The Smiling, Proud Wanderer, becoming a disciple of Yue Buqun

Page 34

Upon seeing Jiang Ning enter, all of them knelt down before him.

"Thank you, benefactor, for saving us."

"If it weren't for our benefactor, we don't know when we would have seen the light of day again."

"Thank you so much for rescuing my daughter. I kowtow to you."

"Woooooooo..."

These people started talking one after another, their emotions running high, and some even started crying.

"It doesn't have to be this way."

Jiang Ning was at a loss for what to do when he saw this, so he could only tell them to get up first, as he had something to talk to Yue Buqun about.

After speaking, Jiang Ning went straight to Yue Buqun's room.

"Master."

Arriving at Yue Buqun's door, Jiang Ning gently knocked.

"come in."

Yue Buqun's voice came from inside.

Jiang Ning pushed open the door and found Yue Buqun standing by the window, his hands behind his back, looking out the window.

Upon hearing Jiang Ning push open the door, Yue Buqun turned around and looked at him.

"You did the right thing this time."

Yue Buqun's first words were to affirm Jiang Ning's actions, and then he said, "But you must be careful when you travel alone in the future. You must not repeat what happened today. There are powerful forces behind these worldly affairs. You are alone and cannot defeat them."

Originally, Yue Buqun thought that Linghu Chong was already troublesome enough, but the stimulation that Jiang Ning brought him after leaving the mountain was even greater than that of Linghu Chong.

Linghu Chong at most got into arguments with people in the martial arts world and beat them up, while Jiang Ning was prone to massacres at the drop of a hat. Although it was right, it was still too terrifying.

Which family's disciples go on a rampage and cut down an entire street as soon as they descend the mountain?

He's only been down the mountain for a short time, yet he's already accomplished one bigger thing after another. Although second-rate masters have basic self-protection abilities when traveling the martial world and won't die unless something unexpected happens, Jiang Ning is really courting death. Yue Buqun is genuinely afraid that one day Jiang Ning will die a violent death out there.

Yue Buqun suddenly felt that his disciples were all more capable of causing trouble than the last.

Jiang Ning smiled and said, "Don't worry, Master, I know what I'm doing."

Of course he knew all this, but since Yue Buqun and the disciples of the Huashan Sect were all in Xiangyang, he did what he was told. If he encountered such a thing again when he was traveling alone in the future, he would definitely help, but he would be extremely cautious.

"Ah."

Yue Buqun nodded, he was reassured about this, Jiang Ning did indeed know how to act appropriately.

"Did you discover anything after you went to the Iron Palm Sect?"

Chapter 56: Follow-up Arrangements

Jiang Ning said, "Besides finding some silver and land deeds, we also discovered letters linking Hu Anyu to the Demonic Sect."

As they spoke, Jiang Ning took out a silver note and a letter from his pocket.

"what?"

Yue Buqun was somewhat surprised: "Hu Anyu is colluding with the Demonic Sect?"

Jiang Ning nodded and said, "Master, do you remember me telling you and Master's wife about that strange maid during the day?"

Yue Buqun nodded, then frowned and asked, "Could she be a member of the Demonic Sect?"

Jiang Ning said, "Based on my deduction and the contents of these letters, she should be the Holy Maiden of the Demonic Sect."

"what?"

Yue Buqun's eyes narrowed, his expression turned serious, and he took the letters from Jiang Ning and began to read them.

After a while.

"Humph!"

Yue Buqun snorted coldly, his expression hard.

"This demonic witch is so audacious as to appear before me."

At this point, Yue Buqun looked at Jiang Ning and asked, "Did you find her when you went there?"

"No, it's probably long gone."

Jiang Ning shook his head.

Neither he nor Yue Buqun expected Ren Yingying to appear in Xiangyang City, nor did they expect that the demonic cultist would dare to appear in front of them.

At first, Jiang Ning only thought the maid was a bit strange and didn't think of her as being related to the Demonic Sect.

Upon hearing this, Yue Buqun also showed a hint of helplessness.

They made such a commotion in that brothel street, that vixen must have run far away by now.

Now that the person had already escaped, Yue Buqun stopped thinking about her and looked at the silver notes in Jiang Ning's hand, asking, "Did you also find these from the Iron Palm Sect?"

Jiang Ning nodded: "These are silver notes and property deeds, totaling about fifty thousand taels."

Fifty thousand taels?

Upon hearing this, Yue Buqun paused, his heart raced, and his eyes were fixed on the silver note in Jiang Ning's hand.

This fifty thousand taels is enough for his Huashan Sect to use for a long time. Yue Buqun will not have to worry about the sect's livelihood for a long time to come.

After catching his breath, Yue Buqun forcibly suppressed the emotions rising within him and asked in a seemingly calm tone, "What are your plans for this silver?"

Jiang Ning didn't think much of it; he already had a plan in mind. He said, "I want to distribute this silver to the women who were forced into brothels and whose families were ruined. As for the house deeds, I'll check which ones were seized by the Iron Palm Sect and return them to the victims. If there's any silver left over, I want to use it to treat the women who have contracted venereal diseases. As for the rest, I want to build a village at the foot of Mount Hua to take in those who can't survive and some orphans."

Yue Buqun's initially excited heart gradually calmed down as Jiang Ning spoke.

Although there were quite a few women in those brothels, Yue Buqun had his disciples search them all before leaving, and they found a considerable amount of silver. His original plan was to distribute the silver to the women, but he didn't expect that tens of thousands of taels of silver would also be found in Jiangning.

According to Jiang Ning's plan, even if all the silver was distributed to the victimized women, there would still be a considerable amount left over.

