After listening to Wei Shengnan's words, I smiled and said, "Although I don't have a good impression of the Wei family, the thought that the immortal scripture I went through so much trouble to obtain can save a life makes it all worthwhile! Consider it as accumulating good karma for my tomb raiding!"
Wei Shengnan seemed unwilling to bring up these unpleasant things and changed the subject: "You just said that the people you were following were from the Five Poisons Sect. What is their purpose in coming to Fengmen Village?"
I explained, "According to them, these two siblings came here to eliminate a traitor and cleanse the Five Poisons Sect of its own filth."
Hearing what I said, Wei Shengnan's face turned even uglier: "According to you, they came here with a purpose, and they're probably not Duan Jinyan's people. Then, the little culprit we're keeping an eye on, isn't he...?"
"You can't be so absolute. Although the brother and sister claimed to be from the Five Poisons Sect, I haven't been able to verify it. Moreover, I've discovered that they're hiding many things from me, and I'm investigating their true identities."
I had considered Wei Shengnan's suggestion before, but I still said according to my own thoughts: "Even if Wang Qing and the others are really from the Five Poisons Sect, it won't stop them from working for Duan Jinyan. Their complicated identities will actually reduce the probability of them being suspected, right?"
Seeing how seriously I was speaking, Wei Shengnan subconsciously asked, "What did they do that aroused your suspicion?"
I looked into Wei Shengnan's eyes and replied calmly, "No, it's my experience that taught me not to believe anyone's lies, and to only believe what I see."
Wei Shengnan knew that the "experience" I was referring to was actually the incident where Song Laosan betrayed me, so she didn't reply: "Is there anything I can help you with?"
Although we are cooperating temporarily, the resentment between us is still there. Naturally, I don't want to owe Wei Shengnan a favor. I just raised a question that had been bothering me: "Since you know about the feud between the beautiful snake and Duan Jinyan, do you know if there are any other shareholders in Fengmen Village?"
Wei Shengnan was stumped by my question: "Shareholders? Isn't Fengmen Village the private property of the 'Snake Beauty'? How can there be other shareholders? Where did you hear this news?"
"As far as I know, besides the businesses they run themselves, there are also some privately owned gambling dens, brothels, and auction houses in Fengmen Village. These businesses have nothing to do with Fengmen Village. I suspect that they are either partners of the 'Beautiful Snake' or businesses run by some powerful backer."
Seeing that Wei Shengnan knew nothing about Fengmen Village, I took a puff of my cigarette and asked, "I'm curious, since you know nothing about Fengmen Village, how do you know about the past between the beautiful snake and Duan Jinyan?"
“My grandfather told me about this. He said that although Fengmen Village has developed into a very powerful village now, it was not this large in the early years. The predecessor of Fengmen Village was called the Poisonous Snake Society. At that time, the leader of this organization was the Beautiful Snake! This group of people also made money by tomb raiding and antiques. I heard that they had a conflict with the Four Gates. I feel that she may have taken her anger out on the Four Gates because of Duan Jinyan’s matter.”
Wei Shengnan paused for a moment: "Later, it is said that the Poisonous Snake Society and the Black Robe Society had a great battle in the Kunlun Mountains, which almost wiped out the Poisonous Snake Society. After that, the Beautiful Snake disappeared from the world of antiques. At that time, everyone thought that the Beautiful Snake had died. Who knew that a few years later, an organization called Fengmen Village suddenly appeared and stirred up the world of martial arts. Moreover, it openly declared that it would wipe out the Black Robe Society. Then, rumors began to circulate in the world of martial arts that the master of Fengmen Village was the Beautiful Snake who disappeared in the Kunlun Mountains."
"So, apart from this legend, no one has ever seen the beautiful snake in person?"
I frowned and analyzed, "In fact, the real beautiful snake might already be dead, and someone is impersonating her to start Fengmen Village, who knows?"
"I don't know about that. Fengmen Village is mysterious. My grandfather is an old hand in the world, and the feud between the beautiful snake and Duan Jinyan is related to the Four Gates. That's why he knows some things and told me to stop you from taking risks. I know nothing else."
After recounting the information he knew, Wei Shengnan paused for a moment: "But I think it's unlikely that someone is impersonating the Beautiful Snake. It's said that when Fengmen Village was first established, it wasn't this large. Back then, the Beautiful Snake would personally preside over some auctions. Later, as her business grew, she gradually retreated behind the scenes. I feel that the rumors about her in the martial arts world originated from this."
I thought that since Wei Shengnan knew about the feud between the beautiful snake and Duan Jinyan, she might be able to help me find out about Qu Xuelin and thus confirm Wang Qing and the others' identities as soon as possible.
After receiving this disappointing answer, I felt somewhat helpless: "Besides investigating the clues about the pigtail, have you investigated any information related to the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace?"
"We've been trying, but unfortunately we still don't have any answers."
As Wei Shengnan spoke of this, her expression became even more complicated: "We've been inquiring about the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace for the past two days. Strangely, the locals seem to know nothing about it. I even suspect that the beautiful snake doesn't know the true location of the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace either. She spread false information to lure Duan Jinyan and his men in. If Duan Jinyan comes, she'll either kill him to silence him or pry open his men's mouths to dig out information about him."
I thought about it for a moment and shook my head: "What you're saying doesn't make logical sense. If the snake beauty really wanted to deceive people, she should have spread the news everywhere. Why would she keep it so tightly under wraps?"
"The problem now is not how we make our guesses, but that we have no way to verify our guesses."
Wei Shengnan countered, "Have you found any information about the Miao Jiang Immortal Palace?"
I shrugged: "We're operating separately. I'm in charge of keeping an eye on Wang Qing, and Jiang Man is in charge of gathering intelligence. We haven't combined the information from both sides yet."
Wei Shengnan looked me up and down and smiled, "It seems that you and that Miss Jiang get along very well."
I did not deny Wei Shengnan's words: "At least Jiang Man trusts me and is worthy of my trust. That's much better than you guys who keep talking about being from the same clan, but always treat me as an enemy, right?"
"We are now partners, and negative emotions can affect your mindset and judgment."
Seeing that I was in a bad mood, Wei Shengnan immediately ended the conversation: "Our meeting point is at No. 16 Bingzi Street. If you have any problems, you can find us there."
I nodded, glancing out of the corner of my eye to see Wang Qing had already left the pharmacy, greeted Wei Shengnan, and then quickly walked away. I walked up to Wang Qing and asked, "How did it go? Any progress?"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com