Chapter 216 - 121: The East Canghai, Decades of Turmoil, 3 Generations of Master and Disciple, and the Cause and Effect Within

Chapter 216: Chapter 121: The East Canghai, Decades of Turmoil, 3 Generations of Master and Disciple, and the Cause and Effect Within

"His only direct grandson died in East Canghai during the New Year, not even a corpse left."

"The news came back. According to the County Ancestral Book, recorded by that kid from the Wine Shop, he was taken out by both Wei Changjiao, the tenth-in-command of the Chaotic Heaven Thieves, and an assassin hired with a bounty from the Black Market Gold Cave. Not a single bone was left. It’s only natural he’d go mad."

"What he plans to do, these trivial, bullshit matters, I couldn’t care less."

"But there is one thing, Xiaoqingzi."

Beside him, Zhang Qing, holding a helmet, couldn’t help the surge of emotion as he listened to the stories of his Brother Ji, Ji Xiu.

Ever since he had followed Master Han Ying to the prefecture these past few days, his master had been personally singled out by Lord Advisor Luo Daocheng and imprisoned in the Water Prison. Luo Daocheng claimed he needed to "teach him a lesson" and let him suffer some physical pain to see if he would dare collude with the Outer Dao again.

Afterward, he himself had earned the appreciation of Lord Advisor Luo Daocheng and was personally appointed as a Summoned Personal Guard.

Here in Jiangyin Prefecture, Zhang Qing’s entire, meager worldview had been shaken to the point of shattering.

’Back in the county, figures from the Three Great Gangs, the Three Major Professions, and the Three Great Halls—the so-called "Fist, Spear, Saber, and Sword; Lion, Leopard, Eagle, and Falcon"... they seemed so impressive, right?’

’For someone like him from the old back alleys, those people were figures he wouldn’t even dare to dream about. But that was before he even considered the "Thirty-Six Professions, and the entire Daoist School Street" within the prefecture.’

’Just look at this Military Intelligence Camp built upon the Jiangshui River, and all the Water Soldiers and Government Soldiers stationed on the warships!’

’Any single one of them you pulled out could probably match them!’

’The so-called masters of the county.’

’Once they left their own little patch of land, out in the wider Heaven and Earth, they really weren’t worth shit.’

’No wonder they’d stayed in the county for decades with no ambition at all. Now he saw it wasn’t that they had no ambition—it was that they couldn’t even find a foothold in the prefecture!’

’Compared to the mud pits of the county, this prefecture was practically Jinluan Hall!’

’And in a place of such extravagance!’

’His big brother, Ji Xiu!’

’His name alone could stir up waves!’

How could he not feel a sense of shared glory?

’That Master Duan who Brother Ji follows... you couldn’t tell normally, but only after coming to the prefecture did I realize what kind of existence he truly is...’

He had heard that at seventeen, Duan Chenzhou came from the lowest rungs of the Fishing Trade. He was the most wretched of fishermen, not even owning a small sampan.

By nineteen, he had already broken the Second Great Limit, a rising Boss in the Fishing Trade whose fame shook an entire waterfront district!

After that, he became unstoppable.

When Master Cai Si of the Jade Shop sneered at him for reeking of fish, Duan Chenzhou personally gambled on stones, betting his own head, and personally chopped down Master Cai Si;

It’s said that when Master Cai Si’s head rolled into a pile of jadeite fragments, someone saw Duan Chenzhou flick a piece of Imperial Green jade off the tip of his blade to feed the fish.

Later, the Cai Family, fearing the reputation of ’Wang Xuanyang,’ resorted to underhanded methods when open confrontation failed. They put a price on his head in the Black Market Gold Cave, intending to hire an assassin to take care of him.

But somehow he found out. He then used a single sampan to intercept a shipment of a thousand taels of Red Gold from the Jade Shop, taking revenge that very same night.

After hearing the news, the old patriarch of the Cai Family was so enraged his eyes rolled back, and he nearly fainted;

After waking up, he personally went to the Celestial Blade Style, bowed his head, and burned incense, only then managing to avert disaster.

At twenty-one, he broke into the Third Refinement, his Gang Skill already mastered. He fought his way through the entire Daoist School Street, utterly humiliating the Daoist School Masters;

It was said that in those years, the hilt of his blade, representing the Celestial Blade Style, struck such fear that the bronze bells of every Daoist School on the street would ring on their own, without a breath of wind. From then on, the Celestial Blade Daoist School opened its doors to disciples, and its sign was hung on the highest building;

At twenty-three, he comprehended a Secret Martial art. He began to carry his blade and call out the Schools behind those Daoist Schools one by one, circling all of Jiangyin. Among the younger generation, he never tasted defeat;

Before he disappeared, it was rumored he even cut down a Qi Cultivation Grandmaster who had previously lost to him, only to then advance by leaps and bounds and establish a Qi Sea.

This left the Daoist School established by the Purple Mist School without its pillar of support.

The Sect Leader behind it was so furious upon learning that his prize student had been cut down prematurely that he smashed a table on the spot. Pointing at his ancestral tablets, he swore a great oath through gritted teeth to hunt down and kill that fiend, a vow to be fulfilled only by death!

Even though the most recent of these events had happened over a decade ago, when Zhang Qing had come from Anning County and passed through the Jiangyin Ferry...

...he could still vaguely hear some of the old boat captains tossing steel coins into the water before setting sail, chanting, "We fear meeting Duan Chenzhou more than a Flood Dragon!"

Only those who also came from the Fishing Trade could truly understand the terrifying reputation of such a fierce figure!

Now, as his Brother Ji’s fame spread across the sea, it seemed he was faintly showing signs of surpassing his master!

Two days ago, when the demon disaster struck Anning, Zhang Qing had been red-eyed with worry, wanting to rush back home. But almost immediately after, he received a ’Peace Letter’ from his family.

His older sisters and his father, Zhang Laosuan, had all been well taken care of by Brother Ji, which moved him deeply.

In that moment, he became even more certain that giving the Daoist Talisman to Brother Ji had been the single best decision he had ever made in his life.

Because he had been ignorant and naive before.

But after coming to Jiangyin Prefecture...

Zhang Qing finally understood.

He finally understood what that Daoist Talisman truly represented.

He thought to himself, his mind a whirl of complex emotions.

Hearing Luo Daocheng’s voice, he immediately tightened his grip on the helmet, held his breath to focus, and replied in a resonant voice:

"General, I am here!"

"Mm."

"When Huang the Third gets back, tell him this."

Luo Daocheng said casually:

"He is to strip off his uniform, receive fifty strokes from the Martial Arts Stick, and go keep your master company in the Water Prison for a month."

"After he gets out, he can crawl back to his post as a Ten-Group Official and go back to managing his ten men."