Chapter 144: Gathering of Winds and Clouds

Before drinking had truly begun, the atmosphere at the table grew tense once more.

The expressions of the three constables changed, but Zhang He felt even more confident inside. It seemed that the location of this major case was likely Zhou Village.

Could things really be this bizarre? Why was it that wherever I went, nothing good ever happened?

The big fat man suddenly laughed again: "Haha, Zhou Village is a fine place, with mountains, waters, and blossoms in all four seasons. Brother, are you going there to gather herbs or to admire flowers?"

Although this man appeared cordial and friendly, wearing a constant smile, Zhang He could tell that he was actually extremely cunning and hid a knife behind his smile. He was probably not an easy person to deal with.

Zhang He said: "I am going there to look for an NPC."

When he gave this reply, the expressions of the three constables returned to casual indifference.

The big fat man laughed heartily: "Good, good. Come, brother, let us have a good drink together and wish you a speedy completion of your quest."

Despite repeatedly shouting about drinking, he made no move whatsoever to pick up his cup.

Zhang He knew that lingering here served no purpose, so he stood up, cupped his fists, and said: "Three officers, I have pressing matters to attend to and will not disturb your high spirits any longer. We shall part ways here."

With that, he turned and walked away without once looking back.

Surprisingly, the three men made no move to stop him. Piercing Heaven simply stared at Zhang He's retreating back and muttered: "What do you think of this person?"

This question was directed at the big fat man, who smiled and said: "Look at his footwork; his stance is very steady yet light. This kid should have pretty good lightness skill."

Piercing Heaven said thoughtfully: "His lightness skill is not the only thing that is good; his experience in combat with others is also quite rich."

The big fat man chuckled: "That goes without saying. Anyone capable of taking down a Tang Clan elder must certainly have a few tricks up their sleeve."

The hooked-nose man, who had remained quiet up to this point, suddenly asked: "Was he really going to look for an NPC for a quest?"

Piercing Heaven said: "He was not lying. Zhou Village not only has NPCs, but there are quite a few of them."

The hooked-nose man hesitated and said: "Then do you think that once he goes in, he might have an adverse effect on this operation?"

Instead of answering directly, Piercing Heaven countered: "Then how suspicious do you think he is?"

The hooked-nose man fell silent, evidently deep in thought. After a long while, he held out three withered, slender fingers: "He is at least thirty percent suspicious."

This statement undoubtedly sealed Zhang He's fate.

Let alone thirty percent suspicion, even a single percent of suspicion would lead to a dead end.

For constables of their status and standing, killing an extra person or two meant nothing at all. As long as they could ensure the success of the major operation, let alone Zhang He, they would dare to take action against NPCs as well.

Piercing Heaven instructed: "Send a pigeon message to the brothers ahead. The moment they find anything amiss with this person, apprehend him immediately. I do not want to see irrelevant personnel appearing in the Zhou Village area."

The hooked-nose man nodded, and a white carrier pigeon already beat its wings and soared out of the tavern.

After leaving the Taste of Fragrance Pavilion, Zhang He did not linger in Fengling Ferry. Instead, he headed straight in the direction of Zhou Village. He knew that he had been targeted by the constables of the Six-Fan School, so completing his task quickly was the sensible course of action. If he were to become entangled in some major case, he would sink too deep, and extricating himself later would be exceedingly difficult.

Unfortunately for young Master Zhang, when things went smoothly for him, they went very smoothly, but when he had bad luck, it only got worse.

The moment he stepped out of Fengling Ferry, a black horse came galloping toward him across the open wilderness. The rider was indeed a constable dressed in red-and-black official attire, with a heavy punishment staff at his waist and cloud-treading boots on his feet.

Before Zhang He could speak, the officer spoke first: "Eh? Brother, how could it be you? It really is you?"

Zhang He was stunned as well. The newcomer was none other than our great Brother Chun.

