Chapter 49: The Pawn and the Puppet Master

Upon seeing the newcomer, a flicker of panic crossed the shopkeeper’s eyes, and he scrambled to his feet to greet him.

“Young Master Zhuang, I never expected you to grace my humble stall. Your presence truly brightens this place. Unfortunately, you’ve come at an inopportune time. I’ve already sold this piece of jade to this gentleman. Why don’t you look at my other wares? If anything catches your eye, I’ll give it to you as a gift.”

Zhuang?

The girls were taken aback for a moment before quickly realizing who stood before them.

In all of Canggu City, only one prominent family bore the surname Zhuang: the City Lord’s Manor.

“So this is the great Young Master Zhuang. He’s exactly as the rumors described…”

Hua Yaoyao couldn’t help but mutter under her breath.

Hua Yaoyao had heard tales of Zhuang Daoyan’s exploits before, but she had always assumed they were mere fabrications.

After all, he was the City Lord’s son.

How could he be so arrogant and domineering without fear of shaming his father?

But now, it seemed her initial thoughts had been far too naive.

Meanwhile, Zhuang Daoyan paid no mind to the girls, nor did he even notice Qin Yangjun.

His attention was entirely captivated by the piece of jade.

With a flick of his sleeve, he shoved the approaching stall owner aside.

“Get lost! I have no interest in your worthless junk!”

He then turned his gaze to Jiang Yanfeng.

“Listen, kid, I had my eye on this jade. I just went home to get the money, but it seems you snatched it up in my absence. Still, I’m not an unreasonable man. Seeing as you’ve already paid, just tell me the price. I’ll pay you back, and I’ll even double it. Now, give me the jade.”

Hearing this, the stall owner was stunned.

‘Since when has the great Young Master Zhuang become so reasonable?’ he thought. ‘According to his usual temperament, wouldn’t he have just snatched it by now?’

In truth, this was not Zhuang Daoyan’s original intention.

A few days prior, his father had specifically warned him that disciples from the Yuqian Sect would be arriving and that he must keep a low profile and act reasonably.

It was only because of his father’s words that he was even bothering to speak to the man before him; otherwise, he would have simply taken the item and left.

Zhuang Daoyan then tossed out four high-grade spirit stones and reached for the jade, only to be stopped by a blade drawn across his path.

The atmosphere instantly froze, and Zhuang Daoyan’s attendants grew vigilant.

The surrounding crowd also paused their steps, their attention drawn to the confrontation.

Qin Yangjun, however, had long since retreated with the girls to a hundred meters away, ready to enjoy the show.

“One word: scram!”

Jiang Yanfeng cared little for who stood before him; a mere Foundation Establishment cultivator dared to act so brazenly in his presence.

With that, Jiang Yanfeng didn’t even spare Zhuang Daoyan a glance, reaching directly for the jade pendant.

When had Zhuang Daoyan ever suffered such an “injustice”?

In all of Canggu City, someone actually dared to draw a weapon on him—an act usually reserved for him to perform on others.

“You’re courting death!”

Heedless of his opponent’s strength, he channeled his spiritual energy and struck out at Jiang Yanfeng with a palm strike.

Yet, Jiang Yanfeng didn’t even have to lift a finger.

A mere burst of spiritual energy from his body was enough to send Zhuang Daoyan flying.

A Foundation Establishment cultivator propped up by pills was nothing but a joke in Jiang Yanfeng’s eyes.

Zhuang Daoyan crashed through a nearby stall, ending up buried in a pile of splintered wood.

To Qin Yangjun’s surprise, however, when the attendants saw their young master struck down, they didn’t attack.

Instead, they merely exchanged uncertain glances.

Their dazed inaction puzzled Qin Yangjun.

‘Have they… not processed what happened?’

Just then, Zhuang Daoyan struggled to his feet.

He roared at his two attendants.

“You two idiots! What are you staring at?! Get him!”

The two attendants glanced around, and after a few seconds of hesitation, they charged toward Jiang Yanfeng.

