From the fusion of Tongbei Quan to the Longevity Martial Saint

When Gu Changyuan returned, Ding Mingcheng and the remaining salt patrol guards had already arrived at the private room where Fang Qing was.

Ding Mingcheng stood directly beside Fang Qing, placing him within his defensive range.

The other salt patrol guards also squeezed Li Zaotou's children, as well as the few others who could still stand in the room, into a corner to prevent them from escaping.

When Gu Changyuan returned, he snorted coldly and threw Dai Yu, whom he had just picked up from the street, onto the ground.

Seeing that Dai Yu's chest had caved in badly and he was still spitting out blood and foam, it was clear that he was only hanging on by a thread.

Fang Qing then looked up in surprise in the direction of Gu Changyuan.

It turns out that Gu Changyuan had just been holding Dai Yu in one hand and a long knife in the other, forcing Li Minghan to crash through several walls, leaving him with no chance to fight back.

This cultivation level is truly far superior to Li Minghan's seventh level of Body Tempering.

Gu Changyuan first looked up and cupped his hands in a gesture of respect towards Fang Qing.

The anger on his face vanished instantly, replaced by a warm expression.

"After I met Lord Lin in Yangzhou, I headed straight for Yancheng."

"When I got to your salt field, I found out that you and another cook named Dai Yu were here for a gathering. I didn't think much of it, I just planned to talk to you after your gathering. I didn't expect to hear the commotion here as soon as I got downstairs to the street."

Seeing that Fang Qing was unharmed, Gu Changyuan finally breathed a slight sigh of relief.

Ding Mingcheng, who had been standing next to Fang Qing, walked over at this moment and said in a low voice:

"Brother Fang, logically speaking, everyone in this private room wanted to kill you. It's only natural that you killed them all."

"However, the flying fish robes we wear represent the status of officials."

"There's no way to let you take revenge openly."

"However, Lord Gu should be able to get you sufficient compensation."

Upon hearing Ding Mingcheng's explanation, Fang Qing immediately nodded in understanding.

The Salt Patrol Guard, after all, represented the official authorities.

If Fang Qing were to kill everyone in this private room right in front of the Salt Patrol Guards, the officials in the court would likely launch a massive impeachment campaign against the Salt Patrol Guards.

Ding Mingcheng meant that it wouldn't be too late for Fang Qing to take action privately after Gu Changyuan had secured sufficient compensation for him.

Gu Changyuan looked at Li Zaotou's niece, who was still standing, and the remaining three subordinates of Fang Jingyuan.

"In this room, whether you're standing or lying down, give each person five Body Tempering Pills. As for the two on the ground who aren't breathing, I don't care who paid for those pills, I must collect them all."

After saying this, Gu Changyuan turned around and spoke through the large hole in the wall that Li Minghan had smashed into:

"Li Minghan, including you!"

A cold snort suddenly came from the other side of the cave entrance.

The next moment, with a whoosh, a white porcelain bottle flew through the holes in the four walls.

Gu Changyuan reached out and took it, and a small porcelain bottle appeared in his hand.

Fang Qing glanced across the hole in front of him.

Only then did they realize that Li Minghan had been standing opposite the hole in the four walls the whole time, and hadn't left.

It seems they are also very wary of Gu Changyuan.

Gu Changyuan opened the small porcelain bottle and saw five Body Tempering Pills inside. He smelled them to make sure there were no problems before nodding in satisfaction.

He turned around and threw it directly to Fang Qing.

When Li Zaotou's niece saw Gu Changyuan look up at her, she immediately gritted her teeth.

She brought over two helpers from the stove; one was riddled with thorns, with a table leg stuck in his chest; the other had bled to death and was deathly pale.

Both of them are dead, how could they possibly still produce five Body Tempering Pills?

Li Zaotou's niece gritted her teeth and took out three porcelain bottles from her bosom.

Her monthly salary as a cook was only two Body Tempering Pills, plus some spiritual meat.

Taking out these fifteen Body Tempering Pills is equivalent to her working in the kitchen for a year—all for nothing.

But seeing Gu Changyuan's aggressive approach, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and hand over almost all of his wealth.

