Chapter 91: Testing
"Are you Qin Ziling, the head of Hantie Temple?" asked the tall and thin man.
"Yes, who are you?" Qin Ziling nodded and asked back.
"I wonder if you have heard of Liao Sen, the head of Youlong Academy?" Liao Sen said.
"It turns out to be Brother Liao from Youlong Temple. I've heard of your great name for a long time. What's the matter?" Qin Ziling bowed without much change in his expression.
When Liao Sen announced his name, there was a powerful aura pressing towards him, and his sharp eyes were fixed on Qin Ziling, but he could not see any signs of abnormality.
"I heard that you had conflicts with Yan Kui of the Yanluo Gang and my junior brother Zhuang Gaochi before." Liao Sen asked.
"That's right! The owner of the 'Hua Yun' powder and rouge shop paid me, so I have to stand up for her. Why? I heard that Yan Kui and Zhuang Gaochi were both in trouble. Brother Liao, you don't doubt that I have that much courage, do you? Even if I have that much courage, I have to have the ability to do it!" Qin Ziling said the latter part with a hint of self-mockery on his face.
"That's true." Liao Sen nodded, then made way for him and gestured, "I'm sorry for the malice. Please come in, Brother Qin."
"Brother Liao, you're too kind. It's human nature that you're confused because you care too much." Qin Ziling replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, then walked past Liao Sen and the other man with a calm face.
Liao Sen looked at Qin Ziling's departing back, his face suddenly darkened, he tapped the ground with his toes, jumped up, put his five fingers together like a knife, and slapped Qin Ziling's back, while shouting coldly: "Watch out!"
Qin Ziling heard this and "hurriedly" rolled over to avoid the palm strike. Then he stood up suddenly, stared at Liao Sen with a look of "shock and anger" on his face, and asked, "What are you doing?"
"I didn't do anything. I just suddenly felt itchy and wanted to have a fight with Brother Qin." Liao Sen saw Qin Ziling first rolling on the ground in embarrassment, and then with a look of "shock and anger". Although he had expected it, he still couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. He just replied with a forced smile.
He was just a martial artist at the level of a mere ox-skin master who had exhausted his potential. If it weren't for the fact that there were no suspicious persons in the cases of the Yanluo Gang and Zhuang Gaochi, he wouldn't have suddenly decided to test Qin Ziling today.
"Brother Liao, are you bullying us because there is no one in the Hantie dean's office? If you're itching to do something, I'll fight you for a few moves!" At this moment, the curtain of private room number three was opened, and Zheng Xinghan appeared in the corridor with a grim expression, followed by Yu Yan and Mu Xuan, who glared at Liao Sen.
"Brother Zheng, you're joking. Your Hantie academy is full of talented people, and recently a genius like Nangong Yue emerged. How dare I bully you because you have no one in the academy? I just suddenly felt itchy just now, haha!" After Liao Sen finished speaking, he laughed and turned around and went downstairs with the people around him.
Zheng Xinghan watched Liao Sen and his men turn around and go downstairs, his expression becoming increasingly ugly.
After a while, Zheng Xinghan turned to Qin Ziling and asked, "Are you okay? How did you get into a conflict with Liao Sen? This man is a notoriously vicious guy in Youlong Dean. You should be more careful next time."
"Thank you, Senior Brother Zheng, I'm fine." Qin Ziling waved his hand, glanced downstairs through the corridor railing, and a hint of coldness flashed in the depths of his eyes.
"I'm glad you're okay. Let's go into the private room." Zheng Xinghan didn't ask any more questions. He nodded and turned to go into the private room.
The first four people to arrive were Zheng Xinghan, Mu Xuan, Yu Yan and Qin Ziling.
Soon Shen Xiujing, Luo Yuke and Lu Taiqiang also arrived.
"Senior brother, now that everyone is here, let's go to the table and start!" Lu Taiqiang, who was the last to arrive, glanced at the private room and said to Zheng Xinghan.
"Wait a little longer, Nangong Yue hasn't arrived yet." Zheng Xinghan said.
"Nangong Yue will definitely not come. I heard that Lin Zhengji is inviting some recognized rising talents from various martial arts schools in the outer city to a banquet today, and Nangong Yue is also on the list. Lin Zhengji is one of the six young masters in our Fangqiao County. At the age of 23 this year, he is already a martial arts master. Moreover, his father Lin Tianrui has just recently taken office as the captain of East City. It can be said that among the six young masters, except for the one from the Pang family, Lin Zhengji has been the most popular recently. He is inviting Nangong Yue to a banquet, how can Nangong Yue not go?" Lu Taiqiang said .
"That's right. Nangong Yue is going to attend Mr. Lin's banquet and can't come tonight." Luo Yuke took over the conversation, with a proud look on her face.
Lu Taiqiang frowned, looked at Zheng Xinghan and said, "Why didn't Nangong Yue mention it to you, brother?"
"Haha, it's the same as asking Junior Sister Luo! Let's all come to the table." Zheng Xinghan's expression changed slightly, and then he laughed.
"What do you mean the same? You are the eldest senior brother, and you are in charge of all the daily affairs of Dean Han Tie. It was also you who arranged the New Year's Eve dinner. Nangong Yue couldn't come, so he had to tell you in advance. By doing this, he clearly doesn't respect you, the eldest senior brother." Mu Xuan said angrily.
"Okay, it's common for people to be careless and forget things sometimes. Let's all come to the table." Zheng Xinghan said with a serious face.
