Chapter 206: Hongmen Banquet

Yan Jing naturally hadn't tried to bluff Lin Changgui for no reason.

Just as he had just said, the Ancient Relic in Bai Qiu's hands definitely had to have an origin.

And the biggest landlord in this territory was Lin Changgui.

Then there was the information Young Master Luo had gathered on North Street back then:

Recently, Lin Changgui had been constantly acquiring Beauty's Foot seeds.

Summer was passing, and autumn was approaching.

As the saying goes, early sowing should be deep, while late sowing should be shallow.

No matter what crop it was, there was no need to bury the seeds several meters deep at this time of year, let alone purchase them in such massive quantities.

Additionally, when he had spread the rumor that treasure was buried beneath Bianliu County, he had taken advantage of the situation—one of the rumors was that people on North Street had heard the sound of digging.

With these three points, Yan Jing deduced that Lin Changgui was up to something suspicious.

It was a joke to think otherwise. A corpse found on North Street, digging on North Street—did people really think a Fourth Tier was just for show, allowing Bai Qiu to run wild on his turf?

And it was exactly upon seeing Lin Changgui's reaction that Yan Jing finally realized just how perfectly his rumor had hit the mark by sheer coincidence.

The underground treasure he mentioned was meant to trick Wei Nantian. Bi Jie had fanned the flames because he wanted to publicly expose Bai Qiu for burying a corpse. But Lin Changgui had kept such a low profile during that time because he actually did have treasure buried underground.

There really was treasure in Bianliu County!

...

Knowing he had fallen for Yan Jing's trick, Lin Changgui's mind raced. Eventually, he straightened his back, his expression turning serious, projecting a commanding presence without showing anger.

"Good! Good, good, good!"

"What a fine Bai Qiu!"

"Today, I, the county head, shall seek justice for the people!!!"

Since the people before him had pushed him into the role of county head, it meant there was still room to maneuver in this situation.

At the very least, he was in a position where he could advance or retreat.

Advancing meant taking the opportunity to draw a clear line between himself and Bai Qiu.

Retreating meant acting as a middleman to smooth things over and let the matter slide.

"Summon Bai Qiu!!!"

He shouted.

"I have something to take care of. I'll be back in a bit,"

Yan Jing said, watching the scene unfold.

"Alright."

The Old Man nodded.

...

After quite a while, Bai Qiu was brought over.

Today, he was still dressed in a sharp suit and leather shoes, entirely free of shackles. He leaned on a walking stick, his expression tranquil, not looking at all like someone about to face an interrogation.

Beside him walked a woman in a white robe.

"I wonder, Your Excellencies, for what reason have you summoned me?"

Bai Qiu smiled faintly, looking completely at ease.

"Could it be about the rumors spread about me last night? If so, I must ask Your Excellencies to present the evidence."

"No, it is the county head who wishes to investigate you, Boss Bai,"

Bi Jie said with a chuckle.

"County head? Where?"

Boss Bai craned his neck, looking left and right. "I don't see the newly appointed county head anywhere."

"Insolent!"

Liu Ye's face darkened as he spoke. "Do you not see County Head Lin standing right here?"

...

Only then did Bai Qiu notice Lin Changgui standing behind Liu Ye and Bi Jie. His eyes instantly flickered.

In a mere instant, he figured out Liu Ye and Bi Jie's plan.

"Lord Lin wants to investigate me?"

Bai Qiu asked, his expression sinking.

"Yes!"

Lin Changgui declared. "And I, the county head, have decided to interrogate you right now!"

"All unrelated personnel will stand guard outside! The rest of you, follow me into the room!!!"

Thus, Lin Changgui, Bai Qiu, Liu Ye, and Bi Jie, along with the white-robed figure, entered the room. The Old Man and Tiger waited outside for a moment until Yan Jing finally arrived in a hurry, still wearing his black robe.

"Just in time,"

The Old Man said. Before entering, he made a hand gesture: if things went south, their priority was to save their own lives.

Upon entering, the group discovered that the interior was like a whole other world.

A lavish banquet filled the table in the very center. It had everything—delicacies that swam in the water, walked on the land, and flew in the sky. It was nothing short of a gluttonous feast.

The group then chose a spot near the door, standing behind Bi Jie.

As for why Bi Jie was sitting near the door...

It could only be described as great minds thinking alike.

At this moment, the massive Eight Immortals table was divided into four sections, with four Fourth Tier experts sitting on each side.

What was supposed to be an interrogation now looked more like close friends gathering for a joyous drink.

