Rise from a Poor Family: My Martial Arts Counterattack

Chapter 265 Wanted
"Young man, we admit defeat this time. Let me off the hook, and I can compensate you."

“I am a member of the Zhuang family. If you kill me, the Zhuang family will definitely investigate. As long as you let me go, I swear I won’t let the clan hunt you down.”

Zhuang Xin looked at Lin Chen. He knew that he and his companions couldn't hide their plan to kill and steal treasure, otherwise the other party wouldn't have ambushed them here.

"Who gave you the courage to kill and steal?"

Lin Chen squinted. As a young martial artist who had just entered the ranks, not to mention his limitless future, the fact that he had entered the ranks at such a young age meant that he had a powerful background in the eyes of others.

Anyone who isn't a fool knows that a martial artist like him should never be easily offended.

These two people in front of me are so old, yet they've still managed to reach the highest level; they definitely can't be fools.

"It was...it was the manager of the Treasure Pavilion who secretly informed us..."

Zhuang Xin didn't hide anything. Since the other party had already noticed, there was no point in denying it.

Lin Chen suddenly realized that he had originally thought that Dan Muqing was angry because he hadn't agreed to her request, which was why she was thinking of killing him to steal the treasure. He suspected that he had more than one Canglan Pearl.

Unexpectedly, there was a traitor within the Dan family. The manager of the Treasure Pavilion had secretly colluded with the Zhuang family and informed them about his sale of the Canglan Pearl.

"We two guessed that since you were able to enter the rank at such a young age, your family must be extraordinary. However, there are no Gu families in the surrounding counties that meet the criteria, which means that you came from thousands of miles away."

"You have traveled such a long distance to sell the Azure Pearl, it is very likely that your family has encountered some misfortune, and you have no choice but to leave your family's location."

Listening to Zhuang Xin's analysis, Lin Chen had to admit that none of the martial artists who had reached the rank of entry-level were simple-minded.

This analysis makes perfect sense; I suppose Dan Muqing thought the same way about herself.

A scion of a fallen family, traveling thousands of miles to sell the Azure Pearl, is very likely forced to flee because his family has been wiped out and he is being hunted down by powerful figures.

A very reasonable analysis.

I might have come to the same conclusion if I were in that situation.

"Your strength is remarkable at such a young age. We can turn our differences into friendship. I am willing to recommend you to the clan. With your abilities, you can represent our Zhuang family in the Four Great Clans Competition. The clan will surely..."

call out!
Before Zhuang Xin could finish speaking, Lin Chen fired another arrow, instantly ending Zhuang Xin's life.

Looking at Zhuang Xin's unseeing eyes, Lin Chen bent down and searched the two of them for a while, but only found a few silver notes of twenty taels each, and not even a bottle of pills.

"No wonder he came out to rob people; he must be a marginal figure in the family business."

It is extremely rare for a martial artist to be this poor; at least, no martial artist in the Great Liang Dynasty would be this poor.

However, it is also possible that the two did not keep their belongings on their person, but instead left them at their residence.

Lin Chen picked up the two corpses and quickly headed deeper into the woods...

Fifteen minutes later, Lin Chen dusted off his hands and emerged from the woods. Even though the two men wanted to kill him, he was kind-hearted and couldn't bear to see his body left to rot in the wilderness, so he dug a hole and buried it.

……

……

A mansion in Linhai City.

"Miss, something terrible has happened! Manager Chen has been captured by the Zhuang family's men."

A maid rushed into the backyard in a panic. Dan Muqing's face turned serious: "The Zhuang family has arrested the manager of the Dan family. What does the Zhuang family want to do?"

"Miss, the shop assistant said that the second young master of the Zhuang family came to arrest the person himself."

"Come with me and take a look."

……

Treasure Pavilion.

Before Dan Muqing even arrived at the Treasure Pavilion, her expression turned icy.

In front of the Treasure Pavilion, Manager Chen's corpse lay on the ground, his eyes wide open, half of his head crushed. Two waiters sat trembling on the ground beside him.

"You Zhuang family are really too presumptuous! Do you really think the Dan family has no one left to rely on!"

Dan Muqing walked quickly to the shop entrance. At that moment, a middle-aged man came out from inside. Facing Dan Muqing's frosty expression, he simply smiled and clasped his hands, saying, "Miss Dan, please don't be angry. Our second young master's actions today were to rid the Dan family of a scourge."

"Destroy?"

"This person colluded with the Zhuang family and betrayed them. When my second young master found out, he personally killed this traitor to prevent him from damaging the relationship between the Zhuang and Dan families. This was also to show the Dan family that this was not the doing of the head of the Zhuang family."

The middle-aged man's words suppressed Dan Muqing's anger, but she still coldly asked, "Do you have any evidence?"

“There is evidence, of course. This person went to Zhuang Xin’s residence today. If Miss Dan doesn’t believe it, she can ask these two waiters.”

