Being forced to grow like a pig? But I'm immune to the consequences!

Wu Sheng discerned the direction and, without stopping, headed straight for the Hyena Gang's encampment in the outer city.

Thanks to his status as a student of the Inner City Martial Arts Academy, he passed through without hindrance. The gang members guarding the gate saw that he was dressed in a uniform and had a respectful attitude, so they did not dare to stop him at all. Soon he arrived at the door of Zhang Yong's office.

Wu Sheng raised his hand and gently knocked on the wooden door.

Inside the room, Zhang Yongzheng and Guo Hui sat facing each other, chatting leisurely about everyday matters in a relaxed atmosphere.

"How is your son doing lately? Is he living a relatively peaceful life?" Zhang Yong picked up the coarse tea on the table, took a sip, and asked.

Upon hearing this, Guo Hui sighed helplessly, a calm sense of relief appearing on his face: "What else can I do? I'll just live an ordinary life in the inner city, busy from morning till night. But he recently got engaged and will soon give me a grandson. Once the child is born, we'll see how he fares. If he has good potential, he might be more successful than his grandfather."

Zhang Yong chuckled upon hearing this, his tone tinged with a hint of teasing: "If he truly has good aptitude, you'll probably be quite busy, having to exert all your strength to gather cultivation resources for your grandson and pave a good path for him?"

"That's true, but children and grandchildren have their own blessings. In the end, they have to walk their own path. We, as elders, can only help as much as we can." Guo Hui nodded, his tone calm.

"That makes sense," Zhang Yong agreed with a smile, then changed the subject, a hint of emotion in his eyes, "By the way, of those promising talents we sent to the Inner City Martial Academy back then, how many of them actually amounted to anything?"

Upon hearing this, Guo Hui raised an eyebrow, his tone full of skepticism, even tinged with a hint of sneer, as if mocking himself: "How many can there be? Don't even bother hoping. It's always been like this. People from the outer city, in terms of foundation and resources, how can they compare to the scions of aristocratic families in the inner city? If you fall behind one step, you fall behind every step of the way. In a place like the Martial Academy, without resources and connections, there's simply no chance of getting ahead."

Zhang Yong sighed softly, not so absolute: "Nothing is absolute. Let's wait and see. Maybe there will be an exception, someone who can make it through their own abilities."

As the two were chatting, the knocking on the door came clearly again.

Zhang Yong casually replied, "Come in," and as soon as he finished speaking, Wu Sheng pushed open the door and walked in.

"Master Zhang, Master Guo, you are both here." After entering the room, Wu Sheng bowed to the two men with a respectful tone.

Zhang Yong and Guo Hui looked up and saw that the person was Wu Sheng. Their eyes lit up and their faces instantly showed surprise.

"Wu Sheng? What are you doing here, kid!" Guo Hui spoke first, his tone full of surprise, completely losing the casualness he had shown earlier.

Zhang Yong also spoke up, full of surprise: "Why did you suddenly return to the outer city?"

Wu Sheng smiled and said modestly, "I came back specifically to visit my family and took the opportunity to pay my respects to my two teachers. I didn't have time to prepare any generous gifts, so I only brought two packets of pastries from the inner city as a small token of my appreciation."

As he spoke, he placed the two exquisitely packaged bags of pastries he was carrying behind him on the table. The aroma of the pastries wafted out, and they were much more refined than the coarse pastries from the outer city.

Guo Hui looked at the pastries, his smile deepening: "You little rascal, you're quite thoughtful, remembering us two old folks even after you've entered the inner city."

Zhang Yong waved his hand, gesturing for Wu Sheng to sit down: "No need for formalities, please sit down. Tell us, how have you been at the Martial Academy? How are Tu Nan and the others doing?"

Wu Sheng sat down as instructed and calmly began to talk with the two. He briefly talked about the daily life of the martial arts academy, without mentioning the disputes and entanglements, and only focused on the cultivation progress of the group: "We are all doing relatively well. My cultivation is also progressing smoothly, and I am not far from breaking through to the sixth level of Body Tempering."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Yong and Guo Hui exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with surprise and disbelief.

"I really didn't expect this!" Guo Hui couldn't help but exclaim. "When you graduated from the Hyena Gang, your strengths were all about the same, with only Tu Nan standing out slightly. But in such a short time, you've surpassed everyone else and made such a name for yourself at the Martial Academy. You've really lived up to expectations!"

The three chatted for a while longer, reminiscing about the past. Seeing that the time was right, Wu Sheng straightened his expression and slowly changed the subject: "Master Zhang, Master Guo, actually, besides visiting you both, I have something else I'd like to ask you about."

Upon hearing this, Guo Hui laughed and slapped the table, teasingly saying, "You little rascal, so you weren't just here to see us; you had something else on your mind!"

Zhang Yong looked at Wu Sheng with a calm expression and said, "Speak freely. As long as it is something we know, we will tell you everything we know."

Wu Sheng took a deep breath, his gaze steady, and spoke slowly and deliberately: "I'd like to inquire about the exact location of those businesses operating in the gray area of ​​this outer city."

The moment the words left his mouth, the atmosphere in the room froze.

The smiles on Zhang Yong and Guo Hui's faces vanished instantly, and they both frowned, their expressions becoming serious.

Yangon may appear to be a city with a clear class division and chaotic order, but in reality, it is a vertically managed city with highly centralized and stable power. There are no blatant separatist forces, and ordinary shady businesses simply cannot survive there. If there is any gray area, there is only one possibility—it is related to a cult.

"Why are you asking about this?" Zhang Yong frowned, his tone serious, completely unlike his previous amiable demeanor. This matter was too sensitive for him to be careless about.

Wu Sheng had already made up his mind, his expression remained calm, and his tone was sincere: "You two were my mentors in the Hyena Gang. I trust you, which is why I asked you so frankly. If I must give a reason, it is that I am new to the inner city and have heard many secrets. I want to take this opportunity to broaden my horizons and gain more knowledge."

Of course, his inquiries into the gray areas related to cults were not a spur-of-the-moment thing.

He has now broken through to the Martial Artist realm, but he needs to conceal his cultivation to avoid suspicion from the Martial Academy and those with ulterior motives. He also needs the cultivation methods for Martial Artists, and these things are currently impossible to obtain through legitimate channels.

While in the outer city, he knew very little about cults. It was only after entering the inner city that he heard about them occasionally. The nobles regarded cult members as a monstrous threat, calling them extremists who attempted to overthrow Yangon, bewitch the people, and commit all sorts of evil deeds. Once discovered, they would be killed without exception, and even contact with them would be subject to strict investigation.

This is also why Zhang Yong and Guo Hui suddenly became tense after hearing the news.

However, he learned from Cheng Mingyuan that although the nobles seemed to be cracking down on cults, many people in the inner city and the Hyena Gang in the outer city were more or less involved with cult members behind the scenes.

After all, the safest course of action for matters that cannot be brought to light or made public is to have these cult members, who operate on the fringes of the law, handle them.

In Wu Sheng's view, the fact that cult members have been able to survive under the high-pressure crackdown in Yangon City means that they must possess a lot of scarce resources. They probably also have the means to conceal their cultivation level and the subsequent cultivation techniques for martial artists.

However, cult members are elusive and ordinary people have no way of finding them.

Wherever it exists, there must be a base.

After all, no organization can exist in isolation.

As for who knows these cult members best in this outer city area, the Hyena Gang, as the local strongmen, undoubtedly knows them best.

This is also why he came specifically to find Zhang Yong and Guo Hui.