Fantasy: Immortality Begins with Absorbing Demons

Chapter 361 Troublemaking (Part 3)

"Ah, there seems to be a gang here called the Wolf Pack..."

Zhang Fu thought for a moment, then gave an uncertain answer.

"And here?" Han Yi moved his finger again.

"Giant Eagle Gate".

"here?"

"The Mad Lion Gang..."

…....

The two talked for a while, and soon the map was marked with a large number of symbols.

Han Yi picked up the map, studied it carefully for a while, and then looked at Zhang Fu: "Manager Zhang, which force do you think sent these troublemakers?"

“This…” Zhang Fu fell into deep thought.

"No doubt, it's Xiangyulou coming to cause trouble." At this moment, Yue Hongying interjected, "Xiangyulou has been at odds with us from the very beginning."

Claims that their fragrance is more authentic, that they use extracts from ninety-nine flower petals… that’s pure nonsense. I bet they’re the ones behind it.”

"Manager Zhang, what do you think?" Han Yi asked Zhang Fu without looking at her.

“This…” Zhang Fu was still somewhat hesitant and uncertain.

“Uncle Fu, just say it, it’s alright,” Tao Qingtang said softly, looking at Zhang Fu, the old man she had trusted implicitly since childhood.

When her father was still alive, Zhang Fu served as the right-hand man of Plum Blossom Pavilion, handling various matters.

In the period immediately following her father's departure, Zhang Fu stepped forward to shoulder the pressure from all sides and resolve the predicament of Plum Blossom Pavilion being leaderless. It was during this buffer period that she had time to take control of Plum Blossom Pavilion again.

“Hongying is right. It’s possible that Xiangyulou is causing trouble, which is why we’ve been having problems lately… But no one can be sure, or rather, without evidence, we can’t determine the nature of the problem.”

Zhang Fu sighed.

"No evidence?" Han Yi nodded. "Indeed, evidence is very important. Otherwise, even if you know there's a problem, you can't do anything about it."

Yue Hongying and the other two looked at him with some confusion.

"What, you've found the murderer?" Yue Hongying seemed to have thought of something, and her eyes lit up.

"No," Han Yi replied.

"Then what's the point of saying all that?" Yue Hongying said angrily. "Alright, let's go." Han Yi stood up and looked at Zhang Fu, "Manager Zhang, you are familiar with the terrain around here, could you please lead the way?"

"Lead the way? Where to? We haven't found it yet..." Zhang Fu asked, puzzled.

"It's alright," Han Yi smiled. "If we search one by one, we'll eventually find what we're looking for."

One by one, go through them?

Everyone was stunned.

Han Yi ignored everything else and quickly walked to Tao Qingtang's side, whispered a few words to her, and asked her to arrange a carriage. He then took the still somewhat bewildered Zhang Fu downstairs.

"Wait, wait, Han Yi, you stop right there!" Only then did Yue Hongying react, shouting in exasperation, "If you can't handle this, I'll definitely…"

Tao Qingtang gently pulled her along.

Han Yi still ignored her and walked towards the door. Yue Hongying grew increasingly angry. She felt clearly disregarded. From beginning to end, he didn't even acknowledge her, at most saying a single sentence.

"You're just leaving like that? What do you mean by searching one by one? At that rate, you'll be searching for ages!"

"Qingtang, look at this, look at this! What kind of person did you find?" She was a little angry and turned to look at Tao Qingtang. "This is the person you invest with a thousand taels of gold notes a month?"

Without any plan or method, and without even determining the target of the troublemakers, they are just going to act recklessly like this?

Qingtang, you really let him go like that? Aren't you afraid something might happen? Or cause some trouble?

The investor is clueless, and the investee is reckless—what a harmonious pairing! No wonder you chose him in the first place.

"Luckily, the contract you signed with him was only for one year. If you had signed a long-term contract... oh my god, I can't even imagine how much money you would have lost..." "Alright, alright. I think he's fine." Tao Qingtang smiled and gently patted her.

