Chapter 151: Historical Baggage

"How forgetful of me."

Yan Jing smiled. "Come in and have a seat, Brother Wei."

"Xiao Yu, put away the gifts Brother Wei brought."

"Master Liu, bring out my stash of Pre-Spring Tea and brew a pot."

Fei Yu and Old Master Liu blanked. Since when did they have any Pre-Spring Tea in the house?

"No need,"

Wei Bufan said flatly.

He didn't drink tea, only liquor.

"Alright, never mind then,"

Yan Jing immediately replied.

He followed up with a regretful sigh.

"A pity. That tea is quite good."

"Tell your people to leave,"

Wei Bufan said. His tone was blunt and stiff, leaving no room for negotiation.

"Master Liu, Xiao Yu, go buy some rouge and face powder for me. Miss Ruyan needs it,"

Yan Jing said with a smile.

"Right away."

The two exchanged a glance and walked out the door.

But they didn't leave Mud Alley.

At this hour, the cosmetic shops on East Main Street would be long closed by the time they got there.

If they actually wanted to buy rouge, they would have to get it from the unlicensed prostitutes down on South Main Street.

Yan Jing was signaling them not to go too far.

The pair walked about ten meters down Mud Alley and stopped.

"Xiao Yu, I haven't been back in a few years. Is the situation in Bianliu County still the same?"

Old Master Liu asked, squatting down to look at Fei Yu.

"Didn't you spend all yesterday afternoon asking around?"

Fei Yu exposed him mercilessly.

"This Wei Faction Lineage wants the Young Master to serve as county head, don't they?"

Old Master Liu said slowly, pulling a Smoking Pipe from his waist.

He had changed his look since Rotten Vegetable Village. He now wore a long gray cloth gown and loose trousers, and his sunglasses had been swapped for the round spectacles favored by feng shui masters.

"Probably."

Fei Yu kept her head down, kicking a small pebble with the tip of her shoe.

"In the end, the Young Master just can't let it go..."

Old Master Liu sighed.

"Naturally, it makes no difference to you."

Fei Yu lifted her eyes, a trace of indifference in her expression. "You aren't part of the Luo Family."

"True. The Luo Family was already gone by the time I met the Young Master."

Old Master Liu took a drag from his Smoking Pipe and looked back at her.

"But as I recall, you aren't part of the Luo Family either, Xiao Yu."

Fei Yu didn't answer him directly.

She turned around and stretched her delicate hands forward and back, as if striking a martial arts pose. The smoke drifting around her instantly dispersed. "The Young Master is from the Luo Family," she said crisply. "That's enough."

...

...

"Brother Wei, what brings you here this time?"

Yan Jing asked with a smile, reaching out to place his own bowl and chopsticks in front of Wei Bufan.

"I haven't used them."

"No need."

Wei Bufan blocked the gesture with his hand.

He was a germaphobe and refused to eat anything from someone he looked down upon.

"Alright, never mind then."

Yan Jing immediately took the bowl back, picked up a piece of pork hock, and popped it into his mouth with a contented expression.

Wei Bufan furrowed his brow.

When he visited last week, the man had displayed this exact same lackadaisical attitude.

But he had at least been somewhat more restrained back then.

"Have you made a decision? My patience is limited."

Wei Bufan said flatly. "I've already turned down the previous candidate for your sake. If you are ready, I'll take the news back."

"I'm still thinking it over—"

Shing—

Before Yan Jing could finish, Wei Bufan had already drawn his Broadsword.

A blood-red streak of blade aura brushed past Yan Jing's hair and slashed into the wall less than half a meter behind him.

Bang!

A massive gash instantly split the bare rammed-earth wall.

Cracks spread from the opening, stretching several chi across.

The Broadsword was stained with mottled, dark red blood. It didn't look flashy, but rather brutally authentic—just like the severed heads that had just rolled onto the floor. Matted hair clung to the blood scabs; their faces were frozen in terror, eyes dull, mouths slightly ajar, with severed meridians and windpipes clustered thickly at their necks.

It gave off a unique, visceral sense of horror.

"I am not negotiating with you,"

Wei Bufan stated coolly.

Murderous intent spread through the room.

Yan Jing popped a large bite of pig ear into his mouth and smiled.

"I'd long heard that despite your young age, Brother Wei, you were only half a step away from entering the Seventh Trade Realm. Now I've seen it for myself."

In Minhu, the ranks from First Trade down to Ninth Trade corresponded to the Surface World's Ninth Tier down to First Tier.

The Seventh Trade was equivalent to the Third Tier.

"But Brother Wei, I really am quite hungry. How about we eat first?"

Wei Bufan raised his eyes, gave Yan Jing a look, and then sheathed his Broadsword.

When he drew his blade a moment ago, Yan Jing hadn't even twitched.

The rumors were true.

The man before him wasn't nearly as simple as he appeared.

But to him, it made little difference.

He shook out his black cloak and stood up.

"You have two days."

"In two days, if I don't have a clear answer—or if you try to run—I will take your head and seek out our original candidate."

"Take care on your way out, Brother Wei."