Jiang Yanfeng was only at the mid-stage of the Golden Core realm.

No matter how outstanding his abilities, against Nascent Soul cultivators, he was little more than a slightly larger grasshopper—let alone two of them.

Most importantly, this boy was not the protagonist.

The two attendants subdued Jiang Yanfeng with ease and proceeded to give him a sound beating.

During the fight, however, Yu Lingyue’s expression grew grim.

A hint of shock flickered in her eyes.

It was only a trace, but she had sensed it.

Demonic energy!

‘Are these two… demons?’

‘But they’re Zhuang Daoyan’s guards! How is that possible?!’

Yu Lingyue’s first thought was that she must have been mistaken, but watching the attendants’ fighting styles, she could pick out faint, instinctual movements characteristic of demons.

Pouncing and clawing, for instance, though they deliberately restrained these motions as they raised their hands.

But Yu Lingyue was already looking for evidence to confirm a conclusion, so she managed to catch those subtle actions.

Yu Lingyue was about to inform Qin Yangjun beside her, but to her surprise…

…it seemed Qin Yangjun had already instructed Ah Ling to prepare a recording stone and was capturing the brief battle.

‘So, Senior Brother noticed it too.’

Yu Lingyue didn’t believe the City Lord himself had turned traitor.

The story of Zhuang Hancheng was known to all.

Zhuang Hancheng held a blood feud against the demon race; his beloved wife had died at their hands, and he had never remarried since her death.

This was why Zhuang Daoyan was his only son.

Therefore, it was absolutely impossible for the City Lord’s Manor to have rebelled.

She surmised that the City Lord’s Manor must have been infiltrated by demons.

Exposing them in the middle of the street would cause chaos.

Her senior brother recording the event was a way of gathering evidence, so that he could later unmask these individuals before the City Lord and allow the manor to handle the problem internally.

‘To react so quickly and immediately devise a countermeasure… Senior Brother is truly worthy of his reputation!’

Yu Lingyue’s gaze toward Qin Yangjun filled with ever-increasing admiration.

Qin Yangjun’s thoughts, however, were far simpler than she imagined.

‘Hmph, you little punk. You dare fight me? I’ll make you regret it.’

Qin Yangjun’s plan was to kill two birds with one stone.

The first step was to use someone else to teach Jiang Yanfeng a lesson.

The second step concerned the task his sister had given him.

To put Zhuang Hancheng in his place.

Jiang Yanfeng was, after all, a disciple of the Yuqian Sect.

For him to be beaten in the streets by men from the City Lord’s Manor—who were clearly in the wrong—was a perfect opportunity.

He could use this incident to pressure the City Lord and teach him a lesson as well.

And when Jiang Yanfeng finally realized he’d been used as a pawn, his expression would surely be a sight to behold!

This was what one might call a dual attack, targeting both body and spirit.

Qin Yangjun couldn’t help but admire his own brilliant idea.

At that moment, Jiang Yanfeng was still being beaten.

Zhuang Daoyan had his two men hold him down while he landed blows himself.

Watching Jiang Yanfeng being held and thrashed brought Qin Yangjun no small amount of satisfaction.

Since his objective was achieved, there was no need to linger.

With that, Qin Yangjun turned to leave, only to notice Hua Yaoyao still staring in Jiang Yanfeng’s direction.

‘Could it be she actually pities him?’

‘No, that’s not in her character at all.’

The thought had barely crossed Qin Yangjun’s mind when Hua Yaoyao channeled her energy, and with a flick of her wrist, the jade pendant that had fallen to the ground flew into her hand.

She then skipped over to Qin Yangjun’s side.

“For you, Senior Brother!”

Qin Yangjun found this rather amusing.

The girl was quite wicked, swiping the man’s possession while he was being beaten.

Qin Yangjun himself had no regard for the item; otherwise, he wouldn’t have used it as bait in the first place.

But seeing the expectant look in Hua Yaoyao’s eyes, he accepted the jade and put it away.

The group then headed straight back to the City Lord’s Manor.

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