Chapter 31 is somewhat similar to that person; she was dealing with Fu Ming, the number one traitor in the Three Realms…
Xiao Huaiyuan was indeed intentionally keeping Fu Ming waiting.
Although he was quite pleased with Fu Ming's rare show of submission, he simply grunted in response and went upstairs without looking back.
To deal with someone like Fu Ming who is clueless about human affairs and impervious to reason, it's best to use a strategy of feigning indifference to lure him in.
The wooden staircase, long neglected and creaking underfoot, sounded rather jarring to Fu Ming. This was the first time Fu Ming had been ignored by Xiao Huaiyuan since returning to the Tianyan Sect, and he felt inexplicably empty inside.
Fu Ming asked, puzzled, "Didn't you come to see the innkeeper? I've already put her at ease, so you can just ask her."
"The city lord has identified another informant who is hiding here."
Xiao Huaiyuan maintained his businesslike tone, but his voice rose slightly, suggesting he was in a good mood.
"I see," Fu Ming said generously, letting Xiao Huaiyuan leave. "Alright, you go search first. I'll stay here and interrogate the shopkeeper for a while."
They actually left just like that.
In a corner beyond his sight, Xiao Huaiyuan, whose spiritual connection with him had been severed, clenched his fist again. Fu Ming's remaining spiritual connection was too shallow and withdrew quickly; the tenderness vanished in just a few seconds, yet the heat lingered for a long time.
Before, I only hoped that my senior brother was well, but now I want to get closer to him. Human nature is indeed insatiable.
Fu Ming was completely unaware of this. He was still propping his arm up on the front desk, pointing at Xiao Huaiyuan's back, and advising Manager Wu to confess and be lenient, and resist and be punished severely.
"See the patterns on his robes? Only inner disciples of the Heavenly Evolution Sect can wear that. If you tell the truth, you can save your life, but if you dare to lie—"
Fu Ming grinned heartily, revealing his teeth, and as he spoke, he slashed his own neck with his palm.
Having managed the goods in the Ghost Market for many years under Lord Yun's guidance, Manager Wu could naturally tell that Xiao Huaiyuan's clothes were not those of an ordinary Tianyan Sect disciple, but she had never heard of any elder in the Tianyan Sect having homosexual tendencies.
To be on the safe side, she had no choice but to nod obediently.
"The first question is, what medicine did you give Fang Xiaohui and her brother?"
"Angelica sinensis, cinnabar, Coptis chinensis, blood of a newborn, fruit of an infant, and bones of a person who died a violent death, decocted with blood and seawater."
When she read out the name of the "pure blood," Fu Ming sensed something was wrong. After hearing the entire prescription, Fu Ming frowned even more, his expression as cold and austere as the snow of Kunlun Mountain that never melts.
He was constantly on the move, and occasionally he would set up his furnace to refine some antidote pills for himself, so he had some knowledge of pharmacology. Angelica, cinnabar, and coptis were commonly used to calm the mind, but as for the blood and bone ingredients, he had only seen those who refined evil seeds use them.
Destroying the mind while simultaneously calming the spirit—can this improve one's talent for demonic cultivation? I need to ask her for some dregs of the medicine after I finish asking.
Ouch, my lower back is really sore.
Fu Ming, who was in pain all over, plopped down on the table and forcibly took over Manager Wu's ledger and pen to record: "Second question, what did you do with the people you kidnapped?"
"Inferior products are used to test new drugs, substandard products are sold, better ones are auctioned off, and as for the best ones..."
"Keep the better ones?"
"That's beyond my knowledge."
"That's true, you're just a small fry yourself. The third question is, what are your criteria for selecting promising talents?"
"That all depends on Lord Yun's mood." The thin woman with prominent cheekbones suddenly laughed, looking Fu Ming up and down as if examining the quality of a piece of gold or silver jewelry. "With a face like yours, Lord Yun should like it."
Fu Ming felt a chill run down his spine.
