The chivalrous spirit is fickle

As soon as he finished speaking, the waiter was slightly startled, then he grinned, scratched his head, smacked his lips and said.

"That boy, there should be no one in Qingcheng who doesn't recognize him."

Jiang Baizhi raised her eyebrows, a little surprised, and asked with a frown.

"how do I say this?"

The waiter threw away the towel on his body and replied with a smile.

"Sir, you don't know that our Qingcheng is a small city with all kinds of people. It's really a bit chaotic."

"There have been many people who have ventured out into the world over the years, but he is the only one who has made a name for himself."

"How could we not know him?"

Jiang Baizhi was surprised. Her brother told her that the origin of Shi Gu was mysterious, so he asked her to investigate. How come it was going so smoothly now?

What's so mysterious about the bone-releasing thing?

After a moment, Jiang Baizhi came back to her senses. She was a very serious person, so she picked up the pen and asked the waiter.

"Then please tell me in detail about the bone release."

The waiter naturally wouldn't refuse after taking the money. After thinking for a moment, he continued.

"This Shi Gu made a name for himself in Qingcheng when he was very young, but it wasn't a good name."

"I remember that he was an orphan. He didn't know who his parents were. He worked as a servant in the Lichunyuan in the city since he was a child, doing odd jobs."

"Then, somehow, he ran away from Lichunyuan and became a messenger, delivering letters to people everywhere by boat."

"Rumor has it that he found a rare martial arts secret book in a dilapidated temple in the city, and practiced martial arts while delivering letters."

"Until one day, we suddenly lost contact with him. We just thought he had settled down somewhere else and would never come back."

"But after a few years, he suddenly became known as Qingcheng Shigu in the martial arts world."

When the waiter said this, his eyebrows beamed with joy, he slapped his thigh and said proudly.

"Hey, sir, you're right. This kid is from Qingcheng after all. He knows to introduce his hometown's name when he ventures out, so that people know that Qingcheng can also produce some great people."

Jiang Baizhi ignored the waiter's nonsense, but picked up a pen to write down what he said one by one, and asked softly.

"Is that all?"

The waiter picked up the teapot, took a step back and said with a smile.

"Sir, this is all I know. You may need to ask somewhere else for the rest."

Jiang Baizhi was not surprised by this. It was already quite good that he could buy so much information with one copper coin.

Jiang Baizhi put away the blank book, slowly stood up, and asked the waiter one last question before leaving.

"So, where do you think I should go to inquire next?"

The waiter put away the tea that Jiang Baizhi had not touched, bowed, smiled, and said.

"There are many places to go. The best one is the Lichunyuan in the city. However, it is not convenient for a woman like you to go to such a place."

"So, it would be more appropriate for me to go to the Tiger Gang. Shi Gu and the leader of the Tiger Gang also had a dispute before."

Jiang Baizhi thanked him softly and then left the teahouse.

Next, she did not go to look for the Tiger Gang as the waiter said, but temporarily stayed in an inn in Qingcheng. She went out once a day and randomly found someone to inquire about the information about Shi Gu.

first day.

A lazy man lying on the roadside, holding a piece of wild grass in his mouth, spoke to her.

"This Shigu, he looks handsome, but he's also a filthy bastard. He likes to flirt with pretty girls in the city."

"Tsk, what a bastard! I wonder how many young ladies he has harmed. I guess he has tried all kinds of tricks on them."

the next day.

A street vendor knocked on his stall and said indignantly.

"God damn it, that Shigu is not a good thing."

"He broke into my house in the middle of the night, shook all the eggs my chickens laid and scattered them until the yolks turned black, and then sneaked out again."

"Listen, is this something a human would do?"

Day three.

A lady who still had charm secretly told Jiang Baizhi with a look of regret on her face.

"Shigu is handsome and speaks sweetly."

"Everything is good, but some of the words are not kept."

"Every day he said he would kick the widow's door at night, but I never saw him actually come that night."

"devil."

Just like this, day after day, tirelessly.

From the mouths of those people, the image of Shi Gu gradually took shape under Jiang Baizhi's pen.

On the fifteenth day, Jiang Baizhi did not go out to continue inquiring, but instead organized the information collected over the past few days in the inn.

She hung the Buddhist bones painting she had done that day in Tsutenkaku on the wall and paced around the portrait, reciting in a low voice.

"Shi Gu, lustful but not bold, said a lot of obscene things, but never really did anything out of line."

"I have no father or mother. I grew up in the City God Temple. At the age of ten, I entered the Lichun Courtyard as a servant."

"I left Lichunyuan at the age of fourteen and worked as a courier. During this period, I was involved with the Tiger Gang."

"I left Qingcheng by boat at the age of eighteen and never returned, but I became famous five years later."

After saying this, Jiang Baizhi stopped, frowned, bit the pen gently, and whispered to herself.

"This person's background is so clear, is it really necessary to investigate? Is Big Brother trying to coax me to leave Tsutenkaku?"

After thinking it over, Jiang Baizhi felt more and more that her guess was correct. However, she was always serious. Even though she knew that this was her elder brother's way of getting her to leave Tongtian Pavilion, she still decided to investigate Shi Gu's background to the end.

After all, there are still some unreasonable things in Shi Gu's information.

"There is absolutely no record of his training. Could it be that he is some kind of genius who suddenly gained enlightenment one day and became a master on the Jianghu Land Ranking?"

After saying that, Jiang Baizhi shook his head repeatedly. This idea was too absurd. No matter how talented a person was, it was impossible for him to go directly from an ordinary person to the eighth level of martial arts and become a master on the Earth List.

