Chapter 132: The Prodigy of the Zhen Family

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It seemed that he wanted to show off his strength and intimidate the petty thieves. The gate guards were all Black Iron elite spearmen, tall and mighty, with focused and steady eyes, wearing uniform iron armor and bright red capes.

Inside the urn wall and arrow battlements stood elite archers holding strong bows one after another.

A Bronze-rank squad commander wore shining and sleek heavy armor, his hand resting on his sword, with a beautiful red cape embroidered with a pattern of a hundred horses galloping fluttering in the wind. His eyes were like lightning as he scrutinized every person entering the city. It seemed that if he saw anyone with malicious intent, he would cut them down in one slash.

The entire Northern Yan City gave Lei Qing a feeling of heaviness and solidity, with a stern atmosphere. It was worthy of being the main city of the Zhen Family. To conquer this city, it was not even worth thinking about if one did not have an army of one hundred thousand.

For a conspicuous figure like Lei Qing, the squad commander would naturally not let him go without questioning. However, Lei Qing was upright and honest, so he directly registered his name to enter the city as Lei Qing, the commander of the Ninth Regiment’s Black Flag Regiment. To tell the truth, with the Zhen Family’s massive intelligence network, even if he tried to disguise himself to enter the city, his identity would be exposed in no time. Rather than falling into a passive situation, it would be more appropriate to come out in the open.

Considering both his strength and identity, the Bronze-rank squad commander could not ignore him. He let him pass and immediately reported up the chain of command.

At that time, Lei Qing also had a certain amount of fame. Although most of his reputation came from his audacious kidnapping of Li Baobao, his several battles since arriving at the Free Alliance also seemed to have built up some prestige. For example, he had fought Zong Wuji across ranks in a bloody battle and cut off his hand. Later, he had a fierce battle with Xianyu Bao for the position of regiment commander.

Most importantly, Lei Qing’s recent feat of defeating Helian Bo, the Vulture, and his horse bandits, and his glory of winning in a duel, had gradually begun to spread.

Of course, this was only a thin reputation. In the eyes of the leaders of some medium and large power s, Lei Qing was still nothing special and not suitable for the big stage. However, in the eyes of some minor strongmen of the Bronze-rank, Lei Qing was already a big shot.

This was the difference in social classes; people viewed things differently.

After wandering around for half a day in the city, Lei Qing stayed in the most luxurious local inn. It was not that he loved to show off. After all, he was now the leader of a minor power and had to pay attention to his image.

Besides, those who could stay in such a luxurious inn mostly had some status. Lei Qing had great ambitions and naturally needed to meet more people and make some high-level friends. This could not be a bad thing.

The price of this inn was indeed shocking, but it was worth the money. First of all, the living environment made Lei Qing, who had been suffering recently, quite comfortable. Just the environment for making friends provided by the inn was worth the ticket.

After resting and strolling for a day, Lei Qing had made the acquaintance of more than ten people with some status. These people were either merchants with considerable wealth or leaders and deputy leaders of minor powers. Most importantly, there were many external liaison officers from medium powers.

As for the large powers, they had their own territories in Northern Yan City and did not need to stay in inns. Getting to know these people and chatting with them could not only quickly make more people aware of the Black Flag Regiment, a minor power, but also increase the popularity and reputation of Lei Qing and the Black Flag Regiment.

Secondly, these people were a mix of dragons and snakes from all over the country, each with their own information channels and experiences. Through communication with them, Lei Qing also heard many bizarre stories, secrets, and gossip, which increased his knowledge and broadened his horizons.

Having more friends meant more paths. Two or three merchants with relatively high status had secretly expressed to Lei Qing that as long as Madame Zhen did not personally ban Lei Qing, even if her daughter Zhen Huan’er was behind the scenes causing trouble, they would be willing to provide Lei Qing with some excellent breeds of breeding ewes. The prerequisite was that the price would be slightly higher, and the goods could not be given directly to Lei Qing but had to pass through the Iron Cavalry Regiment.

In this way, even if they were investigated later, they could say that those goods were sold to the Iron Cavalry Regiment, but the Iron Cavalry Regiment later sold them to Lei Qing. In short, the Zhen Family did not say that they could not do business with the Iron Cavalry Regiment.

In fact, relying solely on the Zhen Family, it would also take careful consideration to ban the Iron Cavalry Regiment. The Iron Cavalry Regiment was not like Lei Qing, a rookie with a huge army of over ten thousand and more than a thousand elites under his command. Provoking the Iron Cavalry Regiment was not a funny thing.

After weighing the interests and risks, the merchants Lei Qing had just met made their calculations. Everyone went out to make money, not to settle scores. Besides, Lei Qing’s plan was quite feasible, and there would be huge profits from this purchase and sale, which was worth taking some risks.

This made Lei Qing breathe a sigh of relief while also showing him the cunning and profit-seeking nature of merchants. This trip, even if he could not resolve the Zhen Family’s targeting, at least found him a way out. It was true that paths were made by walking. If he stayed in Yehe Town all day long, working hard without looking out, he would be less likely to encounter opportunities.