What do you mean by "his appearance"? Why are you staring at a man's face like that? That old geezer might be gay.
Then, recalling the ambiguous words left by Lord Yun before he turned into a puppet, Fu Ming got goosebumps all over. Had they even met before? If he had known, he should have chopped him a few more times.
However, if they have indeed met, could his past fall into demonic possession be related to this Lord Yun?
Boom!
He smashed the other half of the table and chairs with his palm, and a violent vortex swirled in the inn, whipping the hair of the four people present.
Amidst the siblings' adoring exclamations, Fu Mingfu said gently, "When you speak, you'd better be careful. Just say what you know, and you don't need to use any other fancy words."
As the saying goes, brute force can overcome all methods, and Manager Wu finally spilled all the inside information she knew.
About fifty years ago, Lord Yun came to Yongcheng and established the Ghost Market. At first, it was just a place to sell products from the immortal and demon realms. After cooperating with the City Lord's Mansion, the Ghost Market expanded rapidly. They would send the low-level demon cultivators they captured into the Ghost Market through the intricate network of underground passages in Yongcheng. The Ghost Market would be refined into various kinds of devices, which they would then sell and share the profits with the City Lord's Mansion.
Tianxiang Tower was the first property established by Lord Yun. The clever and quick-witted girls there would be chosen to be Lord Yun's right-hand women and would also receive secret medicine to unlock their cultivation paths. However, she was unlucky and failed to succeed even after drinking the medicine.
"You should have said that earlier, so my hands wouldn't have gotten sore from chopping."
After writing the last stroke in bold, flowing cursive script, Fu Ming flicked his wrist.
He read through the entire confession and felt that something was missing.
Who is covering for the ghost market? This is something that Xiao Huaiyuan will probably have to investigate himself.
Speak of the devil and he appears.
Xiao Huaiyuan happened to come downstairs at that moment, and as he turned the corner, he saw Fu Ming with his legs crossed, beckoning to him.
Fu Ming casually tied his hair into a high ponytail, his black hair swaying gently with his movements, and his amber eyes shone with an astonishing brightness.
"Come here, I have something to ask you."
As if possessed, Xiao Huaiyuan held his breath and approached. Fu Ming tilted his head back and whispered in his ear, his warm breath spraying on the skin on the back of Xiao Huaiyuan's neck, which was very intimate.
They could clearly communicate through spiritual awareness, yet they went to such lengths to whisper; it was all for show.
Fu Ming asked in a whisper, "Have you found out who the Ghost Market's backer is?"
Suddenly, the character for "Buddha" was written on his palm, causing him great itching.
Oh, Buddhist practitioner.
There are countless paths to enlightenment, giving rise to numerous schools of cultivation. Buddhism is a relatively new and flourishing school, having only been around for a few centuries. In chaotic times, it is difficult to attain true freedom and longevity, so people turn to seeking peace of mind by escaping the world.
Taoist sects tend to accept disciples based on their aptitude, while ordinary temples will accept anyone to become a monk or nun who sweeps and chants scriptures.
Why do these monks who eat vegetarian food and chant Buddhist scriptures have to get involved with the blood-stained ghost market?
Just as Fu Ming was about to ask more questions, Xiao Huaiyuan pulled him into a dimly lit room.
"If you're curious, you can ask her." Xiao Huaiyuan seemed to have mastered the art of mind reading; before Fu Ming could even open his mouth, he considerately escorted him to the witness.
It was a disheveled woman bound by the Immortal Binding Lock. Fu Ming squatted down to look her in the eye before recognizing her.
Sister Song from Tianxianglou.
"Long time no see, Sister Song." Fu Ming greeted her politely.
Sister Song's face was still covered in dust from her hasty movements, and her eyes were filled with hatred. "You disguised yourself as Kouxiang to get close to us; you really had ulterior motives."
"Am I disguising myself as Kouxiang to get close to you, or do you intend to bring someone who looks like Kouxiang to Lord Yun? It's so hard to guess."