Lin Changgui sat at the head of the table and chuckled.

"Since things have come to this, how about we... eat first, then interrogate?"

"Interrogate first,"

Liu Ye said flatly.

"Then interrogate first, eat later?"

Lin Changgui leaned slightly toward Bai Qiu and asked again.

"Eat first,"

Bai Qiu said with a smile.

"Understood!"

Lin Changgui stroked his beard. "Then let's eat while we interrogate!"

He picked up his chopsticks, but no one else at the table moved to grab theirs.

Instantly, his expression changed.

He, Big Landlord Lin, had never suffered such an indignity.

This was Bianliu County!

This was his territory!

Even if the King of Heaven came down, he'd still have to give him some face!

Giving up, he simply threw his chopsticks down and refused to eat as well.

Clack—clack—

In the quiet room, the sound of the chopsticks hitting the floor rang out loud and clear.

The atmosphere instantly grew tense, and even the air seemed to thicken.

"Then we interrogate first!"

Lin Changgui made the final call.

It was just Bai Qiu. No matter how massive his background was, it was still Across the Lake.

The emperor is far away.

"Boss Bai, let's hear it. Someone has discovered that you are highly suspected of dealing in the live human trade with Across the Lake."

Lin Changgui spoke, directly voicing the deductions Yan Jing and the others had made.

"Hahaha."

Bai Qiu laughed.

"County Head Lin sure has a lot of Official Authority. After wasting so much breath, I only have one thing to say—"

He extended his right arm, wrapped in a long azure sleeve, slapped it on the table, and flipped his hand over.

"Where is the evidence?"

"The evidence..."

Only then did Lin Changgui snap to his senses. He could naturally produce some evidence, but doing so would implicate himself.

He started laughing.

"That's right, that's right, exactly. Without evidence, this won't work. We should take this slowly—"

"If there is no evidence, according to the patrol regulations, areas suspected of the live human trade can be placed under strict surveillance to eliminate the possibility of such trade occurring."

Liu Ye stated calmly.

This was a move Yan Jing had taught him.

...

As expected, upon hearing Liu Ye's words, a ruthless glint flashed through Bai Qiu's eyes.

He was a lackey for Across the Lake. The reason so many people feared him was because his backing was so strong.

But now, Liu Ye was trying to cripple that backing. It was no different from killing him.

"What an excellent scheme, Inspector Liu. I wonder whose orders you are acting on this time. Before I came out here, Lord Jing Huan specifically instructed me to help him make more friends out in the world."

...

Hearing the name from Bai Qiu's mouth, Liu Ye and Bi Jie exchanged a glance, both seeing the shock in the other's eyes.

Jing Huan, currently the Vice Minister of the River Department. Possessing Sixth Tier strength, and with the minister being newly transferred, it could be said that he held absolute sway over the entire River Department.

Minhu was a territory closely linked to water, so the authority of water-related departments could easily be imagined.

Bai Qiu had just dropped a bombshell.

"Heh, if you gentlemen have nothing else to say, I'll be taking my leave."

Bai Qiu stood up.

But right at that moment, after a brief pause for thought, Bi Jie spoke up:

"I wonder if Boss Bai is acquainted with Director Mo of the Inspectorate Department?"

...

Bai Qiu turned his head back in disbelief.

Although the Inspectorate Department was only a division-level office, it was by no means an ordinary one. And this Director Mo was no ordinary director either.

"Hehe."

Bi Jie chuckled. "Boss Bai, you had better sit back down so we can have a chat."

Truth be told, at this moment, Bi Jie's heart was drumming against his ribs.

The person backing him was indeed Mo Jue, but Mo Jue had countless subordinates beneath him. Bi Jie was merely one of them.

The reason he brought out Mo Jue's name right now was so Bai Qiu wouldn't think they were completely without backing. Otherwise, given everything they had done over the past few days, Bai Qiu was guaranteed to retaliate.

However, it seemed Bai Qiu wasn't the only one he had bluffed.

Beside him, Liu Ye, whose expression had originally been hesitant, now hardened with resolve.

"Bai Qiu! Confess your crimes now and receive a lighter sentence! If you refuse, based solely on our current witnesses, the Patrol Office will impose strict oversight on both Bianliu County and you personally."

!!!

Bi Jie's eyes widened as he stared at Liu Ye.

This wasn't how things were supposed to go, right?

Even worse, the Old Man suddenly spoke up at this exact moment:

"There is definitely evidence! If we trace the origin of that Ancient Relic, we'll have our proof! Bianliu County is only so big; finding those Ancient Relics won't be hard!"

