Yamafu Military Affairs

Chapter 645 Looking for the Knife
Chengdu, Hongyang District, urban village.

In September, the summer heat in Sichuan and Chongqing had not yet subsided and was still quite hot. Mo sat on an old-fashioned wooden chair in the rented room, the creaking noise rising and falling with the movement of his fat body wrapped in a white T-shirt. The hot air blown by the large fan made the papers on the table flutter.

Zheng Mingsheng, born in 1983, is from Yunnan Province. He is an Olympic boxing champion in the 54kg category and the president of the Shanghai Boxing Association.

Looking at the files collected by Yanfu Xing through various channels, Mo sighed and looked worried.

"These people are all quite skilled, have good character, and are knowledgeable. It's just a pity that they are all elites in their respective fields. They either have happy families and fulfilling lives, or they are successful in their careers and full of vigor. I can't bring myself to drag such people into this world to be used as tools."

As the successor of the Ghost Immortal lineage, Wang Chenyang's authority is naturally biased towards designing the Yanfu incident, and the [Baku]'s ability is very suitable for explaining the existence of Yanfu to outsiders. For example, if a chosen candidate is unwilling to become a wanderer, he can easily erase their related memories, thus restoring their normal life without any worries.

Over the years as an agent, the tapir has guided countless people into the world, including some who have joined the Yanzhao Society as three or four members. In ancient times, this would be called a discerning mentor, but in the present day, it is a true angel investor.

However, Wang Chenyang, who has always had a wide circle of friends, was at a loss when faced with the demands of Tai Sui Yu Shu.

“We can’t look for people in official positions. The selection of elites in the military, police and government has always been handled by Jiao Chong. The old man has a complete set of procedures for field operations and internal affairs to monitor and control their first Yanfu incident and the selection of successors. We also can’t look for overseas Chinese or people from Three-Eyed Global. That fox Si Wenji has a grudge against Tai Sui. Once she finds out that her new subordinate has been used as a weapon by Yu Shu, she will definitely send people to kill him in secret. That newcomer’s life will probably be ruined. He will probably suffer for the rest of his life. How about we go to the Golden Triangle and find a desperate criminal?”

The tapir stroked its round chin and shook its head: "That won't work either. Those Southeast Asian monkeys are too unruly. It's rare for them to even understand human language. They're not sharp enough or fast enough; they're definitely not up to the task of being the Grand Duke. It's best to find someone with a clean background, no connections with any party, and a compelling reason to come to this world to make a living. It would be best if they've served in the military or practiced martial arts; at the very least, they should have a special skill."

Soon, a rough portrait of the character was sketched out amidst the clatter of the keyboard.

Looking at the various requirements in the Word document, Mo immediately opened his browser, entered the website address and encoding, and edited a bounty post on the blue and white forum.

[The Demon King Lance has landed!!!]

As the bold red banner scrolled at the top, numerous sycophantic comments such as "President" and "Big Boss" appeared in the discussion group in the center of the screen.

Then, the tapir posted the bounty notice.

The eccentric king Lance posted a bounty: 【Angel Investment Plan: The Search for the Knife (Posted on Behalf)】, reward: 【The Legend of Yanfu's Beauties (Personalized Extra Chapter)】

The next instant, messages in the discussion group started popping up like crazy, and the post quickly rose to over a hundred posts.

【墨手成龟】: Holy crap, boss, is there another vacancy? Perfect timing! My second uncle's neighbor Aunt Chen's nephew just got discharged from the army. He used to be a sharpshooter in the reconnaissance company. He's probably 50 or 60 years of expertise in firearms. Should we recruit him to join us?

[Demon Under the Blade]: Come on, if that nephew upstairs were really that talented, he would have been snatched up by the arrogant worms long ago. How could he have stayed until retirement? Besides, isn't everyone capable of mastering firearms to the 50s or 60s? As long as you're willing to spend bullets to improve your skills, getting it to 69% is no problem. Someone like [Zheng], who had an 80% firearms mastery right after entering the world, is a rare breed indeed.

[Salted Fish Taoist]: A few years ago when I was traveling, I met a talented young man at Qingfeng Temple on Shenxiu Mountain. He was skilled at drawing talismans, making hand seals and chanting incantations, and was proficient in setting up altars and performing rituals. If he could be given the power of inheritance, he would surely achieve great things in the future. Why don't you consider him, sir?
[Crossing the River Pawn]: Looking for a knife, looking for a knife! I do know a very sharp and fast knife, which used to have a fierce reputation in the Guangdong martial arts world and had many unpleasant conflicts with various martial arts schools. But I've gradually lost contact with it in recent years, and I wonder where it is now.

Upon seeing this, the tapir's eyes flickered, and it opened a private chat session with [Crossing the River Pawn].

[Kichiku King Lance]: Shall we chat?

[Crossing the River Pawn]: You've got your eye on it? I'll pack everything I know into a document and send it to you right away.

【Kichiku King Lance】: OK.

About five minutes later, a concise profile of the person appeared on the computer screen in front of the tapir.

"Li Yan, the Lean Tiger of Hejian? Interesting."

