about to say that yesterday, an informant reported that priest Qiu had appeared in the north-west. He seemed to have travelled in the direction of Ancient Wind city."
Li Qingshan became even more suspicious. He had personally experienced priest Qiu's craftiness. How could a person like that be tracked down by regular people? And, wasn't Ancient Wind city where the Qian family resided?
His second trial mission actually pointed there again. Was it a coincidence, or was there some other reason?
With a swish, Han Qiongzhi covered the corpse with the white cloth and said to Li Qingshan, "Let's go right now!"
Li Qingshan hesitated. "It probably won't be as simple as it seems." As a result, he voiced out his doubts.
In the past, Han Qiongzhi definitely would have mocked Li Qingshan for worrying. However, after going through so much, she knew he was not a coward. However, if she did not rush to Ancient Wind city immediately, find Qiu Ruiliu, and kill him, it did not fit her personality either.
"Then what do you think we should do?"
Fang Enshang was slightly surprised. It was quite rare for his second senior sister to ask for someone else's opinion. Apart from the two commanders, she had always been a person of her word in the school of Legalism.
Li Qingshan considered it for a while. "Let's do as you say!"
Although there was something suspicious about this, he trusted Hwa Seung-zan's judgement. There was no danger with this, or he would have warned them.
Had the Altar Lord of the White Lotus Sect set down such a great trap, even going as far as to expose his own tracks just to ambush two Qi Practitioners? If he really wanted to kill to vent his anger, wouldn't it have been better if he had directly come to the Hawkwolf Guard and slaughtered to his heart's content? Why did he have to specially lead them to such a remote place like Ancient Wind city?
The greatest possibility was that Qiu Ruiliu had gathered a group of independent cultivators and set down a lousy trap. With his abilities, he could kill as many below Foundation Establishment as he wanted.
Han Qiongzhi said, "Then why are you asking?"
Li Qingshan shrugged. "There's no harm in being careful."
"Qingshan's suspicions are very reasonable. Priest Qiu is very crafty. I'll go with you. An extra person means an extra bit of strength." Fang Enshang still remembered how Wu Gen had failed last time with a large group of Hawkwolf guards.
Han Qiongzhi said, "There's no need. Give this brother a proper burial. If he has a family, take good care of him. He won't have sacrificed himself for nothing. We will avenge him."
Seeing how Fang Enshang still wanted to say something, Han Qiongzhi said, "If we work together, there won't be any problems!"
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