Chapter 87: Gathering

An hour later.

Zhang Tingyue was standing on a small hill south of the Hidden Dragon Institute with his hands clasped behind his back, and Xin Yuan was standing behind him.

A sword-bearing youth approached and began to walk up the hill.

He did not walk very fast, but every step he took brought him a large distance closer. In only a few steps, he arrived next to Zhang Tingyue. He said, “Wang Doushan was very stubborn. I couldn’t get anything out of him.”

As he spoke, he walked towards a nearby tree and leaned against it.

Zhang Tingyue knitted his eyebrows and was about to speak when he heard someone say, “That’s not strange at all. If you, Zhong Shisi[1. His name (Shisi, or 十四) literally means fourteen, but since that sounds weird I just left it as Shisi.], were able to get any valuable information from him, then you wouldn’t be Zhong Shisi anymore. You’re here to kill people, not to interrogate them.”

Zhong Shisi ignored him. Zhang Tingyue said, “Enough, Hong Ming. Talk a bit less and don’t try to provoke him.”

A short-statured person jumped out of a nearby tree. Hong Ming from the Golden Cicada Clan, Hong Wu’s Fourth Uncle.

Upon landing, Hong Ming said, “Sun Jizu was very slippery and cautious. In the beginning, I wasn’t able to get anything out of him, but when I asked about Yan Fuxing’s death he seemed to grow a bit agitated. I could tell that he hated someone, but I couldn’t tell who that someone was.”

Zhong Shisi laughed coldly. “So that’s all the information you were able to get?”

“That’s already enough,” a rumbling voice suddenly said.

They turned around to find another person heading towards them.

This newcomer was quite short, yet he had extremely large hands and thick fingers. It was one of the Drought Dragon Clan’s members.

He was called Jiang Tao, and he was Jiang Yang’s Third Uncle.

Jiang Tao strode towards them and said, “That girl Du Qing was pretty much the same. Even though she tried to act calm, I could tell that when Jiang Yang and the others died...... she was present.”

“Hmph. Zhong Ding, Jiang Yang, and the others died, but some random people without bloodline survived; that is the greatest problem here,” Hong Ming said.

“But that’s not enough to serve as evidence.” Zhang Tingyue knitted his eyebrows.

“What more evidence do we need? Kuang’er and the others are dead, but those few bloodline-less brats are still alive. Even if they weren’t the ones to harm them, we can’t let them continue to live. We should just kill them all so that they can accompany our children. What evidence do we even need?”

An arrogant, powerful voice spoke up.

The coarseness of the person’s voice made it seem as if it had come from some large, bulky bandit, but the speaker was actually a woman.

This woman was so manly that she put other men to shame.

This woman reminded others of the massive, ferocious beasts that roamed the Northern Plains.

This woman made other men feel like their own women was a peerless fairies, strengthening the affection between them.

The entire hill trembled every time the woman, who was smoking a pipe, moved her elephant-like legs.

When she arrived at the top of the hill, everyone felt as if a cloud was casting a shadow over their forehead.

Upon her arrival, Zhang Tingyue laughed, “Zheng Bashan, the Hidden Dragon Institute isn’t the Black Rhinoceros Garrison. Not everything needs to be done according to the Nine-Tip Mountain rules. If you want to kill someone, you need to figure out who needs to be killed first and then notify the Hidden Dragon Institute. Only after obtaining their approval can you make a move; otherwise, you will only bring disaster upon yourself. Without evidence, we cannot convince the Hidden Dragon Institute, and then there won’t be anything we can do about it. Speaking of which, how did matters on your end go?”

Zheng Bashan puffed on her pipe a few times before she blew out a chokingly-thick cloud of smoke and said, “I didn’t find Cloud Leopard.”

“Hm?” Zhang Tingyue’s eyebrows jumped. “Why is that? Was he hiding from you?”

“No, I went to go eat food. I just finished eating.”

Zhang Tingyue was so angry that his body swayed. “Zheng Bashan! Didn’t I tell you to take care of business before eating?”

“I know, but I happened to run into a small store. That store’s beef noodles smelled too good, so I lost control and ate 98 bowls. Originally, I wanted to buy a full one hundred, but then that damned owner said that he was out of stock. I went to go look for Cloud Leopard, but then I discovered that it was already time for us to get back together, so I could only return first,” the woman, who was even taller than Iron Cliff and whose body was even more muscular than a bear’s, replied somewhat disinterestedly.

Hong Ming laughed sarcastically, “I knew that was how it would turn out. One Zhong Shisi and one Zheng Bashan, yet both are unreliable.”

Zhong Shisi knitted his eyebrows. “At least I went.”

“You basically didn’t go.”

“Are you looking to die?”

“Try me.”

The two of them were instantly at each other’s throats.

“Enough!” Zhang Tingyue yelled. “We haven’t even finished taking care of business yet. Are you done arguing? Do you want to fight someone on the same team as you?”

“Who’s on the same team as him,” Zhong Shisi muttered.

Zhang Tingyue and Jiang Tao felt a massive headache coming on, and only Zheng Bashan laughed indifferently.

Zhang Tingyue’s patience was about to be exhausted when he suddenly raised his head and said, “Third Mother Guan, are you going to tell us about what happened on your end, or do I need to give you a grand reception before you are willing to come out?”

The beautiful sound of laughter seemed to come from everywhere. “People often need to compare themselves to others in order to realize where they’re at. I just wanted to hear you talk about your failures a little more is all.”

Zhang Tingyue’s eyes lit up. “So you’re telling me that you have some leads?”

“There is nothing that I, Third Mother Guan, cannot uncover.”

With a flash, Third Mother Guan suddenly appeared from thin air, still dressed in her black clothes.

Comparing her to Zheng Bashan was the same as comparing a beauty to a wild beast.

Unfortunately, that wild beast was also a female.

“How did it go?” everyone asked.

“Everything went as expected,” Third Mother Guan replied. “Someone put some medicine on Sheng’an and the others to attract the Clay Giant.”

“Who?”

“Who is an alchemist?”