All-class Gu Immortal

Chapter 60 Demon-Slaying Blade, Fiery Wine
"Yes, Master." Zhou Qing bowed respectfully as Wei Sheng appeared.

"So it's Master Wei. Greetings, Master Wei." The young man had lost the imposing manner he had when facing his apprentice; his confidence seemed to have been completely drained.

Wei Sheng ignored the young constable and instead put his hands behind his back, looking at the middle-aged man beside him.

"I didn't expect that the Zhao family's affairs would even alarm Chief Constable Su."

"Su Ting greets Senior Wei." The middle-aged man bowed respectfully, his posture very humble.

As a martial artist at the Bone Refining Realm and the strongest person in the Black Mountain Town government, he always kept his word and acted decisively and domineeringly.

But compared to Wei Sheng, he was still much smaller.

They originally thought Zhou Qing would be like any other ordinary apprentice at a martial arts school, summoned to the yamen as usual to give him a scare and see if they could get anything out of him.

Now, upon hearing the way the master and disciple addressed each other, he immediately changed his mind.

"It's just a routine matter; we'll ask a few questions and then leave."

"Hmm," Wei Sheng replied casually.

"Excuse me, Brother Zhou, where were you twenty-one days ago this morning?" Su Ting asked politely.

"Twenty-one days ago, on the morning of the 21st." Zhou Qing frowned as she recalled, pausing for a moment.

“Most of the time, apart from silk reeling, I should be picking mulberry leaves on the mountain in the morning. Chief Constable Su, please wait a moment while I check.”

As he spoke, Zhou Qing took out a small booklet from his pocket and began to read it.

"Yes, that day I hunted a snow rabbit and two pheasants on the mountain, and sold them to Baiweilou for 620 coins. You can see it written in my account book."

"May I have a look?" Su Ting's eyes flashed.

"Please." Zhou Qing handed over the booklet.

swish
Su Ting quickly flipped through the pages. Besides the accounting entries, there were also some notes on the day's gains and insights from martial arts training.

For writers, writing essays is a normal habit.

After a slight change in his expression, Su Ting returned the booklet to Zhou Qing.

He then questioned several other apprentices on the spot.

"I apologize for any inconvenience caused, Senior Wei." After finishing his inquiry, Su Ting clasped his hands in farewell and took his leave.

"It's alright." Wei Sheng smiled faintly.

"Farewell."

Su Ting turned and left the martial arts school.

On their way to the next martial arts school, the young constable couldn't help but ask a question.

"Lord Su, is the questioning of the Baiyun Martial Arts Academy over?"

"Otherwise what?" Su Ting asked calmly.

"The matriarch of the Zhao family has offered a reward of a thousand taels of silver. Is this all we get?" The young constable was filled with resentment.

"If the murderer is truly a disciple of one of the six great martial arts masters, what would you do?" Su Ting stopped in his tracks.

“Of course it is…” the young constable’s voice trailed off.

Unless there are both witnesses and physical evidence, how can you arrest a disciple of a Grand Martial Arts Master?

This isn't some troublemaker; give them twenty lashes first before asking them questions.

"The world is getting more and more chaotic." Su Ting looked on with a melancholy expression, gazing into the distance in the direction of Black Wind Mountain.

Recently, in addition to the county seat, there has been an increasing number of missing persons cases in various towns, and the government offices are completely short-staffed.

Especially with the disappearance of a noble young master like Zhao Lie, more manpower needs to be allocated to the investigation.

The investigation into Zhao Lie's 'disappearance' is still ongoing, but it has nothing to do with Zhou Qing anymore.

To be on the safe side, he stayed in town for another seven or eight days.

After confirming that nothing had happened, he set off for the county town early in the morning.

After staying in the county town for five days, I attended the auction that afternoon.

With the final item, the 'Purple Gold Hammer,' sold for 2,800 taels of silver, the auction came to an end.

Zhou Qing walked out of the auction hall on the sixth floor in a huff, returned to the counter on the fourth floor, and, led by a waiter, entered a private room to rest. A short while later, a refined-looking middle-aged man entered the room; it was none other than Zhao Sheng, the auction house's manager.

