Chapter 455 - 451: Retaliation
After returning to the inn, Qin Li had someone bring him water for a bath. Once he had washed away his fatigue, he lay down on the bed to rest for a while when there was a sudden knock on the door. He opened it to find an attendant from the inn. The attendant bowed to Qin Li and said, "Sir, there is someone outside who wishes to see you."
Qin Li swept the area with his Divine Sense and discovered that the person waiting outside was none other than that young master, Peng. He was waiting outside alone.
"Please show him in," Qin Li said, putting on an outer robe.
The young man named Peng was still wearing the same sapphire-blue robes. After entering, he gave Qin Li a slight bow, his face sincere. "Thank you for your guidance earlier, friend. Otherwise, we would still be in the dark."
Qin Li smiled faintly. "It was nothing. I was just lending a hand." As he spoke, Qin Li invited the young man to sit down.
After sitting down, the young man said, "My name is Peng Shuai, a disciple of the Qianye Sect from Tongtian City. And you are, friend?"
Qin Li shook his head slightly. "I’m not from Tongtian City. I came here to handle some other matters. By the way, which sect is that person, Wen Bin, a disciple of?"
At this, a flash of anger crossed Peng Shuai’s face. He said indignantly, "Don’t get me started. I actually came here to warn you. You must be careful of Wen Bin’s retaliation! And that young man impersonating Master Jin—I just did some digging. He’s not just some nobody."
"Oh? Tell me more."
"I’ve known Wen Bin for many years. He’s a disciple of the Iron Fist Sect in Tongtian City, and his father is a powerful Elder in the sect. That’s why I never imagined he would conspire with others to scam me. The Iron Fist Sect is quite powerful, on par with my Qianye Sect. Most importantly, behind the Iron Fist Sect is the Li Family—the family of Tongtian City’s City Lord!"
Peng Shuai spoke with resentment, then sighed. "In comparison, our Qianye Sect has always been peaceful. Our disciples rarely go out looking for trouble, and we disdain currying favor with powerful factions, so..."
Peng Shuai trailed off, but Qin Li understood. ’So, the Iron Fist Sect is one of those groups with powerful backers. That’s probably why that young man, Wen Bin, dared to threaten me so brazenly and showed no remorse for cheating Peng Shuai.’
"And the one impersonating Master Jin? What’s his background?" Qin Li asked, recalling what Peng Shuai had just said.
"That one... his background is even more formidable!" Peng Shuai took a deep breath, looked at Qin Li, and asked, "The Hai Family... have you heard of them?"
"The Hai Family? You mean Hai Jinzun’s Hai Family?"
"That’s right, that very same Hai Family! In the entire Land of the Far West, almost no one dares to provoke them. Only a handful of sects can stand against them. If you offend the Hai Family, you might as well be half-dead! If they get serious, you can just wait for death. There would be nowhere to run, not even to the ends of the earth!"
As he said this, a regretful look appeared on Peng Shuai’s face. "This is all my fault. I’ve dragged you into this. If I hadn’t taken my junior sister to pick out a Spiritual Artifact today, you wouldn’t have spoken up for us..."
Qin Li waved his hand, cutting Peng Shuai off. Internally, his impression of this exceptionally kind-hearted young man improved immensely. He smiled and said, "It’s fine. I’m not afraid of them. Don’t tell me this guy impersonating Master Jin is actually a member of the Hai Family?"
𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎
Peng Shuai nodded. "Master Jin is a legendary figure in the Land of the Far West, renowned for refining Spiritual Artifacts. Any Spiritual Artifact he creates is incredibly valuable and expensive. But Master Jin is an elusive figure; very few people have ever seen him. He loves wine as much as his own life and has often been known to refine a Spiritual Artifact for someone in exchange for a pot of wine. That’s why he has the nickname ’Drunken Immortal’! Master Jin’s status is extremely high throughout the Land of the Far West. You don’t seem to be from around here, so you might not have heard about these things."
Qin Li nodded. "You’re right, I’m not from here."
Peng Shuai continued, "Besides Master Jin, there are many other Artifact Refiners in the Land of the Far West, and the vast majority of them are from the Hai Family. Their skill levels are a mixed bag—some are good, some are not. The Hai Family’s Spiritual Artifact shops do excellent business. Usually, you can’t just buy a Spiritual Artifact with money; you have to make an appointment in advance... Then, last year, Wen Bin suddenly found me. He mysteriously told me that Master Jin was staying with him and warned me not to tell anyone, saying Master Jin enjoys his wine and his quiet..."
At this point, Qin Li had a good idea of how the whole scam had been put together. ’You can’t really say Peng Shuai wasn’t cautious enough. Most people would fall for something like this. Subconsciously, no one would think someone would dare to impersonate a great figure of the Grandmaster Level, especially in broad daylight. You’d assume a con artist wouldn’t have that much nerve.’
