The First Sword of the Universe

Chapter 424 The Four Great Retainers Begin to Have Doubts

"Let's go back to Swallow's Nest early tomorrow morning!"

Before he finished speaking, four men stepped over the threshold of the restaurant and walked in.

These four people were dressed differently, had different body types, and seemed to have different professions.

Hearing the familiar voice, the plump shopkeeper behind the counter looked up and quickly came out from behind the counter, greeting them with a big smile. He cupped his hands and said with a smile, "So it's Master Deng, Master Gongye, Master Bao, and Master Feng. It's been more than a month since I've seen you four gentlemen."

Deng Baichuan, dressed in a blue cloth robe and looking to be in his fifties, nodded and said, "Manager Qian, may you prosper!"

Bao Butong, dressed in gray, thin, and with an ugly face, said loudly, "Manager Qian, bring us four brothers some good wine and good food."

Dressed in black and with a burly build, Feng Bo'e patted his belly and said, "Tell the cook to hurry up. My stomach has been growling for ages."

The last person, Gongye Qian, who was around fifty years old and dressed in a dark blue scholar's robe, tossed a wine gourd into the fat shopkeeper's hand and ordered, "Have the waiter fill the gourd to the brim. Remember, it's a ten-year-old vintage of fine wine."

"Don't worry, gentlemen, I'll arrange everything." The fat shopkeeper agreed with a smile, then turned and called out, "Xiao Wu, come here quickly and take the four gentlemen upstairs."

A quick-witted waiter immediately ran over, bowed, and said with a smile, "Gentlemen, please come with me!"

As he spoke, he led the way, taking the four of them up to the second floor and sitting them down by a window.

Feng Bo'e glanced at the retreating men, then turned to Deng Baichuan and said, "Boss, this time we were really in danger. Who knew that the bandits would invite so many underworld experts and set up an ambush? If it weren't for our decent martial arts skills, we might have really lost our lives there."

Bao Butong laughed heartily, "Not at all! Not at all! It's not that we're particularly skilled in martial arts, but rather that those underworld experts were too weak; more than twenty of them couldn't stop the four of us!"

Deng Baichuan said with a smile, "There are places in the world that could trap the four of us brothers, but definitely not that gang of bandits."

Just as Gongye Qian was about to say a few words to set the mood, his peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a woman's portrait on a piece of paper in the hand of a scholar at a table not far away, and he was momentarily stunned.

Then, ignoring his three brothers' rambling, he perked up his ears to listen to the conversation of the scholars at the table.

When the four of them entered the city, and as they stepped into this restaurant and went up the stairs, they occasionally heard phrases like "Jade Fairy," "peerless beauty," "auspicious glow," and "the fairy has a spirit."

I thought it was some kind of temple, Taoist temple, mountain god temple, or earth god temple that had opened.

Aside from secretly chuckling at their "foolish men and women," he didn't take it to heart.

But now, as he looked at the familiar portrait in the hands of the scholar at the next table and listened to them talk about the Jade Fairy, his eyes gleamed and his brows slowly furrowed.

ponder for a moment.

Gongye Qian stood up, walked to the scholar's side, cupped his hands in greeting, and asked with a smile, "May I ask, young friend, is the portrait in your hand the Jade Fairy?"

"We were away on business for a while and only returned to Suzhou tonight. Wherever we went, we heard people talking about Fairy Yu. We have many questions about her and would appreciate it if you could enlighten us."

When the scholar and his companion saw Gongye Qian dressed as a Confucian scholar, they thought he was a senior Confucian scholar. They quickly stood up and bowed, and then told him about the Jade Fairy.

Gongye Qian listened with a smile, a look of realization appearing on his face. He then asked, "Young friend, would you be willing to part with those blueprints? I am willing to pay for them!"

The scholar hesitated, saying, "These blueprints can be bought in the city's bookstores, but they are quite expensive; however, if you want them, sir, how could I possibly refuse?"

After saying that, he told them the price for the blueprints.

Gongye Qian handed over the money in full, and even gave him a few extra copper coins as compensation for the scholar's reluctance to part with it.

When Gongye Qian returned to his seat with the blueprints, his three brothers, who had noticed the commotion, all looked over. Deng Baichuan asked in a deep voice, "Second brother, what exactly happened?"

Gongye Qian looked at the familiar face lightly sketched with ink on the paper in his hand, shook his head and said, "I don't know what happened either, you can see for yourselves!"

As he spoke, he handed the blueprints in his hand to Deng Baichuan.

Deng Baichuan looked down and was also stunned, then slowly frowned.

"Big brother, second brother, why do you look like this? Let me see what it is!" Bao Butong took the blueprint from Deng Baichuan with some surprise. When he saw the woman's image on it, his eyes widened, and he exclaimed, "Oh my, isn't this...?"

Before Bao Butong could utter the last three words, Deng Baichuan called out softly, "Third Brother!"

