Chapter 10: The Old Fox

The corners of the Heavenly Wind Listening to Rain Tower’s Informant’s mouth twitched slightly.

Although he had known beforehand that he needed to cooperate with Chen Yuan’s acting, hearing the lines come out of Chen Yuan’s mouth still made him feel a sense of shame.

You’re a guy from a Gang background who chopped off someone’s head at Wangyou Tower just a few days ago because they had a foul mouth, and now you’re pretending to be a righteous Jianghu hero in front of me?

However, since the boss had given the order, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and continue the act.

“Disasters don’t involve family? Simply laughable!”

The leading Informant said coldly, “Kid, this is a grudge between my Profound Whale Gang and Zuo Xinglie. I advise you not to meddle in other people’s business, otherwise, I’ll kill you along with him!”

“What Profound Whale Gang or Big Fish Gang? This is Lianshan City, the territory of my Heaven Wolf Gang! I’d like to see how you’ll kill me!”

Chen Yuan turned to Zuo Xinglie and said, “Old man, you guys go first. I’ll help you stop them.”

Zuo Xinglie gasped and immediately said, “Thank you for your assistance, Young Hero. This old man is eternally grateful.”

After saying that, Zuo Xinglie didn’t stay for a moment, directly picking up his granddaughter and fleeing.

Chen Yuan watched Zuo Xinglie’s retreating figure, revealing an inscrutable smile, then turned around to engage in a fierce battle with the agents from the Heavenly Wind Listening to Rain Tower.

Because he wasn’t sure if Zuo Xinglie would look back, Chen Yuan was actually fighting them intensely at the beginning, though neither side was using lethal moves.

The leading agent from the Heavenly Wind Listening to Rain Tower became more alarmed the more they fought.

Previously, he hadn’t really thought much of Chen Yuan.

Although he was only a peripheral agent of the Heavenly Wind Listening to Rain Tower, only fit for rough work like killing, he was still part of a top-tier major power.

A Martial Artist from a small city Gang like Chen Yuan seemed like a country bumpkin to him, the kind of person who sees the world from the bottom of a well.

Who would have thought that Chen Yuan’s Heavenly Wolf Swordplay was practiced to perfection, and his Internal Energy cultivation was incredibly solid.

He, a Pulse Opening Realm expert, along with over ten Body Tempering Realm Martial Artists, were actually fighting him on equal terms.

Moreover, he could feel that while they weren’t using lethal moves, Chen Yuan also had trump cards he hadn’t revealed.

In a true life-and-death struggle, it wasn’t certain who would live and who would die.

After fighting for a while, sensing that Zuo Xinglie should be far away, both sides immediately stopped.

Chen Yuan cupped his hands toward the other party: “Thank you, sorry for the trouble everyone.”

The leading Informant also politely returned the gesture: “Young Master Chen is too polite. The boss gave the order; this is all what we should do.”

After saying that, he led his subordinates and scattered.

Chen Yuan also immediately chased in the direction Zuo Xinglie had left.

However, at this moment, Chen Yuan suddenly paused, looked toward his diagonal rear, and frowned slightly.

But he didn’t stay, instead immediately chasing after him.

Zuo Xinglie was truly scared and ran extremely fast.

In just this short while, he had already fled Lianshan City and arrived at a dense forest on the edge of the city to hide temporarily.

It wasn’t that he didn’t want to run anymore, but he really couldn’t run any further. He could only sit under a tree with his eyes closed, gasping for breath, as if his heart was about to explode.

Without Internal Energy, fleeing solely on physical strength was already his limit.

“Grandpa, Grandpa, are you okay?”

His granddaughter’s eyes were red as she constantly stroked Zuo Xinglie’s chest with her hand.

“Nannan, don’t cry. Grandpa won’t die.”

Zuo Xinglie let out a long breath, supporting himself with his Miao Dao to try and stand up.

That young man’s strength seemed okay, but there were over ten people on the Profound Whale Gang’s side; he wouldn’t be able to hold out for long.

Having lost his Internal Energy, he couldn’t even cover his tracks while fleeing. They would definitely be able to follow the trail and catch up. Hiding was useless; he still needed to escape as soon as possible.

Just then, the sound of footsteps suddenly approached, and Zuo Xinglie abruptly held his Miao Dao horizontally in front of him.

“Old man, don’t panic, it’s me.”

Chen Yuan pushed aside the branches and appeared before Zuo Xinglie.

“Young Hero, you’ve dealt with those people?”

Chen Yuan said proudly, “That group claimed to be from some Profound Whale Gang, but this Lianshan City is the territory of my Heaven Wolf Gang! After I made my move, members from the Branch Hall noticed and dealt with them. “

Lanzhou people don’t follow the rules of the Jianghu, actually making a move against the elderly and young children. Simply shameless!”

Old man, you can safely go back now. As long as my Heaven Wolf Gang is here, that damn Profound Whale Gang definitely won’t dare to act willfully in Lianshan City!”

