Novel Full Chapter 173: The Vanished Partner
Upon hearing the names of Cui Mao and the others, Huang Renqiu and Zhao Wuying instantly understood the whole story behind this incident.
Cui Mao, Zheng Yanfeng, and that group of people had definitely kicked an iron plate.
Huang Renqiu’s gaze shifted towards Zhao Wuying’s direction;
this matter could only be decided by Zhao Wuying now.
There was no other reason, simply because Cui Mao, Zhu Xing, and Zheng Yanfeng were all Zhao Wuying’s men.
Even their cheating and reneging at the gambling table were results of Zhao Wuying’s indulgence.
Currently relying on Zhao Wuying as his backer, Huang Renqiu naturally wasn’t in a position to say much.
Zhao Wuying remained silent, contemplating how to handle this matter properly.
Zhao Wuying only felt that the person before him was quite young, looking like he wasn’t even twenty years old.
No wonder Cui Mao and the others had misjudged him.
After hesitating a moment longer, Zhao Wuying spoke up, asking Huang Hongtao beside him:
“How are Cui Mao and the others doing?”
“Replying to Senior Zhao, Mister Cui and the others have all sustained some injuries. As for how serious… from the looks of it, it should be considered not light.”
Huang Hongtao replied.
He wasn’t actually telling Zhao Wuying about Cui Mao and the others’ injury condition.
When Third Young Master Huang arrived earlier, he only saw Mister Cui, Mister Zhu, and the others lying in a heap on the ground;
he hadn’t had time to pay attention to their injuries at all.
He was secretly hinting to Zhao Wuying about Chen Yan’s cultivation level.
With just one person’s strength, he had beaten down Cui Mao, Zheng Yanfeng, and Zhu Xing—three Qi Circulation Realm cultivators.
This was enough to warrant Zhao Wuying’s serious attention.
At the very least, one’s cultivation realm would need to be at the mid-stage of the Qi Circulation Realm or above to be able to fight one against three when facing Cui Mao and the others.
Probably mid-stage Qi Circulation Realm, or maybe late-stage Qi Circulation Realm like this;
the possibility of peak Qi Circulation Realm wasn’t great.
As for an even higher cultivation level, Zhao Wuying wouldn’t even consider it.
A Martial Spring Realm cultivator at this age?
That would be the caliber of a Dao Inquirer from Heavenly Summit Mountain!
Would such a ruthless character be idly wandering around a tiny gambling den in Taiyun City and getting into disputes with people?
But a mid-stage Qi Circulation Realm cultivator at this age was undoubtedly already quite remarkable.
Although the gap between the Qi Circulation Realm and the Martial Spring Realm was quite substantial.
Zhao Wuying had to consider whether behind such a young genius, there might be other powerful figures.
Was it more worthwhile to offend this young man with an unclear background, or to discipline his own incompetent subordinates?
The answer was quite obvious.
“Young friend.”
He addressed Chen Yan’s direction.
“I wonder how those fellows offended you?”
In reality, Zhao Wuying was asking a question he already knew the answer to.
“They cheated and reneged, attempting to swindle my spirit stones!”
Chen Yan said.
Hearing this, Zhao Wuying’s face rapidly darkened:
“Hongtao, is there such a thing?”
“Senior Zhao…”
“Break the hands of those scoundrels, then throw them out of the gambling den!”
Zhao Wuying roared angrily.
Regardless of whether he was putting on a show for Chen Yan, at the very least, the surface attitude had to be properly displayed.
As for whether the hands would actually be broken, it was eighty percent likely they would really be hit.
However, for Qi Circulation Realm cultivators, external injuries to muscles and bones would take at most a little over half a month to recover completely.
Moreover, punishing those few good-for-nothings was also quite necessary for Zhao Wuying.
Who told them to misjudge the situation, kick an iron plate, and make him clean up their mess?
“Yes.”
Huang Hongtao responded, then turned and left the private room.
