The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun.

"Humph!"

Yue Buqun snorted coldly, his expression hard.

"This demonic witch is so audacious as to appear before me."

At this point, Yue Buqun looked at Jiang Ning and asked, "Did you find her when you went there?"

"No, it's probably long gone."

Jiang Ning shook his head.

Neither he nor Yue Buqun expected Ren Yingying to appear in Xiangyang City, nor did they expect that the demonic cultist would dare to appear in front of them.

At first, Jiang Ning only thought the maid was a bit strange and didn't think of her as being related to the Demonic Sect.

Upon hearing this, Yue Buqun also showed a hint of helplessness.

They made such a commotion in that brothel street, that vixen must have run far away by now.

Now that the person had already escaped, Yue Buqun stopped thinking about her and looked at the silver notes in Jiang Ning's hand, asking, "Did you also find these from the Iron Palm Sect?"

Jiang Ning nodded: "These are silver notes and property deeds, totaling about fifty thousand taels."

Fifty thousand taels?

Upon hearing this, Yue Buqun paused, his heart raced, and his eyes were fixed on the silver note in Jiang Ning's hand.

This fifty thousand taels is enough for his Huashan Sect to use for a long time. Yue Buqun will not have to worry about the sect's livelihood for a long time to come.

After catching his breath, Yue Buqun forcibly suppressed the emotions rising within him and asked in a seemingly calm tone, "What are your plans for this silver?"

Jiang Ning didn't think much of it; he already had a plan in mind. He said, "I want to distribute this silver to the women who were forced into brothels and whose families were ruined. As for the house deeds, I'll check which ones were seized by the Iron Palm Sect and return them to the victims. If there's any silver left over, I want to use it to treat the women who have contracted venereal diseases. As for the rest, I want to build a village at the foot of Mount Hua to take in those who can't survive and some orphans."

Yue Buqun's initially excited heart gradually calmed down as Jiang Ning spoke.

Although there were quite a few women in those brothels, Yue Buqun had his disciples search them all before leaving, and they found a considerable amount of silver. His original plan was to distribute the silver to the women, but he didn't expect that tens of thousands of taels of silver would also be found in Jiangning.

According to Jiang Ning's plan, even if all the silver was distributed to the victimized women, there would still be a considerable amount left over.

Yue Buqun thought that if the remaining silver were used for the Huashan Sect, the sect's expenses would be greatly alleviated. However, he did not expect that Jiang Ning would have such an idea.

However, after thinking about Jiang Ning's idea, Yue Buqun also felt that it was feasible.

"Ah."

Yue Buqun nodded and said, "You have considered things very carefully. I am very pleased."

Hearing his words, Jiang Ning knew that Yue Buqun had agreed.

Jiang Ning was not unaware of the sect's financial difficulties, but every piece of silver and land deed in his possession was stained with blood and tears; he could not use them, nor could the Huashan Sect.

After chatting with Yue Buqun about some issues related to the cultivation of the Innate Skill, Jiang Ning went downstairs and found that the group of people were still there.

Jiang Ning stopped these people from kneeling before him again.

What are your plans?

Jiang Ning looked at these women who had just escaped their suffering and asked them a question.

Some of the women answered that they planned to go home, while the women who were already homeless looked bewildered.

After listening to their words, Jiang Ning told the women about his plans.

In this era, these women were no longer seen as pure by the world. If they were allowed to remain in Xiangyang, they would likely live under the prejudiced gaze and gossip of others.

Language is a knife that can kill.

Rather than this, it would be better to leave Xiangyang and live somewhere else. Jiangning is planning to build a village at the foot of Mount Hua. It goes without saying that some of these women have families, and some of them may not want to leave Xiangyang. As for those who are already destitute, they can go back to Shaanxi with the Huashan Sect and start a new life.

Of course, all of this is voluntary; Jiang Ning does not force anyone.

Upon hearing Jiang Ning's words, the helpless women burst into tears again and tried to kneel down before him, but were stopped.

After explaining his plans, Jiang Ning told them to think about it themselves, and then walked outside the inn.

At this time, the maids and the dozen or so disciples of the Iron Palm Sect were still being held captive.

"Where are Master's wife and Senior Brother?"

When Jiang Ning returned, he didn't see Linghu Chong, Yue Lingshan, Ning Zhongze, and the others; he didn't know where they had gone.

The Huashan disciple who had been guarding the entrance to the inn replied, "My master's wife and senior brother went to raid the Iron Palm Sect's other illegal businesses."

The Iron Master has been operating in Xiangyang City for so long, and his business is not limited to the brothel street.

Under pressure from some Xiangyang residents and their complaints, Ning Zhongze's fiery temper flared up, and she led Linghu Chong and the others to eliminate the threat.

Jiang Ning nodded and then asked, "Have any government officials come over?"

The Huashan disciple shook his head: "No, I've never seen it."

Jiang Ning raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

Their actions tonight can be considered a large-scale armed conflict, yet the government isn't stepping in.

Jiang Ning couldn't help but shake his head.

Jiang Ning turned to look at these people. He still needed to investigate which of them deserved to die and which were innocent.

Tonight will be a sleepless night.

