I Am His Retainer

"Everyone inside, come out!"

A group of city guards, carrying long spears, checked each room one by one.

Many men and women, half-dressed and disheveled, were dragged out from inside.

It was clear that the inn had seen a fierce night of action!

Some people even ran into their own wives coming out of rooms across the hall with other men.

If not for the city guards keeping the peace, a bloody family brawl would have broken out.

Inside the room—

"Finally broke through!"

Ye Tian’s body was wrapped in blue flames, his face full of excitement as he looked at the small bronze pagoda.

Now, his strength had reached the early stage of Gathering Spirit!

In just a few months, he had gone from a useless loser, beaten at will by Pockmark Wang, to a Spirit Gatherer!

Such a growth rate was terrifying across the entire continent.

Of course, on one hand, the small bronze pagoda provided a large amount of spiritual resources.

On the other hand, through his recent training—forging his body and tendons—he could now absorb and accept more spiritual power.

Moreover, he was originally at the Half-God level and was already highly skilled in controlling spiritual power.

With multiple factors working together, it made sense that his strength had skyrocketed.

Bam!

The door was kicked open with force.

"Get out!"

Ye Tian swept his cold gaze over the city guards, put away the small bronze pagoda, and followed them out.

In a big city like Qi City, the city guards were practically royalty—it was best not to provoke them if you could avoid it.

Everyone in the inn was called out.

An Yi was among them. He looked at the city guards with curiosity, sensing something was off. So he quietly took out the ghost mask and transformed his face into Lin Chen’s.

"Buddy, what’s going on?" An Yi asked a guard ahead of him.

The guard gave him a haughty look. "Don’t ask what you shouldn’t know!"

A gold coin was discreetly slipped into the guard’s hand.

His face immediately lit up with a smile. "Last night, someone made fake gold coins and swindled the Xu Family Restaurant! Now the whole city is hunting them down."

"Oh, I see."

A hint of understanding crossed An Yi’s face.

So they were after him. Luckily, he had already put on Lin Chen’s face.

"By the way, what happens if they catch the counterfeiter?" An Yi asked with fake curiosity and slipped another gold coin to the guard.

The guard’s grin widened, his tone turning respectful. "They get hanged on the spot! Their corpse gets displayed on the city wall and left to rot in the sun for a whole year!"

An Yi: "..."

Hearing that, he quietly shrank back, putting some distance between himself and the guard.

The gold coin he had just given the guard? Also fake.

Thinking about it, An Yi feared being recognized, so he quickly changed his face to Pockmark Wang’s.

Pockmark Wang—aside from a few freckles—was completely plain-looking. Unless someone scrutinized him closely, he was hard to distinguish.

"Xiao Hu, take a look. Which one is the counterfeit maker?"

A middle-aged man with a thin, dry build and an eight-character mustache asked his worker, hands clasped behind his back.

Xiao Hu quickly stepped forward, examined each person one by one, scanning their faces.

Then he ran back and said to the mustached man, "Manager Zheng, the counterfeit maker isn’t in here!"

Manager Zheng frowned. "No? Look again! I heard last night two people came into this very inn!"

These days, ever since the Xu Family latched onto the city lord’s thigh, they had become arrogant in Qi City, even able to command the city guards at will. They would investigate even the smallest matters.

"Manager, this guy is in league with the counterfeit maker!"

The worker pointed at Ye Tian, having clearly recognized him.

He remembered that An Yi and Ye Tian had entered the Xu Family Restaurant together.

With a clatter, a dozen spears aimed at Ye Tian.

Ye Tian instinctively grabbed his Dragon Coil Halberd, releasing a terrifying killing intent that made the guards take a step back.

An Yi raised an eyebrow slightly.

He could change faces, but Ye Tian couldn’t. He was caught!

"Rebellious! You dare mess with the Xu Family? Take him down!"

Manager Zheng stroked his mustache, speaking arrogantly.

Ye Tian raised his halberd just slightly. "Hold on! You—you’re Manager Zheng!"

Manager Zheng scoffed. "What’s that supposed to mean? Everyone in Qi City knows me, Zheng Dachun!"

"I’m Ye Tian! Little Tian! Manager Zheng, do you remember me?"

Ye Tian’s face lit up with joy as he quickly spoke.

He remembered that Zheng was the steward who always accompanied Xu Yiyun.

Waste Ye Tian?

Zheng Dachun looked Ye Tian up and down, apparently recognizing him. "Oh my, isn’t this Young Master Ye? What a coincidence, running into you here..."

He replied with forced politeness, his mind already racing on how to proceed.

A city guard squad leader asked curiously, "Manager Zheng, should we still take him down?"

"Take him down? Your head!" Zheng Dachun shoved his head in mock anger. "Uncultured fool! This is the Third Young Master of the Ye Family!"

"Then what about the fake gold coins?" the worker pressed hesitantly.

Zheng Dachun pretended not to hear and quickly stepped forward to shake Ye Tian’s hand. "Young Master Ye, I hardly recognized you—you’ve changed so much over the years!"

"And you’ve gotten older," Ye Tian said bluntly.

Zheng Dachun’s mouth twitched as he forced a smile. "Since you’ve come to Qi City, why not drop by the mansion for a visit? We’ve all been thinking of you."

Ye Tian smiled but said nothing.

The Xu Family Restaurant was part of the Xu Family’s assets.

Yesterday, they had planned to get in touch with the Xu Family through the restaurant.

Who knew they would run into that mess?

"Young Master Ye, please come to the mansion to rest!" Zheng Dachun made an inviting gesture.

Seeing that Ye Tian was about to leave with Zheng Dachun for the Xu Family, An Yi quickly called out, "Chotto matte!"

Hearing the familiar voice, Ye Tian turned around.

When he saw Pockmark Wang’s face, he was stunned.

What was Pockmark Wang doing here?

Zheng Dachun looked at Pockmark Wang with interest, musing, "And you are?"

"I’m his master!" An Yi said in a calm, composed tone.

Hearing the voice, Ye Tian knew for sure.

This guy was An Yi!

But how had he become Pockmark Wang?

The more he interacted with An Yi, the more he sensed how incredible his abilities were.

"You? Young Master Ye’s master?"

Zheng Dachun stared at the sycophantic-looking face of Pockmark Wang and asked suspiciously, "Are you sure?"

An Yi thought for a moment and quickly laughed. "Haha! Slip of the tongue! I meant to say I’m his attendant."

At this point, Ye Tian was about to show off at the Xu Family. If he introduced himself as his master, it would completely undercut Ye Tian’s image.

So for now, he’d switch roles, pretend to be Ye Tian’s attendant, and help him look good.

"That’s more like it."

Zheng Dachun’s eyes softened, and he waved his hand. "Come along, then."

An Yi chuckled and followed. "Okay!"

Watching Manager Zheng walk away, the city guards were bewildered.

They had started this big raid, and now it was just ending like this?

The Xu Family was getting more and more ridiculous! The Xu Family’s eldest daughter hadn’t even married into the city lord’s household yet, and they were already treating them like monkeys.

What would happen once she became the city lord’s wife? Probably even worse.

One guard smiled as he felt the two gold coins in his pocket, his heart burning with delight.

This trip? A huge score!

Then, as he kept fumbling, something felt off.

"Damn it, where did my gold coins go!"