Chapter 318 - 267: Night Chaos (2)

But when he discovered these people were only after his silver and had deliberately fabricated false information, Han Yuan amiably sent them to the Underworld.

And so, after a day of wandering around Ping’an Town, Han Yuan returned to his rented courtyard.

The Orange Cat was sprawled listlessly on the stone table, fast asleep. Its tongue lolled out, and a constant stream of drool dripped down, its mind lost in some unknown dream.

Seeing this, Han Yuan chuckled, reached out, and lifted the Orange Cat by its ear.

"Meeeooww! My dried fish!!!"

The Orange Cat awoke with a jolt, violently wrenching itself free from Han Yuan’s grasp.

"Han Yuan, you owe me my dried fish!"

The Orange Cat snapped irritably upon seeing it was Han Yuan.

"You sleep so soundly, someone could come and sell you and you wouldn’t even know it."

Han Yuan said, shaking his head helplessly.

"No way."

"I just fell asleep."

The Orange Cat yawned, then said with resignation, "Forget it. I won’t stoop to your level. I’m going back to sleep for a bit."

"Just wake me up when it’s time to eat."

With that, the fat cat flopped back onto the stone table and fell asleep again.

Han Yuan could only look on, exasperated by the cat’s behavior.

Just then, Ding Zihu walked in, carrying several large and small packages.

They were all meals wrapped in oil paper, which he had bought from the most popular restaurant in Ping’an Town.

Of course, wine was an essential part of the purchase.

"It smells so good!"

The Orange Cat, who had just dozed off, woke up again, its eyes glued to the food Ding Zihu had brought back.

"You Fat Thief, you really have the nose of a dog."

"I brought back a braised fish just for you this time."

Ding Zihu said with a laugh.

"Meeow~ I’ll give you that, kid. You’re a sensible one," the Orange Cat said with a laugh.

Ding Zihu unwrapped the dishes on the stone table, and he and Han Yuan began to drink.

Meanwhile, the Orange Cat was busy gnawing on the braised fish.

"How did the inquiries go?"

Han Yuan asked quietly, picking up a jar of wine.

"Not great... There’s too much information, it’s impossible to sort through."

Ding Zihu said, shaking his head.

"Same here," Han Yuan said with a sigh.

It was clear neither of them had found anything useful.

"It’s fine... If this doesn’t work, we’ll just head straight into the mountains!"

"With my skills, it shouldn’t be hard to find where the Middle Spiritual Land has appeared."

Ding Zihu said in a heavy tone.

"No rush... Let’s keep asking around for another two days."

"If there’s still no news by then, we’ll head into the mountains."

Han Yuan took a large gulp of wine.

"Then it’s decided."

Ding Zihu nodded.

After they finished eating, the two went back to their respective rooms to rest.

In the dead of night, all of Ping’an Town suddenly erupted into chaos.

A large number of men in black rushed into Ping’an Town, beginning to search house by house.

But the residents of Ping’an Town were no pushovers. This behavior naturally led to conflicts, which eventually escalated into bloody fights.

"KILL!!!"

"Kill every last one of them!"

Cries of battle echoed throughout Ping’an Town, punctuated by occasional screams of agony.

In the distance, the glow of fires could be seen rising in several places.

Han Yuan and Ding Zihu were instantly alerted by the commotion and hurried out of their wooden house.

"What the hell? What’s going on in the middle of the night?"

"Are they trying to keep people from sleeping?"

Ding Zihu muttered in frustration.

"How should I know... I just didn’t expect Ping’an Town to fall into such chaos."

Han Yuan said quietly.

"Let’s go take a look."

"Maybe there’s some excitement to see."

Ding Zihu said with a grin.

Suddenly, BANG! BANG! BANG!

A furious knocking erupted at their door.

"Anyone in there?"

"Ghost King Bandits’ business! Open this door, now!"

"If you don’t open up, don’t blame us for what happens next!"

A gruff voice shouted from outside.

"Ghost King Bandits?" Ding Zihu said with a mix of surprise and suspicion. "I heard that name today. They’re supposed to be pretty vicious. Are they here in the middle of the night to rob us?"

"After all, bandits don’t just come into Ping’an Town in the middle of the night to say hello."

"We’ll know soon enough if we go take a look."

Han Yuan said.

Just as he was about to open the door...

BAM!

The wooden door was kicked open violently.