……

The next morning, Jiang Ning finally finished dealing with it.

Of those he brought back from the Iron Palm Sect, the dozen or so Iron Palm Sect members were found to be guilty of murder after investigation; none of them were innocent.

Jiang Ning was not surprised by this. After all, it is indeed difficult to find gold in a pile of dung. He had been prepared for this, and his previous statement was just to avoid any unforeseen circumstances.

As he expected, the maids were mostly fine; they were all servants and had never been involved in harming the people.

Jiang Ning then took some of the silver he had seized to pay their wages and let them go, while the dozen or so Iron Palm Sect members were killed on the spot.

Chapter 57: Every glamorous surface has its dark corners.

Ning Zhongze and Linghu Chong finally returned after working all night.

They took most of their disciples with them when they left, and they all looked somewhat tired when they returned.

"Junior brother, you have no idea."

As soon as Linghu Chong saw Jiang Ning from a distance, he started shouting.

"I ran around most of Xiangyang last night. That Iron Palm Sect is really something else. Their pawnshops not only run a nine-out-thirteen-back scheme, but they also run casinos and underground banks for people to run horses."

Jiang Ning asked curiously, "Let the horses go?"

He knew the saying "nine out, thirteen back," but he didn't know what "releasing the horse" meant.

"It means lending money to others."

Ning Zhongze said with a livid face, "They run casinos and cheat gamblers out of all their savings. Then they make them borrow money from underground banks. The gamblers borrow ten taels of silver, but only receive seven taels. When it's time to repay, they have to pay back sixteen taels. The total term is fourteen days. They make them sign IOUs. If they can't repay by the deadline, they use their house deeds as collateral. If they don't even have house deeds, they make them use their wives and daughters as collateral. Those wives and daughters who are used as collateral are then sent to brothels by them."

"They operate in this way, one link after another, drinking blood and eating flesh, sucking marrow from bones, and countless people have been harmed and their families destroyed."

When Ning Zhongze spoke of these things, her eyes seemed to spit fire.

Jiang Ning opened his mouth to speak several times, but finally shook his head.

Gamblers don't deserve sympathy, but their families, wives, and daughters are truly pitiful.

These gamblers are certainly hateful, but those who set up these schemes deserve to die even more.

"Master's wife and all the senior brothers and sisters have worked hard all night. Go back and rest for a while."

Jiang Ning looked at the fatigue on their faces and said.

"Alright."

Ning Zhongze nodded. They had run through most of Xiangyang last night and definitely needed to rest.

After responding to Jiang Ning, Ning Zhongze returned to her room. Linghu Chong sighed, "We came here for sightseeing, but we never expected something like this to happen. Who would have thought that such a prosperous city like Xiangyang would have such dirty secrets?"

Linghu Chong looked regretful.

After hearing this, Jiang Ning smiled and said, "Any bright and shiny surface will always have dark corners that cannot be seen in the light, and other places are no exception."

Just like Xi'an, that glorious ancient capital of six dynasties, it was infested with a group of blood-sucking worms.

Linghu Chong went inside, shaking his head. Not long after, Du Lanyin came out of the inn and asked in surprise when she saw Jiang Ning, "Junior brother, didn't you sleep all night?"

Most of the disciples who went out last night were male, while Du Lanyin and a few other female disciples stayed at the inn to help appease the brothel women and their families who had come with them. By the time Jiang Ning returned, it was already late at night, and they had long since gone to rest because they were too exhausted to stay awake any longer.

Good morning, senior sister.

Jiang Ning smiled and nodded.

After the battle in the brothel street, and then leading the Huashan disciples to raid a house, and not sleeping all night after returning, even though Jiang Ning was young and strong, he couldn't help but have dark circles under his eyes.

Upon hearing this, Du Lanyin felt a pang of sympathy and said, "Then you should go and rest. Senior Sister Qiaojun and I have already rested. We'll take care of anything that needs to be done later."

"it is good."

Jiang Ning nodded. He was also preparing to rest, but after hearing Du Lanyin's words, he didn't hesitate and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Senior Sister," before going back to his room to rest.

As soon as he returned to his room, Jiang Ning's tense mind relaxed, and drowsiness washed over him. He glanced at the sword still on the table and then collapsed onto the bed. He thought about the breathing techniques of the Innate Skill, adjusted his breathing, and soon fell into a deep sleep, his chest rising and falling steadily, his breathing with a strange rhythm.

One hour later.

Jiang Ning woke up after only two hours of sleep.

It wasn't that he didn't want to continue sleeping, but the noise downstairs woke him up.

Jiang Ning frowned and listened carefully. He discovered that some of the victims' families had brought their wives and daughters to the inn to express their gratitude to the Huashan Sect. Many ordinary people had also come to join in the fun, and with so many people, it became as noisy as a vegetable market.

Jiang Ning, having discovered the situation, didn't care and prepared to go to sleep, but was stunned the next second.

He suddenly realized something was wrong with himself.

How did his hearing become so good?

His room was deep upstairs, not close to the downstairs reception room. Even if there were sounds coming from downstairs, they would be quite faint by the time they reached him, and wouldn't wake him up like this.

Moreover, Jiang Ning now realized that his eyes seemed to see more clearly.