“I wonder, young friend, what is your name?”
Seeing the matter had been dealt with, Huang Renqiu opened his mouth to ask Chen Yan.
“Yan Chen.”
Chen Yan said.
“So young, yet already at the Qi Circulation Realm cultivation. The younger generation is truly formidable!”
Huang Renqiu sighed with emotion:
“Young friend, if you don’t mind, you can seek a position in my gambling den. As for cultivation resources, I guarantee you’ll be satisfied!”
“Thank you for your kind offer, Family Head Huang. Please allow me to consider it further.”
Chen Yan said.
“No problem, it’s good for young people to be cautious.”
Huang Renqiu laughed.
He had naturally developed thoughts of recruiting Chen Yan.
Such a genius, if willing to establish friendly relations with the Huang Family, plus with Zhao Wuying’s backing, the Huang Family’s position in Taiyun City would become further solidified.
“Speaking of which, I have one more presumptuous request.”
Chen Yan said.
“Just say it and let’s hear it.”
Zhao Wuying said.
“There is a waiter in this gambling den who seems to be an old acquaintance of mine. I hope to meet with him again to ask him about something.”
Chen Yan said.
“A trivial matter!”
Huang Renqiu agreed:
“I wonder which waiter the young friend wishes to see, and what his name is?”
“I’ve forgotten the name.”
Chen Yan said:
“I only remember his surname is Li.”
Hearing this, Huang Renqiu was momentarily stunned, then thought for a moment before turning his head to look at Zhao Wuying beside him.
And Zhao Wuying also shook his head:
“We don’t have a waiter surnamed Li here.”
…
There was no waiter surnamed Li in the Huang Family Gambling Den.
Frowning tightly, Chen Yan walked along the streets of Taiyun City.
But he distinctly heard Huang Renqiu address that guiding waiter as Xiao Li.
Yet when Huang Renqiu returned to the private room and was asked to recall, he actually had no impression of it either.
Something was fishy.
And it was very fishy indeed.
Then, Chen Yan left this Huang Family Gambling Den and made another trip to the Kongshan Sect’s Stationed Envoy Residence in Taiyun City.
Now, the envoy in this Stationed Envoy Residence was no longer that Nian Yun who was slapped to death by Ding Qiu back then.
The current stationed envoy disciple in Taiyun City was an outer court Qi Circulation Realm disciple, around forty years old.
However, the current stationed envoy disciple was also not the one who later replaced Nian Yun during Chen Yan’s first life.
Some fates could be changed.
But some could not.
As for where the boundary lay between fates that could be changed and those that could not, and whether, after one’s strength reached a certain level, one could break through with force—for Chen Yan, these were still unknowns.
After Chen Yan revealed his identity to the stationed envoy disciple, he quickly found, from within this Stationed Envoy Residence, the list of mortals who died or went missing when the Immortal Gambling Den was tragically wiped out.
This list was compiled by the Taiyun City magistrate’s office, and because this case involved cultivators, the Taiyun City magistrate’s office also sent a copy to the Kongshan Sect’s Stationed Envoy Residence.
For Chen Yan, this list was undoubtedly a great help.
On the list, there were three people surnamed Li in total.
All deceased.
Among them, one was forty-five years old, one was thirty-seven.
The only one whose age matched the characteristics was that twenty-three-year-old young waiter, named Li Tonghe.
But…
Chen Yan recalled the figure he saw today in the gambling den.
Why?
Following the information recorded on the list, Chen Yan found the residence in Taiyun City of that young disciple named Li Tonghe.
It was right on the street Chen Yan was currently hurrying along.
He stopped walking and looked towards the slightly narrow residential courtyard gate before him.
This was the place.
Chen Yan took two more steps forward, carefully examining it.
Then, he narrowed his eyes.
The slightly ajar courtyard gate wasn’t locked, and judging from the accumulated dust on the door, there were clear signs of being touched—
Someone had been here, and not long ago.