Genghis Chun leaped down from his horse: "I just received a pigeon message saying that someone had entered the Zhou Village area. No matter how I looked at it, I felt it was you, but I never expected it really to be you. Brother, what are you doing in this place of right and wrong? Oh, right, what level are you now..."

He fired off a barrage of questions like a string of firecrackers, leaving Zhang He no choice but to smile bitterly: "I wanted to ask you, what kind of case has actually happened here?"

Brother Chun laughed: "There is no case to speak of, really. It is nothing more than an escort mission."

"An escort mission?" Zhang He could not help asking out of curiosity, "They transferred gold and silver badge constables from all major districts just to act as guards? Whose face is big enough for that?"

Brother Chun looked slightly surprised, but realization dawned on him immediately after: "Ah, right. Given your status, brother, naturally you would not know what has happened here. But this person indeed carries a lot of weight."

Zhang He became even more curious: "Tell me about it."

Brother Chun said: "Some time ago, people found a treasure here."

"A treasure? What kind of treasure?" Zhang He looked puzzled. The treasures he understood were merely places hiding high-level bosses, certainly not mountain caverns filled with gold and silver jewelry.

Brother Chun nodded: "There truly was a treasure, reportedly quite a substantial amount, and those people had actually found it, only to be ambushed and 'hacked' halfway through."

As he spoke, he made a chopping gesture with his hand.

"Another case of thieves robbing thieves?" Zhang He smiled bitterly, recalling that time at Skyscraper Ridge when he dealt with Guiyu Feng and his gang of monsters and freaks.

"This time it is different." Brother Chun's expression finally grew serious, "The group of people who found the treasure were members of the underworld, but the group that intercepted and robbed them consisted of people with extremely high status and prestige."

Zhang He burst out laughing. People of extremely high status and prestige? They were undoubtedly those so-called righteous sects and grand heroes.

Such occurrences were commonplace in *Dynasty*. After all, whenever peerless martial arts or divine weapons were involved, neither grand heroes nor demonic overlords would let them go easily.

Brother Chun continued: "That faction of underworld players was not actually very strong in terms of overall power, but certain individuals among them have deep connections with a major underworld boss."

Zhang He said: "So this group of underworld players was killed and robbed, and refusing to take it lying down, they gathered forces to rob it back?"

Brother Chun nodded and said: "Exactly. They indeed planned to take it back by force, but with the meager strength they possessed, it was far from enough. So those players appealed to this major boss for help. This boss enjoys a formidable reputation in the underworld, and his rallying power is something ordinary people can hardly imagine."

Zhang He finally stopped smiling: "The big boss actually sent reinforcements?"

Brother Chun nodded again: "Reinforcements have indeed been sent, arriving successively over these past few days. From what we know, there are several factions among them that ordinary people would never dare to provoke."

Zhang He could not resist asking: "Which factions?"

Brother Chun pronounced each word clearly: "Two protectors of the Sun and Moon Divine Cult, the Golden Palace Family of Qiongzhou, the Wind and Cloud Hall of Huainan, the Chenzhou Branch of the Judgment of Life and Death..."

He had only named the first four factions, yet Zhang He was already shaken.

Putting the first three aside for a moment, the mere name Judgment of Life and Death was enough to cause headaches, while the first three held immense renown in the underworld.

The subordinates of the Huainan Wind and Cloud Hall had always included numerous experts in arcane arts. Rumored to be countless talented individuals skilled in ingenious mechanisms, they had long run amok upon the waters, especially in the East Sea, where it was said even the Japanese wokou pirates of neighboring nations dared not provoke them, running faster than grandsons upon seeing their flagship. As for Xialiang Xu, leader of the Thirty-Six Waterway Alliance of the Yangtze River, he could only stand in the presence of the supreme leader of the Wind and Cloud Hall, lacking even the qualification to be offered a seat.

The Golden Palace Family of Qiongzhou had originally been obscure in the pugilistic world, adhering to the principle of not offending others unless offended. For some unknown reason a while ago, the Hainan Sword Sect had provoked the Golden Palace Family, prompting the latter to dispatch a mere handful of people who utterly routed the Hainan Sword Sect. Eventually, an elder of the sword sect had to visit in person to apologize, instantly propelling the Golden Palace Family to soaring fame within the underworld.