Chen Yuan wasn’t sure if Zuo Xinglie knew his identity, so he didn’t hide his Heaven Wolf Gang background.

He just played himself as a righteous but naive kid who had just entered the Jianghu, seeing the world from the bottom of a well and not knowing what the Profound Whale Gang represented.

Zuo Xinglie smiled bitterly in his heart.

Let alone a mere Heaven Wolf Gang, even if the Heaven Wolf Gang and Blackwater Gang were added together, they wouldn’t be as powerful as a single Branch Hall of the Profound Whale Gang.

After annexing his Thirty-Six Waterway Alliance, the Profound Whale Gang had completely dominated the Jiulong River waters, and their power was bound to skyrocket.

“The Profound Whale Gang has a great grudge against me. Even though I’ve now washed my hands of the Jianghu and retired, they won’t let me go.”

Since they could find their way to Lianshan City, it proves that my tracks have already been exposed. Staying in Lianshan City would mean living in fear, and it would also involve you, Young Hero.”

Zuo Xinglie sighed and said, “The Jianghu is vast; any place can be home. I’ll find another place to continue living in seclusion.”

Today, Young Hero saved my life and my granddaughter’s. This old man is eternally grateful.”

But this old man now has nothing of value left, and can only give my former famous Cultivation Techniques to you, Young Hero, as a reward.”

As he spoke, Zuo Xinglie directly pulled out two thin booklets from his robe and stuffed them into Chen Yuan’s hands.

Written on the booklets were indeed the Surging Waves and Flowing Clouds Technique and the Qiu Shui Jinghong Sword Technique.

Chen Yuan was about to be polite, but Zuo Xinglie said, “Young Hero, please do not decline. The only things of some value that this old man can take out now are these two Cultivation Techniques.”

Now that I’m a useless person, these techniques would only rot in the ground with me if they stayed in my hands.”

So I hope you, Young Hero, can practice these two techniques and pass them down, so that their legacy in this Jianghu won’t be in vain.”

Chen Yuan’s expression turned solemn as he cupped his hands and said, “Old man, don’t worry. I will definitely not let these two techniques be forgotten.”

Zuo Xinglie cupped his hands in thanks and quickly left leading his granddaughter’s hand, as if there were still pursuers behind him.

Once Zuo Xinglie’s figure had completely disappeared, the corner of Chen Yuan’s mouth suddenly revealed a strange smile, and he spat out three words: “Old fox!”

He was acting with Zuo Xinglie, but wasn’t Zuo Xinglie also acting with him?

This old fellow was no saint.

To put it bluntly, the Thirty-Six Waterway Alliance on the Jiulong River was also a Gang in nature, living off the tolls collected from passing merchant ships.

Zuo Xinglie was originally a grassroots hero; while not exactly an evil unorthodox, he was definitely not a good person and was a ruthless character.

Would such a person easily trust others and truly believe in things like ‘returning a drop of kindness with a fountain of gratitude’?

Earlier, Chen Yuan had found it a bit strange that in the original plot, that player could receive his two ultimate techniques just by helping Zuo Xinglie cover his tracks; Zuo Xinglie seemed a bit too emotional.

Today, when Chen Yuan saved Zuo Xinglie, Zuo Xinglie was also seemingly impatient, proactively offering the techniques for fear that Chen Yuan wouldn’t accept them.

This attitude finally allowed Chen Yuan to understand what Zuo Xinglie meant.

He just wanted someone to practice the Surging Waves and Flowing Clouds Technique and the Qiu Shui Jinghong Sword Technique, so that when the Profound Whale Gang came knocking, they would mistakenly think the other person was Zuo Xinglie’s successor, helping him distract the Profound Whale Gang’s attention.

To put it bluntly, Zuo Xinglie’s generous gift of the techniques was just looking for a scapegoat who could attract fire for him, so he could leisurely find his next hiding place.

This old fox could pit his own savior without changing his expression, which showed how deep his calculations were and how ruthless his heart was.

However, this was exactly what Chen Yuan wanted.

Originally, he had prepared several plans to trick the techniques out of Zuo Xinglie.

It was best if it followed the original plot; if not, he had other plans.

He didn’t expect that in the end, it would be effortless, and the techniques were proactively delivered to him.

As for the Profound Whale Gang, Chen Yuan wasn’t worried at all.

By the time the Profound Whale Gang came next, the power structure of the entire Lianshan City would have been reshuffled. Who would they find?

Chen Yuan and Zuo Xinglie both calculated against each other, and both could be said to have gotten what they wanted, exchanging what they had for what they needed.

However, Chen Yuan still felt that Zuo Xinglie had gotten the better deal.

In the original plot, he was truly found by the Profound Whale Gang’s people and had to flee in a hurry.

Now that he had fled in advance and the Profound Whale Gang’s people were still on the way, he had more time to make arrangements leisurely.

At this moment, Chen Yuan suddenly looked behind him and said calmly, “You’ve watched the show long enough, haven’t you? Stop hiding.”