Chapter Eighty-Five: The Dirty Beard

Issue 1 of 3

Jiang Xiaotian saw it was indeed a fleeting message, the kind that would delete itself after being read.

It was brief and to the point, yet it covered almost everything major that had happened in Dragon City over the past few days.

After reading it, he was rather startled. Before he had uploaded the briefing, the Zhao family and the Ouyang family had already openly declared war on each other. It was the sort of feud from which there could be no reconciliation.

But that made sense. If someone tried to ruin the heir of my family, I would fight them to the death too.

As for the others, things seemed fairly stable. At least for now, everything was calm: no one had been injured, and no one had been exposed. Compared with them, Jiang Xiaotian had been the most restless, the one whose path had twisted and turned the most.

Yet he was also the most unfortunate, and in another sense the most fortunate, because the coordinate point from yesterday had been the place where the body was found.

After reading this, Jiang Xiaotian roughly understood the situation.

Someone had been killed again last night, and it had happened near City Park. But Jiang Xiaotian’s martial path had never belonged to ordinary human beings, so it was only natural that he stood out. After the masked man discovered that, he had gone straight in to seize the prey for himself—only to have someone else intervene and ruin everything.

Now the local authorities in Dragon City had also joined the investigation, though they trusted Eagle Hunt more, so they did not look too deeply into it.

Jiang Xiaotian felt a little guilty. No wonder those two girls had such a bad opinion of him. While he had been eating, drinking, and enjoying himself in White Gold, people had been dying in Dragon City all along, and by the time he arrived it was already very late. No matter what major upheaval was about to unfold here, the struggle between the Zhao and Ouyang families would surely be the spark that set everything else alight.

But because of confidentiality rules, Jiang Xiaotian had no idea how far the others had progressed.

He only knew everything that the martial world of Dragon City was allowed to know. Any finer details would have to be uncovered by himself.

Just as he was still digesting the news, a commotion suddenly rose outside the alley.

These beggars were astonishingly alert, and all woke at once.

One of the bolder ones stuck his head out to look, then quickly pulled it back in, terror flooding his face. "Damn it! The police! Why are they coming here to arrest people!"

Those words instantly set everyone off. Like ants on a hot pan, they all began to scatter in panic, hurriedly rolling up their bedding and running for it.

Jiang Xiaotian did not understand what was happening, but at a time like this, any unexpected event could no longer count as unexpected. So he mixed in with the others and ran as well. He had nothing on him anyway, so he slipped away faster than anyone.

When he had run far enough and looked back, he saw that the officers had indeed charged into the alley, and several beggars who had not had time to finish packing were pinned to the ground on the spot, all of them handcuffed.

That kind of scene did not look like a joke. Something serious had definitely happened.

Jiang Xiaotian did not dare linger, and he certainly did not dare keep following the crowd, because even the sirens had started blaring. It was obvious they meant to wipe these beggars out completely.

Yet what he had not expected was that no matter where he ran, that filthy-bearded old man would run there too, and even drag the others along with him.

In the middle of a public street, Jiang Xiaotian could not openly use spiritual energy. As expected, everyone was soon caught.

He was speechless. This bastard was leading him into a trap.

But very quickly, Jiang Xiaotian realized things were not so simple.

The officers did not take them away. Instead, they gathered everyone in an abandoned open lot beside an empty building.

Issue 2 of 3

Everyone squatted there, trembling.

Though these people were usually fierce and rowdy, and behind the officers' backs they cursed them with every filthy word they knew, now they were calling everyone brother, as affectionate as could be.

Yet whoever spoke got beaten. Jiang Xiaotian watched closely, and his suspicion about these people's identities grew stronger and stronger.

They were left there waiting, with no one allowed to escape, but no one was lectured or punished either. No one knew what purpose this served.

After a long while, a car pulled up, and an old man stepped out.

When Jiang Xiaotian saw him, his eyes narrowed at once.

Was that not Zhao Yin?

Only now he looked far more exhausted, his face terribly grim. He must have had a miserable time since last night.

The moment he got out, he spat on the ground, then glared at everyone there. "A pack of social trash! You should have died long ago!"

