Minglong

Chapter 280 The Pressure Arrives at Blood Rain Tower
After leaving the Imperial Observatory, Xie Jinhuan began preparing to investigate Wei Yin's matter.

After Wei Wuyi entered the capital to serve as deputy director, Wei Yin, as his successor, also served as junior director of the Imperial Observatory.

Xie Jinhuan was assassinated by Shen Jinyu, which is a major criminal case under the jurisdiction of the Imperial Observatory. Since Wei Wuyi is the leader of the martial arts sect, this matter can only be handled by Wei Wuyi. Therefore, this task fell to Wei Yin, who led a large number of elite troops to Huzhou yesterday.

Xie Jinhuan was going to Huzhou to find Wei Yin. Under normal circumstances, he could just sneak over and beat him up. But now that Wei Yin had such a big reputation, if he suddenly disappeared for a day or two, all the evil sects in the entire Daqian would be on high alert and would definitely find out what he had been up to.

To avoid alerting the enemy, Xie Jinhuan simply made his itinerary public, claiming he was going to Huzhou under the pretext of settling scores with the Blood Rain Pavilion, which was perfectly legitimate.

His plan to achieve his goal was roughly to pretend to investigate the Blood Rain Tower after arriving at the destination, and then disguise himself and sneak off to beat up Wei Yin at night.

If Wei Yin is confirmed to be a half-demon, then there's no need to say anything more; we should immediately return to the capital and find a way to eliminate Wei Wuyi.

If Wei Yin is innocent, he would have to fight and run away, then come back to save the day while still in bed, pinning the blame on Blood Rain Tower, so that if it turned out that Wei Wuyi was innocent, he wouldn't be able to explain himself to the outside world.

To make the whole thing a success, Xie Jinhuan took Momo and a group of Red Scale Guards with him on a hurried journey to Huzhou. Once there, he sent his men out to search for clues.

He naturally had no interest in investigating the scoundrels of the Blood Rain Pavilion. After learning that Wei Yin was leading his men to investigate within Huzhou City, he went to Xiangfei Lake outside the city to wait for an opportunity to seduce Wei Yin.

As the sun sets in the west, golden and red sunset clouds illuminate the vast, shimmering lake surface.

A small boat floated on the lake. Xie Jinhuan sat inside the boat, his white robe replaced by a black martial arts outfit, with a cloak draped over it. His weapon had also been changed to a string of throwing knives hanging at his waist. He held a few pieces of paper with drawings on them and placed them in front of him.

"Three of a kind with a single card! Want it? If not, I can keep playing..."

Linghu Qingmo had also changed into a swordswoman's outfit, a rare sight indeed. She wore a tea-green dress with wrist guards and a belt, looking quite dashing. However, holding a pair of three swords, she seemed a little less spirited, merely looking around and asking:
Am I doomed to lose?

"Sigh, it was just one chance to 'not get angry,' so what if I lost? One against four..."

"..."

Linghu Qingmo endured humiliation and shame for an unknown amount of time before finally squeezing all of Xie Jinhuan's safe words out, only to have them used up in just a few moments. How could he possibly agree to that? Seeing that Xie Jinhuan was about to run out of cards, he quickly folded his own.

"You said to try it once, but I don't know how yet, so this doesn't count!"

"Okay, let's start over."

"I...I'm not playing anymore!"

Linghu Qingmo wasn't fooled. He quickly moved aside and continued to use his binoculars to observe the shore.

Xie Jinhuan, seeing that Mo Mo still dared to act shamelessly, naturally wouldn't agree, and moved closer to hook her arm around his shoulder:

“What you say doesn’t mean what you say, right?”

Linghu Qingmo twisted slightly, but since he couldn't dodge, he didn't. He simply said seriously:
"Business is important. I'll play with you after I'm done, okay? By the way, why did you come to investigate Blood Rain Tower, disguised yourself, and go to see Wei Yin? Is there something wrong with him?"

Xie Jinhuan shook his head and smiled: "Wei Yin was a bit too powerful last time. To be absolutely sure, I'll test his strength later. However, he's leading a group of imperial guards; a direct attack could easily result in friendly fire. I'll go after Meiqiu finds him alone."

Linghu Qingmo wasn't sure what problems Wei Yin could have, but Xie Jinhuan knew how to behave, so she didn't say much. She simply admired the lake scenery through her binoculars, and after a moment, took a picture.
"Don't touch me!"

