I had never expected to see this possibility in my lifetime, yet here was Qian Jin. Si Luoyin disregarded everything else; as long as Qian Jin could become the President of the Medicine Reed Guild, he would agree to any condition!

"President Qian, rest assured! Anyone who doesn't fix that rotten habit, I'll… No! I'll kill them!"

Hong Se York felt as if he were trapped in a dream, a nightmare he had never dared to conceive! How could this be? How was this possible? Si Luoyin, who always looked down on the City Lord, the President of the Medicine Reed Guild, would have spat in the face of anyone who mentioned poor treatment of warriors by the Medicine Reed Guild in the past. Yet today…

Today… he actually agreed to everything! This was… Hong Se York felt this was utterly ridiculous! Someone begging another person to take over their faction, and the receiving party setting terms, refusing otherwise, while the faction-offering party was ecstatic, acting as if they were the ones receiving the favor.

"Then it's settled. I'll visit the Medicine Reed Guild another day."

"Good! I'll go find people first!"

Hong Se York watched Si Luoyin leave the Blacksmith Guild, practically skipping, before peering again through the doorway at Qian Jin, who lay on the **. Despite being severely wounded and lying in bed, the person radiated a certain scent! This scent was different from the one present during his duel with the Evil Moon Angel, Lei Yueyue, last time!

A great figure! Hong Se York vaguely sensed that Qian Jin had, at some point, begun to exude an aura of genuine maturity. It wasn't the demeanor of an ordinary high-ranking individual, but a special scent mixed with war and blood.

Yongliu City had never been so quiet. The wide streets were almost devoid of pedestrians. The entire massive city was under strict martial law. City guards, warriors from the Torrent Battle Fortress, members of the Unruly Path, and some warriors and mages from the Apothecary Guild moved through the streets with grave expressions.

Qian Jin peered out from inside the carriage: "Several major powers have jointly attacked the Lei family. I can finally breathe a sigh of relief." He wondered, however, what news had arrived from beyond the frontier. Perfect timing! Since the Luo family's merchant caravan had encountered trouble beyond the frontier twice, he could inquire about the visitors from that region.

"I won't let today's incident slide just like that!"

"I don't care what excuses you use for your joint operation! Nor do I care about your conflict with the Lei family, but you dared to attack while I was a guest of the Lei family… causing accidental injury to myself…"

Qian Jin perked his ears, listening to the familiar roar echoing down the empty street.

Xiusidak! The Vice President of the Crystal Magic Tower! Qian Jin frowned, looking through the window at the approaching carriage on the street. Why would Xiusidak be at the Lei residence? As the Vice President of the Crystal Magic Tower, even if there were matters with the Lei family, logically sending a steward should suffice. Why would the Vice President come personally?

Xiusidak, seated in the carriage, gripped his magic staff and roared, yet he was powerless against the warrior accompanying him to the Magic Tower. Eliminating this warrior would be simple; a single spell would suffice. But what then?

Today, the Lei family would likely become just a memory in the history of Yongliu City.

Xiusidak closed his eyes. The scene of the Lei residence under siege flashed through his mind again. He had finally found an ally, only to see such a prominent family as the Lei family attacked jointly by four powers.

Why? Why! Xiusidak couldn't comprehend it. Normally, the major powers in Yongliu City maintained a delicate balance. If that balance weren't maintained, the Torrent Battle Fortress would likely be the first major power to vanish.

What was happening today? The Lei family, possessing formidable overall strength, was actually… Xiusidak shook his head repeatedly. How could the Lei family have offended four major powers simultaneously? And where was the Lei family's old patriarch, Lei Zhen, during this attack? Had he also evacuated Yongliu City secretly through hidden channels yesterday?

Leaving Yongliu City? Where would the Lei family go? Xiusidak frowned, trying to speculate, but he couldn't fathom where the Lei family could relocate.

Qian Jin closed the window. The carriage moved quietly along the road, the wooden wheels making a crisp sound against the ground. Several warriors surrounded the carriage, anxiously watching their surroundings.

"Qian Jin! Die!"

A killing shout suddenly erupted from behind the chimney of a nearby house. A warrior with the character 'Lei' embroidered on his uniform leaped up high, holding a powerful crossbow, his projectile locked onto Qian Jin.

Bang!

The wooden panel on one side of the carriage wall violently shattered, scattering debris everywhere. The arrow spun at high speed, emitting a loud roar in the air, drawing a visible yet incredibly fast wooden dragon with the scattering splinters, carving a long vacuum tunnel.

The arrow rapidly filled the assassin's pupils. Before he could react, his long sword was already upon him!

Pfft! The sharp arrow pierced the assassin's chest, pulling out a thick column of blood from his back, like a glaring streak of red paint slashed across the azure sky.

Impossible… The crossbow in the assassin's hand fell limply. His body tumbled off the roof, rolling down the slanted tiles to the ground, finally crashing down in a puff of blood-tinged dust. He stared blankly at Qian Jin through the hole in the carriage wall. Weren't the reports that he was severely injured and unable to move? How… how was this possible…?