The mouse moved unconsciously across the screen, and the tapir's narrowed eyes gleamed as it calculated the compatibility between this person and Yu Shu.

Li Yan was born in Hebei Province in November 1987. He is the seventeenth generation descendant of the martial arts family "Hejian Li". His grandfather, Li Dufeng, once earned the title of "Master of Both Spear and Sword" in the Tianjin martial arts industry. His mother died early, and his father, Li Chenglin, had a feud with the Tianjin martial arts industry. In 1999, he took the twelve-year-old Li Yan to Guangdong, intending to open a martial arts school and establish a reputation.
Upon seeing this, the tapir involuntarily frowned.

"It's probably harder than climbing to heaven for a guy from out of town who can't even stay in his own territory to establish a martial arts school in Guangdong. It's true that Li Chenglin's family martial arts have some tricks up his sleeve, but what's the use of being good at fighting in today's society? This Li Chenglin is either a tough guy who can't stand being wronged, or he has a limited vision and can only see the three steps in front of him. He doesn't have any sense of the big picture."

He could roughly guess what would happen to the Li family, and things unfolded exactly as he had predicted.

In the year 2000, when the Li family first visited Guangdong to pay respects to their martial arts schools, they parted on bad terms with the Hongsheng Ancestral School, offending the Guangdong martial arts community and receiving cold shoulders from other martial arts schools such as the Baihe School and Hongsheng School. In the end, it was Lei Hongsheng, the president of the Chinese Martial Arts Association, who intervened and accepted the Li family on behalf of the Guangdong martial arts community, allowing them to settle down in Guangdong.

Ten years later, Li Yan, this young prodigy, was appreciated by Guan Yantao, the master of the Hongsheng Ancestral Hall of Chinese martial arts and the president of the Ancestral Boxing Association. Even though he came from Hejian Li and was criticized for having pre-existing skills when he joined the school, he still learned all of Baihe's grappling, Cai Li Fo's staff, and Mo Liu's short weapon lion dance. With his good foundation and high talent, at the young age of twenty-two, he had no rivals among martial arts masters of the same age.

Unfortunately, his good fortune did not last long. Li Chenglin was greedy and reckless, but he had a strong sense of pride and refused to bow down. He could never resolve his grudges with the Guangdong martial arts community. Even after following Lei Hongsheng for ten years, he still could not establish a school and take root. In the end, he became depressed and ill. His heart disease was incurable, and he passed away in his forties, leaving behind his young, impetuous, and passionate only son, Li Yan.

Ten years after Li Chenglin's death, Li Yan, who had weathered the storms of the martial arts world for a decade and long since seen through the coldness of human nature, had barely finished his seven-day mourning period when he came to challenge the martial arts schools. With a large spear, he carried the weapons from Foshan to Guangzhou, and all nineteen martial arts schools that had previously ostracized Li Chenglin had their signs smashed.

Afterwards, Li Yan severed his ties with the Guangdong martial arts community and returned to his hometown in Hebei Province. He disappeared from the martial arts world.

"What a brilliant Soul-Severing Spear! What a fine Hejian Lean Tiger!"

After reading this concise and insightful biography, the tapir exhaled a breath of stale air, its eyes shining even brighter, and it wholeheartedly cheered.

"A family background similar to Tai Sui's, similar values, high level of expertise, determination, and methods—truly a fine blade. The only drawback might be his somewhat unique upbringing. Growing up playing mind games with those old fogies for so long might make him prone to paranoia, resulting in lower socialization and questionable interpersonal skills. But none of that matters. Right now, at this crucial juncture, this kid is the most suitable candidate!"

Immediately afterwards, Mo opened the background check system that Yan Zhaohui's guides used to investigate everything about Li Yan, including his possible interpersonal relationships.

Soon, Mo found a medical record in the Hebei Provincial People's Hospital's system showing that Li Yan was suspected of having acute myeloid leukemia, dated three days prior.

"Goodness, it's like a pillow being delivered to someone who's just trying to fall asleep. I remember this thing shouldn't be curable, right? Now he doesn't need to find a reason to risk his life in Yanfu anymore. Let me see how to find a suitable point to enter and probe his background."

Looking at the dense network of interpersonal relationships, the increasingly excited tapir finally found a woman named "Lei Jing" under the name "Lei Hongsheng".

"The director of the Chinese Martial Arts Association has recently been embroiled in a power struggle. Without a skilled martial artist to assist him, is he about to lose the legacy left by Lei Hongsheng?"

The tapir chuckled, a hazy light appearing in its eyes: "Let the kind-hearted tapir brother help you!"
-
Xishengxuan Restaurant in Tianjin. "Hey, young lady, why isn't it open today?"

Outside the iron gate, a sprightly old man wearing a top hat and a floral suit saw Qian Shuo returning from grocery shopping, leading a lamb, and immediately stepped forward to ask him politely.

"Oh, the boss is back today. Sister Ling said she's going to have a family banquet, so we're closed today and won't be accepting foreign guests."

Qian Shuo stopped and patiently explained to the old man.