"Hmph, if he can't handle this, you'll see if I don't talk to him. Even if I chase him to the gates of Jingtian Manor, I'll have a serious talk with him." Yue Hongying was still furious.

Then, she realized what was happening and looked at Tao Qingtang warily: "By the way, why did you take a picture of me?"

She knew her best friend well; if she patted her on the shoulder, it meant something was wrong.

"Don't say you're broke again. Who told you to act all generous and give away half a year's profits in one go?"

If you say you have no money again this time, I, Yue Hongying, would rather lose it all than lend you a single penny more…

"Hongying, come and take a look at this month's inventory." Tao Qingtang smiled as she looked down at the inventory ledger in her hand.

"I'm not looking. What's so interesting about that stuff? You know I hate these kinds of numbers. Just do what you think is best, as long as it's not about borrowing money..." Yue Hongying's voice trailed off, filled with resistance.

Tao Qingtang looked up, stretched out her hand, and stared at Yue Hongying: "We're a little short of money for the goods."

"How much are you short?" Yue Hongying skillfully untied her pouch. "There are only six hundred gold notes left. Is that enough?"

"Eight hundred taels short..." Tao Qingtang carefully calculated in the ledger, "Six hundred...that should be barely enough..."

"Okay, that's fine then. By the way, what did I just say?" Yue Hongying breathed a sigh of relief and asked, puzzled.

"..."

Tao Qingtang was quite speechless about her sister.

However, she's easygoing, outspoken, and a typical example of someone with a sharp tongue but a soft heart.

I simply ignored her and let her ramble on for a while... and then it would be over.

…....

On the other side, in the black carriage, Han Yi and Zhang Fu sat facing each other, speechless.

The carriage creaked and groaned, and there was complete silence between the two men.

“Master Han… how about we call it quits for today… we’ll take action again tomorrow…” Zhang Fu suddenly spoke, breaking the silence.

He changed into a convenient black coat, and his appearance was ordinary and thin, with a slight wry smile.

"What's wrong, Manager Zhang? Are you tired? If you are, you should go back and rest. I know the way, you can go by yourself." Han Yi said calmly.

“Tired? Well, not really… it’s just…” Zhang Fu sighed.

These days, how can there be such reckless young people who go straight up to talk to people and ask questions without any preparation? With that attitude, how is it possible to find the murderer?

Including the Green Snake Gang from earlier, this is the third small gang.

"Oh, what's your plan, shopkeeper? Tell me about it." Han Yi became interested. "I think you must know a thing or two about martial arts. With your experience, shopkeeper, how would you handle this?"

Actually, his method was very simple: there were people causing trouble, and mostly the trouble was happening within the city…

Their target was clear: to specifically target Plum Blossom Pavilion and disrupt its business. Even the robberies outside the city were solely aimed at damaging Plum Blossom Pavilion's supply channels.

Clearly, those targeting Plum Blossom Pavilion were simply doing their bidding for money. That's why they didn't dare to kill, only engaging in minor skirmishes.

Once you understand this, the rest is easy.

Since the opposing side possessed detailed information about Plum Blossom Pavilion, they were able to retreat in time before the authorities arrived, and even after Plum Blossom Pavilion invested in the inner disciples of Jingtian Manor, they refrained from causing trouble on the official road outside the city…

This means that the other side is either a small gang near Plum Blossom Pavilion with good information, or someone inside Plum Blossom Pavilion is tipping them off, or both.

So as long as we mark the shops that are being harassed and find out the forces in the surrounding neighborhoods, and then go after them one by one, we will definitely get results.

The method is clumsy, but it's practical.

After all, there are only a dozen or so branches of Plum Blossom Pavilion, and they are quite densely distributed. There are only four or five small forces nearby, so it's not a problem.

If it's really as Yue Hongying said, and we have to wait until we've investigated and found the source before tracing back to the source, how much time would that take?

He doesn't have the time or energy to be a detective who solves cases.

