Heroic Hong Jiu (Part 3)
In spite of Master Qi’s best efforts to avoid the servants, there was no end to them. Speaking of which, the number of armed guards gradually increased, as well, for whatever reason. Eventually, even Guan Ning, who never resided in an aristocrat’s home, could tell something was fishy.
Not mentioning their constant movement, the duo even resorted to utilising qinggong at times to continue moving, yet they hadn’t reached the edge of the abode after an hour. Thus, they concluded the abode couldn’t be the property of an ordinary person or a civil servant. There were innumerable rooms, most of which were occupied, that covered all manner of facilities. In other words, not only was there enough room for thousands of servants to live there simultaneously, but there were also thousands of people residing there for a prolonged period.
“There must be a lot of secrets covered here. If we are reckless, we’re screwed. Why do they require such a big abode, you ask? Because there are always over a thousand people here,” Master Qi edified in a soft voice. “The only sort of people who’d be able to afford an estate of this size and employ servants on this level are extremely high-ranking nobility and extremely wealthy people. This place isn’t located deep in the woods; the only people who’d dare to erect an edifice of this calibre in the open would be someone wielding tremendous power in the imperial court.”
“I thought you said only the imperial family could employ those girls as palace maids.”
“And I stand by that, except there’s one exception, which is in the scenario that His Majesty gifted them the maids.”
Master Qi could be considered Li Muye’s personal bodyguard, so she was always by his side. For that reason, the people she met were either affluent or aristocrats. Therefore, while she wasn’t privy to all the imperial court’s affairs, she would hear things here and there. That was why she couldn’t immediately identify the maids’ walking style and only just thought of the possibility that the estate was a gift from His Majesty.
Maids followed different formality procedures, such as their walking style, saluting method and so forth, depending on the rank of the person they served. For example, maids of the imperial family weren’t allowed to look up when walking and had to ensure their steps measured a certain distance. Only when Master Qi had the opportunity to see the maids at this abode up close did it dawn on her. Because she wasn’t an expert on the topic, it was beyond her to identify who they might be serving.
“There are maids in the imperial family who follow this system, but there are also maids in the Princes’ families who follow it, and there’s nothing to say that other accomplished families didn’t have their maids follow the same system. That being said, we can conclude that the owner of this estate is either someone extremely accomplished or someone wielding tremendous authority… such as one of the Seven Champion White Princes.”
As one of the prime suspects, Guan Ning suddenly found himself fidgeting. “There can’t be so many shady Seven Champion White Princes. It could just be some corrupt duke who has nothing better to do and decided to collude with crooked martial artists.”
Master Qi slapped Guan Ning over the head.
“… You’re the crooked martial artist.”
Guan Ning looked up to see Master Qi touching her nose the same way he was playing with his. Although they didn’t say it, the two of them could see it in each other’s eyes: both of them wanted to find evidence to prove their shifu or friends were innocent. One could say they were guilt tripped.
Master Qi: Could that Muye kid be dealing with Fiends’ Genesis behind my back? He just ordered me to take over… Having said that, he has been acting fishy recently, so I can’t rule it out yet.
Guan Ning: I know my shifu isn’t exactly the best man out there, but he would collude with unorthodox sects? No wonder why he knows Miss Ye.
Master Qi and Guan Ning: What if we find incriminating evidence against ourselves?
Master Qi and Guan Ning: “How about we put aside committing murder and arson for now, and focus on finding evidence?”
***
Hai Yecha and Steward Jin returned to the pitch-black main hall. Upon seeing Drought Demon sitting on the ground, Steward Jin smiled and said, “So you were still h-”
Psst! As a head shot toward the roof, Drought Demon yawned as tears came out of his eyes. “Oh, back from patrols?”
Splat! The head rebounded off the ceiling to fall to the ground.
“What’s there to even be so uptight about? Just let them in. If they’re strong, we can even enjoy a good fight as a bonus. Otherwise, we can just make quick work of them. Big deal.”
Although Hai Yecha didn’t bat an eye, he shook his head, peeved at the sight of Steward Jin’s blood and dismembered corpse now in twelve parts. “What was the point of killing him? Though he was annoyingly fake, he was a coward, money grubber and pervert. He was good enough to manage this place, too. Now that you’ve gone and killed him, they’ll send someone better than him. What if they send someone we can’t get along with? We would just be giving ourselves a headache.”
“We have no reason to remain here after tomorrow. Plus, can’t we just kill whoever they send? Why whine about something that’s not a problem?”
Hai Yecha conceded trying to reason with the maverick. As he went to sit, though, he heard Drought Demon state, “Someone has come.” Hence, he asked, “Who?”
“Right there.”
Because Fiends’ Genesis’ members had adapted to living in the dark, they had no use for light in the dark. Howbeit, Hai Yecha couldn’t see anything besides blackness around; it was as if someone could absorb light.
Don’t tell me…
“Has Vivianite arrived?”
Drought Demon laughed merrily. “Vivianite, I told you Old Hai would immediately figure it out. You lost, so how about we fight?”
The individual in the shadows didn’t make a sound, but his presence was announced.
Hai Yecha laughed under his breath in an uncharacteristic manner; it wasn’t his usual condescending laugh. “You have arrived, hahaha. Now there is nothing to worry about.”
“Damn, you’re slow. Vivianite has been here for a while already. Well, I guess I can’t complain if you never came since we might’ve been able to scrap,” voiced Drought Demon.
Hai Yecha held his hands in salute, delighted. “It is a pleasure and honour to work with League of Assassins’ best assassin. How can this old one not be thrilled? Fiends’ Genesis’ Hai Yecha is humbled by your presence!”
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