CHAPTER 50: CHAPTER 49: SECRET ELIXIR AND SCHEMES (PART 2)

Walking through the streets, he arrived at the Bidan Tea House.

On days when there was nothing to do, Lin Zheyu enjoyed visiting the tea house or Baihua Tower to cultivate his temperament a bit.

Although there weren’t many matters involving the Feihong Gang, many small ones could be dealt with by its underlings.

But Lin Zheyu, Jia Yanrong and a few others couldn’t roam freely as they needed to be prepared for any emergency that might arise.

With people from other cities flooding in, disturbances in Songyi City increased, but they were easily handled.

Today, being the Little New Year, there were more families dragging their kids along in the tea house.

Jia Yanrong and a few others were also there, but it was just the three of them, hanging out and laughing vulgarly.

The three of them were big fans of the Legend of the Condor Heroes stories, and since Lin Zheyu often came here for tea, this place gradually became their base of operations.

They would hang around here from time to time to drink, gamble a bit, and gossip.

"It’s the Little New Year, why aren’t you fellows home helping out, what are you doing here?"

Lin Zheyu walked over and sat down with them.

"Ah, staying home is boring, my wife and parents keep nagging, it’s quite annoying," Jia Yanrong said impatiently.

The other two nodded in agreement.

These scoundrels were not the type to care for their families, always wandering outside, Lin Zheyu felt sorry for their wives, but he didn’t say much.

"Yesterday Mr. Xu called you over, was there some good news?" Xie Jiang asked curiously.

"Just went over for a little drink, met Mr. Chen and Mr. Ren," said Lin Zheyu.

"That’s it?"

"That’s it, what more are you expecting?"

Lin Zheyu gave him a glance; he didn’t want to tell this gossiping guy that Xu Qinyi wanted to introduce a girl to him.

If he said it, it would probably spread throughout the Feihong Gang by tomorrow.

He took a sip of tea and changed the subject, "Do you know the City Lord’s cultivation level?"

He had asked Mr. Xu before, but Mr. Xu didn’t say.

Later, he secretly asked around, but not many people knew much about the City Lord.

The City Lord always kept a low profile, many of the city’s citizens only knew about the officials at the yamen and didn’t even know that Songyi City had a City Lord.

"City Lord?"

"Why are you asking this question?"

Jia Yanrong asked in puzzlement, in his personal opinion, the City Lord didn’t have much of a presence.

"I’m not sure, I just know the City Lord’s surname is Chen, named Chen Qingfeng, who was assigned from the Great Wei Palace."

"He’s been in Songyi City for over ten years, hasn’t made much of a presence. The City Lord’s term is twenty years, and he’ll be transferred away in a few more years, to be replaced by another official," Xie Jiang said.

"Have you seen him take action in all the years you’ve been in Songyi City?" Lin Zheyu asked.

He had searched through his predecessor’s memory after returning home that day, but his impression of the City Lord of Jiunan City was extremely vague.

The predecessor focused solely on studying; the memory was full of endless holy books.

"Nope."

Jia Yanrong and Xie Jiang both shook their heads.

"I did hear some rumors about the City Lord, but you guys mustn’t tell anyone."

Ning Hui carefully looked around, ensuring no one was eavesdropping, then continued speaking quietly.

Such a cautious appearance instantly piqued the curiosity of a few.

"Especially you, Xie Jiang, swear you won’t tell anyone, or you can’t listen." Ning Hui looked at Xie Jiang, full of distrust.

Xie Jiang looked at Ning Hui speechlessly, muttering under his breath.

But he reluctantly swore a venomous oath because he was also very curious!

"Over a decade ago, Songyi City had five major families, now only three remain, do you know why?"

Ning Hui said mysteriously.

"Wasn’t it said that there was a sudden plague, and the people of those two families all died?" Jia Yanrong said.

He was young then but had some impression that many people died.

On one night, without any warning, two of the five big families in Songyi City vanished overnight, silently, completely wiped out.

Even some nearby farmers and many people in the city quietly disappeared that night.

Subsequently, the government began to investigate, and shortly after, they provided an explanation, saying a deadly epidemic broke out in the city.

"That was just the official explanation."

"I heard that the City Lord took action and wiped those two families out overnight!" Ning Hui whispered.

"What, really?" Jia Yanrong exclaimed in shock.

"Where did you hear this rumor? I haven’t heard about it?"

Xie Jiang, with some skepticism, questioned, "And what on earth did they do, to be wiped out without a trace?"

Jia Yanrong also raised the question, "Those two families disappeared overnight without a trace, all dead."

"If it was the City Lord who acted, how terrifying must the City Lord’s strength be!"

Lin Zheyu thought of this as well.

Silently wiping out two families, including martial artists in the Qi Blood realm, was unimaginable.

"I have my sources."

"Come, get closer, make sure no one else overhears."

"My dad, a few years before the incident, was a manager at the Bai Mansion, later he was kicked out for committing a crime, but he knew the Bai Mansion very well."

"According to him, the Bai Family might have been involved in a rebellion!"

Ning Hui lowered his voice, saying solemnly.

"What!"

Jia Yanrong couldn’t help but blurt out, only to have Ning Hui cover his mouth, eyes showing a don’t-you-dare-look as if to say, "I’ll break you."

"Really?" Xie Jiang was also startled.

"Really, why would I deceive you guys."

"Remember that great famine more than a decade ago?"

"During the famine, a nursery rhyme circulated in Songyi City, something like ’The Yellow Heaven is dead, The Vast Heaven shall stand, the year is whatever.’"

"Those who spread the rhyme were caught and executed."

"By chance, my dad found out that the Bai Family was secretly worshiping other gods, called the Supreme Emperor of the Vast Heaven."

"That’s a title only the first ancestor of the dynasty can have!"

Ning Hui whispered, "So I suspect that they were secretly involved in rebellion and were wiped out overnight after the City Lord found out."

Xie Jiang: "..."

Jia Yanrong: "..."

Lin Zheyu: "..."

Hearing this rumor, the few were somewhat shocked.

Ning Hui, seeing their astonished looks, felt triumphant.

"You guy didn’t make up the story to fool us, did you?"

Xie Jiang recovered a bit but still didn’t quite believe it.

Even if those two families were truly involved in rebellion, the City Lord was too powerful.

What kind of strength would it take to silently erase two families with Qi Blood realm warriors overnight?

"It’s true, why would I lie to you about this?" Ning Hui earnestly said.

"I’ve heard of this Supreme Emperor of the Vast Heaven title before."

Lin Zheyu said, "Wasn’t there a time I was a refugee? Among the refugees, I heard the name of this Supreme Emperor of the Vast Heaven."

"Many would refer to him directly as Emperor of the Vast Heaven, crafting clay idols and worshiping, praying to survive."

Among refugees, there were many random deities worshipped.

But those who worshiped the Emperor of the Vast Heaven were the most, as if someone was intentionally spreading it in secret.

Lin Zheyu didn’t pay much attention at the time; when facing despair, people tend to believe in some vague gods, hoping for miracles to happen.

He even secretly prayed to Jesus, Bodhisattva, Buddha, God, and other past life deities all in one go.

But it was of no use.

If it weren’t for Ren Qingying from the Ren Family distributing porridge, and he fiercely competing for a bowl, he would have probably been long gone.