Bao Butong looked up at Deng Baichuan, who shook his head at him. He then looked down at the blueprint in his hand, scratched the back of his head with one hand, and handed the blueprint to Feng Bo'e, who was somewhat impatient.

Feng Bo'e looked the blueprints up and down, then looked up at his three older brothers with astonishment and asked blankly, "Is this...is this the Jade Fairy they were talking about?"

Deng Baichuan frowned and said, "Don't rush, let's hear what others have to say."

The four men listened intently to the conversations of the other diners in the restaurant, and soon they understood more about the situation.

However, this only made them more confused!
Why would an unknown master bring a jade statue to the outskirts of Suzhou for everyone to see and worship?
Who is that unknown martial arts master?
Where did he bring a jade statue that looks exactly like Miss Biao from? And why is it such a coincidence that it's displayed outside Suzhou for everyone to see?

These questions, when put together, led the four to make an instinctive judgment.

This matter definitely involves their cousin!
But what exactly is the connection between them?
Was the unknown martial arts master's action good? Evil? Enemy? Friend?

Based on what that unknown martial arts master has been doing so far, he is more likely to be an enemy.
"Let's talk about it when we get back; tomorrow at noon, let's also go outside the city and see who's after Miss Biao."

When Deng Baichuan said the words "Miss Cousin," he lowered his voice so much that only the three of them could hear him.

When Gongye Qian, Bao Butong, and Feng Bo'e saw the cold light in their elder brother's eyes, they all nodded solemnly.

At this moment, the waiter came up with trays and placed plates of steaming food on the table for the four of them, along with two jugs of liquor and four wine cups, saying, "Gentlemen, please enjoy your meal!"

He then turned and went downstairs!

The four of them originally planned to eat and drink slowly, chatting as they went, just to relax.

Now, I have no interest in it at all!
They finished their meal in no time.

After going downstairs to settle the bill, the portly manager returned the wine gourd to Gongye Qian, and amidst loud farewells, they left the restaurant.

On the street, although there were few pedestrians, there seemed to be more than usual, and the vast majority of them were scholarly men.

They were all walking briskly in one direction.

Faintly, voices could be heard.

"Brother Zuo, hurry! That bookstore has printed another batch of new portraits of the Jade Fairy; I heard this time it's a profile shot; we must hurry and grab them, or they'll be gone."

Deng Baichuan and his three companions originally intended to return directly to their own shop to discuss matters, but after hearing these words, they looked at each other in bewilderment.

Bao Butong suggested, "Why don't we go and buy a few tickets?"

The other three nodded!

The four followed the scholars toward the bookstore that was still open at night.

Fifteen minutes later, the four of them, each holding a drawing of the Jade Fairy, returned to the shop run by Deng Baichuan's family.

After dismissing the waiter who opened the door, the four gathered in a room on the second floor, placed four drawings on the table, and looked at the images of the Jade Fairy drawn from four different angles.
Feng Bo cursed, "Damn it, who on earth carved Miss Biao's likeness into a jade statue and then brought it to Suzhou City for everyone to see?"

Gongye Qian took out his wine gourd, uncorked it, took two sips, savored the mellow aroma of the aged wine, and shook his head, saying, "There must be something fishy about this!"

Bao Butong said, "No! No! It's not just that there's something fishy going on, it's that there's something very fishy going on. If we encounter that unknown master outside the city at noon tomorrow, don't bother with any talk of chivalry. Let's join forces and take him down."

"Then bring them back to the manor and interrogate them thoroughly. We must find out who is behind this and what the conspiracy is."

Deng Baichuan nodded and said, "According to the descriptions of the people in the restaurant, the expert who moved the jade statue has extraordinary lightness skills and extremely strong internal strength. Just in case, I agree to join forces!"

Gongye Qian squinted at the four blueprints on the table, remained silent for a long time, and then suddenly said, "Miss Biao has always stayed at Mantuo Manor and rarely goes out to travel; moreover, she has always been aloof from worldly affairs, and very few people outside know about her."

"This person brought out a jade statue that looks very similar to Miss Biao. Could it be that his target isn't Miss Biao, but our young master?"

The other three were taken aback.

Feng Bo'e clapped his hands and said, "Second Brother's analysis makes a lot of sense; the mastermind behind this might very well be after our young master."

"Nowadays, the saying 'Murong in the South, Qiao Feng in the North' is rampant in the martial arts world; it's normal for some people to be dissatisfied with our young master's reputation."

Deng Baichuan pondered for a moment and said, "I've heard that in the end, several masters who had been famous in the martial arts world for many years all died because of their own signature techniques."

"Many people suspect that those people died at the hands of our young master."

"After all, our young master's signature move is 'using their own methods against them'."

Bao Butong exclaimed in surprise, "What? There's such a thing? How come we didn't know about it?"

Deng Baichuan said in a deep voice, "I just received the news myself, and I'm not sure if it's true or not. In any case, I feel that someone in the martial arts world is targeting our young master."

A glint flashed in Gongye Qian's eyes: "So, Miss and Young Master might both be their targets."

(End of this chapter)