Young Man's Journey 03

"The original master truly had a fine group of subordinates," Fang Zhiyi remarked with a sigh. He cleared his throat. "From today onwards, all your work is suspended. Of course, I'm referring to... those unsavory jobs."

The room fell silent.

Little Hei was also somewhat bewildered. "What are you planning? Aren't we dealing with those little brats anymore?"

Fang Zhiyi smiled. "To deal with them, does it need to be so troublesome?"

"Big Brother!" Liu Yueya walked happily into the inn.

Li Wenyan was writing when he heard her voice and couldn't help but smile. He looked up and asked, "Finished distributing the rice?"

"All done! The common folk are all praising us!" Liu Yueya felt deeply satisfied. She had heard many words of praise and admiration today, which pleased her greatly.

Ye Qingzhou, resting with his eyes closed nearby, spoke up. "I've also finished investigating. That grain shop is also backed by that Wanbao Pavilion."

Li Wenyan frowned slightly. "Wanbao Pavilion again? We've heard this name far too many times. It seems our opponent is quite formidable."

Ye Qingzhou chuckled, a smug expression on his face. "I have even more explosive news. Want to hear it?"

Lin Wanqing shot him a glare. "Stop being so cryptic and just say it, or I'll hit you!"

Ye Qingzhou teased, "Second Sister, don't be so violent. Someone as beautiful as you shouldn't act like Third Brother."

Zhao Jinglei glanced at him and grinned sheepishly.

Xiao Changfeng, polishing his sword, grew impatient. "Ninth Brother, have you forgotten how fast my sword is?"

Ye Qingzhou pouted. "None of you can take a joke. Fine, I'll tell you. This Wanbao Pavilion not only does business openly but also secretly controls the Tingyu Pavilion!"

"Tingyu Pavilion?" Hua Nongying was taken aback. "I feel like I've heard that name somewhere."

"The largest assassin organization in the martial world," Li Wenyan said, still writing. As he finished the last character, he nodded with satisfaction. "It seems the waters of this Wanbao Pavilion run deeper than we thought."

"I smell a conspiracy," Lin Wanqing chimed in.

"Are you all afraid?" Li Wenyan asked, his gaze burning as he looked at his sworn brothers and sisters.

Everyone's eyes were resolute.

"Good. Then our battle for fame..."

Before he could finish, a large troop of government soldiers suddenly arrived outside the inn.

"Surround the place!"

Li Wenyan was stunned. What was going on?

Then he saw the clerks from the Wanbao Pavilion grain shop. They were bandaged up in an exaggerated manner and were pointing fingers at the group.

"Listen up, inside! You have openly injured people and seized grain. Come with us!" The leading officer, also a ninth-rank cultivator, spoke with confidence.

"What? On what grounds?" Lin Wanqing was bewildered.

"They... they reported us to the authorities?" Ye Qingzhou was also dumbfounded. In their understanding, Wanbao Pavilion belonged to the martial world. Matters of the martial world should be settled within the martial world. But they actually reported it to the officials?

"Report to the authorities? Sir, are you running a fever?" Two days prior on You Mountain, Ghost Reaper wore an utterly bewildered expression.

"Why not report it? We run a legitimate business, pay our taxes, and send gifts during festivals. Why shouldn't we report it?" Fang Zhiyi spoke righteously.

His subordinates exchanged glances. Wasn't this wrong? Their master despised the imperial court the most. Reporting to the authorities?

Though confused, they chose to obey the order.

Fang Zhiyi revealed a sinister smile. Intelligence networks, assassin organizations—they all served Prince Xuan. He had no habit of being someone else's pawn.

The scene shifted back outside the inn. Naturally, the youths were unwilling to surrender without a fight in front of the growing crowd. Especially with more and more commoners gathering, they couldn't afford to lose face.

"We were ridding the people of a scourge!"

"You broke the law."

"The grain shop oppressed the people! They, they wouldn't give grain to the poor!"

The officer was almost amused. "So by your logic, being poor makes you special? You should just hold out your hand and demand things?"

"My father..." Lin Wanqing opened her mouth, about to name her powerful backing, but suddenly realized she had left home to make her own way without her family's knowledge. Relying on her family to get out of trouble now would be too shameful. And... she glanced around. If she said it, they would surely look down on her.

Lin Wanqing chose to remain silent.

Little did she know, the others had gone through the same thought process.

Finally, Li Wenyan reached a conclusion. "You've been bribed by Wanbao Pavilion!"

The officer had initially sensed that these youths also had spiritual energy and was afraid of provoking trouble. He had planned to take them back just for show, but they stubbornly refused to come.

Faced with such slander, however, the officer had to defend himself. "Don't talk nonsense! Many people witnessed what you did! And now you want to slander an officer?"

No one knew who struck first—perhaps the hot-tempered Xiao Changfeng. The youths unanimously chose the only option left: fight their way out.

Each was a child of influential families. Though young, their cultivation levels were not low. How could the soldiers led by a mere ninth-rank officer be a match for them? The officers were caught off guard by the sudden violent outburst from the youths.

Seeing the officers utterly powerless to fight back, the youths' sense of superiority soared. Especially with so many commoners watching, they threw down a few threatening words before swaggering off.

Fang Zhiyi remained on You Mountain, currently holding a meeting with his subordinates.

"Sir, are you talking about giving rice and cloth to the commoners? We do that every year," someone asked, puzzled.

Fang Zhiyi felt like hitting him. "How do you do it?"

Hearing his question, the subordinate immediately began a live demonstration. One-eyed Dragon, wearing an eye patch, put on a menacing grin.

"Hehehe, little kid, your parents are gone, right? Uncle is in a good mood today... this bag of rice..."

"Stop, stop, stop!" Fang Zhiyi couldn't bear to watch and even wanted to grab something to throw. "Are you extorting them or doing charity?"

"Uh..." One-eyed Dragon felt a bit guilty.

"Tch, garbage," Poisoned Embroideress mocked with a laugh.

One-eyed Dragon was unconvinced. "You try, you do it!"

"Aiyo, dear customer, your clothes are all torn. Why not follow me to the back courtyard, let me..." Before the words 'find a piece of cloth' could come out, Fang Zhiyi had already covered his face.

Yet, quite a few people nodded in agreement.

"Can't deny, Embroideress has skills."

"Exactly. I'm telling you, Blind Man, your way scares people. You need to learn."

Fang Zhiyi slammed the table. "Don't any of you see a problem with this?"

"A problem?" They looked at each other, then simultaneously turned to Fang Zhiyi and shook their heads. "Sir, this is how we usually do it."

Fang Zhiyi looked at Wine Sword Immortal, who hadn't spoken. This man seemed much more reliable—melancholy, weathered, mature!

"You there, tell me, how do you usually handle it when commoners ask for help?"