The warriors guarding the carriage had barely drawn their swords, looking at Qian Jin inside the carriage with confusion—the man who had been struggling for breath just moments ago was now unleashing such a ferocious counterattack.

Qian Jin glanced at the warriors outside the carriage, placed his index finger to his lips in a gesture for silence. He trusted the warriors from the Torrent Battle Fortress, but… how did these Lei family members know he would take this specific route from the Blacksmith Guild? Qian Jin lay back down in the carriage and placed the heavy bow into his Dou Jie (Battle Realm). A chill crawled up his spine, clearing his mind. He had overlooked one factor: Lei Guangming! Although he had managed to have Lei Guangming restrained, he had forgotten that Lei Guangming had been at the Blacksmith Guild for many years and still had his trusted confidants.

Perhaps even after Yun Xinghui Sheng secured Lei Guangming, they tried to control his confidants, but it would be hard to account for every single one. If even one escaped surveillance, the scenario just witnessed was entirely plausible.

This was the hidden strength of an established power over the years! Qian Jin silently admonished himself. He admitted he wasn't adept in this area. If someone from an established family like Fen Tu Kuang Ge, who had been rigorously trained from childhood, this loophole would have been plugged instantly.

Lucifer Flowing Water… Qian Jin sighed. This Demoness should also possess this capability. He had always thought of himself as a versatile master, but now he realized he had been somewhat subconsciously arrogant.

Reflection! Qian Jin meticulously replayed every detail of the past two days. Just as a warrior must reflect after any battle, win or lose, this practice should apply to everything in life.

The carriage arrived back at the Torrent Battle Fortress without any further assassination attempts.

Qian Jin roughly surmised that the number of people from the Lei family who could move freely within the city was now very small, likely most having been controlled or suppressed by the combined four powers. The countdown for the Lei family's departure from Yongliu City into history had truly begun.

A tense atmosphere permeated the entrance to the Torrent Battle Fortress. Several armored warriors paced back and forth nervously at the gate, their sheathed battle swords held ready.

The Lei family was, after all, a massive power rooted in Yongliu City for many years; they had to be constantly guarded against them deploying a final trump card or doing something unexpected.

Qian Jin was carried into the Battle Fortress by the crowd. The guards at the gate frowned slightly upon seeing the large amounts of blood-soaked bandages wrapped around him. No wonder President Mu Gui had gone mad, uniting so many Yongliu powers to fight the Lei family head-on.

Four soldiers carried Qian Jin into a room in the Fortress garden. The mistresses of this room immediately swarmed forward, pushing the four soldiers out and crowding around Qian Jin on the stretcher with concerned gazes.

Gu Yue Jiaying quietly turned away, a faint chill emanating from her almost utterly plain figure.

Killing intent! The four warriors standing outside the door exchanged a look with Gu Yue Jiaying and shivered simultaneously. They recalled their President mentioning that this woman had an often-forgotten nickname—Snow Woman? No! Blood Woman!

"I was saying…" Qian Jin sat up, looking at Gu Yue Jiaying’s beautiful back, "Where are you going?"

Gu Yue Jiaying’s long sleeves trembled slightly, her shoulders shaking twice, before she slowly turned around, staring at Qian Jin in disbelief.

The other mistresses gazed blankly at Qian Jin, who had suddenly sat up. Judging by the speed and motion, there was no sign of any injury.

The warriors outside the door quickly closed the door, choosing not to pay attention to matters they shouldn't know about.

Qian Jin tore off the blood-soaked bandages: "I was indeed severely injured yesterday, but I possess secret methods for rapid recovery. I am fine now. But this must be kept secret—my current condition."

Gu Yue Jiaying, whose eyes rarely showed emotion, shot Qian Jin a fierce glare before quietly returning to her seat, the one belonging to the primary wife.

Lucifer Flowing Water discreetly pinched Qian Jin hard on his lower back before also moving toward her own seat.

"What about the people from beyond the frontier?"

Qian Jin rubbed his lower back while looking around the room.

"They are asleep," Gu Yue Jiaying replied faintly. "He sustained fifteen stab wounds and appears extremely fatigued. He fell unconscious right after stating his purpose."

Lucifer Flowing Water chimed in, "Judging by his demeanor, he must have been sleep-deprived for a long time…"

"Qian Jin!"

A voice filled with pleasant surprise sounded from the guest room. The door slammed open to the side, and a figure, still wearing a blood-stained battle uniform, appeared in the doorway.

Qian Jin raised an eyebrow and immediately recognized the warrior at the door. He was a member of the seventeenth squad, third brigade of the Black Wind Marauder Group. He had seen this bandit before beside Hua Yan. He didn't know his name, but his nickname was 'Wild Grass.'

Duan Feng Bu’er had once jokingly asked why he earned that nickname. The answer he received was that the bandit warrior possessed incredibly strong vitality. He had fought on the Human-Demon Battlefield before, sustaining thirty-two knife wounds in one battle, yet miraculously survived when treatment had been abandoned.

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