The remaining three cooks, Fang Jingyuan, were also trembling. Each of them took out a small porcelain bottle and handed it to Fang Qing.

Ding Mingcheng personally bent down and searched Dai Yu's body.

They actually found two small porcelain bottles. When they opened them, they found ten Body Tempering Pills.

After collecting everything, it was handed over to Fang Qing.

In just a short while, Fang Qing received nearly fifty Body Tempering Pills.

One Body Tempering Pill can restore nearly one hundred stamina points.

Fang Qing was very satisfied with the compensation.

Next, Li Zao Tou's niece slunk away, carrying the corpses of the two cooks who had helped her.

Only after they left did Gu Changyuan lower his voice and say:

"We've been monitoring the Liu family, the salt merchants, recently. We should be able to give you an explanation in a few days."

Fang Qing glanced behind Li Zaotou's niece.

Ding Mingcheng stepped forward and said:

"Lord Gu, Dai Yu, who tricked Brother Fang here, is the mastermind. What should we do?"

At this moment, Fang Qing and Gu Changyuan were walking side by side down to the bottom of Shizhenlou.

Gu Changyuan waved his hand casually.

"He dared to harm Brother Fang, give him a quick death."

Ding Mingcheng nodded upon hearing this, and then stepped on Dai Yu's neck.

Then, he turned around and left with his men.

Dai Yu, who was still breathing, suddenly died.

At this moment, only the three stoves belonging to Fang Jingyuan's subordinates remained in the room.

The three of them were still in a daze.

They were supposed to be six people against Fang Qing, so how did things turn out like this?

Especially the corpse of Dai Yu, who set up this trap, is now gradually getting cold in the middle of this private room.

What exactly is the background of their colleague, the head of the saltworks at Jinsha Saltworks?

Just as this thought crossed their minds, the next moment, from the hole in the wall opposite the private room, came Li Minghan's emotionless voice again:

"Our Shizhenlou restaurant suffered heavy losses today. It seems that the entire wall of Shizhenlou needs to be renovated."

"Go back and tell your young master that all the renovation costs for Shizhenlou will be charged to him."

"This whole thing started because of him, and he has to give Shizhenlou an explanation. Otherwise, if anyone from the capital comes, he'll be in big trouble."

After saying that, Li Minghan snorted coldly and then turned around and went back to his residence from the other side of the hole.

Upon hearing this, the remaining three cooks under Fang Jingyuan's command all narrowed their eyes, bowed and scraped several times, and then quickly left Shizhenlou with Dai Yu's corpse.

……

After leaving Shizhenlou, Gu Changyuan waved to Ding Mingcheng and the others.

It was obvious that he had something important to tell Fang Qing.

Ding Mingcheng and the others immediately cupped their hands in greeting and then headed towards another fork in the road.

Gu Changyuan and Fang Qing continued walking along the street.

Gu Changyuan first took out a wooden plaque.

"This time, I personally met with Salt Commissioner Lin. When he saw the searchlight you developed, he praised it highly. We discussed it for most of the night before he reluctantly put the searchlight back."

"The last time I saw Lord Lin so excited was when his daughter was born."

Gu Changyuan's face was filled with emotion at this moment.

Fang Qing was also quite curious about this Salt Inspector, Lord Lin.

I heard from Gu Changyuan that the Salt Commissioner, Lord Lin, was the third-ranked scholar in the martial arts examination in Jiangnan back then.

Both his cultivation and his character are top-notch.

Fang Qing hadn't expected that such people would have such a strong reaction to the simple torch-shaped searchlight he invented.

At this point, Gu Changyuan handed the wooden plaque in his hand to Fang Qing.

"Without your consent, I directly applied to Lord Lin for a spot in the Salt Patrol Guard Reserve Camp for you."

"This Salt Patrol Reserve Battalion is a semi-official organization. Sometimes, when we Salt Patrol Guards are facing tasks that are not particularly dangerous or sensitive, we will call on the Salt Patrol Reserve Battalion for assistance."

"The monthly salary wasn't much, but at least it gave me an official title."

……