Minglong

Chapter 281 What’s wrong with being a dog!
The town is situated on the riverbank, and at night it should be bustling with all sorts of people. However, because a certain living Yama has visited Huzhou, it is unusually quiet today, and even the brothels and brothels have consciously closed their doors.

The imposing Wei Yin, with the token of the Junior Supervisor of the Imperial Observatory hanging at his waist, rode his horse through the chilly old street. Passersby hurriedly made way for him, but he ignored them, searching the houses along the street.

As Wei Wuyi's direct disciple, Wei Yin knew about his unusual body when he awakened his bloodline at the age of six. Over the years, he has been cultivating hard on the mountain, hoping to help his master realize his dream of reaching the summit.

After the Battle of Sanjiangkou, Wei Yin suffered a setback, but he did not lose his fighting spirit. He simply understood what it meant to have "mountains beyond mountains and buildings beyond buildings." He spent his time in the capital, helping his master.

Although Wei Yin's stated purpose for coming here was to wipe out the remnants of the Blood Rain Tower, the Blood Rain Tower killed Xie Jinhuan, not someone from their Snow Eagle Ridge.

As one of the top martial arts sects in the Great Qian Dynasty, Blood Rain Tower not only has branches and well-trained disciples in all thirty-two states of the Great Qian Dynasty, but also has a considerable annual income. If he were to wipe it out directly, it would be too wasteful of its resources.

Therefore, Wei Yin's true purpose in being sent here by his master was to secretly gather the remnants of the Blood Rain Tower and make them the hidden wings of Snow Eagle Ridge, thereby strengthening its control over the martial arts world.

Blood Feather Tower is currently leaderless and in the eye of the storm, so this matter should have gone smoothly.

But unexpectedly, Xie Jinhuan, who was known for his vindictiveness, also led his team to attack.

If Xie Jinhuan finds the Blood Rain Tower first, these remnants will surely be reduced to less than one-tenth, and Wei Yin will not be able to recruit more soldiers. Therefore, he can only speed up the search for the higher-ups of the Blood Rain Tower.

Fortunately, the morale of the Blood Rain Tower was wavering, and not everyone was willing to live or die with the sect. When he arrived in Huzhou City with his men, a leader of the Blood Rain Tower secretly came to inform him that the headquarters would be holding a meeting at the riverside dock that night, hoping to get lenient treatment afterward.

Wei Yin took this important intelligence seriously, as secretly recruiting Jianghu bandits for his own use would be taboo if word got out. That's why he pretended to be on patrol and came to the city alone.

Hoof-tapping hoof-tapping...

Wei Yin rode his horse through the streets, his gaze fixed on the distant riverbank. He secretly pondered what kind of rhetoric he should use to coerce, entice, and win over the remnants of the Blood Rain Tower when he encountered them later.

To his surprise, the Blood Rain Pavilion was more welcoming than he had imagined, and they actually came out to greet him.

Just as the horse reached a deserted side street in the town, Wei Yin suddenly felt a stirring in his heart. He reached for his sword with his right hand and looked towards a restaurant on the side of the street.

The silver moon hung like a hook, and a figure stood atop the roof of the restaurant, seemingly out of nowhere.

The figure sat on the roof ridge with one hand on his knee, his posture rather languid. He twirled a throwing knife between his fingers, and his black cloak fluttered in the wind. A faint glint of cold light could be seen at his waist, but he wore a ghost mask, making it impossible to tell his age or appearance. All that could be felt was his powerful aura, like a venomous snake coiled on the roof ridge, exuding a cold and cunning aura.

"Xu~"

Wei Yin stopped his horse and looked up at the cloaked figure on the roof:

"Who dares to cause trouble here?"

Xie Jinhuan tracked Wei Yin's movements using coal briquettes, sneaking over to catch a lone target in the dark. He was unaware that the Blood Rain Tower was holding a meeting at the dock just two or three miles away, and he couldn't figure out Wei Yin's true purpose for coming here alone to patrol late at night.

However, none of this stopped him from beating up Wei Yin. At this moment, Xie Jinhuan sat on the roof, casually playing with the throwing knife in his hand. His hoarse voice revealed his inherent arrogance as he began to provoke trouble:
"Young Master Wei has great courage, daring to come here alone. Do you really think that with Master Shen dead, my Blood Rain Pavilion is left without anyone?"

As soon as he finished speaking, the small street fell silent.

Meanwhile, on the houses in the distance, there were still some martial arts practitioners who had been watching the commotion, but they quickly fled when they sensed that things were not going well.

Wei Yin paid no attention to anything else, but carefully examined the cloaked figure on the roof and asked:

"You have quite the audacity. May I ask who you are?"

"Wei Kun of the Blood Rain Tower is an unknown nobody."

Wei Yin frowned slightly, feeling that this name was not that of an unknown person. He carefully recalled the reports and correspondence collected by the yamen recently and inquired:
"Are you the Blood Rain Tower assassin who single-handedly stormed the headquarters of the Gu Poison Sect, fought several people, and escaped unscathed?"