Quite a few people looked up at him, but no one dared answer back. They were used to keeping their heads down. They were not even angry, only puzzled as to why this man had started cursing them the moment he arrived.

Jiang Xiaotian quickly suppressed his aura to the very lowest level. He cultivated spiritual energy, which ordinary martial artists generally could not detect.

And indeed, Zhao Yin swept his gaze across everyone without pausing on Jiang Xiaotian for even a moment.

After one round, he felt vaguely suspicious, but there were clearly no martial artists here.

"Damn it!" Zhao Yin was so furious his beard trembled.

He had almost finished searching through every beggar he could find in Dragon City, and still had not discovered any trace of that brat from last night.

But Zhao Yin had already sworn that he would find him and make him pay blood for blood. If that man had not suddenly appeared and ruined his plan, how could his family have been driven into such a dilemma?

Zhao Zheng was even more furious, and he had made it clear: if the mysterious man could not be found, then Zhao Yin would die in his place.

"I have some questions for you. Whoever gives an answer I find useful, I will let go." Zhao Yin said with a dark face as he walked to the front.

The beggars seemed to have forgotten the fact that he had just been cursing them. They muttered among themselves, all eager to answer well in hopes of being released.

"First: among you, is there anyone especially good at fighting? Someone very skilled?"

As soon as he asked, the beggars began chattering all at once, immediately naming several people who were good in a fight.

Following his principle of not letting a single one slip through, Zhao Yin carefully examined each person in turn. But they were just ordinary people, and no matter how thoroughly he checked, he would find nothing.

By the time he reached the last person, his hands were shaking. He was not only angry, but afraid.

If he truly could not find that man, how could his own young master, with that brutal and violent temperament, ever spare him?

Jiang Xiaotian remained mixed in with the crowd, silent as ever. To avoid the masked man, he had even changed into loose clothing, so his build looked somewhat different from yesterday, and his voice was different too. Under normal circumstances, he should not have been recognized.

Issue 3 of 3

But whether Zhao Yin had truly run out of options or had simply lost his temper, his eyes suddenly reddened and he barked the order directly: "Then kill them all! They're nothing but a bunch of beggars. If anything goes wrong, my Zhao family will take the blame!"

Even the officers were startled. Their brows tightened, and they felt the demand was unreasonable.

The beggars were even more terrified. Some were already trying to flee outright, their cries of fathers and mothers filling the air.

But Zhao Yin did not care about them. Better to kill a hundred by mistake than let one escape.

If everyone here died, they would only be a bunch of beggars, and it would at least prove the person he was looking for was not among them. If anyone dared resist, then heh...

Zhao Yin had already gone somewhat mad.

He paid no heed to the officers' warning and acted at once, seizing an old man beside him and trying to twist off his head.

Jiang Xiaotian moved slightly. Zhao Yin had gone insane, actually trying to use a silencing massacre in broad daylight to find someone. He could not stand by and watch innocent people die before his eyes.

Besides, at this point, it was only a matter of time before he was exposed.

But before he could move, the filthy-bearded old man who had been hiding behind Jiang Xiaotian suddenly shot out in front of Zhao Yin and sent him flying back with a single palm strike.

Zhao Yin froze, then erupted with wild delight.

"Hahahaha! So you really did reveal yourself! You piece of trash! I didn't expect you to be some useless old relic after all! Today I will kill you for sure! I will tear you to pieces!"

Laughing, he waved his hand, and the remaining Zhao family members immediately escorted the officers on the scene away.

The beggars were even more terrified by the sudden turn of events, their souls nearly leaving their bodies.

When had they ever seen immortals fighting?

But Jiang Xiaotian still stood rooted to the spot, utterly shocked.

He had not expected this filthy-bearded old man to be no ordinary person at all.

The old man seemed to glance back at him, then laughed heartily. "The Zhao family has come to this at last! Serves you right! Every last one of the Zhao family deserves to die! One day, all of you will end up in hell!"

"Don't worry. If someone has to die, it'll be you first!" Zhao Yin said, and then charged frantically at the filthy-bearded old man.

He surged forward with a gale of inner force, scattering everyone in all directions.

"Hide," the filthy-bearded old man said lightly to Jiang Xiaotian, then fled outward at once.