"It's the dead of winter, my hands are a bit cold. I'll warm them up first, so I won't lose my grip on the knife later..."

"You're already overweight, how can your hands still get cold? Sigh..."

Linghu Qingmo's face gradually turned red. Since there was no way to avoid it, he decided to let it go.

Xie Jinhuan warmed her hands in Mo Mo's arms, kneading and shaping them until the setting sun unknowingly sank into the lake.

Meanwhile, the coal briquette that had been keeping watch above the city walls flew back as night fell:

"Gooji!"

Seeing this, Xie Jinhuan knew it was time to act. He immediately carried Momo to the shore, handed the Heavenly Mace and the Zheng Lun Sword to Momo, and then headed in the direction the coal ball had indicated...
-
The Blood Rain Tower's headquarters is said to be located in the Huzhou area, but it is an underground force, and the location of its headquarters is unknown, making it a very mysterious force in the martial arts world.

But even the most mysterious forces fear the iron fist of righteousness.

Although Xie Jinhuan's trip was not aimed at the remaining members of the Blood Rain Tower, it was outwardly a joint operation by him and Wei Yin to carry out a major purge of the Blood Rain Tower!
Xie Jinhuan's deeds are known to all, and Wei Yin is Wei Wuyi's successor. With Xie Jinhuan's promotion to the Super Rank, he has become the strongest martial artist below the Super Rank.

When the devastating news of the two men's simultaneous arrival in Huzhou reached Xueyulou, he felt as if the sky had fallen!

Outside Huzhou city, at a riverside wharf.

Fan Hai, his face covered, made his way through the passersby and boarded a dark, unlit passenger ship. Upon arriving at a room, before even entering, he heard a heated discussion erupting inside:
"The OP is completely foolish. Of all people to kill, why did he dare to kill Xie Jinhuan? Now look what's happened, he's gone with a vengeance, and all of us pawns are going to be buried with him..."

"Wei Yin is alright, he's new to the underworld and his investigative skills are so-so. But Xie Jinhuan is a living devil. I heard he's already led his men to Huning County. Judging from his past methods, if we're found, we probably won't even be able to put together a complete corpse..."

"How about we break up..."

"How do we manage to break up such a large operation?"

...Fan Hai Nie once served as the head of the Luojing Hall of the Blood Rain Tower, the same person who provided the 'Didi ride-hailing' service in the Free and Easy Cave. Although his status in the Blood Rain Tower was not very high, he was quite familiar with Xie Jin Huan.

After Taishu Dan's criminal gang was swiftly wiped out, Fan Hai Nie heard of this name. Then Xie Jin Huan arrived in Luo Jing. He personally witnessed Xie Jin Huan slaughtering rogue cultivators and demonic practitioners, Ye Shi Rong, Li Gong Pu, and others, until he wiped out the entire He clan. He then turned around and wiped out another wave of He Man Fa Chen and others. His intimidating power was such that anyone who glared at him would die. No one had ever been able to withstand him for more than three days!
Fan Hai Nie had repeatedly warned his superiors about this living Yama, and even asked to be transferred away from Luojing to avoid being killed by this ancestor. But his superiors not only ignored him, but also dared to provoke him!

Now that the sect leader has died suddenly, countless disciples are leaderless, and Xie Jinhuan and Wei Yin have split up their forces to besiege the Blood Rain Pavilion. It seems that the Blood Rain Pavilion is about to perish overnight.

Fan Hai Nie desperately wanted to flee far away and seek refuge, but which leader or gang leader in the martial arts world didn't have a hundred or so brothers under their command? As the boss, he had to give an explanation, so he had no choice but to risk coming to headquarters to discuss how to resolve the situation.

At this moment, Fan Hai Nie entered the room and saw that there were already more than twenty people inside, all of whom were hall masters from various places. They were all restless, and many of them were standing at the windows, ready to leave at any moment. In the absence of a leader, they were arguing incessantly.
"If you ask me, we should break up now. As long as one of us survives, that's one less chance. Xie Jinhuan will be coming later, and none of us will be able to escape..."

"The Blood Rain Tower has over seven thousand disciples, and it took thirty years of hard work to build it to its current size. The tower master did assassinate Xie Jinhuan, but this line of work is about taking money to solve problems for people. We had no personal grudges against each other, and the tower master was killed anyway. We should try to find a way to compensate him, and ask the sect leaders in various places to put in a good word for us. Maybe we can find a way to survive..."

