Immortality begins with exchanging talent attributes.

Chapter 78 Investigating the Giant Whale Gang

Inside a reception room of the Lu family residence in the inner city.

Zhou Yan looked up at Lu Qing Shuang, pondered for a moment, and said, "Sister Lu, I heard that the Wang family of the inner city is behind the Giant Whale Gang. If this matter continues to be investigated—"

Lu Qingshuang nodded slightly.

"That's right, the Giant Whale Gang is inseparable from the support of the Wang family."

She glanced down at the letter in her hand, a hint of coldness flashing in her clear, cool eyes.

"The Wang family has been restless in recent years, supporting gangs and secretly associating with unknown forces in the martial arts world."

However, they were always cautious, and many of their men were also among the Black-Clad Guards, so many things were suppressed.

Zhou Yan nodded thoughtfully.

He hadn't forgotten Wang Baichuan, the deputy commander who had tried to "praise him to death."

This is a legitimate member of the Wang family; there are even members of the Wang family in the position of deputy commander.

How many of these would be among the centurions, captains, and ordinary Black-Clad Guards?

The Wang family's position among the six great families of the inner city demonstrates its extraordinary power.

Lu Qingshuang placed the letter on the table.

However, this letter itself proves nothing.

"7

She paused for a moment, then continued, "But this pretext is enough for us to investigate. If we find nothing, that's fine. But if we do find something—"

Lu Qingshuang's voice turned slightly cold.

"Then I'll just chop it up while I'm at it."

Zhou Yan's eyes flickered slightly.

This is an attempt to use the Giant Whale Gang to put pressure on the Wang family.

It's unclear whether this was a spur-of-the-moment decision by Lu Qingshuang, or whether the Lu family had long harbored resentment towards the Wang family but had simply lacked a suitable pretext.

However, this has little to do with him.

All he needed to know was that with Lu Qingshuang's words, he could investigate the Giant Whale Gang without any worries.

Just as Zhou Yan was pondering, Lu Qing Shuang suddenly said, "With your strength, how did you end up in such a sorry state?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Yan snapped out of his daze and said with a wry smile, "Tian Youfeng was hiding his strength; I almost got tricked."

He did not reveal that Tian Youfeng was a member of the Sixth Training Team.

After all, he is only at the third level of cultivation on the surface. To say that he could kill someone at the sixth level of cultivation would be an exaggeration.

Besides, Tian Youfeng is already dead.

As for his true level of attainment, no one will bother to investigate unless he brings it up himself.

Seeing that although his clothes were disheveled, he had no obvious injuries, Lu Qingshuang did not continue to ask questions.

Taking the opportunity, Zhou Yan changed the subject, saying, "Sister Lu, are you confident about the duel with that monk Zhuming in a few days?"

As expected, Lu Qing Shuang's thoughts were diverted. She subtly pursed her lips and looked up at him.

What do you think?

Zhou Yan immediately clasped his hands in a fist salute, looking very serious.

"Sister Lu will win."

Lu Qingshuang looked at him.

"Stop flattering me. Since Zhu Ming dared to come all the way from Lunzhuan Temple to Jiande Prefecture to challenge me, he must have been prepared."

You can go and see Chongming Lake three days later; it will be good for you.

"Okay, I'll head back now."

"7

Zhou Yan stood up and said.

Lu Qingshuang hummed in agreement and stood up as well. After seeing him to the door of the reception room, she said meaningfully, "You still need to cultivate faster. In the end, how many merits you can get during the beast tide hunt depends on your strength."

"There aren't so many rules in the mountains. Whoever kills the prey or brings back the materials gets the credit."

What does that mean?

Could they possibly steal it?

Zhou Yan nodded thoughtfully, clasped his hands in a fist and said, "Yes."

He turned and followed the maid who had come to lead the way, leaving the Marquis's residence.

Watching Zhou Yan's departing figure, Lu Qingshuang's eyes gradually darkened.

The Wang family, the Giant Whale Gang!

How many of the powerful families in Jiande Prefecture, like the Wang family, have become increasingly disregard for the laws and regulations of the imperial court?

Just as my father said.

These powerful families in the prefectural city have been living peacefully for too long; it's time to give them a nudge.

The mountain belonging to the Wang family is just right.

When Zhou Yan returned to the Xuanyiwei headquarters, Li Kun and the others had already completed the task.

Zhou Yan, as a captain, received forty merits, while the remaining thirty merits were divided equally among Li Kun and the other six.

It seems very unfair. Li Kun and his team investigated for several days, keeping watch and gathering information every day, but in the end, each of them could only get five merit points.

Zhou Yan didn't participate in the early stages; he only made a move at the end and took 60% of the profits.

But that's the rule of the Black-Clad Guards; if Zhou Yan wanted to charge less, they wouldn't dare to ask for more.