"?"

Xie Jinhuan was a little confused, thinking that it was probably Uncle-Master Bu flattering him, so he replied truthfully:
"Young Master Wei is giving the Gu Poison Sect too much credit. Before I even made a move, those poison rats scattered in all directions. I only managed to grab one of them for questioning."

Wei Yin felt that this description fit the stereotype of the Gu poison sect, and he felt that this person was not fake, so he continued to ask:
"I've heard rumors in the martial arts world that you've already taken over as the leader of the Blood Rain Pavilion?"

"That's the idea, but to become the sect leader, one must have some merits that can convince the masses. Killing one's own people to establish authority doesn't make one a hero, but Young Hero Wei is ignorant of his own limitations and has delivered himself to the door, which is exactly what I want."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Wei Yin understood the meaning—this Wei Kun, who shared the same surname as him, wanted to help the Blood Rain Pavilion quell the imperial court's siege and thus rise to the position of sect leader.

If Wei Yin truly came with the intention of annihilation, then there's no need to discuss anything further; we could simply cut down this arrogant fool. But he didn't come to wipe out the entire family.

Therefore, Wei Yin did not get angry upon hearing this, but calmly responded:

"With the Blood Rain Tower's resources, it can't defy the laws and the heavens. Going against the imperial court is a path to death. Even if you succeed, you won't become the tower master. You'll only be hunted down to death by stronger individuals. However, if you really want to take control of the Blood Rain Tower, I can give you a chance."

Xie Jinhuan had originally intended to make a harsh statement on behalf of Blood Rain Tower before taking action, but upon hearing this, he temporarily suppressed the thought and frowned, saying:
"You wish to offer us amnesty? We would like to agree, but the court and the current emperor will probably not allow us to do so."

Wei Yin knew the imperial court would not offer amnesty to the Blood Rain Tower, which operated underworld gangs. Looking around, he whispered:

"You openly assassinated a high-ranking official in the court, and the court will certainly not offer you amnesty. However, the person who attempted the assassination was Shen Jinyu, and the attempt failed. Xie Jinhuan was almost unharmed, so it is not an irreparable crime."

"As long as you secretly follow Xueyingling's orders from now on and hand over a few people to the court to close the case, I can help you settle this matter and guarantee that Xie Jinhuan will not pursue it any further."

Given Wei Wuyi's current status, which allows him to influence both the legitimate and illegitimate worlds, it's no joke that he'd help Blood Rain Tower settle things.

If Blood Rain Tower were to hand over a few scapegoats, and Wei Wuyi said that for the sake of stability in the martial world, this matter should be dropped, Xie Jinhuan couldn't very well refuse Wei Wuyi's request. According to Wei Yin's speculation, Blood Rain Tower, under the pressure of the imperial court's iron fist, would not be able to refuse this proposal.

But to say these words in front of Xie Jinhuan was really going too far!

Xie Jinhuan initially wanted to investigate whether Wei Wuyi was colluding with the Underworld God Cult, but now he felt there was no need to investigate. Even if there was no collusion, Wei Wuyi's behavior of using his position for personal gain to recruit his enemies had already put him on the opposite side. At this moment, he responded loudly:

"Snow Eagle Ridge has quite the appetite, but unfortunately, my Blood Rain Pavilion are martial artists, we keep to ourselves and the imperial court, and we will never be anyone's lackey..."

He was about to make a move as he spoke.

But before he could finish speaking, a loud shout suddenly came from behind:
"Wait!"
The two men facing off were both taken aback and simultaneously turned their gazes toward the riverbank.

But then a large group of people emerged from the edge of the town, leaping and bounding towards them.

Xie Jinhuan had actually noticed some small fry on the outside earlier. He assumed they were just busybodies secretly watching the show, trying to pin the blame for the 'beating of Wei Yin' on the Blood Rain Tower to avoid trouble if they couldn't find out the truth. Therefore, he didn't pay any attention to the onlookers.

After Wei Yin made a low-key gesture of goodwill, he deliberately responded loudly, expressing his irreconcilable stance against the imperial court. He wanted these idle people in the martial arts world to spread the news so that he could use it to investigate Wei Wuyi's double-dealing behavior in the future.

Upon discovering that this rabble wasn't just quietly enjoying the show, but was even interrupting and trying to stop them, Xie Jinhuan frowned, about to say:

"Blood Rain Pavilion is handling business; idlers, please leave."

Unexpectedly, the person running in front, upon getting closer, exclaimed urgently:
"We can talk, we can talk, and we can walk the right path. What do you mean by 'keeping to ourselves'? Under heaven, all land belongs to the emperor. We're not rebels..."

"Yeah, what's wrong with being a dog? It's better than having your whole family wiped out by Xie Jinhuan..."

"??"

Xie Jinhuan's words came to an abrupt halt, his eyes widening in disbelief as he looked at the bunch of worthless scoundrels.

