Once I enter the pass, great Confucian scholars will surely debate the classics for me.

At the Drunken Immortal Pavilion, on the second floor by the window, caravans and wagons streamed along the street, and groups of black-clad warriors from the Night Patrol Bureau and city defense soldiers patrolled the city from time to time.

Both sides of the street are lined with various breakfast stalls, and a large number of diners come to patronize the old stalls on time.

A peddler hawked his wares along the street: "Milk tea, milk tea, the best iced goat milk tea, two dollars a cup, or your money back! We also have handmade sugar crisps, super delicious!"

An ordinary woman was washing clothes outside her door, complaining to her best friend: "My deadbeat husband went out drinking for three days straight. After drinking, he would come home and beat me. After beating me, he would go out drinking again. I might as well just die out there."

My best friend said, "Then poison his drink and kill him. We'll just say he drank himself to death."

At the street corner, a ragged, drunk man was curled up in a ball, his eyes glazed over, his voice filled with a sense of desolation and helplessness, drawing the attention of passersby: "Oh dear... can anyone help me? I've drunk so much that I can't even see anymore. Where am I? Is there any kind soul who can show me the way to a doctor?"

On the other side, two thugs hid in the shadows, their eyes lewd, whispering to each other, their words full of vulgarity and obscenity, their laughter laced with frivolity and malice: "I heard that cold widow in Splashing Ink Lane comes out to solicit customers every night, and she's incredibly slutty in bed. Why don't we go and meet her tonight and see if the rumors are true, haha!"

Zhou Qingfeng sat at the table, examining the list of assassins with great interest. The information on the list was rather brief, including only names, family information, identities, occupations, cultivation levels, and the rules they practiced.

Each page records the life of a cultivator at the Poison-Eating Realm.

He remained calm and quietly flipped through the pages, while Yang Tianqing sat quietly opposite him without saying a word to disturb him.

When Zhou Qingfeng's gaze lingered on the three words "Yan Wenjiu," his expression subtly changed.

He paused briefly, as if pondering, before continuing to flip through the pages.

Once all the dishes were served,

Zhou Qingfeng read through the list one by one, then closed the booklet and said, "Well done. I think I know who planned the assassination attempt against me."

Yang Tianqing was taken aback, then asked, "What did you glean from the assassin list, young master?"

Zhou Qingfeng smiled faintly: "Isn't it a coincidence? I had just taken charge of the Fifth Division of the Plum Blossom Bureau when I was assassinated. And the list of assassins who studied the rules of animal creation just happened to include Yan Wenjiu, a student of Luo Bingyi."

Intelligent people don't need to say much. Yang Tianqing is one of the intelligent people. Born into the Yang family, Yang Tianqing has seen the world. Now, upon hearing Zhou Qingfeng's words, he knows that this may be a power struggle.

Yang Tianqing said with a solemn expression, "Luo Bingyi has gone so far as to send a student to assassinate you in order to get promoted. This is simply power-hungry and insane. Young Master, what do you plan to do?"

Looking out the window at the myriad aspects of life, Zhou Qingfeng sighed softly, "I offered my heart to the bright moon, but the bright moon shines on the gutter. Since they've already made their move with a deadly strike, how can I just give up?"

"However, it won't be so easy to bring down Luo Bingyi."

“This highly respected teacher Luo has many students in the five departments, and his network of relationships is intricate and complex. Who knows which line leads to the highest level? If I want to deal with him, I must first eliminate his followers and then capture the leader.”

Yang Tianqing's expression shifted: "Does the young master mean to use his students as scapegoats?"

Zhou Qingfeng chuckled: "Tianqing, your Yang family has been operating in the Sword Tower for hundreds of years, so you must have a lot of connections. Why don't you investigate Yan Wenjiu first and see if he has any serious problems?"

Yang Tianqing understood immediately and clasped his hands in response: "No problem, leave this matter to Tianqing."

Zhou Qingfeng picked up a piece of food with his chopsticks and handed it to Yang Tianqing, asking in a gentle tone, "Where does Tianqing work now?"

Yang Tianqing quickly took the bowl and the food, and replied respectfully: "Tianqing is currently only a deputy chief chief of the Secretariat under the Privy Council, responsible for managing the chief chiefs and deputy chief chiefs of various departments to carry out specific military and clerical work."

The Sword Tower has two academies: the Censorate and the Privy Council.

Both of these are the core high-level power institutions of the Sword Tower.

The Censorate needs no further explanation.

The Privy Council, overseeing military and diplomatic affairs throughout Sword Tower, wields immense power.

The highest-ranking official was the Privy Councilor, the Deputy Privy Councilor, who signed the Privy Council documents and carried out imperial orders.

Although the Imperial Edict Office was only a subordinate department, it had various offices, each with officials such as the Imperial Edict and the Deputy Imperial Edict. These people did not hold high official positions, but they had access to a lot of military secrets.