Dan Muqing looked at the two trembling waiters and said in a deep voice, "Did Manager Chen go to Zhuang Xin's residence?"

"Miss...I...I don't know. After you left the shop today, Manager Chen said he had something to do and left the shop. I don't know where he went."

"The shopkeeper went to Lord Zhuang's residence. I have seen Shopkeeper Chen coming out of Lord Zhuang's residence several times."

The two waiters spoke up, and the middle-aged man smiled and said, "Miss Dan, my second young master said that he disposed of the traitor without the Dan family's consent. If Miss Dan is dissatisfied, my second young master will come to apologize to you in person."

"No need!"

Dan Muqing's face was icy cold.

"In that case, I'll take my leave."

The middle-aged man strode away, and Dan Muqing said to those behind him, "Sixth Uncle, investigate why the Zhuang family targeted Chen Yan."

Deep in the alley behind, a figure vanished like a ghost upon hearing this.

"Take Chen Yan's body away and send it back to his home."

Looking at Chen Yan's body, Dan Muqing finally decided to let Chen Yan's family off the hook.

Betraying one's master is punishable by the execution of the entire family, according to the law.

But Chen Yan had worked for the Dan family for most of his life, rising from a shop assistant to the manager. Even if he hadn't made any great contributions, he had certainly put in a lot of hard work.

……

……

A quarter of an hour later.

An elderly figure walked into the shop.

“Miss, we’ve found out. After you left the shop today, Chen Yan went to Zhuang Xin’s residence. Not long after, the Zhuang brothers, Zhuang Xin and Zhuang Zhi, left the city through the north gate and have not been seen since. The Zhuang family discovered that Zhuang Xin and Zhuang Zhi were missing, so they sent Zhuang Lihui to investigate.”

Upon hearing the old man's report, Dan Muqing blurted out, "Gu Fei!"

“Miss guessed correctly. Although Chen Yan did not know about the Canglan Pearl, he deduced from Miss’s actions that it must be a treasure. Chen Yan had long been secretly colluding with the Zhuang brothers. After Miss left, he immediately informed the Zhuang brothers of this news. The Zhuang brothers probably had the idea of ​​killing him to steal the treasure.”

The old man had a mocking expression on his lips: "Now it seems that this is a case of trying to kill someone to steal their treasure but ending up being killed instead."

The two ninth-rank martial artists had been missing for more than three hours. There was only one explanation: they had been killed by Gu Fei.

"Although the Zhuang brothers, Zhuang Xin and Zhuang Zhi, are only ninth-rank, they have been at the ninth rank for many years. Both brothers were killed by Gu Fei. Sixth Uncle... do you think this is likely?"

Dan Muqing found it hard to believe. The Zhuang brothers and Chen Yan were colluding, and this was certainly not the first time they had committed murder and robbery. How could Gu Fei see through it? Even if he did, how could he kill the Zhuang brothers?

Unless, of course, Gu Fei is an eighth-rank official.

But that's impossible. If someone is an eighth-rank official under twenty years old, they must be a genius famous throughout the entire Zhao Kingdom. She couldn't possibly not have heard of them.

"Perhaps Gu Fei has some means of self-preservation. Miss, you're not assuming that Gu Fei is also from a prominent family, but his family has suffered a misfortune. It's not surprising that members of prominent families would have self-preservation methods."

The old man spoke slowly, and Dan Muqing nodded: "Sixth Uncle is right. It's not surprising that scions of large families have life-saving methods."

As the eldest daughter of the Dan family, she also possesses methods to protect herself.

"There's another matter. When I was gathering information, I discovered that some members of the Zhuang family went to the clinic and arrested a fisherman."

"Arresting fishermen?"

Dan Muqing was somewhat surprised. Given the status of the landlord, it was impossible for any fisherman to dare to offend him.

However, she was also puzzled as to why her sixth uncle cared about this matter and even brought it up with her.

"Sixth Uncle, what is the background of this fisherman?"

“I did some research. The fisherman who was arrested is named Yu Shan. His family has been fishermen for generations. His parents passed away three years ago. He has a younger sister and brother. The reason Yu Shan is at the clinic is because he was attacked by a sea monster while fishing at sea, but he was lucky enough to survive.”

The old man looked up and said, "The reason why the Zhuang family kidnapped Yu Shan is because the doctor of the clinic once went to the bank to exchange a gold note worth ten gold coins. When the Zhuang family went to the clinic, the doctor there revealed that the gold note was given to Yu Shan by a young martial artist."

Dan Muqing's beautiful eyes narrowed; she understood what her sixth uncle meant.

The Zhuang family's abduction of Yu Shan was also related to Gu Fei. It must have been because Chen Yan revealed to the Zhuang family that he had given Gu Fei 110 gold coins, and the money exchange in Linhai City was precisely run by the Zhuang family.