Mu Xuan moved her lips and was about to speak, but Qin Ziling nudged her with his elbow. Mu Xuan then swallowed back the words that were about to come out of her mouth.
Everyone sat at the table. Because of Nangong Yue's incident, except Luo Yuke, the others not only did not feel that Nangong Yue's attendance at Lin Zhengji's banquet was an honor for them as fellow disciples, but on the contrary, they were a little annoyed by Nangong Yue's behavior. So even though the food and drinks were served, the atmosphere was a little dull.
Seeing the atmosphere was a bit dull, Lu Taiqiang looked up at the "Hua Yun" powder and rouge shop across the street. An idea suddenly occurred to him, and he said to Qin Ziling with a hint of ambiguity on his face: "Brother Qin, I heard that Yun Lan, the owner of the "Hua Yun" powder and rouge shop across the street, is a delicate beauty, and she is also good at making money. She has run the "Hua Yun" powder and rouge shop very well. There are many people around who are eyeing her. I think I can kill two birds with one stone.
You are handsome and talented, and now you are famous in the 'Hua Yun' powder and rouge shop, which means you have the upper hand. You must go to this rouge shop more often and don't miss the good opportunity."
Women love gossip, men love talking about beauties.
After Lu Taiqiang started talking, the atmosphere in the private room suddenly became lively, and everyone turned their eyes to Qin Ziling.
"That's right, that's right. If Junior Brother Qin really marries Miss Yunlan, he will get both money and love. His life will be comfortable in the future." Yu Yan, who had always been as silent as a stone, said with shining eyes for the first time.
"If you ask me, Junior Brother Qin has been very lucky recently. Opportunities can't be missed. He really should go to the rouge shop more often." Shen Xiujing said while waving a paper fan.
This person is the most handsome among the crowd and has a refined temperament. Like Lu Taiqiang, he likes to fan himself no matter what.
Lu Taiqiang did that to show off his status as a rich young man, while Shen Xiujing pretended to be a gentleman, and for this he attracted many brothel girls. But in fact, he didn't have much knowledge at all.
"What do you mean?" This time even Mu Xuan got excited and asked hurriedly.
"In the past, many people coveted Miss Yunlan, and one of them was the ruthless Zhuang Gaochi, the head of Youlong Temple. Recently, I had nothing to do, so I heard a lot of gossip in the teahouse." Having said that, Shen Xiujing shook his fan and kept the suspense.
"It's not a teahouse at all. I think it's a brothel." Lu Taiqiang exposed bluntly.
Everyone laughed when they heard this. Shen Xiujing just blushed slightly, and he didn't feel embarrassed at all.
They have all been brothers and sisters , and basically know each other well. Moreover, it is common for rich and capable men in this world to visit brothels.
"Senior Brother Lu, our two junior sisters are here. It's not very kind of you to say that!" Shen Xiujing said.
"Tsk, do you think I don't know what kind of person you are?" Mu Xuan curled her lips.
"Ahem!" Shen Xiujin coughed twice, then continued, "I was in the brothel, bah, bah, I heard a lot of gossip in the teahouse, saying that Zhuang Gaochi had always coveted Miss Yunlan's money and beauty and wanted to be in charge of the rouge shop, but Miss Yunlan happened to invite Junior Brother Qin, so Zhuang Gaochi secretly did something bad through the Yanluo Gang.
Then you all know that Junior Brother Qin made an appointment with Yan Kui to fight, but the day before the fight, the Yanluo Gang was almost wiped out. At first everyone thought that it was military advisor Yi Xuan who committed murder for money, but Yi Xuan's body was found in Xian River a while ago, so it was obvious that there was someone else behind the scenes.
Tell me, is Junior Brother Qin lucky? If the Yanluo Gang hadn't been wiped out, who knows what the result of the fight between Junior Brother Qin and Yan Kui would have been! Even if he won, with Yan Kui's ruthlessness, things probably wouldn't have ended so easily.
This is only the first point. Second, ahem, I heard from the storyteller in the teahouse that Zhuang Gaochi did not give up and continued to harass Miss Yunlan. Once, he threatened Miss Yunlan directly in the store and was bumped into by Junior Brother Qin. I heard that Junior Brother Qin saw injustice and drew his sword to help. He righteously rebuked Zhuang Gaochi in person and had a conflict with him. Then Zhuang Gaochi left angrily. Junior Brother Qin, this should be correct, right? "At this point, Shen Xiujin looked at Qin Ziling deliberately.
Qin Ziling nodded without comment, having already understood why Shen Xiujing knew so much about the gossip.
The girls in brothels would often visit the "Hua Yun" powder and rouge shop, and since girls generally loved gossip, they naturally knew the news.
"As a result, Zhuang Gaochi happened to be killed on the same day !" Shen Xiujing saw Qin Ziling nod, and continued while shaking his fan.
"It turns out that Junior Brother Qin had a conflict with Zhuang Gaochi that day. No wonder Liao Sen stopped you and suddenly attacked you just now." Zheng Xinghan frowned when he heard this.
More than a month ago, Zhuang Gaochi was killed in an alley. This incident has already spread in the martial arts circle in the outer city. Zheng Xinghan has also heard about it, but he did not expect that Zhuang Gaochi had a conflict with Qin Ziling on the day he was killed. The fact that Yan Kui, who died earlier, deliberately bullied the "Hua Yun" powder and rouge shop was also related to Zhuang Gaochi.