"Xie Jinhuan is the emperor's chosen son-in-law, why would he care about our meager compensation? Even if we all acted as his dogs, he might not even look at us..."

……

Seeing that everyone was talking past each other and arguing, Fan Hai interrupted:

"Please stop arguing, everyone. The most important thing right now is to choose someone to make decisions. Without a leader to make the final decision, we can argue for three days and three nights without any result."

"..."

Among the many hall masters present were highly respected figures; in the past, they would have certainly vied to become the leader.

But in the current situation, whoever takes the position will be the scapegoat. After all, Xie Jinhuan has already come here, so he has to kill a few people, otherwise, wouldn't his trip have been in vain?

If it's difficult to slaughter all the thousands of Blood Rain Tower disciples, then the only option is to kill the leader.

After Fan Hai Nie finished speaking, the many hall masters fell silent, exchanging glances. Finally, an elder proposed:
"According to rumors in the martial arts world, our Blood Rain Pavilion has elected a new leader, who is also an assassin and whose martial arts skills are unfathomable. Whose family is this?"

Blood Rain Tower mainly acts as a middleman to earn the price difference. The risks and training costs of becoming an assassin are too high. They usually recruit from the martial arts world by issuing missions. Each branch has powerful people who take on jobs. However, the key to this line of work is to keep a low profile. Their true identities may not even be known to the branch leader.

Upon hearing this, Fan Hai Nie shook his head and said:
"This is just the Gu Poison Sect making things up. Apparently, it's one of our people who asked them for some information. The person who was approached felt embarrassed, so they started bragging everywhere about how amazing 'Wei Kun' was, and how he outwitted and outmaneuvered his enemies to escape danger."

"It was clearly our people who captured him and got some information from him. The Gu Poison Sect is exaggerating Wei Kun's abilities, claiming he's comparable to the Seven Heroes of Martial Arts and as cunning as the Old Ancestor Sikong."

"Outsiders are unaware of the situation, and many idle people have taken it seriously. Seeing that our Blood Rain Pavilion still has such a ruthless person, they naturally assume that he will succeed the Pavilion Master after his death..."

Upon hearing this, everyone was greatly disappointed, but they still said:
"Those poisonous rats are as cunning as mice, and they've always been all talk and no action. For them to praise Wei Kun like this, he might actually have some skill..."

"Even if you were capable, you couldn't possibly be on par with the Seven Heroes of Martial Arts. Otherwise, you would have stepped down long ago, and wouldn't have had the chance to do something so foolish today..."

"So, who exactly is this Wei Kun from?"

"What assassin uses their real name? But if you break down the characters, 'Kun' means 'sun' and 'compared,' implying something comparable to the sun and moon. And the surname is Wei... Could it be..."

"Is it Wei Wuyi?"

?

Fan Hai Nie was covered in cold sweat. He felt he couldn't stay in this chaotic market any longer, or something bad would happen sooner or later. He immediately wanted to take his leave.

But before he could find an opportunity, he spotted a sentry keeping watch outside the dock, who quickly ran over:
"Master, Wei Yin from Snow Eagle Ridge has attacked, but our men have stopped him. Shall we leave or go help him?"

"what?"

The faces of the many hall masters changed drastically. They wanted to flee in terror, but after a moment's thought, they realized something was amiss. Fan Hai Nie found it hard to believe:
"Whose people are so brave as to dare to stop Wei Yin, who is invincible below the Super Grade level?"

Many of the hall masters also felt this was unlikely, and they all looked at each other in bewilderment, while the messenger soldier said with certainty:

"It's absolutely true. They really stopped Wei Yin, and their aura was incredibly domineering. Upon meeting him, they said, 'Young Hero Wei, you have quite the courage to come here alone. Do you really think that with Lord Shen dead, my Blood Rain Pavilion is left without anyone?'..."

"Oh..."

Fan Hai Nie and the others were all stunned. They never expected that in such a turbulent time, there would be fellow disciples who would dare to stand up and support the Blood Rain Tower.

Although they were a little worried that they would be wiped out if they went out, their own people had already gone to the front lines, and they couldn't just scatter like birds and beasts. So they gritted their teeth and persevered.

"Grab your weapons, sneak over and check the situation..."

"Who on earth is so reckless? Why didn't they say anything beforehand...?"

"I guess it was a newly arrived hall master who bumped into us on his way. Now everything's a mess, and we don't even have anyone to talk to. Who can we even contact?"

"Yeah, let's go, let's go..."

……

(End of this chapter)