"Sixth Uncle, save Yu Shan's sister and brother."

Dan Muqing made her decision, and the old man nodded: "Okay."

The old man turned and walked out of the shop, his figure quickly disappearing into the darkness.

……

……

Linhai County.

Lin Chen narrowed his eyes slightly as he looked at the outline of the city ahead.

After killing those two ninth-rank men, he chose to go against the grain, changing his course from north to south.

The reason is simple: if the dealer found the bodies of the two men, he would only chase them north, and would not think that he would flee south.

Lin Chen had seen the map of the nine kingdoms. The territory of the Zhao Kingdom was only one-fifth the size of the Liang Kingdom. Apart from the capital, it had fifteen prefectures under its jurisdiction.

If we compare them by area, one prefecture of Zhao is equivalent to two prefectures of Daliang.

Just as Lin Chen was about to enter the city, a voice suddenly rang out behind him.

"Young friend, you can't enter the city like this."

The moment the sound came, Lin Chen's hair stood on end. He immediately wanted to run, but he managed to stop himself and slowly turned around to look behind him.

Less than ten feet behind him, an old man was standing there with a smile.

Based on my current perception, anyone who can silently approach within ten feet of me must be at least a seventh-rank martial artist.

"This junior greets senior. What is the meaning of your words, senior?"

“Young Master Gu, I am here on Miss’s orders to wait for you outside Linhai County. I have something to tell you: the Zhuang family has left people guarding the city gates of Linhai County. Once you enter the city, the Zhuang family will immediately notice you.”

"Did the Zhuang family discover it?"

Lin Chen looked puzzled: "Senior, I don't understand what you mean. I have no grudge against the Zhuang family. It has nothing to do with the Zhuang family guarding the gate."

Upon hearing Lin Chen's words and seeing his confused expression, the old man inwardly praised him for remaining calm in the face of danger.

If he hadn't already known the whole story and was certain that the Zhuang brothers had died at Gu Fei's hands, he probably would have been completely fooled.

"Since Young Master Gu feels it's alright, then consider this old man's words unnecessary. Young Master Gu may enter the city at will."

The old man looked at Lin Chen with a smile, and the confusion on Lin Chen's face disappeared. Naturally, he would not enter the city again.

Regardless of whether this person was trying to deceive him, it at least showed that his killing of the Zhuang family member had been exposed.

"So this is Linhai County. It seems I've taken the wrong road. Thank you for informing me, senior."

Lin Chen clasped his hands in a fist salute, then turned to walk in another direction.

"The entire Zhuang family has been mobilized. Not only are there guards at the city gate of Linhai County, but also in other cities, and there are even seventh-rank martial artists patrolling in various places."

The old man did not stop Lin Chen from leaving and continued to recount the situation.

"Although the Zhuang brothers have exhausted their martial arts potential and will only reach the ninth rank in their lifetime, a ninth-rank martial artist is still considered a mid-level figure in the Zhuang family. The Zhuang family cannot remain indifferent to the death of two ninth-rank martial artists."

Lin Chen stopped and stared at the old man: "Senior, please speak frankly."

"In the end, this situation is due to a traitor in my Dan family who leaked Young Master Gu's whereabouts. My young lady said that if Young Master Gu needs anything, the Dan family can send him out of Linhai County."

"No conditions?"

Thinking of the duel that Dan Muqing had mentioned to him, Lin Chen asked another question.

"There are no conditions. This is my young lady's apology to Mr. Gu."

Hearing the old man's words, Lin Chen pondered for a while and said, "Alright, then I'll trouble you, senior."

"Young Master Gu, please follow me."

The old man led Lin Chen toward the bamboo grove on the other side of the official road, where a carriage was parked.

"No one in Linhai County dares to inspect the carriages of the Dan family. Young Master Gu, please get in."

Lin Chen nodded. Since the Dan family was one of the four major families in Linhai County, they must have these privileges.

By riding in a carriage, one can avoid the watchful eyes of the landlords at the city gate and enter the city.

"Thank you, senior."

Lin Chen clasped his hands in thanks and, without further ado, mounted his horse and entered the carriage.

The old man himself sat at the front of the carriage and drove it toward the city gate.

After a short while, the carriage arrived at the city gate. The guards at the gate lowered their heads and showed extreme respect when they saw the insignia on the carriage. Only after the carriage had left did they raise their heads.

"Boss, the estate owner instructed us to check every carriage that comes in and goes out, this..."

"If you're looking to die, don't drag me down with you. This is the Dan family's carriage. Didn't you see the insignia on it? Only members of the Dan family are qualified to ride in this carriage. You dare to go and check it now?"

The guard leader had a look of disdain on his face, while the guard who asked the question looked sullen.

If he dared to investigate the carriage of the Dan family head, it would be no different from sending himself to his death.

(End of this chapter)