Before Yan Liqiang realized it, the sky had turned completely dark. Many shops on the streets in Hui Provincial City had closed. Restaurants and inns hung up strings of red lanterns to help people who were in need of food and shelter to find them in the snow.
The snow on the street was thick enough to swallow Yan Liqiang’s shoes. He trudged through the snow and let his memory guide him. ‘The Great Han Times’ had one distribution point in Hui Provincial City. The person in charge here was one of Xu Enda’s friends surnamed Wang and he was quite a reliable man. Yan Liqiang was worried about Fang Beidou and the rest, so he thought of going to the distribution point to find out more about the situation.
By the time Yan Liqiang reached the distribution point, the small building with two floors had been closed up and there was no one in sight. Yan Liqiang frowned. According to the newspaper office’s rules, the closing time for distribution points in the capital regions should be nine o’clock at night. However, it was only seven o’clock now, so why was no one around?
Yan Liqiang walked toward the door, then knocked on the door and shouted loudly.
“Is anyone there? Is anyone in there?”
Yan Liqiang shouted twice. He heard no response, but noticed someone parting the door curtains of the tailor shop at the side. An old man with gray hair poked his head out, with a pair of scissors in his hand and a measuring tape around his neck. He looked at Yan Liqiang, then said, “Young man, it’s already night time now. The newspaper distribution point closed long ago. If you are looking for someone, you’ll have to come again tomorrow. This place only opens up during the day…”
Yan Liqiang walked to the tailor shop entrance, then asked politely, “Old Master, does this newspaper distribution point always close this early? I remember it used to only close at nine o’clock at night.”
The old man sized up Yan Liqiang with the help of the light from the shop. After coming to the conclusion that Yan Liqiang wasn’t a bad person by how he looked, dressed, and spoke, the old man patiently replied to him, “That was before. The distribution point now closes as soon as it gets dark…”
“Where is Manager Wang?”
“Manager Wang? You know him too…?”
“Yes, I do. We have known each other for many years. The last time I met him, he was still here…”
“I heard Manager Wang was summoned back to the Imperial Capital city a few months ago and he never returned. I wonder what happened to him too. The new owner is Manager Cao. He’s definitely not as friendly as Manager Wang…” The old tailor shook his head helplessly.
“When Manager Wang was still around, I could always air out my fabrics in the shop on sunny days. But when the new manager came, he told me to make sure that my drying pole doesn’t cross the corner of the wall, not even half an inch as it’d affect his business. How annoying…!”
……
Yan Liqiang’s heart sank when he left the distribution point. He knew that something bad had definitely happened to the newspaper office, but he couldn’t figure out the cause. By right, the Emperor and Sun Bingchen should be in total control of the current situation in the Imperial Capital. The newspaper office was under Eunuch Liu. The Emperor and Sun Bingchen were aware of how Fang Beidou and the rest were related to Yan Liqiang too. Even when Lin Qingtian was still in the Imperial Capital, nothing had happened to the newspaper office. So why did something happen to it now? It didn’t make any sense…
Yan Liqiang didn’t have anyone he knew well enough in Hui Provincial City to shed light on this matter. After pondering for a moment, he decided to be patient. He’d stay another day here, then make his way to the Imperial Capital early the next morning. Everything should be clear to him once he reached the Imperial Capital.
With that thought in mind, Yan Liqiang wandered around Hui Provincial City and found an ordinary inn to stay the night.
…
At midnight, Yan Liqiang snapped open his eyes while he was sleeping on the bed. With his current cultivation realm, his body remained extremely alert even though he was asleep. For a moment, he sensed someone zooming past the roof above him with a lightness skill technique. Although the sound of his clothes rustling against the wind was soft, it didn’t escape Yan Liqiang’s sense of hearing.
Yan Liqiang looked out of the window. It was an extremely cold night out there. The cold wind was howling and it was pitch black. This was the prime time for experts and Wanderers to start their night activities…
An Shidao mentioned that there had been an increase in Wanderers over at the capital regions lately. It would seem like that was true. When those people sensed chaos or great changes in an area, they’d come pouring in like sharks that smelled blood, looking for opportunities to exploit for riches and fame. In fact, Yan Liqiang spotted two of them staying in the same inn when he went to the dining hall for a meal earlier. Not only that, but a few of the patrons here were burly men who carried weapons, and they weren’t exactly your average good samaritans…
Yan Liqiang closed his eyes and continued sleeping without a care in the world. Judging from the lightness skill technique of the person who zoomed past the roof above Yan Liqiang just now, he was probably somewhere between a Martial Master and a Martial Grandmaster. People like him were no different than little animals who were out foraging at night. Yan Liqiang wasn’t interested in following them to see what they were up to.
However, in just less than eight minutes, Yan Liqiang detected some light movements on the roof again. Two whooshing noises were heard in the distance before someone swiftly landed on the roof above the room adjacent to Yan Liqiang’s room, where they stopped for a moment…
“So, did you receive any information…?”
“I just received it. They are at Chenghuang Temple, beside Yuhua Pavilion in the eastern part of the city. The Demon King’s men are headed there…”
“Go, don’t let them escape…!”
The people on the roof were talking incredibly softly, almost to the point of whispering. They probably never expected an expert in the Martial Ancestor realm like Yan Liqiang would be staying in an unremarkable inn under their feet. Many years of cultivating Muscle Tendon Changing and Marrow Cleansing had honed Yan Liqiang’s five senses beyond the average Martial Ancestor. If he focused, he could hear even the sounds of flowers blooming within seventy meters, let alone people speaking on the roof.
Yan Liqiang snapped his eyes open again as they immediately lit up. One of the White Lotus Society’s Four Great Defenders was nicknamed the Demon King!
As soon as the noise faded, Yan Liqiang rolled out of his bed and quickly got dressed. After thinking for a moment, he took out a black hood from his bag and wore it, leaving only his eyes exposed. Then, he picked up the sword beside him and gently pushed open the window. Like a wisp of smoke, he flipped out of the window and onto the roof.
He saw two black dots sprinting along the roofs about two hundred meters away and quickly followed behind them…