Chapter 152: Solving Trouble

"Brother Wei just left."

Yan Jing smiled. "Look, the gifts he brought are still sitting on the floor."

Hearing that Wei Bufan was absent, the man who had just stepped inside let his murderous intent dissipate slightly.

He shot Yan Jing a displeased look.

"You deliberately lured me in here with the severed head Wei Bufan left behind. What are you playing at? Are you trying to team up with him to kill me?"

"How could I?"

Yan Jing laughed.

"Didn't I talk with you last time, Brother Gongming? Since you're looking for a candidate for county magistrate, I'm more than happy to step up."

"Hasn't Wei Bufan already contacted you?"

Li Gongming's face darkened. "You still have the guts to reach out to us behind his back?"

"A contact is just a contact."

Yan Jing chuckled. "Aren't we all still just in the talking phase right now?"

"Not interested."

Li Gongming's voice was cold. "If you beat Wei Bufan to a pulp, I might be a little interested."

"I'm not foolish enough to let you use me as a weapon over something so trivial."

With that, Li Gongming turned to leave.

But Yan Jing spoke up, his tone mild.

"Brother Gongming, are you really not going to stay for a meal?"

"I want to leave. Are you going to force me to stay?"

Li Gongming grew even more irritated.

"What if I say yes?"

No one present expected Yan Jing to suddenly make a move.

A Paintbrush materialized in his palm. With a casual stroke, a small beast leaped out of thin air, charging straight for Li Gongming's chest.

A flicker of surprise flashed through Li Gongming's eyes, but he quickly pulled a handful of beans from his pocket and scattered them. In an instant, they transformed into a mob of armored corpses wielding swords and spears. Within seconds, they hacked the ink-drawn beast to pieces before turning their blades toward Yan Jing.

Yan Jing immediately took a slash. The remaining blades slammed into the wall.

It was Old Master Liu who finally stepped in. With a single punch, he obliterated the little black figures, reducing them to a thick puddle of dark liquid.

The liquid looked like soy milk, yet it reeked with the putrid stench of rotting corpses.

Li Gongming stared at Old Master Liu, a cold glint in his eyes.

He didn't recognize Old Master Liu, but he could tell the man was far from simple.

In the end, he scoffed coldly.

"Heh. There won't be a next time."

He didn't have any major backing; he was merely a chosen candidate, and he wasn't willing to make enemies for nothing in a city where he was practically a stranger.

He spun around and strode out the door.

Yan Jing touched his bleeding wound, stopping Fei Yu as she stepped forward to bandage him, and smiled.

"It's nothing serious. I'm going back to the inner room to rest for a bit."

"Leave the ink on the floor. Don't clean it up."

With that, he retreated into the inner room.

In the living room.

Old Master Liu and Fei Yu exchanged a glance.

"Am I getting old?"

Old Master Liu looked perplexed. "It felt like the Young Master took that hit on purpose."

Fei Yu clutched the bandages in her hands, looking distinctly unhappy.

"Don't you understand Young Master Luo yet? He's probably thinking up another scheme to set someone up."

"He never values his own life, leaving us servants to suffer for it."

She spoke loudly, deliberately trying to make sure Yan Jing could hear her from the inner room.

But what she didn't know was that the inner room was completely empty.

In a corner of Mud Alley, Yan Jing, who had once again transformed into the Cameraman, watched with satisfaction as a murderous Li Gongming stormed away.

Then, he switched back to Young Master Luo.

And so, under the watchful eyes of Fei Yu and Old Master Liu, a parrot flew out of the room.

This parrot flew all the way to Wei Bufan's residence—which one of Yan Jing's two previous birds had spotted earlier—and landed right on his windowsill.

Before Wei Bufan could even make a move, the parrot opened its beak.

"I've figured it out! I've figured it out! I've figured—"

Splat!

The parrot was instantly crushed into a wad of ink.

Wei Bufan's expression was exceedingly grim. He threw on a black cloak, stepped out the door, and vanished into the night.

That damn bastard actually had the nerve to secretly look up his address.

He was truly tired of living.

He had had enough of dealing with this shrewd guy. It was time to replace him with someone more obedient.

...

...

Bang!!!

The flimsy door to Number 19 Mud Alley was kicked open violently.