As for the Sun and Moon Divine Cult, no further explanation was needed. As the leader among demonic cults, just as Shaolin and Wutang were to the righteous sects, it was an entity akin to a god. Back in the day, even He Rijun, whose prestige in the martial world was at its zenith, did not dare to pluck the whiskers of a tiger by offending them. And what was the outcome of Ghost Shadow Changkong challenging Shaolin in the end? That was a matter known to all.

With reinforcements from these four major factions, accomplishing a counter-robbery would be as effortless as taking something from one's pocket.

Zhang He sighed: "It seems those righteous figures of extremely high status and prestige are going to have a miserable time of it this time."

"Not necessarily." Brother Chun's expression grew even heavier, "Those people have also invited reinforcements, and their reinforcements are equally formidable."

Zhang He asked in startled doubt: "Oh? Who are they?"

Brother Chun said with a gloomy face: "First, they persuaded the Emei Sword Sect, and the Emei Sword Sect dispatched the Qingfeng Altar faction to escort them. Then, they hired the Baili Escort Agency of the capital to transport the goods..."

Zhang He knew of the Baili Escort Agency. He suddenly realized that this group of righteous people was also quite clever. They were transporting the stolen treasure using the method of a formal escort agency, which was a clever utilization of system rules. As long as the underworld dared to come and rob it back, their actions would lack official justification and righteousness.

Moreover, no one dared to plunder goods protected by the Baili Escort Agency; underworld figures practically turned pale at the mere mention of it. However, the primary operating area of the Baili Escort Agency had always been the nine provinces of the north, whereas Chenzhou belonged to the south. Why would they interfere in this matter?

In truth, the logic was quite simple: if this venture proved successful, the reach of the Baili Escort Agency could extend into the southern region. From then on, business would boom, bringing an endless rolling torrent of wealth.

Zhang He suddenly said: "And then there is your Six-Fan School. You must have been hired as well, laying an inescapable net all around Fengling Ferry. As long as members of the underworld dare to make a move, you will catch them red-handed?"

Brother Chun actually blushed slightly: "Actually, I did not want to come at all. This bunch of little bastards stole things from others in the first place, yet now they act as if they are the victims, and they even require us to arrest the culprits. This world is truly strange as hell—the thief crying 'stop thief'! Damn it!"

Zhang He said: "This must be an order from the higher-ups of the Six-Fan School?"

Brother Chun spread his hands and smiled bitterly: "Nothing can be done about it. Who told me to eat this bowl of rice?"

Zhang He nodded in understanding. Once you ate the rice of the imperial government for even a single day, you could forget about ever extricating yourself from it for the rest of your life.

"The gates of officialdom are as deep as the sea." This saying applied equally to *Dynasty*.

Zhang He asked: "Where is this batch of treasure right now, then?"

Brother Chun replied: "Still deep in the mountains, and they are expected to set out within the next two days. But no matter which route they take, there are two places they must pass through."

Zhang He said: "Which two?"

Brother Chun said: "One is Zhou Village, which is a mandatory stop. The other is Fengling Ferry, because it is the intersection point. Only after passing through there is there any possibility of transporting the treasure out."

Zhang He let out a long breath. He finally understood why the three men led by Piercing Heaven had refused to let go of him—they suspected he was an underworld reinforcement.

Well, this was splendid. It seemed that Chenzhou was gathering an elite assembly of heroes and diverse characters this time. If things went wrong, it would be a scene of flashing blades, gleaming swords, and bloody rain, giving him yet another good show to watch.

Mm-hm, young Master Zhang thought to himself: anyway, none of this concerned him. They could rob their treasure, he would do his quest, they could slaughter each other to their hearts' content, and he would simply enjoy the spectacle.

Of course, such extraordinary wishes of a mere bystander were sometimes nothing more than wishes after all.