After the brother and sister stood up, they exchanged glances.
The elder brother said in a low voice: “This younger generation shall bear this senior’s great favor in his heart. It’s just that we’re being hunted down by bandits right now. To avoid implicating this senior, we’ll say our goodbyes first. We hope this senior doesn’t take offense.”
That heaven-defyingly beautiful woman also observed the proper etiquette once again.
Gongyi Tianheng looked at the two: “Bandits? From what I heard just now, they claimed to be members of the Mount An Bandit Gang. Just who are they?”
That elder brother sighed, knowing that this senior didn’t intend on letting them go right now. Although his mind still took precautions, he also had a clear view of things. He only moved his younger sister behind him and went to chat.
“This region…”
Tianheng saw these two in such spirits, and faintly smiled: “Never mind. My younger brother and I are currently heading towards Deep River County. You two can accompany us to find a place to settle down in advance.”
The brother and sister didn’t dare to object, and could only agree.
Tianyang had a blank face: “What are you two worried about? What kind of a person is my big brother, and how could he lust after some random woman? Rest assured, it’s just a matter of asking questions!”
That elder brother was somewhat embarrassed. But after looking at Tianyang’s glare and taking another look at Tianheng’s looks, his feelings of worry for his younger sister had indeed lessened a bit.
Following that, a group of four headed towards Deep River County.
Of course, in order to prevent a later possibility of an armed chase, their steps were somewhat quick and there wasn’t any tarrying. Merely, under Tianheng’s recommendation, the outward appearances of that brother and sister pair were slightly altered using some medicaments.
After the siblings changed clothes, the elder brother’s appearance became average. It was the kind of look where one could toss him into a crowd and lose him. As for the younger sister, her slender waistline was padded with several articles of clothing. Her remarkably beautiful complexion had also become merely delicate and pretty.
Hence, when they reached Deep River County’s outermost city, the ones who appeared before everyone’s eyes were a pair of impressive-looking brothers. In addition, there was a coachman and a maid.
There were tens of thousands of this kind of configuration, which would never attract anyone’s attention.
After handing over the admission fee, the four immediately went into the city and stayed at a tavern. Tianyang went to order some dishes, and in the room, Tianheng pointed to the chairs in front of a table. He said: “Let’s sit down and talk.”
That sibling pair had travelled the whole way, and the degree of trust they had in Tianheng was much stronger than when they first met. At this time, they didn’t speak nonsense, and sat down together.
Tianheng smiled and said: “It would be better to talk about the reason why you two were being hunted down by that Mount An Bandit Gang.”
That elder brother composed himself, chose his words carefully, and opened his mouth with resentment in his eyes: “This younger generation is called Ling Ziqi and my younger sister is called Ling Ziwei. We’re the children of White Water Town’s Ling Clan. Originally, my Ling Clan was considered a large first-class clan in White Water Town. In the clan, there were seven to eight Xiantian powerhouses. Our family tree flourished with descendants. However, one day, a group of people came into the town…”
— To be honest, this was a tale as old as the earth.
White Water Town was classified as a town of Deep River County. However, because it was located on the periphery and wasn’t in the central zone, there weren’t many people living there. Naturally, there also weren’t many powerhouses. As White Water Town’s number one clan, the Ling Clan was considered to have protected this area for many years.
Yet, the affairs of the world wouldn’t always run so smoothly. On a certain day, for some unknown reason, a group of bandits came to this place. What was even more unfortunate was that, on that day, the leader of this group just happened to catch sight of the blooming-moonlight beauty, Ling Ziwei!
The bandits were lecherous and savage. At once, they went to slaughter the Ling Clan, intent on sinking their claws into Ling Ziwei. However, the members of the Ling Clan were united. The seven or eight Xiantians acted together to drive out those bandits, and even managed to kill some of them.
Unfortunately, these bandits didn’t include all of the evildoers. Those evildoers who escaped brought back even more and soon exterminated the entire Ling Clan. And the Ling Clan wasn’t a household that sold out its clan members, so the entire clan fought in a blood-soaked struggle. Because they understood that Ling Ziwei would fall into the bandits’ hands and would suffer miserably, they allowed Ling Ziqi to knock her out and take her away. In the end, all that remained of the bloodline were these two droplets.
After Ling Ziwei awakened, she was swept up in Ling Ziqi’s flight from danger. Ling Ziqi once scouted for information and realized that the Ling Clan really didn’t have a single survivor. They were aggrieved and heartbroken, but their strength was of no use. Ultimately, they could only continue to run away. Originally, they were going to Clear River City, but they didn’t expect that they would be discovered before they could even get inside… Even though they again escaped quickly, they couldn’t avoid being toyed with like a cat catching a mouse. Fortunately, they’d just happened to meet the two brothers, Tianheng and Tianyang. Otherwise, the outcome would’ve been too horrible to contemplate.
When Tianheng finished listening, he faintly nodded his head: “So it’s like this. Please, restrain your grief.”
