Chapter 87: Analysis (Revised)

A few days ago I was still skinning a half-human alive. Today I’ll spare you that.

Lately I’ve been studying a new form of torture called kite-flying.

I pull your intestines out through the back door and keep hauling them farther and farther away.

Do you know that a man like you can have intestines two or three tens of feet long? Want to guess how I know?

With every word Ling Chi spoke, the man’s face went a shade paler. By the time he finished, it had gone deathly white.

The man had just opened his mouth when

Smack.

Another slap landed across his face.

“Don’t curse. I don’t like being cursed at. Think carefully before you speak.”

Ling Chi dragged over a stool and sat down in front of him.

“Then ask me already. Ask whatever you want. I only beg for a quick death.”

The man suddenly broke down in tears, snot and tears streaming down his face. It was enough to make even a stone-hearted observer cry.

Ling Chi scratched the back of his head. Somehow this had become his fault. Seeing how pitiful the man looked, he even found himself unable to strike him again.

“What’s your name? Are there any people from your Celestial Radiance Gang in Ying Province?”

“My name’s Duan Hai. There aren’t any of ours in Ying Province. We did have an outer branch there once, but it suddenly disappeared not long ago. The gang never cared whether they lived or died anyway. They were kept like dogs.”

“What kind of cultivation do your gang leader and deputy leaders have? Who is the strongest person in the gang?”

“The strongest is my master, the gang leader, Chen Tianxiong. He’s at the half-step Spirit Pearl realm. There are also two deputy leaders at the seventh or eighth level of the Sea of Qi realm, and the six hall masters under them are all Sea of Qi cultivators. Senior Brother Nanzi is the hall master of our Divine Might Hall.”

“Who is Senior Brother Lanzi? Where is he?” Ling Chi frowned. The direct hall masters had to be killed first, just to avoid trouble.

“He’s the one you beheaded, the one in purple. He’s the master’s second disciple. His eldest disciple is already a deputy leader now.”

Duan Hai no longer had the presence of mind to care about Ling Chi’s pronunciation.

Ling Chi’s brows relaxed. A dead branch master was a good branch master.

“Where is your headquarters? How do I get in touch?”

Ling Chi went on asking.

“In the north, on Redstone Island in Haizhou, under the Beichuan Circuit. We don’t usually keep in contact. Senior Brother Nan is fairly free and doesn’t concern himself much with the gang’s affairs.”

Duan Hai wanted nothing more than a quick death. The handsome young man before him not only possessed absurdly overwhelming combat power, but his temperament was that of a demon.

Ling Chi asked no more. He set Duan Hai on fire and scattered his ashes, then sorted through the useful information.

The leader of the Celestial Radiance Gang, Chen Tianxiong, was at the half-step Spirit Pearl realm, about on par with Cao Hubao. Under him were a host of Sea of Qi branch masters, as well as two deputy leaders at the seventh or eighth level of the Sea of Qi realm.

He was not worried. After all, the Celestial Radiance Gang was only a Jianghu sect, and one that was far, far away at that.

The real issue was Cao Hubao. He had taken half the spoils from the raid on the Fortune-Favorable Escort Agency. Was he really just going to stand there and watch?

For now, the important matter was Prefect He. The He family had been operating in Ying Province and He Province for many years; their roots ran deep and their branches spread wide.

Now they were already bold enough to send people openly to make trouble and probe him. They were going to tear off all pretense and go to war with the Pacification Bureau.

Ling Chi had not been with the Pacification Bureau for long, and all he felt was that an institution directly under the emperor could actually be this useless.

If they really provoked him beyond endurance, he would simply strip off this uniform, go kill his way to their doorstep alone, and wipe them out clean. If worst came to worst, he would wander the world afterward and live freely and unrestrained.

The thought flared, instantly igniting the violent instincts in his heart.

No, no. He needed more growth first. If he went out now, with his personality he might offend some extraordinary expert. At his present level of cultivation, he still did not have the sense of safety he needed.

Ling Chi forcibly suppressed the urge in his chest and returned to the outer hall.

The more hands there were, the lighter the work. The scene had already been cleaned up. Traces of the battle remained, but they no longer affected the drinking and feasting.

Yang Shu had arranged for the cooks from all the county restaurants to be invited over, and the banquet continued.

Zhao Qing was still discussing something with Cao Hubao.

“Master, I’ve finished asking,” Ling Chi said.

He reported the information one item at a time. Zhao Qing listened, his brows drawing together. Half-step Spirit Pearl realm. That was somewhat troublesome.

“Old Zhao, don’t worry. The Celestial Radiance Gang is far away. Even if Chen Tianxiong came here in person, I, Cao Hubao, would handle him for you.”

He thumped his chest as he made the promise.

In essence, this matter had still started because of him. Political struggle had escalated into outright bloodshed. It seemed the forces behind Prefect He had been pressed hard by the Pacification Bureau and had resorted to such an inelegant method.

Or perhaps Cao Hubao had also meant to ride the tide, hoping to bind Zhao Qing, Ling Chi, and the rest of them tightly to his own carriage.

Otherwise, there was no way he could fail to know everything this group intended to do.

Ling Chi felt a chill in his heart. Cao Hubao, with his broad brow and large eyes, was not a good man either.

As expected, the ones with the filthiest minds were all in the imperial court.

Zhao Qing exchanged a look with Ling Chi and slowly said, “So what exactly does Lord Sun of the Guard Office mean now? The He family has already come to our doorstep, and they are even using these underhanded tactics.”

“Lord Sun has been wrestling with the backer behind He Zhixian. That’s why he managed to deal with Li Changyuan.”

“The He family has deep roots. Their networks here in Ying and He Provinces are tangled and extensive. Above us, preparations have also been underway for a long time, with the aim of taking them all out at once and drilling straight through that great ship of the He family.”

Cao Hubao spoke at length. Ling Chi was unimpressed. Politicians worried about this and that; they were not as straightforward as martial men like him.

As long as his backbone was strong enough and his fist was big enough, who cared how many connections the other side had? He would simply kill his way through them. Kill until they were frightened half to death and see whether they still dared claim to be part of the He family’s network.

“What about He Qian?” Zhao Qing asked, looking at the human-shaped bundle tied up outside.

“We’ll take him back and lock him up. We may well have to fight He Zhixian again,” Cao Hubao said helplessly.

“Lord Cao, what cultivation level does that He fellow have, to make even you this cautious?” Ling Chi asked from the side.

As the second strongest in Crane County, second only to his master Zhao Qing, Ling Chi’s true combat power far exceeded that of the other constables under Cao Hubao.

Just now, he had cut down the purple-robed man at the sixth level of the Sea of Qi as easily as slicing vegetables, and Cao Hubao had watched with a racing heartbeat.

“He’s only at the seventh level of the Sea of Qi, but he always has an old man beside him at the peak of the ninth level, and that man may break into the Spirit Pearl realm at any moment,” Cao Hubao said with a sigh.

“The He family has no telling how many hidden experts they’ve raised. The Fortune-Favorable Escort Agency you wiped out had their men in it as well. Everyone in the Tide Gang was theirs. Even the Lianshan Bandits, who were wiped out before, were black hands the He family kept outside.”

“And that’s only what we’ve discovered on the surface. God knows what else is hidden in the dark.”

Cao Hubao rubbed his bronzed face, looking under tremendous pressure.

“Since the masks are already off, just kill He Qian too. I doubt he ever intended for his son to make it back alive anyway.”

Ling Chi gave Zhao Qing a subtle nudge as he spoke.