Moreover, Yang Tianqing was the Deputy Chief Censor, the second-in-command of the Censorate, and the one who actually did the work.

Zhou Qingfeng originally intended to transfer him to the Fifth Division, but after thinking about it, he decided against it. The Privy Council, as a core military department, really needed to have its own people there. He would find an opportunity to help Yang Tianqing get promoted later.

For now, let's observe further and see if his abilities and loyalty are sufficient to pave the way for him.

I had a quick breakfast.

Yang Tianqing then took his leave to handle the new task assigned to him by Zhou Qingfeng.

Zhou Qingfeng asked Zuixianlou to prepare some more food. As for the leftovers on the table, Zhou Qingfeng personally took them out, intending to distribute them to the beggars as a good deed. However, he discovered that there were no beggars in the Sword Tower at all.

Or rather, it's not that there are no beggars in the Tower of Swords, but rather that those who have become beggars have all been driven out of the city.

Zhou Qingfeng had no choice but to order Zuixianlou to distribute the leftovers to the children on the street. He chatted and laughed with the children, told many stories to them, and his manners were approachable, without the arrogance and prejudice of a nobleman.

Dressed in casual clothes, Yan Wenjiu sat down at his usual mutton noodle stall for breakfast. Watching Zhou Qingfeng playing and chatting with children in the distance in front of Zuixianlou touched the depths of Yan Wenjiu's heart.

"The kindness and charity of the nobles are truly disgusting; they've even made me lose my appetite." Yan Wenjiu tossed down sixteen magic coins with a gloomy expression, stood up, and strode away. When he reached an alley, someone blocked his way.

The man blocking the road wore a straw hat, looked travel-worn, crossed his arms, and bowed his head, saying, "Robbery."

Upon hearing this, Yan Wenjiu tilted his head and almost laughed out of anger: "Robbery? Do I look that weak? Robbing me? Do you even know who I am? How dare you block my way and try to rob me? You're really tired of living."

The robber looked up at Yan Wenjiu, and when Yan Wenjiu saw the robber's face, he was so frightened that he turned pale on the spot.

The robber gave a wicked smile: "Yu Chuxin, it's been a long time. Do you know how hard I've searched for you?"

Yan Wenjiu said with a gloomy expression, "You've mistaken me for someone else."

After saying that, Yan Wenjiu turned and left, like a mouse fleeing in panic.

Seeing this, the bandit said calmly, "If Sixth Brother dares to leave, I will report you to the City Lord's Mansion. I will say that your Chief of the Fifth Division of the Jianta Censorate, Yan Wenjiu, was the bandit Yu Chuxin who robbed people on the road."

"I used to be sworn brothers with your Lord Yan. We used to roam the world in gangs, robbing, killing, burning, plundering caravans, raping women, and slaughtering villages. Our hands were stained with blood and lives."

Yan Wenjiu secretly formed a hand seal, then turned his head and coldly stared at the bandit: "Enough, Second Brother, what do you want?"

The robber pulled out a chicken leg, took a bite, and slowly walked up to Yan Wenjiu. Standing a few steps away, he carefully examined Yan Wenjiu: "You want to kill me to silence me? Are you sure you have the strength? Aren't you afraid that if we fight, it will alert the authorities?"

Yan Wenjiu said coldly, "Robbing officials from Jianta is a crime deserving of death."

The bandit chuckled: "The once notorious bandit has now become a high-ranking official in the Sword Tower, draped in an official's guise, and even his speech reeks of the stench unique to officials, truly nauseating."

Yan Wenjiu charged at the bandits without hesitation, shouting, "I will reverse the cycle of life!"

The robber sneered, casually tossing away the chicken leg, and raised his hand from afar: "In the name of my godfather, I will rob you of your magical power."

Yan Wenjiu's face turned pale as his powerful magical energy was instantly stolen.

The robber kicked Yan Wenjiu to the ground, then raised his hand and shouted, "In the name of brotherhood, I will rob you of your supernatural powers!"

Yan Wenjiu's face turned even paler; his supernatural powers had been stolen again.

The bandit stepped on Yan Wenjiu's chest, slowly drew two crescent-shaped blades from his back, and held them to Yan Wenjiu's neck: "My dear sixth brother, after all these years, you're still such a good-for-nothing."

Yan Wenjiu looked up at the sky and slowly closed his eyes: "Kill me."

The bandit stared at Yan Wenjiu's face, his eyes filled with a sharp murderous intent: "I will definitely kill you, but you must answer one question for me first: did you betray us back then?"

Yan Wenjiu lay on the ground with his eyes closed: "No."

The robber said, "Why should I believe you?"