He handed over two hundred and forty taels of silver with a broad smile.

This time, Zhou Qing sold inner armor and gauntlets inlaid with the scales of a giant python, so he sold them for a full seventy taels more than last time.

"It seems our distinguished guest is looking to purchase weapons? We haven't found anything satisfactory today?" Zhao Sheng probed.

"I want to buy a sharper knife," Zhou Qing said in a low voice.

There were no knives for sale at today's auction, only a sword of good quality.

He originally intended to buy it to use as a substitute for a knife, but unexpectedly, a wealthy young man took a liking to the item and offered too high a price, so he gave up.

"I do have a good place to recommend to you, esteemed guest. In Anhua Ward, east of the outer city, there is a 'Strange Weapon Shop,' where the third manager is currently collecting the flesh and scales of exotic beasts."

If our esteemed guest can meet the needs of the third manager of the weapon shop, he should be able to purchase a satisfactory weapon at a lower price.

Zhao Sheng said with a smile.

"You guys didn't leak my information, did you?" Zhou Qing asked, a thought flashing through his mind.

"How could we dare? Our Zhao Family Trading Company would never do something that would damage our reputation."

"I'm just acting as an intermediary. If you don't have such intentions, I will never reveal your identity," Zhao Sheng said with a forced smile.

"I was overthinking it, please forgive me, Manager Zhao," Zhou Qing said in a muffled voice.

"You flatter me, esteemed guest," Zhao Sheng said with his smile unchanged.

"In that case, I'll go take a look at this strange weapon shop. Farewell."

Zhou Qing put away the silver notes and left Zhao's Trading Company.

After asking a few pedestrians along the way, we quickly found Qibingpu.

This weapon shop was much larger than the weapons shops in town. Zhou Qing stood at the counter in the front hall and could only faintly hear the sound of blacksmithing coming from the backyard.

Zhou Qing did not mention that Zhao Sheng had introduced him; he only said that he needed a sharp knife, preferably one that could easily pierce armor.

A short while later, Manager Xu of Qibing Shop sent his clerk into the storeroom and brought out three knives.

"The iron knife is three feet and three inches long, made of wrought iron mixed with black iron and refined iron, and weighs four catties and two taels. It costs four hundred taels of silver."

"The Ice-Strength Blade is two feet and seven inches long. It is forged from black iron and refined iron, mixed with a small amount of the essence blood of the exotic beast 'Ice-Armored Crab'. It can withstand the infusion of true qi and weighs three catties and five taels. It costs six hundred and fifty taels of silver."

"The Azure Rainbow Blade, nine hundred taels of silver!"

"If these three swords were to be used in a battle against a martial artist, the Azure Rainbow Sword would naturally be the best."

If you're dealing with a beast with powerful scales, I recommend the Ice Blade. However, the blade is a bit brittle, so you have to be careful of heavy blows coming from the side.

As for the steel sword, it possesses both qualities, but it cannot withstand the infusion of true energy for extended periods and is prone to cracking.

Manager Xu patiently explained to Zhou Qing, and seeing that he was deep in thought, he did not urge him.

'I can only afford a fine iron sword, but if I grit my teeth, I can also buy an ice-cold sword, but I'll have to use the gold beans I got from Zhao Lie,' Zhou Qing pondered.

Zhao Lie isn't the only one with a silver spoon in his mouth, but with things in such a tense situation right now, it's best to play it safe.

Moreover, once he used up the gold beans, he had no money left to buy medicinal herbs.

"I heard that your shop's third manager is collecting the essence and scales of exotic beasts. Is that true?" Zhou Qing took out a scale from his pocket.

The shopkeeper picked up the scales to examine them, and after a moment, he called over his assistant.

"Quickly go to the backyard and fetch the Third Manager. Tell him to bring that 'Demon-Slaying Blade'!"

Dengdengdeng.

In less than ten breaths, footsteps sounded from the side door.

Before the person even arrived, a peculiar aroma of wine wafted over.

"Ok?"

Zhou Qing felt hot all over and her blood was surging after just one sniff.

"This is."

(End of this chapter)