Yan Jing took a sip of soup without standing up.

Wei Bufan pushed the door open and saw Old Master Liu and Fei Yu lingering outside, pretending to be idling about.

He shot the two of them a cold glare before vanishing into the night.

Old Master Liu and Fei Yu entered the house.

Looking at the massive gash in the wall, Fei Yu felt an unparalleled pang of heartache.

After taking a few deep breaths, she still couldn't swallow her anger and looked at Yan Jing.

"Did he pay for the damages?"

"He already brought us gifts. Why would we ask for money?"

Yan Jing lowered his head to sip his soup, nodding in satisfaction.

He then fished a brush from his robes and drew two birds on the table.

He tapped them lightly with his fingertip.

The two birds took flight, soaring out the door.

"Xiao Yu, go take those gifts Brother Wei brought and set them by the door."

Though she had no idea what her crazy Young Master was trying to do, Fei Yu did as instructed.

Three solitary heads were thus arrayed at the entrance.

In the darkness of the night, it looked rather eerie.

Even with the door closed, the heavy stench of blood seeped through the wood into the room.

Inside, the three of them kept eating as if nothing was wrong.

Halfway through the meal, Old Master Liu couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Young Master, are you really going to become the county head?"

"Aren't they forcing me to go?"

Yan Jing wore a helpless expression. "Master Liu, you know your Young Master is quite talented. What else can I do?"

"Young Master, if I may speak out of turn, the Wei Faction isn't a good choice,"

Old Master Liu said.

Of the six Domains, excluding the two half-barren Domains, the other three Domains all have their own leaders.

But Zhennan County is different. The Zhennan Army has three factions beneath it.

And the three factions don't get along.

Among the three, the Wei Faction is neither the strongest, nor are they the ones who bide their time in obscurity.

Aside from slaughter, the Wei Faction doesn't know how to do anything else.

That's because the people in the Wei Faction are primarily Killing Cultivators—and the most reckless group of Killing Cultivators at that.

Back then, Zhennan County wasn't even called by its current name.

The leader of the Wei Faction, Wei Nantian, served as the vanguard chief for all three factions.

To conquer this place, his lieutenant used himself as bait, trapping and slaughtering several thousand enemies.

Unexpectedly, the enemy built up their defenses and chose to hide like turtles in their shells.

Actually, by that point, the enemy forces were already exhausted. All they had to do was wait a while, and they could have let the enemy wear themselves out, taking them down without breaking a sweat.

But staring at the 'turtle shell' the enemy had built, Wei Nantian just grew angrier the more he thought about it.

So one night, he chose to circle around from Bianliu City all the way to the Crop Plains behind Zhennan County, leading a direct, bloody assault.

In the end, Zhennan County was conquered.

But as a newcomer at the time, Wei Nantian didn't understand the rules of the Crop Plains.

His subordinates trampled the crops planted in the Crop Plains into absolute mush.

It infuriated the agricultural cultivators there so much they nearly ascended to heaven in rage.

From then on, a feud was forged between the two territories.

Especially with the Wei Faction; the moment they crossed paths with the people of the Crop Plains, a fight would break out between the two sides.

"I know the Wei Faction isn't a good choice,"

Yan Jing sighed.

If it had been a good choice, the Young Master of the Luo Family wouldn't have died in a rickshaw.

Given the current situation, running was no longer an option. He could only pick a relatively decent faction to use as a stepping stone.

In truth, the Young Master of the Luo Family had quite a few candidates in mind before his death.

But none of them thought highly of him.

So the Young Master of the Luo Family chose to settle for the next best thing, attempting to secretly contact the operatives the Wei Faction had sent to Bianliu County.

He never expected to get entangled with a problem like Wei Bufan.

His methods were incredibly domineering, clearly treating the Young Master of the Luo Family as nothing more than a puppet.

If the Young Master of the Luo Family had known earlier that Wei Bufan was the one coming, he probably wouldn't have provoked him.

However, that was simply the Young Master of the Luo Family's style—he liked to play both sides and seek advantages in the cracks.

But Yan Jing's style was a bit different.

When there was a problem, the problem had to be solved.

Otherwise, the problems would only multiply.

"Xiao Yu, go prepare another set of bowls and chopsticks."

Yan Jing instructed, meeting their confused expressions.

Fei Yu grabbed another set and laid them out.

"Just wait. Our real guest is about to arrive,"

Yan Jing said slowly. "I'm going to the back room. Call me when they get here."

With that, he walked into the back room.

Not long after, there was indeed a knock at the door.

Fei Yu hurried over to the back room, but before she could speak, Yan Jing had already opened the door.

Immediately after, under the astonished gazes of Old Master Liu and Fei Yu, Yan Jing personally stepped forward and opened the front door.

Outside stood a man dressed in shorts and a sweat-soaked undershirt.

His dark skin looked incredibly rough, and a heavy, earthy scent of mud clung to his body.

"Where is Wei Bufan?"

The man demanded the moment he stepped inside, radiating murderous intent.

He was the recruitment ambassador elected by the Crop Plains, sent to Bianliu County to select candidates for the position of county head.