That Ling Ziwei had her head lowered the entire time, and Ling Ziqi’s eyes were filled with sorrow and fury. He clearly had a deep hatred concerning the matter of the Ling Clan’s extermination.
After that, Tianheng didn’t continue his line of questioning. The waiter bringing their dishes knocked on the door outside, and carried in several boxes of food. After placing them on the table, he withdrew. Tianheng divided a portion of the dishes and let the bother and sister take some away: “If we sit together, I’m afraid you two won’t have much of an appetite. It would be better to return to your own room next door. You two should rest and recuperate.”
When Ling Ziqi and Ling Ziwei heard this, they naturally gave their thanks again and left in this manner.
Once the two departed, Tianyang said: “Big brother, I feel that the words of those two are a bit problematic.”
Tianheng wore a smile: “Oh? Can Tianyang give me a detailed explanation?”
Tianyang then said: “First, although this Ling Ziwei was born extremely beautiful, I think it’s a little fishy that she would be pursued so relentlessly by the bandit gang. Unless they were sex-starved ghosts… But even if they were sex-starved ghosts, they should’ve gone in person to take her away. How could they let someone else snatch the beauty?”
Tianheng didn’t bat an eyelid: “Second?”
Tianyang continued speaking: “Second, since they fled, they should’ve been concealing their identities. Why were they so easily discovered? As for running into the enemy right outside the city, that kind of luck is really too terrible.”
Tianheng asked again: “And third?”
Tianyang paused: “…I don’t have a third.”
Tianheng laughed: “Third, when they were escaping, they didn’t have any luggage with them, so they should have an inter-spatial tool on their bodies. Although inter-spatial tools aren’t as rare on the Qingyun Continent as they are in the Cangyun Empire, they’re still precious objects. That a small clan with only seven or eight Xiantians could preserve one is already a point of doubt. At the very least, this proves that the Ling Clan’s original foundations shouldn’t be so shallow.”
His gaze faintly moved: “Tianyang is pretty good at seeking out the problem. After fleeing for a period of time, a beauty is still being painstakingly chased. After another period of arduous fleeing, she is suddenly found… Within this, there are still certainly some things that we don’t know. Based on my conjectures, it should have something to do with the Ling Clan.”
Tianyang looked on, pensively.
Tianheng smiled and said no more.
The Ling Clan’s matter originally had nothing to do with them. What they wanted to know from the Ling Clan siblings’ mouths was only information about that Mount An Bandit Gang. Merely, if they wanted to exterminate that bandit gang, it wouldn’t work without a bit of strategy. For now, they couldn’t ignore the matter of the Ling Clan. Moreover, perhaps they’d have to borrow the identities of this brother and sister pair.
In the blink of an eye, numerous ideas had already cycled through Gongyi Tianheng’s mind. The plan to deal with that Mount An Bandit Gang was also slowly taking shape.
Gu Zuo, who was far away in Danyun City, didn’t know that his dear big brother was currently preoccupied with an especially daunting mission. With the power of one man, he had to get rid of an entire bandit gang. Right now, as a noble guest coming from Qingyun Sect, he was hurrying to the Pill Battling Assembly’s competition field.
Due to the Pill Battling Assembly’s rules, if any pharmacist won a spot in the top ten of the finals, then the organization that pharmacist belonged to wouldn’t need to participate in the qualifying rounds of the subsequent Pill Battling Assembly. They could directly enter the more high-end finals.
Thanks to the good fortune of the Qingyun Sect, Gu Zuo also only needed to participate in the finals.
As such, on the first day of the Pill Battling Assembly, he was just here as a distinguished spectator.
The competition field was very large. It was an enormous stone plaza with very many seats all around. However, with Danyun City as the host and since Qingyun Sect was on equal footing with them, it was only natural that they possessed the best seats. Next were some well-known powers in medicine refinement, which were all mostly seated close by. The other sections were distributed to the remaining powers based on their size, status, as well as the comprehensive strength of the pharmacists who came to participate in the pill battles.
As a contestant taking part in the competition, Gu Zuo sat with Xu Lingxiu.
The visibility from this place was vast, and a panoramic view of the entire plaza entered his eyes.
After some conventional introductions from the City Lord, the contestants who came to participate in the qualifying rounds took to the field one after another.
And before they entered the field, they all had to hand over some gold as a competition fee.
For example, low-level pharmacists paid one gold, mid-levels paid ten gold, high-levels paid a hundred gold, and so on… At the same time, those who weren’t participating but wanted to come in to watch the battles also needed to hand over the same fees.
Gu Zuo made a slightly helpless face.
As it turned out, this wasn’t free of charge?
So many had come. Perhaps there was still a bit of profits to be made… Right?
The other pharmacists, however, didn’t object.
As a pharmacist, if one couldn’t even take out enough money for the entry ticket or to participate on the field, then this pharmacist basically had no ability. They might as well not come to join in on the action.
T/N: Thanks for the corrections, Charysa.
Please don’t forget to support the original author.