CHAPTER 86: CHAPTER 62: QI BLOOD GAUZE

"Go call Ah Le over," Lin Zheyu said.

"Yes, Yu," the young subordinate replied, and ran off to fetch him.

Joining the Feihong Gang was really a wise decision; having more people saved Lin Zheyu a lot of trouble.

Before long, a young man came running over, out of breath.

"Yu, you wanted to see me?" Ah Le asked.

"Hmm, do you know the old man, Chen Peijun, who lives in that house?" Lin Zheyu pointed to Chen Peijun’s yard and asked.

"Yes, I do," Ah Le nodded.

"Very good."

"Do you know where Mr. Chen is at this time?" Lin Zheyu continued to ask.

"Not sure, but I heard that old man has no respect for his age and likes to frequent the pleasure house. He might be at Baihua Tower," Ah Le said.

Chen Peijun was a reclusive person who rarely interacted with his neighbors.

But there were many rumors about Mr. Chen among the neighbors, saying that he had no respect for his age and loved to frequent the pleasure house.

"Let’s go check Zeyi Lake first."

Lin Zheyu thought for a moment and said.

If he’s at Baihua Tower, he might be hard to find; he could be in some room conducting real business.

According to that woman’s earlier statement, Mr. Chen had three major hobbies: fishing, listening to storytelling, and visiting pleasure houses.

Storytelling at Bidan Tea House usually happens in the afternoon, and visiting pleasure houses is more fun at night, so the greatest likelihood is that he’s fishing at the estuary of Zeyi Lake at this time.

"Alright, Zeyi Lake is this way. I’ll take you there," Ah Le nodded and said.

Zeyi Lake isn’t far from here, about three li to the north.

The scenery at Zeyi Lake is nice; many young gentlemen and ladies play here, and quite a few people hold fishing rods and fish.

"See if Mr. Chen is here," Lin Zheyu said to Ah Le.

"Alright, Yu."

Ah Le nodded and began searching around the lake.

Zeyi Lake is quite large, and there are many people fishing. If Ah Le were to run around the lake, it would take nearly half an hour.

Lin Zheyu found a spot by the side to sit down.

He didn’t know Chen Peijun, so he couldn’t help with the search and could only wait for Ah Le’s results.

After more than ten minutes, Ah Le came running, panting, with a face full of joy: "Yu, I found him, I found Mr. Chen!"

"Take me there!"

Lin Zheyu’s eyes lit up; they actually found him here.

He pulled out a hundred coins from his pocket and handed them over: "A reward for you, well done."

"Thank you, Yu!"

Ah Le said excitedly.

A hundred coins were not a small amount for him; as a patrol member of the Feihong Gang, his daily earnings were less than fifty coins.

Following Ah Le to the other side of the lake, Lin Zheyu finally formally met Mr. Chen Peijun.

"Yu, that’s Mr. Chen Peijun,"

Ah Le pointed to the man fishing and said.

Chen Peijun didn’t look like a man in his sixties; he appeared to be in good health, with a full head of black hair and a radiant glow. His body seemed robust, evidently from martial arts practice.

Taken such good care of, no wonder he could frequently visit pleasure houses.

"It’s him!"

Lin Zheyu had a faint impression of this man. Previously when he was storytelling at Bidan Tea House, Chen Peijun had been one of the regular customers.

He remembered most of the familiar faces that often appeared; he just didn’t know their names.

He carefully observed Chen Peijun; the old man’s strength was not bad, his aura resembled the Mid-Stage of the Bone Forging Realm.

This was all because he was old and his physical strength had declined, reducing his power.

In his younger years, his strength probably reached the Early Stage of the Refining Organ Realm.

After sending Ah Le off, Lin Zheyu walked toward Chen Peijun and sat down beside him.

"Isn’t this Mr. Lin? Have you come to see this old man?"

Chen Peijun sized up Lin Zheyu and said with a smile, having noticed him earlier.

As a regular at Bidan Tea House, he was quite impressed by this young storyteller.

"My name is Lin Zheyu, greetings Mr. Chen."

"This is an introduction letter from Mr. Wu; I wish to learn toxicology from you, Mr. Chen, and I’m wondering under what conditions you would be willing to teach me?"

Lin Zheyu handed over the introduction letter and directly stated his purpose.

"Oh?"

Chen Peijun was somewhat surprised upon hearing this.

He opened the letter and looked at it; it was indeed an introduction letter written by Mr. Wo.

"I remember you joined the Feihong Gang, right? Doesn’t the Feihong Gang supply poison powder and poisoned hidden weapons? Why go through the trouble of learning toxicology?"

Chen Peijun put away the letter and curiously asked.

"What I want to learn is how to identify and prevent poison, to avoid falling victim to someone else’s poison due to carelessness."

"Buying poison powder and hidden weapons is useless; what matters is how to defend against them," Lin Zheyu said.

"As expected of Mr. Lin, you really have insight. Unfortunately, I don’t take disciples and have no intention to teach you," Chen Peijun laughed.

He ignored Lin Zheyu and continued to focus on his fishing.

Lin Zheyu: "..."

Lin Zheyu was a bit speechless, feeling like Mr. Wu had deceived him.

Wasn’t Mr. Wu supposed to have some friendship with Mr. Chen, and a letter of introduction would grant him some respect?

And yet Mr. Wu dared to charge him a couple of silver pieces. He was definitely going to punish Mr. Wu when he got back.

"Is it really not possible?"

Lin Zheyu said unwillingly, "Mr. Wu charged me a couple of silver pieces and said you would give me some respect."

"Haha, that old man hasn’t changed a bit," Chen Peijun replied with a hearty laugh.

Back then, Mr. Wu indeed did him a favor, but that old chap had taken advantage of that little favor to milk countless benefits from him.

"Alright, but he should have mentioned that I have an eccentric personality and do everything as I please, right?"

"Teaching you isn’t out of the question, but I need you to do something for me," Chen Peijun said.