Several brutish bandits holding steel sabers strode in.

"So there is someone here!"

"Why didn’t you answer when we called just now?"

A minor bandit leader demanded, spotting Han Yuan and Ding Zihu.

"Who are you? What do you want?"

Han Yuan narrowed his eyes.

"We’re with the Ghost King Bandits, and we’re hunting someone down."

"You two stand right there and don’t move. You can move after I’m done searching."

"Otherwise, my blade here won’t be so polite."

The minor bandit leader said viciously.

Hearing this, Han Yuan said calmly, "We’re willing to cooperate, but before we do, there’s one thing we need to clear up."

The minor bandit leader narrowed his eyes. "What do you want to say?" he said flatly.

"You kicked down my door. Are you going to pay for it?"

Han Yuan pointed to the splintered wooden door on the floor.

The minor bandit leader and his men burst out laughing when they heard this.

"HAHAHAHA!!!"

"Did you get your head slammed in a door or something?"

"I’ve never paid for anything I’ve broken."

The minor bandit leader cackled arrogantly.

"So you’re not going to pay, then."

"That’s fine... If you won’t pay with money, you can pay with your life."

Han Yuan said with a slight smile.

Before the minor bandit leader could even process what was happening, Han Yuan appeared at his side and threw a punch.

POW!

He had no time to react as the punch caved in his chest, sending him flying backward to land in the street.

’After all, I still have to stay here for two more days,’ Han Yuan thought. ’I don’t want to make a bloody mess, or it’ll be unpleasant to live here.’

The other bandits’ eyes went wide in an instant. They realized they had provoked someone they shouldn’t have.

Just as Han Yuan was about to act, one of the bandits suddenly shouted, "Sir, I’m willing to pay! I’ll pay ten times the cost!"

Han Yuan paused, taken aback by the offer.

Even Ding Zihu was stunned.

The other three bandits heard this and were just about to speak.

THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!

Han Yuan threw a single punch for each of them, sending them all flying out to land as corpses in the street.

Seeing this, the sole remaining bandit’s heart pounded in terror, and his legs began to tremble.

Han Yuan glanced at him coolly. "Speak. What the hell are you Ghost King Bandits up to tonight?"

The bandit hurriedly replied, "Sir... Our chief’s son is dead!"

"And he died right here in Ping’an Town!"

Ding Zihu overheard. "Shouldn’t your chief’s son be in the mountains? How did he die here in Ping’an Town?"

The bandit explained, "Because our young master went to the Mountain King Temple to pay his respects today. On the way back, he was assassinated by a mysterious Swordsman."

"Our experts pursued the assassin all the way here, but he ultimately escaped into Ping’an Town."

"When our chief found out, he sent men into town to conduct a search!"

Han Yuan and Ding Zihu finally understood what was going on.

No wonder the Ghost King Bandits were willing to turn Ping’an Town upside down; their young master was dead.

"The person who assassinated your young master—were there any distinguishing features?"

Han Yuan asked quietly.

"He was supposedly hit by our Third Chief’s Heart Devouring Palm, so he should be seriously injured."

"But we haven’t found him yet."

The bandit didn’t dare hide a single detail.

’This is my only chance to survive,’ he knew.

"Alright."

"Leave ten taels of silver and get out."

Han Yuan said coolly.

Hearing this, the bandit’s face fell. "Sir... this is all the silver I have on me."

As he spoke, he pulled out all the silver he had.

Ding Zihu looked and saw it wasn’t even five taels of silver.

"Look at you... you must be a big spender."

"And now you don’t have enough money when you need it."

Ding Zihu shook his head with a sigh.

"Get out."

Han Yuan said, waving his hand impatiently.

The bandit was clever enough to seize on Han Yuan’s earlier words, which was enough to make Han Yuan lose his killing intent.

"Thank you, Sir!"

Hearing this, the bandit quickly kowtowed to Han Yuan before turning and fleeing.

"So... should we go check out the commotion?"

Ding Zihu asked quietly after the bandit had gone.

"Go if you want to."

"I can’t be bothered."

"Besides, I think this chaos will die down soon enough."

Han Yuan said coolly.

’Ping’an Town has survived for so many years, which means the powers in the Ten Thousand Mountains need this place to exist.’

’Those powers won’t allow the Ghost King Bandits to completely wreck Ping’an Town.’

’Otherwise, everyone’s interests would be affected.’