Chapter 260: 260
From the instincts he had developed through many years of killing and robbing, he could feel that this young man was a difficult person to deal with . Seeing how his senior and junior brothers still howled on around him, even rubbing their fists wanting to get a piece of the action, he growled, “All of you shut up!” He asked cautiously, “May I be honoured to know your name, sir?”
“Let’s go!” Li Qingshan said to Qian Rongzhi before directly striding away, acting like they did not exist . The ugly man’s expression changed a few times . When Li Qingshan almost walked into him, he dodged to the side and just watched as Qian Rongzhi left with him . He quietly gulped .
“Big brother!”
“Don’t provoke him . This person is very dangerous . ” The ugly man looked at Li Qingshan’s back . If this young man was the Black Wolf commander, he would never even consider challenging him . Now that this woman had obtained a helper like him, she would be difficult to deal with .
In the main office, Fang Enshang pushed aside the curtains, tidied his desk, and prepared some water for his ink . He was about to get to work . He was still full of enthusiasm towards this job . Hearing the footsteps, he raised his head . “Oh Rongzhi, you’re here . Who’s this?”
This was the second time Li Qingshan had met Fang Enshang . Back then in the Quiet Spring valley, a slaughter would have definitely unfolded if it had not been for Fang Enshang’s mediation . He had quite a good impression of him .
Qian Rongzhi introduced them to each other . Li Qingshan clasped his hands . “Greetings to the commander from your subordinate, Li Qingshan!”
“So you’re Li Qingshan . ” Fan Enshang looked at this young man who stood tall . He studied him up and down, as if he did not believe that this was the Tiger Butcher who had killed countless . He could not help but ask what he was wondering, “Where have you been during this period of time?”
Li Qingshan stated the excuse that he had already prepared patiently . Most of it was true, but there were some lies as well . He admitted to the fact that Zhuo Zhibo had been scheming against him, which forced him to flee underground . As he fled for his life, he alarmed a powerful daemon underground, and Zhuo Zhibo’s entire group was wiped out . Only he managed to escape .
Apart from the fact that Li Qingshan was the daemon, there were basically no lies in that story .
Qian Rongzhi would chime in and add to his story whenever it was suitable . With how crafty and resourceful she was, she had been on extremely harmonious terms with Fang Enshang over the past few months . She also gained a deep understanding of his character, which she would cleverly use to control his thoughts .
Li Qingshan said, “I parted ways there with the vice commander . The vice commander might not have believed me and ventured underground as well . ”
“Then why have you only just returned?”
Qian Rongzhi said, “That’s actually something everyone knows about . Because of the child by his side, Li Qingshan offended the Sect of Clouds and Rain . For this matter, the vice sect master and four grannies of the Sect of Clouds and Rain had all come to Jiaping city . If I hadn’t contacted him in time to tell him to flee, he would be dead already . ”
Fang Enshang slammed the table . “How dare they!”
Li Qingshan said, “I know the Sect of Clouds and Rain is powerful . I’ve returned this time because I want to enter secluded cultivation on the mountain for a period of time . Thanks to district magistrate Zhou’s good graces, he agreed to give me a recommendation to the Academy of the Hundred Schools . As long as I go to the academy, even the Sect of Clouds and Rain should have second thoughts about touching me!”Fang Enshang patted Li Qingshan’s shoulder . “Don’t worry . As long as you remain in the Hawkwolf Guard here, no one will be able to touch you . Once you make it to the Academy of the Hundred Schools, it’s even more impossible for these sects to act as they please . Our Hawkwolf Guard is not one for others to walk all over!”
He was so sincere that he made Li Qingshan feel rather embarrassed about lying to him . In the end, Li Qingshan handed over the Zombie Daoist’s head and completed the mission, earning him over ten thousand points of contribution .
The Qi Gathering pills or spiritual stones that could be exchanged for using the contribution no longer interested Li Qingshan . However, using the dwellings on the mountain for seclusion also cost contribution, and it was not cheap either . A single day was fifty points of contribution .
Qian Rongzhi brought Li Qingshan to the place for secluded cultivation, which was a large, stone cave dug out from the mountain .
Li Qingshan could sense that the spiritual qi inside was denser than outside, just as expected . There was no furniture inside, just a huge formation carved into the ground .
Qian Rongzhi said, “This is a Spirit Gathering formation, but activating it will cost you additional spiritual stones . ”
Li Qingshan looked at the formation . Sure enough, there were several grooves . He nodded and thought, What a clever design . Qian Rongzhi placed her hand on a round disc on the wall, channelling in true qi and turning it gently . A huge piece of rock slid over loudly .
“Once this stone door is sealed, you can only open it from the inside . If you want to open it from the outside, you’d need to tear it open forcefully . I think even the sect master of the Sect of Clouds and Rain isn’t bold enough to do something like that . ”
Li Qingshan nodded . The entire Hawkwolf Guard would never allow something like that to occur . He took out a pill from his hundred treasures pouch and passed it to Qian Rongzhi . “If anything unexpected happens outside while I’m in seclusion, I’ll have to trouble you with handling it . If there are any dangers, I’ll have to trouble you with reminding me too . ”
While those lies were enough to fool Fang Enshang, Fang Enshang was not the one to make any decisions with regard to the deaths of the two commanders and a group of Hawkwolf guards . He would have to report this to his higher-ups . Although there should not be any major issues according to Qian Rongzhi’s analysis, he just was taking precautions with this .
“A Sea of Qi pill!” Qian Rongzhi’s eyes lit up .
Sea of Qi pills were crucial pills for Qi Practitioners to break through to the sixth layer . It could assist the Qi Practitioner in condensing a sea of qi, so it truly was quite precious . However, Li Qingshan had found almost a hundred of them from all the hundred treasures pouches in his possession, so giving one away was nothing to him .
“I’ve already gotten my hands on one . With this one, it’ll increase my chances by thirty percent . ” Qian Rongzhi accepted the pill, but she did not speak any words of gratitude .
This was their relationship . It was clear cut, where neither of them owed each other anything . They simply made use of one another without any efforts to hide their intentions . There were no meaningless interactions . They would not even say an additional word to each other when there was no need to . At this moment, there was a thump, and the huge, stone door closed, plunging the cave into darkness .
Qian Rongzhi became extremely relaxed too . In this space that was sealed off from the world, her expression and bearing underwent a wondrous transformation . Her gentleness and kindness vanished, while a bone-chilling sensation filled Li Qingshan once again .
She was like a snake about to eat a person . Dim, cold light flashed through her eyes as she pursed her lips . She smiled . “Looks I can use the medicinal enhancers I’ve kept around now . ”
The ugly man and his companions were the medicinal enhancers she had prepared for her breakthrough to the sixth layer . They could provide large quantities of true qi at crucial times .
Li Qingshan frowned . He turned the mechanism . As the stone door opened again and light landed on her face, it was like magic . Wherever the light reached, her expression would change slightly, and when the light engulfed her completely, she had recovered her image as a gentle and kind elder sister .
Li Qingshan felt that compared to him, she was more like those demons and daemons of the legends .
The light cast a long shadow in the cave . Li Qingshan looked at the owner of the shadow . “Diao Fei?”
Diao Fei faltered . “I heard that you’ve returned . ” His cultivation had already reached the fourth layer . Although he had not improved as quickly as Li Qingshan and Qian Rongzhi after they had joined the Hawkwolf Guard, he had not been wasting his time either .