Yan Wenjiu opened his eyes and said, "I have never betrayed my godfather and brothers. At that time, I was tired of the life of robbery and all kinds of evil. You even kill babies. You are inhuman. I really couldn't stand it anymore."

“But my adoptive father raised me and taught me skills. He wants me to betray him, but I can’t do it. So I can only run away, change my identity and start a new life. What I’m saying is true. Believe it or not.”

The bandit sneered repeatedly: "What a coincidence! On the very day you escaped, the army of Benlei City surrounded us on Daliang Mountain. On that day, my adoptive father died, my brothers all died, and only I survived. My purpose in living all these years has been to find you and kill you, you traitor, with my own hands!"

Yan Wenjiu remained calm: "They have committed heinous crimes and plundered countless times. It was only a matter of time before they were besieged by the army. The local authorities will definitely not allow the chaos and panic to continue. The deaths of my godfather and the others were predetermined and have nothing to do with me. Their deaths were their own fault."

The robber laughed angrily: "Good, good, good, what a perfect example of 'you only got what you deserve'."

Yan Wenjiu calmly said, "Second Brother, kill me. The many crimes I committed must be repaid. I just didn't expect that I would still be in your hands. However, I accept it."

A struggle flashed across the bandit's face. He took a deep breath, then sheathed his sword and stomped hard on Yan Wenjiu's chest, causing Yan Wenjiu to suffer internal injuries and vomit black blood.

"Cough cough cough..." Yan Wenjiu coughed up blood: "Kill me if you want, but don't torture me."

The robber chuckled, saying with a sense of satisfaction, "Sixth Brother, you want to die? It's not that easy. You're now the high and mighty head of the Fifth Division. Keeping you alive is more useful than killing you."

Yan Wenjiu watched as his second brother moved his leg away and stepped back, then slowly stood up, clutching his chest: "What do you want to do?"

The robber rubbed his fingers together and chuckled, "Money, of course it's money. Otherwise, why would I spare your life? I've been wandering around like a stray dog ​​for years, and my life has been terrible."

Yan Wenjiu said coldly, "How much money do you want to let me go?"

The robber extended one finger.

Yan asked, "One million coins?"

The robber grinned: "One price, 10 billion."

Upon hearing this, Yan Wenjiu coughed up blood violently: "Are you crazy? Where am I supposed to get 10 billion for you?"

The robber shrugged and said, "That's none of my business, it's your problem."

Yan Wenjiu gritted his teeth and took out all the banknotes from his storage ring: "This is all the cash I have. Take it or leave it, I'm out of money."

The robber raised his hand and said, "In my name, I rob you of your money."

The money notes in Yan Wenjiu's palm and the loose magical coins in his storage ring were all stolen out of thin air and ended up in the hands of the robbers.

The robber counted the money and was not satisfied: "You are supposed to be a high-ranking official in the Sword Tower, how come you only have 20 million incense coins? You've been an official for nothing all these years, don't you know how to embezzle and take bribes? You're a complete waste."

"You're a useless bandit, you're a useless official, you can't do anything right, you're a complete waste."

Upon hearing this, Yan Wenjiu's face turned purple with anger: "Second brother, at least leave me some money for food!"

The robber said disdainfully, "Anyway, I won't starve to death. Fine, consider this money as interest. As for the remaining 9.98 billion taels of silver, figure out a way to gather it up for me. Goodbye!"

After saying that, the robber lowered his head, counted the money, and walked out of the alley, muttering to himself, "I've been wanting to go on a pleasure boat for a long time. Tsk, those geishas are so beautiful. I should have some fun now that I have the money. I want to sleep with a hundred women in a row!"

Yan Wenjiu's face was extremely ugly. Looking at the bandit's back, he felt powerless.

The bandit's real name is Ouyang. He and Yan Wenjiu are half-brothers. They both have the same bandit godfather, and their skills were taught by him. They grew up together and were trained as killing machines.

Yan Wenjiu was the sixth among his adoptive father's many adopted sons, while Ouyang was the second.

Ouyang was also the most powerful killing machine in his adoptive father's hands. He had two great hobbies in life: greed for money and lust for women. He was so greedy that he would even squeeze a toad out of oil if it passed by. He was so lustful that he would sleep with any woman he saw and then kill her. He was completely inhuman.

After a century of separation, Ouyang had become even more formidable, leaving him with almost no chance to fight back.

Moreover, the robbery rules he had studied were far too domineering. With a wave of his hand, he directly stole his supernatural powers and magic with an absolute advantage. Although it was not permanent, it still made him instantly lose his ability to fight.

This means that Ouyang's magical power is profound, giving him an absolute advantage; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to crush him.

Yan Wenjiu bit his lip, his heart, liver, spleen, and lungs aching with anger: "Damn bastard, he just throws around 10 billion legal tender. Does he really think I'm that successful now? I'm just a nobody. Where am I supposed to get so much money?"