Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
They were really lucky to find traces of Jiang Kuai. He must not let this clue go to waste. Chu Li wished he had a pair of wings to fly there. To him, a thousand miles was not far at all.
“Don’t you need to go back and prepare?” Su Ru said, “Get some clothes to change.”
Chu Li shook his head and said, “I don’t have time to care about that. This is a rare opportunity. I’ll go immediately, I might be able to reach there overnight!”
“Very well.” Xiao Qi nodded slightly and said, “Be careful of Jiang Kuai. Not only is his Light-body Technique peerless, his martial arts are very powerful too. It was said that he has a profound fist technique. Do not think that only his Light-body Technique is good and overlook his fist technique!”
Chu Li smiled. “This is only natural. I will take my leave now!
Xiao Qi waved her hand slightly. “Go.”
“Chu Li, wait a moment. I’ll get some things for you,” Su Ru said in a hurry and quickly left.
She brought a bag and handed it to Chu Li. “There is some food inside. Since you have to run for one night, you’ll need to eat something.”
Chu Li took the bag with a smile and then disappeared in a flash.
He exerted Imminent Skyline to the best of his ability. The surrounding spiritual force, like a raging tidal bore, turned into inner energy immediately after entering his body, supporting the continuous display of Imminent Skyline.
When dawn arrived, Chu Li had reached the Min State Town.
Tracing the unique symbol used by the Public House, he found a household.
One could tell that it was a wealthy family. The door was big and the courtyard was enormous. The residence had four layers, with a backyard garden. It was magnificent and majestic.
Chu Li went into the residence directly in a flash and appeared in front of the woodshed. This woodshed had the unique symbol of the Yi Public House.
He knocked on the door and there came a thunderous voice. “Who is it?”
“It is I, Chu Li,” he replied.
The door of the woodshed opened. The person inside was a tall and heavily built brawny man. He was more than thirty years old, with a dark complexion and a pair of bright piercing eyes. His spiritual force full and strong.
He appeared to know some martial arts but he had not reached the Innate Mastery’s Boundary.
Chu Li handed a white jade waist tag to him. “Yi Public House’s rank four Scribe Chu Li.”
A rank four Scribe’s waist tag was made of white jade. It was warm and translucent, a peerless jade, highlighting the wealth of the Yi Public House. This piece of fine jade could definitely be sold for at least 10,000 taels silver.
“Please, come in!” the brawny man looked at the jade tag carefully and handed over his ebony waist tag to Chu Li. “Mo Ta. You can call me Elder Mo Ta!”
Chu Li cast a glance at the ebony waist tag and stepped into the woodshed. He did not sit down but said instead, “Brother Mo Ta, let’s just skip the courtesy. This is urgent. Where is Jiang Kuai?”
“Can’t find him anymore.” Mo Ta touched his head and gave an awkward and bitter smile.
Chu Li lifted one brow.
Mo Ta sighed. “I did not see Jiang Kuai with my own eyes. One of my informants met Jiang Kuai in the restaurant, but he immediately lost him!”
Chu Li frowned and pondered.
Mo Ta said, “Maybe Jiang Kuai is not in the Min State Town anymore. This guy is very vigilant. Once he found out that someone was trailing him, he immediately fled and was gone in an instant!”
Chu Li nodded. This was indeed Jiang Kuai’s style. Once he sensed that something was wrong, he would run away. Obeying the rule of “of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, fleeing is best” 1 .
“I asked someone to inquire about Jiang Kuai’s whereabouts too but no one has seen him again, so I suspect that he has left.”
Chu Li sighed. “What a difficult guy to catch!”
“He’s a slippery guy. I had mobilized the informants all over the town but still, nobody saw him so he probably has left,” Mo Ta said apologetically. “It’s all my fault. I should have told them to pretend that they did not know anything after seeing him and not to track him.”
“Even if they did not track him, Jiang Kuai would not have stayed for long too.” Chu Li waved his hand. “He will not stay in the same place for a long time.”
Mo Ta nodded. “I’m really sorry for troubling you to come here for naught!”
Chu Li said, “Not necessarily for naught… I still need Brother Mo Ta’s help for one thing.”
“Please say,” Mo Ta replied hurriedly.
He felt a little guilty. What he did was a little unfair. Mo Ta was afraid that the Public House would blame him for his negligence. Just when he was a little hesitant about reporting the situation, someone from the Public House had arrived.