’In reality, con artists are often far bolder than we imagine! If they weren’t bold, how could they dare to scam people?’
"Sigh... That fake Master Jin... I managed to find out with some difficulty that before he moved into that shop, he was living with the Hai Family. It’s obvious he’s one of them. And judging by his age, it’s unlikely he even refined this batch of fake Spiritual Artifacts himself. This means it’s highly possible that the Hai Family orchestrated this whole thing! At the very least, some of their higher-ups must have known about it! That’s why I came straight to you as soon as I found out. If you don’t have anything urgent here, you should leave this place at once! Offending people like them will not end well. If there’s something you need done, and I can handle it for you, just let me know!"
Qin Li smiled. "It’s nothing particularly important, so I won’t trouble you. But thank you for coming to tell me all this. I do have a couple of other questions I’d like to ask you, though."
"Oh, go ahead," Peng Shuai said. His impression of Qin Li was also very good. Moreover, Qin Li gave him an unfathomable feeling, as if he weren’t facing a young man his own age, but an old monster whose power was as vast as the ocean.
"Do you know the exact locations of two sects, Moon Shaking Immortal Palace and Lengqiu Palace?" If Peng Shuai hadn’t been so honest and kind, Qin Li would never have asked such a question. This was especially true for Lengqiu Palace, where he needed to go to search for the Ancient Map. If word of this got out, it would undoubtedly alert them.
’This was different from him openly causing trouble. Lengqiu Palace had no idea that he was actively looking for them. These were two separate matters and needed to be treated as such.’
"Moon Shaking Immortal Palace? Lengqiu Palace? Why... why are you looking for those sects?" After asking, Peng Shuai realized his slip of the tongue and quickly added, "I’m not trying to interrogate you. It’s just that one of those sects is widely recognized as a super-sect in the Land of the Far West, with experts as numerous as the clouds. The other is absurdly low-profile, never accepts disciples from the outside, and never gets into conflicts with other powers, but is still acknowledged as being very strong. As for their specific locations... Moon Shaking Immortal Palace is on Crescent Mountain, fifteen hundred li west of Tongtian City. The thousand-li radius around it is all their territory. As for Lengqiu Palace, that sect is located by Netherworld Lake, more than three thousand li north of Tongtian City. That place is remote and desolate, with complex terrain. If you’re not one of them, even a Martial Artist at the Venerable Realm could easily get trapped inside."
"Heh, thank you very much!" Qin Li stood up, nodded at Peng Shuai, and said, "It is inconvenient for me to give you my name, but will this matter have any impact on your Qianye Sect?"
Peng Shuai said bitterly, "What impact could it have? They were the ones in the wrong. If this got out, it would be embarrassing for the Iron Fist Sect, the Li Family, and even the Hai Family. As for us, we suffered a loss, but we can only swallow it. If we made it public, we’d just be embarrassing ourselves too! Actually, it’s for the best. This whole affair has shown me the true colors of a ’friend.’ I’ll just stop associating with him from now on."
Qin Li smiled. "That’s for the best. You should head back now. If you stay too long, it might cause other problems. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be leaving after today."
Peng Shuai nodded. "Then take care, friend!" With that, he stood up and left.
After Peng Shuai was gone, Qin Li returned to his room, a faint, unreadable smile playing on his lips. He muttered to himself, "The Li Family... the Hai Family... Heh, interesting!"
In his heart, Qin Li didn’t think much of it. ’If they’re smart, they won’t come looking for trouble with me over this. After all, they’re the ones in the wrong. Being known as con artists isn’t a good look, and if this incident blows up, it won’t do them any good.’
Unfortunately, Qin Li had overestimated the character of Wen Bin and the young man impersonating Master Jin. The moment Qin Li left, the two of them began plotting how to eliminate him.
Their reasoning was simple. On one hand, they resented Qin Li for exposing their scam. On the other, they were afraid he would spread the story. If it really got out, the Iron Fist Sect, the Li Family, and the Hai Family would all lose face.
Therefore, they decided that killing him to silence him was the best solution!
To silence him, they first needed to estimate Qin Li’s strength and plan for all contingencies. In other words, even if they failed to kill him, they couldn’t leave behind any evidence. Otherwise, their clever plan would backfire horribly.
Wen Bin, the fake Master Jin, and the shop attendant all concluded that Qin Li had to be at least at the Shattered Void Realm. This was because all three of them were Martial Artists of the Venerable Realm. Wen Bin, in particular, had already reached the Celestial Venerable Realm, while the fake Master Jin was an Earth Venerable.
In Qin Li’s presence, they felt he was completely unfathomable, but they didn’t believe his strength could have reached the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm.
While there were quite a few Martial Artists at the Pill Nascent Soul Transformation realm in the Land of the Far West, it was nearly impossible to find one as young as Qin Li! As con artists, they were naturally more observant than most and could tell that Qin Li wasn’t just someone who looked young—he was genuinely young!