After a moment, Jiang Baizhi turned her head to look at the portrait of Shi Gu hanging in the middle, slowly closed the book, and said lightly.

"It looks like it's time to pay a visit to the Tiger Gang and the Lichunyuan people."

After Jiang Baizhi finished speaking, he picked up the sword, took the notebook he carried with him, and pushed the door open and walked out.

After leaving the inn, Jiang Baizhi glanced casually at the crowd and then walked towards the south of the city, where the pier was located.

The Tiger Gang, a gang name that is almost everywhere. It seems that there is a grassroots gang called the Tiger Gang in every city.

The Tiger Gang of Qingcheng was actually a mob that made a living at the docks. They were at most at the second level of martial arts, which was not enough to make their way in the martial arts world, but it was enough to bully ordinary people in a small city.

After Jiang Baizhi arrived at the pier, she looked around and saw several tents set up in a corner of the pier, where a lot of people gathered.

Looking closely, those people were all shirtless, with dark skin, muscular bodies, and a tiger head tattooed on their arms.

Jiang Baizhi's eyes lit up and she strode towards the tent. Before she got close, the men in the tent had already noticed Jiang Baizhi.

After all, a fair-skinned young girl is still very eye-catching on this dock full of men.

Jiang Baizhi walked in front of the crowd, took out a purse from her arms, threw it forward, and said lightly.

"I want to see your leader."

A man reached out to take the purse, opened it and took a look, but did not agree immediately. Instead, he turned around and whispered something to the person next to him. After listening, the man turned around and walked towards the tent.

Jiang Baizhi was not in a hurry. She stood there quietly waiting. The men around her gradually gathered around her and looked at the fair-skinned girl curiously, but no one said anything unpleasant, and no one made any indecent move.

After a while, the man who went back to report came over, walked past the crowd, bowed slightly, and spoke politely to Jiang Baizhi.

"Girl, my gang leader is waiting for you inside, please come in."

As they were talking, the men tacitly made way for them. Jiang Baizhi politely thanked them in a low voice, stepped through the crowd and walked into the tent.

In the tent, a rough middle-aged man was sitting on a chair with a table full of wine and meat. He was eating heartily. Jiang Baizhi had no intention of disturbing the middle-aged man and just sat quietly opposite him.

After taking a sip of wine, the middle-aged man wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, looked up at Jiang Baizhi, and asked in a deep voice.

"Miss, is there something you want to talk to me about?"

Upon hearing this, Jiang Baizhi placed the notebook on the oil-stained table, took out a pen, and then looked up and spoke to the middle-aged man.

"I want to ask you about some bone-releasing techniques. The price is negotiable."

The middle-aged man was startled when he heard this and said with some confusion.

"Ask about Shi Gu? What is your relationship with him, girl?"

Jiang Baizhi's eyes flashed and she asked softly.

"What is my relationship with him? Does it have any impact on this matter?"

The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes slightly, crossed his legs, and said in a deep voice.

"After all, I have some connection with Shi Gu. I won't reveal his affairs so casually, lest I bring disaster to him."

Hearing this, Jiang Baizhi lied confidently without any hesitation or shyness.

"I'm pregnant with his child, but I don't know where that damn guy is, so I came here to look for him."

"..."

The middle-aged man's expression suddenly turned awkward, and his originally stern face instantly collapsed. He grimaced, made a gasping sound, and muttered in a low voice.

"Damn it, I shouldn't have asked."

The middle-aged man's complexion quickly returned to normal, but he still felt a little embarrassed when he looked at Jiang Baizhi. His aura also dropped, and he asked with a dry laugh.

"Um...what do you want to ask?"

Jiang Baizhi held the pen in her hand, her eyes expressionless as she spoke calmly.

"About your relationship with him, and all that you know about him."

"If I can't find him, I can at least tell our children about what happened to his father."

Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man sighed deeply, looked sad, and smiled bitterly.

"There's actually nothing much to say about our relationship."

"He grew up with me in a dilapidated temple, and we begged for food together."

"But later, I came to the dock to carry bags, and he ran away to work as a servant in Lichun Courtyard."

"I originally wanted to ask him to help me carry the bags, but when he was ten years old, he was wrongly accused of stealing and his arm was broken."

"Since then, his arms have lost strength and he can no longer do heavy work. He also has a reputation as a thief and no one wants to hire him, so he can only work as a servant in Lichunyuan."

There was a flash of surprise in Jiang Baizhi's eyes. She stopped writing and asked in confusion.

"Since he was wrongly accused, didn't he give any explanation?"

The middle-aged man's eyes dimmed, he smiled at himself, reached out and touched the scar on his face, and whispered.

"You need someone to listen to your explanation. Those people couldn't produce any evidence, and they couldn't find any stolen goods, but they still insisted that he was a thief, didn't they?"

"He was beaten half to death that day and almost died. He was blessed by God to be alive. How dare he still hope for innocence?"

Chapter 49: Lies (Part 2)

"He was beaten half to death that day and almost died. He was blessed by God to be alive. How dare he still hope for innocence?"

The middle-aged man looked bleak. As he spoke, he picked up the wine jug, took a big gulp of wine, and sighed.

"Shigu and I grew up together. I am stronger, so people don't bully me as much. But he is weak, so we were often bullied when we lived in the dilapidated temple."

"It didn't change until he entered Lichunyuan. The boss of Lichunyuan hired him because he wanted less money and looked good."

"But after he was hired, they kept causing trouble for him and deducted his wages in various ways. In the end, his life was worse than begging for food."

"I could only eat leftovers all day, and was beaten, scolded, and looked down upon by others."

Jiang Baizhi frowned slightly, with a little more doubt in her heart. She held the pen in her hand and spoke softly.