Next was for Lei Qing to execute his own plan. With a backup plan, Lei Qing’s mindset had relaxed a lot.

Directly visiting Zhen Jimu’s mansion was the worst option. It was said that the guy was also someone who never stayed at home. Even if he was at home, who would want to meet a minor power leader without fame or strength?

Lei Qing did not expect that just as he was preparing to privately inquire about Zhen Jimu’s whereabouts, such as which brothel he was hanging out in, and to plan how to approach him…

Zhen Jimu actually came to find him at this time. He came openly and directly, looking for Lei Qing.

In the luxurious lobby of the inn, Zhen Jimu, leading a group of young masters with slicked-back hair and powdered faces, blocked Lei Qing there.

“Kid, are you Lei Qing? The so-called commander of the Black Flag Regiment?”

Zhen Jimu was of similar height to Lei Qing and quite handsome. However, perhaps he indulged in wine and women too much, his face was somewhat sallow and pale, and his steps were a bit unsteady and weak.

Lei Qing’s changes compared to a year ago were huge. A year ago, Lei Qing was only slightly better than Zhen Jimu, without the excessive indulgence.

But now, Lei Qing radiated a vigorous and heroic aura from head to toe. His face was handsome and as cold and sharp as if carved by a knife. The long journey and the fierce wind of the Northwest had tanned his skin to a light bronze color.

Repeated trials of life and death and battles had washed away all the milky aura from his body, adding a bit of bleak killing intent.

Before meeting Zhen Jimu, after hearing Mr. Hao’s words, Lei Qing indeed thought that he and Zhen Jimu were the same kind of person. But now, when he suddenly saw this Zhen Jimu, he couldn’t help but frown slightly and felt a hint of dislike.

It seemed that they were already two completely different kinds of people. Looking at Zhen Jimu’s sallow and milky face, with flirtatious eyes and an attitude full of casual frivolity, and an arrogant tone in his speech, he acted as if he was the best in the world.

At this moment, Lei Qing realized that he had changed and was truly completely different from before. Seeing people like this, he instinctively felt disgusted, even feeling a bit disgusted with his past self.

He also knew that Mr. Hao’s plan could no longer be executed. They were completely different kinds of people and would definitely not have anything in common. Lei Qing felt uncomfortable even communicating with him.

Although Lei Qing was not doing things entirely according to his own whims, forcing him to suppress his disgust and be friendly with a prodigal son he disliked very much and did not understand was really not interesting to him.

In an instant, Lei Qing gave up his previous plan. His gaze was calm, neither humble nor arrogant, and he coldly stared at Zhen Jimu, saying in a steady voice, “That’s right. I am Lei Qing.”

“Lord? Haha, listen everyone. This surnamed Lei kid calls himself Lord in front of me?” Zhen Jimu laughed wildly, pointing at Lei Qing to the other young masters around him, as if he had heard the most interesting joke on the Pan-Continent.

The other young masters seemed to follow Zhen Jimu as their leader. Seeing him laugh, they also laughed wildly and arrogantly.

In the luxurious hotel lobby, no one dared to come forward to stop them, and many people hid to one side. Even several merchants who had just called Lei Qing brother shrank into the corner. No one was willing to provoke Zhen Jimu for Lei Qing.

“What do you want to teach me?” Lei Qing’s rhinoceros leather armor was already very worn. Although it had been repaired, it was mended with knife and sword marks. However, wearing it gave him an added charm of vicissitudes and solidity. Under the black cape, he looked like a veteran general walking out of the battlefield.

Zhen Jimu was two years older than Lei Qing, but he looked far less steady and substantial than Lei Qing.

Facing the extreme mockery of a group of young masters, Lei Qing felt no anger and did not feel humiliated by it. He just felt that these people were pathetic. Like his past self, they were just walking dead with superficial exteriors and empty interiors.

“Kid, listen to me. I am Zhen Jimu, the head of the Zhen Family Ranch.” Zhen Jimu’s smile disappeared, and his eyes revealed a look of pride. He pointed at Lei Qing with high momentum and said, “I heard that you kidnapped Li Baobao? And extorted the Li Chamber of Commerce?”

“That’s right. Do you want to stand up for Li Baobao?” A faint smile appeared on Lei Qing’s lips, with a hint of musical disdain in the smile.

“Stand up for her? Hmph, of course not.” Zhen Jimu, dressed in splendid clothes, said in an exaggerated pose: “This person of mine, actually admires heroes and villains with big guts the most. You kid, do you have a bear’s heart and a leopard’s courage? Kidnapping Li Baobao and daring to extort Li Qianlong. I have to say, I admire you.”

“Young Master Zhen speaks well.” A group of young masters flattered and cheered.

Lei Qing remained silent and had no interest in looking at him more.

But Zhen Jimu was even more excited. He looked around at the people who were scared into hiding by him and said with some excitement: “Originally, making friends with you would also fit my taste. However, I, Zhen Jimu, am a person who values loyalty and am willing to cut my ribs for my brothers. You kidnapped Li Baobao, which means you offended my brother Wan Liyun. Offending Wan Liyun is offending me. Kid, what do you have to say?”

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