Freezing night wind instantly poured inside.

Inside, Yan Jing walked out, looking utterly surprised.

"Brother Wei, what is the meaning of this..."

"Weren't we discussing Joyous Events? Why..."

Before he could finish, Wei Bufan had already taken a massive stride forward. Wielding his Broadsword with a surge of murderous intent, he slashed straight toward Yan Jing's neck!

Beneath the blade, it was as if countless dark, decapitated wraiths were wailing in grief, their lamentations blending into the momentum of the strike.

The attack seemed completely unstoppable.

But...

The very next second.

Countless little figures materialized from the shadows on both sides, lunging at Wei Bufan.

Two birds flew out of Yan Jing's sleeves, darting forward to peck at Wei Bufan's eyes.

Startled, Wei Bufan realized something was wrong and immediately tried to retreat.

Bang!

The door behind him suddenly slammed shut.

A pair of fists, trailing roaring cyclones, flew at him from behind the door.

"You dare!!!"

Wei Bufan's eyes turned bloodshot. He never expected this washed-up young master standing before him to actually dare set an ambush for him!

Where did he get the nerve?!

He looked down at the pitch-black liquid pooling on the floor, and understanding instantly dawned on him.

It was the people from the Crop Plains!

Realizing this, a cold sweat broke out across his body. If he truly fell into their hands, a brutal beating was inevitable.

Who knew, they might even find those reporter cultivators from the Lake to heavily broadcast the humiliation.

He went mad. A violent, surging murderous intent exploded from his body.

Killing Cultivator, Second Tier, Reverse Killing Intent.

Once this technique was deployed, the more precarious his situation became, the better his physical state would turn—a method explicitly meant to reverse a desperate scenario.

Immediately following that, he raised the edge of his blade and charged forward again.

Second Tier, Decapitation.

This strike was a killing move in its purest form, aimed directly at claiming the opponent's head.

The blade whipped up a piercing howl that echoed throughout the room.

He knew well the logic of capturing the ringleader first. His sole focus was to instantly decapitate Yan Jing, who was only at the First Tier.

But...

Yan Jing raised the Paintbrush in his hand.

With a casual, effortless stroke, the momentum Wei Bufan had just built up suddenly plummeted.

The next moment, Wei Bufan's body froze dead in its tracks.

A split second later, Old Master Liu's fist smashed heavily into his temple.

With just that single blow, it was as if Wei Bufan's entire body had been struck by a sledgehammer. He shuddered violently before collapsing onto the floor with a heavy thud.

"Where... where is he..."

Drool uncontrollably leaked from Wei Bufan's mouth. Old Master Liu's punch had been too heavy, so heavy that his entire body had gone numb. He didn't know what had just happened to him; he only felt that everything around him had suddenly grown terrifyingly tall, and he found himself completely paralyzed.

"Where the hell is he?!!"

Relying on his last ounce of ferocity, he roared.

"A person?"

Yan Jing smiled gently.

"What person?"

This body of Young Master Luo wasn't just good-looking—especially when he smiled, those eyes curved up like crescent moons.

But right now, falling into Wei Bufan's gaze, it was an entirely different sight.

A thread of Fear surfaced out of nowhere in his heart.

"You, what are you going to do?"

He was just about to scream, but Old Master Liu clamped a hand tightly over his mouth.

A delicate hand gripping a Dagger descended from the air, plunging the blade deep into his abdomen.

"Mmph!!!"

His eyes bulged wide, veins of blood webbing across the whites.

He never imagined that Yan Jing intended to kill him!

He simply couldn't believe that Yan Jing would actually dare to murder him!!!

"I heard something last week."

Yan Jing crouched down. Looking at Wei Bufan's horrified expression, he smiled and said, "I heard that when Brother Wei came to Bianliu County this time, I wasn't the one you were originally looking for."

"I merely wanted to establish contact with you, but you ended up latching onto me, which made me a bit annoyed."

"I also heard that you didn't tell anyone about this trip except your father?"

"Then that couldn't be more perfect."

As his voice trailed off, Yan Jing nodded, his eyes completely devoid of warmth.

Fei Yu flicked the tip of the blade upward, directly slitting the throat of the frantically head-shaking Wei Bufan.