Besides, even if he camps out at Plum Blossom Pavilion every day, what if they stop coming? If they stop causing trouble, but then start causing trouble again as soon as he leaves, wouldn't he be being made a fool of?

It would be better to just go directly to their door; that would be much more straightforward.

Just like now, the leaders of several small gangs are very cooperative, or rather, they are very cooperative under his power, cooperating with all his actions.

Jingtian Manor was originally the most advanced martial arts force in the Huayang City area. The strongest among these smaller forces were only martial arts masters who practiced both basic and secondary martial arts.

These people, in the past, would not have been his match.

Moreover, now that he has replenished the deficiencies in his body's vital energy with the Heaven-Mending Technique, and is also practicing three martial arts at the same time: Qianyang Gong, Flying Dragon Gong, and Nine-Bend Palm.

One of them was a genuine skill, having broken through to the third level of entering the realm of power.

Even without activating his Reverse Scale state, his current strength is comparable to a martial artist who has mastered three levels of martial arts. If he were to use his Reverse Scale state, he felt confident that he could even contend with a true martial artist of the three levels of martial arts.

This kind of strength, putting everything else aside, is incredibly formidable to these small gangs. Even if they encounter a troublesome opponent, they can simply slap them down...

Just push it aside and you're done.

Besides, he also has the status of an inner disciple of Jingtian Manor. Those small gang leaders and bosses are no match for him in a fight, and their backgrounds are not as strong as his. They can only obediently submit to him.

“Me? No, no.” Zhang Fu waved his hands repeatedly. “I’m just a show-off. I learned a few basic moves when I was young. I have no experience. I can’t think of anything.”

"Is that so?" Han Yi glanced at him meaningfully, "I think the shopkeeper is more than just a martial arts expert..."

"No, no, that's all in the past. I'm old, I'm old..." Zhang Fu chuckled to ease the awkwardness and change the subject.

The two fell silent again.

Soon, the next target was found, and Mad Lion helped.

"Are you going down?" Han Yi glanced at Zhang Fu.

"No, no, I can't do anything like fighting and killing now. At most, I can offer advice on business matters." Zhang Fu sighed, as if lamenting the impermanence of time.

"Alright then." Han Yi ignored him and got off the carriage.

The Mad Lion Gang.

Gang leader Lin Zhenwei sat upright in the main seat, listening to his subordinates laughing and making noise.

Suddenly, the deputy leader Xu Feng stepped forward and whispered a few words anxiously in his ear.

"What? People have come to the inner courtyard of Jingtian Manor?" Lin Zhenwei asked in surprise, his voice low.

However, regardless of strength or realm, the voice of Mad Lion Lin Zhenwei is indeed astonishingly loud.

He thought that speaking softly was equivalent to someone shouting loudly.

The deputy leader, Xu Feng, was utterly exasperated. They had agreed to discuss things quietly, but it had turned into a loud conspiracy.

As soon as he finished speaking, the once bustling hall fell silent.

"Jingtian Manor?"

"Is it because of that?"

"Of course it is, what else could it be?"

Immediately, the entire hall became noisy again.

For the Mad Lion Gang, Jingtian Manor was a colossal behemoth, something they had no desire to provoke.

"Quiet down, quiet down, what are you afraid of? I'll take care of everything." Lin Zhenwei roared, making the whole hall buzz.

"Old Xu, go and bring him in first. Don't panic, we're not without backers. He's just a lowly inner disciple of Jingtian Manor. Putting aside his status, what can he do to me?"

Does he have any evidence? Does he have any witnesses, physical evidence, or incriminating evidence? He has nothing, so what can he do to me?

He patted the deputy gang leader on the shoulder with his large, fan-like hand.

"Alright..." Xu Feng sighed helplessly. He wanted to say something, but looking at his gang leader's expression, he didn't say anything.

Before long, Xu Feng led a man dressed in black into the main hall of Jingtian Manor.

It was Han Yi who stepped down from the carriage.