Martial Arts Crossover: Something's Wrong with This Evil Sect

Before Shan Tianxie could respond, the shopkeeper next to him looked embarrassed and quickly waved his hand, saying, "You're joking, sir. Our little shop has neither connections nor money. How could we dare to sell beef? Slaughtering cattle is illegal!"

"Hehe, boss, I understand. The imperial court has said that cattle cannot be killed and eaten without permission, so we can't make things difficult for you. But if the cow gets sick or has an accident, the imperial court can't do anything about it. Manager, think about it, has anything happened to your cows recently?"

Zhou Wuse chuckled, winked at the shopkeeper, and pulled out several dozen taels of silver from his waist, waving them around in his hand.

"Look at my memory." The shopkeeper's eyes lit up as he looked at the silver, and his expression softened. He said in a low voice, "It seems like a cow went crazy and kept ramming into the wall yesterday. I'll go check on it later to see if it's dead."

"What? It's that serious? Could it be mad cow disease? We can't keep this!"

Zhou Wuse said with a serious expression, and then tossed the silver to the shopkeeper.

"Alright, sir, please wait a moment while I go to the kitchen to prepare."

The boss happily clutched the silver, presumably the cow had been sentenced to death.

Although the shop is small, the food is served quickly; in no time, the food was ready and brought out.

The waiter had just finished serving the dishes and was about to go off to get busy when he was called back.

"Hey waiter, can I ask you something?"

Dan Tianxie suddenly spoke up.

"Young master, I'm busy right now. Why don't you ask the boss if you need anything?"

The waiter looked impatient. He only earned a few coins a day. Where did this question come from? He didn't have that much free time. He would never do anything outside of his job. He was a very honest waiter.

Dan Tianxie's lips curled up slightly. He calmly took out a silver ingot and placed it on the table, saying, "I wonder if you have time now, Brother Er?"

The waiter glanced at the silver on the table and estimated that it must have been at least five or six taels, equivalent to three or four years of his work.

His expression instantly changed, and a smile appeared on his face as he cheerfully said, "Young master, look at what you're saying. You've already given the order, so even if I'm busy, I have to reply. We're all about making guests feel at home."

"Hehe, it's like this, I have a few questions for you, just answer truthfully, and if you answer in a way that satisfies me, the money is yours."

Dan Tianxie chuckled, "Money really can make the devil turn the millstone."

"Young master, ask away. I've served all the guests coming and going. When it comes to information, I'm the best!" The waiter gave himself a thumbs up and continued, "There's nothing I don't know within a hundred miles of Fuzhou! Even the boss can't tell the truth as well as I do."

"Do you know Chief Escort Lin from the Fuwei Escort Agency?"

"The Fuwei Escort Agency is famous, everyone knows it. You've come to the right person, sir. Young Master Lin used to eat here often when he went hunting, and I served him."

The waiter replied with a proud look, it seemed he was sure to make money today.

"Oh? Famous? Then it must be very reliable. I happen to have a batch of goods that I don't know who to escort. I feel relieved now that you say so, Brother."

Dan Tianxie chuckled lightly.

When the waiter heard that he wanted to hire Fuwei Escort Agency for escorting goods, his expression changed. He glanced at the kitchen manager before whispering, "Weifeng is reliable, but that was a while ago. If you want to hire someone, sir, you might as well postpone it for a few days. Fuwei Escort Agency has run into some trouble recently."

"Brother, you might as well be more explicit. Fuwei Escort Agency is a well-known escort agency, with one foot in the martial arts world. Both the legitimate and illegitimate worlds have to give it some face. I wonder what kind of trouble this is?"

Zhou Wuse, who was standing to the side, suddenly spoke up and asked.

Upon hearing that this man was knowledgeable, the waiter didn't hold back and continued, "Hey, the trouble is with the Qingcheng Sect! It's said that Young Master Lin accidentally killed a Qingcheng disciple, and that person happens to be the son of the Qingcheng Sect's leader. This has caused quite a stir, and they've even threatened to have the entire Lin family executed."

Upon hearing this, Shan Tianxie became interested and asked in confusion, "It's one thing to exchange one's life for another, but to take the lives of an entire family is also acceptable. How domineering is the Qingcheng Sect! However, the Lin family has done business all over the Ming Dynasty and must know some people in the martial arts world. Why didn't they ask some famous martial arts masters to take charge?"

The waiter sighed, "Who said we didn't invite them? We invited them a long time ago. These days, Chief Escort Lin has been going around inviting people to uphold justice, but no one has actually come to help. Even my father-in-law's family, the Golden Saber Wang family in Luoyang, I heard they haven't sent anyone to help yet."

Dan Tianxie nodded slightly. Indeed, throughout history, there have always been many who add flowers to brocade, but few who offer charcoal in the snow. However, it was also a good thing for him that no one came, as this left Lin Zhennan with no other choice.

The waiter was a man of strong emotions, and he was particularly enthusiastic when talking about these江湖 (jianghu, the martial arts world) gossips, revealing everything he knew. "Alas, what a pity for such a large Fuwei Escort Agency. Chief Escort Lin is a good man, but sometimes he doesn't understand the situation. I heard that he went to apologize immediately, but he wasn't even allowed to enter the door and was kicked out."

Even at this point, instead of thinking of fighting to the death, gathering the镖师 (bodyguards/escorts) from all the prefectures to concentrate their forces, or hiring assassins with all their savings to wipe out the Qingcheng Sect, they went to their old residence to pay respects to their ancestors. Heh, do they think their ancestors can somehow appear and help them?

"The old house?"

Dan Tianxie asked with some surprise.

"That's right, they went to the old house to worship their ancestors. The worst thing about people is that they have no fighting spirit. Faced with such a disaster that wiped out the whole family, they have no fighting spirit and place their hopes on their ancestors. Do they think their ancestors can be brought back to life? I guess the Lin family won't be able to survive this time."

The waiter also sighed, after all, Fuwei Escort Agency used to be a regular customer of the shop, and Young Master Lin was a very easy person to get along with and very generous. It was a pity that he was gone.

On the surface, Shan Tianxie remained calm, but in reality, he was already making plans. Lin Zhennan's reaction was rather strange. He knew very well what things were in the old house that others might not know. Could it be that Lin Zhennan had made a decision that went against the ancestors' wishes? He had to go and take a look first.

Seeing that Shan Tianxie was deep in thought, the waiter discreetly slipped the silver from the table into his pocket and said, "Sir, take my advice. This is a dangerous situation. Let me tell you some inside information. My distant cousin from my second aunt's side told me that a few months ago, a man speaking with a Sichuan accent came to the vicinity of Fuzhou Prefecture."

Maybe this is all a setup. Whether he's the sect leader's son or not is just a matter of a word from him.

"You see things very clearly. It's a waste of your talent to be a waiter. Here you go."

Dan Tianxie snapped out of his daze and jokingly tossed the silver to the waiter.

"Hehe, thank you for the reward, young master! I like to listen to storytellers talk about the Three Kingdoms when I have nothing to do. I've heard so many stories about inviting the enemy into a trap that I just like to think about them. Just listen to it for fun."

The waiter said modestly, and as soon as he finished speaking, he tactfully withdrew to attend to his work.

Before long, everyone had eaten and drunk their fill and were just about to set off.

Zhou Wuse suddenly whispered, "Young Master, there's something strange about that grandfather and grandson at the next table. Ever since we started talking about the Fuwei Escort Agency, they've been secretly observing us. It seems a bit odd."