After returning to the modern world from the desolate wasteland, Qian Shuo gradually integrated into normal modern life under the care of two caring older sisters. Even the aura she had cultivated through years of killing became much more subdued, making her look almost like a maverick anime girl.

"Oh, is that so? Will you be open tomorrow? And the day after?"

The old man, however, was not convinced and continued to press for answers.

"I'm not sure. It's rare for Brother Huai to come back from a business trip, so Xishengxuan should be closed for the next few days. Sorry."

After thinking for a moment, Qian Shuo took out a well-wrapped persimmon from his pocket and handed it to the old man, who was either there for a meal or to watch a play.

"This"

The old man held persimmon cakes in his hands, watching Qian Shuo's retreating figure as he closed the door and entered Xishengxuan, feeling both amused and exasperated.

"Forget it, maybe next time. I'm just wandering around too much these days."

After saying this, the old man put his hands behind his back and slowly disappeared around the corner at the end of the street.

"Sister Ling, I've brought back the Altay mutton you requested. What shall we eat today?"

Watching Ao Ling busy in the large kitchen, Qian Shuo tied the lamb to the doorknob and asked.

"This is a dish called 'Zha Ma Banquet' that I asked Hongying to buy for me at the auction house. Huai Lang likes to eat large chunks of meat and drink large amounts of wine, so this dish can be made often in the future."

With bright eyes and white teeth, Ao Ling smiled slightly at Qian Shuo, picked up a kitchen knife and an iron basin, and walked to the little sheep's side.

"Zha Ma Banquet? What's that?"

"Zhama means 'leg hair' or 'whole animal' in Mongolian, and the Zhama banquet was the most luxurious banquet in the Yuan Dynasty. It is said to be able to reproduce the taste of pork, beef and mutton to the greatest extent. It is a pity that it was lost along with Zhou Bazhen."

Hearing Qian Shuo's question, Qin Huai (Lu Wu's true form), who was in the kitchen and carrying out all sorts of strange seasonings from his personal space, explained: "The Zha Ma Banquet is the pinnacle of Yuan Dynasty banquets and can be listed as one of the top ten banquets in China. Although it has been lost, you can occasionally see fragments of the recipe in personal auction houses. This dish, Steamed Lamb with Willow, is a legendary quality tonic, a powerful consumable of the same level as the Eight Treasures of Zhou that your sister Ling knows."

While they were talking, Ao Ling had already slaughtered the Sunite sheep, which weighed about thirteen kilograms, and cleaned the skin and internal organs. Then she began to set up the various tools used for roasting the sheep.

Since it was for family, Ao Ling directly chose hickory wood, which is best suited for smoking and grilling meat, and the best Altay mutton in Xinjiang Province.

Castrated Altay rams have firm, tender meat and the right amount of fat from the fat-rump sheep, making them the top choice for [Steamed Lamb with Willows].

Salt and pepper, eggs, refined wheat flour, kiwi, lemon peel, angelica root, hawthorn, and honey.
Looking at the pots and pans, even Qin Huai, who also had some skill in cooking, couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed.

According to Ao Ling, this dish, Steamed Lamb with Willow Leaves, needs to be seasoned three times.

The process involves three stages: marinating, cold smoking, and roasting. Each stage is more complex than the last.

Fortunately, its effect is more than worthy of such a complicated process.

Steamed Lamb with Willow Branch

Category: Consumables
Quality: Legend

The whole roasted lamb at the Zhama Banquet is made with carefully selected ingredients, retaining its original flavor. Eating it can replenish essence and blood, resist all kinds of diseases, greatly improve the progress of personal growth ability in physical training, and permanently enhance physical attributes.

Although Ao Ling used ordinary ingredients for this trial, the steamed lamb he roasted was still of excellent quality. Although the result was not as good as the legendary original, it could still accumulate a considerable improvement over time.

"Huai Lang, it's almost time, Taotie still hasn't returned?"

Looking up at her watch, Ao Ling gazed at the dazzling array of colors on the table and asked softly.

"No rush, it'll be soon."

The view shifts to Anxi, where the Taotie, walking on air, is carefully sensing every inch and every change in its limbs and bones.

For fifty-six sleepless nights, he remained spotless despite being surrounded by desert sands.

With his current eyesight, he can see vultures hundreds of miles away through the clouds, and he can also see nanoscale microorganisms. Even if his internal organs are missing or damaged, he can regenerate them in a short time thanks to his terrifying self-healing ability.

What is most astonishing is the terrifying power of Tianrui Yake, which is ten times greater than that of the Martial Immortal and Taotie inheritance!
If he wanted to, he could unleash a powerful shockwave comparable to an 8-magnitude earthquake at any time; it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it a human-made natural disaster.

His physical body traversed the void with ease, and he could shatter mountains and cleave waves with a single strike, which made Taotie feel arrogant for a moment, thinking that even the Five Elders were nothing special.

However, he knew very well that this was just an illusion caused by the sudden expansion of his strength, and in reality, he was probably still some distance away from the peak of the Six Divisions.

Having figured this out, he didn't delay any longer and returned directly to Tianjiazi 9.

(End of this chapter)