“Can you hang a white cloth at the highest point of the town with ‘Jiang Kuai is a son of a bitch’ written on it?” asked Chu Li.
“Ah—?” Mo Ta’s eyes widened.
Chu Li smiled. “Since he does not show up in public, we can curse him and see whether he is in the town or not.”
“This… ” Mo Ta smiled bitterly. “Doing this is… ”
“Underhanded?” Chu Li smiled. “He stole our things. Scolding him a little is nothing much, right?”
“Of course cursing him in private is nothing.” Mo Ta gave a wry smile. “But to hang it in such a high place, isn’t it going overboard?”
“It’s to force him out.” Chu Li shrugged and said, “We can only use such a strategy.”
“But his Light-body Technique is peerless, even if he really shows up, we can’t do anything to him, can’t’ we?” Mo Ta said.
Chu Li said, “If he appears, leave the rest to me.”
“It seems that Brother Chu’s Light-body Technique is quite good.” Mo Ta laughed.
It was no wonder. Since the Yi Public House sent him here, he must be someone who had an extraordinary Light-body Technique. Otherwise, he did not have to come here. In addition, Chu Li arrived here so quickly thus his Light-body Technique was indeed incredible.
“I’ll count on Brother Mo Ta.” Chu Li waved his hand.
“Jiang Kuai’s Light-body Technique is top-notch so he is very arrogant. Although he knows that this is a trap, he will still show up.” Mo Ta snorted, “This unbridled guy will definitely tear this piece of white cloth down!”
Chu Li smiled.
Jiang Kuai was not a person with great evil intent, he just liked to snatch things and called it an act of robbing the rich to assist the poor.
With this style of conduct, he had offended a lot of people but he was still able to live as a free man. There were two reasons: one was that he had excellent Light-body Technique and second was that he was indeed very cautious. Jiang Kuai might not necessarily fall into the trap.
However, this time, he had gone too far. The Longevity Grass was a life-saving item. Snatching it was the equivalent of ending the Second Lady’s life. It was tantamount to murder.
“Brother Chu, please take a break in my place. I’ll send someone immediately to carry out the task,” Mo Ta said.
Chu Li nodded slightly and gave a fist salute. “I have troubled you.”
Mo Ta waved his hand. “This is within the scope of my job. You don’t have to be so polite.”
He had a vigorous and resolute temper. He gave Chu Li a fist salute and turned to go out, closing the woodshed door as he left.
Chu Li sat on the bed and meditated.
Manifesting Imminent Skyline and running overnight with endless inner energy was a huge burden on his body. Luckily, Chu Li’s Sentient Menace had reached the fourth level so he was able to bear the brunt of it.
At noon, Mo Ta returned and brought Chu Li some food and wine.
They drank wine and ate food while they chatted.
Mo Ta told Chu Li about what he did. He bribed the largest restaurant in town and replaced its signboard with the white cloth, fluttering in the breeze it was visible to the whole Min State Town.
Mo Ta laughed and said that as long as Jiang Kuai was still in town, he would definitely come unless he is willing to be deemed a coward.
Having peerless Light-body Technique and towering arrogance, how could Jiang Kuai be able to tolerate this? If he really could swallow his pride, then Mo Ta would have to hand it to him and admire him from the bottom of his heart!
Chu Li listened to Mo Ta’s laughter, shook his head and laughed too in spite of himself.
“Brother Chu, tonight we guard the restaurant and see if he shows up!”
“It’s okay, I’m fine on my own.”
“You alone?” Mo Ta frowned. “More people, more power.”
Chu Li shook his head and said, “There’s no use even if there’s a lot of people.”
“… Okay.” When Mo Ta saw that Chu Li was very confident, he had a sudden interest to watch the show, to see if this rank four Scribe sent by the Yi Public House indeed had an amazing Light-body Technique.
In his heart, he admired Chu Li and was a little jealous of him too.
With his martial arts, Mo Ta could only stay in this remote Min State Town. In comparison with Chu Li, they were like heaven and earth!
Mo Ta would like to see what skills Chu Li had. If things were screwed up, the Yi Public House would know that it was not due to his incompetence, but that it was because Jiang Kuai was too powerful!
Chu Li could see through his thoughts clearly but he pretended to be oblivious. This was human nature so one could be overly critical. It would be fine as long as Mo Ta did not obstruct him.