!!!

Bi Jie whipped his head around, his already wide eyes bulging even further.

Had every single one of them gone completely insane?!!

Little did they know, right beside them, Lin Changgui's incredibly frail legs were already trembling slightly.

He didn't know who Jing Huan was, but he knew exactly what rank the director of the Inspectorate Department held.

That was someone who could crush him to death with a single finger.

He never could have imagined that the person backing Bi Jie was such a big shot!

And hearing what the Old Man beside him just said, he only felt his heart pounding furiously.

Wasn't that a direct hint aimed right at him?

What did they need right now? Evidence.

And he knew exactly where the evidence was.

If he didn't hand it over, the investigation was going to come crashing down on his own head.

Just as his mind raced and he prepared to stand up and switch sides...

Smack!

Bai Qiu slammed a heavy object onto the table.

Unexpectedly, it let out a sharp metallic clang.

The crowd looked at the item, and their eyes instantly widened.

The object was somewhat rectangular, with a grip at the bottom and a long barrel at the top.

It was a gun.

"Gun"—this word was not common in Minhu.

There were no gun cultivators in Minhu.

But guns did indeed exist.

A total of five hundred of them.

All of these guns possessed only one effect: they could be loaded with the owner's full-strength strike.

The higher the quality of the gun, the higher the maximum power it could store.

"How about we just drop this matter? As for Director Mo, whom Inspector Bi mentioned... I figure, if I go back and discuss it with Lord Jing, we should be able to concede a ten-percent cut. And for Inspector Liu, we can offer a five-percent cut."

On the surface, Bai Qiu was smiling genially, but inwardly, he was consumed by gloom.

He had brought out his trump card, yet he still had to chop off a small piece of his own backing. No one would be able to accept such a thing.

Jing Huan certainly wouldn't take a single cent less!

All of this money would have to be paid out of his, Bai Qiu's, own pocket!

No, he, Bai Qiu, wouldn't pay it either!

He glanced over at Lin Changgui, his gaze lowering, his expression shadowed and erratic.

As long as this idiot didn't switch sides, he was confident he could keep everyone else buried here.

He knew that Lin Changgui's injuries were severe.

So severe that he could barely even be considered a complete Fourth Tier anymore.

But he... had prepared something else...

Sure enough, the moment Lin Changgui saw the gun, he gulped. His old face twitched incessantly before he finally forced a smile and said:

"I think... I think we should just do as Boss Bai suggests... harmony brings wealth... harmony brings wealth—"

Bang!

Unexpectedly, right at that moment, a massive explosion shattered his train of thought, causing his cloudy eyes to snap wide open.

He watched as Bai Qiu pulled out a handful of broken silver and hurled it directly at Liu Ye across the table.

A violent explosion instantly swept through the entire room.

Almost simultaneously, the white-robed woman beside Bai Qiu materialized a Paintbrush in her hand. With a few casual strokes, fierce tigers formed of ink manifested in midair and lunged straight toward Bi Jie's group.

There was another Fourth Tier!

Lin Changgui never expected Bai Qiu to attack so suddenly!

And he certainly never expected that Bai Qiu would have another Fourth Tier right by his side!!!

So, the power of choice had now fallen into his hands.

Should he side with Bai Qiu to take out these two, allowing the both of them to make an absolute fortune afterward?

Or should he side with those two to take down Bai Qiu, securing his position as the completely legitimate County Head Lin?

It seemed that no matter what he chose, the outcome would be pretty good.

It was only at this moment that he realized he really did seem to have grown old...

If it had been when he was younger, regardless of who he was fighting, he would have definitely already charged in to throw down.

...

"What do we do now?"

The Old Man hurled Tiger out of the room in one swift motion, then stood amidst the billowing thick smoke and looked at Yan Jing.

He hadn't expected the situation to suddenly escalate like this either.

However, in his eyes, as long as he coordinated properly with Yan Jing, holding off a Fourth Tier for a short while was still highly possible.

If Lin Changgui was truly severely injured, fighting him to a draw wasn't entirely out of the question either.

"It's fine, Master Liu. Everything is ready."

A voice laced with amusement echoed from beneath the long robe.

The Old Man nodded instinctively, but his eyes suddenly widened a fraction of a second later.

That form of address!

That voice!

Yan Jing reached up and pulled the hood back from his head, revealing slightly curly long hair and eyes that crinkled into slits when he smiled. He brought a finger to his lips.

"Shh—"