It doesn't matter who spends more time or puts in more effort.

If one day he is promoted to centurion or chiliarch, he will only receive more and more.

The higher one's status, the more resources one can mobilize, and the more resources one has, the faster one's strength can increase.

This is one of the reasons why he has to climb up.

Zhou Yan looked at Li Kun and said, "Li Kun, inform the others that I'm treating everyone today to celebrate the successful completion of this mission. There's one more thing I need to tell you afterward."

Li Kun smiled.

"Okay, I'll go get them right away."

After saying that, he turned and walked into the yamen.

In a private room on the second floor of a restaurant near the Xuanyiwei (Black-Clad Guards).

Zhou Yan and Li Kun, along with six others, were exchanging toasts.

Li Kun then raised his glass and said, "If you ask me, the success of this mission is entirely thanks to Captain Zhou. You all didn't see how fast Tian Youfeng was; he was incredibly fast. Come on, let's all toast Captain Zhou."

The others also stood up and raised their glasses.

"Respectfully, Lieutenant Zhou!"

Zhou Yan smiled and raised his glass to clink with everyone.

"The fact that we were able to find Tian Youfeng this time is also thanks to everyone's efforts."

After saying that, he tilted his head back and drank the wine in his glass in one gulp.

The atmosphere immediately became even more lively.

After the food and wine were served, Zhou Yan waved for the waiter to leave the private room. He then gently put down his wine glass, cleared his throat twice, and addressed the crowd, saying, "Alright, when I went to find Commander Lu just now, he gave me another task."

Upon hearing this, Li Kun and the others all turned their gazes over.

After a pause, he said, word by word, "Investigate the Giant Whale Gang."

The room fell silent instantly.

The group looked at each other, and no one spoke for a moment.

Zhou Yan picked up his wine glass, took a small sip, but glanced at the expressions of the others out of the corner of his eye.

After a moment, Li Kun's flushed face showed a troubled expression: "This... Captain, the Giant Whale Gang is alright, but the Wang family is the main problem..."

""

Zhou Yan waved his hand, put down his wine glass, and interrupted Li Kun, saying, "I already said it's just an investigation, not an order for you to go and fight the Giant Whale Gang right now. What are you afraid of? Besides, this is an order from Commander Lu, you should understand."

Although the group had drunk quite a bit, after hearing Zhou Yan's words, they all realized what was going on, and their expressions visibly relaxed.

Song Hu then spoke up, "Then, sir, what exactly should we investigate?"

Zhou Yan put down his wine glass.

"Keep a close eye on the recent movements of the Giant Whale Gang. Find out exactly what goods they've transported and whether there's been a large-scale relocation of their members."

"Especially during the period before the beast tide, no abnormal behavior should be overlooked."

Upon hearing this, the men immediately stood up, clasped their hands in greeting, and said, "Yes, we understand."

Zhou Yan raised his hand and pressed down, a smile returning to his lips. "Sit down, everyone. You are only responsible for investigating information. If you encounter anything you can't handle, come to me. If I can't handle it, there's still Commander Lu behind me."

After saying that, Zhou Yan raised his cup.

"Come, drink this cup to the brim."

Everyone raised their glasses again.

The dinner party lasted until late into the night before finally ending.

By the time Zhou Yan returned home, it was already late at night.

Zhu Asan's family had already gone to bed.

Only Zheng Bo was still waiting in the gatehouse.

Zhou Yan greeted him and told him to get some rest before going into the training room alone.

The door was closed.

Zhou Yan's internal energy and blood trembled slightly.

A strong smell of alcohol emanated from every pore of my body.

He sat in the chair, tapping his index finger lightly on the table.

The task has been assigned, and all he has to do now is one thing.

Increase strength.

The threat Tian Youfeng posed today instilled in him a strong sense of crisis.

The Giant Whale Gang is connected to the Wang family, and how many experts are hidden within it?

Four sessions, still too weak.

The Bronze Body Technique must be mastered as soon as possible.

Once you reach the fifth level of the Dirty Refining Realm, your self-defense capabilities will improve by at least one more level.

I need to go to Wanbaolou again tomorrow.

The effects of the Replenishing Essence Pill on him are diminishing, so he must purchase a more effective intermediate-grade pill.

Although the Xuan Yi Wei armory can also exchange for pills, money is relatively easier to obtain compared to merit points. After all, I got more than fifty taels from Tian Youfeng today.

Silver in your hands is nothing but a pile of dead things.

Only when it is converted into elixirs or martial arts techniques, and truly transformed into one's own strength, will it have value.

There are about ten days left until the beast tide.

Before that, the Bronze Body Skill must be perfected, and the "Bronze Skin and Iron Bones" attribute must be upgraded.

Only in this way can you earn more merits!