Seeing that the cloaked man had made his gesture of goodwill public, Wei Yin, who was already furious and ready to take action, suppressed his thoughts and his expression became slightly strange.
“Uh… Master Wei, why don’t you discuss this with your fellow disciples first? This concerns the survival of our sect, so we can’t just stick to the rules of the martial world and act impulsively.”

"Young Master Wei's words are very polite."

Running through the crowd, Fan Hai Nie discovered that Wei Wuyi wanted to recruit the remnants of the Blood Rain Tower. Under the intimidating presence of Xie the Great Demon King at the city gates, he knew without thinking that he should agree.

Although he still couldn't identify which gang the man in black on the roof belonged to, he quickly tried to dissuade him:
"Don't act rashly. Xie Jinhuan has already arrived in Hu'an County. Judging from his stance, he's definitely going to wipe out the Blood Rain Tower. If we don't have a powerful guarantor, we won't survive..."

"Yes, it's a blessing that Snow Eagle Ridge is willing to lend a helping hand at this time..."

"Yes, yes, yes, how about we settle this? Young Master Wei, quickly send Xie Jinhuan away. From now on, we will definitely obey Alliance Leader Wei's every command..."

……

Wei Yin knew that Blood Rain Tower had no chance of refusing Xie Jinhuan's iron fist, so he felt much more at ease and looked at the figure on the roof:

What is your opinion, sir?

Xie Jinhuan was honestly a little numb, thinking to himself:
They're supposed to be a top-tier martial arts family, why did they kneel down so quickly?

Am I really that intimidating?
With you all so spineless, how am I supposed to find an excuse to beat up Wei Yin and then pin the blame on you...?

Seeing that the Blood Rain Tower's higher-ups had quickly reached a consensus and that a fight was unlikely, Xie Jinhuan could only bite the bullet and say:
"Everyone, wake up! Who is Xie Jinhuan? Do you think he would just sit idly by and watch us be recruited by Snow Eagle Ridge? If he finds out about this, we won't survive either..."

Fan Hai Nie knew this was true, but still insisted:
"Everyone knows Xie Jinhuan's abilities. If we join forces with Snow Eagle Ridge, there's still a chance that Alliance Leader Wei's reputation will protect us. But if we don't, Xie Jinhuan might come tomorrow and wipe us all out..."

I don't need to wait until tomorrow; I want to wipe out you bunch of spineless dogs right now!
Although Xie Jinhuan thought this way, it was inconvenient to reveal his identity in public now, so he quickly thought of a solution:

"Since we are wary of Xie Jinhuan, why don't we capture Wei Yin and hand him over as a pledge of loyalty to Xie Jinhuan?"

"Snow Eagle Ridge is recruiting us in secret, but they are openly disregarding Xie Jinhuan's feelings. We should be pragmatic and surrender to him. Xie Jinhuan can't make things difficult for us anymore."

"..."

Upon hearing this, the room fell silent.

Fan Hai Nie initially thought this was a bit outrageous, after all, if they dared to arrest Wei Yin, the next one to come would be Wei Wu Yi.

But upon closer reflection—Wei Wuyi's recruitment of Blood Rain Tower as henchmen under the guise of this matter is certainly dishonorable and will not be made public. However, it shouldn't be difficult for Xie Jinhuan to find out about this. If they dare to agree, Xie Jinhuan will still come looking for trouble.

By capturing Wei Yin and handing him over to Xie Jinhuan, they were essentially making the matter public, leaving no way out, and wholeheartedly pledging their loyalty to Xie Jinhuan. They acknowledged that Xie Jinhuan was the one who truly held power in the martial arts world of Daqian, and their fear of Xie Jinhuan even surpassed their fear of Wei Wuyi.

Faced with such a pledge of allegiance, Xie Jinhuan couldn't possibly make things difficult for them any further, could he? Otherwise, who would dare to pledge allegiance to Xie Jinhuan in the future? Moreover, Xie Jinhuan would never allow Snow Eagle Ridge to retaliate against them afterward.

After all, it's his business whether to kill a soldier who risked his life to inform on someone, but if the enemy turns around and kills the informant, where will Xie Jinhuan's face be?
Therefore, they chose to capture Wei Yin to pledge his loyalty, and then all they had to do was watch Xie Jinhuan and Wei Wuyi fight.

Wei Wuyi, as the number one martial artist, was indeed extremely powerful, but he was over a hundred years old and could not dominate for more than a few years.

Xie Jinhuan's rise to power was incredibly rapid; barring any unforeseen circumstances, he would likely rule the Southern Dynasty for a century and certainly wouldn't show weakness to Wei Wuyi...

Many of the hall masters were not stupid. After analyzing the gains and losses, they all felt that going against the grain and finding Xie Jinhuan to pledge their loyalty was a brilliant move. Many people turned their attention to the man in black on the roof, thinking that this 'Wei Kun' was indeed a person who could be a leader.

The remaining people looked at Wei Yin, who had come alone to the meeting, and their eyes gradually revealed hostility...
-
I originally intended to finish writing this, but it's a bit long, and I haven't finished the rest yet. I'll update it tomorrow!
(End of this chapter)