Yue Buqun thought that if the remaining silver were used for the Huashan Sect, the sect's expenses would be greatly alleviated. However, he did not expect that Jiang Ning would have such an idea.

However, after thinking about Jiang Ning's idea, Yue Buqun also felt that it was feasible.

"Ah."

Yue Buqun nodded and said, "You have considered things very carefully. I am very pleased."

Hearing his words, Jiang Ning knew that Yue Buqun had agreed.

Jiang Ning was not unaware of the sect's financial difficulties, but every piece of silver and land deed in his possession was stained with blood and tears; he could not use them, nor could the Huashan Sect.

After chatting with Yue Buqun about some issues related to the cultivation of the Innate Skill, Jiang Ning went downstairs and found that the group of people were still there.

Jiang Ning stopped these people from kneeling before him again.

What are your plans?

Jiang Ning looked at these women who had just escaped their suffering and asked them a question.

Some of the women answered that they planned to go home, while the women who were already homeless looked bewildered.

After listening to their words, Jiang Ning told the women about his plans.

In this era, these women were no longer seen as pure by the world. If they were allowed to remain in Xiangyang, they would likely live under the prejudiced gaze and gossip of others.

Language is a knife that can kill.

Rather than this, it would be better to leave Xiangyang and live somewhere else. Jiangning is planning to build a village at the foot of Mount Hua. It goes without saying that some of these women have families, and some of them may not want to leave Xiangyang. As for those who are already destitute, they can go back to Shaanxi with the Huashan Sect and start a new life.

Of course, all of this is voluntary; Jiang Ning does not force anyone.

Upon hearing Jiang Ning's words, the helpless women burst into tears again and tried to kneel down before him, but were stopped.

After explaining his plans, Jiang Ning told them to think about it themselves, and then walked outside the inn.

At this time, the maids and the dozen or so disciples of the Iron Palm Sect were still being held captive.

"Where are Master's wife and Senior Brother?"

When Jiang Ning returned, he didn't see Linghu Chong, Yue Lingshan, Ning Zhongze, and the others; he didn't know where they had gone.

The Huashan disciple who had been guarding the entrance to the inn replied, "My master's wife and senior brother went to raid the Iron Palm Sect's other illegal businesses."

The Iron Master has been operating in Xiangyang City for so long, and his business is not limited to the brothel street.

Under pressure from some Xiangyang residents and their complaints, Ning Zhongze's fiery temper flared up, and she led Linghu Chong and the others to eliminate the threat.

Jiang Ning nodded and then asked, "Have any government officials come over?"

The Huashan disciple shook his head: "No, I've never seen it."

Jiang Ning raised an eyebrow upon hearing this.

Their actions tonight can be considered a large-scale armed conflict, yet the government isn't stepping in.

Jiang Ning couldn't help but shake his head.

Jiang Ning turned to look at these people. He still needed to investigate which of them deserved to die and which were innocent.

Tonight will be a sleepless night.

……

The next morning, Jiang Ning finally finished dealing with it.

Of those he brought back from the Iron Palm Sect, the dozen or so Iron Palm Sect members were found to be guilty of murder after investigation; none of them were innocent.

Jiang Ning was not surprised by this. After all, it is indeed difficult to find gold in a pile of dung. He had been prepared for this, and his previous statement was just to avoid any unforeseen circumstances.

As he expected, the maids were mostly fine; they were all servants and had never been involved in harming the people.

Jiang Ning then took some of the silver he had seized to pay their wages and let them go, while the dozen or so Iron Palm Sect members were killed on the spot.

Chapter 57: Every glamorous surface has its dark corners.

Ning Zhongze and Linghu Chong finally returned after working all night.

They took most of their disciples with them when they left, and they all looked somewhat tired when they returned.

"Junior brother, you have no idea."

As soon as Linghu Chong saw Jiang Ning from a distance, he started shouting.

"I ran around most of Xiangyang last night. That Iron Palm Sect is really something else. Their pawnshops not only run a nine-out-thirteen-back scheme, but they also run casinos and underground banks for people to run horses."

Jiang Ning asked curiously, "Let the horses go?"

He knew the saying "nine out, thirteen back," but he didn't know what "releasing the horse" meant.

"It means lending money to others."

Ning Zhongze said with a livid face, "They run casinos and cheat gamblers out of all their savings. Then they make them borrow money from underground banks. The gamblers borrow ten taels of silver, but only receive seven taels. When it's time to repay, they have to pay back sixteen taels. The total term is fourteen days. They make them sign IOUs. If they can't repay by the deadline, they use their house deeds as collateral. If they don't even have house deeds, they make them use their wives and daughters as collateral. Those wives and daughters who are used as collateral are then sent to brothels by them."

"They operate in this way, one link after another, drinking blood and eating flesh, sucking marrow from bones, and countless people have been harmed and their families destroyed."

When Ning Zhongze spoke of these things, her eyes seemed to spit fire.

Jiang Ning opened his mouth to speak several times, but finally shook his head.

Gamblers don't deserve sympathy, but their families, wives, and daughters are truly pitiful.

These gamblers are certainly hateful, but those who set up these schemes deserve to die even more.

"Master's wife and all the senior brothers and sisters have worked hard all night. Go back and rest for a while."

Jiang Ning looked at the fatigue on their faces and said.

"Alright."

Ning Zhongze nodded. They had run through most of Xiangyang last night and definitely needed to rest.

After responding to Jiang Ning, Ning Zhongze returned to her room. Linghu Chong sighed, "We came here for sightseeing, but we never expected something like this to happen. Who would have thought that such a prosperous city like Xiangyang would have such dirty secrets?"

Linghu Chong looked regretful.