Fu Ming laughed and exposed her high-sounding excuse.
"Over the years, Wu Xue has done all sorts of shady things for Lord Yun, while you've been openly dealing with those important figures for him, haven't you?"
Sister Song's voice suddenly rose: "So what if it is? You will never find Lord Yun's whereabouts. One day he will return here."
Fu Ming added, "Is Lord Yun really that good to you? You work for him year-round without a break, and in the end, you still can't leave Tianxiang Tower."
"What do you know..." Sister Song was dazed, clutching her messy hair. Suddenly, she was captivated by a golden light and soon revealed the private relationship between the abbot of Yunshan Temple and Lord Yun.
Is it really necessary to waste so much breath?
Xiao Huaiyuan, who was watching from the sidelines, said he couldn't understand Fu Ming's actions.
"That's true, but don't you think it's a waste to simply kill such a highly skilled management expert?" Fu Ming seemed to have a new plan in mind.
Of course, they should be put through labor reform so that they can realize their greater value.
Fu Ming's labor reform camp on the back mountain of Changliu Mountain has now become a fully automated production line for generating moral character. If the system hadn't forcibly set a moral character cap of 70, he would now be a great philanthropist with a moral character value of 100.
However, it is worth mentioning that...
The use of persuasive rhetoric is an indispensable element in the creation of "Dragon Pride" novels.
"Do whatever you want."
Xiao Huaiyuan had already changed her self-positioning to that of her senior brother's virtuous wife, thus losing her last chance to stop Fu Ming's sudden inspiration.
A moment later.
They sat in the bright and spacious mansion of the city lord, next to the Gu Gongzi villa that had been destroyed by Fu Ming.
The living room was decorated in a magnificent style, with tables, chairs and curtains costing tens of thousands of spirit stones each. In particular, the brocade carpet with intertwined branches and light made meditation on it twice as effective.
Unfortunately, it's unusable now, because the unconscious city lord and Young Master Gu were tied up and thrown on the carpet, their bodies reeking of a pungent stench—they had been caught in the latrine.
"Should we also... reuse these two?" Xiao Huaiyuan asked, pausing for a moment.
Fu Ming covered his mouth and nose and commented, "Just kill them after the interrogation. They've committed many evils and are of no use anyway."
"..."
"You want to bring the ghost market into the open and confiscate it?" Yang Pei's lips twitched uncontrollably after hearing Fu Ming's idea.
Fu Ming smiled and nodded: "That's right."
Yang Pei turned to the other side: "Xiao Huaiyuan, can't you control your apprentice?"
Xiao Huaiyuan didn't look back at her, but simply lowered his head and took a sip of tea: "I can't control it."
However, Yongcheng has been a major commercial center since ancient times, so it seems possible to revive the Ghost Market. But there is already a large market in the city, so what can the Ghost Market sell?
"That's simple. In the Ghost Market, products from both the immortal and demon realms can be traded. Since it's the only place that does it, there will naturally be a market for them."
Hearing such blasphemous words, Yang Pei nearly spat out his tea, muttering under his breath, "How come your disciple looks so much like that person?"
She mouthed the name Fu Ming to Xiao Huaiyuan, which Fu Ming noticed.
Fu Ming asked, "Who is Senior Yang referring to?"
"The number one traitor in the Three Realms, Fu Ming."
"Does the senior hate him?"
"I wish I could kill him as soon as possible."
"Oh, really? Then I wish Senior Yang all your wishes come true soon."
Fu Ming simply uttered a few polite words without any emotional fluctuation, yet the listeners felt their hearts ache.
Xiao Huaiyuan reached under the table to grasp Fu Ming's hand, but the latter nimbly dodged it and then stood up.
Fu Ming: Excuse me, I'm going to take a stroll in the city.
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Author's Note: I've finished the line art for Fu Ming's character portrait, but Xiao Huaiyuan's clothes are still being designed. Let me see how to upload them [Let me see].
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